Category Archives: Parables

As an Aside, Favorite Quotes, Parables, Social Commentary/Observation

If you’re going to pretend like you don’t care, don’t look up.

IRENE: How many launches are there each day, Vincent? A dozen?

VINCENT: Sometimes more.

IRENE: You’re the only one that watches all of them. If you’re going to pretend like you don’t care, don’t look up.

— Uma Thurman (Irene) to Ethan Hawke (Vincent) in Gattaca (1997)

The Apollo 11 launch and Moon landing were extensively covered in the press. Over 53 million households tuned in to watch this mission on TV, and an estimated 650 million viewers worldwide watched the Moon landing.

The same was not true in 1972, as people were more interested in game shows than space missions. Space quickly became boring.

The same is true of the Space Shuttle program. With 134 launches (133 successes, 1 catastrophic failure resulting in death of all onboard) from 1972 to 2011, Americans and the world lost interest in going to space.

And the same is true of SpaceX. What is today’s novelty becomes tomorrow’s boredom. In Andrew Niccol’s GATTACA, he knew this lesson well, only the truly passionate “watches all of them. If you’re going to pretend like you don’t care, don’t look up.“

People have a limited attention span and care for the truly wonderous.

As an Aside, Brain Droppings, Parables

What if… “Last Call” (aka “Lone Phone of the Gods”)

An ancient phone in Svalbard, Norway

AN OLD PHONE IN SVALBARD, NORWAY…

You find yourself before an ancient phone in Svalbard.

You don’t know how you know this, but you do. If you pick up the receiver and dial, you can call anyone at any time from your life up until now.

Would you call an old friend in a previous time?

Would you call your younger self?

Would you call an old family member or friend who has long since passed away?

Much like Stephen King’s “Word Processor of the Gods”, this phone has a limited use and a limited existence. It won’t keep the connection for long, you’re limited to people you’ve known and spoken to during your lifetime. The connection quality will be scratchy, and you’ll never know when the connection might drop and never be made again.

So, who would you call?

SOURCES:

  1. PHOTOGRAPH taken by Vadim Shevchenko of an old telephone outside Svalbard, Norway.  Sourced from https://shevchenkovadim.com/gallery/eurasia/norway/architecture
  2. CONCEPT by Stephen King in his short story, “Word Processor of the Gods”, first published in the January 1983 issue of Playboy magazine under the title “The Word Processor”, and collected in King’s 1985 collection Skeleton Crew.
  3. CONCEPT by Stephen King in the teleplay, “Sorry, Right Number”, written by author Stephen King for an episode of the horror anthology series Tales from the Darkside. It’s the ninth episode of the fourth season. It was later included in King’s 1993 short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes

POSTLOGUE:

I gave this a LOT of thought last night as I was reading short stories and came up with the concept, sourcing both the short stories that inspired it and the photograph by Vadim Shevchenko of an old telephone outside Svalbard, Norway.

I would NOT call any human being, NO ONE alive or dead in my past. Despite my love and missing Benjamin Balogh, Scott Anderson, and Ben Szoko (to name just a few), it’s actually my aunt MaryAnn Balogh’s Collie / German Shepherd that I would reach out through time and space for just a few more minutes with.

Daiquiri was one of the kindest, gentlest, most-loving dogs I’ve known in the 48 years I’ve walked this planet. It was my Aunt Mair who awoke my love for dogs, and it was Daiquiri specifically who enflamed my passion for dogs as family companions. It was Daiquiri who felt more like an older sister and beloved companion to me from puppy to grand dame.

If I could have a minute more with her, I would hug her if I could, tell her how much I loved her, and tell her just how very much she meant to me and inspired me.

Family, Parables, Social Commentary/Observation

On Being Broken

Irene, Ken, Jim, and Mike (Foreman Family)

ON BEING DETACHED FROM OTHERS

“There’s a look of mischief in his eyes. ‘Smilla. Why is it that such an elegant and petite girl like you has such a rough voice.’

I’m sorry,’ I say, ‘if I give you the impression that it is only my mouth that’s rough. I do my best to be rough all over.”

― Peter Høeg, Smilla’s Sense of Snow

“I feel the same way about solitude as some people feel about the blessing of the church. It’s the light of grace for me. I never close my door behind me without the awareness that I am carrying out an act of mercy toward myself.”

― Peter Høeg, Smilla’s Sense of Snow

WE’RE ALL BROKEN IN SOME FASHION, but so often we either accept or fail to recognize our brokenness. The more sane or rational of us make peace with our brokenness, but we don’t always recognize or accept that others are also broken and in need of the same grace we grant ourselves.

The wisest of us recognize that we are broken, that others are broken, and that we are all in need of understanding, compassion, and grace. This is a rare wisdom, and usually causes more heartache and pain for the wise than it does for the foolish or angry who fail to recognize or care that others are as broken as they are.

