Sunday, June 10, 2012
Sunday Reflection: Story
In my work, I come into contact with political theorists and theologians and philosophers who focus on theoretical issues (importantly, this group does not include all theologians and philosophers). I hear them, I understand what they are saying (usually), but many times I feel no real connection to what they are saying. This has always been true. I am not one of them. What I am, really, is a teacher, and a prosecutor. I am tied to this earth in a web of stories, held in place by the gravity of narrative.
The divide between me and the theorists really has to do with story. In the same way that some people trust theory over the narrative of our lives, I run the other way-- no theory makes sense to me unless I can see it written in the lives of the people around me. Communism never became real, and so it is useless, a vehicle for tyranny. Post-structuralism? Literary theory? They just don't exist. They don't breath and live and hurt.
We do. Jesus did. That matters. If you believe the Christian narrative, it is significant that God never gave us a theory-- he gave us a story, Jesus's story. In turn, what Jesus gave us was largely stories, too, one after the other, because that is how he taught.
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True, communism never became real. But it did exist and it did breathe and it did hurt people. Real people, in fact many of them Jesus loving people. Real people who refused to join the morally bankrupt sea of humanity communism left in its wake. Real people still marked by painful scars invisible to all who view communism simply as the miserably failed social experiment of a flawed theory.
“…I am tied to this earth in a web of stories, held in place by the gravity of narrative.”
“Like others, I watched the recall election in Wisconsin very closely last night. Were people surprised by the result? Does it have national significance?”
We lived that story. Many progressives were on the ground in Wisconsin last Tuesday. Our efforts welcomed – My sentiment, chaffing to say the least… Recall should never be a response to an awakening from one’s slumber. To lend voice to those without, priceless…
To one who was a child immigrant and has been a designer, builder, community organizer and protestor since age eleven, witnessing the decaying foundation this great nation was built upon while erecting walls, without foundation, (Matthew 7: 26–27) that divide and separate, is significant.
Enduring foundations (infra structure, institutions, etc.) are woven together with an inter-related web of reinforcing methods often conceived and designed by the manicured hands of a few and installed and maintained by the callused hands of many. “American Exceptionalism” once rested upon solid ground and as time often defines; far too many have been lulled asleep by visions of entitlement and expectation – Sequestered within guarded confines, content to voice aspersions through internet, text and twitter – short stories hastily told and seen through rose colored glasses – Preached values, pedestal placed and enshrined as beacons to a polarized minority. Patchwork quilts speak to a storied past, individually woven and joined as family and community – One of today’s most prized patchworks is a touch away, the web of “Apps” accessed from a display screen…
With the landing of our founding fathers upon these shores, walls were often the first to be erected – walls erected to define and in ways protect community. Over the centuries, walls were taken down; communities were combined to become states and states combined to become a nation – A nation transformed into a beacon promoting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Regression is on the march, seeking a nation divided where the ties that bind, (our government?) are being loosed – states are gerrymandered into regions, regions are becoming gated or isolated communities of a like-minded or restricted populous. The middle class has become a shadow of its former self. Banners proclaim necessity to restrict government intervention, to take our country back and reclaim personal liberties and rights – including the right to lord the “rightness” of the few over the many. All portend a grave national significance…
The efficiencies and increased productivity of a virtual world are both blessing and curse. In the workplace, melting pots of culture have often been replaced by tightly defined, gourmet enclaves – personal interaction by voice or place deemed less efficient and the gains desired achieved at a price. Chance encounters are lessened, opportunity lost to gaze into another’s eyes, to be encouraged or challenged in the presence of each other, to unexpectedly meet a new friend… Choosing to march behind banners in solidarity, often begets solidarity – our own!
“Like others, I watched the recall election in Wisconsin very closely last night. Were people surprised by the result? Does it have national significance?”
We lived that story. Many progressives were on the ground in Wisconsin last Tuesday. Our efforts welcomed – My sentiment, chaffing to say the least… Recall should never be a response to an awakening from one’s slumber. To lend voice to those without, priceless…
To one who was a child immigrant and has been a designer, builder, community organizer and protestor since age eleven, witnessing the decaying foundation this great nation was built upon while erecting walls, without foundation, (Matthew 7: 26–27) that divide and separate, is significant.
Enduring foundations (infra structure, institutions, etc.) are woven together with an inter-related web of reinforcing methods often conceived and designed by the manicured hands of a few and installed and maintained by the callused hands of many. “American Exceptionalism” once rested upon solid ground and as time often defines; far too many have been lulled asleep by visions of entitlement and expectation – Sequestered within guarded confines, content to voice aspersions through internet, text and twitter – short stories hastily told and seen through rose colored glasses – Preached values, pedestal placed and enshrined as beacons to a polarized minority. Patchwork quilts speak to a storied past, individually woven and joined as family and community – One of today’s most prized patchworks is a touch away, the web of “Apps” accessed from a display screen…
With the landing of our founding fathers upon these shores, walls were often the first to be erected – walls erected to define and in ways protect community. Over the centuries, walls were taken down; communities were combined to become states and states combined to become a nation – A nation transformed into a beacon promoting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Regression is on the march, seeking a nation divided where the ties that bind, (our government?) are being loosed – states are gerrymandered into regions, regions are becoming gated or isolated communities of a like-minded or restricted populous. The middle class has become a shadow of its former self. Banners proclaim necessity to restrict government intervention, to take our country back and reclaim personal liberties and rights – including the right to lord the “rightness” of the few over the many. All portend a grave national significance…
The efficiencies and increased productivity of a virtual world are both blessing and curse. In the workplace, melting pots of culture have often been replaced by tightly defined, gourmet enclaves – personal interaction by voice or place deemed less efficient and the gains desired achieved at a price. Chance encounters are lessened, opportunity lost to gaze into another’s eyes, to be encouraged or challenged in the presence of each other, to unexpectedly meet a new friend… Choosing to march behind banners in solidarity, often begets solidarity – our own!
