12 July, Color-Man, Ghondruk, Nepal
Somehow, here in Ghodruk village, 2000 meters up in the lonely Himalayas, they have a TV. Yogya is glued to it as Nepali popstars sing in open fields and dance in fashionable clothes. I thought it was strange when Seinfeld showed up on the network in Pokhara. It just gets weirder. Where in the world can you escape American culture?
In a lot of ways I hate TV. I hate the distraction it provides for millions of people, keeping them from real life. I hate the fact that as I sit here with the Himalayas on my right and a TV on my left, I find myself looking at the TV.
The one thing that man fears more than anything else, says Blaise Pascal, is that he would be left alone in his room to think. Simplify, simplify, says Thoreau. Why can't we do it? Why do Americans lead the pack in creating distractions? It's because they have the money and the culture. So distract, distract, till the end of the world.
Distractions are the devil's greatest ploy. Millions delay the time when they will sit down and decide what it is that they believe. They run after everything. "They are destroyed for lack of knowledge," says Hosea. They don't know what will satisfy them. Linger, linger, whispers the devil, and then it is too late.
Christ calls us to wake up. It's like Plato's cave. Life is even more fascinating if we turn from shadows on the wall to see real, flesh and blood figures, walking in the broad daylight.
But it takes steadfastness to keep looking for reality. Distractions are easy. It is hard to remain amazed with clouds rolling over mountains. We let our wonder grow old, until it dies and we need to replace it with something else. TV is just one road that leads people towards apathetic lives.
Meanwhile, the Nepalis are watching an elf on the screen with neon green eyes warp children magically into fantastical lands.
Drew
In a lot of ways I hate TV. I hate the distraction it provides for millions of people, keeping them from real life. I hate the fact that as I sit here with the Himalayas on my right and a TV on my left, I find myself looking at the TV.
The one thing that man fears more than anything else, says Blaise Pascal, is that he would be left alone in his room to think. Simplify, simplify, says Thoreau. Why can't we do it? Why do Americans lead the pack in creating distractions? It's because they have the money and the culture. So distract, distract, till the end of the world.
Distractions are the devil's greatest ploy. Millions delay the time when they will sit down and decide what it is that they believe. They run after everything. "They are destroyed for lack of knowledge," says Hosea. They don't know what will satisfy them. Linger, linger, whispers the devil, and then it is too late.
Christ calls us to wake up. It's like Plato's cave. Life is even more fascinating if we turn from shadows on the wall to see real, flesh and blood figures, walking in the broad daylight.
But it takes steadfastness to keep looking for reality. Distractions are easy. It is hard to remain amazed with clouds rolling over mountains. We let our wonder grow old, until it dies and we need to replace it with something else. TV is just one road that leads people towards apathetic lives.
Meanwhile, the Nepalis are watching an elf on the screen with neon green eyes warp children magically into fantastical lands.
Drew
posted by Unknown at 8:04 AM
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