Archive for July, 2008

Sooo High on Gas

D July 28th, 2008

Everyone talks about gas prices.  Some people get angry about high gas prices.  They get mad at the government for “letting this happen”, the oil companies for “gouging” and occasionally take it out on the local service station attendants.

I need gas just as much as any other commuting Joe in North America – the difference is, I want to see it change.  I’m a little disappointed that gas prices have leveled off from their meteoric climb.  I was hoping for at least a sustained $1.30 – $1.40 per litre.  Why?

People resist change, even when it make complete sense.  We need drastic changes to deal with the diminishing supply of energy, and to secure our energy independence from foreign (and sometimes hostile) nations.  We need to stop printing cash, and shipping it in containers direct to China, and Dubai.

One of the weakest points of failure in the materialistic gas-fueled culture we live in is the gas price.  If that goes up, everyone feels it.  All of a sudden, everyone is thinking about gas, where it comes from, and why is the price going up?  Then mass-media gets ahold of it, tapes some old dude who is ranting about how it’s terrible, and they spread fear, doubt and misinformation about the topic.  Now everyone is thinking – maybe I should be scared too.

Seems like an intelligent way to live our lives – doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, it seems to be the way we think.  And there is a positive side to this lunacy.  When we’re scared, we take action.  Often they are stupid actions, but before we realized that we were scared we didn’t have any cause to take any action at all.

Within the last two years renewable energy sources have become normalized to the public domain.  We now recognize that ’solar energy’ is a good idea, not a specialized silly interest only pursued by research scientists and backyard engineers.  “Ethanol” is a household word, and despite the stunning stupidity of the concept even little Johnny learned in school that it comes from plant matter. People are more aware – thanks to high gas prices – of the effect that Dubai and corporate interests have on our energy infrastructure.

But when the price of gas drops back to that ‘temperate’ zone, the area where we can prevent withdrawal symptoms, we sit back and conveniently forget that it was ever a problem.  Even to the point of asking ourselves, “Why did we want this solar plant again?  It’s so expensive.”

I want gas prices to stay high.  I want municipalities to stop converting farmland into cookie cutter carbon copied suburbs that require more and more cars and more and more kilometers.  I want to see higher population densities, increasingly walkable and cycle-friendly cities as a result of those higher densities.  I want our governments to make intelligent energy investments, and not sell them to the highest bidder.  Grow a pair and nationalize some of our crucial energy industries, or at the very least subsidize them in the name of foreign energy independence.  And maybe realize that wholesale shipments of currency to foreign nations just might make us… well… poor.

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Proof, Truth, and Faith

Em July 27th, 2008

I am a product of Sunday School. Every week, I would bring my Bible and book and memorize my verses (sometimes in the car) with the hope of getting stickers beside my name, inching ever closer to the prize at the end of the year. I was at the top of the verse-memorizing pile, but when it came to crafts, my cutting and pasting fell short of the expertly stretched cotton balls of some of my classmates. What really knocked down my sticker count, though, was forgetting my Bible and book. I was a forgetful kid who could memorize with the best.

At some point in every class, my flannelgraph-wielding teacher would tell the Bible story. Jesus, always in white with a blue or red sash-like-thing, stood with a gentle smile on his face, hand outstretched as if he were teaching something. Peter always looked a little rough, John fairly composed, Judas dark and brooding, and the rest of the disciples came in an undifferentiated crowd of three or four. The story was one of many from the gospels; turning the water into wine, healing a blind man, preaching to the 5000, and, of course, the crucifixion and ressurection. There were Old Testament stories too, most memorably Noah’s ark and Moses and the ten commandments. Sunday School lessons often focus on Bible stories that involve animals; I suppose because they look cute and most kids like them. My favourite image from Noah’s ark, however, was one book that had a picture of people preparing food for the trip. For some reason, the most memorable stories of my childhood involve food; Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Bearenstein Bears book where Brother and Sister get fat, and the Power Rangers episode where there’s a big round pink pig-like thing running around eating pretty much everything it sees.

However, I don’t remember any of those verses I memorized. Some I do; I’ve re-learned them since, but most were forgotten ten minutes after I recited them. I confess: I didn’t really care about the verses. I wanted the stickers. I’m slightly competetive, and there were people in my Sunday School class that I just had to beat. I often did, but the sweet taste of victory is long gone with both the stickers and the verses.

Where, exactly, is the value of my Sunday School years? How does all that reflect on me now? Though some of it may seem superficial, I know a few things stuck with me. It gave me a basic understanding of the Bible and Christian doctrine, one that now almost feels innate. I may not be able to recite the verses, but I do know that I can convey their meaning. In junior high and high school, we got into more serious stuff, but the one theme that resounded throughout the years was the absolute assertion that the Bible is beyond question, and if we could just get a chance to logically explain it to everyone, it would be so easy for them all to see that Jesus is the answer.

This made perfect sense in my bubble of Christianity. But then I went to university. There, I realized two things. First, not everyone is an atheist. From inside the bubble, it looked as if all the “non-Christians” on the outside didn’t believe in God. In fact, in my experience, atheists are a relatively small minority. The second thing I began to realize is that most people have their own ideas about God, based on their own logic. Their reasoning questioned mine, leaving me scrambling to find another bit of information that trumped theirs. I sometimes succeeded, and sometimes failed. I gradually began to realize that logically explaining Jesus just wasn’t going to cut it, and was left in a crisis of faith. Doubts began to creep into my innate, absolute knowledge of God. I had a lot of questions, but I was never quite satisfied with the answers. In my polarized world, there was a distant knowledge of the meaning of grey, and when placed in the middle of it I was at a total loss.

My first conclusion was that there are more than two religions in the world; Christians and non-Christians. This idea implies that only Christians have thought it through and know what they’re talking about, and puts everyone else in a homogenized group. If I wanted to relate to people outside of the bubble in any way, I would have to see them differently. I abandoned the term “non-Christian,” seeing as it had little meaning to anyone who was one, anyway. My second conclusion was that logic alone isn’t a strong enough base for Christianity. This is not to say that there is no reasoning in my faith or that it lacks plausibility, but that it is exactly that: faith. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, (Hebrews 11:1)” it is not a logical deduction based on the presenting evidence. In this, I discovered the difference between truth and proof. Someone can prove something, only to have it subjected to a series of rebuttals until some kind of conclusion is reached. But is that conclusion true? If you believe in relative truth, I suppose it could be argued, but I absolutely believe in absolute truth. Proof can be disproven, disproofs can be wrong, but the truth remains the same.

Standing in the middle of a thousand conflicting arguments, I had to choose. I could choose the uncertainty of ever-changing proof or an illogical faith in absolute truth. Illogical faith: a term that I had never before considered. It was a gradual yet conscious choice as I took that path, one that was hard-won in many situations. On some issues, I’ve had to concede that I don’t know the answer and trust that God knows what he’s doing. In others, like the evolution-creation debate, I’ve started to look deeper, hoping to find truth in a balance of proof and faith. Ultimately, I’ve come to believe the Sunday School message I heard through all those years; the Bible is the word of God, and Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But logic alone will not suffice in the pursuit of God, and will never be enough to convince someone to become a Christian.

“And without faith it is imposible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

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Dominion is not found in grace

Em July 27th, 2008

Over the summer, my church has begun a series of discussions on topics of spiritual formation, based on the writings of classic authors. (If you’d like to hear them, we have podcasts! Search for Urban Bridge Church. It’s worth it just to hear the jingle.) My eyes have been opened to the wisdom of these foundational Christian writings, words that have shaped the church and the faith of many. My list of books to read gets longer every Sunday.

I love quotes. A couple stood out to me one week, so much that I emailed them to myself for later reference.

“The Church’s belief in Original Sin should make us intensely realistic and should free us from trying to create a Utopia. For there is no such thing as a Christian social ideal to which we should try to confrom the society we live in as closely as possible. After all, no one wants to live in “the ideal society” as depicted by anyone else. … Although Christianity supplies no ideal, it does supply something of far more value, namely, principles on which we can begin to act in every possible situation.” – William Temple, Christianity and Social Order

This was so freeing to me. It seems that many Christians are crusading to establish a safe, secure, family-based, Bible-based society. Like William Temple says, I don’t think that’s realistic or even Bible-based. We can’t control the society we live in, but we can control our reaction to it.

