I guess it's fitting that my blog starts off this way - it wont be profound, it might not reveal any new truths. The name of my blog isn't even original - when I looked up 'Onward and Upward', I found several other blogs with the same title - from christian people none-the-less, probably spouting their own opinions on how the Christian life should be led. So if you read this, I apologize but I'd also like to thank you (for your patience).
What does one write about in a blog? I don't want it to be a journal, that would be too personal. I don't want it to be an instruction manual, that would be too boring (and I'm not qualified to instruct on hardly anything). I don't want it to be political commentary, there are enough talking heads out there already. I don't want it to be pointless either. I'll be honest with you - the reason why I'm writing this is because I'm obsessed with who I am, deep down I feel like other people should know who I am. It's a fairly shallow desire, but it's the truth. I think that's what I want from my blog - to discover the truth, or at the very least, the reasoning behind what I consider to be the truth. This means that I'll explore what I think about, it'll help me navigate why I think about something and perhaps allow you (the reader) to see how I arrive to my conclusions and maybe you can even provide your own ideas at the bottom.
Again, in my search for the quote 'Onward and Upward,' I came across this closing statement from an address Abraham Lincoln made to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, I think it's fitting for this blog as well as for life in general:
"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! -- how consoling in the depths of affliction! "And this, too, shall pass away." And yet let us hope it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best cultivation of the physical world, beneath and around us; and the intellectual and moral world within us, we shall secure an individual, social, and political prosperity and happiness, whose course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass away."
So the question I pose to myself for this blog is the same as the one I pose for my life - where do I go from here? Onward and upward I suppose.
I WANT MOOOOORRRRREEEE!!!!
ReplyDeletethat lincoln quote rocks!
ReplyDeleteJames Russell Lowell. 1819-1891
ReplyDeleteThe Present Crisis
New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth;
Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! we ourselves must Pilgrims be,
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea,
Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key.
You are perhaps thinking of "further up and further in" which is indeed what the characters in the Last Battle say to one another as they begin the exploration of Aslan's Country.
ReplyDelete“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!”
Oh, Ender! What a tantalizing one-post blog. Too bad the determination of that day in 2011 proved to be only a passing urge. I liked what you said and enjoyed all four of the comments logged over the years.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was just trying to come up with that phrase from /The Last Battle/, and I, too, thought of onward and upward. But cspaulson is right: it's "further up and further in." I could quit being lazy and walk into the next room and find it in the actual book just to be absolutely sure. But I'll stick with 99.9% confidence for now.
I hope you see this comment and think of writing a second post! And if you see this, think about visiting my blog. Thanks!
I came across this blog in a similar way to the above respondents...looking for a stirring quote to send to ALL for New Year...wondered who said it first and why it came into my head. Yes I read and reread Chronicles of Narnia as a child and Up into the Singing Mountain flits across my mind.Interesting how contemporary usage is cited as "ironic" or sarcastic but perfectly understandable...considering everything.
ReplyDeleteLove the blood and thunder of the Lowell quote.Restful not to be a cynic for a while.