He passed up going to seminary because he couldn't live without his amplifier.
"He played drums.. well I guess I'll play guitar then" was how he started guitar.
His first real job was as an upholstery apprentice.
"Robbed blind, looked around, and there was nobody else! Left alone I hit myself with a stone, and learned how to clean up after myself!" - Icky Thump
Then there's a few things you learn from him.
You don't gotta be a gentleman to have class.
Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground is a good enough name to make record sales.
Rock and Roll is still the best medicine in the 21st century.
Then there's a couple everyone just loves to hate.
He had a shaman re-marry him to a British model in a canoe while floating down the Amazon River.
He beat out Orlando Bloom and Kate Winslet in a list of Britain's best entertainers of the year 2006.
I suppose he's what you would call a daredevil and an eccentric. Highlight this if you want to read a bit about what I hold a daredevil to be in contrast to a rationalist. (Don't ask me why you have to highlight it, you just do whenever I copy and paste from my VHS writings.)
"Say you are facing what seems to be an impossible obstacle because everyone else you know has fallen just short of the required mark. Statistically speaking, the most rational conclusion is to assume that since zero of the attempts have succeeded, you yourself have a quite low probability of completing the assignment. This kind of reason can be greatly influential, as it will discourage you from attempting what appears to be beyond your reach and ultimately protect you from failure altogether. You cannot go wrong if you forever listen to reason. For this reason, rationalism seems to be both the most appealing and attractive of philosophies to life. 'Many a man never fails because he never tries.' - Norman Macewan. Rationalists get A's. Rationalists have perfect records. Rationalists educate themselves, get good jobs, and pay for the education of their posterity. Rationalists typically live productively and die content. Forget the impossible and live your life grounded, you'll never crash. Be a rationalist, avoid religion and avoid emotion, and you'll live the majestic life. You will be respected, you will be well-known, you will be popular, and you will be able to enjoy the trivialities life presents. Don't take risks, be happy.
"Of course that circle can't be a circle, because I'm seeing it. No true circles exist in this tangible world, nor any true lines; they only exist in the intelligible world. There is a strong possibility I am not sitting here in this class at this very moment. Suppose all were an illusion and I had no body at all, therefore I could not be sitting here in this chair. Suppose my sense of self was a deceptive illusion, then I could not exist. Suppose this class were merely a figment of my imagination or a portion of one of my dreams, none of this would be really happening. There are no definites, yet all is bound by rational law. There are no knowledgeable laws, but there is definite reason. Definition only exists in absolute reason and law, forget me."
- The Rationalist
"Only listen to reason when it is absolutely necessary to do so, otherwise, it's merely getting in the way. If you commit each of your actions to solid rationale, you will be greatly constricted in many of the things that you would normally give your best go at. Never tell me the odds, let me give my best go at it so I can at least go home satisfied. Let me live up my life, so that when I die, I know I've done all that I possibly could have. To know that I wouldn't give up when the world said I was crazy, to know that every challenge that presented itself to me I did all I could to overcome it, and most of the time I did. I was a man of righteous action and a man of enlightened truth. I may not have lived the picture perfect life, but I kept my priorities organized and honestly did all I could. I kept my schooling far from my education and always actively learned. Sometimes my reasons were foggy, but I took advantage of everything that came my way. Every risk became an adventure for me. I devoted myself to my God before those even I cared about, those that opposed this devotion have received their justice. My life in this world wasn't a pleasure cruise; therefore, it was an exhilarating one. I had my own respect before myself, before my family, and before the one true God. I sprung up from every crash and burn. I was a daredevil and a steamroller that refused to give up. My life made and broke hearts, if you take a look you'll realize it was an emotional rollercoaster. I was one highly unstable and explosive piece of work, coming near me was dangerous, we were happy.
"Ask me again, is that circle a circle? I don't really care, many would tell me it is not simply because it doesn't follow the rules. Neither did I, does that make me less of a man? I lived my life in the world that mattered, the tangible one, the rest of it was just fluff for those who had the time to give it their thoughts. If I feel like I'm sitting here in this chair, I'm going to sit in this chair taking this class as well as I possibly can. If all I know is a deception, I'll still make it a golden opportunity to be the best I can be. If what I percieve as my body is not a body, does it really matter? I've used it for some pretty great things in the service of my Lord, I'll give it that much. If this has all been a dream, it's been one hell of a ride. If there are no definites, who needs a rational law? If there can be no true knowledge, what's the point of reasoning that out? Definition exists in what I by faith know to be true and what my Creator has told me it is. As long as I know the man who died and rose for me reigns supreme and we have both been empowered by the one true God, nothing else eternally matters. The world will never forget that. The world will never forget me."
