There once was a young man, as for life's leaning, he was skewed toward that of a philosopher's mind, and some say a tad hard of hearing. This young man took Geology 401 (Introduction to Geology and Earth Sciences) and came away from Dr. Mack's first lecture impressed by the fact that all of the world is built upon one of three types of rock:
A) Sedentary
B) Ingenious, or
C) Metaphoric.
With this understanding of terra firma and the substrate upon which all of life on Earth stands; he developed his life's philosophy rooted firmly on the ground while he gazed up to the heavens and tried to make sense of all that was around him.
As he explained his philosophy to me, it went something like this: In brief, much of life is like those sedentary rocks; deposited slowly and orderly, in nice layer upon layer, by gradual and most often monotonous events occurring day-after-day. Yes, these sedentary layers of life can be folded and even faulted by larger forces, but they remain recognizable as to type of layer and to the time and sequence in which they were formed.
Then, there are the Ingenious rocks which are formed by massive up-wellings from deep within the very core of the Earth. Ingenious rocks are often accompanied by episodic and violent outburst of glowing clouds, fire, smoke and outpourings so hot that the Earth itself is literally melted and flows across the landscape altering and rapidly transforming all that lies before it. Ingenious rocks have the power to blow the tops off the largest mountains and scatter the remains to the four winds. Or it can move from the deep and not erupt, but lay molten-hot for ages just below the surface; but once exposed can reveal veins of gold and exquisite gems and minerals that has charmed the eye of all mortals since the beginning. Such are the origins of these Ingenious rocks, that often lie at the roots of life's immense mountain ranges. The power of genius.
Lastly, there is a select set of rocks which this young man understood to be of the Metaphoric variety. These Metaphoric rocks are rocks of transformation, rocks that have been changed. These Metaphoric rocks are the very kind of rocks that are sought by the likes of Michelangelo to sculpt the great stories of humanity in the likeness of Pieta or David. These blocks of marbled Metaphoric rocks were hued and erected by the ancient Greeks to build monuments to the divine and erect the halls of democracy - undoubtedly their greatest gift. The humble slate is also counted among the Metaphoric rocks as well. The slate has served as the instrument to transfer knowledge from the Aristotle to his students throughout all the ages. This humble slate, of Metaphoric rock origins was the focus of attention, placed front and center on the wall in the American Public School room to transfer knowledge from one generation to coming generation known as the "black board".
Of course, I am loath to destroy a young man's philosophical core, so I did not correct his classification to the proper geologist's rock types:
A) Sedimentary
B) Igneous, and
C) Metamorphic.
Besides, maybe he on to something; and why be hard-nosed about the classification? Perhaps his was a "poetic" rock type classification that will indeed serve him well. While the geologist will always properly use sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic to good and useful purpose while at work; there maybe yet are a few imaginative geologists who will in their heart-of-hearts understand mankind's poetic connection to the Earth as well as one's own life as Sedentary, Ingenious and Metaphoric.
What is under your feet today?
Upon what type of ground do you now stand?
Today, I am standing on Metaphoric ground. A ground fertile for stories, great ideas and suitable for building monuments and lasting institutions in which to invest heart, soul and treasure. The metamorphic slate upon which we write our metaphoric narrative.
Inga, our eldest has transformed and transferred out of the realm of the Sedentary. A life of comfort of known class schedules, the routine of each academic day slowly depositing educational experiences, defining layers of Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and now the last layer, Senior and now Graduate. It was a life of predictability and gradual deposition of experiences confined largely to the basin of the campus at the University of Oregon in Eugene. But now, there is a great unconformity, the orderly progression of days and activities of the Sedentary has ceased. There are no more sedimentary layers to be buit grain upon grain. Her apartment lease expired at the end of August, her relationships with friends have been folded, displaced and faulted as they move on to graduate school or moved on to find employment or move back home; this week was an episodic, unconformable event. Things have changed for Inga - big time. It is the end of an era.
While waiting for responses to her resume and inquiries in her chosen field of Health Care Policy, she has taken up the offer from Annie, the widowed mother of her boyfriend Sean, to move into a room in her house in Salem. Everybody has to be somewhere.
Inga had boxed up her meager possessions, including the giraffe-necked whisk kitchen implement and was ready to load them into the back of her Subaru wagon. However, her bed and a few pieces of furniture would have to be transported to Salem by a rented U-Haul. Inga (with a degree in "Planning") made reservations with the nearest U-Haul franchise and reserved their smallest truck for $110 days in advance. The morning of the move, the U-Haul folks tell her they have rented out all of their small trucks - but there is one available in Harrisburg (only 25 miles up the road). U-Haul makes her an offer. "We'll rent U a larger truck, give U and extra day and charge U only $80). Inga takes the deal. She says that she can run laps inside her big truck.