“Even to imagine that those who are not saved cannot teach you is a very great and serious mistake. Dominion is not found in grace. Not observing this has led some into many mistakes and certainly into pride. Beware even the appearance of pride! Let there be in you that lowly mind which was in Christ Jesus. Be clothed with humility. Let modesty appear in all your words and actions.” -John Wesley, Christian Perfection, emphasis mine.

This must seem so obvious to anyone who is not a Christian, but for me this quote, too, was freeing. It also means that I don’t have to force myself to be better than anyone; I accept the grace that God has given me and humbly learn from every circumstance. Ideally, that is.

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A Quiet Misconception

Em July 27th, 2008

This weekend, I attended a Christian conference for the first time since 2002. I think it was as that conference so long ago that I first began to lose taste for them. Don’t get me wrong; God does powerful things at these conferences; many wise, studied men and women of God say many wise, studied things that make me think; I see more old friends than when I go to a wedding. I’ve just gradually moved away from a faith that is based on singing songs and hearing a sermon.

Any Christian girl I know shows no surprise at the statement that females, at least those who have reached sexual maturity, seem to vastly outnumber males in Christian circles. (I believe that this fact leads to sites like these, where pseudo-theology is grotesquely twisted around physical and emotional desire.) I am often puzzled as to why. Is there a church, a city, a nation somewhere where the ratio is reversed, a place anticipating the collision of my world with theirs so that there can be another wedding every weekend and a new baby every week? I used to think that was Millwoods, or possibly Evangel, but in nine provinces, the ratio seems consistent. There are simply more Christian women than there are men.

I am always aware of gender ratios and biases; the very idea of it fascinates me. And so, this weekend, I picked up on some very subtle clues to the mystery of this pervasive asymmetric gender distribution. One song in particular grabbed my attention:

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

- “Does Anybody Hear Her?” Casting Crowns

The song is about how we treat newcomers in our churches, and to our shame this pregnant girl was not accepted. But notice her position juxtaposed to the prince charming in the song. He seems to be in it only for the sex, whereas she is an innocent victim who made a bad decision. Throughout the song, she sins because she is the victim of her circumstances.

So he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin’ crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands

His American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
“Daddy, can you come to my game?”
“Oh Baby, please don’t work late.”
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away

-”American Dream” Casting Crowns

Here, again, the woman (and child) are victims of the man’s doing. His sin is based on the work of his own two hands, his own selfish greed. There is no attempt to blame some smooth-talking woman who would work him into his grave for her own temporal pleasure.

Neither of these situations are wrong or unrealistic. But I feel that they open a tiny window into a quiet misconception that drives men from church; that, in addition to their own mistakes, they are responsible for the mistakes in the lives of the women closest to them. And this is not unique to Christians. Men are constantly put down in the media, contemptously stereotyped as slaves to their ravenous sex drive, stuck in ubiquitous immaturity, slowly dulling themselves through mindless consumption of beer, sports and porn. Women take the position that if the men would shape up, so many problems in our lives would be sorted out.

“A contest in my local paper invited war-of-the-sexes witticims, and as I read them over I realized that the ones aimed at women were all along the lines of ‘She sure likes chocolate!’ while the ones about men could be summarized ‘He’s a big boorish idiot!’ You might notice a difference there, and once you start noticing it, you see it everywhere. In general, anti-male humor has a bitter hostile edge lacking in even the dumbest dumb-blonde jokes. … Along the same lines, do you notice how many TV ads and sitcoms have this plotline: stupid guy gets his comeuppance from a tough woman? Does anyone ever see any plot that’s the reverse? Not on my TV.

…[G]uys are good sports, good at laughing at themselves, but I think there’s a more serious cost to all this hilarity. When all we see are dumb daddies, bad daddies, and absent daddies, there isn’t much for a little boy to aspire to. Movie heroes still follow the James Bond convention of carefree, commitment-free womanizing, and images of brave, steadfast family men are few.”

- “Flowers for the fellas,” Gender: Men, Women, Sex, and Feminism, Frederica Mathewes-Green.

Incredibly, we sometimes fail to realize is that women are indeed responsible for their own decisions. We have had permission to hide behind our husbands for so long throughout history that the pattern continues to this day, even in spiritual matters. And so the man is portrayed as the bad guy, the fallible one who messes things up for the poor girls.

