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PITTSBURG —
Dot King was whittled from the bone of Cain
with a little drop of poison in the red, red blood
She need a way to turn around the bend
She said I want to walk away and start over again.
--Tom Waits
I suppose it was hard for Cain.
There are billions of people in the world and only a small number of pyramids to be on top of. Most people realize that--or ought to--and can find comfort in the anonymity of the crowd, but Cain didn’t have that comfort. It was him and his brother and his mom and dad. (Yes, he later got a wife somewhere, but hush and listen.) When God took Abel’s offering and not his, that made him the worst in the world at offerings.
He was the first born; he was entitled to be the best; so he killed his brother.
God’s reaction to him all through the story is puzzling to us. When God didn’t accept Cain’s offering, God didn’t chide him for his failure, but warned him about the danger of taking his failure too hard and encouraged him to do better next time. When Cain killed his brother, God didn’t execute him, but banished him, putting a special mark on him to protect him.
It should be easier for us. There are billions of people in the world and a relatively small number of activities in which to excel. To get to the top of any of those pyramids, requires talent, work, training-education-coaching, time, and a supportive environment. Nobody gets there alone. They may be alone when they get there, but that’s another story.
I don’t mean to say this to discourage those who talented, those who are driven. Go on to work for that dream. But wherever you go, that’s where you are. You still have to live day to day, just like everyone else. You still need someone to love you, just like everyone else. As you lay on your deathbed, you will still need someone to put a teaspoon of ice on your tongue, just like everyone else, and it’s better coming from someone who loves you.
There is a lot of competition in life, but life is not a competition.
When Cain and Abel made their offerings, it was not a contest. There was not meant to be a winner a loser. Cain was not condemned but was told to do better.
Dot King was whittled from the bone of Cain
with a little drop of poison in the red, red blood
She need a way to turn around the bend
She said I want to walk away and start over again.
--Tom Waits
I suppose it was hard for Cain.
There are billions of people in the world and only a small number of pyramids to be on top of. Most people realize that--or ought to--and can find comfort in the anonymity of the crowd, but Cain didn’t have that comfort. It was him and his brother and his mom and dad. (Yes, he later got a wife somewhere, but hush and listen.) When God took Abel’s offering and not his, that made him the worst in the world at offerings.
He was the first born; he was entitled to be the best; so he killed his brother.
God’s reaction to him all through the story is puzzling to us. When God didn’t accept Cain’s offering, God didn’t chide him for his failure, but warned him about the danger of taking his failure too hard and encouraged him to do better next time. When Cain killed his brother, God didn’t execute him, but banished him, putting a special mark on him to protect him.
It should be easier for us. There are billions of people in the world and a relatively small number of activities in which to excel. To get to the top of any of those pyramids, requires talent, work, training-education-coaching, time, and a supportive environment. Nobody gets there alone. They may be alone when they get there, but that’s another story.
I don’t mean to say this to discourage those who talented, those who are driven. Go on to work for that dream. But wherever you go, that’s where you are. You still have to live day to day, just like everyone else. You still need someone to love you, just like everyone else. As you lay on your deathbed, you will still need someone to put a teaspoon of ice on your tongue, just like everyone else, and it’s better coming from someone who loves you.
There is a lot of competition in life, but life is not a competition.
When Cain and Abel made their offerings, it was not a contest. There was not meant to be a winner a loser. Cain was not condemned but was told to do better.
This is a message that is presented continually in the Bible: Try; fail; do better next time.
We see the word ‘righteousness’ a lot. For some it conjures up images of a nun with a ruler and for others an old man with a rod. This does it disservice. Righteousness is trying to do right. In trying, failing is always a possibility.
Noah got drunk after the Ark came to a rest. Jacob couldn’t tell his girlfriend from her sister in the dark. Moses was good at finding excuses.
There was a lot of try, fail, do better next time.
Most of us will not deal with issues on the scale of Noah or Moses. (I leave out Jacob, because there are a lot of men who apparently have trouble telling women apart in the dark.) For most of us, the joy we feel won’t come about by achieving, but by being: being a mom; being a dad; being a teacher; being a neighbor; being a friend.
I look at this and see that what I’ve said is counter-cultural. We are always pushing our young people to be great. We hang banners in the schools telling them they can do anything. Maybe that is the right thing to do. I don’t know.
What do I know? Well, Henry Fonda playing Admiral Nimitz in In Harm’s Way said, “On the most exalted throne in the world, we are seated on nothing but our own arse.”
I can’t improve on that.
Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, is Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Mathematics at Pittsburg State University. He blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. You may contact him at okieinexile@gmail.com.
