Ps, then Blue Made Me Do This (I Think): Thinking Blogger Award

I'm not very good at links. Most of you know that. So don't be disappointed when you click on this Thinking Blogger link and it takes you to itself, but on a different page. Oh well.....




So, instead of just speaking of things, I will be speaking of
thinking.

Thinking of thinking, here are some defining thoughts on that topic:

Idea: the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind"

Thinking: the process of using your mind to consider something carefully; "thinking always made him frown"; "she paused for thought"

The organized beliefs of a period or group or individual; "19th century thought"; "Darwinian thought"

Opinion: a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty; "my opinion differs from yours"; "what are your thoughts on Haiti?"


Speaking of Haiti, I had some thoughts on Haiti when I was there with the MRE on that cruise we took back in November. I remember thinking, "Wow. This is nice. This must be what Florida is like, but with colder water. Wow. Can't wait for that sumptuous spread they'll be putting out for lunch. Wow." Those were my thoughts on Haiti.

I have been MEME'd by Ps and now by Blue. I am honored twice over. I am at once moved, and moved to thought.

In Greek, the word for "Thought" gets arrived at thus: Literally, "Through the mind" (dianoia) or "In the mind" (ennoia). Here we go again, folks---it's that word "nous" again. For Theilard de Chardin, the noosphere was nothing short of "a planetary level to the evolution of the cerebral cortex in humans." The mind---the human mind---is a sphere of its own. We all share in this sphere and we all contribute to its growth through evolution when we venture forth by forming (which in and of itself is PER-forming)our thoughts. The Thinking Blogger Award recognizes this. I recognize this. Literally, "I know it again" as I am re-cognizant of this.

So here I sit, poised before the poison of having to choose. I have to decide. I do not like to decide. Ever. The word "decide" comes from the same word "scissors" comes from----it means to cut away (de-cisio). When you make a decision, you are usually forced to cut away more than you cut for.

I don't like this having to choose thing. I love all those assembled, so thoughtfully chosen, in my blogroll. ALL of those names represent their own uniqueness. So really, I am not excluding anyone. Diesel makes me think. Mr. Fabulous makes me think. Quilly, Kat, Brookie, Murry, Vicci, Lisa and on and on and on till the very last.

This just in: The rules for this Thinking Blogger Award include tagging people. Well, I'm officially not tagging the five blogsters mentioned below. Part of that rationale stems from the fact that two of them have already tagged me. Sean has just gotten tagged himself.

As with Blue, the following five choices are not in any order other than numerical:

1. When I think of who makes me think, I think of
Ps. Ps is a woman who thinks, expresses her thoughts and then makes you think. Ps lives in India. Apart from the fact that gravity in India pulls Ps toward the same center of the earth that gravity in Oregon pulls me toward, I have no idea what it is like to live in India. But I will say this: Ps is filled with the kind of thoughtful gravities that pull me to the center of Truth. She has a way about her that exudes love and that coats all her readers with same. Not only that, but from her body emerged two wonderful beings. The Boy Being calls me Uncle Gawpo. I will be making him think more as he grows. Right now I am sitting on the plans for a killer potato gun that I am just sure will make his Uncle Gawpo proud (if not perhaps also slightly bruised by my Blogger Nephew's mother...).

2. Sean makes me think. I have no idea what Sean really does for a living, but I kinda sorta have this notion that he is out there in the world teaching people military stuff. But Sean thinks. When he sees something, his tendency is to bring meaning, or to ask questions. He is a typical exception to the rule. Now just go and oxymoron your way out of that. I came to know about Sean's blog through another blogger who, sadly, felt that I had become a bit of a threat. I wish she knew me better. That's all I'll say about that. But through her, I got to Sean. And for that I am a very thankful man.

3. Paul is the author of a blog that consists of poignant visual drinks of humor and, at times, mirthful ponder. You go there, you view, you think. Then you come away enriched and replenished. I love going there. Paul sees. And you will enjoy his vision. There is a simple quote, a picture or cartoon, and presto: You're hooked. Going to Paul's blog will make you think.

4. Blue The Spa Girl inspires. That's what she does. Literally, (what did you expect!)--she enspirits any visitor to her thoughtful blog posts. Blue is soul- and life-giver; she is God's gift to Generosity itself. Blue is a eucharistic wafer, a symbol that contains what it actually symbolizes---she is sacrament. Her flaws, I am certain, cannot outrun her capacity for self forgiveness. She is a joiner in the process of what becoming human is all about. There are just some things you know about your friends. And I just know that Blue stirs thoughts like the Little Dutch Boy stirs paint.

5. Somehow Somewhere Joe comes to mind. When I think about how my nose is connected to my right middle toe, I think about connectivity with the tissues that travel seamlessly along the fabric of our family of bloggers who share so much of their selves through the ideas expressed in their blogs. Somewhere Joe calculates beauty and accurately reveals it through his pictures, his music and his unbelievable adeptness with the written word. If I were blind, I could hear him; if I were deaf, I could read him. If I were numb, I could still be touched by him. Somewhere Joe lives in Florida, the geographical equivalent to at least the Christian and Muslim notions of Heaven. What could be better than being in Paradise and playing Hooky in Paradise? In Somewhere Joe I have met my brother; I have met my other self. In terms of the mind-blog continuum, it is as though I have peered out into space and, landing on Joe's page, have gazed upon the back of my own head.

I doubt that I will again accept any tag that involves choosing. Simone Weil cited as her one reason for not converting to Christianity the fact that she would therein be asked to exclude all other expressions of the Truth. I'm kinda like that. Don't get me wrong: I'm a card carrying Roman Catholic. But I pray in everyone's church. And, as a Thinking Blogger, I will just award you all with that. I reverence The One True Truth in each of you.

Thank you, my brothers and sisters. In the name of all that is trying to get put together, I thank you; I think.

I leave you with this Gawpoistic pearl of 21st Century mystical exclaim: "Earth is the best planet in the whole world!" Now go think about that.