Mere Christianity, Book 1 Part 1: C.S. Lewis, and Law of (human) Nature

"Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining 'It's not fair'..." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

*A note on the context of this book - Mere Christianity is based on 3 radio talks C.S. Lewis gave during the years in which World War II was taking place, and there are multiple allusions to the war and the Nazis as a frame of reference to the Law of Human nature, and how if no such law existed the actions of the 3rd Reich could not be considered to be evil, which as much as we look back on now with astonishment, imagine what it was like for those who found out about it while it was happening.*

In the very beginning of this book, Lewis discusses the difference between 2 different types of natural laws - physical laws, which compel obedience (the laws of physics, chemistry, etc) and the "law" of human nature - a common standard which can be, and frequently is, dismissed by individuals who would be expected to obey its commands. To this he attributes the human tendency to quarrel, pointing out that without a common standard people could certainly fight, but could not quarrel over fairness or rightness. This last part, the law of human nature, is what he bases the arguments he puts forth in this section of the book.

Lewis seeks at this point in this search, without looking at the Bible, or any form of religion or god just yet, to find some ground in human history for a common Right and Wrong, this law that, while may be adjusted off be some degrees in some societies, is still present in nearly all of known human history. He asks the reader to "Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him." He finds it as astounding as finding a civilization where math worked entirely differently, and I'm inclined to agree with him. There are certainly civilizations that have praised the cleverness of a man who double crossed someone who had done him harm, but few would argue that doing so to an honest person was the right thing to do.

He then brings up the fact that, while most of us expect or demand that others follow the Law of Nature, we each fail miserably at it ourselves. Even more so, when we do so, we more often than not find a reason to excuse ourselves of the shortcoming, but we do know that we have broken it. We may blame it on another person, or outside circumstances, but when someone does the same to us we tend as human beings to hold them to the standard that we just fell short of ourselves.

He proceeds to point out that in the case of inanimate objects, if we call them "bad", what we mean is that they are not the way we would have them, not that they have actually done something wrong. Whereas when we consider a person "bad" (think of someone like a Hitler perhaps), we certainly DO mean that they have done something very wrong - they have killed people, or have stolen money, or committed another act that has caused us to decide that they are bad, there is a standard of Right and Wrong, and they have definitely fallen into the category we would call Wrong.

What could cause this fairly uniform standard? What force in the universe could give us a moral compass, without forcibly compelling us to obey its decree of "do this, but not that"? There must be something, which at this point Lewis refers to as "Something Behind." Next week I want to take a look at what he thinks we can guess at, from how we know human nature works, about this "Something Behind."



<<This came out a little later than I'd hoped; Thursday snuck up on me after a particularly nasty week of allergies. Next week I'll make sure I get things written before Thursday, and schedule the post. >>

Fetch!

When I say Miles is a dog... this is a huge part of why.

This is not a new video, but this is a constant occurrence. Whether he has a ball, a hair tie or an actual cat toy, this is his favorite thing to do.

Starting Mere Christianity next week

Starting on next Thursday, I'll be going through Mere Christianity. The book is broken into 4 parts, so I'll spend the first 2 weeks on the first part, then probably moving to part 2 for two weeks, and so on for 8 weeks. I will be doing more commentary than summary (I hope) on the writings, so it may be a bit confusing for anyone who hasn't read the section I'm currently talking about.

Coming soon - Book "club"

For a while now, I've wanted to start a reading group, but because my schedule is somewhat reversed to most peoples' schedules, it hasn't been practical. But the wonderful thing about doing things online is that they aren't always bound by time the same way as meeting in person; I can post at midnight on Thursday, or 3 am on Sunday, and another person can read it at 10 am the next morning, or in 2 weeks or years.

That being said, I would like to keep it on a regular schedule. I'm leaning toward a post weekly on Thursdays at the moment. I would love any and all input from anyone who would be interested in joining in a discussion of a book week by week, what sort of books would most interest people for an interactive group-read, that sort of thing.

Right now I'm leaning toward "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis for the first book, as he's my favorite author (I grew up a Narnian) and his writing is both direct and witty in my opinion, but I don't know yet if I would go by chapters, or do half of a section at a time - basically how best to break up the book without taking a year to dissect it, but taking enough time to allow for an open discussion of the various topics he brings up.

