G.K. Chesterton speaks about this idea in his writing. He describes family life as the experience of falling down a chimney and having to get along with the inhabitants as well as you can, which is much like the experience of being born into a family. He then goes on to explain how family life is where we really get to know the world. It is the people we are thrown together with rather than the people we choose who show us the range and quirks of the world.
I really like the idea of possibilities without endless possibilities. I don’t have to choose from everything in this life, just from the range in front of me. Likewise, I am under no pressure to write a Great American novel, just to tell the stories that are mine to tell.
From the reference to our poiema identities to the liberty of constraints, this was a reset for me. (Thrownness reminds me of why I enjoy writing formal poetry. The constraints allow creativity the boundary it needs to craft the poem.) Thank you for this, Jonathan. Not jostling for position on a hierarchy but tending the plot of ground entrusted to me. May it be so.
Thank you, Jonathan, for this reflection. "Throwness" doesn't get much press in Christian circles. This line moved me:
"You can regret your thrownness or resent your thrownness or feel shame about it. Or you can take it as a gift and as a guide to your calling."
I think similarly about our "story," that lens on our experiences that sometimes looks away from the pain and shame, and resents it all. I love your call to make art of it all.
G.K. Chesterton speaks about this idea in his writing. He describes family life as the experience of falling down a chimney and having to get along with the inhabitants as well as you can, which is much like the experience of being born into a family. He then goes on to explain how family life is where we really get to know the world. It is the people we are thrown together with rather than the people we choose who show us the range and quirks of the world.
I really like the idea of possibilities without endless possibilities. I don’t have to choose from everything in this life, just from the range in front of me. Likewise, I am under no pressure to write a Great American novel, just to tell the stories that are mine to tell.
From the reference to our poiema identities to the liberty of constraints, this was a reset for me. (Thrownness reminds me of why I enjoy writing formal poetry. The constraints allow creativity the boundary it needs to craft the poem.) Thank you for this, Jonathan. Not jostling for position on a hierarchy but tending the plot of ground entrusted to me. May it be so.
Thank you, Jonathan, for this reflection. "Throwness" doesn't get much press in Christian circles. This line moved me:
"You can regret your thrownness or resent your thrownness or feel shame about it. Or you can take it as a gift and as a guide to your calling."
I think similarly about our "story," that lens on our experiences that sometimes looks away from the pain and shame, and resents it all. I love your call to make art of it all.
Effoditur ferrum e terra profunda,
sed faber ferrarius cultrum facit.
In rotam iaci potest Argilla,
sed anima, Origenes tenet, descendit.
Is the link to the podcast supposed to require a login?
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