I was reading last night and came across the word ‘ICONOCLAST’. At least I think I came across it, because about 30 minutes later I couldn’t find it again. I couldn’t remember what it means but I like the sound of it, and seem to remember hearing the word before, probably in a church history course.
I know that ‘icons’ are images of some sort, but couldn’t remember what the suffix might mean. Luckily we no longer live in the “Age of Aquarius”, but rather in the ‘age of Google’, so it didn’t take more than a few keystrokes to discover that an ‘iconoclast’ is, according to dictionary.com, a nonconformist, a rebel dissenter or radical; “a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration’; or someone who attacks cherished beliefs and traditions.
And as I thought about the definition, I came to the conclusion that being an iconoclast might be fun.
Although most people probably don’t know the meaning of the word, they have either been involved in some iconoclastic behavior, or have been the target of it, in the sense that it’s their cherished beliefs that are being attacked.
Remember I mentioned church history? Back in the 8th and 9th centuries there was a disagreement over the Greek Orthodox practice of using icons, or images, in the church building, and in worship. The iconoclasts wanted to destroy the images.
Today the term isn’t used so much to describe destruction of art work, as it is to describe someone who dares to attack the sacred cows. It’s the person who comes up with a good idea, which is probably a good thing, except for the fact that it means changing the way we’ve always done it. You’ve dealt with those people before: they want to get rid of the things that you’ve worked so hard to preserve. They want you to get rid of the typewriter in favor of a computer. They thought kerosene lamps should be replaced with electric lighting, the horse and buggy could be put away in favor of a car, and even the barges on the canal system had to go in favor of trains that went at the breakneck speed of 15 mph, scaring women, children and livestock.In the past 30 or years they've asked you to go from record albums to 8-tracks, to cassettes to CDs. You finally got used to the walkman and now you're supposed to get an I-Pod. They even want you to have a cell phone so you can be in constant contact.
The past is fascinating, and it teaches us valuable lessons, but it’s the past, and if we hold on to it too tightly, we miss the present and eliminate the possibility of a future.
Are you an iconoclast, or have you had to deal with one?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Review: The Final Summit: Andy Andrews
I wasn’t really sure what kind of book I was getting with Andy Andrews’ ‘The Final Summit’, and now that I’ve read it, I’m still not sure. It’s one of those books that ends up being a cross between two genres, and it does neither of them justice. As a novel, it just didn’t have the kind of plot that could capture and hold my interest; and as a self-help or motivational book, there’s too much fiction for it to be plausible enough to really focus on the motivational aspect.
As I went back looking for the ‘seven decisions’ that David Ponder apparently came across in his first traveling adventure (‘The Traveler’s Gift’ a book I haven’t read) I could see where each of them could be have a chapter of its own and possibly benefit some people. But the seven decisions don’t seem to be the focal point of this story, and at the end of the book, I was still wondering why they were mentioned at the beginning, except as a spoiler as to which fellow travelers David Ponder would be dealing with as he sets out to ‘find the one principle that will save humanity.’ The seven decisions are positive statements that might be heard at almost any motivational conferences.
On the positive side, Andrews has done some research and provides some interesting trivia about the historical personages that he has inducted into his “travelers hall of fame’ (for lack of a better way to identify the famous people that he includes as part of David Ponder’s traveling experience. And people from so many different time periods interacting face to face is an interesting concept. He does a good job of pointing out the sad state of the human condition, but the solution that we’re left with is fairly anticlimactic.
The seven decisions are mostly bland statements of affirmation that could have been expanded upon, and the book might have ended up a little meatier. History’s best minds struggle to come up with the answer that will save humanity, and I was left wondering how we’ve made it this far if that’s the best they could come up with.
This would be a good book to read when you really don’t want to be put in the position of having to think.
2 stars
TO comply with FTC guidelines, I am required to disclose the fact that I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it.
As I went back looking for the ‘seven decisions’ that David Ponder apparently came across in his first traveling adventure (‘The Traveler’s Gift’ a book I haven’t read) I could see where each of them could be have a chapter of its own and possibly benefit some people. But the seven decisions don’t seem to be the focal point of this story, and at the end of the book, I was still wondering why they were mentioned at the beginning, except as a spoiler as to which fellow travelers David Ponder would be dealing with as he sets out to ‘find the one principle that will save humanity.’ The seven decisions are positive statements that might be heard at almost any motivational conferences.
On the positive side, Andrews has done some research and provides some interesting trivia about the historical personages that he has inducted into his “travelers hall of fame’ (for lack of a better way to identify the famous people that he includes as part of David Ponder’s traveling experience. And people from so many different time periods interacting face to face is an interesting concept. He does a good job of pointing out the sad state of the human condition, but the solution that we’re left with is fairly anticlimactic.
The seven decisions are mostly bland statements of affirmation that could have been expanded upon, and the book might have ended up a little meatier. History’s best minds struggle to come up with the answer that will save humanity, and I was left wondering how we’ve made it this far if that’s the best they could come up with.
