Number 138

And So On

An Introduction:

For once in my life, dear reader, I went out this past weekend in the Winter Park area. It was fun to go with my friends, though I can’t say I would find myself frequenting that scene often. One friend found out, as I did in high school, that nobody cares about Pennsylvania here. Oh well; they don’t know what they’re missing. Bless.

Things I’ve Consumed:

Our Man in Havana:

This is a delightful book set in antediluvian Cuba by the prolific—though hitherto un-encountered—Graham Greene. I was not expecting to so thoroughly enjoy this book; I mostly chose to read it because it fit nicely in my pocket on the plane down to Florida. On that plane I read 120 pages, and I read the final 100 by noon the next day. Our Man is a fast paced spy novel about the bungling efforts of various MI6 agents as they attempt to form a spying ring in Havana centered around a vacuum salesman called Wormold. It’s very funny stuff, and it makes me think that perhaps it’s time that I had a colonial empire of my own.

The Problem of God in Philosophy of Religion:

Here is a short book by Henry Duméry that I have owned for a couple of years but had not ever read. Similar to the above, I have it in a small paperback, so it was easy to take on the plane. The title here may be a bit misleading, as Duméry does not posit that God is a problem, but, rather, that the way in which both followers and contrarians consider God in a philosophical sense is flawed. Rather than debate the existence of God through logical exploration of chains of events and progressions, Duméry opines that philosophers would be better served if they were to treat God more along the lines of a center that is not a center; God is in spirit, but His essential omificence is such that it cannot be directly considered. Thus, philosophers must consider God as a “One,” or something whose expression can be treated in human terms but who Himself cannot be argued on our mortal plane.

I found Duméry’s treatise to be most logical, and treated “the problem of God” with rather more nuance than one finds in many other theologically oriented texts. I do believe that one may perhaps need to be a Godly man in order to fully buy into a couple of Duméry’s positions—seeing as there must likely be some sort of force present to, in fact, order the acts of the mortal plane which he suggests be considered. But, then, there is also the necessity of the internal that Duméry discusses which places man at the center of his own drive, rather than as a total receiver of the word—though that drive comes at least partially from something. Anyhow, this is a very interesting text for you dear readers out there who ponder the world beyond man.

Everest:

I am under the impression that this was a pretty big documentary when it came out in the 80s, but it may just be notable in my house because my father was an amateur mountaineer after his time in business school. But if Everest is not a big documentary it should be simply on the basis of its raw footage and camera-work. I cannot remember too many things that come close to the sheer spectacle of this expedition to the tallest point on Earth—which was captured in IMAX by Greg MacGillivray and David Breashears. In addition, there is a fine story of tragedy and triumph in the face of supreme challenge. Everest is only 45 minutes and can be found on Amazon. Worth a watch.

The Bush Years: Family, Duty, Power:

Speaking of things worth a watch, I would highly recommend that you, dear reader, watch this 6-part documentary about the Bush family from Prescott to today. It is a tale, especially in the H.W. period, of refinement and nobility. I have written about H.W. before and I will continue to praise him whenever the opportunity strikes. He was a true outlier in a political realm forming its passion for fire and brimstone that has risen to full effect today. Perhaps it is time to elect a bureaucrat again.

Some Songs:

Some Photos: