Walking, Beauty, and White-Shirted-Fundamentalists

Walking home from work allows for experiences that I wouldn't usually have. I think about all the times I used to have to drive in the past and how I was in just another temperature controlled cubicle, the only exception being I got to listen to whatever I wanted to on the radio. Thousands of times, to and from work, passing life by at 60 mph never noticing details. As you slow down though, things get noticed. When I bike to work I notice things I wouldn't driving. If I walk, I notice things I wouldn't had I biked and even if you just stop and stand still you notice even more.

Yesterday the sun was out so I went for a walk over my lunch hour. I'm fortunate to walk to the Old Miss. and walk within 3 feet of running water with the bluffs across in the distance. There's something about the color of blue sky and the light that makes it seem so much more beautiful. Interesting because it's the same scene when it's cloudy but it hits you so much differently with the right light. I had a philosophy professor once tell me that Westerner's perspective on beauty is different than Eastern (namely Eastern-Asian I think). His analogy or story was about a contest that the two had as to who could create the greatest beauty: the westerners or the easterners. The two groups of artists were given a room. One half of the room was for the Westerners and the other half for the Easterners. The Westerners took their half and created a beautiful painted mural on all their walls; the ceiling; and the floor. The mural was beautiful and the Westerners felt sure that there was nothing the Easterners could do to top what they had done. When it was time for the easterners to use their palette, they buffed and polished all the walls until their side was a glass-like mirror that reflected the Westerners beautiful mural.

The point of the story, if I can remember correctly, was to point out the differences on perspectives of Beauty. Beauty, being a reflection of what already exists. Even when you do create, you are honoring or enshrining what you have already seen in real life. I thought of the Easterner's mirroring the beauty on the other half of the room when I thought of how beautiful the bluffs looked yesterday afternoon with the bright sun and rich blue sky's. I had to stop for a moment and just take it in.

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I walked home from work when it was time and was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to get a bike ride in before supper. After about a quarter mile I ran in to a guy dressed in old jeans and a wrinkled old green jacket. He was walking down the street slowly and then stopped and leaned his back against a tavern. He was unshaven, unkempt, and when I got to him he asked if I had 50 cents he could borrow. I never carry money on me and so I said "No, I don't. Sorry" and I kept on walking on my hurried pace feeling guilty because I felt like he didn't believe me and that I might be trying to avoid him.

Another quarter mile passed and two young white-shirted men in ties were coming from the other direction. I only noticed them after I got within one hundred feet of them. They were Elder-such-and-such and Elder-so-and-so and they wanted to know if I believed that prophets still exist today. I told them I did to some degree and then they asked me what I meant by "some degree" so I backed up and said "Yes, I do believe in prophets" because I guess I do although I don't think I've met one lately and I would be doubtful of most any self-proclaimed prophet and in any event I didn't want to argue/debate the existence of prophets. Seems like a waste of time. They either exist or they don't. Let's skip that debate and find out what these guys really want to tell me... At this point Elder-such-and-such started talking about a prophet and his twelve apostles. I listened thinking I knew this story. He then said the prophet was something like George or Jim Hinckley or something like that. I smiled to myself because I wasn't expecting that and told the gentlemen that I wasn't interested and thanked them for taking the time to talk to me. They shook my hand and asked me if I knew of anyone else who would be interested in what they were talking about so I gave them names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses to all my searching friends and wished them luck and walked home now thinking about the fact that I'm a little more late for my silly ride and now I'm wondering why I don't believe Hinckley is a prophet even though I believe in the existence of prophets... probably because Hinckley believes drinking coffee and caffeine is a sin. That's a sure way to discern a blasphemer if you ask me. That, and the reason he is considered a prophet is because he made it to the top spot of a huge religious human created organization first (president of JCL). I don't get the logic.