Mechanics and Mystics

A recent experience reminded me of how diverse two believers' worldviews can be.

One, whom we shall call the mechanic, emphasizes clarity of categories, consistency in terminology, and the making of distinctions. The mechanic loves systematic theology--the tracing of intellectual concepts throughout Scripture in order to develop a fully formed understanding of technical categories like progressive sanctification, sacraments, double imputation, and the three uses of the law. The mechanic's rhetoric is careful and nuanced. Whenever he uses a word, his audience knows precisely what he is referring to. He is a great teacher, because his arguments are easy to follow and always well constructed. His thinking is so clear that everyone who converses with him leaves understanding things more clearly than when he began.

The other is organic in thought and expression, with each idea blending into the others like rivers flowing into a single ocean. There is a unity of thought, created not by carefully constructed links of reasoning, but by the fact that no one idea exists in isolation. He is a mystic, taking reality as a thing to be experienced, not analyzed. He understands the unity of the body, mind, and spirit. His study lies in biblical theology--the developing of understanding as it was developed over the history of the Scriptures, each new book building on the meaning already developed by the previous ones. Metaphors and symbolism shape his rhetoric. He loves to encourage, build up, and apply truth to life, making him a great preacher. Everyone who converses with him leavings thinking more deeply than when he began.

Neither the mechanic nor the mystic are sinless men, of course. Even if they were, each has weaknesses the other can support and strengths the other needs. Mechanics run into trouble when they try to reconcile a perfectly holy and consistent God with His blessing of Hebrew midwives for lying. Mystics notice that God's command is not "you shall not lie," but "you shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor," and understand that meaning is not a deistic thing floating in the ether, but that truth, like God, is itself relational (which is clearly not the same thing as saying it is relative, although a mystic might not be able to tell you why). Mystics, on the other hand, are easily swayed by passion or tradition, or marrying the daughters of the land and being led aside to other Gods. The discerning aid of a mechanic can be used of God to rescue a mystic from worshiping at a rodeo-style church service beside a painting of Viking-Jesus and being convinced that God really is a Republican after all.

I hope the above illustrates that this isn't a distinction between conservative and liberal, Aristotelian and Platonic, or reason and emotion. It isn't better to be a mechanic or a mystic. A glance at the gospels makes it clear that Jesus Christ was the greatest mechanic and the purest mystic, as he was always infinitely precise and perfectly organic in his understanding of this created world.

As I'm sure every reader noticed by the fact that I started out by talking about two groups of worldviews, I tend to be more of a mechanic than a mystic. I have a logical, scientific mind, and I am skeptical of imprecision and unsupported arguments. If a friend makes statements that are not fully consistent with each other, I notice. And if my wife claims something I can prove wrong, I usually do, whether it helps our relationship or hurts it (or even matters at all).

But there is a part of me that is terribly sympathetic to the mystics. A part of me is drawn to martial arts, to learning by doing, to brooding and meditation. The same part of me has learned not to argue about the existence of God or the meaninglessness of libertarian free will, even though the mechanic in me believes intellectual honesty demands both in any discussion. I am part economist and part judoka, and I could not be myself without both. All believers are some part Mechanic and another Mystic. And I am convinced that being the Body of Christ means recognizing the distinct but inseparable roles for both.

Artistic Adventures?

I'm not known as an artsy person. In fact, aside from occasional culinary exploration, I hardly have any artistic outlets at all. However, I recently downloaded a program called Inkscape and thought I would share my first real inking project (mostly it's an exploration of what the program can do). I drew the original pencil work freehand, scanned it, and inked it digitally.



Be sure to check out the shop in the background!

Let Go

Love is all you need, so the poets have said. The poets may be right, though perhaps not in the sense they meant.

There was once a man who, in his own thoughts, loved a woman very much. They had dated for more than a year and a half, and had been friends throughout their university years. However, the man was plagued with doubts, unsure if this was truly the woman he wanted to grow old with. Beyond this, he was an ambitious man, and feared that he could not fulfill the duties of a husband and the rigors of a career. He was tormented by his decision, as he could not propose until he had decided what he valued most. This uncertainty was torture to the woman, who had known where her desires lay for years. She waited for him, and waited for him, until she thought she could wait no more. The two came within a breath of going their separate ways forever. Yet one day, as if the crowd began to sing, he realized that everything else he was hoping for was an illusion, an idol without substance. His heart let go of his assumptions and expectations about what his life must be, and he began to see what he had with new eyes. He bought her a diamond ring the very next day.

The insightful reader probably knows about this man, and may even remember that he again had to let go of his idols when he chose his graduate school. The introspective reader may even be able to identify with him. God is constantly making all of us choose between what is desirable and what is needful. Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. We all have to learn that the glory we see for ourselves is not something to be grasped, but instead we have to let go of our vain ambition if we want to receive the true glory prepared for us.

