paradoxes

I love a good paradox. In Comedy, Tragedy and Religion (yeah that's a class here; be jelly), we're learning about how comedy always comes out of tragedy: humor is just another way to look at an incongruity in life and can only be found after a misfortune. So really, being silly or humorous is having the ability to turn a bad situation good. I'm okay with that assessment...it makes sense, then, that a similar sense of humor is so important in a friend! But it's an odd thought - I would naturally think that comedy comes exclusively out of good situations and tragedy of bad.

There are some really interesting mathematical or logical paradoxes out there, including one of my favorite statistics exercises: the Monty Hall problem (read on your own if you're unfamiliar; this blog ain't no stats textbook).

There are some paradoxes that make total sense on an emotional level and zero sense on a rational level, which can often be found in lyrics that are ridiculous but still resonate with you. As you should know I've recently been listening to a lot of Third Eye Blind, and I have it on good authority (the interwebs) that one of their best concert songs is Motorcycle Drive By. It sounds pretty cool and there's some good raw emotion (both sad and somewhat angry/happy?). But more interestingly, the lyrics remind me of one of my favorite songs by Something Corporate. Compare:

Chorus in I Woke Up in a Car:

Well I woke up in a car

I traced away the fog

so I could see the Mississippi on her knees

I've never been so lost

I've never felt so much at home

please write my folks and throw away my keys

Chorus in Motorcycle Drive By:

And there's this burning

like there's always been

I've never been so alone

and I've, I've never been so alive

Okay, so maybe this isn't a study of great lyrics; they're both rather whiny and adolescent punk songs about not being in love which were each popular ages ago (2002/1997) and reference both NYC and driving. Regardless, it's an interesting sentiment. Why should being alone make you alive or feeling lost make you feel at home? Obviously the point is that it's when you're forced to fend for yourself that you truly grow up, whether you want to or not. It's a kind of sad realization but it's necessary and that's what the songs say (not just with their words but with their tones).

At this point I probably sound just as melodramatic as Andrew McMahon, so let me continue. I don't think it's necessary to go and live life on your own and not have relationships - but I also don't think it's a good idea to become entirely codependent on someone as the protagonists previously were (on parents and on this girl), letting yourself or your happiness be defined by them. That's really where paradoxes get intriguing to me. We have to invest in relationships but we can't lose the will to live when they eventually fail us. How can you say you're really invested if you're anticipating an end? This is one of the many reasons that having a relationship with God matters - he never lets go and he doesn't change or get a new boyfriend who takes up all his time or suddenly decide that your friendship isn't mature/fun/easy/good enough. Rooting yourself in a relationship with him enables you to invest in relationships without having to worry about getting burned - because those other relationships can't define you.

This bears emphasizing: faith that God exists and faith that he'll provide for me don't define me either. The series of decisions that I make to listen to his voice, learn about his character, follow his commands, mimic his love and spend time with him every day - these are what define me. These are what make a relationship: not just a commitment or a proclamation of faith but innumerable actions and attitude adjustments, some conscious and some not. Theology can be tricky but, as with all paradoxes, studying it yields truth rather than easy answers, which is fitting for a world full of difficult questions.