bragging

Like most parents, I like to brag about the things my kids do. It makes me feel better - not that I actually have much to do with their accomplishments. I did tell Craig to join drama as an elective in Grossmont High School ( That's where the girls are.) That in turn led to his brothers and sisters getting involved in drama. And Caitlin has followed that into a cool sounding program with Second City in Chicago.(Assuming we can get all those pesky things like life and finances figured out.)





That is almost my entire contribution to her recent successes in the field of theatre arts. (Other than cheering.) My wife has actual credibility in drama. She played the juvenile roles in several college productions, getting statewide recognition as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. Of course that was a small state - Hawaii, but her picture in the paper was as big as Don Ho's. I'm sure she is bragging as much to others about her daughter as I am now.





We all seem to think our newest car is the greatest thing since sliced cheese - even when it's a Ford or Chevy or another of the 217 million Honda Accords on the road. We all have a problem of pushing our identity onto our things. And thinking of things we can't possess as ours, like children, country, high school football team (we lost the bell, last second 40 yard field goal). Is this because we need more sense of self, or is this just an extension of out monomania? (I actually know the answer, I'm just asking to make you feel smaller.)



Actually I think the real answer is that we are all apart of the giant sea of life. And Identity and all that goes with it, jealousy, pride, envy, inferiority and superiority complexes, etc. are just the effects of our genomes fighting to dominate its space and secure its future. I honestly think we are more than just a tremendously complex chemical reaction, but that reaction is what life is all about on this Earth. The genetic imperative drives us all. The more we are able to separate our actions from our basic drives is a fundamental measure of our spirituality. Altruism is more than just a game playing strategy and does more than just help along the overall giant chemical reaction. At church we would call it being Christ-like. The idea of sacrifice is what the Christian Ideal is all about. That is the difference between what out genes are telling us and what we are outside of that imperative.



If that DaVinci Code guy was right, I don't think it would make any difference in our reality. Christ the ideal would love but never brag about his kids. He wouldn't have done anything to promote his biological children above the interests of the whole world. His basic message is in having us put the entirety of Life above our own genetic demands. Any True religion is an attempt to lead individuals to the altruistic ideal. What kind of car would Jesus drive? - maybe he'd just walk, or maybe he'd drive a Bugatti Veyron. He wouldn't care about the vehicle, just the journey. And he only care about the journey in as much as it furthered the needs of Life encompassing.



I gotta stop blogging. I end up taking way too much of your time and mine. If you haven't figured out yet I ain't perfect - you really don't know me. I hope to be perfect and hope that everyone would work to be perfect. Perfection isn't really possible in this world of quantum mechanics and free agency by those pieces of the overall chemical reaction of Life called individuals like Jim or Zach or Malia. (If your name isn't on the list that doesn't mean you couldn't have been what I thought of adding next...) But if you feel like cheering on Caitlin or Zach or Malia I will still be happier. (If you felt like cheering on Jim, I might question your mental stability - but that is the source of a future blog.)