Family
Saturday, July 22, 2006
♥ Saturday, July 22, 2006
Yes, its this week's session again. Call it lackadasical if u want to, but i found an appropriate means to bring out the theme ( watching Family Man, starrin Nicholas Cage & Tea Leoni) and if you believe it could have been done in another way, i am all ears. (Right.)
'Who is but a function of what.' says V. Lets not ask who constitues a family, but dwell into the function of what. And what a family is, is to serve a particular function. This function, i reckon, is to create a setting and environment that allows people to become fully authentic and free.
We all know we are here for a particular reason, right? Now, that purpose differ under different occasions. For example, we are supposed to be a child to our parents (in that sense, our purpose to our parents, is to be a child), and on another instance, when ur married, u have to be a parent to your child. Your purpose in that occasion (of being a parent instead of a child) changes. Now, to be fully authentic and free, is to serve our purpose, and to serve it to the full. Which means, a child is supposed in every way to be one (excited, lively, curious, etc..) and more importantly, grow more and more to be like one. While a parent is to be concerned with the child's needs, to be matured and responsible, to love and nourish the child with education and care, thats primarily his or her purpose.
Why do i speak of purposes under various occasions? Because i believe that God has given man opportunities. These opportunities are the occasions when we need to fulfil our purposes. And in fulfilling that, we achieve something; some quality or some character. For example, the opportunity/occasion of adversity. Now one can choose a good number of ways of handling adversity. Say, run? or hide? or pretend that it goes away? or face up to it? Whatever one chooses, one not only reflects what he or she is, but the person he or she is turning to be. Once a coward who faces up to his fear, and to the challenge of doing what is right, i strongly doubt anyone would consider him or her that same coward. Basically, what i am saying is this: that we all have the chance and need only the will to better ourselves, that nothing should prevent us from fulfilling our bigger and brighter destinies, of building stronger characters. And family, THE family provides us with a very very good means of being such people.
Lets do some critical analysis on this statement: ' Family is the basic unit of society'. I believe the sociologists who made such definitions attached certain psychological importance to those who read it. When one reads something like that, he or she translates that into where its relevant: namely one's family, and the families that he or she has had experience with. And statements like that, tells one that not only does family HAVE to take the role of being the basic building threads of society, it IS. Which means, that family, serves the bigger purpose of society, not because of some universal truth (and thats debatable too!) but simply because it has been defined to be! Which also means that it might seem wrong when family chooses to be put itself ahead of state's interest, which also means that there is no complete freedom. I think if we read up a lil on the philosophy of language, we'd probably figure this out more clearly.
Well, my side of the story is this. The statement should be' The basic unit of society is found in the concept of the family.' With that, it makes a less harsh political statement, indicating that its the concept of family, not the family, that society thrives on; and because of that, family and the rights to fulfilling duties and purposes of family (which, if necessary goes against state's interests) are perfectly justified. Now dont get me wrong, i am not dismissing patriotism as an ideal. I am just saying, that patriotism, like all other forms of loves (the love of the motherland, or the love of the spouse , which to some are both synonymous) is fundamentally inculcated from young. And while we were young, its FAMILY that taught us to love and be loved, and if we actually dismiss these roots by claiming that family MUST BE in COMPLETE conjunction with state's interests, we are being very very foolish.
My last entry on connection? In all humility, i would claim it to be a pretty good lead-in to family. What thrives in a family? Connection. Communication. Compromise. Compassion. Consideration. Cooperation. Challenge. Commitment. Clairvoyance. Creativeness.
Lets see how all these sum up.
CONNECTION is the basis behind COMMUNICATION which in time, facilitates COMPROMISE if we are people of COMPASSION and this promotes CONSIDERATION which is for the purpose of COOPERATION, which is altogether a CHALLENGE and/of COMMITMENT. CLAIRVOYANCE in this case means sensitivity, and CREATIVENESS is for the sheer fun of being family! haha cool!
Ok, sideline: went to watch pirates of the carribean with val. For all who didnt think it up to standard, please, like you could have done a better job! I thought it facilitated the entry into pirates 3 pretty well. And guess what? There's a stage setting for Singapore! And with Chow Yun Fat being singaporean pirate. hahha. pretty goofy. Anyway, its jerry bruckheimer. Its the master of effects and action sequences. Its johnny depp, coolest actor as quoted by millions of viewers, its keira knightley (nuff said). So hell yeah to pirates.
And there are tonnes of movies coming out. The Lake House is the next instalment where we FINALLY see keanu reeves and sandra bullocks reunited in a movie and its out next thurs. That is a MUST WATCH. 27th july also heralds M Night Shayamalams Lady in the Water. If u loved Sixth Sense, of the Village, or Signs, or Unbreakable, u have got to watch it. I havent, but i sure will. And click! haha Adam sandler, and Kate Beckinsale (pearl harbour, underworld). There's a uma thurman movie comin out called 'my super ex-girlfriend'. with the remarks of the poster going as such: ' He broke her heart, she broke his everything.' i thought it was pretty damn funny.
There will be more thoughts on family, i would think. But for now, my mind's more on the 5 day field camp next wk!
I realised that this blog have seemed pretty secular in nature. Its a challenge to bring in christianity into society's definitions of family. But like i said, we shouldnt be bound to such definitions. The little freedom we have left( freedom of expression or thought, if granted), should be used to explore the boundaries of freedom we arent aware of( the christianity of/in family).
