150 Implication #2: Meaning-Making as an Adventure

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

I think Richard’s head is still hurting from last Blog: Word Problems. Perfectly normal! I’ve told him to take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning! Not really, but he won’t mind me making this little joke because he knows I think such suffering is a prime example of complexity as an onerous burden—at least until one becomes acclimated to juggling it. As my editor, he suffers through a lot of complexity, I assure you!

On a more carefree topic, give this a thought Attentive Reader: Meaning-making offers the challenge of good-ole adventure not just hard-going complexity and/ the other challenges listed in Blog #146. That could be because adventure is frequently a puzzle alive with many meanings and colorful possibilities.

Adventure can also involve the inner-workings and intangibles of the mind, heart or imagination. Adventure routinely includes spectacular opportunities to explore terra firma or the infinite cosmic potential and phenomena of the great beyond. Exploring, delightfully enough, whether mental or physical is the “hot” verb upon which everything about adventure hangs.

And though more concrete adventure of the Indiana Jones sort is a number-one choice among adventurers, it has even been said that adventure is a state of mind, and I think primarily so. And rightly so. An adventurous sort, after all, has a fairly identifiable profile. She/he manifests a certain attitude and behavioral set, a certain eagerness and curiosity. Both will have a . . . je ne sais pas, une joie de vivre (you can always tell when I have been watching a string of the magnificent Hercule Poirot Mysteries on PBS, my French leaps into gear).

Adventure is a long-standing favorite category of mine—in film, literature and life. I avoid the glum, assiduously. To me, pursuit of misery is entirely unnecessary, it comes looking for one. Thus it is only a gratuitous self-indulgence, a form of self-flagellation or masochism, if you will, to go looking for it.

My one exception to abhorring truly dark writing is Dean Koontz. I have found that many Christians read Koontz and I know why. He expounds succinctly and terrifyingly on the nature of evil—almost a lost art in our time. The “hell-fire and damnation” preachers of early America kept the vision of evil alive and stingingly well in their time (Johnathan Edwards, 1703 – 1758, for one; http://www.ravenhill.org/edwards.htm ); but today, evil is a subject rarely heard much of, at least from the pulpit. Frankly, I find that quite agreeable, if not particularly realistic.

At any rate, Koontz will curl your hair. And most happily, he will also gift you, within the covers of the same volume, with some of the most appealing, fresh, innocent and believable characters and situations you can ever imagine.

Koontz’s point and counterpoint are classic engravings of innocence versus evil. His main point? In comparison to real, malevolent evil, the human being (despite the stain of the “fall”) always appears noticeably innocent, or certainly innocent enough, and naive enough to be believable as easy prey for such malignant force.

Let me assure you though, Gentle Reader, I only a few times have and do not now read the pages of Koontz’s books that go into the evil elements of the story (as I have said before, some adventures are just not for me), not since I sampled those icy waters long ago in the before-I-knew-better years. One shiver of premonition that those pages are approaching now sends me immediately to page hopping to the “good” parts. I do that hopping by reading one sentence every two pages and it is truly amazing how much continuity such a practice enables. One would never think so!

But now, returning from my digression . . .To be continued . . .

149 Word Problems

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

Remember those dreaded word problems in math? You know. The kind that said, “A car is traveling at 5 miles per hour for 12 minutes. How far has it traveled?”

I’m already pressing my hand to my forehead in feverish deliberation! How about you?

Well, finding complex meanings can be a mirror image of this predicament—lots of information but no answers. Thankfully there are ways out of this predicament, whether the subject is math or meaning.

Consider this: The math student can take information and plug it into available formulas superbly crafted by great minds to deliver up reliable answers. In this case, the formula of choice would rightly be d = rt, or distance equals rate multiplied by time. The information says d (distance) is the answer sought, r is 5 mi/hr, and time is 12 minutes or 1/5^th of an hour. Plugging the info into the equation d = 5 mi/hr x 1/5^th hr, the answer is quickly acquired: 5 divided by 5 = 1 and the hours cancel each other out, LEAVING—THE ANSWER: 1 mile. Whoopee! It worked! And, yes, such an excellent equation will offer up the right answer every time—that is every time one uses the excellent formula and multiplies, divides and cancels rightly.

