The Irrelevance of "Falling Behind"

In an 2010 Atlantic article titled "How America Can Rise Again," James Fallows struck on a unique thing about the American mindset: We don't like to be 2nd place. Fallows notes, in a section called "The irrelevance of falling behind":

In one important way, the jeremiads I have heard since childhood are not part of the great American tradition. Starting with Sputnik, when I was in grade school, they have involved comparisons with an external rival or enemy. “Whether you like it or not, history is on our side,” Nikita Khrushchev said to Western diplomats in 1956. “We will bury you.” After the Soviet Union came the Japanese and the Germans; and now China, or occasionally India, as the standard whose achievements dramatize what America has not done.

This is new. Only with America’s emergence as a global power after World War II did the idea of American “decline” routinely involve falling behind someone else. Before that, it meant falling short of expectations—God’s, the Founders’, posterity’s—or of the previous virtues of America in its lost, great days. “The new element in the ’50s was the constant comparison with the Soviets,” Michael Kazin told me. Since then, external falling-behind comparisons have become not just a staple of American self-assessment but often a crutch. If we are concerned about our schools, it is because children are learning more in Singapore or India; about the development of clean-tech jobs, because it’s happening faster in China.

photo CC 3.1  by Mike Johnson - TheBusyBrain.com

This attitude of "wanting to be first" can help motivate us towards efficiency, productivity, and achievement. Unfortunately, it can also obscure our primary directives. Fallows hints that "beating the Chinese or Russians" can be done while neglecting our duty to God, to the Founders, or to the generations that come after us. He implies that other concerns, such as education, can be derailed from its purest motivation by focusing on comparison with others in some area of examinations.

Is it possible that the same can be said of Western Christianity? Is it possible that our desire to be "better than" other churches, denominations, religions, etc. can obscure our primary directive to please God and to build the church eternal? Maybe we should be doing some things simply because they are the right things to do, rather than because others are doing them better or faster than us.


And what about our own personal spiritual journeys? If we measure ourselves against the "success" of others in some area (fame, money, popularity), do we forget that real success is living the life that God planned for each of us as individuals? Perhaps Fallows is right - the idea of "falling behind" is irrelevant. Perhaps the idea of fulfilling our purpose and calling is the thing that really matters.

CLAM course gets noticed...

Some recent news about the "Cultural Literacies Across Media Course" I teach at Clemson University. Visit the CLAM SOUP blog to see the links to these articles, leave your comments and view work of students in the CLAM program.

• CLAM Soup (caah 201): CLAM Gets Noticed by The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Dr. Constancio Nakuma The July 22 Issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education featured a story on Study Abroad experiences, and highlighted..."
• CLAM Soup (caah 201): CLAM Hits Clemson's OIA YouTube Channel: "Many of the videos from CLAM students studying abroad have been posted on Clemson's Office of International Affairs YouTube Channel. The exc..."
• CLAM Soup (caah 201): CLAM Featured in College Magazine: "The Cultural Literacies Across Media course, and the work of its students, are featured in the recent issue of AAH - the magazine of the Col..."
• CLAM Soup (caah 201): Basics of CLAM Shared at Greenville's 1st Pecha Kucha Night: "On November 12, 2009, Pecha Kucha Night Greenville held Volume 1at The Huguenot Mill at The Peace Center. Clemson University's 'Cultural Li..."
  

My "Law and Order" Rant

(this also appeared on my e-flaneur blog, but, hey... I'm miffed.)

You may not believe this, but some idiots at ABC had a quirky new show with interesting characters and a sort of cult following. Then one day they decided to pull, without warning or hint aforehand, Eli Stone from the air. ("O, by the way, this show won't be on anymore. Buh-Bye.") The show was only on air a little while, and yet viewers (like me) felt like the decision-makers at that network had treated said viewers with disrespect or neglect. I felt like ABC doesn't really give a flying flip about the viewers, nor do ABC execs have what could be called "an attention span." I mean, c'mon - a little notice here? A little planning? A last episode? Idiots.

Now, on the the matters at hand with the legendary, long-running, integral thread of our American TV culture... Law & Order. (Chong Chong) To be as polite as possible, I am sure i echo the sentiments of many by saying "double you tee aitch?" And I am being polite, as I mentioned.

Is it OK to cancel L&O? sure. But what executive's community college dropout nephew is in charge of handling how legends are sent out to pasture? (Probably the same guy who came up with winning ideas like the Christian Slater series, but...) Seriously, no final episode? No retrospect on the times we've had together? No flashbacks or nostalgic montages/collages of Lenny and the lads who've gone on before us? At least you could have had everyone die in a plane crash, wake up from a dream, etc. But Law and Order deserves more than this "here's your hat, what's your hurry" treatment. This action is a wonderful study of the development of culture of mainstream media outlets.

On USA, Monk closed after a fraction of the time on air. But the thoughtful planning and ending episode made me feel like USA respected me as a viewer. (Indeed, the writing on USA shows like Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Psych, etc. shore up that feeling as well.) I find it impossible to believe that the people who summarily euthanized  Law and Order are associated with the people who carefully crafted the Monk farewell. As a fan of USA shows, I shudder to think what that relationship will mean.

You're canceling Law and Order. Ok, fine. L&O just can't pull the weight it once did. But the old soldier carried you a long time and weathered lots of storms for you.

It deserves better.

---

so, a few lines from Tennyson...

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me---
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads---you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
....
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Well, At Least He's Praying...

Sorry - couldn't resist...

Jaron and The Long Road to Love   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

I Remember This...

