It Doesn't Have to Be Your Experience

I love this quote:

"We have been fighting on this planet for ten thousand years; it would be idiotic and unethical to not take advantage of such accumulated experiences. If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you."

— General Jim Mattis

It recently came to me in one of the Farnam Street newsletters I get each week in my inbox. I'm not a military person at all (pacifist Mennonite roots), but I have to admire his approach as immeasurably wise. I dug around a little and found a related blog post from a few years ago.

General James Mattis: Arm Yourself With Books

Whatever country you are fighting a war in, someone has already fought there before. Someone has also explored it, mapped it, studied it, and done humanitarian work there. The hard work has already been done. All you have to do is read. . . . 

Books have a limitless amount to teach us if we’re willing to pay attention.

You don’t need to be a military general to benefit from the fore-arming and forewarning that books can provide. Ask yourself, what body of knowledge would I benefit from having deep in my bones? Unless you’re trying to make discoveries in fundamental physics or advanced technology, someone else has probably already gained the knowledge that you seek, and they likely have put it in a book to share with you. . . . 

Knowledge comes from experience, but it doesn’t have to be your experience.

I'm going to use those quotes again at some point, I'm sure. Books have a limitless amount to teach us if we’re willing to pay attention. Knowledge comes from experience, but it doesn’t have to be your experience.

I elaborate on a similar theme in The Antidote of Mirrors and Windows. Books can be mirrors we see ourselves reflected in, but they can also be windows into the lives and experiences of others, windows that help us understand things outside of our own lives and experiences.

Speaking of wisdom and quotes, I recently catalogued this one:

Wisdom is not bestowed. In its raw state, it is the heartbreak of knowing things you wish you didn't.

Suzanne Vega's song Bad Wisdom has been stuck in my head ever since I read it.

The quote is from Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley. I also pulled this quote from it:

"It's hard when being Native means different things depending on who's asking and why," he says.

"And to some people, you'll never be Native enough," I add.

"Yeah. It's your identity, but it gets defined or controlled by other people."

Replace "Native" with the category of your choice, race-related or otherwise. Other people will always try to define and control it for you.

The windows and mirrors analogy was from the introduction to a race workshop I helped plan. The introduction from the year before speaks to this quote more directly: What Was the Middle Part, Again? And the post I wrote as a follow-up to the windows and mirrors one gets into race, identity, and perception at length: Refracted Neutrality.

Speaking of race, my county government just made Juneteenth an official holiday, following the president making it a federal holiday a few months ago.

Did Last Summer’s Black Lives Matter Protests Change Anything?

The United States [is] caught between a recognition that racism is rooted in unfair and unequal conditions, created within public and private sectors, and reproduced over time and place, and a reluctance to take drastic action to cure it. Democrats on the federal and local levels have mastered the language of racial contrition, lamenting the conditions that nourish inequality, while doing the bare minimum to change them. . . .

But the rejection of racist symbols, including those commemorating the Confederacy, was an acute response to the fact that they had become important tools for the white-supremacist fringe of the Republican Party, full of contemporary as well as historical meaning. . . .

The Juneteenth holiday was, too, in some ways, a product of political expediency. . . .

But we cannot only measure the impact or importance of last year’s protests in terms of the passage of reform legislation. . . . the creation of the Juneteenth National Independence Day is the closest that our society has come to acknowledging the legacy of slavery as a fact of American life. . . .

The retelling of the history of Black Americans with slavery as its anchor injects a historical materiality into our understanding of Black communities’ hardships. This development is deeply consequential. . . . There is now widespread agreement that racism has been embedded in the public and private institutions that govern our lives and dictate our access to services, justifying the demands for specific actions to undo the harmful results. . . .

The insistence of the B.L.M. movement that we link violence to social deprivation has for now changed public views. Nearly sixty per cent of Americans say that crime is an “extremely” or very serious problem in the country, and, although fifty-five per cent agree that more spending on police could lower the crime rate, seventy-five per cent believe that “increasing funding to build economic opportunities in poor communities” could also reduce violent crime. Sixty-five per cent think that using “social workers to defuse situations” could lower crime. These ideas are not easily categorized: they do not belong to particular camps, advocating particular things. When ideas are in flux, it means that people are open to change.

The stories we tell matter. The stories we tell are changing.

I've always had mixed feelings about trigger warnings. This article articulates some of my feelings and takes a good look at them from a number of different perspectives.

What if Trigger Warnings Don’t Work?

