September 20, 2005
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Questioning
This morning, as I stumbled and fumbled around here trying to make
breakfast with a tissue in one hand and a nebulizer in the other (bad
day for allergies and dyspnea), a question popped into my mind:Is it my job to inform the ignorant and enlighten the benighted? Or is it just my favorite pastime?
When I was very small, the Voice Inside my Head told me that my purpose
in life was to learn as much as I could. I’ve been trying to do
that. As long as I can recall, I have asked a lot of
questions. People used to remark on that, when I was so little
that few people expected me to be able to put together a coherent
sentence, much less a searching question they couldn’t answer. I
have always wanted answers and have kept on searching out new ways to
find them.Eventually, I got into answering questions, too. I never stopped asking, but I did develop some selectivity about who
I asked. I try now to take my questions to those I think might
have the answers I seek and be likely to give them freely and
honestly. I have asked a few questions here, ones that were
really important to me and that I had no idea who to ask.
Usually, I’ve gotten no answers at all from Xanga, or only some feeble
attempts to assure me that such answers were not needed or that I’d
find them somewhere.Occasionally, I will throw out a question on an online forum whose
membership has some relation to the topic of my question. A few
times when I’ve done that, the site admin has taken my question as a
challenge and slapped my wrist for it. Although I may be naive
enough to go around asking for the answers I seek, I am not so naive
that I don’t recognize when someone wants to appear to have all the
answers but doesn’t have enough good ones.I am now seeking keys and clues that might let me know beforehand when
my questions are going to be misconstrued as challenges, so I can avoid
all those painful slaps on the wrist. (
just kidding, there –
I do feel some little sense of letdown when the experts reveal their
ignorance and insecurity, but it doesn’t hurt my feelings)Below is a sample of one recent issue that got me slapped down on the forum where I sought an answer:
needed: one Lingua Franca
My explorations in metaphysical areas have been very eclectic. I
meditate and channel so that I have “input from within,” so to speak,
and I have also read widely in books, periodicals, and on the
web. I have found many separate groups that exist to gather and
share information or revelation of a metaphysical nature.Recently, I was talking to Greyfox about something I’d noticed.
Several of these groups are apparently on parallel tracks. I have
been finding messages with a common theme, but they are all couched in
different terms. Some people speak of the faery faith and tell of messages they have been getting from the Fae.Others are getting similar messages from aliens in flying
saucers. Still others talk to dragons and the dragons tell them
that our planet is in for some awesome changes of a specific
nature. The nature of those changes is the same as that being
revealed by midway creatures and Celestials to the readers of the
Urantia Book.I suggested to Greyfox that perhaps these disparate groups are not very
different from each other in essence, but only in the vocabularies they
use to describe their experiences. I said I’d like to find some
terminology in which I could communicate with all of them. It
becomes wearing after a while, having to switch languages each time I
go to a different message board.Greyfox said I need a Lingua Franca. Then ensued a discussion of
just what a “Lingua Franca” is. I thought it meant something like
Swahili, an artificial language developed to facilitate trade. I
don’t remember exactly how Greyfox defined it, but just know he
didn’t agree with my understanding of it. I guess what Greyfox
and I need is a Lingua Franca so we can discuss this need the
metaphysical community has for a Lingua Franca.I’ll be back.
Comments (10)
Okay, I’ll try again–as I understand it, a lingua franca MAY be an artificial language, but it does not have to be. Many artificial languages were developed in hopes of becoming LFs–esperanto, for instance.
PS–see my private site for what I have on the latest PLR, I just need to clarify a few htings with readings.
PPS–the one life is done. Do with it what thou wilt.
PPS–the other blog is done–please check it, let me know if you think it needs anything more. I deleted part of the sermon–you made a good point.
I like the way you think
Well, I haven’t been reading you long enough to really know what I can get away w/ saying or asking or answering in a way…but given the topic of this post I think I’ll just put whatever is in my head at the moment out there, so take it for what you will. I feel like I put stuff on xanga and people just don’t really comment period. Much less answer questions. This past weekend w/ the featured grown ups blogring’s topic I got more comments than I ever have before and discoverd that it was too much. There must be a nice middle ground somewhere that I haven’t experienced yet. So sometimes I put stuff up too that’s really important to me and I hope for comments to give me some clarity and I end up just waiting. So I apoligize if I’ve missed and opportunity to answer something you might have asked. This statement:
“I suggested to Greyfox that perhaps these disparate groups are not very different from each other in essence, but only in the vocabularies they use to describe their experiences.”
I just have to put it out there that this describes so well my feelings about “God”. It seems to me that the world is just comprised of a bunch of people w/ a different name for the same thing. I love that statement of yours.
It looks like I’ve been reading the wrong sites. So far, all the Xangas I regularly peruse speak of methaphysics in general terms. I enjoy this; it allows for an open forum with more understanding. Once, I did stumble upon a site which spoke of things which made no sense regarding vampires. I got the distinct impression this person was grasping at straws and had no real understanding of their subject matter. Hmmm.
People who get messages from fairies, aliens, or dragons have one thing in common: schizophrenia.
No, Dingus, it’s the ones who IMAGINE they’re getting messages, whether from God or demons or dragons or whatever, that are “sick”, and not necessarily “schizophrenic”. The voices usually heard by a schizophrenic are idiosyncratic and often frightening to the person perceiving them, sometimes leading to destructive or self-destructive behavior. That is not what I was writing about here.
If one wants to view these phenomena with an open mind, one must investigate and discover the nature and content of the messages. Psychopathological hallucinations don’t take the common patterns I’ve been finding on those various boards and email lists.
Hiya! Thanks for the nice comment. Now that I’ve come to your blog, I must add, thanks for making me think… I have enought trouble with English.
BE blessed!
Steve
I don’t have a comment for this post but I do have a question that is totally unrelated. The only reason I’m posting it here in public view is on the off chance that someone else who’s “qualified” might have ideas also. This year is the 25th anniversary of NA in this area and (on exTREMEly short notice due to not getting the facility on the dates we wanted) we have approximately 5 weeks to put together an appropriate celebration, ie. some sort of a banquet and dance. Do you have any thoughts/ideas about what would make an appropriate celebration for this type of an anniversary? (hoping so)