That last post went up late because, for an as yet unidentified reason, it just wouldn’t. What I mean is it wouldn’t update, and I don’t know why.
Just finished “Creature Tech” by Doug Tennapel, it’s good you should get it. I wasted a good hour today going the wrong way on the bus, it’s a boring story, though, so I won’t get into it.
I’m useless, I really am. I planned on getting a lot done today, but all I managed was to buy comics (as if I really need to be spending money right now anyway). There’s still tomorrow, though, so all is not lost. But seriously, overall I’m just a very sedentary and ineffective individual. I’m 20, and I should be accomplishing more than I am now. Of course, writing to no one about it isn’t going to help any, so I’d better focus on doing something about it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Christianity lately. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about the veracity of the four Gospels. Much of what appears in there is difficult to beleive. I honestly can’t picture it actually happening, and yet…
I can’t deny it. It’s not the miracles or even the moral teachings that convince me. There’s too much that shouldn’t be there. Jesus dealing with women and foreigners and just disagreeable members of society in general. Other things that don’t really add to the case that Jesus was divinity incarnate (at least at first). But really, it’s just the overall impression one gets that Jesus himself was real. Not real as in just exisitng, but real as in valid. It’s like when it says in there that the people were amazed because he taught as “one with authority.” Perhaps an illustration would help.
All truth must fit. If it is true then it will be compatible with the real world. Some ideas, for instance, are too nice. A lot of new age style religion is like that. It’s all mystical and has a sort of soft and fluffy feel to it. Words like asinine, trite and naive come to mind. Like a Disney fairy tale, it’s just not realistic. The other extreme is just as discordant. Legalistic doctrine expounded by fundamentalists with vehemence and passion. It seems unnatural somehow.
I like using the golden mean. The golden mean (ratio, section whatever) is important because it’s found everywhere. I use it for drawing (I have to, actually, there’s no way around it). The thing is, it’s not a very solid or simple concept, yet it’s manifestation is easily identifiable in the real world. Using it in art makes things look right. It’s in the proportions of the human body (as well as any other organism).
Look it up and you’ll see what I mean. The point is, it’s not an either or kind of thing. One must remember that the wolrd is not full of shades of grey, nor is it black and white. The real universe we live in is in color; it has shape and form in three dimensions. It is home to hard metals and amorphous gases. If something is true then it should conform to this. A philosophy that has room for hope and charity, but also trial and fear. Jesus words and actions carry that feeling of idiosyncrasy. I beleive CS Lewis called it “the master touch,” or something like that. Not straight, or bent, but crooked like the branch of a tree.
I feel like I have more to say, but I’m tired and I know I can be rather longwinded, so I’ll just cut this short.
