March 30th, 2010

Time goes on.

Today i read some of a book i'm using as a resource for a ten-page paper due in just over two weeks. It's about a sculptor named Martin Puryear, and in one of the chapters it brings up the discussion about the difference between making something for utility and something for aesthetic and cultures that mix the two. Puryear spent time in Sierra Leone in a preindustrialised society so there was little to no electricity. He witnessed woodworkers making the most amazing furniture and gifts with tools that many of them had invented and processes that fit in this rugged society. One of the most impressive feats was how well they made their crafts, an observation that stuck with Puryear throughout his career. The atmosphere of the town he was in was one of struggle and an existence one had to carve out for themselves. I mention this to explain my blog title, Arrakis.

The word "Arrakis" is from the famous sci-fi book series "Dune," and serves as the proper name of the main planet which is an entire desert. Water is an incredibly precious commodity, as the air itself is lacking in moisture. The people in the cities of Arrakis are tough and resourceful; however, they are nothing compared to the Fremen living in the open desert regions of Arrakis. They are tribal people of mystery, living off the scant resources of a terrain nicknamed "Dune" because that's all you see on the horizon. They have developed a technology to reclaim their own bodies' water to such a perfection they keep wasted water down to a thimbleful. Because of the hostile nature of the deserts, they are incredibly stealthy, highly tuned into their surroundings, near-undefeatable in combat and fanatically devoted to their religion because it is deifies their life-source, the mysterious worms that slide through the sands of Dune, affectionately called by the Fremen "Makers." The Fremen are a people who have learned to survive, but also to live. They do not waste anything: words, water, time, relationships. They care intensely for those they call friend, but will kill a stranger found wandering in the desert flats to take the water in their body. They will not drink unless they have to, they speak with point and purpose. Their life demands it because their is no luxury to be had, no time to waste or else you will die.

There is a quote in the book that says, "There should be a science of discontent. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles." (Dune, p. 162) I agree with this phrase up to a point, that we need to understand want in order to pursue that which is worth living to have. Jesus speaks of the same thing in Matthew 5 during the sermon on the mount:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

Matthew 5:3-6.

There is a certain necessity in lacking- as a westerner brought up in America, lacking or want are not words familiar to my vocabulary. Everything i'd need to survive is easily accessible within walking distance (i do not even mention driving here because that alone speaks of an advantage most of the world doesn't know). Water, air, food.... when too much food is one of the main issues i see on the news, i pray that someone starving to death isn't seeing this on a t.v. somewhere. I cannot imagine the pity and sorrow i would experience standing there, feeling the pain of my stomach and hearing about boys and girls who are swollen from excess. What would they know of life? They have to look for nothing.
We are, for the most you who will read this, in the strange position of having to force ourselves to suffer to understand the daily lives of others. We give up something to live just a few short hours in the shoes of another person's LIFE. It seems strange to me that we consume so much (and i include the consumption of space, food, resources, time, energy) before realising what sharing means. Yet the homeless and starving will share a small piece of bread with as many other people before eating themselves because they KNOW what it is to be dying from something so easy to fix.

Ray Vanderlaan states in one of his faith lessons that "the gospel for me can be summed by simply saying that we are to share what we have to others who don't." It's a cycle, you see? God gives gifts, we give to others who need to understand what it means to lose and to want more and in turn those who are in desperation PRAISE God for their blessing. The balance of every person is completed by giving and receiving, by sharing, and by always seeking the ultimate value of everything around us as precious.