Why would anyone want to be a part of something where, at any moment, he could be burdened with the sins of two genders?

Don’t be fooled. We women can mess things up just fine on our own.

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Baaaa – Shleepie People

D July 25th, 2008

After writing the piece on Post-Denominational thinking, I had dinner with a good friend of mine.  He brought up an interesting rebuttal that somewhat deflates the ideas in that piece.  Essentially it comes down to this:

People like to be stupid.

Of course, taken factually this is untrue.  In a physiological sense most humans have the capability for great levels of thought.  However, the argument is that people would rather be told what to do, then think of a solution themselves.  This is visible in many many aspects of our society, and really has become entrenched into how we do things.

It’s just so much easier to be stupid.  Call it laziness or maybe apathy, but if we (the society) don’t have to read another article, or try another approach, or consider another solution to xyz problem – we don’t.  If there is a system in place that semi-functions, we often don’t even question its effectiveness or efficiency.

There are many examples of this.  Politics is the elephant in the room, but other examples include: cars (transportation in general), energy and environmental and economic policies, city design and infastructure, living and housing arrangements, materialism, and of course religious institutions.

If people don’t want to (and as a result of apathy – cannot) think critically, then truly a system where the congregation holds the pastor accountable will not work.  They will be sheep, listening, waiting, and eating when they are told to.

I still think these are great ideas, but they will only apply to a very small percentage of church attendees.

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Post-Denominational

D July 25th, 2008

I talk a lot about the “corporate” Christian church. I want to define what I mean by this term. There are several different definitions of corporate, and the one most used is in reference to a Christian gathering:

2: of, relating to, or formed into a unified body of individuals

We would use this sometimes in the context of “corporate worship” or a “corporate service” where all are gathered together.

When I say the “corporate” Christian church, I am referring more to the business hierarchy that most denominations, sects, and groups employ. Closer to this definition:

1d: having qualities (as commercialism or lack of originality) associated with large corporations or attributed to their influence or control

I suppose the first task is to demonstrate why a large corporate approach is less similar than it should be to Christ’s original vision for the church. In order put these ideas into an appropriate context, we need to consider the backgrounds of the people that compose these churches. We need to understand their cultures, and frame our analysis appropriately. So, let’s start at North American culture.

Considering the wide breadth of known human history, modern North American culture is just about to enter its terrible two’s. We have only been relevant for the last 200 years, and this is the version of North American culture I will examine.[1] We have grown from a diverse group of immigrants into a democratic society, with aggressive capitalist tendencies. Without casting any larger-worldview judgment on capitalism, it has served us very well, and created great wealth for many people in our society. This approach to government and economy has largely affected our societal worldviews, and as such we have integrated it into our major religion – Christianity.

With the capitalist approach comes a commonly accepted business structure, with the central tenet being that the leaders are there to serve the owners. In a modern public company, the leadership is beholden to the shareholders – effectively to the stock price. This creates a form of checks-and-balances between the owners, but often does not address the concerns of those outside this system. It is an inward focused approach. Free market capitalism argues that the market will dynamically adjust itself to serve all people outside of these closed systems. Of course, there are government agencies that will enforce regulation to some degree to affect how these organizations operate, and lobbyists and activists that will attempt to use public opinion to push an organization in a particular direction, but the system largely is set up to cater to corporations.

This business structure and capitalist worldview has been integrated into most major North American church denominations. There are some differences in ownership (of church assets), and management, but largely they are based on the business models gleaned from capitalism. And, like its business-world cousins, it is a largely successful system that has generated a lot of wealth for these churches. And the denominational leadership serves as an oversight committee, or perhaps a trade group that is effectively monitoring and regulating the members of its industry.

So what’s wrong with that?

It places restrictions on visionary thinking within the denominational organization, creating a bureaucracy that can limit appropriate reactions to our ever-changing culture. Ideas that were established decades ago are still prevalent, despite them being largely (and sometimes laughably) obsolete. These entrenched ideas were once culturally influenced decisions that keep denominations stagnant in their approach to doctrine and theology. As such, it discourages out of box thinking and avoids reconsideration of the currently accepted interpretations of biblical texts. In a way, the denominational ‘law’ allows a large percentage of its membership to be apathetic to further questioning of their beliefs and approaches – avoid critical thinking.

