The mockery of careful planning

I have always been a little uneasy with Jesus’ parable of ‘planning’ (Luke 14:28-31).  Jesus asks whether the people would not plan ahead of time to make sure they had sufficient materials to complete a tower and sufficient soldiers for victory.  The ‘moral of story’ as I have received it is that of the wise stewardship of resources.  I could not quite put my finger on why this bugged me other than the fact that it seemed to propagate good, bland suburbanites.  I’m not sure why I didn’t see it but the two images obviously have strong connections to the Old Testament in the Tower of Babel and David’s census taking.  Both of these acts reflect careful planning.  They are also both sins.  Who has the materials to finish building a tower? The answer is no one,  because a tower is never finished.  Who has the man-power to win a war? The answer is no one, because a war is never over.

The parable drives this home in a way that should have made it clear.  The parable  is book-ended first by the command that one cannot follow if they do not first hate their family. And at the end of the parable Jesus offers a re-articulation that states that you cannot become a disciple if you do not give up all your possessions (i.e. ending the production of tower-building and war-making).  The internal space of these commands is the mockery of ‘careful planning’.

Du Côté de Chez Swann – Day 28 – WTF!?

Que s’il s’assoupit dans une position encore plus déplacée et divergente, par exemple après dîner assis dans un fauteuil, alors le bouleversement sera complet dans les mondes désorbités, le fauteuil magique le fera voyager à toute vitesse dans le temps et dans l’espace, et au moment d’ouvrir les paupières, il se croira couché quelques mois plus tôt dans une autre contrée.

And what if he fell asleep in a position even more displaced and divergent, for example, after dinner sitting in an armchair, then the world will be completely dislocated from its orbit, the magical armchair will carry him at full speed through time and space, and at the moment his eyelids open he will believe he fell asleep a few months ago in another country.

I am a feel good story; Or, What would Zizek do?

Yesterday I swung by the University of Winnipeg to pick up a copy of Zizek’s The Parallax View.  On my way back to the car I noticed a flash of colour standing out against the dirty white snow on the curb.  Lying there, as though nestled on some heavenly cloud was a bundle of cash.  There before me lay $1oo dollars staring up at me with no indication of ownership.  I suddenly found myself in some sort of poorly contrived morality sketch.  What should I do?  Some of thoughts that ran through my head;

  1. Write a note with my contact information where I found the money so that the person could tell me the amount and denomination.
  2. Donate it to some worthy cause.
  3. Go back into the University and donate it to the hippies with a booth promoting sustainable agriculture.
  4. Leave it in the snow bank.
  5. Keep it.

I waited for a few moments in the car to see if anyone was frantically running around.  I did not like any of my responses.  1-3 seemed like some ‘noble’ redemption of this sullied money . . . no good.  5 just felt wrong and right at the same time.  4 may have actually be the best option because I felt that certainly no one else would give such thoughtful consideration to finding money as I will and they would proceed immediately to 5.  In the end I decided to go in the nearest building which was the athletic building.  I went up to the front desk and told the girl what I found.  Recognizing the torn envelope she responded, “That must be Tim’s . . . I mean that was what Tim was supposed to deposit” as she pointed to their deposit box.  Hey, if she lied, good on her for the presence of mind.  In any event, as I was leaving I heard her say, “You’re so honest.”  Ahhhh, I slept well that night.

So money implies dishonesty.  As soon as money is detached from any recognizable or enforceable relationship immediate ownership upon discovery is assumed.  And why not?  Money shows no allegiance.  It does not bear the marks of enduring long-term relationship.  It is built for pure mobility.  I have to say that I am glad it seemed to return the place where it would cause some undergrad the least amount of grief.  But I can’t help but think . . . what would Zizek do?

Du Côté de Chez Swann – Day 27

Que vers le matin après quelque insomnie, le sommeil le prenne en train de lire, dans une posture trop différente de celle où il dort habituellement, il suffit de son bras soulevé pour arrêter et faire reculer le soleil, et à la première minute de son réveil, il ne saura plus l’heure, il estimera qu’il vient à peine de se coucher.

Towards the morning after some insomnia, sleep seizes while reading, in a very different position in which he normally sleeps, it suffices to raise his arms to stop and turn back the sun, and at the moment of his waking, he will not know the hour, he thinks that he had just lay down.

Getting what you ask for – Egypt Update

I am developing a basic framework for a ‘visitation team’ at my church.  This team will help connect with those in the congregation who are physically unable to regularly participate in church.  This morning I was looking through a few resources that I could use to help equip this team with some basic approaches to care and visiting.  A while back I bought a cheap copy of Carl Rogers’ classic On Becoming a Person in which he outlines his client-centered model which is based on the belief that each person has the inherent ability to change and that particular relationships can help facilitate that change.

