The Gears of Enterprise

Sherman Alexie states that “human bodies are invaded and colonized by foreign bodies”-Alexie, What Sacagawea Means to Me, (pg. 115, Arlington Reader). Using his own race and background as well as a familiar anecdote, Alexie relates a menacing story of old to our culture today. He brings to light a reality that has always been true and gives it a little more solidity and authenticity so that we may understand the truth through our own eyes. We are all part of the process, the ingestion of the multitudes. The great machine of enterprise that chews you up, strips you down, and taking only what it wants leaves you merely with your soul. There are few exempt from this process, and as such, Alexei addresses his essay with the world as the recipient, we all can relate, we all can sympathize.  This is an extremely effective approach to writing. Start with some basic emotion or experience, gain your readers empathy, and then introduce your radical idea.   

We all define ourselves by things: our physical being, our mental state, our surroundings, our memories, our experiences, our faith. Determining the dominant factor that defines us evolves discerning our most valuable and precious possessions; the things you base your life around, your morals around, your soul around.

I wish that I could say in truth that my faith, my belief in God the father, was my most defining aspect. I wish that I, like every other human being on earth, did not put so much stock in visible and physical things. I wish that I could resist temptation perfectly and follow my father’s laws flawlessly. I wish that I could be satisfied with the world and live content with God’s promise of perfect grace and salvation. That would be the perfect world in human eyes with human goals. That is not reality, that would not fulfill the goals of my Father.

If I were the perfect Christian I would say that my life is defined by my faith. I am far, far, from perfect, and because of that sobering fact I must confess that I dwell much more on my physical and selfish state. I define myself sorrowfully now with my physicality, my manhood, and my passion. These things I base my identity on, these things I knowingly and unknowingly obsess with. Today, there is such little perceptible difference between professed Christians and non-Christians.