Food for Thought
I am reading a few entries from Casaubon's Book that are tagged "adapting in place". This notion of adapting right where I am, instead of believing that I should leave the city limits and homestead in the country somewhere appeals greatly to my sense of practicality (also, my sense of gratification, which is more easily satisfied with the here and now than with 'someday').
I came upon one entry, a very VERY long one, entitled Best Two Falls Out of Three: Wrestling with Temptation, Discipline and Self-Denial.
In this post is the following:I’m reminded of a story that Scott Savage tells in _The Plain Reader_ he writes:
A story that appeared a number of years ago in the Amish publication _Family Life_ told of a busload of tourists who visited an Amish farmer. The group consisted of people from many religious denominations. One of them said, “We already know all about Jesus Christ, but what does it mean to be Amish?” The Amish fellow thought for a minute and then asked for a show of hands for how many in the tour group had televisions. Every hand went up. Then he asked how many thought that maybe having a television contributed to a lot of social and spiritual problems in society. Again, every hand went up. In light of this, he asked, how many would be willing to give up having television? This time, no hands went up. He went on to explain that this was the essence of being Amish: a willingness to do without something if that thing is not good for them spiritually.
The Amish do so with both the force of community and the force of faith behind them. My own suspicions that I’d be better off without a car exist, not in complete isolation, but outside a unified cultural sense that cars are harmful - even though we know they are. We are not all going to share Amish religious convictions - but I wonder if there is a way to translate some of their culture of self-limitation into a secular reality?
In light of the rest of what she wrote in her post, the primary reason I gave up having a television (having cable, really, since I couldn't get local stations on my tv without static) was because it was easier for me to get rid of the tv than it was to limit my time spent in front of it. I don't have as much self-discipline as I would like to (do any of us, really?), so because I was pretty much addicted to tv shows, I chose to ditch access to the shows instead of trying not to get sucked it and failing miserably.
But this quote about what it means to be Amish, I find incredibly intriguing, and I wonder, right along with Sharon Astyk (the blogger), if this sort of mentality could find its way into mainstream society. Makes me think of a lot of the rhetoric in Obama's speeches about duty and responsibility and hard times, etc. And, in a related vein, it makes me think about the main character in Office Space. Sometimes, a person just wants to dig ditches, y'know? Something REAL and tangible.
I wish I could be more coherent, but I am, indeed, flu-ridden. Ugh.
I came upon one entry, a very VERY long one, entitled Best Two Falls Out of Three: Wrestling with Temptation, Discipline and Self-Denial.
In this post is the following:I’m reminded of a story that Scott Savage tells in _The Plain Reader_ he writes:
A story that appeared a number of years ago in the Amish publication _Family Life_ told of a busload of tourists who visited an Amish farmer. The group consisted of people from many religious denominations. One of them said, “We already know all about Jesus Christ, but what does it mean to be Amish?” The Amish fellow thought for a minute and then asked for a show of hands for how many in the tour group had televisions. Every hand went up. Then he asked how many thought that maybe having a television contributed to a lot of social and spiritual problems in society. Again, every hand went up. In light of this, he asked, how many would be willing to give up having television? This time, no hands went up. He went on to explain that this was the essence of being Amish: a willingness to do without something if that thing is not good for them spiritually.
The Amish do so with both the force of community and the force of faith behind them. My own suspicions that I’d be better off without a car exist, not in complete isolation, but outside a unified cultural sense that cars are harmful - even though we know they are. We are not all going to share Amish religious convictions - but I wonder if there is a way to translate some of their culture of self-limitation into a secular reality?
In light of the rest of what she wrote in her post, the primary reason I gave up having a television (having cable, really, since I couldn't get local stations on my tv without static) was because it was easier for me to get rid of the tv than it was to limit my time spent in front of it. I don't have as much self-discipline as I would like to (do any of us, really?), so because I was pretty much addicted to tv shows, I chose to ditch access to the shows instead of trying not to get sucked it and failing miserably.
But this quote about what it means to be Amish, I find incredibly intriguing, and I wonder, right along with Sharon Astyk (the blogger), if this sort of mentality could find its way into mainstream society. Makes me think of a lot of the rhetoric in Obama's speeches about duty and responsibility and hard times, etc. And, in a related vein, it makes me think about the main character in Office Space. Sometimes, a person just wants to dig ditches, y'know? Something REAL and tangible.
I wish I could be more coherent, but I am, indeed, flu-ridden. Ugh.