I have strongly mixed feelings about this approach.  It is very easy to critique this book on its optimism about the possibility of becoming an ‘autonomous individual’.  However, I am respectful of the sort of posture Rogers wishes to nurture.  I am constantly bewildered expressions from those who reject an individualist approach to contemporary issues and those who want to address systemic issues.  It almost invariably seems as though the people wanting to address systemic issues must, must, heap scorn upon actual individuals (particularly if they do not agree with a particular view of systems).  In any event, as I was working through a few his very readable chapters what troubled me more than the dichotomy between systems and individuals is the notion of what positive change could look like.

Rogers cites a study which explores the implication of various parenting styles.  The best model in his estimation is the ‘acceptant-democratic’.  Here is his description the children,

Children of these parents with their warm and equalitarian attitudes showed an accelerated intellectual development (an increasing I.Q.), more originality, more emotional security and control, less excitability than children from other types of homes.  Though somewhat slow initially in social development, they were, by the time they reached school age, popular, friendly, non-aggressive leaders (41-42).

I tried to imagine what these kids looked like and it was not hard.  These are the children of upper-middle class families who excel in school and have enough restraint and insight so as to manipulate passive-aggressive acts for the purpose and maintenance of social dominance.  I also expect that these are the families that nod assent to the value of church and social responsibility but don’t give a shit about making any significant change for those values because they have already arrived.  And they are also afraid of those who ‘unstable’, that is, not like them.

This is just a guess.  But if it is correct then Carl Rogers has unfortunately succeeded because there seems to be a whole glut of these families.

** Update – Perhaps it is with a Rogerian sort of unconditional acceptance that Senator Clinton has approached the Mubarak family.

Louis Riel’s Philosophical Theology – Introductory Note

The following is the initial footnote that begins Riel’s fragmentary philosophical theology.

Martel, Gilles, ed. The Collected Writings of Louis Riel / Les Ecrits Complets de Louis Riel. Vol. 2.  Edmonton, AB: The University of Alberta Press, 1985.

Footnote #1, page 387.

On peut penser, à bon droit, que cette synthèse philosophico-théologique était destinée à faire partie du Massinachican. Malheureusement de nombreuses pages en sont perdues et il est impossible de reconstituer avec certitude la plan de cette synthèse; c’est pourquoi nous avons opté pour une présentation thématique des pages éparses de ce document. L’ordre des textes qui suivent est destiné à faciliter la lecture, mais ne prétend aucunement reconstituer l’ordre voulu par Riel.

Ces pages ont dû être rédigées au Montana, entre 1881 et 1884. Sur plusieurs pages de ce manuscrit, les paragraphes sont numérotés, mais malheureusement il manque les numéros 1 à 31; de plus, lorsqu’on possède plusieurs variantes d’un même paragraphe, elles ne portent pas le même numéro; enfin, il existe des paragraphes différents qui, eux, portent le même numéro. Il y a donc plusieurs séries de numéros et on ne peut se fier à ces numéros pour reconstituer avec certitude l’ordre général du texte.

Dans ces pages, Riel utilise surtout le terme “essence” et plus rarement le terme “monade” pour désigner les éléments constituants de tout réalité. En Dieu, ces essences sont toutes actives, alors qu’en l’homme se trouve un mélange d’essences actives et passives. Durant son séjour en prison en 1885, Riel reprendra sa réflexion sur les “essences” ou “monades” (voir les textes 3-179 et 3-180).

One might think, correctly, that this philosophical theology was intended to be part of Massinachican [this is the Cree word for ‘book’ which is referred to by Riel in other writings but no such ‘book’ remains or exists]. Unfortunately many pages are lost and it is impossible to reconstruct with certainty the plan of the synthesis; so we opted for a thematic presentation of the scattered pages of this document. The order of the following texts is intended to facilitate reading, but does not claim to restore the order intended by Riel.

These pages were written in Montana, between 1881 and 1884.  On several of the pages of the manuscript, the paragraphs are numbered, but unfortunately they lack the numbers 1 to 31; also, when you possess several variants of the same paragraph, they do not bear the same number, and finally, there are several paragraphs which, themselves, bear the same number. So there are several sets of numbers and we can not rely on these numbers to reconstruct with certainty the general text.

In these pages, Riel primarily uses the term “essence” and more rarely the term “monad” to describe the component parts of all reality.  In God, these essences are all active, whereas man is a mixture of active and passive essences. During his stay in prison in 1885, Riel will resume his reflection on “essences” and “monads” (see texts 3-179 and 3-180).

Du Côté de Chez Swann – Day 26 – Expansive Translation

Il les consulte d’instinct en s’éveillant et y lit en une seconde le point de la terre qu’il occupe, le temps qui s’est écoulé jusqu’à son réveil; mais leurs rangs peuvent se mêler, se rompre.

He consults instinct when awake and reads instantly the point of land he occupies, the time that elapsed when he awoke; but their ranks [the circle referred to in the last sentence] mingle, the rupture.

Moncrieff’s translation,

Instinctively, when he awakes, he looks to these, and in an instant reads off his own position on the earth’s surface and the amount of time that has elapsed during his slumbers; but this ordered procession is apt to grow confused, and to break its ranks.