Fire and Knowledge

I’ll be on “vacation” for the next two weeks, so posting will be a little less frequent than usual. I will still be posting quotes from what I’ve been reading. Does anyone else find these quotes helpful other than me? I hope so.

I have a confession to make. I have an addiction. I have had it for as long as I remember. You see, I am addicted to style. That is, style over substance. Form over content. I am obsessed with aesthetics over essence. This addiction has proven hard to break—in fact, I fear that it will never be completely broken. It resists reformation like the worst of fiends.

As I said, this has been haunting me since my memory begins. Life is a barrage of images seeking for my attention. They have confronted me from every front, and I have been undone. Television, video games, billboards, web sites, product packaging—there has been no rest. Even during middle school my addiction was plain. It is illustrated well by a Calvin & Hobbes comic: Calvin is confident that he will receive a good grade on a book report because of his professional looking clear plastic binder. I used to laugh at it because it was funny. Now I laugh at it because I see myself, and it is pathetic.

Calvin: Thank you. Before I begin, I’d like everyone to notice that my report is in a professional, clear plastic binder.
Teacher: That’s very nice. Go ahead.
Calvin: When a report looks like this, you know it’ll get an “A.” That’s a tip, kids. Write it down.

Of course Calvin ends up receiving a failing grade, and receiving no credit for his professional-looking binder. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same experience, and somehow passed most of my classes.

Here is an example of what I mean: when I begin writing an article on the computer, I select a new serif font for the body—no Times New Roman for me, thank you—and select a classy sans-serif font for the headings. My footnotes must be just right. My indentations must be just so. It is quite pathetic really. When I have something “presentable” done, I take a step back and look at it and I think to myself—“now there’s an article!” Perhaps if I spent as much time revising my content, I wouldn’t be the only one reading this. While I am certainly grateful for my college education (although I didn’t quite finish it), I am not thankful that my classmates and I were marked off more for not conforming to our style guide than for writing a poorly-researched and poorly-written essay.

But of course, it’s not just essays. My addiction isn’t happy to stop there. Websites must look good. I have even been known to recommend templates to others, so help me God. The content can come later. And that is quite sad, since the best websites have a merging of style and content. As Francis Schaeffer put it, “For those art works which are truly great, there is a correlation between the style and the content. The greatest art fits together the vehicle that is being used and the message that is being said.”

The best art is a beautiful compliment of style and content. That is why it is impossible to create good writing when the main focus is on style. The content must come first, and must be done excellently. Then, after the content is completed, a complimentary style can be adorned.

And that is what I want to do. When I am creating art, I need to keep a balanced focus on the style and content. When I am writing an essay, I need to focus completely on the content, and not worry about the style until later. To combat my tendency to focus on style, I am currently handwriting all my first drafts. This allows me to focus solely on the content and leave the style for later. With websites, I need to understand the content and what the message is—then, it can be presented through a proper medium and style.

Perhaps my addiction will never be broken. But I will fight it.

That one cold winter night, when he, the boy, was shivering in a doorway near his crossing, the man turned to look at him, and came back, and, having questioned him and found that he had not a friend in the world said, ‘Neither have I. Not one!’ and gave him the price of a supper and a night’s lodging. (Charles Dickens, Bleak House, p. 178)

For the first time (that I remember) it struck me that I have never seen a homeless young boy or girl sleeping outside in America. Never. My wife hasn’t either. When we were in the Dominican Republic, we immediately saw poor homeless children in filthy rags. What a difference compared to here. May we thank God for his kindness and mercy upon the little children who have warm homes and loving families. And let us not forget the little children abroad who have not these comforts and opportunities.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

I am now officially for sale. To celebrate, I have created a new “Services” section. If you are interested, please let me know!

I’ve redesigned the site. (All those reading through RSS will actually have to visit the site to see it.) It’s a little cleaner, a little plainer, and boasts some new colors. Above all, I think this reflects my bias towards the medium of text a little better. My previous design was done before I had read Neil Postman. So for better or for worse, here it is. Enjoy!

I got "tagged" for a "meme" by Amanda at Foreword. I don’t normally do anything like this, but I’ll make my first life exception because it is about books. And I like books. Too much.

Number of Books I Own

I would guess somewhere between [update: 600-800], but I don’t have them counted at this point. A little over five large bookshelves worth. But I’m still young and have time to accumulate many many more.

Last Book I Bought

Last week I picked up The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe by Elizabeth L. Eisenstein.

Last Book I Read

I finished my second reading of The Lord of the Rings (this time in the beautiful 50th anniversary edition) and my first reading of All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes about the same time (two days ago).

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me

• The Bible. This triggered the "first revolution" in my life, and I became a Christian in 1998.
• Desiring God and The Pleasures of God by John Piper. These books triggered the "second revolution" in my life, and I embraced the doctrines of grace in 2001. For those who don’t know, that means I’m a card-carrying Calvinist.
• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I read this book for the first time last November (2004), and it triggered the "third revolution" in my life, when the bias of mediums were finally revealed to me. I think of almost everything differently now, and am better for it (although that depends on who you ask).
• Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. Even though I am not a parent (yet!), this book heavily influenced my thinking about how to parent, shepherd, and discipline.
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I had to include one fiction book. This book began my journey of reading and enjoying Dickens and other great novelists. I plan to re-read it sometime this year.

Who’s Next?

I hate spreading this virus to someone else, so I give my apologies in advance to Justin Taylor.

Because God knows I need the help.

You’ve decided you want to improve your handwriting and you’re probably hoping a fountain pen will do the trick — maybe a friend told you it would. Maybe you’re just adventurous and you want to try your hand at calligraphy (or you might, once your handwriting improves). Good for you!

…and, as usual, it is me. I have just read about Moleskine notebooks. Enlightenment.