I'll never forget the first time I tried Miracle Whip. I had recently graduated from college and lived on my own in an unfinished basement in Harrisonburg, VA taking classes at JMU. It was my first experience grocery shopping completely for myself. I wanted mayonaisse for my sandwiches so like any good starving unemployed college grad I went cheap. Little did I know the mayonaisse that I bought wasn't mayonaisse at all-- it was Miracle Whip, and it was awful.
It's odd how little experiences like that in life stick out in your mind and remain in your memory. I don't think I've even thought about that experience until tonight when I saw it, the best commercial ever. In an age where everyone tries their best to convince the world that they are the best this commercial is a breath of fresh air. When organizations dress up their performance and use smoke and mirrors to impress the public, politicians polarize constituents and pretend the world is black and white, a product that tells the truth just might make a difference.
Sure, they're just trying to sell a product, but for some reason it lifts my soul to see them do it so honestly. I could force an object lesson here, or relate this to some greater truth, but that in itself would run contrary to the ideal of this post. I'm just writing about how much I dislike Miracle Whip and how cool it is that the folks that market Miracle Whip are ok with that. So from now on, they're ok with me. (But I'm still never eating the stuff again.)
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
West, Colbert, and a Fresh Perspective on Love
I ran across this video of an interview with Cornel West by Stephen Colbert. I don't watch very much Colbert, and I've only heard of Cornel West. After watching this, I'm inclined to learn a little more about Dr. West. The clip is well worth the watch, and just under seven minutes long. I've paraphrased some of my favorite quotes below.
West says I don't want social engineering, I want social justice. Social justice is allowing for the love to flow so that poor people have the same dignity as investment bankers.
-How many people vilify the poor who live off the government but somehow think it's ok to bailout failed businesses. What is the difference in a beggar who chooses to make a living off of handouts and an unscrupulous businessman/woman who chooses to make a living by exploiting others. It seems that one is honest about his or her intentions while the other succeeds in wearing a veneer of respectability.
Colbert summarizes a point of West's book, Hope on a Tightrope
saying "I hope things will get better, but I have no proof. Optimism is evidence-based."
-This is a beautiful description of hope and how it leads us to strive to make things better. Too much optimism leads to complacency-- hope drives us to action.
I'm a militant for tenderness. Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what it looks like in private. Love is a steadfast commitment to the well-being of others.
-We've bought the lie about love. We've grown to think love is something self-serving and self-gratifying. We love because of what we get out of it and when we stop getting, we fall out of love. We think love is a feeling and forget that it is wrapped up in expression. No wonder we're left empty when the feeling is forgotten. Without the expression, the feeling has no power. We've forgotten what love is.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Cornel West | ||||
| ||||
West says I don't want social engineering, I want social justice. Social justice is allowing for the love to flow so that poor people have the same dignity as investment bankers.
-How many people vilify the poor who live off the government but somehow think it's ok to bailout failed businesses. What is the difference in a beggar who chooses to make a living off of handouts and an unscrupulous businessman/woman who chooses to make a living by exploiting others. It seems that one is honest about his or her intentions while the other succeeds in wearing a veneer of respectability.
Colbert summarizes a point of West's book, Hope on a Tightrope
saying "I hope things will get better, but I have no proof. Optimism is evidence-based."-This is a beautiful description of hope and how it leads us to strive to make things better. Too much optimism leads to complacency-- hope drives us to action.
I'm a militant for tenderness. Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what it looks like in private. Love is a steadfast commitment to the well-being of others.
-We've bought the lie about love. We've grown to think love is something self-serving and self-gratifying. We love because of what we get out of it and when we stop getting, we fall out of love. We think love is a feeling and forget that it is wrapped up in expression. No wonder we're left empty when the feeling is forgotten. Without the expression, the feeling has no power. We've forgotten what love is.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.I don't know what kind of a person Cornel West is, but in seven minutes he's made an impression that will last. May he find the path of God's blessing and spread the message of love to the world.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
1 Corinthians 13
Thursday, October 07, 2010
The "A Pot of Stew Wordle"
I've used this neat application called Wordle on several occasions, and decided to give it a try with my blog. You can find the application at www.wordle.net. It allows you to add your own text or url to create a unique piece of word art. Here is mine:
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