# posted by 
: 11:58 AM
: 11:58 AM
I pray each night for opportunity to rebuild the middle class. Architecture, like a number of other professions, is rooted in the parable of the wedding feast and the invitation it offers (Matthew 22: 1–10).
Development of a design concept is enhanced through awareness of site and inclusion and interaction of the client, the financier, governing bodies, codes, ordinances, the design team – usually a collaboration of individuals sharing common interests, connected through a web of intertwined professions… communicated upon “clean slates” embellished to contain word and line, transformed into a symphony of potential, the project’s telling – into its story.
Each project has a musical score and each musician, his or her own solo performance. There are few experiences more satisfying. To compose is an honor, to conduct is a blessing.
Without the efforts of each supplier and craftsperson, detailed drawings are at best art worthy only of critique. Construction gives a concept form, nestling form to God’s creation (“…tied to this earth”), giving voice to efforts of many and hopefully quiet recognition to all. When a house becomes a home, neighborhoods are strengthened. When a public building opens and spaces become safe harbors for interaction, discussion and discernment, communities are strengthened – each occurrence enhancing and adding more stories to the woven web that joins us together.
The opportunity to direct the efforts of an unknown cast, called together from all walks of life, for a common cause remains daunting and welcomed. Most of the materials used are American produced or made, little can be out-sourced and the wages remain within our communities and help fuel the local economy. The work place can become a stage where all have a voice and in my world, it has. Better to be defined by the gratitude of the individuals invited to contribute to your current project and best by their requests to work on your next – than by title printed on a business card and the authority conveyed.
“Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but most surely, on the soul.” – Ernest Dimnet
“Architecture is inhabited sculpture.” – Unknown
Architecture is often the pages of inhabited scripture. When the Spirit allows another person to feel safe, affirmed and comfortable within a space created and in our presence, so many wonderful experiences are possible – silence can be enjoyed, listening can be rewarded, words can be appreciated, a message can be heard, tasks can be accomplished, relationships can be reinforced or mended, events can be defining, love can be made, the possibilities are endless. It starts with sharing a moment, sharing a moment together; nothing has value unless it is shared.
Imagine the significance of celebrating listening and sharing once again. It is possible, if we awake from our slumber and begin to acknowledge the gifts, talents and diversity of all of our brothers and sisters. In my profession, I am blessed with that opportunity each day. Many are and such a sweet blessing it is…
Development of a design concept is enhanced through awareness of site and inclusion and interaction of the client, the financier, governing bodies, codes, ordinances, the design team – usually a collaboration of individuals sharing common interests, connected through a web of intertwined professions… communicated upon “clean slates” embellished to contain word and line, transformed into a symphony of potential, the project’s telling – into its story.
Each project has a musical score and each musician, his or her own solo performance. There are few experiences more satisfying. To compose is an honor, to conduct is a blessing.
Without the efforts of each supplier and craftsperson, detailed drawings are at best art worthy only of critique. Construction gives a concept form, nestling form to God’s creation (“…tied to this earth”), giving voice to efforts of many and hopefully quiet recognition to all. When a house becomes a home, neighborhoods are strengthened. When a public building opens and spaces become safe harbors for interaction, discussion and discernment, communities are strengthened – each occurrence enhancing and adding more stories to the woven web that joins us together.
The opportunity to direct the efforts of an unknown cast, called together from all walks of life, for a common cause remains daunting and welcomed. Most of the materials used are American produced or made, little can be out-sourced and the wages remain within our communities and help fuel the local economy. The work place can become a stage where all have a voice and in my world, it has. Better to be defined by the gratitude of the individuals invited to contribute to your current project and best by their requests to work on your next – than by title printed on a business card and the authority conveyed.
“Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but most surely, on the soul.” – Ernest Dimnet
“Architecture is inhabited sculpture.” – Unknown
Architecture is often the pages of inhabited scripture. When the Spirit allows another person to feel safe, affirmed and comfortable within a space created and in our presence, so many wonderful experiences are possible – silence can be enjoyed, listening can be rewarded, words can be appreciated, a message can be heard, tasks can be accomplished, relationships can be reinforced or mended, events can be defining, love can be made, the possibilities are endless. It starts with sharing a moment, sharing a moment together; nothing has value unless it is shared.
Imagine the significance of celebrating listening and sharing once again. It is possible, if we awake from our slumber and begin to acknowledge the gifts, talents and diversity of all of our brothers and sisters. In my profession, I am blessed with that opportunity each day. Many are and such a sweet blessing it is…
# posted by : 12:02 PM
: 12:02 PM
Home run again,Professor.The real and raw nitty gritty,the human being as he is,and caring for him/her, trumps theory and ironclad rules any day of the week.But you must admit to your own frailty,vulnerability to espouse this. Thank God you do. Big hug.
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