Be Afraid...Very Afraid

I have finally begun to read I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. A friend gave it to me a very long time ago, and I just haven't had the spare moments to get into it. Now, days before we start our Christmas break from school (can I get an Amen?) I have begun the book.

Tom Wolfe is said to be a keen social observer. A description with which I must agree. His prolific writing includes both fiction and non, and there is no possible way I could tell you who he is, if you don't already know. But if you don't, please go read this.

I read the preface which refers to a study done on cats in which their amygdalas were removed. I am already scared about what lies ahead. (I know this sounds nutty but it all makes sense--I promise.) The book is about undergraduate life at a prestigious American university. Though he did research on several campuses, the rumour is that the story is taken mainly from events on the campus of Duke University. The premise is that peer pressure and the anything goes wild life of undergrads is too much for any young adult to resist. As a parent--and pre-Charlotte Simmons--I believe that we can instill values (and the courage to hold to them) in our kids. I'll keep you updated as to how that goes as I am reading.

Cultural Clarity

I passed by a self-storage place today (they are popping up all over this island) and the signs struck me: Climate Controlled Self-Storage. Is it just me, or does that pretty much sum up the culture at large?

Control freak? No worries. You can even control the climate now, baby.

Have enough stuff? Good. Too much stuff? Even better.

And the most glorious word of all...SELF. Who needs anoyone else? After all, you are most important to you, right?

Another One Bites the Dust

I admit it, I am a movie junkie. It's the cheapest therapy I've ever known. And now, sadly, it's on the endangered cultural items list. It seems as though Will Smith and his family can be added to the the ranks of those duped by Scientology. I know, I know--what do I care? It's just that it's getting harder and harder to have some mindless entertainment. I can't even see a trailer for a Tom Cruise flick without getting major heebie-jeebies. And don't get me started about the Travolta nightmare.

Sustained Adolescence

A comment my son made yesterday got me thinking. While shopping for a gift for my husband's birthday, I said to the kids, "It's so hard for me to find a gift for Daddy because if he wants something, he usually just gets it for himself."

"Really?" my son asked, "Dad can just go get anything he wants for himself?"

Nervously wondering where this was heading --the mind of a 12 year old boy can be a scary thing--I said, "Well, yes."

"I want to be a man just like that when I grow up."

Aha! The perfect moment to discuss the values of God-glorfying hard work, perseverance, tithing, etc. So of course, I did talk about all those things, and the resultant dimming of my son's excitement--though entirely age-appropriate--reminded me how much work there is in rearing a boy. Now, there is nothing wrong with a 12 year old wanting the world on a silver platter. However, he is to become a man; not a 30 year old who thinks and behaves like a 12 year old. Apparently that notion is counter-cultural.

The glorfication of irresponsible behavior in our culture is shockingly popular. Look at the lifestyles section of any paper or magazine. It is filled with gossip about the latest train wreck of a young adult, awash in cash and devoid of any correction (=love) or discipline (from the Latin discipulus: student)from their family; the very people whose job it is to do so!
This is so very sad. Without the presence of loving correction and discipline while a child is in the parents' home, that child is greatly challenged to develop any self-dsicipline. I once explained this to my kids by using the example of relay runners and a baton. Parents have the responsibility of discipline for a time in the child's life. During this time, the child sees, experiences, and learns how to discipline himself. Then the parent hands the baton to the child, and he heads off to run his own leg in the race of life. Fumble and drop the baton, and running will have no purpose or direction; the finish line just an interesting banner hanging there for no apparent reason.

"It’s going to get a lot of Christians with their knickers in a knot unnecessarily.”

I'm no DNA expert, but don't you need the mother and father's DNA to determine genetic
identity? Wonder where Jim Cameron got God's DNA? In case you're even later to this story than I am, it seems the Titanic/Terminator dude has found Jesus' "residue". Do read the whole thing.

I agree with this guy:

“This is exploiting the whole trend that caught on with ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ” said Lawrence E. Stager, the Dorot professor of archaeology of Israel at Harvard, in a telephone interview. “One of the problems is there are so many biblically illiterate people around the world that they don’t know what is real (emphasis mine) judicious assessment and what is what some of us in the field call ‘fantastic archaeology.’ ”

Any of you who know me, know it is almost painful for me to read fiction. But I tried, I really did, to read Da Vinci code. It was so poorly written, I just couldn't take it. I was actually stunned that so many people had read it. The movie was kind of fun, but could have been much better. The real point to be made, here, is that it is a work of fiction. (Christians should pay attention to that categorization as well as non-believers.) It makes no more sense to believe in the premises of Da Vinci Code, than it does to believe that there's a real Willy Wonka with lickable wallpaper.

I plan to use the premises put forth in the documentary in my son's logic lesson this week. (We have been on vacation, and he needs some easy exercises to get back into his logic groove.)