You can't have your cake and eat it too
Parrish, our son, recently celebrated
his birthday. Diana wanted to surprise him with a special cake. He draws a
cartoon series entitled Sparrow's
Fall, so she scanned a
color frame of the characters from his series and then printed it on our
printer. I took that out to Angie at Summer Fresh to see if she could create
the characters as a cake decoration. No problem, she said, she would just scan
it and print it on the cake. Technology - it is
grand!
She did a superb job. Diana used our digital camera and photographed the cake so that she could "keep" it on the hard drive of her computer. When we got to Parrish's apartment and he opened the cake box he was amazed at what he saw. His first words were, "I can't eat that!" So his mother suggested he use his camera to "keep" the cake as she was doing.
I have heard the expression all my life, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Of course what Parrish was expressing that morning, was "I want to keep this cake because it is so special." Without doubt a cake is for eating, however, if you eat it you can't keep it.
Generally that age old expression does not apply to cakes but rather is used figuratively as a way of expressing other things. The point is, we can't have things two ways at the same time.
I would like to invite you to wander through my mind as I connect the above story to something which really has had me reflecting on how sometimes we attempt to have things two ways at once. Since September 11, 2001 you and I have seen an unusual display of patriotism in this beautiful country of ours. All about us flags are flying. Bumper stickers have flourished with statements such as, "God Bless America," "Land of Freedom," "United We Stand," and many others. This has occurred because there are men who have openly stated that they wish for ALL Americans to die. All of us. They say we are infidels and deserve death simply because we choose to live free - free to speak, free to write, free to worship or refrain from formal worship, or to say it more directly, free to think independently. For this freedom we have been found guilty. And who are our accusers? Cowards who hide in dark caves and in deep tunnels. Cowards afraid to enter into an open discussion. Cowards who cannot permit light to shine upon their thoughts for fear that they are wrong.
Let us imagine such cowards in our own government. Pretend that you turn on your television set this evening to view the evening news. On your set appears a reporter who is interviewing a senator. He introduces him as Senator X. Why? Because he is protecting the senator's identity, for as the camera pans to the senator you find that he has a black hood over his head. He differs with the President on a matter of public nature, but he does not want any of his constituents to know who he is. The reporter has agreed to protect his identity be allowing him to wear a hood. A ludicrous story? Of course.
When a newspaper states that a letter writer's name will be withheld upon request when the topic is of a public nature it is placing a black hood over the identity of the letter writer. (Keep in mind that the term "public nature" is left undefined and is at the discretion of the editor to determine.) This policy is just as ludicrous as the imaginary television newscast above. This is the land of freedom. This is the land of unity. Freedom permits dissension. The person who has a differing viewpoint in America does not have to hid his identity, most particularly in matters of a "public nature." We have the right to dissent. That is guaranteed. That right is coupled with the responsibility to dissent through appropriate means. Anonymity is not appropriate.
Osama bin Laden disagrees with the right to dissent. He disagrees with Western Civilization and wished for it to be destroyed while he hides in darkness.
El Dorado Springs has an historic wall which borders the east side of the Spring Park. Legend has it that the faint blue and gray coloration in the stones of our Rock Wall were left by the uniforms of the Union and Confederate soldiers as they sat together on the wall. This story symbolizes the unity of those who have met there to visit for over 100 years. Our Rock Wall is not a place of division and discord. Our Rock Wall unites this small community.
We should never forget the symbolism of El Dorado Springs' Rock Wall. Through the centuries we have come together there in unity. Ayn Rand wrote, "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." Anyone who professes to support the legend of unity represented by the Rock Wall while at the same time sanctioning division and discord is attempting to have their cake and eat it too. Something is wrong.
"What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"
George Eliot
(written January, 2002)
She did a superb job. Diana used our digital camera and photographed the cake so that she could "keep" it on the hard drive of her computer. When we got to Parrish's apartment and he opened the cake box he was amazed at what he saw. His first words were, "I can't eat that!" So his mother suggested he use his camera to "keep" the cake as she was doing.
I have heard the expression all my life, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Of course what Parrish was expressing that morning, was "I want to keep this cake because it is so special." Without doubt a cake is for eating, however, if you eat it you can't keep it.
Generally that age old expression does not apply to cakes but rather is used figuratively as a way of expressing other things. The point is, we can't have things two ways at the same time.
I would like to invite you to wander through my mind as I connect the above story to something which really has had me reflecting on how sometimes we attempt to have things two ways at once. Since September 11, 2001 you and I have seen an unusual display of patriotism in this beautiful country of ours. All about us flags are flying. Bumper stickers have flourished with statements such as, "God Bless America," "Land of Freedom," "United We Stand," and many others. This has occurred because there are men who have openly stated that they wish for ALL Americans to die. All of us. They say we are infidels and deserve death simply because we choose to live free - free to speak, free to write, free to worship or refrain from formal worship, or to say it more directly, free to think independently. For this freedom we have been found guilty. And who are our accusers? Cowards who hide in dark caves and in deep tunnels. Cowards afraid to enter into an open discussion. Cowards who cannot permit light to shine upon their thoughts for fear that they are wrong.
Let us imagine such cowards in our own government. Pretend that you turn on your television set this evening to view the evening news. On your set appears a reporter who is interviewing a senator. He introduces him as Senator X. Why? Because he is protecting the senator's identity, for as the camera pans to the senator you find that he has a black hood over his head. He differs with the President on a matter of public nature, but he does not want any of his constituents to know who he is. The reporter has agreed to protect his identity be allowing him to wear a hood. A ludicrous story? Of course.
When a newspaper states that a letter writer's name will be withheld upon request when the topic is of a public nature it is placing a black hood over the identity of the letter writer. (Keep in mind that the term "public nature" is left undefined and is at the discretion of the editor to determine.) This policy is just as ludicrous as the imaginary television newscast above. This is the land of freedom. This is the land of unity. Freedom permits dissension. The person who has a differing viewpoint in America does not have to hid his identity, most particularly in matters of a "public nature." We have the right to dissent. That is guaranteed. That right is coupled with the responsibility to dissent through appropriate means. Anonymity is not appropriate.
Osama bin Laden disagrees with the right to dissent. He disagrees with Western Civilization and wished for it to be destroyed while he hides in darkness.
El Dorado Springs has an historic wall which borders the east side of the Spring Park. Legend has it that the faint blue and gray coloration in the stones of our Rock Wall were left by the uniforms of the Union and Confederate soldiers as they sat together on the wall. This story symbolizes the unity of those who have met there to visit for over 100 years. Our Rock Wall is not a place of division and discord. Our Rock Wall unites this small community.
We should never forget the symbolism of El Dorado Springs' Rock Wall. Through the centuries we have come together there in unity. Ayn Rand wrote, "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." Anyone who professes to support the legend of unity represented by the Rock Wall while at the same time sanctioning division and discord is attempting to have their cake and eat it too. Something is wrong.
"What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"
George Eliot
(written January, 2002)
Posted: Mon - January 23, 2006 at 03:58 PM
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In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
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Published On: Jan 23, 2006 04:00 PM
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Published On: Jan 23, 2006 04:00 PM