A Bit of Christmas Glee

The standard reply when asked if I really watch Glee is usually, "Well I have a 10 year old daughter and she just loves it." Truth is, I love it too. It is a weekly one hour musical that often serves to tug at some string within my heart.

Tonight's Christmas episode embraced The Grinch storyline with Sue Sylvester as the loathsome green antagonist. There may be no better villain in all of TV land. It also included a comical portrayal of Brittany and her belief that Santa Claus is real.

Looking beyond what has become a tired storyline of Finn and Rachel was the embodiment of what many want from the season: belief in better.

Finn consistently pressed to look beyond the verbal and physical revulsion to the choir caroling through classrooms. He pressed that others had it worse when the club came across Sue's Grinch inspired trashing of their tree, choir room and theft of gifts for needy children.

Brittany, to the shock of her friends, treated Christmas as if she were five. Artie, her wheel chair bound boyfriend, pleaded that no one disclose the truth. He had them go to the mall to sit on Santa's lap to show they too believed. They even went as far to ask the football coach (a hefty woman) to dress up as Santa and break into Brittany's house so she could take back the Christmas wish the mall Santa said he would honor: that Artie would walk.

What each managed to do was elevate those around them.

Finn's demand for being in the season found the club in the teacher's lounge where a cold Sue's heart was eventually melted. As she watched her fellow educators donate what little they had to replace the pilfered gifts, the power of giving finally overcame her years of holiday pain.

Brittany's belief inspired someone (we were made to believe the coach as she smile secretly outside the choir room doors) to pay a large sum of money to purchase a device which helped Artie walk. With the students questioning who made such a sacrifice, they happily attributed it to a Christmas miracle.

For a moment there was a collective belief things could get better.

In the end the glee club, at Sue's bidding and with Sue, are found in Schuester's house decorating a new tree with all the "stolen" presents under it. Ms Sylvester discloses the truth of how and why and we end with the two enemies wishing each other a Merry Christmas, refuting Will's belief that he would be alone for Christmas.

There is not a whole lot of digging to be done here: the message is obvious. As was recently noted by a friend on Facebook, "If people put half as much effort coming up with solutions to problems as they do complaining about problems the world would be a better place."

It is as basic as Camus's call to imagine Sisyphus happy: Or in the words of historian Howard Zinn:

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.”

The season is about something which transcends any religion which claims ownership and it is a sentiment which is not isolated to believing in any deity. It is a simple reminder that a single act, one which serves to make at least one person happier, will contain within it the fact of immediate change and the hope for permanence.

We should not be ashamed or feel stupid that we sometimes need to be reminded of this truth. Some of us can not remember where we left our keys, our glasses or our wallet half the time. Maybe that is really what the message is: Beyond being hopeful that our actions can change others, the belief that an other's actions can change us.

Thoreau is Thankfully Low on Oil

I replace the oil in my car because the engine needs it to run efficiently and cleanly. My engine is not concerned with alternate theories of peformance. It was built in a way which requires a degree of maintenance, of which draining and refilling the oil tank in short regular intervals is a necessity. If there is resistance within the engine then it will overheat and die.

Humanity is not like an engine. Progress is contingent upon friction. In school, children are challenged to consider new ideas, and hopefully process facts not as static events but items through which greater questions can be asked and answered.

But not all progress is good nor is all friction beneficial. Friendships have been lost due to constant irritation.

Henry David Thoreau reminded me of these things while I sought his comfort from beyond the grave. Having recently read commentary on the tweet by Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson along with biased political commentary implying only Republicans are incompetent, I sought out words of solace. This is the one of many which stood out.

Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could not doubt, I should not believe.

Henry David Thoreau

The religious element is obvious, though often forgotten. As one who has worked with children and youth in a church setting, there is such a strong desire by many parents and educators to ensure a sanitized approach to their belief system. Doubt is not promoted for fear of falling. When has weakness become something which we honor?

But the extension of doubt and faith, first, must be directed at the individual. Friction discloses many things, of which a lack of patience and ignorance hold the standard.

Where is the educators faith that the child and the teacher will attain a level of communication which will edify? Where is my faith in self that allows me to digest news without a poisonous level of disdain for the source or those who align to the opinions?

Approaching the Other's argument requires a level of doubt to our own position. In turn the want is that faith in our ability to disrobe those items which fail to retain validity will be dropped.

Yet there is never dignity lost in saying, "Let me think on this."

While looking for a selfish easement, Mr. Thoreau turned the mirror. If our reading, our speaking and our watching is only a service to where we are then it is best to remain locked away. The perenial faith is that "good for" will win out. The doubt is the accessory.

My reminder is that unless disclosed, there can be no understanding of how the other sees it. I must be allowed to see my faith justified. I must understand to where my faith should be applied. This cannot be given without doubt.

The wisdom is knowing when viscosity serves the room.

ST:TNG, Law and Order:UK and Thoughts on Justice

A day of work started with Star Trek: The Next Generation. "The Best of Both Worlds", a two part episode in which captain Jean-Luc Picard is captured by The Borg. During the scope of the storyline First Office William Riker assumes the position of Captain and is forced to make a decision: destroy The Borg ship with Picard still on board or hold off an try to formulate a plan to save Picard and then, hopefully, defeat the far superior enemy.

For those who know, Picard cannot die and therefore it is merely a matter of following the story to see how Riker solves the dilemma.

It is the classic argument of the one versus the many, expect in this instance the many would be humanity itself. Resistance is futile, as you know.

What Riker does it fore go the crew's pleas for more time as he knows defeating The Borg is far more important than one man's life. In the end, however, it is the act of saving Picard which allows them to place a command into The Borg collective which causes the ship to self destruct.

I am by no means a Science Fiction geek, but I do love the philosophical problems that ST:TNG often presented. It was the my Philosophy of Mind class where we watched Commander Data on trial to determine his personhood which hooked me.

What I didn't expect was the Law and Order: UK marathon which BBC America was running immediately after "Best of Both Worlds". One of the episodes told the story of a youth who killed his friend. There were a few questions the show investigated. One was whether some people are born bad. In other words, can anti-social or criminal behavior be passed on from parent to child.

Nature versus nurture.

A more intriguing question was how justice could be found. The defendant, a 14 year old boy, had already been in the juvenile penile system. Being small in build made him as much a victim within the prison as his victims were outside of it.

The mother of the victim wants punishment: she wants the defendant in prison. But as one of the lawyers notes, what justice can be had by putting the boy back into a world which will only continue to teach him violence? Can he be saved by being in an environment framed by love and hope?

The real question here is who is justice for. Are we looking at justice for this single victim only or are we looking at justice for the society they both lived in? Is it not a greater justice to make every attempt to change this child's person?

The psychology of an adult compared to that of youth is significantly different. As we get older it becomes more difficult to change; either by choice or by ability. It would seem that justice would be more served by trying to secure the future of our society, if the potential exists, than simply satisfying an immediate need.

At the close of the episode one of the lawyers from the D.A.'s office meets with the boy in prison and tells him he is to young to be a lost cause.

It isn't an easy question and our heart will always go out to the victim. But victim and justice, no matter how we try, are not black and white terms. They also do not solely apply to or serve those who are subject of the crime itself. Unlike the clean finish where humanity is saved from The Borg, we can't really be sure what the lost cause is in "real life".