"If we fail to cultivate wonder we risk missing the very heart of what is going on."
- Eugene Peterson
 

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rednow The Absurd

The Absurd
Categories in section: The Absurd
General (27)

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Title:
Thoughts on Absurdity
Monday, 13 August 2007 ,  Written by Gabe Knipp
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The Absurd. Some of us love it and some of us don't get it. Yet, why are we drawn to it? What is it that makes us ...
Throwing it Back: Sonny J's Can't Stop Moving   Hot
Monday, 03 September 2007 ,  Written by Bob Davidson
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The Absurd
Title: Can't Stop Moving
Artist: Sonny J
Type: Video
It's one thing to recreate the disco-psychodelic-funk sound of the 70s. It's another to match the visuals to go along with it. The UK directing team "Good Times ...
Trust or Insanity?
Wednesday, 10 October 2007 ,  Written by Gabe Knipp
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Travis Pastrana, of X-Games Motocross fame, recently went skydiving . Without a parachute. On purpose. He dreamed up this stunt of going skydiving without a parachute, found an operator ...
What is G Norm Saying?
Tuesday, 21 August 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
This is a little game that Mystery Jeff likes to play on his show, The Mystery Hour... it's called What is G Norm Saying.  (G Norm also happens to be ...
What's Your Anti-Drug?
Saturday, 18 August 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
  People find a lot of different ways to stay "above the influence"... this is just one of them.
Who Knew Christians Were So Funny?!?
Thursday, 19 July 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
I found some real church signs from all over the country that people took pictures of and submitted at this site. Here are some of my favorites:
Why am I watching this?!?
Friday, 27 July 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
Why would I watch this? Why would anyone post this on youtube FOR people to watch? I think the question that this is getting at is what ...
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About "The Absurd"

When we think of the wondrous and the mysterious we often think of the deep and the profound. The deep and the profound obviously create a sense of wonder in us and move us in ways that we can't explain. But there is another aspect of wonder that often gets overlooked-the ABSURD. In the same way that there are things that move us because of their profundity and beauty, there are other things that move us to a joy that cannot be intellectualized, a sense of enjoyment that has no explanation. The author G.K. Chesterton describes this inability to explain these things that move us to joy as the "problem of pleasure."

"Why is sex fun? Reproduction surely doesn't require pleasure: Some animals simply split in half to reproduce, and even humans use methods of artificial insemination that involve no pleasure. Why is eating enjoyable? Plants and the lower animals manage to obtain their quota of nutrients without the luxury of taste buds. Why are there colors? Some people get along fine without the ability to detect color. Why complicate vision for all the rest of us?"

It is this pleasure and joy that we cannot begin to explain (why the lip gloss song is so catchy, why Strong Bad's randomness is so funny, why Sufjan's costumes and inflatable props make the concert so much more than a concert, etc.) that we hope you can experience in the Absurd section of this site. There are many times when exploring mystery and wonder expand our understanding... but there are also times when we must revel in the absurdity and let a piece of art, a song, a video, etc. simply be what it is and to enjoy it at that level.

Welcome to the Absurd section of rednow.