Inga's 5-foot nothing frame wafts into the behemoth front seat of the U-Haul truck and she inserts the key and starts the engine. Leaving the parking lot, she knows she needs to go left, but is not sure she can safely see to her right to turn left. She goes right with the idea that she can loop around and get going the direction she always intended. After miles of traveling down a narrow country road in the least-favored direction, she executes a precise 38-point Y-Turn. She is now headed back to her place. Sean meets her there and quickly hauls all of her stuff down and loads up the truck, which she "lets" him drive up to Salem. I think Annie is happy to have the Inga and her son back in the house. I know Inga is quite grateful for a place to land.
And here is the Metaphor I have been warming up to all this time: One makes plans, one makes reservations for the next step in life. And then you don't get what you planned on. But, you still have to get down the road to your destination, but some times the route is not as direct as you thought is would/should be. Turn around and go the direction you need to go - even if it involves a 38-point Y-Turn out in the middle of nowhere. Be grateful for those who are there to help carry your burdens and loads. Your U-Haul adventure was but a metaphore for the life ahead.
Embrace the future with faith, confidnece and hope, you will always be surprised by life and the transformations to come. But cling not to despair. There is a future for hard-working people with a plan, a dream and a direction. Go forth with imagination, intelligence, diligence a large soul and an openess to the leading of the Spirit. Inga, be faithful and you will find it. Enjoy the journey!
Metamorphic rocks come from intense heat and pressure applied deep underground. From the philosophy of the metaphoric and metamorphic; when these rocks are lifted back to re-emerge on the surface they become the marble of monumnetal building stone and enduring sculptures as well as the sparkling and glittering phyllites and the humble slate adapted to receive and transmit wisdom of the ages. You now feel the heat and pressure of life's forces, but know that it is because you stand on transformative ground. Do not fear this change nor let your dreams parish, your vision is your future - hold to them as to a great treasure.
It may seem like all that is before you is student loan debt and that you are nothing but a loan in the world - but from your Dad's perspective: you are a blessing and I have no doubt that you will receive blessings and emerge from this metaphoric metamorphic anxiety into a new world that will be a life sculpted into unimagined knowledge and beauty - and to be honest, a fair amount of schist as well. Be ready to be transformed in spirit and mind.
Hear the words of the prophet Jeremiah to those in exile in a strange land and separated from the familiar: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
A) Sedentary
B) Ingenious, or
C) Metaphoric.
With this understanding of terra firma and the substrate upon which all of life on Earth stands; he developed his life's philosophy rooted firmly on the ground while he gazed up to the heavens and tried to make sense of all that was around him.
As he explained his philosophy to me, it went something like this: In brief, much of life is like those sedentary rocks; deposited slowly and orderly, in nice layer upon layer, by gradual and most often monotonous events occurring day-after-day. Yes, these sedentary layers of life can be folded and even faulted by larger forces, but they remain recognizable as to type of layer and to the time and sequence in which they were formed.
Then, there are the Ingenious rocks which are formed by massive up-wellings from deep within the very core of the Earth. Ingenious rocks are often accompanied by episodic and violent outburst of glowing clouds, fire, smoke and outpourings so hot that the Earth itself is literally melted and flows across the landscape altering and rapidly transforming all that lies before it. Ingenious rocks have the power to blow the tops off the largest mountains and scatter the remains to the four winds. Or it can move from the deep and not erupt, but lay molten-hot for ages just below the surface; but once exposed can reveal veins of gold and exquisite gems and minerals that has charmed the eye of all mortals since the beginning. Such are the origins of these Ingenious rocks, that often lie at the roots of life's immense mountain ranges. The power of genius.
Lastly, there is a select set of rocks which this young man understood to be of the Metaphoric variety. These Metaphoric rocks are rocks of transformation, rocks that have been changed. These Metaphoric rocks are the very kind of rocks that are sought by the likes of Michelangelo to sculpt the great stories of humanity in the likeness of Pieta or David. These blocks of marbled Metaphoric rocks were hued and erected by the ancient Greeks to build monuments to the divine and erect the halls of democracy - undoubtedly their greatest gift. The humble slate is also counted among the Metaphoric rocks as well. The slate has served as the instrument to transfer knowledge from the Aristotle to his students throughout all the ages. This humble slate, of Metaphoric rock origins was the focus of attention, placed front and center on the wall in the American Public School room to transfer knowledge from one generation to coming generation known as the "black board".
Of course, I am loath to destroy a young man's philosophical core, so I did not correct his classification to the proper geologist's rock types:
A) Sedimentary
B) Igneous, and
C) Metamorphic.
