A Trail of Impressions
Cheetos have probably never gotten to star in a story. Even in their commercials, Chester the cheetah tended to get all the attention. Yet, here they are in my lead, as indelible as the orange powder left on my hands after lunch, and wiping, and wiping.
They made a similar impression on my book, and it's the placement of the incrimination that makes this worth considering for a moment. Just as I read, "Sociologists know that we tend to find most plausible the ideas of the people with whom we spend the most time and to whom our admiration is most directed," from Tim Keller's God's Wisdom for Navigating Life, I thought I could escape the iron law that my most recent associations will leave their mark on me and my trail of touches. The orange fingerprint at the top margin of my new book, as well as the content itself, contradict that notion of on impressionable independence.
Around my orange evidence, Keller goes on to prognosticate, "Today we believe we can create our own identity through our own free choices." He quotes to the Raymond C. Van Leeuwen to the contrary. "The question of individual identity," discerns Van Leeuwen, "is always a question of community, from the family and church, school and business, all the way up to the nation and state. Communities create the path we walk."
What Godward options are we precluding or making less likely because of the communities with which we associate? Or do we think the reinforcement of undesirable qualities will have no impact on us, as I fancifully thought my contact with Cheetos wouldn't make an impression? Conversely, when we spend time in prayer war in God's Word, how far might the center of Heaven waft by grace because we have?
They made a similar impression on my book, and it's the placement of the incrimination that makes this worth considering for a moment. Just as I read, "Sociologists know that we tend to find most plausible the ideas of the people with whom we spend the most time and to whom our admiration is most directed," from Tim Keller's God's Wisdom for Navigating Life, I thought I could escape the iron law that my most recent associations will leave their mark on me and my trail of touches. The orange fingerprint at the top margin of my new book, as well as the content itself, contradict that notion of on impressionable independence.
Around my orange evidence, Keller goes on to prognosticate, "Today we believe we can create our own identity through our own free choices." He quotes to the Raymond C. Van Leeuwen to the contrary. "The question of individual identity," discerns Van Leeuwen, "is always a question of community, from the family and church, school and business, all the way up to the nation and state. Communities create the path we walk."
What Godward options are we precluding or making less likely because of the communities with which we associate? Or do we think the reinforcement of undesirable qualities will have no impact on us, as I fancifully thought my contact with Cheetos wouldn't make an impression? Conversely, when we spend time in prayer war in God's Word, how far might the center of Heaven waft by grace because we have?
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