If you immediately know candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked long ago.
One thing that people do very often is stare right into the face of truth and ignore it. They let their preconceived notions and assumptions inhibit their ability to think for themselves, to learn. My roommate, for example, believes very strongly that evolution (just a “theory”) is a hoax, that God put the dinosaurs in the earth for us to find. Obviously, he doesn’t understand what a scientific theory entails. But his religious beliefs and other preconceived ideas keep him from accepting the fact that science has proven thousands of times that evolution works.
My parents believe that I’m wasting my time with theatre. Every time I call my grandmother, she says something along the lines of “Maybe you should try getting a real job.” My family has made this assumption that theatre is all fun and games, that it involves no actual work and focus and meaningful activity. A lawyer friend of mine derided the American public for grieving for Heath Ledger’s untimely death by saying “You guys are a bunch of idiots. You never knew the guy. Even the guy you think you knew, you didn’t know. He made a living pretending to be something else.” Yes, that’s what actors do, but there is more to it than simply pretending.
Theatre is a very hard industry to make a living in, I’ll grant you that. But people like Scott Walters and others are trying to come up with ways to help theatre artists make living wages while still producing their art. They’re challenging the base assumptions behind the status quo.
One of my favorite shows is Stargate SG-1. In that show’s first season, Daniel Jackson encounters an Ancient, an being who as ascended to a higher plane of existence (think the Buddhists’ Nirvana). Oma Desala, as the character is called, speaks in riddles to Daniel Jackson. One thing she says is “If you immediately know candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked long ago.” Daniel has no idea what it means.
Ten seasons later, I think I’ve figured it out. If you immediately know candlelight is fire (i.e. without thinking about it), then the meal was cooked long ago (i.e. you had already decided the truth). If you immediately know evolution is false, without looking at the facts or thinking about it, then you’ve closed your mind to any alternatives. In this case, you’ve closed your mind to the truth.
If you immediately know theatre is a waste of time, then you’ve already decided theatre artists are lazy people, no better than beggars and hobos.
Don’t be my parents.
Open your eyes to the truth.
Explore the possibilities.
Tags: stargate sg-1, theatre, truth
March 19th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Great post. I would also give you this challenge: If you immediately know evolution is true, then you’ve closed your mind to any alternatives.
We broaden our understanding through open dialogue. I’d like to recommend a very, very powerful book: “Non-Violent Communication” by Marshall B. Rosenberg. Read it, try to really understand the techniques, and then have a real conversation with your parents. Try to understand what lies beneath what they are saying — you may be surprised what it is.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Thanks, Scott, for the great comment. It means a lot to me that you offer such good advice on my blog.
As for your challenge, I’ve always felt that there are merits to both sides of the debate. I don’t feel evolution and creationism are mutually exclusive. I feel that there are things that science can’t answer, and therefore I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to put faith in a higher power. I also accept that some people don’t feel the need to put faith in a higher power.
Oma Desala also says, “Many roads lead to the great path. Only the willing find their way.”
April 12th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Be yourself. There is no higher aspiration. Do not even cloud your mind with the idea that you, right now, know what the truth of yoruself is. Give yourself whole-heartedly to the truth of your SELF (whatever that might be), and that will be enough.
What one life can say they accomplished this?
How important would such a life be.
June 28th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
[...] I just checked and my post “If you immediately know candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooekd long ago” post is the #1 hit on Google for that phrase. Go me! Don’t believe me? Check it out for [...]
June 28th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
How can I not love a fellow director who can quote Stargate SG1? I must nitpick and say that Daniel meets Oma in season 3, not season 1.
I’ve always loved that quote. I’ve looked at is more as that our perceptions take a long time to catch up with underlying truth. But your interpretation works too.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am
[...] always loved Stargate SG-1, as you can see from my post on one of the phrases earlier, “If you immediately know candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked long ago.” From day one, when SG-1 was on HBO, I saw General Hammond make the toughest decisions a person can [...]
August 1st, 2008 at 6:01 am
Actually it was the monk that says that to Daniel, not Oma. He comes face to face with her for the first time later that episode.
Nice post though (found through being one of the top links on Google for that phrase) =D