my theological canon

Four years ago, the esteemed Dean Leonard said something in class which I haven’t really let go - it was simply that each one of us operates with our own canon. In other words, acknowledged or not, each of us operates with a set of guiding texts (or pieces within texts) which influence our paradigm and our lives moment-to-moment. And of course these text change as we pass through periods of our lives; my life-canon was quite different at 17 then it is now, at 30.

Perhaps still lamenting the fact that my mileage counter just turned to 30, or perhaps spurred on by my buddies Mike and Tripp’s muxtape competition, I thought I would like to try to write down what I believed my “life canon” to be right now, on this day, at this moment. I hope this might encourage you to take a few minutes and do the same.

before I begin, I want to establish a few ground rules:

(1) Only individual works rather than artists are to be included in the canon. It’s not fair to say “I like everything Hemingway wrote” – certainly you could say this, but his entire catalogue hasn’t effected you in the same way.

(2) The canon does not need to be restricted to textual pieces. As you perhaps know, I reject the idea that only texts and language are cognitive and meaning-filled.

(3) This is a biggy. Sacred texts are banned from the list. The rationale for this is two-fold. First, they’re too easy. Second, I would feel a sense of obligation to place them on the list. And, if I’m honest, I’ve spent more time contemplating my top 10 more than I have the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Koran or Dao De Jing.

(4) Because this is a written exercise, there will necessarily be an order, but these are no way a hierarchy. Each of these should function equally as part of my “life canon.”

(5) There shouldn’t be an explanation of the works, just the list. This is my poet coming out – “the work should stand on its own…”

(6) The list is restricted to ten items.

my life canon (for today):

1) The Lord & The General Din of the World by Jane Mead

2) Kid A – Radiohead

3) Andrew Wyeth – Winter 1946

4) Under the Table and Dreaming - DMB

5) Trinity Center, particularly the dock at the end of the nature walk.

6) Caddyshack

7) Speech and Phenomena, Derrida.

8) The Branch Will Not Break – James Wright

9) Demian – Herman Hesse

10) Six Cello Suites – Bach