"If indeed language is indeed only a matter of power relations, a contest to see who gets to define reality, then every conversation is a conflict. We can do better." This is such a quietly profound statement. Thank you for writing it. Addendum: Derrida also blew my mind in college. Should Derrida be our Summer Retreat theme, mayhap?
oh, you're such a wordsmith! You string them together so seemingly effortlessly (how's that for a terrible adverb combo?) to say good things. And I'm loving your word "thinginess". I'm going to try to work that into some conversations.
I am so glad that I found this gem of a newsletter/whatever!
What? You mean my “lived experience” might need an objective realignment?
Seriously, thank you for this. Your continued leaning into this “thinginess of things” and the God behind it all has been a great encouragement to me over the past few years when so many are trying to create meaning out of the air between their ears.
Wonderfully written, profound, and thought provoking, yet superbly mixed into etymology and amusing analogies. The connection between the words "reality" and "thing" really got me thinking. But once you presented the idea of how the world itself tries to define its own reality so that it might gain from it, and how language can be used as a tool for that ilk, it blew me away. This was a reminder for me that defining our own reality can be a grave danger which we all must be aware of. We must turn to Jesus, and ask Him to redefine reality for us.
Also, great use of the word "athwart", it is currently one of my favorites
Is your Smith quote from "You Are What You Love"? It just came in my library reserve (finally). Or is there a better place to start with Smith? Thanks for the help!
It's from "Imagining the Kingdom." But "You Are What You Love" is probably the best place to start. It's a shorter, more accessible reworking of Imagining the Kingdom.
I wish more Protestants took these same logics and applied them to explain how birth-control usage actually leads us down Derrida’s doom-ful path of ignoring metaphysics and objective ontology.
"If indeed language is indeed only a matter of power relations, a contest to see who gets to define reality, then every conversation is a conflict. We can do better." This is such a quietly profound statement. Thank you for writing it. Addendum: Derrida also blew my mind in college. Should Derrida be our Summer Retreat theme, mayhap?
Which is worse, Derrida or rentable scooters? (the question I'd write on my index card if I could be there)
Agreed. 🙏🏻
oh, you're such a wordsmith! You string them together so seemingly effortlessly (how's that for a terrible adverb combo?) to say good things. And I'm loving your word "thinginess". I'm going to try to work that into some conversations.
I am so glad that I found this gem of a newsletter/whatever!
What? You mean my “lived experience” might need an objective realignment?
Seriously, thank you for this. Your continued leaning into this “thinginess of things” and the God behind it all has been a great encouragement to me over the past few years when so many are trying to create meaning out of the air between their ears.
Can you get me a Pumpkin-spice bacon frappuccino donut??? 😋
I find my biggest obstacle in life is that reality does not conform to my wishes. Of which, I’m daily reminded.
Wonderfully written, profound, and thought provoking, yet superbly mixed into etymology and amusing analogies. The connection between the words "reality" and "thing" really got me thinking. But once you presented the idea of how the world itself tries to define its own reality so that it might gain from it, and how language can be used as a tool for that ilk, it blew me away. This was a reminder for me that defining our own reality can be a grave danger which we all must be aware of. We must turn to Jesus, and ask Him to redefine reality for us.
Also, great use of the word "athwart", it is currently one of my favorites
Very helpful post Jonathan, it makes me also think of Lewis in pressing home the point of meaning in Abolition of Man.
Love the “Abolition” connection. And Derrida is a rhetorical sophist and not a philosopher, ultimately.
"Roving gangs of bridesmaids" 😂
yes, wasn't he clever with that set of stuff?!!
You had me at “roving gangs of bridesmaids.”
Is your Smith quote from "You Are What You Love"? It just came in my library reserve (finally). Or is there a better place to start with Smith? Thanks for the help!
It's from "Imagining the Kingdom." But "You Are What You Love" is probably the best place to start. It's a shorter, more accessible reworking of Imagining the Kingdom.
I wish more Protestants took these same logics and applied them to explain how birth-control usage actually leads us down Derrida’s doom-ful path of ignoring metaphysics and objective ontology.