This would be a good book to read when you really don’t want to be put in the position of having to think.
2 stars
TO comply with FTC guidelines, I am required to disclose the fact that I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Just a minute - or so
My 14 year old son often gets on my case for saying ‘just a minute’. He doesn’t have anything against the specific words; it’s just that his idea of a minute, and mine, are different. When I say ‘in a minute’ I’m not actually saying that I will be there, do that, in precisely 60 seconds. I usually mean that I’m doing something, and when I come to a convenient stopping point, probably within the next 5-10 minutes, I’ll be ready to listen, watch, play or whatever it is that he wants.
He understands ‘just a minute’ to mean within a few seconds will be fine if ‘immediately’ doesn’t happen to be an option.
Of course when I ask him to clean his room or do his homework, his ‘just a minute’ doesn’t always translate to within seconds either, but can mean that he might think about it sometime within the next week or so.
So time, like many other things, is relative. We want an answer right now, but expect the decision makers to carefully deliberate. We want our tax refunds by the first of February; but if we owe, we wait until April 15th to send the check. The last hour before the weekend starts seems to last forever, but the weekend itself seems to pass by in a matter of hours. And usually when someone asks if you have a minute, you know you’re going to be tied up for a while.
And we do the same thing with God. We expect Him to operate on our time schedule, without realizing that He views things through a different lens than we do. God sees things through the perspective of eternity, rather than in relation to a human lifetime of 80 or so years.
Early in the biblical book of Genesis, we read that God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. The Genesis events took place several thousand years ago, but scholars generally agree that the account was written in about 1500 B.C. About 1000 years later (450 B.C.), when the book of Chronicles was written, the question was ‘When are we going to see God walking with us again?” It was phrased more like this: I’ve built this temple for Him, but is God really going to dwell on earth with men? Even the heavens, the highest heavens can’t contain Him, so why would I think this temple would be an appropriate dwelling place for Him”. And the accompanying prayer is that God would look favorably on the temple and forgive sinful man.
Fast forward about 600 years (90A.D.) John is writing the Revelation: the account of the vision he has had concerning things to come. He sees the Holy City descending from heaven, and hears a voice proclaiming that the dwelling place of God is once again with man, and He will dwell with them.
Another 1900 or so years have passed since John wrote about his vision, and we’re still waiting. It seems like a long time to us, but when compared to all eternity, that period of 3500 years represents just a tiny dot on the timeline.
As the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ reminds us, “When we’ve been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God's praise than when we’d first begun!” Those 10,000 years are like a minute.
So the next time someone tells you just a minute, you may want to settle back with a good book.
In fact, why not try THE Good Book?
Oops there’s the phone, I’ll be back in just a minute! Happy reading!
He understands ‘just a minute’ to mean within a few seconds will be fine if ‘immediately’ doesn’t happen to be an option.
Of course when I ask him to clean his room or do his homework, his ‘just a minute’ doesn’t always translate to within seconds either, but can mean that he might think about it sometime within the next week or so.
So time, like many other things, is relative. We want an answer right now, but expect the decision makers to carefully deliberate. We want our tax refunds by the first of February; but if we owe, we wait until April 15th to send the check. The last hour before the weekend starts seems to last forever, but the weekend itself seems to pass by in a matter of hours. And usually when someone asks if you have a minute, you know you’re going to be tied up for a while.
And we do the same thing with God. We expect Him to operate on our time schedule, without realizing that He views things through a different lens than we do. God sees things through the perspective of eternity, rather than in relation to a human lifetime of 80 or so years.
Early in the biblical book of Genesis, we read that God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. The Genesis events took place several thousand years ago, but scholars generally agree that the account was written in about 1500 B.C. About 1000 years later (450 B.C.), when the book of Chronicles was written, the question was ‘When are we going to see God walking with us again?” It was phrased more like this: I’ve built this temple for Him, but is God really going to dwell on earth with men? Even the heavens, the highest heavens can’t contain Him, so why would I think this temple would be an appropriate dwelling place for Him”. And the accompanying prayer is that God would look favorably on the temple and forgive sinful man.
Fast forward about 600 years (90A.D.) John is writing the Revelation: the account of the vision he has had concerning things to come. He sees the Holy City descending from heaven, and hears a voice proclaiming that the dwelling place of God is once again with man, and He will dwell with them.
Another 1900 or so years have passed since John wrote about his vision, and we’re still waiting. It seems like a long time to us, but when compared to all eternity, that period of 3500 years represents just a tiny dot on the timeline.
As the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ reminds us, “When we’ve been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God's praise than when we’d first begun!” Those 10,000 years are like a minute.
So the next time someone tells you just a minute, you may want to settle back with a good book.
In fact, why not try THE Good Book?
Oops there’s the phone, I’ll be back in just a minute! Happy reading!
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