Caught Up In Rapture (What's It For?)

It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear. - Thoreau

i stopped asking questions a long time ago because i never liked the answers

that is, when i could finally back someone into a corner and get one

i stopped wanting to win a tony award as an actor in someone else's sick, twisted play

i have more respect for people who make music than those who make war

the world needs more people willing to drive in the wrong direction on one way streets

in hell, i wonder how often they change the sheets

ministers and w****s all pass through the same door

as some scratch their heads, others their asses 

all wondering what this life is for

where enough is never enough

and we're ever in search of more

Author's Note

"Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Ookpik]

There are so many lines here, Pete, that I could comment on - it's rich work, honest and raw.

As to seeking purpose, it's been called the absurdist dilemma - based in both a modern, industrialized world and, by extension, mankind's propensity for seeking meaning while living within its parameters. The idea, is that only human beings seek purpose and, in the world that we've engineered for ourselves, at bottom, there isn't anything tangible that can provide us with definitive answers.

We ask, and we ask, and god or those we corner remain either silent or unable to satisfy us with reasons that can adequately justify why we should continue to do what we do.

The nihilist's answer is that there aren't any reasons, so get to getting while the getting's good. The Christian answer lays in faith, and service; while the naturalist's answer, much like the Daoist's or the Buddhist's, relies on holism and the idea of connecting with the universe's fundamental interconnectedness.

In every case, the answers are those that the practitioner chooses to believe, and so, in mine, I tend to orient on the nature of choice.

There may not be meaning, and we may all wind up in some Sisyphean hell accounting for our choices, but in so far as I get to choose, I at least feel somewhat comfortable being held responsible for their consequences.

There's a certain freedom in that, a strength, that I've relied on in my life for a long time.

Anyways, long rant again Pete, but if anything I'd say it's a testament to the ideas you've presented here.

As always, it's a pleasure reading - hope things are ok in your world.

-Ook

[Pete]

it seems as though man and society has run out of problems they can even attempt to solve so they just find different ways of dealing with the same ones usually as they create more problems with their "solutions". everything else is far beyond answers. as the good book says that, "there is nothing new under the sun" and "all is vanity". it seems like the more we have, they more we become disconnected and wanting. i think my muse thoreau had it right, "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms." the minister can only regurgitate what he believes is the truth as he himself can't even measure up. the w***e at least knows what she is and in a weird way that is better (being what we truly are vs. pretending). Thoreau also wrote, "Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something." i'm a christian so i try to live by faith and kindness (not an easy thing). i am drawn to nature, music and of course pondering such unanswerable things. i am well and hope you are too. thank you as always for sharing a great synopsis.

[Ookpik]

It's funny Pete, most people (especially in academia) would classify Thoreau as a naturalist, a pioneer of naturalism even. But the quotes that you tend to curate remind me more of stoicism than they do of anything else.

Not sure if you know the stoics, and I understand that you're Christian, but I'd highly recommend Marcus Aurelius if you ever to decide to explore beyond your muse.

Glad you're alright Pete - always nice to hear from you.

-Ook

[Pete]

Thoreau and his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson were transcendentalists. They believed that God speaks to us and dwells with us through his living creation of nature and thus nature is divine and sacred. He was against progress at the expense of nature and warned of the dire consequences. An environmentalist way ahead of his time so to speak. He watched as tracks for the railroads were laid at the expense of the environment. He was considered extreme in his views but people of principle usually are. He loved music and was jailed for refusing to pay a poll (head) tax in his town . I agree with him and have read most of his writings. I live in the town next to the one he lived in and have seen for myself many of the things that he wrote about. I will look into your recommendation and get back to you.

[Ookpik]

Haha, maybe the lesson in that is even after graduating I shouldn't assume I've learned everything. :) Maybe too, the lesson might be that semantics killed the purist, or that purism killed the purpose.

But what the f**k do I know, eh? Maybe I ought to read a little more.

Good luck Pete.

[Pete]

No, it sounds like you know quite a bit. If someone says they have the answer we should probably run away from them for our lives. Purism can be lonely and deny us much fun. To each his own. Moderation seems key. Extremists are just that - extreme.

[Ookpik]

Moderation does seem important Pete. And you're right, it does feel like everybody has their own answer. Can be frustrating sometimes, I'm sure for us both.

Again, good luck with it.

[Poetic Beauty]

This whole poem makes a great deal of sense to me.

[Pete]

i'm glad because nothing makes any sense to me anymore. lol. here's hoping for a glorious summer ahead!

[Poetic Beauty]

I always feel better when it’s warmer. I get like a wilted house plant in the winter.

[Thomas W Case]

Superb work. Such a life.

[Pete]

always a real hoot. thanks twc.