{"id":31249,"date":"2023-02-22T18:21:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T02:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31249"},"modified":"2023-02-22T18:21:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T02:21:34","slug":"its-over-i-have-the-high-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/its-over-i-have-the-high-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"“It’s Over, I have the high ground…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s over Anakin, I have the high ground!\u201d[1]<\/a> My brothers and I throw this quote around from time to time to make fun of everyone\u2019s least favorite Star Wars trilogy. It\u2019s a funny exchange (supposedly very serious) between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin as they engage in a lightsaber duel that ends with Anakin jumping up to where Obi-Wan is only to get sliced in half. While I reflect on it as a silly scene from a silly trilogy, I recognize that the advantage of the high ground is very real. As I read Winchester\u2019s The Map That Changed the World <\/em>and Marshall\u2019s Prisoners of Geography<\/em>, I was reminded of the very real advantages that understanding geography, terrain, and positioning can give from scale one-on-one lightsaber duels to large scale geopolitics.<\/p>\n

The Map that Changed the World<\/p>\n

Winchester\u2019s book details William Smith\u2019s creation of a stratigraphical map, or a map that mapped out the rock layers and identified their geological age using relative dating. [2]<\/a> One of the most important aspects of this map that Smith created was that it could essentially identify where coal could be found.[3]<\/a> \u00a0Since coal was (and still is) an important resource, I can only imagine how impactful a map like this could be. Whoever had access to the knowledge that the map provided would be extremely wealthy and would likely wield a hefty amount of influence. Oddly, it seems that Smith\u2019s work was not immediately recognized because Smith wasn\u2019t well off. \u201cThe theory of geology is in the possession of one class of men, the practice in another\u201d[4]<\/a> . One of the most important technological advancements was almost disregarded because of the social status of the scientist. While I would like to think that times have changed, I wonder if to some degree, we still value societal standing in a way that obscures truly wonderful discoveries and talents. Even in church settings, I wonder how requiring a certain set of degrees might filter out a set of potential pastors who have rich lived experiences.<\/p>\n

Prisoners of Geography<\/p>\n

Tim Marshall\u2019s book take a geographical approach to explaining the geopolitical landscape, both past and present. His main thesis is that the location of the country along with its accompanying terrain plays a large role in its economic welfare and political stability. Perhaps one of the most relevant examples comes early on in the book when he describes the North European Plain as an important defensive area for Russia to deter Western European advances.[5]<\/a> In all, the book gives helpful insight into what shapes the relative might of countries and the factors that might lead to war and alliances.<\/p>\n

Questions I Asked Myself While Reading<\/p>\n

I wonder, even if it is on a smaller scale, how churches and pastors might think strategically about their location. How can we \u201cmap\u201d out the areas and communities that exist in? How can we increase our understanding of them to inform the decisions we make and the things we say? Moreover, how can we continue to learn by elevating voices, experiences, and ideas that have been traditionally silenced?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Revenge of the Sith<\/em>, directed by George Lucas, (20th<\/sup> Century Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd., 2013).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Simon Winchester, The Map That Changed the World: the Tale of William Smith and the Birth of a Science<\/em> (London: Viking, 2001), 6.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 48<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 228<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Explain Everything About the World<\/em> (New York: Scribner, 2016), 39.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s over Anakin, I have the high ground!\u201d[1] My brothers and I throw this quote around from time to time to make fun of everyone\u2019s least favorite Star Wars trilogy. It\u2019s a funny exchange (supposedly very serious) between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin as they engage in a lightsaber duel that ends with Anakin jumping up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2633],"class_list":["post-31249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01-winchester-marshall","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31250,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31249\/revisions\/31250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}