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Funny --
Where slander and liable and insult are involved, a lot of people can get on their high and virtuous horses: This is the kind of stuff that sows hatred and unkindness, so we examine it carefully, write laws about it, and build barriers to keep it in check. We do this in a social context. Some are even willing to do it within themselves.
But when it comes to praise and elevation, there is seldom the same acuity brought to bear. It's as if praise in an of itself were given a little extra leeway ... because ... because ... well, maybe because it's nice to be nice and the social wheels are oiled. Or maybe something is desired, some praise-worthy and possibly holy goodness.
But why should the one be given more elbow room than the other? True, it's pleasant socially or within my own walls to praise what I like, but at some point maybe it would be necessary to ask, "Is this praise any more true than the calumny I might likewise employ?"
Is a piece of wood any less or more a piece of wood because it stubs my toe or because it is said to be a piece of the 'one true cross?'
Praise and blame ... something to consider.
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I guess i have been praising your goddness to me and elevating what you say about praise and blame to be "something distant yet close".
ReplyDeleteWhy can't we simply just enjoy the autumn like the school girl and the yellow/red leafes say?
I have recently strated doing some guitar and i seriously consider keeping on with it for the rest of my life. Can't i praise guitar? It is even beneficial to praise things. You draw them closer to you that you may simpler achieve perfection.
There's positive value in being cooperative, but there's negative value in being too cooperative. There's positive value in being uncooperative, but there's negative value in being too uncooperative.
ReplyDeleteI hate messy answers.
"Some are even willing to do it within themselves."
ReplyDeleteALL OF US DO THIS! Beware the one who says not me.
"Is this praise any more true than the calumny I might likewise employ?"
Be wary of "the one who knows" the truth so clearly as to affirm it as SUCH.
This is "it used, its in GREAT shape, as good'a car as I have ever had on my lot and that a lot of cars lady" used car salesman point of view.
I love messy answers. I feel right at home.