Week 4= Emile Durkheim

Meaning and Motive in Social Life is the name of this course. It is a blend of sociology, psychology and anthropology.

This week's book, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life is by Mr. French himself, Emile Durkheim. The canon of sociology is written by Marx, Weber and Durkheim. Durkheim and Marx, both collective in nature, are segregated from Weber, Mr. Individual-Religion-Man.

However, I was amazed to see the biblical book of Job come to life in Durkheim! Page 202 shares "the basis of religious thgouht. . . definite powers and anonymous forces". Emile continues that "Zeus is in each drop of rain that falls, just as Ceres is in each sheaf of the harvest". It always comes back to the Greeks, doesn't it?!

Next week is Levi-Strauss, so stay tuned. I must get back to looking up the big words for this week before class on Saturday! (Things like corroboree, protean, animist, Wakan, etc.)

This week....Max Weber!

I am in utter disbelief at the amount of reading I am doing this quarter. Max Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He is bringing me back to my Lutheran roots and helping me understand the impact that religion has on the economy, even in the early 1900s!
I love these early thinkers.....it makes me think larger.

BTW: Max is MUCH easier to digest than Karl!

Imposter syndrome

I am reading Karl Marx this week. After being in my first classroom session of my 2nd class at the University of Chicago, I am struggling with the "imposter syndrome" again, meaning that I doubt if I really belong in this program. I cannot make head or tails of Karl Marx. I am pushing myself to read the words and underline any phrases that might happen to resonate with me. There are very few. The words are so --well-- not sure how to describe them-- that I can barely push myself to read.

I guess I should take some satisfaction in that Bert C. even said that Marx needed an editor. He also said many struggle with Marx. I will trudge through, but I am looking forward to Emile Durkheim...

"Oeuvres completes" or eggs

One of the reasons I love school is the depth it brings to my mind and to my conversations.

I have started reading one of my eleven (yes, ELEVEN) texts for my winter course. The first night of perusing Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Discourses and Other Early Political Writings had me need to understand the phrase oeuvres completes. Liz, knowing French, was my side-kick. We collectively chuckled about my book having something to do with eggs. Come to find out, egg is ouef, with no 'v'. (Plural is ouefs)

Digging a bit deeper, "oeuvres" in French translates to art or work, as in a piece of work. "Completes" as you can probably guess, translates to complete.

I am not sure, but I am guessing I may have further use for the French phrase "complete piece of work"....LOL!

One of my favorite things

Last night, the Barbra Steisand movie "Yentl" was on PBS. It was so great to see this 1983 film. It is truly one of my favorite movies of all time. It was even commercial-free! My favorite line (s):

"Nothing's impossible!"

"The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn the more I realize, the less I know."

I even stayed awake until 11:30 to watch it!
:)

Ho Ho Ho!

In the Spirit of the Holidays, I was recently asked to share my Holiday Tradition(s) and or a Holiday Recipe. The request from a remote colleague was: "It would be nice to hear about how you spend your Holidays and what foods are near and dear to your heart or stomach. Of course this is all optional, but it would add some personal touches to the Holiday Season."

Here goes:
Ever since I was a kid, we have had Christmas Eve at my Mom and dad's. We still do that today and my dad always makes up a big batch of shrimp cocktail. Everyone brings a dish.
After eating some, we unwrap gifts, youngest to oldest, so the kids can go first. (Poor Mom--always last!) A few years ago we dumped the gifts and only did stocking stuffers. Made it less spendy now with all the grandkids and great grandkids.

We also have this YUMMY easy dip for pretzels:

Pretzel Dip
2 packages of cream cheese
1 bottle of Western Salad Dressing (use about 1/2 of it)

Using an electric mixer so there are no lumps, mix the two things together until it is a dip-like consistency. Great for the salty pretzels!

Christmas Day is very low key: Jammies till noon and go visiting to the nursing home to see Grandma. She passed last year so will likely do a visit to my brother's house

What do you do as a tradition?

Ancient Greek Influence

From my recent paper on the ancient Greek influence on the Apostle Paul:

"There is no doubt that the Apostle Paul influenced Christianity. One could argue that Paul was influenced by Stoicism; ergo Christianity had a Stoic influence. I believe the bigger question is truly who influenced whom? Odysseus came first of the three men discussed. The impact that Homer’s Odyssey created on the ancient world, as well as on Western Civilization, could be the beginning of life as we know it today. Did Aristotle influence Stoicism? Did Stoicism truly influence Paul? Ultimately, did Aristotle indirectly influence Paul? Or did the gods on Mount Olympus and the adventures of Odysseus have a direct impact on the world of Christian beliefs and on the Bible itself? These questions pose an opportunity for additional research and examination. I look forward to taking some action to further investigate these. As I continue to study, I look to Aristotle: “For the pleasures arising from study and learning will make us study and learn all the more” (Aristole, Nicomachean Ethics, p.116)."