This guy!
I just want to thank everyone again for your kindness, and a special shout-out to GregW for sharing his story and the link to Andrew Klavan's testament. For those who don't know, Klavan is a prolific writer and podcaster, son of New York radio host Gene Klavan, and fervent Christian and conservative. Funny guy, too. The video may be seen here:
And let me just add that it had to have taken a minor miracle for Gary Carter to beat out a throw to first.
People wonder why there's so much insanity among the kiddos today, especially of the horrible type that leads to mass murder. Often this wave of killings, especially school shootings, is traced back to the Columbine massacre in 1999, and I think it's not a coincidence that by that year the Internet was up and running everywhere. Many of us from the pre-Net era have seen the unusual adverse effect of falling into the sea of digital humanity -- that it reveals our individual insignificance by the sheer number of human beings out there.
Few things in real life can do that. Maybe if you come from a small town and move to a big city. If you just visit a big city, you have the specialness within the traveler to keep you apart from the masses -- I'm not part of that crowd; I'm me! But when you live there, it slowly sinks in that very few people know you and even fewer care. On the Internet, it's that times eight billion. Acts of extreme evil are one way, and the worst way, to fight against that feeling. It's a rare but powerful temptation, and we see the awful results.
On the other hand, the Internet's saving grace is that it allows rare connections through space that would be impossible otherwise. Even this has its downside with people who work together for sinister purposes. But an online community that brings real camaraderie among people who would never ordinarily meet is very special indeed. I know most of you through the Great Lileks's blog, and it is the greatest chatroom (there's a bewhiskered term!) of which I know.
So what am I doing now? Well, thanks for asking! I am taking your advice and putting my writing back up on Amazon, and I am not doing away with the blog. I can't commit to posting every day--thus the title change--but I certainly plan to do so most days. If the black dog bites again, I promise not to vanish over it.
I hope to see you around here, or elsewhere, and thank you for being my friends. God bless you and keep you, and keep supplying you with dad jokes and whatnot to bring your day sunshine.
11 comments:
Chat, whiskers, ISWYDT,
You are spot on about the internet being essentially a big city. The big difference is that to move to a big city takes some fortitude and initiative as well as certain amount of planning, whereas anyone of any age with a cellphone can get on the internet.
Glad to see you back, Fred, and to see your books on Amazon. Sometimes when you find yourself in a dark hole you have just stay there until your eyes adjust to the light. That can take a while if the dark hole is internal. I'm sure you'll be out but it can take a while, especially if you're surrounded by your own dark thoughts. Faith and friends can help, but you end up having to find your own way out. It isn't easy. I've been there, too. We'll all help any way we can. Just let us know.
Happy Vitamin Fred is back! Never stop, pal. Never stop.
Welcome back! YOU WERE MISSED. You are not lost in the sea of anonymity.There was a small crowd of dubious origin who fretted over you daily of at OGH's place. Onward!
Fred, I hope you can make it by the Bleat today (Tuesday) as some wag has posted an artist's conception of your recent retreat.
Hi Fred, I'm glad you saw the Andrew Klavan video. It's one of my favorite conversion stories. He's an astute and talented communicator and, as you mentioned, a funny guy.
Here's another brief testimony you might appreciate. The notable philosopher William Lane Craig became a Christian in his teens. He doesn't seem to have experienced depression to the degree I did, or as Andrew Klavan described, but he says he was well on his way to becoming "a very alienated young man."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAAE2_vLsY
Craig was born with CMT disease, a neurophysical disorder that causes weakness and atrophy in the hands and feet and can affect the larynx as well. If you're interested, here's a good article relating some of his life story.
https://killingthebuddha.com/mag/sinners-saints/7-habits-of-a-highly-effective-philosopher/
I'm not a student of philosophy or Christian apologetics, and I don't think it's the best way to discover or relate to God, but as a former atheist I appreciate the efforts of those who try to present the truth that God exists, using reason and logic. Here's a pretty good essay by Craig entitled: The Absurdity of Life without God.
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/the-absurdity-of-life-without-god
What do I search for to see your books on Amazon?
-Mark I
Just one more thing, Fred. I hope I haven't given the impression I think I have it all together. Far from it. I know there's a God and I believe Jesus is the Messiah—the only way to God—but living according to that belief is another thing.
When I examine my life it seems to me I had better be like the tax collector in Jesus' familiar parable who went up to the temple to pray. Unlike a Pharisee there who was proud of his life and pleased with himself, the tax collector wouldn't even look up to heaven but said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Another way of putting it is the old saying attributed to various Christians: Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
That's not from the Bible. but I can easily identify with whoever first said it.
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Yo Fredrick!
Flangepart here.
Glad to see you back. Yes, the Bleat is a unique place. I had to leave other blogs for the sad collapse of civility. Thank you for keeping the fun and the funny going.
I have nothing thoughtful or poetical to add. I certainly do miss you at the Bleat but your doppelgänger, El Mysteriouso, is an excellent stand-in. :-) Marica
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