Another thing I want to point out - I'm just a person like anyone else who is reading this blog, and I don't pretend to know better than anyone else what C.S. Lewis, or any other writer, meant on any given point all the time, or to have a monopoly on understanding any text for that matter. There are a lot of points where he and I agree, a handful where we disagree, and a few that I haven't gotten to think about as hard as I'm sure he did. So comments completely disagreeing with anything I say are 100% ok and awesome. As I've pointed out to a few people who know me well, I don't even agree with myself 100% of the time, and listening to different viewpoints is a good practice. So if I say something that you don't agree with, please feel free to disagree openly, but only one rule - PLEASE keep it respectful to all parties concerned.

There are a lot of other books I would like to do in the future, and not all of them are based on Christian doctrines or beliefs. Some are novels like "Tuesdays with Morrie", "Dewey the Library Cat" or "The Fault in our Stars", others are more like "Mere Christianity" and "H is for Hawk," going more directly into real life rather than seeing it through a fictional lens. My own take on them will, in all likelihood, be flavored by my faith, as anyone's life should reflect their faith. This is an unavoidable side affect of any worldview; like wearing glasses it will affect the way one sees the world and everything in it. I will not, however, bash anyone else's beliefs, and all respectful opinions are more than welcome.

The reason I put the word "club" in quotation marks is that the word club has a tendency to give an exclusive impression, and I want the reading here to be inclusive.

One thing I don't plan on doing in this section of the blog is a full weekly summary of the reading; I would like to be able to comment on the writing, but I don't want to only paraphrase any writer's book, so don't expect this blog to be a version of "Cliff's notes".

I will give a quick summary on Thursday this week on what and when I plan to start, as I'd like to give anyone interested time enough to grab the book and start reading before I start the actual book club/commentary/thing, but right now I'm thinking I would start Thursday next week with the first section of the book. But for anyone interested, I greatly look forward to reading with you and speaking with you both in the blog and the comments. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on other books to read (and would be very excited to find titles I haven't read yet to look through)

Hopefully I'll be able to start posting pictures of my work again soon; alas, the projects that I've started up so far are Christmas presents that I don't want to put pictures of online yet, lest the surprise be spoiled. So while those particular projects will have to wait until late December to be posted, I'm hoping to start a couple to-sell projects later this week that I can share with you all.

1st Caturday - Getting a buddy for Miles

Late summer this year, my friend and roommate got the news she was waiting for - there was an opening for her to move closer to where her daughter lives, in her budget, and in a nice area. Which was awesome news - and meant time for me to find a new roommate for me, and one for Miles.

Miles is an awesome dog who happens to inhabit the body of a cat.

He is playful, snuggly, knows exactly when I need to be distracted from life... but I can't live alone with him. He needs someone here when I'm not, and I work full time. He and I lived alone for about 6 months, and he hated it, and whenever I was home I had him all over me 24/7. When we moved in with another friend who had a cat, he got a lot calmer and happier.

Fast forward to living with my last roommate, who has 2 cats and 2 dogs, Miles was in heaven. He always had someone to play with and was never lonely, though sometimes he would hide in my room - even extroverts need "me" time!

Knowing she and her pets were moving soon, I started screening people for roommate compatibility and found a match - but no pets.

While everything was going through, one day I looked out of the kitchen window while I was getting lunch ready for work, and saw my roommate standing in the driveway talking to a neighbor, with a very uncomfortable look on her face and a black tail with a white tip swishing in her arms.

I walked outside to ask her what was going on, and she turned toward me with a very small kitten wiggling in her hands, and told me "I was just explaining that I can't keep her..." and gave me a tentative look. The other lady couldn't keep her, and my roommate already had 4 animals who were going with her on her cross-country move. I couldn't resist the little black and white face staring at me, and asked to hold her.

Seriously, how do you say no to this face?.