Same goes with meaning! The excellent formula? Please, please, note here, Gentle Reader, this formula comes from the pages of The Holy Bible, from God! I, the believer, need look no further. And so I won’t. Follow me in this thinking: From Scripture, wisdom is composed of understanding (u). Understanding is created by knowledge (k), where knowledge consists of information, discernment and clarity interacting with meaning (m)! Therefore, if I want to find meaning I will write my formula like this: Subject: Wisdom; Formula: u = k + m. Then I will solve for meaning like this: m = u – k.

Now my formula says meaning equals understanding with knowledge removed. So anytime I find myself saying, “I understand,” you can bet your bottom dollar that I have combined meaning and knowledge to come up with that understanding (whether I realize it or not) and that further, it should not take me long to untangle the basics from the concept (that is the knowledge from the understanding) and voila! I will have the meaning. And if I repeat this exercise often enough, I will get the hang of it!

In last blog, I described how embracing complexity (understanding) involved establishing essentials (knowledge) and then adding in derived meanings. Yet this whole premise hangs on the merits of the formula. If I were to concoct some formula of my own, or select some formula from some misled fanatic or raving lunatic, my solutions would not be very useful to you or me. Agreed? That’s why I use God’s formulas. With His formulas my solutions are GOOD because He is Good, no matter what the subject. That’s if I derive them rightly, of course, by the power of Holy Spirit.

For example, I recently saw a Nature program on PBS about the Andes Mountains in Chile.

The pictures were indescribably stunning. The grandeur, sweep and glory of the extremes of terrain and climate were breathtaking. Watching vapors condense into beads of water, later freeze, thaw, and then evaporate in steaming, dense billows all in one place and on the same day—well, it was like watching God breathe the in-and-out of life over the earth. The magnificence of the creation spoke explicitly to me of His presence, His authority, His power, His person, and the complexity of His and all being.

This understanding, this seeing of God behind it all, came to me through the visual impact of the extraordinary pictures. Because I have a habit of using God's formula for understanding, this extra-Biblical information spontaneously blended in my mind with Scriptural information on the nature of the physical world to use as knowledge in God's formula. Then I consciously combined this blended knowledge with the simultaneous and clearly discerned meaning (to me, by my reasoned choice and the influence of Holy Spirit and Scriptural truth: Romans 1:20, NKJV) that no human intellect or random chance or anything else but a supreme intellect, a divine being—specifically, our Triune God—could detail and initiate such a sublime orchestration of majesties as I had observed in those mountains. I do not exaggerate! I’ve studied Thermodynamics and know how complex and exquisitely wrought are the transmutations of liquid to solid to steam (more outside information to carefully use as knowledge in the formula).

Thus, thoughtfully selecting all extra-Biblical knowledge and using it in God's formula and holding my understandings accountable to God, the meaning I derived proved out to correspond with God's meanings in Scripture, and good findings to live by. Thankfully, Scripture also tells me that I, the believer, can rest assured that God will always help me understand the understandable and, at the same time, help me learn to accept and enjoy the great mysteries that remain His and His alone to know until I go “home.” Scripture says, “Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12, NKJV).” And that’s okay, Dear Reader, He is the Creator and I am the created. It’s as it should be.

But until then, I have Scripture to supply my formulas, my understanding, a wealth of knowledge to complement and qualify extra-Biblical knowledge, and rich meanings; all these to give me wisdom for life’s Word Problems. Thanks be to God!

To be continued . . .

148 Embracing Complexity

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

There are skills involved in rightly embracing complexity. First and foremost, complexity in any subject is best approached by securing a grip on the essentials. An essential for meaning-making might be best described as that upon which all else hinges.

In last blog, Gentle Reader, I proposed that God is with us when we want help in embracing complexity. Therefore, to expand on the idea of embracing complexity (instead of avoiding it), I find it useful to invest in a bit more perusal of the question from Blog #147: To have meaning, that is to have a meaningful conversation about Jesus, for example, do I have to have, or do others have to have, all the answers?