In most cases, the only way to innovate within a denomination is at a grassroots level, and generally involves the members to act somewhat outside of the established norms of the denomination. And it can (and does) happen, and creates some fantastic communities. However, these communities are the exception as opposed to the rule within denominational structures.

Christian mass-market industry? Is that what Jesus was teaching?

Ultimately, I see a system that discourages personal growth by claiming to be an authority. I’m sure there is some sort of sociological explanation for this type of human behavior, but in a word: apathy. My opinion is that Christ’s teachings were for personal use, to be applied to a persons worldview and decision making process. Not for commercial use, with groups of ‘experts’ creating regulatory constructs under which the congregational members fall.

Post-Denomination

I am advocating a post-denominational approach to Christ’s teachings. A return to personal responsibility in discovering the truth’s of Christ’s message, and being honest with those who you are in fellowship as to where you are in your journey to emulate Christ. A climate that does not incite fear as a result of going against the status quo, but rather encourages theological and doctrinal discourse. And beyond that – tolerates differing viewpoints while maintaining critical thinking skills to protect the body at large. We need to teach ourselves to think, and to follow Christ – not the teachings of denominations and their leaders.

I see this post-denominational culture as having “service organizations” that provide liaison services between the government and the church for charity purposes. They will also provide financial service to small groups of churches that want to pool their resources to tackle larger projects, in their cities and elsewhere – to affect real change. And the service organizations will use a wider lens to include many Christ-following churches with different disciplines, encouraging unity between what used to be a very segregated group of churches. They will arbitrate the more complex disputes, and provide oversight to the resolution process. And finally, they will facilitate accountability between the leaders of the churches (not accountability with the organization itself), forcing them to constantly re-evaluate their ideas and practices before teaching them to their congregations.

One foreseeable objection is that pastors may still teach heretical or inaccurate messages to their congregations, and to that I say this: it shouldn’t matter. If the members of these churches are autonomous in their thinking, comparing, and discernment, they will be able to hold the pastor to account or at least hold a public discourse that brings everybody to a shared understanding of opinions.

We like to look at ‘mainline’ denominations, in all their varying degrees of doctrines and theology, and generally accept that this corporate business model is “the best way to do things”. I am beginning to question (and hopefully eventually challenge) that idea. And of course, as would be appropriate to some of the ideas presented above, I welcome constructive criticism – which I will analyze earnestly, and perhaps integrate into my understanding of Christ’s church and how that looks in our culture.


1. [As an aside, I am aware there is a rich Aboriginal culture that dominated the North American continent prior to colonization, however it has been largely washed away over the last 200 years. Such cultural extermination is a huge subject that is entirely out of the scope of this essay.]
2. The primary reason democratic capitalism works so well is that it forces us to leverage our greed against each other prevent any one person from becoming the dictator. This turns our human nature from resolving things with violence to resolving things with money. Of course, the gap between rich an poor will likely continue to grow in this system, as greed is essentially a bad thing. But now I’m rambling..

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The Purpose In Vegas

D July 25th, 2008

This is opinion. And ideas. And the problem with opinion is it never really gets backed up with hard fact. Only trust that the author can properly portray his experience on paper. Here are some of my observations, test them as you will.

“… there are new gods growing in America, clinging to growing knots of belief; gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon. Proud gods, fat and foolish creatures, puffed up with their own newness and importance.” [1]

If there is one thing to say about Vegas is that it is seductive. And I’m not talking about seductive in its sexual, monetary or glory and glamorous forms. It’s the dissociation with truth that is so seductive. To be able to be somewhere and ‘allowed’ to forget that there is a real world out there. Vegas, is a place of suspended belief, and the illusion of it all hits you hard when you first walk through that airport.

As the machines rumble away all using that same key of C major, you are drawn in. Everything is built to draw you into the enormity of it all. A huge golden lion, a fairy tale castle, a massive pyramid. You were meant to be here.

“I’m on vacation from my problems” – seat 17F [2]

The truly dangerous idea that Vegas holds is the one of freedom. This is a place where you have been liberated. When you walked out the doors of that airport, the rules have reset, your former self is still on that airplane, waiting to see if you come back. I think Christ would have despised the place, but of course he would also have understood it, seen through it, seen the potential.

