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So like after I took that LOTR quiz I went to bed thinking about it and so when I fell asleep I found I had somehow been cast IN LOTR, albeit in a small role that doesn't actually exist (the closest equivalent would be the little Rohirrim girl who with her brother rides to warn the king about the attack-- it was apparently the part of a young girl who had a brother and somehow stumbled upon the land of Middle-Earth-- rather Narnian actually, and I even thought that at the time, "That seems like something out of Narnia"), and I was like, "This is so awesome, I'm working in this amazing picture alongside all these world-class actors," although no one who was ACTUALLY in the real films was there, and in fact the lady I was working with seemed to have been the woman who was volunteering at the museum and shadowing me last week; and then later on I told somebody, "We can do whatever we want you know because this is a dream. You know how I know? Because the entire cast and crew of Lord of the Rings was just here!"
But it really just brings me back to the subject I was going to philosophise about last night, which is good, and so I refrained from reading the friends page before beginning today! It's just that I figured something out finally, sort of. See it started when I was reading this book about Storytelling and the author was warning about problems you might run into with audiences that you wouldn't expect, and she mentioned the freaky fundamentalists (not in so many words) who think All Fantasy is Evil, and she said "To understand a little better where they are coming from, you can read these books..." and she mentioned a couple titles on the subject, and I said to myself "Yes I DON'T understand where they're coming from, but I have a feeling if I read those books it will just make me severely angry and frustrated rather than understanding!" But then, suddenly, I DID understand... well, I understood SOMETHING at least. These people are fundamentalists, right? And fundamentalists by definition are the ones who take everything in the Bible literally. Suddenly I made the connection! Of COURSE they don't like fantasy! They don't get metaphor either! They are too LITERAL-MINDED. Absurdly, they are not that different from the strict atheists who will not believe anything that cannot be scientifically proven! Both sets of people, the fundamentalists AND the atheists, are, well, the LITERALISTS.
Conversely are the people who DO understand the importance of story, the importance of metaphor, the differences between fact and TRUTH. Story speaks to the HEART, not the head, it speaks to the deep inner meaning that can only be completely understood somewhere inside the soul. It does not need to be factual to be true!
It's funny that though Jesus taught in stories, he also explained them afterward. It's like he knew how to reach BOTH types of people. He told the stories for those who can grasp them, and explained them for the fundamentalists (and the atheists, but they weren't interested)-- or, those who need it pounded into their head. You notice that telling stories is his preferred method though, he always starts OUT the lessons "Once there was a man with two sons..." or whatever and THEN says "In case you didn't figure it out, God is like the father in this story, and the sons are like YOU PEOPLE...." Actually I don't know if he DID explain that one, off the top of my head. It makes sense to ME, but I'm one of the Story people, not the literal types.
I mean, literal-minded people sadden me. I mean when people say stuff like, "You know I never could get into that movie [the real life example I'm thinking of off the top of my head was a conversation about "The Little Mermaid" in this case] because I know that animals DO NOT REALLY TALK." Ah man, to entirely miss the point of a story because you get hung up on the facts of it! To not be able to suspend belief for the span of the story! It's so SAD all that they miss! But I guess there's no way around it-- it's just a different way of THINKING. And I will accept that, as long as they will accept that there are those of us who DO believe in metaphor, and that that's okay too!
But it really just brings me back to the subject I was going to philosophise about last night, which is good, and so I refrained from reading the friends page before beginning today! It's just that I figured something out finally, sort of. See it started when I was reading this book about Storytelling and the author was warning about problems you might run into with audiences that you wouldn't expect, and she mentioned the freaky fundamentalists (not in so many words) who think All Fantasy is Evil, and she said "To understand a little better where they are coming from, you can read these books..." and she mentioned a couple titles on the subject, and I said to myself "Yes I DON'T understand where they're coming from, but I have a feeling if I read those books it will just make me severely angry and frustrated rather than understanding!" But then, suddenly, I DID understand... well, I understood SOMETHING at least. These people are fundamentalists, right? And fundamentalists by definition are the ones who take everything in the Bible literally. Suddenly I made the connection! Of COURSE they don't like fantasy! They don't get metaphor either! They are too LITERAL-MINDED. Absurdly, they are not that different from the strict atheists who will not believe anything that cannot be scientifically proven! Both sets of people, the fundamentalists AND the atheists, are, well, the LITERALISTS.
Conversely are the people who DO understand the importance of story, the importance of metaphor, the differences between fact and TRUTH. Story speaks to the HEART, not the head, it speaks to the deep inner meaning that can only be completely understood somewhere inside the soul. It does not need to be factual to be true!
It's funny that though Jesus taught in stories, he also explained them afterward. It's like he knew how to reach BOTH types of people. He told the stories for those who can grasp them, and explained them for the fundamentalists (and the atheists, but they weren't interested)-- or, those who need it pounded into their head. You notice that telling stories is his preferred method though, he always starts OUT the lessons "Once there was a man with two sons..." or whatever and THEN says "In case you didn't figure it out, God is like the father in this story, and the sons are like YOU PEOPLE...." Actually I don't know if he DID explain that one, off the top of my head. It makes sense to ME, but I'm one of the Story people, not the literal types.
I mean, literal-minded people sadden me. I mean when people say stuff like, "You know I never could get into that movie [the real life example I'm thinking of off the top of my head was a conversation about "The Little Mermaid" in this case] because I know that animals DO NOT REALLY TALK." Ah man, to entirely miss the point of a story because you get hung up on the facts of it! To not be able to suspend belief for the span of the story! It's so SAD all that they miss! But I guess there's no way around it-- it's just a different way of THINKING. And I will accept that, as long as they will accept that there are those of us who DO believe in metaphor, and that that's okay too!
