Space is something I want more of most weeks. It’s hard to scratch the surface of some topics with 700 words and a week of writing. This semester, I rehashed exclusivism, marijuana prohibition, freedom, what love is and so on. Before I go, I have some final thoughts.
The column on marijuana prohibition was cut for space, but we should note the measure to legalize marijuana received 53,000+ more votes than President Obama in Colorado, and Washington expects to generate almost $2 billion in taxes in the first five years. What if capitalism ever gets a hold of cannabis? We’ll get the Denver “Funk Nuggets” — that’s what.
There were two write-ups regarding exclusivism this semester. I’m from an exclusivist tradition, which I have been ambivalent toward for as long as I can remember. I was not the camp-going kind of teenager and I did not have the attention span to last an entire sermon.
Something is going to be lost in translation when experiences are shoehorned into a linguistic framework, so I reject that a single tradition can articulate and solve the human condition. This path works for one; that path works for another; no path can work for us all.
Remember that strange conversation we had about freedom? If I had space I would have inserted a character who would argue that freedom lives in thought and our potential to change how we experience the world. Then he would implore the writers around him to start spoon feeding existentialism to the masses because he believes his existence precedes his essence.
I wrote about a patient with Alzheimer’s disease and the measures his daughter have taken to ensure he is as comfortable as possible, even though he has no hope for regaining autonomy. The question I want to raise is: What is the measure of love if not the extent to which we are willing to sacrifice ourselves? There is no other imaginable reason for her to do what she does.
What else is there? A friend pointed out to me that the description of Ole Miss as a tease I delivered after the Vanderbilt loss failed to mention that she also puts out, as the pile-driving of Mississippi State last week proved. I thank the team and coaches for a full season of heart.
I suppose all I have left to offer are my two favorite questions: “What is there?” and “What is it like?” These two can help get to the bottom of things no matter what I have in front of me. Sometimes while brushing my teeth I look into the bathroom mirror at the eyes looking back and ask: What is there? And what is it like? The answer to the first question is an open mind. The answer to the second question is that it is free to go wherever it wants to — within reason.
Thanks for the time.
Andrew Dickson is a religious studies senior from Terry. Follow him on Twitter @addoxfordms.
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