If anything, it is the canary in the coal mine. It paints the picture of the human condition in our land of plenty. Vegas is our one-hour world vision special. It represents how we are sick. Here is how we are sick.

Space
There is so much. The feeling of great expanse goes quickly from awe to a dramatic sense of loneliness. North American culture contains this unfortunate idea that you should want to be alone all the time. The self-made man or woman, standing on top of their empire, accomplished, and alone. We weren’t meant to be so isolated from one another.

We are numbed to each other with such distance. We begin to lack proper empathy, and use the anonymity of our society to channel unnecessary anger and hate to those we don’t understand. The best example of this is our culture’s favorite pastime – driving. Do a quick comparative analysis in your head – how would your reaction differ if you were rear ended by a friend rather than a stranger? Most would harbor a resentment for the stranger. A sour anger. The friend would likely be forgiven. And the difference? Space.

Somewhat flower power of me to be crying “come together”, but community is a powerful gift that we have been given.

Meaning
Has been redefined. Vegas feels like a band-aid. A stop gap measure that people apply to inject meaning. And you know what, it would feel good. And how easy would a gratifying life be? How easy to avoid the fulfilling. I could work hard, earn alot of money, and give myself whatever I wanted on any given day.

I know it’s not worth it, but I now understand how so many can live in an empty gratified world. I don’t know what put them there. Bad ideas? Parents? Abuse? Lies? Greed? However they’ve been tricked, most of them have agreed to be brought in, and now they’re stuck in that cycle. Earn, spend, repeat. And at the end of their lives? They’ve contributed to the recession of our moral economy. A negative karma on our purpose as humans.

We have lost sense of purpose in this sickness of ours. And it is this that perhaps pains me most. Every one person has so much potential, and we work hard to steal it from one another.

The gods of…
freeway, movies, tv, stuff, corporations, vehicles, video games, capitalism, clothing, music, celebrity, self, dogmatic politics, image, corporate religion, disposable income/goods/time/people – a disposable society, career.

Most of these are not wrong in themselves. But we are being consumed. We have put these before Him.

Redemption
I consider Vegas’ main redeeming value to be its art. Its creative capital. It is a city designed by great minds who are pursing their passion. Who were given large amounts of money and material to work with, and encouraged to think outside the box.

And the shows. They are somewhat out of place in this concrete jungle. They focus on intentional community. They look at nature. They challenge your ideas of what is possible on and off stage.

I think the “corporate church” has fled the arts for things temporary, and it’s sad. If any group has the potential to dedicate real resources to high art it would be the corporate church’s of North America. But we have been reduced to cheap cantata’s with terse scripts and surface meanings.

Before watching Cirque de Soleil’s ‘O’ I thought a quiet prayer to God. A dedication of my experience of this show as worship to Him. And it was beautiful.

“Think for yourself. Question authority”[3]

Reduce space, build communities – tight communities with people living intentionally. Build cities without massive spread. Purposeful community. Help others. Normalize community, don’t infantilize it. This would take generations, time we may not have.

Pursue purpose. Evangelize purpose. Life and life abundantly, not stuff and stuff abundantly. Help people discover their passions. Empower them to turn those passions into purpose. Use these ideas to help people. Think beyond building stuff, to building up people.

Learn and teach moderation. Encourage understanding of others – other ideas, cultures, lifestyles. Learn to empathize with as many people as is possible – it’s the first step to truly loving them.

I don’t believe it can be done across North America. We are a patient too far gone. But we can make our final years good ones – great ones even. We can create real community that has meaning and purpose. And someday our utopian empire will fall, but our small communities can last. In fact, they may well be what gives us meaning when all of our other gods have died.

1 – American Gods – p137 – 138 (paperback)- Neil Gaiman
2 – Accidentally profound passenger
3 – Timothy Leary

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Welcome to The Curious Yam

Em July 23rd, 2008

Welcome to The Curious Yam.

The funny thing about curiosity is that it can never be satisfied. There may come a point at which humans as a whole will understand all that we can see to the very edge of our reason and consciousness, but even then there will be mystery. Even if the vastness of the physical universe were mapped, still there would be questions outside of what we can know and prove. Those are the questions we seek to ask, and possibly to answer.