Viral

The state of the nation in jeopardy

We all know it's bad, but to what degree?

Millions will die in a matter of weeks.

That's what I heard on the news at least.

Stock market tanked twelve percent today.

Grocery stores empty, that's what they say.

President telling us all to pray

Looks like it's not gonna be okay

Fear and hysteria

Over a matter of

Weeks it begins 

To invade your mind.

Fact isn't part of it.

Cut to the heart of it.

Look at the cause,

What do you find?

Just look what happened to Italy.

Sickness will prey on the elderly.

Hospitals over capacity

Think we'll fare better?  Just wait and see.

Stay quarantined in your house a while.

Don't ask me how long, just nod and smile.

Not crazy, just going the extra mile.

Don't make this such a trial.

The rising pandemic

Is so emblematic 

Of panic,

The world that we all live in.

Yes, it's problematic,

But hide in your attic,

And you're the one

Wearing the Joker grin

Government dropping the interest rate

Schools are all closed, and don't touch your face.

Everything comes to a stop in LA.

The world is on lockdown for 15 days.

Air travel grounded till it all ends

Nervously watching the graphs and the trends

Hoping the shutdown won't have to extend

We anxiously all attend.

"Apocalypse"

Is on the lips

Of some

Although it shouldn't be.

It could get bad,

But where we're at,

Hysteria

Is the real disease.

This problem will not just blow away,

But don't stockpile groceries until mid-May.

From groups and the elderly stay away.

Don't need more insanity on display

Precautions don't mean that the world will end,

But vulnerable people we try to defend.

Flatten the curve, that's what they recommend,

But we don't have to pretend

That the world won't keep spinning.

Humanity's ending

Is not resting on

The edge of a knife.

Can be overwhelming,

But they're overselling.

Be careful, but still,

You can live your life.

But you won't hear that on the news.

They are trying to keep you confused.

The more searching and clicking you do,

To them it's just ad revenue.

We all panic and follow the virus,

But the fear is already inside us.

We're infected and highly contagious,

And that fear is what's really gone viral.

Shakespeare in Star Wars: Return of the Archetype

     It is no longer any secret that stories composed across millenia share common archetypes and themes.  The idea of common narratives shared across cultures but with different features has been around at least since Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces was published in 1949.  It is only since then, however, that those narrative principles could be consciously applied to new stories to ensure that they would have the same impact as those ancient archetypes.  

     George Lucas was one of the first to do so.  He came across Campbell's work while writing what we now know as A New Hope and intentionally implemented the themes he read about into his script.  Many would point to the power of special effects to transport viewers to another world or to nostalgia for times past as the feature that makes the Star Wars saga so captivating, but it is the ancient archetypes in the story that hold the rest of the film together and form the universe we know and love.  Lucas was both an innovator and a writer who knew the value of ideas that had stood the test of time. This combination of the novel and the ancient is what made the Star Wars saga so impactful on our culture.

     We live in the age of Star Wars, but perhaps the most influential author who ever existed lived 500 years ago.  Shakespeare was another master of combining the new and the old. His plays are full of the archetypes that have dominated storytelling for thousands of years.  It should not be any surprise then that Shakespeare's plays have much in common with Star Wars.¹  Those similarities are precisely what this series will examine.  This is merely an introduction. Future installments will examine each of the categories of Shakespeare's plays and the strengths they lend to the Star Wars saga.  The conclusion will explore what happens when those influences are cast aside.  

     "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."  So too is the world of storytelling. One story may be rekindled time and time again through the ages, and those similarities give light into what makes stories meaningful.  The stage is set. Let's meet the players.

1 In fact, those similarities inspired an entire book series.  It is called, fittingly enough, William Shakespeare's Star Wars, and I highly recommend that you read it.

Glass Half Full

Glass Half Full

By Samuel Hammock

On a table sat a glass of water

Filled just up to the halfway mark.

Soon it would be a source of conflict 

As water glasses seldom are.

 “It's halfway full!” said the Optimist

 With a tone of joy and cheer.

But the Pessimist interjects “Nonsense!

It's half empty from right here.”

The Statistician calmly states

 “It's at fifty percent capacity.”

 But the Engineer interrupts to say

 “It's just twice as big as it needs to be.”

 The Wise Guy in the corner smirks

 “It's full, but half is air.”

 “An atom’s mostly empty space.“

His Snobby Twin declares.

The Blind Man doesn't understand 

The escalating brawl.

The Skeptic questions if the glass 

Holds anything at all.

 “How is the word halfway defined?”

 Demands old Socrates.

 “It should be fuller than it is!“

The Idealist clearly sees.

 “The glass is either full or not!”

 The Logician shouts aloud.

The Stoic will not let the glass 

Affect his conduct proud.

The Empiricist taps on the glass

Just to be sure it's there.

The Marxist says the glass should be

Divided, to be fair.

The Fascist says the one who

Takes the glass is always right.

The Existentialist demands 

They let the glass decide.

To Perspectivists, the water is 

Surrounded by a glass.

The Physicist just wants to find

The glass’s total mass.

The Nihilist, depressed and sad 

Cries out “It doesn't matter!”

 The Paranoia-riddled One

Suspects it isn't water.

The Darwinist declares the glass

Was just an accident.

The Fruedian says that social norms

Will make it discontent.

Postmodernists say “You decide.

It's your truth after all.”

The Surrealist sees a big green

Llama-rider waterfall.

The Politician claims the glass 

Is his opponent's fault.

The Food Critic complains that it

Could use a bit of salt.

With empty glass in hand,

The Opportunist parts the fray.

 “Boy, I was thirsty.

Why are you guys arguing today?”

What is Nature and is it Right?

     An argument often heard today is that if something is natural, it must be right.  Essentially, this makes nature the standard for morality. But what is nature, and what does it mean for something to be right?  Nature is the way something is without outside influence, its uninhibited characteristics. What is right is that which is morally good.  These terms are often conflated. For example, when debating homosexual or transgender issues, the argument is usually made that "that's just how they are, and it's wrong to try to change that."  This argument asserts first that these are natural phenomena, which will be discussed later, and second that all natural phenomena are inherently morally right. This second assertion is very problematic.  Nature is essentially the way things are. If the way things are is inherently right, then the idea of right and wrong loses its meaning. A thing cannot be different than how it is, so everything must be right.  When nature is right, everything is right. Clearly nature and "right" are not the same thing, but are they related, and if so, how?

     An object's natural state is its uninfluenced state.  It is how it is when nothing interferes with it. This definition is perfectly fine when it comes to almost everything in the world except humanity.  Our natural state is difficult to pinpoint because the way we are has changed. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Gen. 1:27  "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31  

At Creation, humanity was good.  We had no tendency to sin. Then came the Fall.  Adam disobeyed God's command and brought rebellion into humanity.  

     In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes human nature as "what human beings ought to do, and do not." (Lewis, 28)  In other words, human nature is our inherent knowledge of what is right and our tendency to ignore that knowledge.  This is a very accurate and succinct way to sum up what we call human nature, but is it truly natural? Humanity was created for a purpose.  God's purpose for mankind, as stated by the Westminster shorter catechism, is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The rebellion that is human nature cannot be called truly natural when it goes so against the purpose for which humanity was created.  Since it is in direct opposition to our purpose, it is perhaps the least natural thing about us. Humanity is an unusual case. Our natural state is how we should be, and our "human nature" is how we are. They are both natural in at least some sense of the word, though they remain in direct opposition.  

     Does any of this relate at all to what is right or wrong?  Right was defined at the beginning as that which is morally good, but there is disagreement even on what this means.  Many would say that what you want to do is what is right for you. Your desires determine what is right. In other words, human nature is right.  As stated at the beginning, this destroys the concept of "rightness.” If whatever a person wants to do is right, then everything can be right. Not only is this idea nonsensical, it is exactly the opposite of the truth.  Human nature, our tendency to rebel, is wrong. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jer. 17:9 There must be a standard for what is right. It must be absolute in order to have any meaning.  Many standards have been proposed, but the only true standard is the Bible.

     What is right and what is natural are both absolutes.  Things are how they are, and should be how they should be.  Human nature is peculiar. It is neither right nor truly natural.  It is the way things are and shouldn't be, or as C.S. Lewis put it, ”what human beings ought to do, and do not."

Works Cited

Lewis, C.S. (1943) Mere Christianity. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company

Grudem, W. (2011) The ESV Student Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway

Go Lick a Swingset

Go Lick a Swingset

By: Samuel Hammock

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

That's how the saying goes.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Go lick a swingset, kids.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger,

Though it may make you weak.

Recovery will follow in the future,

And it brings with it strength.

A city was invaded, its walls broken;

Survivors scavenge streets.

In time, the city was rebuilt, a new age,

And stronger than before.  

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

That's how the saying goes.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Go lick a swingset, kids.

We vaccinate our kids to keep them healthy,

Injecting sicknesses.

It helps them all to build up antibodies,

Immunization's goal.

We ponder all the wrong ideas and worldviews

That people sometimes hold.

In entertaining arguments opposing,

We make our defense bold.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

That's how the saying goes.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Go lick a swingset, kids.

A man once lost his job and livelihood,

Deep in depression dove,

Back from the brink returned to face the future,

God's fortitude in soul.

A child is taking her first steps on two legs.

She falls and cries aloud.

The next time she will stagger that much further.

Her skill will come in time.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

That's how the saying goes.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Go lick a swingset, kids.

Experience should always make us better,

And failure teaches much.

The risks both small and great that we encounter

Are opportunities.

It is important to know our own limits,

Just how far we can go.

The best way to learn life is just to live it.

It's too short to go slow.

A day that doesn't end you makes you wiser:

That's how the living goes.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Go lick a swingset, kids.

On Snowmen

Have you ever thought about snowmen?  Snowmen are weird.

From the name, you'd think that a snowman is a representation of a person made from snow, but that's not really what the word means.  When we think of a snowman, we don't think of a human shaped mass of snow.  We think of a tower of three successively smaller snow spheres.  Sure, it's got stick arms and a crude face, but it doesn't really represent a human, not anymore.  When you go outside to build a snowman, you try ro build a snowman.  You don't aim for the form of a human being and end up with a stack of snowballs.  You aim for the form of a snowman itself.

This means that at some point in time, the idea of a snowman went from being a representation of a human to being its own idea with a distinct ifentity.  If someone built a perfect model of a human from snow, that would be incredible, but no one would call it a snowman.  We'd call it a snow sculpture or snow art or something else, because snowmen have become self defining.  They no longer depend on us for their identity. 

Snowmen are no longer men made of snow.  Snowmen are just snowmen.  Much like how in many secular Christmas movies, Christmas is about finding the true meaning of Christmas.  It's openly self-referential. 

So snowmen clearly are no longer related to man.  But they aren't necessarily related to snow either.  It's the shape that really matters.  You can make a tower of three spheres out of sand or mud or mashed potatoes, and people will think of it as a snowman.  The shape has become so universally iconic that the material no longer matters. 

Snowmen.  They've become so ubiquitous and recognizable that neither snow nor man is a real factor in their identity.  And that's really weird.