A Cartoon Life

Tuesday 8/22/2017 5:37 AM

I had a number of dreams last night. In some of them I was teaching students in strange settings. One class met in a preschool classroom complete with small, undersized chairs. Another met in a hotel room located in one of the upper floors of a skyscraper in a large city. The elevators didn’t work so I had to climb many flights of stairs to get from my office to the classroom. After I got there I discovered I didn’t have a working whiteboard marker and had to get some from the division office, also located on one of the bottom floors. When I finally got back to the classroom my students were working together at tables, teaching the lesson to themselves and doing their homework. I walked around to answer questions but they had none. It seemed that I was totally unheard and unneeded. I woke to the strangest dream of all. I was in a barbershop getting my hair cut. The other people in the dream were cartoon characters, it was a silent dream, and the dream was in vivid color. The characters were extremely busy, running around the shop doing various tasks, and their mouths were moving as if they were talking but there was no sound whatsoever, either from their feet hitting the floor or from their conversation, and my hair was left uncut.

The last dream reminded me somewhat of modern western society. Everyone seems extremely busy, running from home, to work, to extracurricular activities, and then back home. They post pictures and comments about their busy lives on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other social media, trying to impress others with their importance. The internet is full of websites containing conflicting viewpoints and conflicting facts, so much so that it is nearly impossible to sort out the truth from the lies. Political parties spin events and comments made by politicians to further their agendas, without regard to truth or accuracy. Groups of individuals meet to protest and counter-protestors also come to express their opinions and clash with one another, which often leads to violence. It seems the world is full of people running around with lives lived in full color for all to see, shouting vacuous words devoid of truth or accuracy. There seems to be a lot of hoopla and flapping of gums but little substance to bring about meaningful change.

My reading today included these words by Anthony of Souroszh from a pamphlet titled Meditations on a Theme. He writes, “… you choose your life, that is to say, you choose all the conditions of your life, when you choose the thoughts upon which you allow your mind to dwell. Thought is the real causative force in life, and there is no other. … This means that you cannot change your environment while leaving your mind unchanged, nor can you change your mind without your environment changing too. This then is the real key to life: if you change your mind your conditions must change too – your body must change, your daily work or other activities must change; your home must change; the color-tone of your whole life must change – for whether you be habitually happy and cheerful, or low-spirited and fearful, depends entirely on the quality of the mental food upon which you diet yourself. … We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

I do not want to be a cartoon character in the world, running about making a big commotion in full, living color, without having any impact on those around me. If Anthony of Souroszh is to be believed I need to change what I feed my mind in order to change my environment. The Bible gives instructions on how Christians should live in the latter part of Ephesians 4. Paul writes, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. … Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. … Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” It seems the teaching of Paul in Ephesians is the same as that of Anthony of Souroszh, if I change my mind it will affect the way I interact with others, which will change my environment. I need to heed the words of Philippians 4:8, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Thinking differently and living differently will keep me from being cartoon-like in the world and will give real voice to my life, one that others can hear.