The Body and the Soul

The body and the soul--how often the two have been maligned. It seems it's been one-upsmanship for the better part of history. The body denigrated at the expense of the soul--the soul maligned at the expense of the body. In contemporary North American culture we have both happening at the same time. Conservative (or is it more accurate to say 'fundamentalist'?) religious communities speak almost exclusively of the nexus and priority of the soul. We worry about the soul of man--the soul of the country--the soul of the church--the soul of the corporation. It's good talk, good rhetoric that inflames passions. It just has no arms or legs. No real help for people, no real means of spiritual formation, no real Christology. It's hopeful talk, makes for good sermons, but amounts to little transformation or community. Any transformation or authentic community is only Pnuematic serendipity. In the midst of the rhetoric and proclamation, the body, so ironically central to the Christology of these same fundamentalist churches, is subtley (or forcibly) moved to irrelevance.

On the other hand, culture, having lost the soul entirely (except in formless sentimentalism about "heart") worships the body. Apparently, the body is the sum total of life, so in order be 'true to life,' a new cult has arisen around incarnation. Image, weight, musculature, hair styles, grooming are all billion dollar industries as a result. It makes for good marketing, good commerce, good economy, but it has no depth, no soul, no heart, and so no power to adequately energize me for anything beyond myself. Any selflessness is due to the subtle and inescapable influence of Divine glory.

But both extremes are misplaced and give me pause to ask difficult questions. Does this not mean that in addition to not trusting the themes and impulses of broader culture, we need to avoid trust in conservative evangelicalism's basic understanding of proclamation of the Christian message? Apparently, the religious community is no better a spiritual guide than broader culture.

Elephant Jokes

Bad Elephant jokes
(should be attempted only by skilled humorists adept in the arts of timing and the exploitation of drunkenness/sheer exhaustion.)

#1 (must be told in 5 parts)
Q: How do you fit 4 elephants in a volkswagen?
A: Easy. Two in the front, two in the back.

Q: How do you know if an elephant has been in your fridge?
A: You find one set of elephant footprints in the butter.

Q: How do you know if two elephants have been in your fridge?
A: You find two sets of elephant footprints in the butter.

Q: How do you know if three elephants have been in your fridge?
A: (you guessed it) Three sets of elephant footprints in the butter.

Q: How do you know if four elephants have been in your fridge?
A: There's a volkswagen in the driveway.

#2 A genre of elephant joke employing the riotous "have you ever seen an elephant (there)?" ending.

Q: Why do elephants paint there toenails red?
A: So they can hide in cherry trees?

Q: Have you ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree?
A: No
R: It works then, doesn't it?

Q: Why do elephants wear green capes?
A: So they can sneak across the tops of pool tables.
*Insert rioutous ending*

Q: Why do elephants wear sneakers?
A: So they jump from tree to tree between 2 & 4 in afternoon.

Q: Why are pygmies so short?
A: (variation on riotous ending) Because they went into the forest between 2 & 4 in the afternoon

#4
Q: What did the polite elephant say to the Zebra as he was trying to leave the forest?
A: Pardon me, but you're standing on my trunk.


The good humor man must now move on to greater things.
Shalom