Doctrine, or, The Fallen Nature of Systematics

So, I was thinking after church today about doctrine. Actually, about doctrine and evangelism and biblical interpretation and living a 'Christian' life (an idea that distresses me enough to be a set of essays, but not to be written today).

I believe that doctrine is not to be the First Thing, as in, that which is Priority #1. In fact, it may not even show up in my Top Five. And here's why: Doctrine cannot circumscribe God. It is a part of man's attempt to understand, and true, complete understanding is not something that the limitations of human nature allows for. I think that's a safe statement to make regardless of whether you believe humans were created by God or whether God doesn't exist and therefore didn't create humans, or some other viewpoint. The simple reality is that the human mind, soul, and body cannot completely, truly understand. Anything. In part, yes. Good enough for forward motion, yes. Completely and truly, no. And if it can't circumscribe God, it cannot convey reality.

God comes first.

The thing is, I think that's easily recognizable. And I think most Christians can recognize that. But when you then ask, "Well, what do we do with that?", nobody really knows. Because God's un-understandable. Yes, he comes first, but I can't grasp him, so what do I do? So people set about making it simpler (another topic that could easily warrant it's own set of essays). They don't necessarily do so intentionally, they do so out of a perceived necessity. And it is necessary. Humans need something to follow, whether instructions or people or vibes or zeitgeist. So where's the problem?

Doctrine is all about systems. Whether the system is rational and logical, or intuitive and mystical, doctrine revolves around ordering things so that they can be understood and, thus, followed or adhered to. Making them static. God, however is not static. He is dynamic. And reality is dynamic. Certain things stay the same, just as God himself is characterized by his unchangingness, yet there is no staticness. The foundation is set, but the connections move.
This dynamicism is something doctrine can't convey. You can make a "dynamic" doctrine, but it won't convey what is unchanging.

Doctrines, like ideologies (they are brothers), are insufficient.

So, I think the point here is, you have to keep looking beyond the doctrine to what it is trying to talk about. Where is the real thing?

God is the real thing. And following him is interacting. The doctrine can serve as a marker or a signpost, but God is the one to interact with. And that requires real work, both intuitive and learned. It requires actual interaction, true relationship, honest communication, quality time spent.







Not that I'm any good at it...

Hung My Head

I love the song "I Hung My Head" by Sting from his Mercury Falling album.



It's a sad song, but a beautiful one and I've always loved the rhythm in the both the verse and chorus. I think initially what hooked me about the song was the guitar sound. At the time I first heard it, around winter of 1996, I had pulled it out of the library along with a Sarah McLachlan album that had this one really interesting track with a great overdriven gritty guitar sound (maybe "Ice" from The Freedom Sessions) (yeah, overdriven guitar and Sarah McLachlan don't go together, part of what made it so interesting) and Peter Gabriel's Us and So albums. I loved Us and So, the way those records sound is amazing.

Somehow, these sounds remain tied together in my mind, in some kind of sympathetic sound.

All of this is set on a backdrop of some of the other guitar sounds I was drawn to at the time like "One of Us" by Joan Osborne and "Wonder" and "Carnival" by Natalie Merchant, "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla (which owned the radio at the time), and everything by The Gin Blossoms. There was just a lot of really overdriven guitar music on the radio at the time. Not really heavily distorted in my mind, just good, pleasantly-overdriven to gritty guitar sounds in the pop world at the time.

"I Hung my Head" is another instance, and perhaps my favorite of those mentioned here, of that overdriven quality. Here it's much sweeter and with the added effects it's really stirring and gorgeous to me. In fact, the duo of albums coming from Sting at the time, Ten Summoner's Tales" and "Mercury Falling" had some really wonderful guitar sounds to my ear, both then and now.

At any rate, I haven't heard this song in a few years and it was nice to have it pop in my brain and be able to hear it again through the magic that is The Internet.

New Year, New Thoughts

Is it a new decade or just a new year? Does it really matter? You have to mark off your time somehow, but I'm not sure that numbers are particularly better than, say, the moon. And apparently, this month is a blue moon month. Two full moons in one month. See what I mean? Numbers versus nature. It's the standard versus metric argument.

Anyway, I think I've decided to stop letting my evangelical-Revelations-interpretation past from influencing my present decisions/thoughts about world events anymore. It's not been at the forefront of my thinking for some time, that evangelical intrepration history, but it's still in there at the back of things. In a phrase, it's not a good idea to let prophecy influence your decisions. Prophecy will work itself out in its own time and way. You have to work yourself/situation out regardless. Still, I'm surprised at how the interpretations of Scripture from my youth still figure largely into my thinking/acting at the age of 30. I've spent lots of time thinking about Scripture and life and interpretation and the fact that there are still significant holdovers from my growing up, while normal, comes off as surprising to me. Kids, learn this lesson: adult's views on the world are often no more thorough or long-sighted than your own viewpoints. Learn to understand the differences between thorough and true; not thorough and true; not thorough and not true; and thorough and not true. Also, understand that thorough is a matter of gradients and nothing is ever truly thorough enough.

Do people who aren't religiously Christian understand that within Christianity there are significant differences in understanding of God, Scripture, and how to live life?

I have also been thinking about this statement that Jesus made to the religious leaders of Israel during his lifetime: "You diligently search the Scriptures, thinking that by them you have life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life." I've been thinking lately that this underlying concept should gird all Biblical interpretation. I have to admit that I've been a bit frustrated/bitter at the conservative Christians in my life for putting (what I now feel is) more emphasis on scriptural "adherence" than actual relationship with God. (As a not of fairness, the liberals have the opposite problem: relationship without adherence.)

