tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post8960366640144598870..comments2023-11-11T21:26:46.689+00:00Comments on This Side of Sunday: Into the Ivory TowerJon Couttshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01728055140831842717noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-22283274280683212002009-09-08T11:26:49.853+01:002009-09-08T11:26:49.853+01:00Hey thanks. The internet is hard to come by these ...Hey thanks. The internet is hard to come by these days but stay tuned, thissideofsunday will be back . . . and feels like it has lots of stories to tell already . . .Jon Couttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728055140831842717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-72557343136343138512009-09-06T05:41:01.561+01:002009-09-06T05:41:01.561+01:00Sigh. This is all too good to read. Thank you ever...Sigh. This is all too good to read. Thank you everyone, especially Jon. This is just what my overwhelmed brain and heart needed just now. I like this "community". Thanks.<br /><br />Jon, Angie, boys: I'm sorry I didn't get to bid you farewell. I'm glad the internet exists so that I can somewhat stay connected to y'all, whether you know it or not. :) Blessings to you all and to the family (particularly grandparents) back in Canada. This is hard, but definitely worth it.Beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17524315402513677168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-12412276874013687992009-09-04T22:38:01.229+01:002009-09-04T22:38:01.229+01:00Just now, finally, got around to reading this.
It...Just now, finally, got around to reading this.<br /><br />It's so, so lovely. I'll echo Stewart's sentiment that this is the best discussion of the ivory tower thing I've come across.<br /><br />What more to say?<br /><br />I've found consolation and, to some degree, community on thissideofsunday, so I'm sad to think it might be fading away. But it's like my Mom told me when I moved out at 18: "I'm sad but I'm glad."<br /><br />Forrest:<br />I really need to read those Tarkovsky journals.s$shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10332235497811000409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-20420362048343726982009-08-31T02:05:57.211+01:002009-08-31T02:05:57.211+01:00i wish i had time to reflect in print, but don'...i wish i had time to reflect in print, but don't, so til next time i will just say for your comments: bless you.Jon Couttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728055140831842717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-44506154136652184692009-08-30T16:26:03.316+01:002009-08-30T16:26:03.316+01:00I often wonder what *is* worth thinking about. One...I often wonder what *is* worth thinking about. One day, while walking through a row of books at work, I stopped because I realized I had been thinking through how to finish my working tasks all morning, but hadn't thought of art, my family, or my husband at all. I stood there frozen for a moment, and then moved on, opened the workroom door and went inside. <br /><br />I guess what I am hoping to achieve by relating this is, that I am coming to find immersion in tasks that are not intentional harmful. In contrast, immersion in intentional tasks usually works out to goodness - even an unselfish inward gaze can be sustained for periods of time without detriment. In your case, in study and art, I think immersion is not harmful, but quenching even if it is inward focused at the same time. Why? because of your reasoning behind it. You have intentionally set out a thought process to guide you, to accompany your family and study.<br /><br />Even so, maybe it is worth verbalizing concerns that *are* worth thinking about either wholly, or partially. For me, these might be: the ones that sound like alarms (like at the library), the ones that make your mind freeze in awe when watching a film, or seeing a light cast against a lonesome face, the feeling of a head on your shoulder, the call to prayer, the call to learn and decipher, the call to walk silently through the streets and bring nothing with you. <br /><br />It is a difficult thing, to embark on any absorbing task, whether you are a library assistant, a student like you are, or a mother at home...something will be cut out at every turn of the day. This is good, and necessary but also the challenge. When you are breaking ground on a studious thought, you may not think about the way your son looked at you that morning. The good thing is, however, that he will be there when you return. Your ultimate goal was defined early on - for your thoughts to include him.<br /><br />The opportunity for reconnection is - as you already noted- to have a diverse life. To make questionable segue's at supper, to think about football while you are reading a manuscript (just for a moment), and to ensure that indulgence in art never goes too far, so far that you are alienated from the task you set out to achieve in the first place. Your task seems to be humanity, the world, the place you have been set - it will be hard to go too far with that..<br /><br />I think about how Tarkovsky wrote in his journals, things that would imply his separation from the world. his art would imply that as well. Regardless it has been proven over and over, that somehow in this world, it is possible to create Rublev, and at the same time be intent on fixing a roof, miss a loved one, drunkenly shave off a mustache, or notice deep illness in one's self. <br /><br />In contrast, Tolstoy's Ivan Ilych noticed nothing, not even the most blatent alarms. Tolstoy imagined the whole world living in Death, regardless of their task. The fault? total immersion in an unintentional task - a task accepted and acted upon as an unthinking reaction to surrounding society- an involuntarily controlled beating heart, inside a body that is brain dead. <br /><br />Before I end, I would like to say that I really love your note that long days will be spent creating something only potentially worthwhile. What a common feeling, about life entirely. Even about this post I am writing right now. It is nice to know for sure though, that there are things that we do every day that *are unquestionably* worthwhile. I can think of some right now, and I know you can too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-88991653976932826032009-08-30T15:12:12.058+01:002009-08-30T15:12:12.058+01:00i gotta read more NT Wright...and David Guretzky t...i gotta read more NT Wright...and David Guretzky too.Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426526859660663734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-84325196300569143322009-08-30T02:08:51.716+01:002009-08-30T02:08:51.716+01:00Great post, Jon. Two thoughts: 1) who's to sa...Great post, Jon. Two thoughts: 1) who's to say what "every-day" life is anyway? Or that the academic does every day is less every-day than what the tradesman, or the doctor, or whatever. A thing's utility is not the sum of it's worth.<br /><br />2) of all the contemporary scholars I've read who's been able to build the kind of bridges between ivory towers and non-ivory towers, N T WRight has done the most eloquent and incisive job of it I've ever seen. I'd rank John Stott and David Guretzky up there, too. Let guys like this give you hope!<br /><br />Dale HarrisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18173351.post-10030456367294841312009-08-29T15:57:37.059+01:002009-08-29T15:57:37.059+01:00That is the best discussion of the "ivory tow...That is the best discussion of the "ivory tower" thing if have ever come across. Keep in mind your community of friends and family will help keep you relevant as you seek to be totally immersed in your field of study. I continue to look forward to what comes out of your mind and into this blog (and other venues of communication). "May God bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace." (NLT)Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426526859660663734noreply@blogger.com