Just completed a class on Gandhi's philosophy...so sweet, so powerful, so convicting! Gandhi believed that as long as the poor are starving and everyone does not have enough to meet their basic needs, that we are stealing from them when we over-eat or consume more than our need. He did recognize that we all have different needs, some more than others, but that we do violence to others when we take more than we need and don't treat our abundance as a trusteeship for those who don't have....So how do I live this way? For too long, I've been content with my hypocrisy, knowing how I should live, but not living my convictions or what I profess I believe. Gandhi said that we cannot separate our values from actions ( the apostle John said it too, didn't he?). If we claim to love God, but do not love our brother...If we say we love God, but our actions are not love, we deceive ourselves and God is not in us. So how do we really live what we say?
Ah, but this is all so heavy at times, so weighty...and you know me, when it gets to be too serious, I resort to puns. In all seriousness, I asked God to restore or even just give me a sense of humor this year! HA HA HA. Well, the inner punster in me kept popping out in my very intense Gandhi seminar class this weekend. I even worked up a whole schtick in honor of father's day yesterday. It's true. My classmates giggled, but more than few groaned and rolled their eyes in agony over the bad puns. It went something like this (let me know if you think I should become a stand-up comedian or not...your unconditional praise...I mean, honesty, is greatly appreciated):
Anyhoooo... It's Punday...I mean, Sunday and it's Father's Day. In honor of my father who loves a good pun, I thought I'd share a few. My dad loves puns! He thinks of puns and the ability to pun as a sign of great intelligence. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm so bright my father calls me "sun." (ba dump dump)
It's true that punning seems to release my inner creativity. One way I express this creativity is in writing silly poems for kids like one I call "Mime's the Word". It goes like this: "Did I ever tell you of the time, I got a job as a mime? I didn't? That's okay. There wasn't much to say." I was thinking about trying my hand at a new form of creativity last night and how I could focus it on puns. So I decided to write a theatrical performance about puns...well, to be modest, it was really just a 'play on words'.
I really thought I was going to be late for my Gandhi class because I was looking for my missing watch, but I just couldn't seem to find the time. (Ba dump dum) Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, often going on long fasts, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. It's rumored that this made him ... A super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
I don't know if you know this about me or not, but I'm an absolute science geek. After some very intense readings about Gandhian philosophy, I decided to take a break and do some light reading about quantum physics, string theories, and all about the universe. You know that in quantum physics there are forces which hold the universe together like weak nuclear, strong nuclear, gravitational forces and this idea that there is another invisible force that we don't know what it is yet. We call it the Grand Unifying Element. So I was reading a book about Anti-Gravity last night and I have to say it was impossible to put down! (ba dump dum). If electricity comes from electrons... does that mean that morality comes from morons? Did you hear? Two hydrogen atoms bumped into each other. The first one said, "I think I lost an electron." The second replied, "Are you positive?"
How many listen to NPR? I love public radio. I always feel more connected when I get a chance to listen to the news. So I was driving back to campus and was catching up on the news when I heard a story about a local man who had been in a horrific car accident. It seems he lost his whole left side! Incredible. The doctors say he's going to make it because he's "all right" now. See? It just goes to show you that you have to get out there, you can't let fear dictate your life. I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I got over it.
I was a little disappointed that in my Gandhian class we didn't really delve into some of the philosophers who influenced him and his work like Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, Jesus Christ, even Confucius. Confucius had some really profound and succint proverbs which I still find applicable even today. Did you know that Confucius say, "Man who run in front of car get tired" and "Man who run after car get exhausted"? I used to know so many more, but it seems like my memory isn't what it used to be. In fact, I was trying to remember how to throw a boomerang the other day. I thought I had forgotten completely, but then it came back to me.
Ah, okay, that's all for now. Like the little tire said to the flat one, I'll spare you.
Hope you have a great day!
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