Turtle and I were in the car—she driving and me doing my part by looking around and howling along with the radio. As we passed a semi with a 2/3-scale portrait of Christ painted on the side of the cab, my first thought was There's something you don't see every day.
Even Jesus' posture seemed to say, "Hey... it beats the heck out of me. It's not my truck."
My second thought was Jesus, His arms wide—a reference to the metaphorical language central to the "Darmok" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I didn't realize it until I went to hunt down a Wikipedia link for this post, but in the Tamarians' language "arms wide" meant "gift" or "to give".
And suddenly it all made sense to me.
9 comments:
*Cracks up* Oh man, let me catch my breath.
Foo, you know I love ya, but you are a nerd. ;)
Pardon my bizarro connection in advance, but this reminded me of the Arthur Ashe statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond. There was a predictable stink about honoring one of Richmond's finest because, well, let's face it, there are still a lot of folks who still think Robert E. Lee is just a real sound sleeper. (Wonder what THEY'D think about Tink writing Roots?)
Anyway, after all the crap subsided and the statue was unveiled, the folks who'd fought for it weren't so sure it was worth the effort. The statue has Arthur holding a tennis racquet above a bunch of children. Problem is, it looks like he's beating the children with the racquet. (If you think I'm kidding, google 'Arthur Ashe statue beating children' and see.)
OK, I'm done now.
Foo, you gotta get a cheap, small, digital camera for that back pocket!!!
I have seen those kinds of portraits on the side of tractor trailers...they are awesome!
LMAO!! So I followed Brets suggestion and googled Arthur Ashe.
http://www.richmond.com/images/hardcoded/9-8-00ashe_story2.jpg
The kids have their arms raised like, "No, please, don't!" What were they thinking when they made it? Reminds me of the angel and dog statue hoop thought was a... *ahem* dong.
What? You mean no one has given you a vehicle with a big Jesus mural on the side?
I'm still laughing...
Okay. What?
I guess it only made sense to me, but I'll try to lay it all out:
1) I saw the painting of Jesus with his arms wide.
2) I thought of the Darmak episode.
3) In the Tamarians' language "arms wide" meant "gift" or "to give".
4) Ergo, "Jesus, arms wide" meant (to me, at least) "Jesus gave us a gift". (I won't belabor the point by explaining what that gift might be.)
Chaka! When the walls fell.
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