“It’s all about the quest.”

59 minutes and 3 weeks is obviously not enough time to come to conclusions about some of life’s most nagging issues, but I think we’ve had a good start. We have had some great dialogue at the Open Forum, which, for the past three weeks, has been hosted in the home of Jen & Cisco Sanchez.

This past Monday night I was struck by how quickly the conversation focused around issues of god and how we might go about thinking through those types of questions, not least of which is whether or not it’s even helpful to go about talking about this sort of thing. The big question, it seems, is whether or not pursuing these questions and discussing these issues will end us up at a dead end, more frustrated than when we began, or, whether along the way we might stumble across something that might change the way we live and think and love in this world.

“It’s all about the quest.” This is a quote from one of the participants (a very thoughtful one) in the Open Forum. I’ve been thinking about this a little bit, and would like to offer it up here for dialogue.

Is it just the act of searching out the answers that is important, or, do we really want to come to some answers? I seem to lean more toward the latter option. Searching is hard. Asking tough questions is…well…tough. I don’t think many people want to be in a constant state of “questing.” All the major metaphors seem to me to carry with it the reality that there is a destination at the end: “the journey”---is a journey TO someplace, “the pilgrimage”----again, has a destination in mind. As saccharine and clichéd as these metaphors can seem, I’ve never overheard a metaphor along the same lines that would lead me to believe that traveling with no destination in mind is all that worthwhile. Running is only fun if you eventually come to a stop. Otherwise it’s torture. Embracing a state of constant searching in life, constant questioning in life, with no end in mind and no specified destination seems to me as fun as embracing the reality that I am going to begin running and never stop…never. Everything good that I can think of reaches some sort of climax or finds a natural resolve. The proper end of love: is marriage…not eternal courtship.(1) Preparing food is only good if you (or someone else) eat it, rather than look at it. Being someone on a ‘quest’ implies that there is something to be found. Searching implies that there is something , rather than nothing, for which you are searching.

(1) C.S. Lewis

What is culture...What is god?

"What is culture?" That's where our dialogue began on Monday night, February 20th, 2006.
59 minutes to go.

I said something about how the 2nd half of the 20th century and the first few years of the 21st have been the only cultures since Aristotle that has neglected a venue for the expression of ideas and thoughts and questions about life and god. My initial hesitancy toward entering into this blogging world has been disabused by the thoughtfulness and real exchange of ideas and emotions by some people, not least is Andy Whitman who has made me believe again on some level, that technology can bring people together...It can help facilitate community and provide a venue for dialogue that we in our generational ethos have found as a viable means of engaging. Technology aside...Monday's Open Forum was the real thing.

One girl picked up on my criticism of our American culture that seems to have neglected honest reflection on our existence and exchanged it for immersing in the disparate situation of some house wife on TV---(which wasn't intended to be a conversation starter but merely an introduction to why we've set about hosting an Open Forum)---and immediately launched in, breaking the ice that was likely to be as cool as the day.
The conversation went from "What is culture?" to "What makes culture?" to "how might we determine if culture is good?"
40 minutes left.

"If culture can be either good or bad, are there some representations of being human that are more valid than others?"
Calm silence. Thinking. Pondering. Wondering.
38 minutes left.

Fill silence with quote by Blaise Pascal:

"Too much and too little of wine. Give a man too much, and he cannot find truth. Give a man too little, the same."
Someone gets up to fill up their glass of wine.
20 people laughing.

Calm silence.
"We all view the world through a colored lens. We all have 'goggles' through which we view the world," someone said. "Humanity is so screwed up. I think the underlying problem is that we are all selfish."


To this, I wholeheartedly agreed. We all live caught up in some story about the world. Some story we tell ourselves about the historical record and where we fit in and where it's all moving. The metanarrative. Some people immerse themselves in a story about humanity, a story about life and power and control that engages them in child pornography. Some people own nothing on this earth and live a life of service to the poor in India. Some advocate the love of all people while others chop up the human form and store it in a freezer for a later feast.

"Do some people have a more correct view of humanity?"
Several people wanting to talk. Taking turns. Listening.
20 minutes left.

"Are there stories about the world, metanarratives as they have been called, that seem to be better explanations of how the world is put together than others?"
10 minutes left

"It seems like we can't talk about this idea of an over-arching meta-story unless we bring in discussion about god. It sounds like the "metanarrative" is just a candy-coated way of talking about god...Is that what you are getting at?"

This question was directed at me.

I answered. I believe there is a great story about the world, a purpose, a direction toward which this is all heading. I do think it has something to do with god, but "I am more curious about what everyone else in the group thinks."
Thinking. Interest. Filling up another glass of wine.
6 minutes left.

Back and forth.
"what do we mean when we are talking about 'god'?"
Back and forth. Another empty glass.

"It seems to me that there are just a few options. Either god exists or he/(she) doesn't exist. If god exists then either that god is a personal being who is deeply involved in the world, or an impersonal being that is entirely removed...Perhaps an absentee landlord."
2 minutes left.

Rabbit trail. Empty glasses all around.

kitchen timer goes off. 59 minutes.
"that went by so quickly."

End with a quote:
"We should thank god for beer and Burgundy, by drinking them.....In moderation."
G.K. Chesterton

Glasses full. Some in moderation. Others not. Everyone had a great time.