Samuel and Wittgenstein
A Samuel story that has pseudo-Wittgensteinian emanations. (See, I could be a Supreme Court Judge.)
Samuel has come home from school the last several weeks with various songs, memorized tidbits, and the usual encumbrances of starting school. But one that is most precious to a hoping father's heart follows. He has a couple of Bible verses under his belt, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." And perhaps more significantly, "I will hide thy word in my heart so that I may not sin against God." We hear these on a fairly frequent basis throughout the day, and I am caused to think of the distortion of Wittgenstein that has become PoMo de rigeur--that is , "Words make reality."
I have not read enough Wittgenstein to be able to verify or deny this formulation of his thought; however, it is a chief principle of the relativists and other situationalists who would have us believe that there are no absolutes. However, what I do think and believe is that those things that enter our language and our heads early and frequently do shape our world view. I am in favor of memorization of texts of all sorts, and of Bible texts in particular, because they impart to the recipient a "storehouse of hope." When these enter your life early, you are in a constant state of awareness of Someone called God, and of His Son Jesus. Now, there are many ways of making these Persons real, but none as salutary as memorization of His Holy Word.
So, if we look at Wittgenstein and derive from his work that words can shape our perception of reality (a truth no one can really deny given our experience with the propaganda of the media), what better words to shape our perception than those that lead us to Reality? I am delighted to hear from my young Son's mouth these most fragrant words of scripture. There is no music more compelling, no sound more desirable. Every day I must thank God for the gift given in these words.
