PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

August 21, 2024

DEALING WITH A SUBJECTIVE WORLD

This August Diane and I made two trips to the Indiana State Fair.  Both visits were occasioned by our oldest granddaughter, Emma, who modeled her “dress-up” dress at both the preliminary and public 4-H fashion revue.  When the final results were announced on Saturday, August 13^th, there were many in the crowd scratching their heads at the judges’ decisions.

Following the judging of the “dress-up” category on Friday, August 5^th, one of the judges made some general remarks.  Most of what she had to say was that many of the dresses did not easily fall into the judge’s understanding of the category.  Some of the dresses were too formal while others were too casual.  The judges had a problem with the accessories that the girls had chosen for their dresses.

While there are printed standards for each of the six categories that were judged on Friday, how the standards are interpreted depended a great deal on a particular judge’s emphasis and concerns about a specific category.  In the end a lot of the judging turns out to be rather subjective.  One can only hope that one’s effort happens to fit how the person doing the judging understands the category.

The subjectivity that my granddaughter experienced with the evaluation of her dress was not unique to her category.  This same subjectivity can be found in all the judging that takes place at the county and the state fairs.

One of the members of a church I served was a big time hog judge.  He had his own particular traits for which he was looking when he judged a hog.  Not all hog judges agreed with his priorities.  Thus, his final order and another judge’s order might be quite different for the same group of hogs.

Subjectivity extends far beyond county and state fairs.  Major league baseball has an exhaustive set of rules.  They define the strike zone.  However, every umpire has his own interpretation of what is a strike.  Some have a narrow strike zone while others have a wide one.  Some call low strikes while others call high ones.  Hopefully, throughout a game an umpire will be consistent with his calls.

Officiating in football and basketball is even more subjective than it is in baseball.  Given the complexity of the rules, a penalty or a foul could be called on almost every play.  To have the game flow officials have to make some determination about what they are going to call and what they are not.

The Book of Ecclesiastes describes the subjective quality of the human condition as follows. “Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecc. 9:11)

Given the uncertain, capricious nature of life, Ecclesiastes suggests that each day should be seen as a gift from God to be enjoyed.  All one can do is one’s best and let the chips fall where they may.  As one lives out his or her days, he or she should take into regard the subjective, uncertain, transitory nature of much that happens under the sun.

Next year if my granddaughter should decide to make another dress for 4-H, all she can do is take what she learned from competing this year, do her best, and let the chips fall where they may.  As they often say in sports, hopefully in the end everything evens out.

(This article was originally published August 21, 2011.  Comments may be sent to davidh15503@embarqmail.com.)