Albrecht Dürer: Tekenaar tekent een luit
[Draftsman Draws A Lute] (1525)

" … perhaps they're necessary, …"

Method might be necessary but never sufficient. The baker needs much more than a recipe to Succeed. So does everybody, yet the trainers invariably start by sharing recipes. They possess a "methodology,” and they promote it just as if it could contain baking's Gestalt, its practice. I suppose that teachers have to start somewhere, and wherever they begin just must prove inadequate to describe the complexities of the practice. Still, even the canny apprentice tends to imprint upon the recipe, their earliest introduction, as somehow emblematic of their practice, when it's just at best necessary but always, always, always inadequate, just like any entrance isn't the contents.

The recipes for Success seem numerous. They come in every flavor, every texture, and each color so that one might choose any to gain entry. That choice just starts the effort, and several might prove terminally insufficient for any individual aspirant, though I suspect that any might prove adequate, given that all must be insufficient. The purpose of each recipe could not possibly be to produce a finished loaf or even an imperfect supper. The purpose might be preliminary to anything finished. The recipe could only be an entry, never the exit; the start of the inquiry, never the finish. The techniques, the styles, the between-the-lines interpretations, these fill in the necessarily inadequate recipe's contents, and these might only ever be acquired over time and almost inadvertently.

Methods often become prominent points of contention. The various religious convictions, each with their unique conventions, purport to produce more or less precisely the same result, though the more fervent practitioners will most certainly consider even suggesting such a thing heresy or worse. To them, there can be only one true religion, which renders the rest fake or false. Though we might be mistaken for perceiving little difference between them since each employs a recipe of sorts, and each recipe, like every recipe, might—I said "might”—prove necessary but will also undoubtedly prove insufficient. Some unspeakable ritual will most certainly also get involved.

Theological Wars always focus on Method more than the unspeakables. This fact says plenty and might well lead to a deeper appreciation of Method's actual contribution. To any agnostic listening, insisting that one's a Christian might seem no different than another proclaiming that they're a Muslim. However, the agnostic might notice that each claims a Method that renders the two proclaimers more similar than different, regardless of each Method’s content. Each content could be interpreted in ten thousand ways, but each proclamation remains fused in that they are each Method. There are innumerable alternative ways to gain entry into the pursuit of religion or Success; the Method-based ones retain enduring popularity despite inconsistent results. That's just how Methods work: perhaps they're necessary, but they're certainly never quite sufficient. This understanding seems necessary to successfully employ any recipe: Success, supper, whatever.

©2023 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Success, #PureSchmaltz