Chronological Snobbery, My Old Friend
(I worry about CT's) tendency towards a lack of compassion for the people from whence we came. We're good at extending grace everywhere else - just not behind us.-- The Sage (aka, Deanna Doan)
This quote from my friend has stuck with me since she wrote it. Partly because I see it as such an accurate description of one of our growth edges as a community, and partly because it seems to be an almost impossible conundrum. If we want to be innovative and experimental and engaging (which I think we are), then we'll have to accept that one of the shortcomings of being forward-thinking is a tendency to be dismissive of what is behind us.
Even so, we need to fight this tendency, lest we be guilty of the worst kind of conceit: "I used think/practice X, but now I know/do better." This kind of chronological construct is offensive and foolish, as it puts whole groups of people 'behind' us, or 'below' us. And what's worse, it tends to inflame our collective ego and endorse a kind of corporate dismissal of what we've done and/or experienced in the past.
For the past few months, I've been taken with this phrase 'in medias res', which is Latin for 'in the midst of events.' It has lots of resonance for me, and especially in this context, where I'd like to be open to everything that is in my past, and eagerly pursing my future, all while unapologetically inhabiting my present. Even more to the point, I'd like to embrace an awareness that everyone else is in medias res, too-- that their stories are unfolding, and growing, and ready to inform mine. Lord, have mercy.
posted by Mike at
3:40 PM
1 Comments:
A while back I was reading a book by Garrison Keillor. In one scene he’s back home from college during winter break or something. He’s in the local drugstore when he spots an old classmate from high school. He immediately ducks behind some shelves and proceeds to hide - he doesn’t want to face this former classmate because all of his efforts at “reinventing” himself in college will be undone.
I’ve thought about this passage off-and-on for the past year or so. I too get aggravated when I look at my past, the family I came from, the friends I used to have, what they’re like compared to where I want to be - it makes me cringe. I feel like Garrison Keillor in the drug store - like I want to hide. But we really can’t do that can we? Unless we’re bitter and ungrateful. And like Mike is saying, that’s not what/where we want to be.
Healing doesn’t happen instantaneously. It take time. One thing I’ve been trying to practice (with moderate success) is the Buddhist concept of “Be Here Now” mindfulness: “Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind in the present moment.” It’s a practice that I hope allows me to progress forward, facing the inevitable incursions from my past with grace, encountering them in the light of now, rather than filtering through the dirty lens of the past.
We are a work of God in progress, “in media res.”
Bro. Vincent
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