Think of the practice and discipline that lies behind some of these feats.
(Of course, as a father, I do raise an eyebrow at the marketability of some of these talents....)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Yeah, that spoon-trick you do is great — but...
...check this (on mute, imho):
Think of the practice and discipline that lies behind some of these feats.
(Of course, as a father, I do raise an eyebrow at the marketability of some of these talents....)
Think of the practice and discipline that lies behind some of these feats.
(Of course, as a father, I do raise an eyebrow at the marketability of some of these talents....)
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22 comments:
I think there may be some genetics involved with some of them, too.
Of course, I want to see the video collection of all the mistakes, miscalculations, and full on injury that occurred before these folks were able to do that one great feat for that 3 second clip on a You Tube video. I bet that one girl had to have smacked herself pretty good BEFORE she was able to fall through a basketball hoop.
Not all pain is gain.
Time and effort invested compared to the potential marketability/benefit/ability to provide for your family/etc. is a huge issue in my opinion.
These days, for most of these tricksters, the most they'll ever get out of their disciplined efforts, other than self-satisfaction and accolades from their peers, is some short-lived YouTube "fame"; if they're truly blessed, they might make it to The Big Leagues!
Challenging teaching this concept to a young teen!
How many hours of practice does that video represent? Hours that could have been spent doing something useful?
And what even gave the cheer squad the idea of flipping Twiggy through the hoop? Who thinks of stuff like that?
The Squirrel
Man... that was one BIG hula-hoop!
Who thinks of this stuff???
And did surfer-dude survive that wipeout?
And - wow - does make one wonder what we devote our lives to...
Julie
Man, this reminds me of something, hmmmm, what is it...
oh, yeah!
"for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
The video at the beginning says anything is possible with training. While I agree that many things can be done with enough time and practice, many of these feats could never be done without some level of inherent talent.
How many hours of practice does that video represent? Hours that could have been spent doing something useful?
Like watching movies, reading blogs, or going to SCA competitions? If somebody studies Scripture, has appropriate prayer time, etc. should we really chastise somebody for practicing feats that in our estimation don't have much value? I guess in a Wesleyan sense, it may be that the time should be better spent elsewhere...but then we (and that includes myself) ought to look in the mirror to see how we are spending our own time.
Ouch!
(c:
The Squirrel
Ummm.... like.... blogging?
(convicted again.)
I'm not convicted.
If you're selective, reading (and writing) blogs is very profitable. Yeah, I think it's perfectly valid to look at silly, inconsequential trivialities that take hours and hours of focused labor, and assess them as wastes of time (Proverbs 12:1; 28:19).
And nobody will convince me that my time spent blogging is wasted. I get to bring the Word to people on at least six of the seven continents. Click the map. People come by here (my smaller-traffic blog) from USA, Canada, Britain, Australia... Africa, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia....
So no. Yes, you can waste your time blogging. But blogging is not inherently a time-waster.
LOL. I love you guys, really. Somehow my comments have been converted to some sort of attack on the merits of blogging. And while Dan makes a worthwhile rebuttal about bringing "spoon tricks" ,er..., I mean the Word, to all the world, I really wasn't trying to make a case against blogging (or the reading thereof).
I'm not trying to convince you that blogging or even reading blogs is a waste of time. And I'm not saying that it isn't valid to do some evaluation with regards to certain activities being unprofitable per Proverbs 28:19. What I'm telling you is that we all do things that from another's perspective, might be considered unprofitable. That doesn't make it so. Dan once said that he doubted Spurgeon would approve of his movie habit. I recently went on vacation...no doubt an activity that would be considered an utter waste of time and especially money by the great Wesley. Others here have mentioned favorite hobbies/activities that I have no doubt would be considered wasteful by others (not to mention their spouses). But because we cannot see an immediately apparent value does that mean there is none? Many things we do have no visible, tangible benefit and yet are nevertheless, valuable.
