It’s A Small World
Here we are in our safe little world. It is small but it is everything to us. Gentle now, don’t disturb anything. If you apply too much pressure then something may lose its center of gravity. Then what? Like removing a link out of the natural ecosystem of the oceans, our little world would topple as dominos — yes, surely it would self destruct. The finely crafted, established order that has taken so much to become what it is today. To become all that we have been told we are supposed to be. To be a way of saying, “we have arrived.”
So we do everything we can to preserve this world. Not out of proactive intention but out of fear. Not growing, not expanding, but remaining stagnant. Why grow when we consider ourselves already complete — we must appear complete. We learn but only to the purpose of preserving our world. We learn and realize what is required but dismiss it as out of our life scope saying, “Those things are for someone else and their world, not mine. There is no more room.” Yet if newly gained knowledge preserves and protects then somehow room is made.
Like a cheating lover that stacks one lie on top of another to maintain the affair, we have the same intention and the same level of satisfaction. We do and say whatever it takes to continue on but to what end? Moments here and there that seem to be the pay off for all the effort involved but over all, we only gain a greater sense of frustration.
Today I think I applied some pressure to something. I wonder if it will fall and what will happen if it does.
August 8th, 2005 at 7:58 am
God’s going to apply a lot of pressure and make the earth barren (2 Peter3:10), but Lord wililng we will be in His Presence.
In a strange fashion, you are being vague on purpose. What are you saying exactly?
August 8th, 2005 at 8:41 am
What?! You wanna be spoon fed?
I’d like to hear more from you. It was just more of an outlet for me at the time. Not that it’s any great work of literary art but it was fun for me. I will tell you though, it’s not an environmental message about the literal earth.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:50 am
Now that I’ve read it again, I understand what you are saying. I will never pursue a career in the music industry, or for that matter, look for another job until I get laid off or fired, because my world is working. I would never jeopardize the current reality for the potential of a non-working one. I think living in America pushes that type of comfort and safety driven mindest into us. One of the expressions of our sinful nature. Me, myself and I. And my world.
August 9th, 2005 at 8:47 am
But can’t adventure seeking and the constant need to shake things up become as much of an idol as the pursuit of personal peace and stability?
August 9th, 2005 at 9:37 am
Yes but if that were my situation I would write something different.
While it applies to work, consider the whole of your life — social, emotional, whatever.
August 10th, 2005 at 8:06 am
The idea that Nature is a stable ecosystem, or that if Man would stop intruding that Nature would stabilize into stability with happy little trees and happy little animals is a farce. The world of Man and the world of Nature is in a constant state or turmoil. Some species is eating and others are being eaten. Glaciers ebb and flow, changing the entire world. Food sources increase and decrease, controlling the very life it sustains. Every creature adapts (I didn’t say evolves) into the new state of the world or it perishes.
Our nervous system is a good example, if you grab a hot pan your nerve endings will register pain and send that message to your brain. If you continue to hold onto the pan, the pain that you feel will actually decrease as your flesh burns. This is your body’s way of allowing you to cope with overwhelming pain. People die almost every day commuting around Atlanta; at least that was my perception when I lived there. And yet I got in my car every day and went right out there into the fray. My brain allowed me to block out the reality of danger so that I could stay in the rut of my life.
At the moment God sent Man out of the Garden, the world became choas. There is no such thing as stability. Stability is a lie that Man tells himself (or herself if you are one) to get through the day. Fact is, our world is profane, disgusting, and dangerous. It’s only through faith, grace, mercy, and obediance that any of us have a chance to make a difference. (or even survive)
Self-awareness, to me, is removing the blinders (slowly) to reveal the scarey world out there. Acknowledge the fear and replace it with faith. Own the pain and replace it with obediance. Step out closer to the edge and pray earnestly for grace.
But that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.