I’ll say it every day if it helps you think through our wonderful English language! I love words! The etymology, as well as the convolution of meanings that have nothing to do with its originality!
Convolution: con·vo·lu·tion NOUN 1. twisted shape: a curve, coil, or twist 2. twisted ridge on brain surface: a ridged fold on the surface of the brain 3. intricacy: a complexity or intricacy, especially one of many.
Synonyms: difficulty, intricacy, complication, involvedness, density,
Antonyms: simplicity
Convolution at Work
A favorite book to read to the kids, several decades ago, “Are You My Mother?”. This young lost bird was wanting to find its mother, and went from animal to animal to ask the simple question posed by the title – “Are you my mother?” It did not have the insight into determining if the other animal was its mother, even though the reader could see the obvious differences. A dog cannot be a mother to a bird. At least in the biological sense.
We have all seen pictures of “mothering” that happens from one species to another, even ones that would be mortal enemies if both were of adult size and in their natural wild world. It seems that the concept of mothering can be accomplished by any gender, of any species, and for any reason. Well, except biological.
I look at pictures of dad’s as they gently mother their children in ways that we have often thought, “That’s the mother’s job…” It’s not that one gender cannot mimic the role of another, but can we truly say that the “job” being done is only done by one gender or the other? I think that love and caring for the innocent and helpless is not a gender role. It’s the role of every person. All the time!
There are things women can do that man can never accomplish. Ditto on the reverse thought. It’s just that the care for each other must come from within each of us, and not just because we are one gender or another.
Continue the thought…
I do not profess to remember the entire storyline of the book, nor even the outcome, but I have often wondered about the purpose behind the book. Think it through with me. We must all see the uniqueness of our own situation and recognize that the mother of us must be someone biologically the same as “us” even to the one that gives us life! But the idea of “mothering” is just simply the caring for that helpless one. Right?
Science fiction writers have often written about the future changes that would challenge all of us when science begins to allow for the modification of our genetic makeup. We could partner bionic parts to our flesh (done), filtering out unwanted traits and including other traits that might not normally exist (partially available), or even how we extend our life by growing a replacement body (still in the future) and moving our personality and knowledge from a decrepit shell to a new shell (think Micky Mantle). This last one even purposed that you could change physical gender roles from this lifetime to the next.
Such convoluted illogical thinking flows from the imaginative mind! At least from where we stand today! Imagine what it must have been like for Methusaleah to have lived as long as he did. What changes he must have witnessed!
Can Convolution be Logical?
We are constantly faced by the challenges of science to our laws. Whether natural or spiritual, I see us becoming something different than what we were intended to be!
As society morphs into a new structure, we see the old ways of accepting life are no longer normal. At least to my view. But for many, the convolution has become logical, accepted as the new normal, and you better get on board or you will be run over as by a freight train!
This is simply Convolution at work! Twisted! Not only do we concern ourselves with what is normal today, but with a vote, or stroke of a pen, we change our laws that will affect everyone, in every state, across the nation, and around the world! Imagine those innocents clinging to the old normal and suddenly their rights are stripped so that we can give rights to those in the new normal!
Here’s My Thought Today
In a spiritual sense, the New Testament deals with the convolution that exists between the “old man” and the “new man” – a warring that happens within every new believer’s life and can be a challenge every day from conversion point till our last breath.
Paul deals with it the most. Directly. Head on! He’s not shy about who we were, and what we are working on becoming. Only, it’s not a biological change! It’s a spiritual change!
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
(2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)
What begins fresh and new on the inside, changes what we are on the outside! It’s not instantaneously magic. It’s a process. Growing. Here a little. There a little. To think that the outside immediately follows the inside simply means we do not understand the correlation. Our logic is convoluted!
New Thinking Cap Required!
Can God change both at the same time? Equally? Sure. But we all know the growth of a child does not always work the same as others. The mind, attitude, abilities, and body, all grow at differing speeds. That’s genetics at work!
Equally, the Old gives way to the New, but it’s like a battle brews over every little change. The Old claims priorities, while the New has to fight for its position!
God tells Israel a long time before Paul that this was going to happen, and Paul simply picks up the thread and weaves the doctrine of the New Birth to a new audience.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing;
now it shall spring forth;
shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert.
(Isaiah 43:18-19 KJV)
Thimk!!!
I wish I were a better thinker…
"My mental acuity gets bogged down by disambiguation and I am easily discombobulated by the lack of clarity due to misappropriated facts misapplied to modern viewpoints." That's Me… How about you? Share on XMy mental acuity gets bogged down by disambiguation and I am easily discombobulated by the lack of clarity due to misappropriated facts misapplied to modern viewpoints.
~Me…
Regardless. Convolution works overtime and at the highest speeds available! We will all face these processed ideas someday. You may think you are a free spirit and can accept anything, but rest assured there will come a day that you will not be able to follow the logic.
It’s been a few years, but this story deals with the concept of mothering, mom’s, dad’s, and all the convolution that exists in today’s “new normal”.
Check it out. It would help if you would give me some feedback.