Skip to main content
I love to know and understand things. It's a core part of who I am. I want to understand why gas prices just went up, what chemical function corn starch serves in a recipe, why charity is always referred to as an object and not a quality... All the things! Maybe that's why this is one of my favorite memes... #knowallthethings
Here's my dilemma. I know how to find and apply spiritual knowledge. It's my foundation and lens for all further questions. I'm also pretty good at finding and evaluating intellectual truth. (Thank you, Google Scholar, Provo library, and at least 5 news sources on any given topic) But what about cultural truths? 

I want to know what my society really values. I want to know how "the majority" really spend their time, their attention, their priorities. This knowledge will inform my life views, my parenting, and my habits much less than spiritual or intellectual knowledge, but it's still useful and important to me. My awareness about the pulse of our culture affects what I post on social media, how I speak about certain issues, and how I prepare my family to participate in society. 

That said, IS there even cultural truth? If so, how do I find it? My social media feeds are pretty well-balanced with all social classes, sexualities and spiritualities, not to  mention plenty of Trump lovers and haters, but social media still doesn't feel like a good source for representative truth. The people who post regularly tend to be the most opinionated, posting only about a limited set of ideas. 

To be clear: there's nothing wrong with that! I treasure my passionate, cause-advocating friends. They teach me every day. But social media posts about politics, sexuality, spirituality-- how many are true? How much of what we post is appearance or opinion-based, and how much is genuine? And what about all the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and events that I don't see online?

Wondering where you find your cultural truth, and how you evaluate the happenings and trends of our world. Also wondering- how much does cultural trend matter to you? And what influence does it have in your life?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Saved Are Also Saving

My babe turned blue. We called. They came with badges, boxes, more. I kneeled beside my ash-gray babe, laid still upon the floor. The sheriff introduced himself and other county men, for all the local officers were mourning Shinners then. He'd died. My babe, he breathed again. Somehow, I'd never thought that daily, some are working jobs so hand in hand with God. I shuddered- through my broken soul came wisps of man's divine-- He gives himself for someone else, for little ones like mine. They heal, protect, give hope, give life. They do their work like Him. While some are given chances, others are giving them. It broke and healed my mother's soul-- I could not save my son. But when we called, they came. They came... to save my little one.
1 comment
Read more

Life Insurance / Assurance

How did those insurance commercials go again? You know, with those cute little kids playing on a bright green lawn, then all of a sudden growing up and needing to buy life insurance for their own sleeping newborn, a corny jingle, and then that all-knowing narrator saying "Life Comes at You Fast". I might volunteer as an extra in one of those; it seems such a fitting life slogan. The first two weeks of the semester have already flown by and I'm trying to get a head-start on homework for the third. Lots of reading, lots of new people, names and homework assignments to remember, but there are also lots of invaluable late-nights talking to Brinley, my roommate, about the unfolding drama of our lives. I swear things happen faster here, leaving hardly enough time to process all of our increasing experiential development. My mind, heart, and soul are EXPLODING in the most positive, exciting and exhausting way possible. After my first day of classes, I had to breathe deeply ...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Touched a Blue Rhino

No, I actually didn't. (Touch a blue rhino, that is.) That was just the random title that I wrote in my cousin's missionary email today, and it kinda stuck to me... Aside from that creative burst, I'm feeling GOOD today, for multiple reasons. First of all, finals are over!!!!! I'd write a whole paragraph on how relieving that is, but it'd just be cliche. Second of all, I attended two Christmas programs today, one of which was the homecoming of my dear friend. This sparked a lot of Christmas reflection, and those swirling thoughts and feelings continue to warm my heart. Third, do you realize what was on TV today?! Sound of Music- -The Sing Along version!!! How did I not know that existed?? My world is changed. For reals. And my Mom made me a cheese log, which I ate while watching Sound of Music. *sigh* Life is too good. Let's not forget, however, some of the BYU campus gems that I've been saving up to write about. Here goes! A week or so ago, I was walki...
Post a Comment
Read more