Time to Go

So, what can we learn from China?

To put it simply: How to feel again! We eschew sentimentality and yet the expression of sentiment is such an important part of human communication. It is what connects us. I was struck by what one of my students said the first summer I was teaching English in China. She said she was frustrated by English because she could not find the words to express her feelings. Of course this may be the frustration of someone who lacks some fluency, but it struck me nonetheless. It seems that we in the West put such emphasis on the expression of ideas and not emotions. There is a hierarchy that perhaps should not be there.

You raise an interesting point about the limits of language. A professor of mine once told our class that if there was a word for everything we would not have stories! Poetry is one attempt to express feelings. Perhaps we all need to be poets. My church is beginning to see that need. Poetry and the expression of feelings should be an important part of worship. I remember another professor of mine who talked about worship as "this love affair with God!" We put such emphasis on love in Christianity and yet who is feeling it? It seems that we are afraid of our feelings and repress them.

Yes, I agree. It is the legacy of both our modernity and patriarchy. There is the division between the rational and emotional, and male and female. Mao said, "Women hold up half the sky!" If all men truly believed in gender equality, we would be truly free and in love!

Yes, I see what you mean. The emphasis would not be on one or the other, but the relationship. What goes on between the two, that is the dialogue, or conversation. It puts a twist on the Christian idea of "logos," or the "word."

And in philosophical terms, "the dialogic." One can never truly know the other, however, what is important is the dialogue between two persons. That is all we have in a way. We build on that. It is what is truly real. Two countries can be in dialogue, too. It is impossible for a Westerner to know China completely and vice versa. What is important is that we have a dialogue and hopefully arrive at some common understanding, which would point to a common future.

It reminds me of a Lionel Trilling quote, "history is the long conversation." Tad, this might be a nice point to end our talk. I do have somewhere to go right now. However it was great to see you again in the person after all these years. I would very much like to continue our conversation.

Yes, I would too. Are you free for dinner, tonight or tomorrow night?

I might be able to do tonight. Let me get back to you. I have your cell. Bye for now, Tad!

So long, Nort!