She settled right down, though she was rooting in my hands for the food smell and had a very sore foot. I had my roommate bring out a piece of turkey for her, and decided that since I would have had to find a friend for Miles anyways, it may as well be this desperate creature looking for a home in my arms. I named her Kitana after watching her attack the food, and her vehement protests at anything that touched her hurt paw, including any animals that got too close for about a week. She spent most of that first week alone in my room healing before she was ready for the other animals.

Her namesake, from the Mortal Kombat game series

We initially thought the sore foot was broken, but on closer inspection there was a piece of kitten tooth embedded in the bottom, probably from playing with a litter mate. I pulled it out and coated the hole with triple antibiotic ointment. (Yes this is a fairly common problem, and yes it can turn serious, she went to the vet the day after the tooth came out to get stronger antibiotics and a checkup.)

While all of this was happening, the person who was supposed to become my roommate sent me a text on the day he was supposed to come look at the place - he'd found another place, for cheaper, and was moving in that same day. Annoyance and last-minute scramble aside, a neighbor had a cousin who needed a place on the same day I needed a new roommate, and who also happened to be laid-back and nerdy too, which is obviously pretty sweet. Ironically, she's not much of a cat person by her own admission, but Kitana and she have developed a pretty adorable friendship, and my new roommate thinks she's more of a dog than a cat. In fairness, so is her big brother.

Of course, he's already taught her the finer points of "helping" me while I'm making things with yarn.

Long Summer

Autumn is here. Finally.

This summer was a very long one here, there was a lot of awesome stuff going on, but also a lot of stress, and very little crafting got done - I think all told, one market tote, a spiral scarf, and a tie-dye class were the only real crafts I can claim I got done. Which was both good and bad; usually I try to keep my hands full of yarn during the summer since Fall and Winter are when people are most interested in buying yarn-based things (especially with Christmas coming up around the corner), but I did get to take stock of some of my priorities through this summer, and that was a very, very good thing.

One of the biggest things that I got to experience was exactly how valuable my time is, and how many people will try to take some of it here, some of it there, until I feel that I have no time at all for me.

I started running this summer, which for anyone who knows me knows that probably means something was chasing me. In this case zombies, which I'll go into in a later post (since I actually intend to make these a regular thing, I swear. Here's to another try, now that I have a new computer) but I can now honestly say that I'm a runner, which is something I never thought I would do but I'm actually enjoying it, now that I'm not running in 90+F heat. On an unrelated note, now I understand why runners run at crazy-o'clock in the morning. Taking the time out for me, regularly, toward 1 set goal (to go from couch to 5k) felt pretty awesome, but I won't lie, it wasn't without catches or setbacks, and I had to start over twice; once to injury once and once to psycho-schedule. (I'm a genius who can schedule 30 hours into one day... hence lesson number 1 above. It's not smart, don't do it, and REALLY don't do it for a month straight!)

Sadly, I didn't have time to bike much this summer, but that one I gave up honestly and got another experience out of it - instead of riding a bike, I got to ride and drive horses this spring and summer, and while that's part of where the crazy schedule came from I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. My bike isn't going anywhere, who knows when I'll get to work with horses so much again. Between stalls, guiding rides, learning basics of hoof trimming, and working with and training the horses themselves, it was a huge blessing, but one that also sadly took a lot of time that I can't justify with other priorities right now, which leads me to the next lesson -

I need a new job. I'm so grateful for the one I have right now, but it's time for me to start actively finding and going after jobs in my own field - the one with the very expensive piece of paper that says I went to school to learn stuff? Yea, that field. Which is something I want very badly, but is also scary. A lot of me doesn't feel ready to leave the town I've come to call home, or the Church and friends I've come to call family, but odds are in order to find the kind of job I'm suited toward, I will have to leave. And while exciting, and awesome, and something I want very badly, is also rather terrifying.

This level of scary - where you know the actual thing would be awesome, but it just looks so terrifying 

Which is also part of why I finally caved and got myself a new laptop - so I have a mobile platform that's not my phone where I can work on my resume and search for jobs. While I'm still not looking forward to leaving here, I am looking forward to having a job where I feel more like I fit.

Last but not least, and way more fun : I got a new kitten.

Or rather, Miles got a new kitten. I'll give that an actual article later since (I think) it's a cute, funny story. She's also helping me get some of Miles's extra... fluff off of him, as well as keeping him company.

