A while back I subsribed to The Classic Tales Podcast, which, as you might have guessed, provides audio readings of classic stories. It’s a solid production and definitely worth looking into if you like that sort of thing. Since I listen to quite a few different podcasts, I didn’t get around to giving the classic tales a try until recently. I listened to the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi amongst other stories. I enjoyed Rikki-Tikki a good deal more than Dr Jekyll. True, it is a children’s story, and maybe that says a lot about the kind of person I am.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde reminded me of why the classics are the classics and why people don’t really write that way anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it was extremely well written. However, due to the popularity of this story and its many retellings, I already had a pretty good idea of what it was about.  It’s not that the idea of a man with a split personality who finally succumbs to and is overtaken by his darker side isn’t an appealing one. In fact, I tend to like darker themes, but the entire time I was just waiting and waiting for it finally to reach the “surprising” conclusion as the story goes on and on and the characters remain in the dark, never suspecting the truth until it is far too late. It drug on unnecessarily and failed to maintain my interest. That’s not to say it was a failure (obviously it’s success proves otherwise) but it just didn’t do it for me. Perhaps I’ve heard too many similar stories (one that undoubtedly took some concepts from this one) or perhaps it was just too much like real life to seem all that fantastic, but all in all I was unimpressed and glad to be done with it. No surprisingly, Edward Hyde is nothing like the character that appears in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Rikki Tikki, on the other hand, was just an all around fun story to listen to. Unlike Dr Jekyll, there was much more emphasis on the characters rather than the theme or concept of the story. Perhaps that’s why it wasn’t a problem that I also knew this story beforehand, having seen a cartoon version some time ago. I loved the adventure of it and the bold daring demeaner of Rikki Tikki himself. The story moved along at a good pace, never settling for dull moments. Something about wildlife, and the conflicts that arise in nature really sparks my interest. In one sense you have animals who are naturally friends or enemies opperating by instinct to survive and in another sense it is a simple tale of good vs evil. I also enjoyed the interaction between human and animal throughout the story. Sure, you won’t find anything terribly deep and moving in it, but not every story has to be profound and mysterious to be good. There are undoubtedly some strong spiritual applications in both stories (probably more in Dr Jekyll) but that doesn’t necessarily make a story more enjoyable. So that’s two thumbs (or claws) up for the speedy and clever mongoose.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul (though I’m having a difficult time finding out who originally said it). If that be the case, then one of the windows to my soul is blurry and reddish. It appears I have pink eye or something like it. I woke up with it this morning and it hasn’t gotten better.  Naturally, I’ve drawn some spiritual application from the experience: much like my efforts in dealing with sin, I tried to clean it up as best I could and eventually convince myself that it really isn’t that bad. But when another person sees it they can immediately identify that something is not right. And I hear it is highly contagious. I tried wearing sunglasses, thus covering it up, hiding it from the casual observer. But even if no one can see it, the problem is still there. Looks like I’ll need to find the remedy from an outside source. I sure hope these drops help…

In other happier news, I had lunch with one of my favorite teachers from college. He’s a great guy and I hadn’t seen him since my graduation. I really enjoyed the time spent talking about what was going on in our lives with someone I respect so highly. It’s people like him who give me some hope for the American education system.

I’ve heard a lot of people talk about Karma in a manner that reveals their sincere belief in it. I’ll be honest, it really bugs me. I’m sure the New Age Western brand of Karma has been distorted from its traditional form, much like many ideas originating in Eastern Mysticism that are now practiced in the United States. And for that I like it even less. People are so quick to accept this vague concept of justice governed by some impersonal force, but they are unwilling to believe in any moral lawgiver or omniscient judge. Why? Because it’s so noncommittal and undemanding. Not only do you still get to decide what you think is right and wrong (who doesn’t love that?) but as an added bonus you can judge everyone else. When you see someone else doing what you feel is wrong you get to wag your finger at them with the smug warning “karma’s gonna get you” while also feeling especially good about yourself thinking of all the karma points you’re racking up in the karma bank. I wonder, do you gain interest by collect enough points over time? I hardly ever hear people worrying about whether on not to do something morally questionable because Karma might come back to bite them, I don’t see them running around anxiously anticipating the impending fall of the Karma axe (because, hey, we’re all guilty of wrongdoing). It’s most often used in the circumstance of positive karma for yourself and negative karma for everyone else. Convenient.

At best this is a terribly skewed view of what is true justice. It ignores the concept of our morally depravity and concludes that every favorable or poor experience is based on something we have personally done and is therefore completely deserved (it also lends itself toward reincarnation, but I’ll save that mess for anther time). This is the foundation on which the caste system is built. It encourages us to opt out of helping anyone in need, because, after all, they’re just getting what was coming to them. We can ignore that guilty conscience while assuring ourselves they must have done something very wrong to land in such an unfavorable state. Sounds a lot like Job’s friends to me and in the end they were rebuked for their wrong thinking. I am thankful that God does not use the Karmatic system to rule over us. He is merciful, allowing the rain to fall and the sun to shine on all, whether we deserve it or not. If He gave us only what we deserved, the human race would long since have perished. In Karma there no love, no forgiveness, only cold, hard payment. Is that really what we want? In God there is boundless love and in Him alone resides hope for the weary sinner.