There has been one argument that
has intrigued me for a while. Well, maybe it is not one argument, but it sort
of manifests itself like that in my mind. The question is, “Will people be
shaped by where they go, or will they shape where they go?” I have heard people
say often, “Be careful who you hang out with because they will shape who you
become” while at the same time I hear from those people, “When you are in a
group of people be a thermostat not a thermometer” (implying that I should impact
the group that I am in for the better and that I should try to positively
change the social/moral climate of the group). This intrigue I have resurfaced
this past week in class while The Grapes
of Wrath presentation was going on. The group brought up the topic of
community vs. individualism and how it applied to the Joad family. The group
mentioned that when the immigrants moved to California they began to lose their
great sense of community. In my mind I was wondering, “Why couldn’t the amazing
blessing of community have infected all of the Californians? Why did
individualism conquer community?” What is it about California that breaks its
way into the Joad family? What is it about darkness that seeds its way into our
lives? Things would be so much easier if goodness was contagious. The Joads
would have had such a better experience if community were running through
California like a vicious new strain of the bird flu. This leads into a topic
that we have barely discussed at all this semester… sin. Sin is strong.
Darkness is powerful. Why can’t light seemingly eradicate darkness whenever it
arrives? It seems to me that goodness is often overwhelmed. Shouldn’t it be the
other way around? Shouldn’t goodness be doing the overwhelming, the conquering?
Why is it that poor choices seem to rein over goodness and compassion in
groups?
One
area I was a little confused about in the book was why California was
advertising for people to come. The group said that the Joads left for
California after the Dust Bowl ravaged their land and after they saw an
advertisement for work/land in California. However, the group said that the
Californians did not want all of these migrant workers there. They were scared
of the migrants and even did awful things to them like burn down their little
makeshift villages. Who was advertising for all of these migrant workers to
come to California if the people in there did not want them?
This week my group
presented on A Thousand Acres. We had
a really good time working through getting this power point together and
laughing at all the terribly awful situations that happened in the book. But,
in all seriousness, the monstrosities that were commonplace in our book took us
aback. A family was in shambles (always was in shambles), a community was broken,
and a land was being pillaged. How did we get here? For this book is a
realistic representation of what is going on in far too many areas. Devastated
families are the norm, and most people are ignorant to food and land education.
Broken families and marriages are what really bother me though. Unfortunately,
these are so common to all of us. I am sure all of us in our class are only too
familiar with some aspect of brokenness portrayed in this book by Jane Smiley.
Why? Why is this all so prevalent? Why must children slave to make chocolate?
Why must our food production system be so negatively impacting on the
environment? Why do we not care about what we consume? Is there an end in sight
to the destructive path that we are on? Where does all of this come from? Like
I said earlier in this blog, we often talk about the problems but not about the
ultimate origin of them. We are inherently wrong, inherently nasty. Sin has
crept into each of our lives as individuals and as a community to twist our way
of life. We really don’t care about our neighbors down the road or across the
world. We don’t think about our posterity or our innocent neighbors of the rest
of the earth besides humanity. We are selfish. That is a gross outcome of this
sin factor unfortunately. I saw this selfishness tear apart a family in A Thousand Acres. Larry was never
willing to see anything his daughters ever had to say to him. Rose and Ginny
were only concerned about how they might be perceived and how they might get
their father to do something. Jess was wanted to just come right on through and
pick up whatever might please his eye along the way. Ty was not willing to step
out of what was comfortable for him, and in doing so he estranged his wife who
only wanted him to acknowledge the horrific situation that they faced. Each
person was reeking with selfishness and pride that festered until it consumed
the family. They either split apart or died due to their… well… sin. I know
this sounds cheesy and really Sunday school-y, but maybe we should have a
discussion on the nature of humanity and why we make the destructive decisions
we do. For until then, will we properly adjust our ways from the dark path we
are on to a path of light, hope, and redemption for all?
Hi Micah,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to address your question first since I was a part of the group presenting on the Grapes of Wrath. You are correct in saying that most of the Californians didn't want all of the migrant workers there and treated them very harshly. Many of the migrant workers actually all saw the same advertisement from one farm. Whenever the topic was brought up, they all mentioned seeing the same advertisement, which was only looking for a few hundred men compared to the thousands of people who showed up. There simply weren't enough jobs for the large number of workers who showed up. The owners of the farms ended up taking advantage of this and paying very, very low wages because if someone didn't like the pay, a more desperate person was there to take the position. This all goes back to the focus on profit and the greed of the owners of the large farms.
I liked that you decided to focus on the origin of all the darkness. We have had many discussions on the problems and a few possible solutions, but have never talked about the origin of all this. I agree that it all stems back to our sinful nature. It was the selfishness and greed of the new, industrial farmers that destroyed the lives of many of the migrant workers and the same greed and selfishness that destroyed the Cook family. Due to sin, there is going to be darkness, but we have the power through Christ to shine a light in the darkness. Instead of being so overburdened with all the problems in the world, we should focus our passion and attention on an area we can make a difference in.
Great thoughts!
Rebekah
Throughout your post I couldn't help but think of Romans 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." There are countless times when we know what we are doing isn't good or even what we really want, but we continue to do it. Its extremely frustrating, and I have been in this situation more times than I'd care to admit. Its really overwhelming sometimes to look at all the darkness in the world that seems to be wreaking unbridled havoc. However; there is a lot of good in the world, and even though it's a little harder to find, we must not forget that it is here.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is so important that we get to the heart of all these issues, which is sin. Putting all of the science, research, and arguments for and against certain methods of farming or dealing with global issues, we won’t be able to get anywhere without addressing the sin at the root of these problems. I mentioned in a past blog post that even if we happened to find a solution to issues such as climate change using only science without addressing the issues within humanity, then we will only find ourselves starting over when sin leads to a different issue. I stated in my post this week that when it comes to farming, I am much more inclined to believe that we are in need of changing the mindset with which we approach farming rather than simply worrying about the amount of technology involved in the process, whether you are supportive or critical of it.
ReplyDeleteI know we have talked about this a few times but I'm glad you finally blogged about it. Whenever we talk about the root of problems whether they be things like climate change, food production, or child slavery, this root always comes back to our inherrent flaw as humans. We are sinners. We are being restored which is why we have hope. But it is important that we recognize that the problem is sin and that the reason many solutions do not work is because of sin. To me this is frustrating. But, as Christians, we should not be frustrated or discouraged! There is no reason! We have hope in restoration. To me, this is such an important part of any "solution."
ReplyDelete