From last blog we all know the answer to that question is no. But on the other hand one had best not leap opinionatedly into any sensitive dialogue such as this one without at least getting the basics down right. Agreed? So let’s pick out the essentials inherent in a meaningful conversation about Jesus.

It doesn’t take long to find the essentials in His case because, as it concerns Jesus, there really are only four hinge-pin essentials: one, according to God there is right meaning, it is worthy, it is meant to be dwelt upon and Jesus embodies it. Two, when Jesus walked this earth, he came as the prophesied Messiah of Scripture, was both fully human and fully divine, empowered with the Father’s full authority over all things, and here to serve, save, die and be raised for our sake. And three, to make it short and sweet (like the oft-sung children’s song), Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!

That being said, part of the complexity of grasping God’s “meanings” (which Scripture tells us are life’s most profitable meanings) about Christ or any situation, circumstance or thing, involves proper acceptance of these essentials; and then by extension proper reception of all of His communications especially in Scripture—no self-indulgent hoarding of one’s own preference over God’s is allowed here, Gentle Reader.

Therefore, Scripture, for the believer, is our measure and standard for all things (Hebrews 4:12, NKJV). Scripture judges us. We do not judge Scripture (Psalm 119:59). Believers are called to always recognize that God is right, His Word in Scripture is right. It is the human person who errs.

But, take heart Gentle Reader, because of Jesus (and here is essential #4), God does NOT condemn us, even when we are wrong. Believers are forgiven all sin—past, present and future. Jesus does call us to practice God’s righteousness (right living), yes, but because we find it beautiful and desirable, not because we have to. And when we fall short, which all believers do from time to time, Jesus promises that we still are not condemned, nor do we lose our eternal life in Him. Establishing such essentials greatly organizes and simplifies any dialogue concerning Jesus.

None-the-less, establishing such essentials will not preclude the reality that complexity will be a part of any endeavor to acquire and apply meaning, much less explain the dynamics involved in communicating with people at various stages of understanding of Jesus’ divine person and authority in all matters.

Complexity is no reason to avoid the great quest for meaning, Dear Reader. God promises meaning-seeking will be a God-enhanced adventure for believers as long as we abide in Him. With Jesus as one’s Wonderful Counselor on one’s journey, one can count on Him for perfect buffer from being overwhelmed.

That’s why, Gentle Reader, I never go meaning-seeking on subjects great or small (Since one never knows when something small is going to loom large!) without God.

Wow! Think about that one a while! (I promise one does get use to it!)

To be continued . . .

147 Implication #1: Meaning and Complexity

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

Gentle Reader, challenge #4 from Blog #146 states: Meaning can be hard to discern, multi-layered, obscure and complex.

And, indeed, meaning-seeking can be a complex exercise involving skill and perseverance in evaluating subject matter and compiling frequently arcane derivatives. This conundrum of “meaning” has many implications, popping up frequently and causing real discomfort among people.

Consider this common quandary concerning conversation about Jesus.

People have said to me with angst, “To have meaning, that is to have a meaningful conversation about Jesus, for example, do I have to have, or do others have to have, all the answers?”

Gentle Reader, I sympathize with these burdened people. They need answers so they can make right judgments. I know, I ask myself that one all the time.

And after 60 some-odd years of life, I do indeed have an answer for them (and me) and the answer is no—having all the answers is not necessary!

Not that that understanding was easy to acquire, it wasn’t. But at this time in life, after all my ponderings of Scripture, I can comfortably assure these petitioners that Scripture says that God is the only one with all the answers (Psalm 139; Romans 33-36, NKJV).

I can also assure them that God has revealed all we need to know in The Bible, and everything in The Bible (I again draw from scripture) is the breathed word of God (Romans 1:20, NKJV).

But remember, Gentle Reader, Challenge # 4 says that meaning can be multi-layered, obscure and complex, as I have said before, and the Bible is not exhaustive on all subjects, not even on the subject of Jesus as we see in John 21:24,25, NKJV.

Yet, rest assured, God knows meaning can be multi-layered, complex and obscure, and He therefore connects with us endlessly and in a variety of ways, on any subject of concern, until we secure the meaning we need.