And if giving up our idols for what is right is Love, then maybe love really is all you need after all.

2007 in Review

It's been quite a while since my last post, but for any readers I may have left, I thought I ought to post at least once more before the end of the year. First, this semester (and year) in review, one thing at a time:
- The semester ended well, and I am happy to say that not only did I make my first A in graduate school, I had my first 4.0 semester. This isn't the utter thrill it used to be, as God has taught me to have a much healthier attitude toward grades since starting grad school. Still, it's nice to see hard work (and it was both, let me tell you) pay off.
- On a more practical note, I've made some "career" strides this semester; at the very least, I've taken some genuine steps toward the goals of writing a dissertation, getting a doctorate, and becoming a proper academic. (1) I've finished a paper which, although it still needs a lot of work, could become something publishable in a respectable IO journal. (2) I've also picked up some technical skills in my two econometrics classes that could be very useful down the line; I definitely don't regret taking econometrics 4 instead of public policy. (3) I've been developing a positive professional relationship with one of the senior faculty here, and he has suggested we work on something this summer and possibly co-author a publishable paper. (4) Finally, I talked with another professor about doing a reading class essentially on his research methods, since I'm leaning toward something close to his field for my dissertation. All things considered, I'm doing my job.
- I spent this semester as "head" TA for Dr. Holmes, taking Van's place from last year. We had the ice storm cancel our final exam, so we gave the exam for as many as we could, and gave a make-up on Saturday. Unfortunately, this semester won't really be over until the beginning of the next, when the last make-up final is held. Behind the scenes stress and complications ensued, of course, but those are pretty much taken care of. I like teaching... I think.
- Christmas was very nice. Jessie and I decided before we got married that we would spend every Christmas together at home. No traveling. If anyone reading this is engaged, I highly recommend it.

On a more bloggish note, I am not really feeling much like blogging these days. Perhaps I'm out of interesting things to say (or just realizing that this is the case?). This blog used to be my outlet for philosophical and spiritual insights, but it hasn't been much of that in a while. I could use it as a way to express my political thoughts, or a forum for strange things my students say, or even a place for me to talk about my research in layman's terms, but I'm not sure I want to go any of those directions. Perhaps I aught to just let it lie fallow for a while. What do you (whoever still reads this after 2 months absence) think? Should I put my blog on sabbatical? Or retire it all together?

The House of St. Anne's and Creativity

I am not sure how many of you have read Lewis' That Hideous Strength, so the title above may mean little to you. The final entry in the Space Trilogy is a much more daunting read than the previous two, but I found it engrossing on a variety of levels, not the least of which is the picture Lewis paints of Christian intellectual community.

The characters who live in St. Anne's on-the-Hill are from a diversity of backgrounds, from a university don in Arthurian legend to a working-class criminal's wife. In this Christian household, not only do these differences not prevent intellectually complex discussion, they actually seem to foster more and better thought on matters from daily life and academic scholarship alike.

I have admired the community described since first reading the book, and have wondered how to promote a similar sense of community in my own sphere. In some sense St. Anne's can almost be seen as an apology for literary discussion groups like the Inklings, Lewis' own intellectual community.

Yet it seems that such discussion groups need not be limited to those with literary tendencies. I have found that one of the best ways to foster creativity, even in highly technical work, is to be forced to explain my work in a way that makes sense to a layman. Laymen, incidentally, sometimes have insights and solutions that those of us immersed in technical literature are blind to.

What is to prevent an intellectual discussion group from hearing about a friend's research in the psychology of forgiveness? Or another friend's philosophical work on the purpose of life being found in narrative? The implications of the causes of lightning? Or--dare I say it--genetics?

I would love to see these people join with those in my own community who are developing their own works of fiction (I suspect several of you who read this blog when the mood strikes). I can see a table with several coffee cups scattered, surrounded by four or five friends discussing language death, minus its gory detail, while another table hosts beer glasses and bespectacled technicians listening with rapt attention to the latest chapter of another friend's burgeoning novel.

Such discussion would not answer the technical needs of a statistically-intensive paper, nor will it revive the momentum of an intricately-woven plot. But this mixing of different perspectives may spark the creativity of someone who has been stuck in the office/den/nursery/lab a bit too long.

I'd almost forgotten about...

LOST, which I guess doesn't start season 4 until January. For those who haven't seen Lost, here is a great summary of the first season to get you started:



And for those who can't wait until the show ends (rumored to be sometime after Justin Timberlake gives up music to become a full cast member of SNL), here is a preview of the season-ending final episode EVER: