I love this because it roots your retelling of Bible stories in heart rather than just parody. Makes them both funnier and more meaningful
What resonated for me in your story in particular is the power of commitment to clear the path to genuine joy and deeper understanding of whatever it is our intellect and heart is engaged in.
Being someone who has always thought that when the initial passion faded on something, I should move on to something else, it was a revelation to me when, with my Beatles work, I made essentially a wedding vow to the work. For good or bad, richer or poorer, etc etc. And that relieved me of the need to decide whether or not to continue the work when the passion was less close at hand.
That in turn led to deeper insights and a deeper connection. I was married to the thing , after all, it was my task to learn its secrets. And those secrets were worth the commitment.
A weighty comment on what I know is a humour substack, but I felt like your post merited it.
Yes, I think commitment is the thing! Finding ways to manufacture interesting commitments is, I think, a key to all sorts of meaningful things. Marriage too, absolutely.
I read somewhere -- I wish I could remember where -- that when we commit to something enough to become an expert at it, we don't lose our need for novelty, it's just that we begin to find that novelty in the nuance and subtly of our subject area. I'm certainly finding that to be true with my work, and I suspect you do as well. It's a point that really landed with me and helped me an awful lot with commitment.
BTW, I think we have a mutual friend in Michael Gerber, so waving hello on that score as well.
What a very thoughtful narrative. I, and I am sure many of my fellow readers, appreciate the peek behind the curtain as to the source of your humour and insights. It rounds out a bit of the context and meaning of what we enjoy about your writing.
On the quiz, I answered "Eminem." This shows you that when I was a kid I had my face buried more into an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland than the Bible. But can you blame me? My parents tried to get us into being Wesleyan, a weird Methodist sect that hates jewelry, dancing, and anything that resembles fun. The Wesleyan pastor never mentioned all that fun stuff in the Bible like from the book of Judges. It was always Psalms and Proverbs, Psalms and Proverbs. Small wonder I tuned out. Therefore I am in desperate need of some serious biblical expansion! ...hmm...wait a minute, maybe I better rephrase that...
I love this because it roots your retelling of Bible stories in heart rather than just parody. Makes them both funnier and more meaningful
What resonated for me in your story in particular is the power of commitment to clear the path to genuine joy and deeper understanding of whatever it is our intellect and heart is engaged in.
Being someone who has always thought that when the initial passion faded on something, I should move on to something else, it was a revelation to me when, with my Beatles work, I made essentially a wedding vow to the work. For good or bad, richer or poorer, etc etc. And that relieved me of the need to decide whether or not to continue the work when the passion was less close at hand.
That in turn led to deeper insights and a deeper connection. I was married to the thing , after all, it was my task to learn its secrets. And those secrets were worth the commitment.
A weighty comment on what I know is a humour substack, but I felt like your post merited it.
Yes, I think commitment is the thing! Finding ways to manufacture interesting commitments is, I think, a key to all sorts of meaningful things. Marriage too, absolutely.
I read somewhere -- I wish I could remember where -- that when we commit to something enough to become an expert at it, we don't lose our need for novelty, it's just that we begin to find that novelty in the nuance and subtly of our subject area. I'm certainly finding that to be true with my work, and I suspect you do as well. It's a point that really landed with me and helped me an awful lot with commitment.
BTW, I think we have a mutual friend in Michael Gerber, so waving hello on that score as well.
What is the answer to that final question? Is it, like, “in His Mind, like everything else” or what?
Which question do you mean?
Michael,
What a very thoughtful narrative. I, and I am sure many of my fellow readers, appreciate the peek behind the curtain as to the source of your humour and insights. It rounds out a bit of the context and meaning of what we enjoy about your writing.
Absolutely agree. When I started writing the Alternative Torah, I didn't truly understand the depths of depravity that existed in the bible!
On the quiz, I answered "Eminem." This shows you that when I was a kid I had my face buried more into an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland than the Bible. But can you blame me? My parents tried to get us into being Wesleyan, a weird Methodist sect that hates jewelry, dancing, and anything that resembles fun. The Wesleyan pastor never mentioned all that fun stuff in the Bible like from the book of Judges. It was always Psalms and Proverbs, Psalms and Proverbs. Small wonder I tuned out. Therefore I am in desperate need of some serious biblical expansion! ...hmm...wait a minute, maybe I better rephrase that...
Wikipedia informs me that Welch of grape juice fame was a Wesleyan. Great work, Wesleyans!
Never read it, but just requested it from the library so I'll form an opinion ASAP.