Everyday along my morning bus route (one of the many extra duties involved while teaching in a small private school), I see the same lady walking. She is always bundled up to protect herself from the Oklahoma wind and carries a long stick to protect herself, presumably from dogs. And everyday as I pass her, I mentally wish her a good day.
Upon reflection, I find myself wishing many people a good day. If I don’t verbally say it, many times I offer it up as a prayer. Sometimes I try to show my optimism by wishing them a “great” day. My optimism gets so sappy at times that I often sign my emails with “have a splendiferous day”. I do not mention this to bring attention to myself, but rather to a very strange thought that occurred to me this morning. You know the ones, the type of thoughts that seem to be attributed to Mr. Screwtape or one of his associates. Am I being a Pollyanna? Am I being overly optimistic? What does it exactly mean to wish someone a good day?
I believe that we grow through our trials and tribulations. We become stronger, better persons when we work through obstacles in our lives. A sailor does not become skillful on calm seas. Is wishing someone a good day the same as wishing them smooth sailing, or a road that is straight and level and not full of pot holes? In effect, am I wishing to deny them a chance to grow today, a chance to overcome a challenge and feel triumphant and successful?
Instead of a “good day” wish, maybe I should be praying for them to have the courage, strength, and endurance to face their challenges? With the right attitude, every problem can be an opportunity for success, an opportunity to prove one’s self, a chance to trust in God. Maybe I should be reminding people that God is with them in the course of their day, that He is present not only in their laughter and joys, but also in their frustration and tears?
Reading back over the previous paragraphs, I see that I have over-analyzed all of this. I apologize for being sappy and sentimental. In the end, it occurs to me that I am just trying to show my love and affection for others in a small and insignificant way. “Have a good day” are loaded words like so many other words we use in our daily lives.
And so, I wish you a good day.
CowPi Journal
The Enlightenment of Buzz Lightyear
The third Matrix movie is just around the corner from being released in theaters. One of the many attractions of this trilogy is the symbolism represented in the movie, especially in the main character of Neo. Many have written about the process of enlightenment or awareness of Neo, but there is another famous movie figure that reached enlightenment too—Buzz Lightyear.†
In the beginning of the movie Toy Story, Buzz is delusional in believing that he was a real space ranger on a mission to defeat the evil emperor Zurg. Woody, the leader of the toys in Andy’s room, tries without success to convince Buzz that he is just another toy like the rest of them.
There is the obvious symbolism between the new, high-tech, hard plastic, modern way represented by Buzz the space toy, and the soft, plush, old-fashioned way represented by Woody, an old-west sheriff/cowboy. (This theme gets more play in the sequel.) All of the old toys in Andy’s room like Buzz. He is new. He is novel. Andy even seems to play with Buzz more than Woody. In fact, Buzz displaces Woody from the place of honor in the room, the pillow on Andy’s bed. Woody is relegated to the toy box with the other toys.
Unlike Neo in the Matrix movies, Woody is no messiah or Buddha figure. Woody suffers from the sins of pride, jealousy, and selfishness. Eventually, Woody’s sins force him to initiate a sequence of events that would push Buzz down behind the dresser. Behind the dresser is a place of limbo for a toy because Andy and the other toys would not be able to find anything hidden down there. As fortune would have it, Buzz instead gets knocked out of the window. The other toys do not view this event as an accident and decide to banish Woody. Woody is saved at the last moment when Andy reluctantly takes Woody with him on a trip to a restaurant. Buzz hitches a ride on the bumper of the family van and confronts Woody at a gas station. It is during their struggle at the gas station that both of them are left behind.
The rest of the story is about their attempt to get back home. In the trials and tribulations of their adventure, Woody finds repentance for his sins, and Buzz finds enlightenment in discovering his true identity as a toy. Buzz comes to agree with Woody that it is nobler to bring joy and happiness in the play of a child than to be a conquering space hero.
It is worth noting that Buzz would not believe the truth told to him by Woody or the other toys. It was something that he had to discover on his own. (Like in The Matrix when Morpheus said to Neo, “I’m trying to free your mind, but I can only show you the door. You’re the one who has to walk through it.”) Only after accidentally seeing a Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger commercial on T.V., did he begin to have doubts. After the failed attempt at flying, Buzz’s self-identity and world view came literally crashing down around him. He became deeply depressed and despondent. Not even a pep talk by the ever-optimistic and pragmatic Woody helped. Buzz was only able to lift himself out of his depression and accept his new true self when he felt the need to help Woody out of his despair.
In the end, both Woody and Buzz learn that one finds happiness in service to others, and in discovering one’s true self.
† Thanks to Brian, a senior religion teacher, for the original spark for this entry.
Are You a Chicken?
Anthony de Mello tells the following story in the forward of his book, Awareness:
A man found an eagle’s egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.
All his life the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly only a few feet into the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
The old eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” said his neighbor. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth—we’re chickens.”
So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was.
His point is that we are all eagles, but live and act like chickens. My question is, how does one learn that he or she is really a majestic eagle? How does one learn to soar in the cloudless sky?
Going with the Flow
A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.
I caught myself the other day being amazed at how much my students have bought into the value system of contemporary society. Not all of the values of our modern world are wrong or bad, but much of it has been twisted. Our culture today, exaggerated by mass media, focuses too much on certain aspects of life that are in the long run very shallow and unfulfilling.
But then I remembered, I used to be like that too.
How do you tell someone that they are really alive, and that they can find the strength to swim upstream too?
What is Prayer?
There is much to say about prayer, but this quote seems to cut it down to its most basic and raw element.
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.