Hello All the Time

Even though I'm not in school, it does seem that the weeks are going faster and faster these days. Maybe it's just the fall. I don't know. I'm sure they would be going faster if I were back in Wooster right now. But they're certainly going faster than they were in July. Maybe, as the year goes on, weeks seem to pass faster. I think that's how time works in general; it feels shorter and shorter the more you live.

I'm going to Wooster tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it for a lot of reasons. I'm getting a car, for one. That's very exciting. In addition, I've not been there since graduation...well, not since school started. I was in Wooster for a wedding in June, but that's very different than being there while school is in session.

I don't really know what I'm going to do while I'm there but pick up the car...I'll probably at least wander around campus for awhile...I'm looking forward to seeing it at least.

It's a little weird, because I do have friends left...but they are many and varied, and it's a Friday afternoon...I'm not ever sure how to go about making plans for it, and I doubt I could spend time with everyone, or even feel very satisfied about that time, any way you cut it. But I'll figure something out...it'll be good to be back, even if just for a little while....and it will be good to have a car, that's for sure. I'm actually slightly surprised that I've made it this long in my life without a car, living in places with no legitimate public transportation my whole life thus far. (and farther...)

I have decided, fairly unequivocally, that, as we can imagine it, the perfect post-modern novel is going to be a set of short stories that at least sound like a memoir (no matter what actually takes place...). The fragmentation of the format coupled with the individuality of a memoir, are at least in format, the most post-modern thing I can come up with because the traditional unity of a "novel" is gone. There is, of course, the existence of Finnegan's Wake which will always complicate things, but as much as that is the first instance of post-modernism (and I think I generally give it more credit than most...but I'm also the only person I've ever met that has read the whole thing), and as much as unity and center are very much non-existent, there is a way in which the book becomes its own center, which, while post-modern to an extent, is not other-centered enough to be truly post-modern. The great (largely evangelical, unfortunately) fallacy about the post-modern ideology is that it means all truth is destroyed and anything that makes any sense or has any foundation is wrong....but that's simply not the case....it's really an examination of how we determine our truths and discovering that largely, we do it looking at ourselves and our circumstances. I must admit that, as a Christian, my post-modernism is different in that I believe in God's divine orchestration behind it all and Him as the only center...not everyone is going to look at it that way and not everyone is going to call that post-modern. But my point is, in all this, is that post-modernism is at its truly most useful when it realizes, gives agency to, and validates the things that are not the personal individual. Thus, a series of self-contained short stories that tie into each other, admittedly coming from a view point that sees itself as a view point and nothing more, would be the final form of the "post-modern novel." I could be wrong, but when I say final form, it's because eventually, post-modernity is going to make terms like "novel, poem, prose, article, essay" disappear because they are necessarily limiting and imply a terrible form of unity. One of my more legitimate English major pals at Wooster did his Jr. I.S. on the existence of prose poetry. I don't know what he determined, but I believe the possibility of prose poetry is the literary sign-post of post-modernity truly taking over....prose-poetry is a logical and linguistic fallacy....but at some point, we'll all realize that deep down, logic and linguistics were the real fallacy all along.

I'm not sure why I go on those rants...especially when they're specifically literature driven....and every time I'm down with one, I wonder, for even just a minute, if I'm not wasting part of myself by not pursuing literature further....who knows, maybe someday. I don't know why I would get two masters degrees, but I don't know how I could choose one in literature without one in film.....but right now, and for the foreseeable future, that's a part of me but it's largely a part of my past because I'm in ministry now.

But I don't imagine I'll stop enjoying literary discourse anytime soon.

The book of Jonah ends spectacularly....with a question. In the tNIV, it's "and the many animals?" which is amusing...but aside from that, what's important is that, even though it's 4 chapters long, we see so much of God's heart in that slight book. Jonah is apparently devoted to God enough that he could be a prophet...but God basically tells him "I will look out for you, but who are you to question me? All these people you think are so evil, and really, trust me, they were more evil than even you knew, well, I love them a lot too. Indeed, there are a lot of them, and you know what, I don't just care about them, I even care about their animals. Sure, you're my servant, and that's great and all, but do I not have to right to love everyone as you already claim I do?"

Isn't that what so many Christian already do? Muslims...gays and lesbians...abortion doctors...those are kind of the big three, but I'm sure there are more...it's like the modern day Ninevah for the collective Jonah of American Christianity....how much do we really want to see God work in their lives? It's too common...indeed, it's about the only thing I ever see, that there is much condemnation without forgiveness. We see from Jonah, even when Jonah was sent to warn the people that God was going to destroy them (which is something we are NOT called to do as Christians...), that God's forgiveness will always trump God's wrath.

I can't claim to have all the answers, and I'm not saying sin is at all okay....but I am saying that God's heart is more than big enough for everyone...and that includes those we think without hope the most. But the truth is, I'm just as bad as the most Christian-hating, plane hijacking, mountain-hiding Islamic "terrorist," save for the redemptive blood of Christ. Maybe it's a buzz-phrase to say things like that....to say that we're all equally terrible but for Christ...I certainly hear it a lot. But it actually is the truth.....but it's the truth in negative terms. In positive terms? That same person, described above, has just as much hope (perhaps more) in Christ as I do.

Have a great weekend. I know I plan to do the same.
-Zack

"The rhythm is the message"
-Flobots