Besides, maybe he on to something; and why be hard-nosed about the classification? Perhaps his was a "poetic" rock type classification that will indeed serve him well. While the geologist will always properly use sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic to good and useful purpose while at work; there maybe yet are a few imaginative geologists who will in their heart-of-hearts understand mankind's poetic connection to the Earth as well as one's own life as Sedentary, Ingenious and Metaphoric.
What is under your feet today?
Upon what type of ground do you now stand?
Today, I am standing on Metaphoric ground. A ground fertile for stories, great ideas and suitable for building monuments and lasting institutions in which to invest heart, soul and treasure. The metamorphic slate upon which we write our metaphoric narrative.
Inga, our eldest has transformed and transferred out of the realm of the Sedentary. A life of comfort of known class schedules, the routine of each academic day slowly depositing educational experiences, defining layers of Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and now the last layer, Senior and now Graduate. It was a life of predictability and gradual deposition of experiences confined largely to the basin of the campus at the University of Oregon in Eugene. But now, there is a great unconformity, the orderly progression of days and activities of the Sedentary has ceased. There are no more sedimentary layers to be buit grain upon grain. Her apartment lease expired at the end of August, her relationships with friends have been folded, displaced and faulted as they move on to graduate school or moved on to find employment or move back home; this week was an episodic, unconformable event. Things have changed for Inga - big time. It is the end of an era.
While waiting for responses to her resume and inquiries in her chosen field of Health Care Policy, she has taken up the offer from Annie, the widowed mother of her boyfriend Sean, to move into a room in her house in Salem. Everybody has to be somewhere.
Inga had boxed up her meager possessions, including the giraffe-necked whisk kitchen implement and was ready to load them into the back of her Subaru wagon. However, her bed and a few pieces of furniture would have to be transported to Salem by a rented U-Haul. Inga (with a degree in "Planning") made reservations with the nearest U-Haul franchise and reserved their smallest truck for $110 days in advance. The morning of the move, the U-Haul folks tell her they have rented out all of their small trucks - but there is one available in Harrisburg (only 25 miles up the road). U-Haul makes her an offer. "We'll rent U a larger truck, give U and extra day and charge U only $80). Inga takes the deal. She says that she can run laps inside her big truck.
Inga's 5-foot nothing frame wafts into the behemoth front seat of the U-Haul truck and she inserts the key and starts the engine. Leaving the parking lot, she knows she needs to go left, but is not sure she can safely see to her right to turn left. She goes right with the idea that she can loop around and get going the direction she always intended. After miles of traveling down a narrow country road in the least-favored direction, she executes a precise 38-point Y-Turn. She is now headed back to her place. Sean meets her there and quickly hauls all of her stuff down and loads up the truck, which she "lets" him drive up to Salem. I think Annie is happy to have the Inga and her son back in the house. I know Inga is quite grateful for a place to land.
And here is the Metaphor I have been warming up to all this time: One makes plans, one makes reservations for the next step in life. And then you don't get what you planned on. But, you still have to get down the road to your destination, but some times the route is not as direct as you thought is would/should be. Turn around and go the direction you need to go - even if it involves a 38-point Y-Turn out in the middle of nowhere. Be grateful for those who are there to help carry your burdens and loads. Your U-Haul adventure was but a metaphore for the life ahead.
Embrace the future with faith, confidnece and hope, you will always be surprised by life and the transformations to come. But cling not to despair. There is a future for hard-working people with a plan, a dream and a direction. Go forth with imagination, intelligence, diligence a large soul and an openess to the leading of the Spirit. Inga, be faithful and you will find it. Enjoy the journey!
Metamorphic rocks come from intense heat and pressure applied deep underground. From the philosophy of the metaphoric and metamorphic; when these rocks are lifted back to re-emerge on the surface they become the marble of monumnetal building stone and enduring sculptures as well as the sparkling and glittering phyllites and the humble slate adapted to receive and transmit wisdom of the ages. You now feel the heat and pressure of life's forces, but know that it is because you stand on transformative ground. Do not fear this change nor let your dreams parish, your vision is your future - hold to them as to a great treasure.
It may seem like all that is before you is student loan debt and that you are nothing but a loan in the world - but from your Dad's perspective: you are a blessing and I have no doubt that you will receive blessings and emerge from this metaphoric metamorphic anxiety into a new world that will be a life sculpted into unimagined knowledge and beauty - and to be honest, a fair amount of schist as well. Be ready to be transformed in spirit and mind.
Hear the words of the prophet Jeremiah to those in exile in a strange land and separated from the familiar: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
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