Dreams and things

Last week Kerri and I briefly discussed the stimulus package. She said she kept hearing the word "corruption". The fact that the president is surrounding himself with people of questionable character is disconcerting to say the least. Regardless of how smart and honorable he may be, if he nothing but bad choices are presented to him, how could he make good ones? With funds being dispersed into a wide array of funds, the ability to track and verify that funds are being used properly will be very difficult. In other words, it seems like a huge shell game.

On top of that, I had a dream last night. The gist of the dreams suggested, as I talked with Kerri, that we, as a nation, are broken. From the outside, we cannot be clearly recognized to stand for anything. From within there are major discrepancies between the leadership and administration of the government. In the dream, I wept and was rejected for the sorrow I had over the country. Tying into the previous paragraph, it would seem, based on what Kerri and I discussed, that the devaluation of the US dollar caused by the stimulus package will severely decrease the American economy. When further instability leads to collapse, it is possible that the US will be pushed to conform to a new currency, similar to the EU's eurodollar.

One specific note I found interesting was the fact that, within the stimulus package, there are plans to cover mortgages. Yet, not mentioned, at least within the media, is the fact that seven years from now, these mortgages will need to be repaid. So, just looking at this from a long range plan: if people are unaware of this they will gladly support it and probably remain ignorant of the conditions of this scenario. In short, they'll most likely continue to live as they are now. In 5 to 6 years, the media will begin to discuss the situation and mass awareness will rise. This will precipitate another mortgage industry crisis. Only this time, the government (not free trade) will be in control. And, the party that will have the solution will be the democrats. All this is to say, I see one more instance of a crisis-generating solution being created with this plan. It's not meant to help, but, to control. I really don't think people are taking the crisis with a long term perspective. What good is a free market economy if it is never allowed to succeed and fail?

Lastly, in John Paul's the Perfect Storm, he laid out the observation that social security was designed to work prior to Roe v. Wade. When abortion became a legal option, it eroded the effectiveness of the original plan. So, we suffer from the wrong perspective when discussing the social security system. The plan would work perfectly, but, illegal laws were set in place and the long term goals were made irrelevant because the original assumptions on which the plan was made are not realities today. I think this type of observation, one in which the consequences of sin are considered as legitimate sources of all of today's problems, are the only kind that will make sense. Everything else is illusion and farce. Sadly, people work so hard to make things that are meaningless and will never do anything to solve the problem but only contribute to worsen the existing ones.

Research ANd Development

I found out that's what RAND stands for. When I was in college, I wanted to become part of a "think tank". These appealed to me as beautiful, ideological factories, creating cutting edge ideas and transforming the world. In fact, I went so far as to look at the CIA and NSA for jobs along these lines. If you are bright enough, apparently, you can get a job for doing research and analysis. All along, however, I felt that that level of intellect was not where I was supposed to go. If I have completely given myself over to the line of work, I could have, but, would never have been able to say, should have.

And, as I do more research for my words book, I think I am beginning to see why. I started off looking at the word "telios ", the Greek word for "perfection". Through some side-tracking I went through "telios" to "techne" (a word I was curious about last week anyway) to "poiesis". This last one really caught my attention. Here is a snippet I got from Wikipedia that spoke to me a lot:

Poïesis is etymologically derived from the ancient Greek term ποιέω, which means "to make". This word, the root of our modern "poetry", was first a verb, an action that transforms and continues the world. Neither technical production nor creation in the romantic sense, poïetic work reconciles thought with matter and time, and man with the world. It is often used as a suffix as in the biology terms hematopoiesis and erythropoiesis, the former being the general formation of blood cells and the latter being the formation of red blood cells specifically.

In the Symposium (a Socratic dialogue written by Plato), Diotima describes how mortals strive for immortality in relation to poieses. In all begetting and bringing forth upon the beautiful there is a kind of making/creating or poiesis. In this genesis there is a movement beyond the temporal cycle of birth and decay. "Such a movement can occur in three kinds of poiesis: (1) Natural poiesis through sexual procreation, (2) poiesis in the city through the attainment of heroic fame and finally, and (3) poiesis in the soul through the cultivation of virtue and knowledge."

I have always had a fascination with the idea of creation. When I read the first line, I sensed this was essentially the same meaning I have focused on to this point. However, the fact that I have always had a longing to be poetic makes me think I am onto something. Looking more closely, I see this, "This word, the root of our modern "poetry", was first a verb, an action that transforms and continues the world. Neither technical production nor creation in the romantic sense, poïetic work reconciles thought with matter and time, and man with the world." In my posts on genius and creativity, I touched on a variety of issues, but, poetry (this transforming, continuing action) was at the heart of it. Genius, in this context, was merely represented the state of inimitable blessedness one receives when doing God's unique will for their life. As we are all unique by God's design, this transforming, world continuing action (poiesis) is the mechanism through which thought and space/time or matter/time are reconciled.

The more I think about it though, the less I see a true reconciliation as being possible. God's kingdom and the work of the world are two wholly separate and distinct things. Scripture marks the holy and the secular or the profane as a clear line of distinction between what one is supposed to do for God and the world. I am beginning to think that Plato's note was more about the struggle, not the holy end of one wrestling with the "poetic" or "creative" aspect of one's self. As was noted about Diotima in the Symposium, "how mortals strive for immortality in relation to poieses" was a major theme.

More explicitly, "In all begetting and bringing forth upon the beautiful there is a kind of making/creating or poiesis. In this genesis there is a movement beyond the temporal cycle of birth and decay. " This sounds very much like the struggle of Christians. Yet, to compare the poetic (as it is "naturally" considered) the end result of the struggle it towards making God's will be done, more so than the satisfaction felt when the expression of a creative urge has been realized and completed. In other words, it's not just about the creating, but, creating for a purpose, for God.

The fact that the article goes on mention three classical forms of poiesis make me think back to John Paul's three (or four) G's: girls/guys, glory and gold. The list the Wikipedia article provided was: 1) sex/reproduction 2) heroism and 3) self-fulfillment. Another way of looking at them would be relational, social and personal integration. So, the "poetic" work (that is the process of creating), or at least the struggle, is a very real element of the Christian life. There is a strong similarity there between the hellenistic ideal and the Christian process. But, when the ends of these two worldviews are concerned, I think the similarity ends and the any comparison between the two have to part ways here.

Day 1

So, I declared war on my laziness. To be all militant, I went for a run at 8:30. 2 kilometers into my run (yes, I know exactly when and how far), I was hit with a spiritual grenade. The result, a nice new injury. You know what I say, "Praise God!"