Take for instance how God routinely reveals what we need to know through the practice of prayer.

He also speaks to us through the inner-mind counsel of Jesus (Romans 11:36, NKJV) through Holy Spirit; through the counsel of other believing Christians (Romans 12:16, NKJV); in dreams (Matthew 1:20; NKJV) and visions (Luke 1:22); through the urgings, promptings and revelations of the person of Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27, NKJV); and in study and meditation on the Word (Mark 12:29-31, NKJV).

In short, when we think about and remember God (a meaningful thing of the first order itself), He orchestrates, in a plentitude of ways, a meeting of the mind between Himself and us through the power of Holy Spirit who proceeds from Him (John 15:26, NKJV).

And He gives us wisdom for living and understanding for healing, all over time. And so much more.

Complex or not, that’s how it happens.

To be continued . . .

146 Walk with Me!

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

Now walk with me and we’ll talk about meaning as a personal quest and how besides influencing motives, understanding, thinking content and behavior, emotion and will; meaning-making can be a real challenge. Take a look at these challenges, Dear Reader:

1. Meaning can emerge slowly, appear instantly, or gradually come into focus.

2. Meaning can be happened upon, intensely pursued, refuse to be ignored.

3. Meaning can be elusive and indefinitely evade and escape our best efforts to grasp it.

4. Meaning can be hard to discern, multi-layered, obscure, confusing and complex.

5. Meaning can require repeated efforts at discovery over a protracted (decades, a life-time even) amount of time in order to accrue enough latent content to approximate and construct an inclusive statement, or description of substantial meaning, about anything.

6. Meaning shapes personal values and must be evaluated by using standards and measurements.

7. Meaning shapes personal goals and requires the fuel of intellectual curiosity.

8. Meaning can be used for or against people and situations.

Rubicon, an intelligence agency series (Sunday Evenings, 9 p.m., AMC), is a perfect picture of the challenges involved in meaning-making. It is a show rife with scrambled meanings, puzzles within quandaries, obfuscation entangled in dilemmas . . . I could go on and on. But, my point is that here is a group of very intelligent people who work for a living at finding significance that is not directly expressed. In fact, they must access and sift information from all over the world, vigilantly keeping an eye out for any suspicion of latent or hidden meaning deliberately being insinuated into seemingly innocent media and communications for nefarious purposes, and the clock is ticking!

Needless to say, these good people are afflicted with various stress-related problems—overstrained personal relations at home and on the job, drug abuse issues for which they are routinely screened, physical and mental health issues. But guess what! So are the backroom bad guys who have a habit of turning up dead, not from hostile action, but from suicide! Turns out they began their careers innocently enough but, failing to discern meaning and consequences properly, evolved into very bad guys, so bad they could not live with themselves.

The other “bad guys” are Terrorists. Now, we all know that terrorists have some of the most skewed understandings on earth. But the real “ouch” in this storyline is that the viewer is supposed to “get” the meaning that this dramatic fiction is a reflection of current-day American circumstances.

So, here is a series that exemplifies the difficulty in meaning making within and among homogenous groups (American good guys—and gals) and the difficulty in deriving meaningful observations and conclusions from diverse groups (terrorist bad guys and American bad guys). What a mess! And how typical in microcosm of the challenges abounding for one-and-all in trying to make coherent meaning out of what goes on in our world!

I think it is clear by now that meaning creates a climate in life, Gentle Reader. As time and meaning collect around us, meaning is capable of creating an atmosphere of gladness and anticipation, a sense of wonder and adventure, or an overcast of pervasive gloom and doom, cynicism and scorn, danger and disaster, to name but a few.

So, in an effort to address some of the challenges inherent in meaning-making and to encourage clarity and discernment in the meaning making process, let’s address just a few of the implication-ridden original findings listed above, specifically as they concern the Christian spiritual life (where, Scripture says, lies our great hope in this troubled world), since that is my diamond-of -the-first-water source and where I get the most meaningful understandings for my life. And let’s address a few of those implications one blog at a time.

To be continued . . .