Thank you for subscribing to this new frontier in electronic communication. Please enjoy this edition of The Wonder Weekly.Tell your friends about it and any personal responses to what you read are appreciated.
How Many Cigars Does It Take to Make a Forest?
The problem with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant. It's that they know so much that isn't so
-Ronald Reagan
Right here, right now, what is going on? What do you hear? What do you see? Stop. Feel your bones and smell the air around you. I know you are reading words, probably at your computer or maybe on a handheld device.
Stop. I mean it. Peel your eyes away from the display and look at what else is going on. Notice the colors and the weather. Don’t read another word until you really know what your shoes look like. Okay. You have taken a moment to be in the present. That is a rare and rarer thing in this busy age of multi-tasking and interpretation.
Reagan up there accused the liberals of knowing things that are not so. Perhaps by leading with a quote from that republican president, you feel you already know what I am going to say. You may be ready to agree with me, or prepared to rebut me to the ground.
I don’t think his statement applies exclusively to liberals. It’s a problem of missing the trees for the forest. So many times people are ready to assume a whole trail of meaning by a small signifier. One color, one preference can be a flag in the ground.
Red. Blue. Green. Rainbow. We all know what that means.
Choice of automobile, choice of shoes, sports team—these mean you are a certain type of person. So wise are the rest of us, so clever that we can interpret these obvious signs of each other’s character. All our many ‘isms’ have given us the decoder ring to the human race.
We are too clever for ourselves by half. Maybe a cigar is just a cigar.
So, Ronnie, I want to stop and listen to my fellow humans—even if they are liberals—and see what they know. We’ve already used up what we know. It is time for some new ideas, and stopping to listen to each other is the only way to get at them.
Thank you for subscribing to this new frontier in electronic communication. Please enjoy this edition of The Wonder Weekly.Tell your friends about it and any personal responses to what you read are appreciated.
Undying Ambition
Desire burns in me to do something. I cherish a burning ambition to stretch my abilities and talents. I yearn to make a mark on the world. What will suit to fulfill this dream?
…If I had the gift of being able to speak…
Perhaps I could stand before the multitudes, to inspire and motivate them. Crowds would be transformed by my words. What great things would come from this!
…If I understood all mysteries—knew everything about everything…
Maybe I could be a genius and make discoveries. I would connect separate information and ideas previously misunderstood. I could find the golden chain that connects and illuminates. I would discover something to change the world. That would be a worthy use for my talent. That would be proper fuel for my ambition.
..If …I could speak to a mountain and make it move…
So much needs to be accomplished! What if I could be the type of person to execute great deeds? Everywhere I turn some cause or problem is begging to be solved. “Poverty” “Hunger!” “Injustice!” What if I could throw all my strength into tackling and finally solving these horrible blights on humanity? Someone needs to. I could assure my legacy, my place in history, by accomplishing some great deed.
…If I gave everything I have to poor people…
Then again, there may be no way to get the cooperation it would take. Possibly I should exercise solo greatness. I could perform a grand gesture—be the example for all others to point to. Personal sacrifice!
…if I were burned alive…
Martyrdom is the ultimate sacrifice. The burning ambition in my breast flares up then quails in response to the thought. It is a final choice. There could be no taking it back. But there would also be no doubt. If I chose to be a martyr I would assure the story told about me. No one could deny the my unimpeachable greatness.
…I would still be worth nothing at all without love…
WHAT!? Inconceivable! Love? Love is nothing! Love is too easy. Children that can’t speak can give love. Puppies and kittens can give love. I am special. I am capable. I am full of talent and intelligence. I am better than love.
…only making a lot of noise…
But my special gifts deserve accolades and recognition! I will stand above the crowd. I want people to know me. I want to be appreciated for who I am and understood for my finest qualities. I want to achieve and be recognized. I want to attain immortality through the efforts only I can enact. The world should never forget me.
Love goes on forever…
(all italics come from I Corinthians 13, The Living Bible 1971 version)
Thank you for subscribing to this new frontier in electronic communication. Please enjoy this edition of The Wonder Weekly.Tell your friends about it and any personal responses to what you read are appreciated.
Daley Bulletin
“I don’t think Bert gets enough credit. I mean, Ernie is always smiling and he seems like a fun guy, but Bert is actually kind of a nerd. He likes what he likes and he tolerates Ernie way better than I could. I would much rather take a road trip with Bert than Ernie.”
“A lot of the monsters are annoying,” my husband replied.
“Zoe! Oh my god, she’s annoying. She never wants to try anything new—she has no appealing characteristics. Even her laugh bugs me. She’s supposed to be a dancer, but she doesn’t even do that very well.”
“They guy I feel sorry for is the Blue Guy that Grover is always torturing. I think his name should be ‘Frank Futility’. He can never get what he wants out of Grover.”
“I think that’s his own fault. You’d think, as often as he encounters Grover, he’d know better and just leave when he runs into him.”
We frequently discuss the Sesame Street characters. That’s the only show both of us watch with frequency, and we are seeing far more nuance than we did when we were in our single digits.
“Veronica is getting more interested in the Wiggles,” Chris informed me. “I’ll have to Tivo it for you. You have to check out Captain Feathersword.”
You can get your copy of the first edition now! 