Human Puppet

i think this is one of the most creative and funny (and clean) comedy bits i have seen in years. Nina Conti is a master ventriloquist who has pushed us outside the box of dummy puppets to, errr, human puppets. no doubt, one of the scariest experiences in the world is when we feel controlled by someone else but this is a refreshing example of when control is mutually beneficial for everyone--the audience, the controller and the controlled. this got me thinking about the idea that we are all controlled by someone. oh sure we're free people in a sense, but make no mistake about it we've all been influenced profoundly by significant figures. in a way we've all been dressed with a mask and voice of someone else's making. depending on the positive or negative traits of our influences we then act out the same behavior. just think about how easy it is to reflect your parents' behavior (or how hard it is to break the habits they passed onto you :-/).

paradox alert!!
what if the only way we can become free and non-determined is to surrender ourselves (behaviors, habits, addictions, good and bad) to the control of someone who has purely beneficent designs for our lives? if we could, like the human puppet above we would know that our lives would be controlled for the greatest possible good. AA (alcoholics anonymous) participants have embarked on this philosophy for over a century now--that to be free from control, we must be under the control of a Higher Power, who by definition has our good in mind. Step 1 & 2 read: "We admitted we were powerless over our past...Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

i'm not for being controlled by Nina Conti--though she is super funny. i'm definitely not for being controlled by my past or by my circumstances. i'm hopeful that as our nation wrestles with civil liberties and security i'm not required to be controlled by my government. and yet, all these controllers (minus, Nina :-) will have their say in how i live my life. the good news is, there is a beneficent Sovereign greater than them all for whom i can bow my knee and offer my voice freely. i actually like the results when i finally admit that i am powerless and surrender to the Power that seems to set me free--and those whom i encounter. wherever i go, He seems to liberate those around me because liberty is contagious. paradoxical as it may seem, when i enslave myself to The Higher Power, i am free, funny, creative, joyful, able, peaceful, and filled with love.