Oh, hello, The Internet! I didn’t see you there! Come on in! Have a seat. Just clear off one of those chairs over there. What’ve you been up to? Getting worse than ever before? Jam packed with racists? Cluttered with AI slop? Cool, cool. Hey, how’d that whole “NFT” thing work out for you? Ouch! Less said the better, huh?
I see by the old calendar on the desktop that it’s been nearly another six whole years since I updated this blog, which means it’s time for me to climb out of my hole in the ground and give the place a good dusting. What have I been up to? Hanging on by my fingernails, just like everybody else!
Well, maybe I’ve been doing a little more than that. Mainly, I’ve been thinking. And when I start thinking, I start writing. And when I start writing…well, you all saw what happened last time.
I’m still listening to music, including the old Anthology of American Folk Music. I still listen to it every Fourth of July. But lately, my thoughts have been getting a little more…how shall one say? Philosophical? Up-my-own-ass? Sounds legit.
The music Harry Smith collected on the four volumes of the Anthology was the music of the common people and it expressed everything about their lives, even if the recording artists didn’t necessarily write the songs. Take “No Depression” by The Carter Family.: “I’m goin’ where there’s no depression/To a lovely land that’s free from care/I’ll leave this world of toil and trouble/My home’s in heaven/I’m goin’ there.” That longing to escape from the cares of the world is universally recognized. We’ve all felt it, even if we haven’t expressed it in quite the same way. For me, the desire to escape this sinful world isn’t about accepting my lot here and dreaming of a better world after death. If anything, that attitude is the problem, isn’t it? Leave the world to itself. God will take care of it eventually. He’ll separate the sheep from the goats! What’s God got against goats anyway?
No, to me the desire to escape from the troubles of the modern world isn’t about hoping for something better later on. It’s about the desire to do better for ourselves in this world. To that end, I’ve been tinkering with a concept I call “Abundant Sufficiency”. It’s the idea that enough exists in the world for everyone to have enough to live with dignity. I’ve been writing about it and posting to a new blog I’ve set up on this very website! If you’re interested, you can check it out here: https://abundantsufficiency29.blogspot.com/
I hope you’ll join me over there. You can read my half-baked musings and leave me comments telling me what a dirty commie I am! It’ll be a hoot!
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