Category Archive

Today’s post at Whiskey River hits at the core of contentment, I think:

Childhood is full of mystery and promise, and perhaps the life fear comes when all the mysteries are laid open, when what we thought we wanted is attained. It is just at the moment of seeming fulfillment that we sense irrevocable betrayal, like a great wave rising silently behind us. Confronted by the uncouth specter of old age, disease, and death, we are thrown back upon the present, on this moment, here, right now, for that is all there is. And surely this is the paradise of children, that they are at rest in the present, like frogs or rabbits.
–Peter Matthiessen

This observation reminded me of another instance of extolling the spiritual virtue of children:

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
(Matthew 19:13-15)

Jesus’ statement above is often interpreted to mean that we should have “faith like a child”, implying that the virtue of children is their simplicity and ease of belief. Yet the more I read the gospel of Matthew, the more I become convinced that Jesus’ kingdom of heaven has little relevance to the afterlife and more to do with a revolutionary shift in our way of life on earth.

It seems to me that the value Jesus ascribes to little children is not blind faith but a life of contended paradise that only comes from living entirely in the present–an outlook readily apparent if you’ve ever watched children at play. The kingdom of heaven, then, will arrive when we, too, find contentment and rest in the present.

I read Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality: An Introduction a couple weeks ago (upon recommendation from a friend), and I was astonished at the depth to which his analysis cuts. Some of our most routine behaviors, for example, perpetuate an artificial sexual construct that exists for reasons we rarely question.

While at the store this afternoon, I overheard a mother shopping with her ~3-4 year old daughter: “You have to choose one for your bed. Which do you want, the kitties or the princess?”

I looked over at the shelf of blankets. There were over half a dozen various designs, but for simplicity the mother narrowed her daughter’s choices to two. Yet the specific choices of the parent–a young girl should like either kittens or princesses–perpetuates the artificial cultural gender binary. Children are socialized at a young age to learn that certain objects and behaviors are either masculine or feminine, and by adulthood few of them realize that it is nothing more a social construction.

I’m not usually a huge fan of YouTube blog entries, but I couldn’t resist posting this gem from my childhood. I saw this music video/PSA (which apparently is the Barenaked Ladies) while watching Saturday morning cartoons one day, and I was never able to find it again until now! What could be more perfect than the combination of racial tolerance and extraterrestrials?

Last night in Seattle before heading back to State College.

As I was retrospectively thinking one day, I remembered Carol Kendall’s The Gammage Cup. I first discovered this book in the fourth grade. The storytelling was fantastic, but I also remember being intrigued by some of the messages of the book–issues such as authority, conformity, and expression. I re-read the book a year later, enjoying it as much as the first time, and then it somehow ended up in a garage sale and disappeared from sight.

I just finished reading the book for the third time in my life (which for me is rare for any book), confirming my suspicions that I took to heart some of the themes Kendall brought out in her novel. As children the simple fact that our view of the world is limited allows our imaginations to think of worlds that might be, to examine things we do not yet take for granted–and to laugh about the absurdity of it all. A brilliant piece of cultural satire, Kendall’s novel touches some profound questions of society, religion, and being alive. This book certainly helped guide my thinking and critique of the world, which I’m certain was no mistake on the part of Carol Kendall:

Children are a marvelous audience…they remember what they have read! Sometimes they remember it all their lives!

“It would take more than a million Earths to make a ball as big as the sun. It would take about 109 Earths to make a straight line across the sun.”

One of my favorite gifts from my childhood is My First Book About Space (Western Publishing Company, 1982). In just 24 pages, the book led me through a tour of the solar system, with descriptions of gravity, comparisons between the planets, and photographs of the moon landing–with full color illustrations, of course. Looking back on it now I am impressed by the factual content of the book, as I would not expect many children’s books to contain too many numerical quantities. But thinking back to when I frequently read this book, I don’t think this distinction ever occurred to me. Rather, the combination of the book’s fun presentation and my fascination with “space science” kept me reading it again and again–not to memorize the figures, but to get that sense of excitement and discovery that drives us to explore.

Although most of my childhood books have since disappeared, My First Book About Space still sits on my shelf. I must admit, although my outlook and education is different now, I still enjoy reading through this book, and I still have much of the same excitement toward my scientific career as I did then. This feeling and outlook that has so far lasted through my life is perhaps best expressed by the last line of this book:

“Are there any space creatures? No one knows yet. Space is huge, and there is still a lot to learn about it. Exploring space is exciting. Maybe one day you will be a space explorer.”

(This entry inspired by a question at the World’s Fair blog.)