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Written by Eric Kuiper
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Friday, 14 September 2007 |
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take your left hand and extend it outward like you are going to shake someone's hand--now take the index finger of your right hand and tap it on the palm of your left hand. in my house right now, that means 'more.'
my son, simeon, is about 18 months old and we have taught him some sign language to get us by until he starts talking more. if you know sign language you know that isn't exactly how you sign for 'more,' but it's close - its simeon signing with an accent.
i had simeon on my lap while i showed my wife kate the BBC spot for Planet Earth that i posted here a couple weeks back. kate hadn't seen it yet--nor had simeon for that matter.
the three of us huddled around the laptop and watched the world fly by in amazing color and the animals dance across the screen. simeon was spellbound. he screamed as the zebra ran for its life and bounced his head up in down in his typical dance along with the music. as the piece came to a close, kate and i both moved by the beauty of it and the joy simeon took from it, had tears in our eyes. but what really put us over the top was when he smiled and began to sign for 'more.'
he wanted more of what he just experienced.
recently i read a really great short piece by len sweet - if i can track i down on-line i will link to it later. he was talking about what he called the growing number of people engaged in 'more-ism.' this wasn't a scathing critique of consumerism and our cultures unending appetite for things, rather it was an observation that what is driving most people in their search for Truth and Meaning in life is a desire for 'more' than what they have now. he was simply stating that so many people are driven by their lack of contentment with their current life.
but here is what really grabbed my about his observation - sweet made the distinction that there are two kinds of 'more':
- increasing what you already have
- something other than what you have now.
this got me thinking about my own life, simeon watching Planet Earth and you.
at the end of the day when you’re hoping that their is more to this life than what you are currently experiencing and living, what kind of 'more' are you longing for? more of what you have always had, more of what you are just beginning to understand, or is it a longing for something Very Other than what you have now?
What brand of ‘more’ are you searching for? What kind of ‘more’ do you need? This is one of the moments where honesty with our self is so important. We all want ‘more’ – but what kind?
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