I’ve been naive for much of my life. As I grow older, I understand that my naivety is deliberate. I want to see the good in people. Having been broken myself, I don’t hold the brokenness of others against them. For the most part, this just makes me weird or eccentric, but there is the occasional fool who disabuses me of my hope for goodness in others.

Over my lifetime, I’ve met some truly beautiful people whom I’ve loved as family, who I took into my heart. I always wondered why they were “so prickly, so rough on the outside.” Others thought them to be aloof, difficult, detached, … and here I was in my naivety trying to befriend them and to earn their respect.

I understand now why some people are prickly.

I understand why some people have rough skins that others are unable to get past.

Being “rough all over” is the sensible reaction to an unkind world where you don’t want to expose your tender or vulnerable parts.

I willingly expose far too many of mine.

~ Ken
Brain Droppings, Everyday Life, Family, Parables

Ourselves before Others and our Humanity

4 Comments
Dawn breaking over the Potomac River as seen from the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
I wish I could tell you that humanity is a loving, social, compassionate, and considerate species that looks out for each other as well as ourselves.
The reality is that altruism and self-sacrifice usually come with age, experience, maturity, and prosperity. Many of us struggle with just our day-to-day affairs, so our reality is limited to surviving the day, pleasing our bosses, getting paid, and paying our bills.
For those of us able to rise above our day-to-day struggles, we focus on family, shelter, transportation, and providing for the needs and comfort of ourselves and our family. We’re no longer selfish, but still put ourselves and our families before others.
For those of us doing well with family, home, and hearth, we can begin to put our communities, our society, and our nation as concerns for the immediate welfare and long-term survival of our species. We care not only about ourselves and our family, but the needs of others outside of our day-to-day experiences or immediate concerns.
Or, at least, I think that’s supposed to be how it works… but as the water in Flint, Michigan, and the treatment of minorities by a Caucasian majority who want to hold onto power, and how a nation divided by those who want to better their own immediate needs vs bettering us all together… sometimes we willing walk towards our own demise if it means short-term gains and spiting others?
I saw this as I worked for the DoD, as poverty-stricken nations feuded and warred among themselves, propping up dictators who fueled their division and animosity. I saw this as I worked for the EPA, as people willingly stripped away water and air pollution regulations if it meant having a job or $1 more an hour. I saw this at NOAA as people insisted that climate change was not real and that the perpetually pumping out of burnt fossil fuels would have no impact whatsoever on the planet on which we live.
Humanity is capable of so much both individually and together, but if we all keep our heads down and think only of ourselves, our own immediate needs, and just getting by from day to day… then where we find ourselves tomorrow might not be what we thought it would be.
Everyday Life, Parables

The lenses we choose, and what we choose to focus on

It isn’t our perceived comfort or the accumulation of material possessions that determines our well-being or satisfaction, it is our lens.

Monday, November 2nd, 2020 — All Souls’ Day

“Focusing on the Shepherd” by Kristin Armstrong

It isn’t our perceived comfort or the accumulation of material possessions that determines our well-being or satisfaction, it is our lens.

In any situation, we can choose the lens with which we view the world, particularly our own circumstances. We can choose to have a lens of scarcity or a lens of abundance. Before we ever open our eyes to a new day, we choose what we want to see — and that is exactly what we find. This happens intentionally on the front end or reactively on the back end with knee-jerk responses to thoughts, emotions, and moods.

As part of my morning devotional time, I write a list of intentions in my journal. I deliberately choose my lens to focus on what I want to see, how I want to feel, and how I want to show up for myself and others.

When we start our day to follow our Shepherd, we choose a lens of abundance, gratitude, and love. We choose to accept the care and protection offered to us as his sheep.

— Kristin Armstrong
Living Faith: Daily Catholic Devotions
Monday, November 2nd, 2020
Everyday Life, Parables

Alone in our own space, screaming

Aliens: New and Ripley after the Crash

“There’s nothing immediate I can do about what’s going on right now. I wish I could but it’s like Alien. In space, no one can hear you scream.

That’s the problem, everyone is in their own space and some have been screaming for decades.

Everyone is happy as long as there are no personal effects. We just can’t seem to think of our fellow humans. This makes me sad.”
— Aubrey Stokes

Ellen Ripley was “simply” a warrant officer of the Nostromo when the Alien series began. She had a cat named Jonesy, and she was loyal to her ship’s crew.

When placed in terrible and traumatic situations (again and again), she kept her wits and her head about her while everyone else was losing theirs.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a time, place, or society where rugged determination and self-sufficiency decide your fate. Politicians, neighbors, infrastructure, and social stability all matter. When the “social contract” fails, we all fail.

I wish we had a leader like Ellen Ripley. I wish we had a leader more interested in uniting people rather than sowing division. We need to stop, assess our situation, unite together in a plan to overcome it, and see to our mutual survival.

Parables

Two Angels: A Parable

“Two Angels” by Piero di Cosimo (1521)

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest.

When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”

“Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.“