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October 16, 2007
Paris
I am sitting here in the lobby of the Paris hotel Matty and I will be staying at waiting for him to show up so we can get to our room and start exploring the city proper.
Because wi-fi access isn't free here this probably won't be posted until we arrive in Amsterdam on Tuesday which, we are told, will have internet access. If we don't, this will make it's way onto the interwebs on Sunday, October 21st.
OK, enough of the disclaimers which, I'm sure, no one cares about in the first place. :)
Paris is quite a place...it's akin to a more cultured, older version of New York City without all the skyscrapers. In Switzerland I've gotten numb to the fact that 90% of the people I come across are white. Paris is near the opposite with lots and lots of other nationalities all intermingled together.
On every little corner there's something interesting whether it's occupied by some little shop, café or a collection of people interacting in a way that I can only say is very 'French'.
Oh and everyone smokes here. Everyone. Seriously. It's as almost if the country as a whole decided to take a stand against all the smoking bans taking place in America and the rest of Europe by continuously lighting up in a cloud of protest. It reminds me of when I was in elementary school and used to go to the mall and see people light up in the midst of the food court. Who knew the constant smell of cigarettes could conjure up such nostalgia?
Like Basel, Paris just oozes the sort of charm that makes you want to amble around and explore it. I really hope Matty shows up soon so we can drop off our stuff and get to the wandering. His flight was supposed to land at 1:30 and, if it is on time and he was able to get on the right public transportation, he should be here in no time.
I have been working through the audio book of 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins, the world's foremost atheist. The book is definitely interesting and many of the ideas and concepts he brings up have caused me to question and reevaluate a lot of what I believe. However, I cannot listen for too long of a stretch at a time for two reasons: 1) it's a very dense read where lots of important stuff is introduced and discussed all at once and 2) it's so negative.
There is no doubt that Dawkins is incredibly intelligent and his ability to write is dazzling. But, there is something peculiar to me about a man who devotes his life to not believing in something. His disbelief has become, in itself, a belief and he is very determined to get others to think in the same ways he does. At some points in the book I find myself feeling repulsed in the same way I did as a kid when the gospel would be shoved down my throat by some preacher or at a church retreat where the speaker would try to get every kid there to in-cant some prayer which, we were told, would save us from the fires of hell.
The more I explore the avenues of my faith and beliefs the more it is apparent that it is all about the journey. In the past I've been very quick to condemn people who believe what I used to. I tried to convince them, through argument, about why they are wrong and why they should think what I do. The fact of the matter is, no one argued me out of the very beliefs I'm trying to forcibly remove from them. It was through reading, writing, thinking, discussing and wrestling that I came to where I am now.
I think there's a fundamental difference between knowledge and belief. I would classify 'knowledge' as the things you discover practically that can be immediately put into practice kind of like measurements and figures you put into an Excel spreadsheet. Beliefs are the spreadsheet itself: the framework and interpretation, on the whole, of all the knowledge one has collected.
We can take umbrage and argue about the knowledge; about the data and methods used to collect the data and the way in which the data was entered into the spreadsheet. But, how can you argue with someone's spreadsheet? You can call it an inferior spreadsheet, and tell them why your spreadsheet is so incredible and awesome but, like our varied tastes in pizza (you Nick with your anchovies), what if we were all born with slightly different perspectives on what this whole life journey means.
Some people are born tall, some with lighter hair and some who like to eat lemons. But, for every category I've mentioned, there's someone else who's completely different. Why try to jam everyone into the same spreadsheet?
I came across this awesome quote recently by Jorge Luis Borges who said, "a book should not reveal things. A book should simply help us discover them."
There are people who resonate, and resonate deeply, with Jesus. I am one of those people. When I read about him and wrestle with what he says there is something within me that stirs and gets passionate and wants to change the world. Strangely, however, some people don't get that at all. At first I used to judge those people and make speculation about what it is that went wrong in their life to cause them to have such a perverted way of thinking. But, here I am and, well, I change every day. Maybe some people out there are changing to become more like me in their world views and, maybe, it's the exact opposite.
All I am responsible for is myself and, when I reflect on what I want to do in my life, I can't help but come back to what Jesus said when asked about what the greatest commandments where: "Love God, Love Others." Now, who is the God I am supposed to love? Well I could tell you today but tomorrow it might sound a little different. And, because this won't be on the internet for a few days, I think I'll leave that question unanswered for now.
Posted by Jon at October 16, 2007 03:29 PM