(Mifflin is a descendent of the Civil War Era lighthouse keeper of the Port Aransas Lighthouse and a collector of historical
I can't believe that you've had time, nor the inclination, to write this
during and after your move. Religion is fraught with abstractionism, an art
of thought completely overlooked or misconstrued. And as you portray, is a
very personal concept, unique to each and every individual. You use your
dogs as analogies to many scenarios. I too use my dogs to balance logical
thought when it comes to abstractionism. Because they are dogs, they are
completely without sin, or else they just get away with things we wish we
could. They break every commandment known to man. They covet, they steal,
they fornicate without conscience, and gluttonry, forget it. Yet as you so
vividly portray, they love, and they are loyal, and they appreciate. In
many ways, dogs are healthier psychologically than are we. Have you ever
known a dog who bites his nails? Are they going to heaven? Will their
spirits and souls survive the onslaught? The same God sitting on the side
of your bed is instilled in every living creature. Your thoughts combined
with the knowledge of traditional Biblical concepts protrays very logical
reasoning to a subject matter extremely difficult to many people. In fact,
the majority of people won't go as far because it is too far above them.
You will have some real head knocking with traditiional theologians. And
ironically, they for the most part would be amusing to you in their
hardlined arguments. Bill the blasphemer or Johnson City, er, Kerrville.
You ask for critique. Of what? There is a fine line between the art of
words and creativity in that manner, and the art of water color and other
media. You, as an accomplished artist, develop a concept, expound on it,
then apply it to paper or canvass. Sometime your work is never
preconceived. You create as you work. Then you show it and each individual
who views it interprets it in his own way. If it is literal, the colors,
the shadowing, the depth of field, and even the subject matter can come
under criticism. So what? I hate Picasso's work. It's just not perceptual
in my eyes. The Bible is the story of men. That's the way they thought.
We don't have to accept it as literal. That's our own choice. THANK YOU
You have a very unique way of easing the bitter dose of Biblical drudgery
for one who might not have developed the method of thinking deeply for
themselves. But it is self igniting and can fan the flame of healthy
attitudes toward ones own concept of religion. As you point out, many of
our mores and attitudes are developed in early childhood based on our
parents own idealisms. The "you shalt nots" permeate our psyche so badly,
we are unable to maneuver around the obstacles to free and effective
thought. God set the ability in motion, so why should it be bad? See if
you can get your works published. The fanaticists will read and perhaps
open up new channels of thought, the literalists will be amused and consider
it satire, and the rest will burn them in an open courtyard as poison and
blasphemy. The joys of humanity.