Similarly, two things: Christians don't seem to understand the Bible as set of literary documents and the following idea: there are no answers only processes. This is similar to the concept that everything is dynamic, nothing is static.

I just woke up from a dream in which I had gone to the wrong place of employment, wrong city even, and when I went to get back in my car and go to the right place, somebody was trying to break into my car, except it was their truck and I was just confused because it was parked next to my car, and everything was fine, except when I opened my car door, my car was about to be towed by two semi-professionals who were going to two it with a chain around my tow hitch (I don't have one), so I unchained it but when I got in, I couldn't keep my car from rolling backwards and the only way to stop it from rolling backwards was to get it started and get it going forward because the brakes were locked out while the car was off. But I couldn't get it started. I, impossibly, missed a car, fence, dense brush, and one more car while I figured out how to get the car started. I finally got it started and spun to avoid a car, and woke up.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

I haven't written in this thing for awhile, but I'm definitely feeling it today.

I went to Walmart after work and completely forgot that it's two days 'til christmas. I just wanted a lightbulb, a fuel additive, some rice, and some yogurt. Wowzers, that place was a wreck. There were a lot of people, a ron of boxes everywhere, and about twice as many employees as are usually stocking shelves and 11:oo at night.

That's also when I realized that I think I'm become a bit selfish because I haven't even really attempted to find presents for my mom and dad, at the least, since I'm not going to be with the family this year. I know what I'd like to get my Dad, but I just wrote the gift-giving aspect of Christmas off. I guess that's kinda lame.

I didn't find the yogurt, decided to not get the fuel additive, and bought some tea along with my rice and lightbulb.

I'm working now at this place in Hudson, a company that finishes nuts and bolts. (See it's been so long that I can't even remember if I talked abut that here.) I work an in-between shift, 2-10:30 p.m. It's kinda nice. Get up when I want, go to bed when I want, no worries.

Now I had a reason for mentioning that. It was background to something I was going to say. Oh well.

Oh right, so I'm working in Hudson and living in Kent in the basement room of a family I know from a church here. And I find it weird to use their kitchen to cook in. I'm not sure why, but it just feels awkward. So, I don't. And for a couple months I just ate out all the time. Literally. Which I've never done before in my life, and wow: that's expensive and unhealthy. Geez. So, I finally decided that I've got to find some way to cook at least a few meals in my room. So I bought a rice cooker. Hence the rice at Walmart. And that's that.

I have some records in my car I should go get out because I think they're going to get warped in their current state.

Cold. It's cold outside getting my records. I love records. I have a number of them, although fewer than I used to, necessitated by my inability to stay in one locale recently.

I also just noticed the package my mother sent me!!! It's got food!!! It's good Christmas food!!!
All desserts, no filler! My mother makes an amazing fruitcake which is always the highlight of my Christmas consumption. And I've got my very own. (This is no ordinary cake batter, rum-infested, nut-filled, chalky, dusty, rock hard mockery. This is a sweet, moist full-flavored extravaganza of joy.)

So, thank you Mom!!

I bought a new microphone, the CAD E-100-2. It's the first condenser I've had that I would describe as being dark sounding, despite what the frequency response chart would make you believe. It's dissappointing, frankly. But I'm also trying to figure out if maybe it's just me somehow. We'll see. Nevertheless, can't help but love a new microphone. :)

You Can Make Me Dance

Just heard a song by The Faces I'd never heard before. Great little tune. It's called (get this!): You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog For a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings). Pretty great title and a great little tune, although it definitely leans towards Stewart's future disco stuff but thankfully is stopped short by some really nice rolling bluesy riffing by Ron Wood.

Hear it here.

See the ever (un)sexy Stewart sing this number here.

Wilco

I finally found a place to listen to Wilco's latest online. It's sweet. Can I just say that the addition of Nels Cline's lap steel makes everything better all the time? Yes, yes, I can, and yes, yes, I have. Because it's true. Foundation of the world true. It's amazing when you can consistently count on someone to always get it right, and that's what you get with Nels' work with Wilco. There will always be bright flaming meteor showers like Hendrix and Clapton and whoever else, but at the end of the night, Nels' bright shining morning star will always be there for you in the same perfect way it was yesterday.

The new album is in many ways Sky Blue Sky, part 2, but not in a rehash kind of way or in a b-sides way, but rather in a that was yesterday, this is today kind of way. Same band, new city, new view. From an analytical standpoint, I think you could say there's something of Summerteeth on here, even some A.M. It's sort of a return to "traditional" Wilco after having wandered through the Yankee-Ghost-Sky arc.

One thing that really amazes me right now is: just what has Tweedy tapped into lyrically?? It's like he's channeling something outside of this world, something...spiritual... It's bizarre. Not bad bizarre, but amazing bizarre. I'm scratching my mind listening to this right now, kind of jaw-dropped at this thread that he seems to have hit upon with these last two albums. Maybe it's just me, but I swear he's talking about stuff that is not only on my mind, but on the mind of a lot of people I know. It's like he's summarizing and then further exploring these ideas I keep running across, running across like the leakage from an underground stream I keep finding. I'm really wondering if I'm the only one that feels this way? Either way, he's writing some great stuff.

The album just finished. Too short! Not a criticism at all, but gosh, I want to hear the tracking tapes!! More, more! No end of track fades! Anyway, good, good stuff. Really good.

Hear it here:

http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.artistalbums&artistid=0&albumid=12647299