Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought

Cork on the Ocean

by Penrod

Motto: “All therapy ends badly.” — Sigmund Freud

Recently I heard a person propose the metaphor of a cork on the ocean to describe the relationship between a person’s conscious and her or his unconscious — a striking comparison. I’ve heard people use the metaphor of an iceberg — the exposed one-ninth representing the conscious and the underwater eight-ninths representing the unconscious. The iceberg proportions are nothing compared to a cork on the sea.

This brings to mind the “Total Perspective Vortex” described by Douglas Adams in the novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In the total perspective vortex, one can see one’s self in relation to the whole universe. The vortex is used for torture. The pain of those who enter is excruciating when they experience this graphic portrayal of their insignificance. Even so, this comparison is not ultimate, because, as I understand it, the vortex reveals only physical proportion. What if it were to reveal temporal proportion as well? No wonder the Apostle Paul said: “Those who compare themselves among themselves and by themselves are not wise” (II Corinthians 10:12b, KJV).

But, back to the cork and the ocean. That comparison is an internal one. Though it may threaten the significance of my consciousness, it also suggests larger resources and a deeper reality than appears on the surface. The comparison certainly gives pause to the certainty of personal categorizations, whether they are made about ourselves or about others.

Still, everyday life is the center of action. In the novel Herzog by Saul Bellow, Amos Herzog’s advice strikes a solid note: “On the knees of your soul? Might as well be useful. Scrub the floor.”

Several issues have gone by without editorial commentary on the pretensions of this column. We have nothing new to say on the matter, but we do not want the newer reader to think that we endorse this column or that, in it, we can recognize either theology or therapy. Why, then, you ask, do we continue to print it? The author, who calls himself Penrod, is very insistent and persistent. He demands that we live up to our assertion that Pietisten provide a forum for an open conversation. Once again, therefore, we leave it to you to judge whether this column is worthy of being called thought, to say nothing of whether it is therapeutic or theological. — Eds.