Because trigger warnings involve assumptions about emotional reactions, particularly with respect to P.T.S.D., psychology researchers have begun to study whether trigger warnings are in fact beneficial. The results of around a dozen psychological studies, published between 2018 and 2021, are remarkably consistent, and they differ from conventional wisdom: they find that trigger warnings do not seem to lessen negative reactions to disturbing material in students, trauma survivors, or those diagnosed with P.T.S.D. Indeed, some studies suggest that the opposite may be true. . . . 

Trigger-warning studies, however, have revealed that giving trigger warnings does not seem to result in recipients choosing to avoid the material. Instead, the warned individuals tended to forge ahead. . . . 

A trigger warning might really function as a signal to the subset of students who are looking for it that the teacher is sensitive to their concerns—or at least compliant with their requests—regardless of psychological benefit or harm.

I think the books and stories that are windows are essential, even when they cover topics that can be uncomfortable and potentially triggering, so I'm always hesitant to provide "warnings" that might make people avoid them. But I agree with this last paragraph, that their true value lies in signaling that the recommendation comes with sensitivity to concerns.

I mentioned at the top my pacifist Mennonite background. I want to amplify this work from the Marginal Mennonite page on Facebook:

Jesus's Top 10 Favorite Passages from the Torah & the Scrolls:

No. 1:

Exodus 22:25: "If you lend money to the poor among you, don't deal with them as a worldly creditor would. You shall not exact interest from them." (See Matthew 5:42b; Luke 6:32, 34-35a; Gospel of Thomas 95:1-2)

Matthew 5:42b - Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Luke 6:32, 34-35a - 'If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.'

Gospel of Thomas 95:1-2 - Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to one from whom you will not get it back."

No. 2:

Leviticus 19:18: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against anyone. Rather, love your neighbor as yourself." (See Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27-28)

Matthew 5:44 - But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:27-28 - 'But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.'

No. 3:

Deuteronomy 15:7-8: "If there is among you anyone in need, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbor. Open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." (See Matthew 5:42a; Luke 6:30a)

Matthew 5:42a - Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Luke 6:30a - Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

No. 4:

Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." (See Matthew 7:9-11, Luke 11:11-13)

Matthew 7:9-11 - Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Luke 11:11-13 - Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

No. 5:

Isaiah 50:6: "I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard." (See Matthew 5:39-40; Luke 6:29)

Matthew 5:39-40 - But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well.

Luke 6:29 - If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

No. 6:

Proverbs 25:21: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink." (See Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27-28)

Matthew 5:44 - But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Luke 6:27-28 - But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

No. 7:

Psalms 145:9: "The Lord is good to all and his compassion is over all that he has made." (See Matthew 5:45b; Luke 6:35)

Matthew 5:45b - so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

Luke 6:35 - But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

No. 8:

Jeremiah 31:33-34: "I have put my truth in your innermost mind, and I have written it in your heart. No longer does a person need to teach his brother or sister about God. For all of you know me, from the least learned to the most learned, from the poorest to the most powerful." (See Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 6:37c; Mark 11:25)

Matthew 6:14-15 - For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Luke 6:37c - Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Mark 11:25 - Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

No. 9:

Lamentations 3:22: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end." (See Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:36)

Matthew 5:48 - Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Luke 6:36 - Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

No. 10:

Ecclesiastes 9:2: "The same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice." (See Matthew 5:45b; Luke 6:35d)

Matthew 5:45b - so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

Luke 6:35 - But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

MMS Commentary:

Where did Jesus get his inspiration? From the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, of course. Little of what Jesus said was original with him. His genius was not so much in the substance of his sayings as in the way he curated his source material, the methodology he used for selecting what to highlight and what to leave on the shelf.

And Jesus left a lot on the shelf. He ignored the negative qualities attributed to Yahweh: the wrath, the retribution, the jealousy, the pettiness. He also ignored the accounts of Yahweh’s military exploits, where God was portrayed as siding with one iron-age tribe over other iron-age tribes on the battlefield.

Why? Because Jesus was a smart and sensitive dude. He knew, intuitively, that stories of Yahweh behaving badly were projections of the humans who wrote the texts. He understood that “Yahweh the Warrior” was a literary character, created by the scribes for their narratives about Israel’s glorious past.

At the same time, Jesus resonated with Yahweh’s noblest attributes. He took seriously the account in Exodus 34 where Yahweh describes himself as: compassionate, merciful, loving, and forgiving.

Jesus obviously scoured his scrolls for other passages where God is shown in the best light. These became his favorite passages. They inspired his philosophy of conciliation, affirmation, and pacifism. Because Jesus was confident that the God of Israel is conciliatory, affirming, and non-violent. Any teachings or texts not in harmony with Divine mercy and compassion simply carry no weight.

