Ok. First insight: "'Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years' cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am! Had I one friend, -or were it my worst enemy!- to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all the sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But, now, it is all falsehood! -all emptiness! -all death!"' - Arthur Dimmesdale
Alright, alright. After typing that out I realize that the dialogue's a little heavy, but hey, you get used to it.
Anyway, I loved reading this, because if you can wade through the "methinks" and "betakes" you can see that what he's saying is that it would have been such a relief to him to have someone to confide in who knew him for who and what he truly was. Someone that he could share his darkest sins with, even if that person was his enemy. Spoiler alert, he ends up dying because of the spiritual toll that hiding his sin from the world took on his body. The insight? Confess! Outloud! To someone else! It's so important to share your full self with someone else. Hiding your sins eats away at you and presents a false image of yourself to the world. As the venerable Dr. Cloud always says, "Sometimes Christians act an awful lot like people." Pretending to be less of a sinner than you actually are just gives a false image of Christianity to the world and can lead you to implode. Sharing your struggles, on the other hand, not only helps you move on, but also helps non-Christians see that a different lifestyle is attainable.
Second (and last) insight: "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." - Narrator (See! When it's not dialogue it's not so bad. Right?)
This is sort of the less Christian-y version of the first insight. Instead of talking about hiding your sin, it's talking about being someone other than yourself to those around you. You can actually forget who you are, and I can attest to this. As much as I LOVE the HESA program at Baylor and am so very glad that I have my master's in higher ed, I also experienced this forgetting of oneself during my time in the program. In a way I was growing, but after I graduated and started staying home, I had to relearn who I truly am. I spent so much time trying to dress and act a certain way that was counter to myself that I forgot who I was. Not that the clothes or actions were bad, because they weren't, they just weren't me. I mean, let's be real, I don't like having to dress a certain way (hello business casual) and I'm not outgoing really at all, but working with students all day demanded that I fake it. Now I'm back to my slightly weird self, and thanks to the way the program helped me open my mind a bit, I'm now more of a hippie version of myself, which I love. Moral: Be yourself despite the system (or the man...however you want to think of it).
Speaking of hippies, I was reading about Nathaniel Hawthorne and it turns out he spent a lot of time with the transcendentalists and actually lived in one of the utopian communities that was around during that time called Brook Farm. Man, how cool would that be? I know there aren't many people that would agree with me, so I'm not sure why I asked that, but I think it would be so awesome to be part of such a bold and different social experiment. I know none of the utopian communities survived, and they definitely all had their weird quirks and flaws, but I would totally be on board with something like that. Sign me up. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I totally would have been a hippie.
On a somewhat different note, I think I mentioned in a previous post that Justin and I were planning on getting chickens (if not, then hey...we were planning on getting chickens!). Well, the other day, Justin was flipping through The Backyard Homestead and started reading about ducks. After a little discussion and research, we've decided to get ducks instead of chickens. They are quieter, smarter, less skittish, and they eat grubs, snails, slugs, flies, and mosquitoes (!!). They poop more than chickens, but it's excellent fertilizer and they don't scratch up the yard so it can be put to good use. They also lay eggs which apparently don't differ in flavor from chicken eggs really at all, and are considered a delicacy. Oh, and did I mention that they're even lower maintenance than chickens? They don't even need a coop, just a little shack with three walls and a roof will do. That plus a kiddie pool and you're good to go. Needless to say, we're excited! I think we're going to order them and get some ducklings in the mail. How fun is that?? Yay for ducks!
I will leave you with this thought that Justin shared with me from some of his homework: "Jesus, unlike most responsible American citizens, appears to do no work, and is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He is presented as homeless, propertyless, celibate, peripatetic, socially marginal, disdainful of kinsfolk, without a trade, a friend of outcasts and pariahs, averse to material possessions, without fear for his own safety, careless about purity regulations, critical of traditional authority, a thorn in the side of the establishment, and a scourge of the rich and powerful. . . . The morality Jesus preaches is reckless, extravagant, improvident, over-the-top, a scandal to actuaries and a stumbling block to real estate agents; forgive your enemies, give away your cloak as well as your coat, turn the other cheek, love those who insult you, walk the extra mile, take no thought for tomorrow." -Terry Eagleton
SO.GOOD.
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