Food for thought - the following sample is an excerpt from an op-ed piece that appeared in the Belleville (NJ) Times on September 11, 2004:
----------
If I say “Ich bin ein New Yorker”, I don’t mean that I am a magazine with original prose and clever cartoons. I mean that “I am from New York, too.” But I’m not from New York. So, how can I say, “Ich bin ein New Yorker”?

President Kennedy uttered the famous phrase, “Ich bin ein Berliner” while he was visiting Germany during the Cold War. (He wasn’t saying that he was a donut, although some people in Europe call jelly-filled donuts, ‘Berliners’.) He was saying that, just like Berlin is divided by the Berlin Wall, so is the entire world divided by the ‘Iron Curtain’. He was saying that, like Berliners, we are all living our lives in freedom, even though we must be vigilant against the enemy which is so near. He was saying to those who live in the shadow of the Berlin Wall – “We’re all fighting alongside you in this battle for freedom, no matter where we live in the world!”

So, I say “Ich bin ein New Yorker.” And it’s not just me saying it. On September 11, 2001, high school students in South Carolina, housewives in Michigan, truck drivers in Florida, and farmers in Missouri all had a crystal clear revelation that terrorists had attacked “US.” No matter where we were, Americans understood that we were all under attack. This revelation united our nation in a great way, and for a time, there was no doubt that Iowans, Texans, and Californians could all say with conviction, “Ich bin ein New Yorker!” Tens of thousands came to help with the rescue, sent food, water, clothing and money, and stood beside people they had never met in streets they had never walked, because, for a time, we were all New Yorkers bound against a common enemy and suffering a common tragedy....

The Heavens Declare... with a little help from NASA

Today, NASA released the newest photos from the Hubble Telescope. You can find images like this sneak peek pic included here at their web site: http://www.hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/25/

I imagine your impression after seeing these pictures will be like mine - and many others - AWE of God's creation. Oh, I guess if you squint hard and hold your head cock-eye you might be able to avoid seeing the handiwork of the creator... for a moment. But, come on, seriously?

Psalm 19:1-3

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge. 

3 There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

(images from hubblesite.org)

Poetry... It Does a Body Good!

I have previously, on occasion, posted poetry - from the Metaphysical Poets (Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, etc.). I think the metaphysical poets rock! (TS Eliot thought so, too!) However, I was reminded of this Victorian era poem recently - from the Pre-Rapheaelite group, Christina Rossetti, to be specific. So, I share it here for your edification:

A Better Resurrection
by Christina Georgina Rossetti

I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numbed too much for hopes or fears.
Look right, look left, I dwell alone;

I lift mine eyes, but dimmed with grief
No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
O Jesus, quicken me.

My life is like a faded leaf,
My harvest dwindled to a husk:
Truly my life is void and brief
And tedious in the barren dusk;

My life is like a frozen thing,
No bud nor greenness can I see:
Yet rise it shall--the sap of spring;
O Jesus, rise in me.

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;

Cast in the fire the perished thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

googling ill of the dead

Rare is the person who is unaware of the passing of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy. A long-time senator from a well-known family, and both an international political figure and a celebrity, "Teddy Kennedy" was among the most recognizable names in the world.

But a strange thing happened the day after his death. Kennedy's name was Google's top search term the day after his death, but Mary Jo Kopechne and Chappaquiddick were Nos. 2 and 3.

I will not devote any time here as to whether it is appropriate to talk about these related topics, or appropriate to avoid talking about them.

• Some will say that connecting Kennedy's death with Chappaquiddick is wrong.
• Some will say the connection is not wrong.
• But anyone with a brain recognizes that the connection is THERE.
  (See commentary on both sides of the discussion at The Week's digest on the topic.)
  

 The fact is - in many people's minds, Teddy Kennedy is forever linked with the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

This echoes the ancient saying of the Middle-eastern prophet, Ezekiel:

"But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

 "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered." 

Ezekiel 18:21-24 

What kind of turn-around is necessary to remove your offenses from the memory of others? How much good work is required to erase your sins from the public consciousness? What kind of amends really "mend" your reputation?

Teddy Kennedy served 47 years in the US Senate, authored hundreds of bills on issues ranging from civil rights to health care to cancer research to education. And still, the day after his death, the memory of Chappaquiddick had not faded from the public memory.

How about me? How about you? How will we be remembered?
The memory of people is unreliable.
People forget the most unforgettable things. (911?)
People remember the most inconvenient things. (Your most embarrassing moments.)

Our best hope for settling issues before death is to rely on God's offer on intentional forgetfulness.

³³ "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
       after that time," declares the LORD.
       "I will put my law in their minds
       and write it on their hearts.
       I will be their God,
       and they will be my people.  ³⁴ No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
       or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
       because they will all know me,
       from the least of them to the greatest,"
       declares the LORD.
       "For I will forgive their wickedness
       and will remember their sins no more."
Jeremiah 31:33-34

People may never forget, or let you forget, your screw-ups. 
But... good news! Forgiveness is possible (a clean slate, a fresh start) on a higher level.

You Won't Believe Your Ears!

“In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.” Francis Schaeffer

I just had to post this link to the weirdest audio experience that is almost as weird as real life...

(It's like a metaphysically Christian David Lynch movie for your ears.)

No comments from me... yet. I'll post when I hear from you.

The podcast is contained on a blog by Troy and Jessica, who apparently are "Independent Fundamentalist Baptists." What are people affiliated with such a long religious name doing with such totally hip stuff on their blog? Who knows?

The thing is that they have provided a real good version of this long lost treasure from the end of the Jesus Movement - back when Christians didn't have to choose between having a heart and having a brain...

Grab your best headphones or crank up the speakers.
Click the weird picture and enjoy!