This perspective isn’t novel or unique to the Marginal Mennonite Society. Several early Quakers -- Job Scott, Hannah Barnard, Lucretia Mott, John Jackson, to name a few -- were of the view that God never sanctioned war, even in the days of Moses, Joshua, and David. In our own tradition, Anabaptist leader Hans Denck refused to believe that God could be vindictive or wrathful, no matter what the Bible says. The essence of the Divine is love, said Denck, and God’s actions can never contradict that essence.

We are fortunate in our time to have access to information not available to previous generations. Thanks to modern archaeology, for example, we know that the so-called “Conquest of Canaan” was not historical. This is not liberal speculation, it is scientific fact. The stories of Yahweh commanding genocide were products of the writers’ imaginations.

As pacifists, we should be thrilled by these discoveries. It relieves us of the need to come up with complex theological theories to explain why Yahweh was a warrior in one era and anti-war in another era. Now, thankfully, it is easier to assert with confidence that Yahweh has always been a peacenik. Yesterday, today, and forever.

~By Charlie Kraybill, Marginal Mennonite Society Page admin

I added the indented reference verses from the New Testament.

Finally, a couple of recent shares from Rattle that have spoken to me.

Sean Wang

TESTING

I first learnt about the world in shapes:

a ball is a circle, is a sun, is an earth

and a square is a chair, is a window, is a tile.

Then I moved to colours:

green for grass, red for fire, blue for water

and the sky, white for clouds and black

for the night and its ashes.

Then it was words:

stringing vowels like a train

rumbling through the tracks of my throat

in clean whistles and garbled blares.

Letters, the dance of the crayon and the breath

of ink, spinning in patterns like a snowflake.

But numbers:

words which now had no thing,

but rather a multitude of things, hinging

onto its curves like a curious hook

and they could move amongst themselves

in a forest of symbols, rustling in deep

cover, and emerge a fawn, a doe, or a deer.

Growing up is learning to say things better.

Ever since I was born

I knew I liked strawberries, their sour-sweet buzz,

even before I saw its sun pith rising in crimson dawn.

My babbles would have been much less convincing.

What no one told me

is how empty it would be when you had nothing to say,

when your inadequacy stares at you wide-mouthed and blank

white, an unanswered question on a test

running from your desperate pen,

grief you cannot explain away,

the sadness that returns night after night,

as the sun lowers itself into a hole

and the sea reclaims its land.

When it was you and your failure

in a room, face to face, a reflection

and a breaking shadow,

a deaf god and his silent stars.

Now, how could I put this into shapes, colours, words or numbers?

How lonely, how devastating,

how adult.

—from Poets Respond

October 10, 2021

Adrianna Ho (age 8)

PASTA SANDWICHES IN QUARANTINE

1.

In quarantine

I missed my uncle’s wedding 

because it was cancelled in May,

and Take Your Child to Work Day:

I was going to meet my mom’s coworkers and friends

and join her meetings. 

I missed Field Day with games, and May Day with

carnival games. Mr. C., my gym teacher, had planned it,

and you could get half a lemon with a candy straw!

I miss going to school.

I miss having sleepovers: one in the beginning of summer

and one at the end. 

Some of my friends couldn’t come

to my birthday party. The magician 

couldn’t come. 

Before quarantine, I had plans 

with my good friend who moved to Boston

to get together and sell all the leftover candies

and save every penny. 

 

2. 

In quarantine

I turned 8

and learned to ride a bike.

I learned that daddy makes yummy sandwiches 

and mommy makes good pasta. 

Pasta sandwiches for lunch!

I still can see 

my ballet friends 

and classmates right online. 

I still pick flowers on nature walks

and walk on the rocks 

to get over the streams. 

In quarantine, I grew half an inch. 

I learned how to feed my dog Rusty 

and take him outside.  

I learned how to type without looking at the keyboard

and how to make 

peanut butter sandwiches when daddy is busy, and

that our school nurse is a good yoga instructor

and our second grade teacher reminds me 

that if I believe I can, I can.

I learned that I don’t have to go out to the theater 

because I can watch movies at my house       

cuddling, eating snacks, and petting Rusty.

I learned I can relax anytime and anywhere, 

I close my eyes, I take deep breaths

A couple of minutes later I open my eyes 

and put my hands on my heart, and namaste.

I learned to read chapter books: Harry Potter, 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, oh! And don’t forget

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

I learned to organize my closet, to keep it clean. 

I grew to wear my big sister’s clothes while in quarantine.

I learned that the crown-shaped virus is the Coronavirus.

If I could talk to the Coronavirus,

I’d say, “The Heat Is On! I Know

The Heat Can Stop You From Spreading.” 

—from 2021 Rattle Young Poets Anthology