Market totes!

It's spring time - time for bike rides, for getting outdoors - and for visiting outdoor markets. One of my favorite projects this time of year is a simple market tote. These are wonderfully useful for carrying groceries or other market type goods in a convenient manner, without using disposable bags. Often made with 100% cotton (all of mine are), they are very sturdy and eco-friendly.

Market tote made from plain cotton yarn

These are also one of the most commented on items that I have currently - almost every time I stop by The Gaslight Gallery, where some of my work is displayed and for sale, someone mentions how much they could use one!

The length of the shoulder strap is adjustable; just untie the knot and re-tie at a length that feels comfortable. A few of my taller friends like the strap longer. Myself being slightly on the shorter side (have you ever met a tall ninja? I haven't yet!) I tie them a little shorter so the bag doesn't hang down to my knees.

What are you training for? - Repost from original site

Probably an odd question, but it's a proven fact - we become what we train. If you ask any Olympian, any professional sports player, any martial artist or any member of the armed forces, they will tell you that their skills are the result of their training. And this truth extends past these applications.

People who train their responses to be patient and kind are patient and kind. People who allow their tempers to get free in anger are training just that. Those little, and sometimes not-so-little, decisions that we make add up. The evidence of the changes they effect in our lives may not be immediately evident, but over time they will be unmissable.

So, why do I say this?

If you want to start writing... start writing. Even a little bit a day will help. Same with reading more, which has been a stuggle of mine recently.

If you want to be kinder... start with your internal response. If someone cuts you off in traffic, or one of your kids/pets does something innocent that just makes you mad, check that as soon as you catch it. It takes time, but you will get better at it.

If you want to bike around town... start riding just a little bit a day, maybe just down the street and back. Same with running or walking.

If you want to learn parcour or martial arts, start training at the beginner's level stuff and don't stop. Keep advancing as you master each mountain that suddenly looks so very easy in the rear-view mirror.

Whatever it is you want to train yourself into, set aside a specific time each day and train specifically on the discipline you hope to achieve.

But the most important part of training isn't the single small decision to start, or to change, but the repeated choice to continue to do so for 3 days, for a week, for a month. And after that, after the habit of change has set in, the decision not to quit.

So, what are you training to be? I hope to read some awesome goals :)

Ninjas and Crafts! - reposted from original site

I'm writing this blog as I get ready to launch my website! (Website building has gotten a lot easier since the last time I made a site, and it's a ton of fun! I highly recomend it to anyone who has something to make a site about - a small business, a local organization or cause, anything else you can think of that could benefit from a site). I'm definitely going to try to keep the blog on here updated weekly, if not more often. It may not always involve something I made, but I will certainly try to keep it fun and interesting! 

A few random odds and ends about myself that probably won't end up on the 'About Me' page in the final website:

 - One of my favorite hobbies is something called Geocaching; I'll definitely have to post about it at least a few times in here. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a world wide scavanger hunt where one person hides an item, posts coordinates or clues online (www.geocaching.com) and other people try to find it.

 - My cat thinks he's my boss/supervisor (that might be on the About Me page, simply because some of what happens because of this is hilarious).

 - I have taken Martial Arts, and now that old injuries have fully healed plan to start again soon. This is part of why I picked the name I did for my shop. The rest of the reason is just because I'm a geek, and ninjas are awesome!

 - I am kinda a huge nerd, though I probably don't have to mention that - I'm sure you'll notice with the random odds and ends I'll make and post.

 - I'm Christian - I mention this not to sound holier-than-thou or anything, but just because it is something that has a huge influence on my life, and will probably pop out a little bit in my writing.

 - I've been looking into minimalism a lot over the past year. I don't know that I will suddenly get rid of 95% of my stuff and backpack across the world (though that would completely and totally ROCK!!!!), but I am hoping to start living simpler, and part of that is figuring out what 'simpler' looks like in my life.

 - My favorite mode of transportation over short distances is my mountain bike, even though I live in a flat almost-city. Writing right now mid-winter, I can't wait until the weather warms up :)

So... hi, this is me, and welcome to Crafty Ninja Studio!