- The Daredevil
Who are you? Are you a man of science or a man of faith? Who do you serve? Do you serve your spontaneous and ever-changing self or do you serve the eternal and lasting Creator and Savior? Where do you find your strength and your wisdom? Do you rely upon your own experience and understanding, or do you rely upon what has been granted to you and the ways in which you have used it? Make your choice carefully. Rene Descartes or Kick Buttowski?
The latter, the one Jesus chose, sounds much more fun to me.
The question for this assignment was "How much of a rationalist are you?"
With the largely Bostonian or other intellectually-oriented classmates of mine, "I'm a total rationalist!" was the common response. That was interesting, because I think just about everything an intellectual writes is interesting. Valid or exciting? Not always. Fascinating? Never disappoints.
So, this kind of all goes hand in hand with the idea that if you stand out of your company, you've got a shot at what's known as history. Your crowd's really just a background to your life. The Transcedentalists put a lot of effort and time into this, "marching to the beat of their own drum." Step out of what's normally your company, and you'll be in better company. Individualists are a good company. Being a hipster is a lot of fun.
I had thought of starting my journal this way, "The most important thing I've learned about Jesus is that Jesus wasn't always no gentleman." That's the truth, he wasn't always a pacifist (temple scene was pretty harcore) and he sometimes was a sarcastic, teasing, joker. The guy loved to play verbal ball almost as much as he loved to philosophize. Never forget that his first miracle was to get the party on. Considering the company he put himself in, I can almost guarantee you Jesus would have joined a fraternity and led his ministry there. He would befriend fratboys and pimps and gangsters before he hung with youth pastors and ministers of apologetics. Jack White could have been his "disciple that loved Jesus." Jack was born a John anyway.
You know who is always a gentleman? Satan and the demons. If they presented themselves as assholes nobody would join up or buy into sin. They're like perfect salesmen, they make what they're selling look so good and so awesome when maybe it's just like those lesser products Billy Mays always got so worked up over. It wouldn't work if they didn't politely present it and make it look nice. It just wouldn't.
Now God's Words is a little less full of bull.. actually, a lot more. There is absolutely zero bull in the Bible, once you forget about that Leviticus mumbo jumbo (because it's actually pretty interesting if you read it right.. and pray that God will help it make sense to you, which is a miracle, of course). God gives it like it is, with the good, the bad, and the ugly, because he loves us enough to not have to lie.
"Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
- Buttercup's Man
You know, now that we've got The Dread Pirate Roberts himself into the mix, I feel like we should define what this gentleman nature is that we've been talking about. This really isn't that simple.
If you use Google Chrome, like you should, because nothing else cuts it, and it's free, and it's the only browser that Google lets run Docs right, you'll find when you type define:gentleman into the search bar you get two definitions. And if you've learned one thing about me and the way I use words, it's usually that second one I go for. Jesus was certainly "A chivalrous, courteous, [and] honorable man" but he was not a "man of good social position." He was tried and killed for blaspheme by a Roman court influenced by the Pharisees and the local crowds. He was positioned as a criminal and executed likewise. We don't love Louis XVI of France. He wasn't that gentleman that you hate in Pip before he realizes how much he's been screwing Joe over for all his kindness. He wasn't that gentleman that you see in British movies that is "too propah for the likes of you." Not at all. He was that gentleman that you see in the Dread Pirate Roberts. He was that gentleman that you love in Jack Bauer. He was that gentleman that you would want your sons to become.
Jesus was the John 2 gentleman:
"Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and his disciples believed in Him."
And that wasn't just because of the wine.
"After making a whip out of cords, He drove everyone out of the temple complex with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out money changers' coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, "Get these things out of here! Stop turning My Father's house into a marketplace!"
If you can think of what the temple must have been like in the capital of the Jewish world, Jerusalem, it would have been crowded. There were people there who believed they had their eternal sanctity at sake, so they were probably pretty determined to be there. Not to mention many of them had come from far away to atone for their sins via the doves (which seems a lot like the Catholic church's indulgences, am I right?) and had committed a lot of time and effort into this attempt at earning forgiveness. So, a ton of people, a considerably secure place, people who definitely don't wanna leave, and you've got a phone and need to call one man to clear out this place and put an end to this madness.
Who do you call?
Jack Bauer?
Rambo?
Chuck Norris?
How about Jesus?
That's our gentleman hero.
That's our God.
Jesus is our God.
Jesus is our Lord!
You gotta love Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment