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| The most interesting parts of being a reporter are frequently those
which do not end up in the paper. On Monday I was covering a small town
council and chastised for wearing a tie by three separate people. The
lack of proper governmental procedure was actually quite funny and
council members made light of their lack of knowledge of Robert's Rules
of Order. At one point one of the members suggested that they change
the way council members are elected and they were on the verge of
taking a vote on it when they decided to wait and talk to the Town
Attorney who was out umpiring a little league game. I am pretty sure a
change like that might even require a town charter change...
On
my way back from the meeting I happened to pass by River Preserve
County Park. I decided to stop. I was blown away by the amount of
wildlife in the park. In the short time I was there I saw two blue
heron, a velvety buck, a northern water snake and carp trying to jump a
dam. I have lived in Elkhart County most of my life and I had never
visited the park. I was so inspired by my visit that I decided to to
write a profile story on it which is currently in the works.
While
working on the story I had the pleasure of interviewing the park
manager. He was quite the character and I enjoyed spending a few ours
with him. I always love meeting interesting people. He started out in
the oil industry and in now a naturalist. He plays in a rock band
called the Tsunami Salamis. He said his next move will be totally off
the grid where he thinks he will have a better chance of shifting
dimensions. He was formally a catholic who now believes in something
akin to the power of positive thinking. Enthusiastically
gesturing in the air to his right he told me to tap into the positive
energies. "We are all gods," he said. Jesus came to show us how to tap
into these energies and break free from the "controller."
The man
could quote Scripture. "The Jehovah's Witnesses finally stopped coming
around," he said. He said the problem with Christianity is that it
encourages people to rely on something other than themselves, which was
giving into the controller. This is classic Gnosticism and it always
amazes me how these old heresies keep cropping up.
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| In
the modern political climate being a Christian implies a desire to spread democracy
and ban flag burning. Throw in a "In "God" We Trust" licence plate to
solidify allegiance to the anonymous god civil religion and you are
set. This god is certainly not the trinitarian God of the holy
scriptures. Why Christians are so obsessed with making sure a bland
vanilla higher power is acknowledged on their mud caked bumper is
shocking to me. Watching Mit Romney try to come to terms with his
Mormonism in this election illustrates the difficulties of the civil
religion. On Fox News today a member of his campaign said that it does
not matter where he goes to Church but only that he has faith in god.
The emphasis is on faith, not god. All we need is some sort of
amorphous faith. That Christians will nod in agreement is shocking.
Better to have no God in the civil sphere at all then Christians
stripping their faith to accommodate themselves to this world in which
they are pilgrims and wanderers.
I guess taking swipes at the civil religion is in poor taste right now.
The Rev. Fallwell died today. He did more than anyone to try to
restore religion to the public sphere. His motives were pure. Whether
his theology of the mundane was constructive or destructive to
Christianity is another matter. But this is known: He was a man who
loved God (the trinitarian one). | | |
| Continuing with my reflection, these two images sum up my last year at Hillsdale. A prize to whoever can figure out what I mean by them.
"Line Storm" by John Stewart Curry
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School is over. I have a week before I start my summer internship at the Goshen
News and so I sit in my room (if that is what you can call it since it
is usually the guest/computer room) and contemplate a school year gone
by and a summer beginning. There is always a weird feeling at the end
of finals. Going from an absolutely hectic frenzy to something akin to
the space between the earth and moon. Empty. Calm. Except for a few
flying dust particles and cosmic rays. Its like slamming on the brakes
when going over 120 mph. A little bit of whiplash. An adrenaline rush
and nowhere to use it.
It's beautiful outside. Perfect weather. | | |
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