Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Bellyache

Bellyache: (v) to complain noisily or persistently.

Dictionary B

When does comparing become complaining?

When does musing over better ideas turn into lamentation over our lack?

When do we find ourselves bellyaching concerning the tenuous nature of the human race instead of uplifting our species to find the Kingdom of God within us?

I think it all depends on whether we lose our sense of humor.

The minute we feel it is our mission to discuss humanity and the failing conditions of our race in serious terms or with statistics and facts, we are in danger of turning into the kind of intellectual snobs which we normally disdain.

  • With every suggestion must come a hope.
  • Every criticism requires a door of escape.
  • And when we address the creation of Eden–man and woman–we need to afford them the respect given by their Creator, who looked down on them in their total nakedness … and thought it was all good.

 

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Anthology

dictionary with letter A

Anthology (n.): a published collection of poems, songs, musical compositions or writings, compiled in a single album.

I am thoroughly convinced that we do not learn anything at all until the new idea is explained to us in relationship to something we already believe or know.

This is why it’s difficult to study for a test–because if the information is abstract and merely connected by words or numbers, we are depending on our brain to memorize it instead of associating it with something already stored.

I will go so far as to say that the quickest way to confuse people is to ask them to learn something without giving them a point of reference or a comparison to something with which they are already acquainted.

It’s why I’ve always been impressed by the craft of storytelling–to link a previous idea with the next idea, lending itself to an easy transformation into the following idea, culminating with what we determine to be a logical conclusion.

I think some of the best things I’ve ever read, heard or experienced in my life were really anthologies–pieces of information linked together by a common, spirited goal.

Jesus once told people that “the Kingdom of God is like…” and then he gave many, many examples of everyday events and objects so that the people’s finite brain could understand the tiny tip of the iceberg of the universe. Keep in mind–the power of the tip of the iceberg is that at least you’re on the iceberg instead of drowning in a sea of confusion.

I would welcome politics, religion, art, music, movies and even everyday conversation to have more linkage and common references so that we can create an anthology in our mind that lends itself to greater understanding.

 

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Allegory

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Allegory: (n) a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one: e.g. Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory of the spiritual journey.

I am not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line, the word “reality” became synonymous with “truth.”

Reality is not truth. Rather, it is our present fallen position.

Often we have to escape reality to climb a little higher to see over the mounds of our own stupidity. Yet in the past thirty or forty years, entertainment, education and even our politics have boasted their “open-mindedness” and intellectual pursuits by taking a snapshot of ongoing human behavior, insisting that it is a tableau of our destiny.

Isn’t that ridiculous?

So when I think about the allegory, I realize that it is almost a lost art–because allegory does exactly the opposite of reality movies and TV. The allegory says there are principles, feelings and ideas which are eternal and lasting–which only need to be passed through the prism of our present understanding in order to enlighten us.

Just because people are going through a season when they think God is mean, or doesn’t exist at all, does not mean that’s what they will feel in five years.

What is the consensus of human need on the issue? Find that–then draw an allegory, using the language of our times to present everlasting truth.

  • I don’t want society deciding what is valuable.
  • I don’t want to have a conversation with someone about television shows which extol violence, crime, graft, greed and incest and have him look at me with pity because I don’t understand that it’s “a true story.”
  • I don’t want to watch vampires suck the blood out of werewolves as witches place curses on hobbits who are out to pursue rings by killing dragons and believe that I am out of step because it is just necessary escapist fantasy. Maybe Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are attempts at allegory, but they are so cluttered with the inclusion of destiny that they lose the passion of free will.

I admire allegory.

I appreciate the way Jesus used allegory in parables, explaining the kingdom of God to people by referencing fish, coins, bread yeast and mustard seeds instead of merely bitching about the Romans and complaining about the boring Pharisees.

Reality is not truth.

Truth is finding a way to share what has blessed our species for thousands of years … in a contemporary fashion.