The second point I was trying to make is that we better be prepared to judge ourselves by the same standards we judge others by. Again, that isn't an argument that we shouldn't judge at all, but if we are going to erect strict tolerances on how we ought to spend our time then we'll have to enforce the same standards on ourselves. So while I'm confident in my judgement that chugging a pitcher of beer is not a worthwhile accomplishment, I would have great difficulty in pronouncing en masse that the activities on this video are wasteful and without value.
Sorry Dan,
I was pointing the finger at myself, not implying that blogging is universally pointless.
Personally, my conscience has been speaking to me about the amount of time I've been spending online. That wasn't intended to be a rebuke to you or anyone else.
My response (to my conscience) is to pay closer attention to how I use my time, and to narrow the field of blogs/websites I visit and read.
Truthfully, I found Pyromaniacs about a year ago, and subsequently this blog, because I was trying to figure out what in the world was happening to my (former) church. When I started googling up the things that were pinging my radar, turns out Pyro was addressing them.
The hours I've spent reading blogs and websites like yours have been enormously helpful, and for that I thank you. You guys (and often the comments in the meta) have been quite an education.
(I almost hate to include in my thanks the fact that we left that "church", knowing full well how pastors view that, but we did leave.)
At any rate, I apologize for "popping off" so broadly when I was reflecting on myself.
Julie
Oh, no need, and no worries. I know for a fact God uses us to do good. I do bristle at a suggestion that blogging (without qualification) is like spending hours and hours AND HOURS learning how to get top score at Baron Shredtheirguts 3D, or the like.
LOL and nodding my head in agreement.
Julie:
I have a problem similar to yours. I spend nights reading blogs, news sources, etc. Many times I'll become obessed over a certain issue, especially Scriptural ones. I'll stay up well past midnight researching Scriptural passages, commentaries, online sermons, etc. On the surface, there's nbothing inherently wrong with spending hours in Scripture. But the reality is that I really needed to be in bed sleeping so I would be well rested the next day. It's a double whammy. Not only did I spend my time wrong, but my time the next day wasn't used efficiently because I was too tired.
to narrow the field of blogs/websites I visit and read.
OK, but just don't narrow my blog out of the field! I don't have enough readers that I can afford to lose any.
(-:
YOU guys are still on my approved list. And now Mrs. Squirrel has started a blog too... you can see how my problem compounds! ;D
Aaron, I am guilty of the same thing. The internet can be a wonderful asset. It has certainly contributed to my spiritual growth. I can keep up (to some degree) with what is going on in the world. And I've found a helpful and encouraging network of other parents of Deaf/HoH kids.
But... there are so many good things I can get caught up in that it's a constant challenge to sort the good from the best. (We've been memorizing Philippians 1...)
I'm thankful I have the flexibility to dip in and out throughout the day.
And now, I go to post, and find my word verification is "boxtrap".
God be with you,
Julie
too funny Squirrel.
Well, I'll spiritualize this discussion in an entirely different direction.
Today I've been pondering what it means to be uniquely made in God's image (Julie - I'm still trying to finish that one blog post!!!).
Watching that made me wonder if one aspect isn't our constant striving to do what we're told is impossible, or even just to get better and better and better. It's as if God built within us an inherent sense that we and the world we inhabit are not what we and it ought to be. And what other creature spends time trying to, say, build the world's biggest spider web, or see how high it can jump?
Oh, and it also reminded me of the one night I stayed up until 1 a.m. trying to get all the little symbols on the 50cc portion of my license on Super Mario Kart Wii. I did it. And felt pretty darn proud of my accomplishment!
Until now. Thanks Dan.
LOL. Is that really true, Rachel?
And now, Mrs. Squirrel has a blog? How many computers can one family of Squirrels have?
Aaron: "..[T]he reality is that I really needed to be in bed sleeping so I would be well rested the next day. It's a double whammy. Not only did I spend my time wrong, but my time the next day wasn't used efficiently because I was too tired."
Yup. That's me. But it's not from reading Scripture, unfortunately. It's from reading Sherlock Holmes online these two days....
The internet is too big of a draw for me. I need to wean myself off of it. Easier said than done, though.
How many computers can one family of Squirrels have?
Five, actually... (two in boxes in closets. Anybody want a windows 98 machine...? Cheep...?)
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