REDEEMED

Job 33:28

Thursday, November 23, 2006

The Chicken and the Void

The chicken stared into the void.
The void stared back.

The void said, “Chicken,
what do you see?”

The chicken said-
“nothing.”
“you’re a void.”

The void said, “Chicken,
you have much to learn.”

The chicken said,
“no, I don’t.”
“I’m a chicken.”

The chicken threw a single feather into the void.

Chicken = 1.
Void = 0.


What do the “chicken” and the “void” symbolize?
What do you think the author meant by the chicken’s gesture of throwing in the “single feather?”
What does “Chicken = 1” and “Void = 0” mean?
Why does the chicken tell the void he doesn’t have much to learn?
Why would the void ask the chicken what he saw in a void?
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The chicken is you. The void is nothingness. It could be a mirror. It could be what you see when you sit on a point overlooking a city and see all the blackness with a few points of light. It could be the vastness of space when you look at it. The void is whatever you are looking at when you are introspective. The void could cause you to be introspective. The void conversing with the chicken is the representation of your conscience talking to you when you are being introspective. You ask yourself, "What do you see?" Your conscience is probing you. You respond to your conscience, "Nothing." The second half of that response is what sets the stage. "You are a void." This shows the true reason for the introspection and the probing conscience. "You are a Void." "You are nothing." This is the cry of utter helplessness. Feeling completely worthless. You are looking back over your life and you come to the conclusion that you are nothing and worthless. Your conscience tells you that you have much to learn. Your conscience knows that life has meaning and is not futile. Your response is one of resignation and hopelessness. "No, I know I am truly worthless." Not only are you resigned to that, you are sure of it and you do not think you can be swayed. The throwing of the feather just emphasized the point. You through away part of yourself to emphasize that point. You are trying to make a point to your conscience. "Conscience, I am worthless. And to prove it I will throw away part of who I am" It could be anything that you throw away... your morals, your money, your mind, your beliefs, your heart, your body, anything that is part of you. You throw it away making the point with your conscience, thus tallying the points up in your mind. You were right once and your conscience wasn't. Who will be right the next time? You know you will have to accept what your conscience is telling you unless you can always stay one point ahead. What will be next? How many points will you have to make to win? Will you destroy yourself to win? Will you not be persuaded by your conscience before you destroy yourself? Does your self loathing run that deep? Does your feeling of worthlessness run just as deep? Will you be receptive of the points your conscience makes? Will you continue to inspect yourself or will you reject personal inspection? Are you sabotaging the battle so you never have a chance for hope? Are you fixing the fight so you always win and are always right? Alow yourself a glimmer of Hope. It won't kill you and might actually do you some good. Do not give up on yourself. People believe in you. People care for you. People love you. You are special and NOT worthless. You have value and worth. Be Courageous and Be Strong. Enjoy Life!

5:04 AM
Anonymous said...

Diddo! deepthought's analysis is a much better, "deeper" than my thought.

I think when the chicken says, "No i dont, I am a chicken", the chicken has already come to grips with his reality. He understands that he is a chicken, and in being a chicken he doesn't have much more to learn. Now, if he were a smarter animal, that might be different. Right?

Do chickens have a conscience? Am I a chicken? A few other thoughts that i had.

And what do the numbers mean? I am not a math person, so I haven't the foggiest idea.

9:12 AM
Anonymous said...

I thought it was about seeing a hopeless future as you contemplate your next job / move in life. I think chickens stare into voids all the time, and they don't know what the heck they are seeing... they just get bored and go back to pecking for bugs if they don't see any wing-shaped shadows swooping overhead (where are the hawk-shaped shadows?) How can a void talk - that must have all been in the chicken's head.

My niece's favorite joke used to be Why did the chicken cross the road? To get the popcorn!!
She would tell it and just laugh and laugh and laugh. In that case, I'd have to say I identify with the chicken much more than with the road. In the case of the chicken and the void, it's hard to identify with either... the void scares me too much to think about it. As for the "score" I think the one was just chicken scratch.

9:34 AM
Anonymous said...

For me, the numbers at the end add a whole new perspective to the picture. I see it as a score; That the chicken scored a point and skunked the void. Therefore, the void is nothingness indeed, but a specific kind of nothingness.It is not something positive, like wide open possibilities, that can be filled with anything. No, it is an emptiness without possibilities- something that is to be defeated. It could be despair, helplessness, all things of no promise such as the things described in Ecclesiastes, or even (Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" immitation) Satan.

I see the chicken as scoring a point on the void by not falling into the trap of believing he/she needed the empty promise that the void was trying to convince him he/she needed.

And I picture the chicken as having defeated the void by throwing a feather in, because a void with something in it is no longer a void. So, I see the story ending with the chicken destroying the void, and imagine the void vanishing as the chicken threw the feather in.

Therefore the score: Chicken 1, Void 0.

12:51 PM

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