That's interesting. Although I'm not so convinced that the Middle Ages was lacking in "reason." I think a lot of people had good common "horse sense" and there was more cynicism than we might realize. The thing is that our written record tends to be very distortive because people only put down the pious thoughts. Part of what was so brilliant about Game of Thrones was that it captured all these different characters - Bron, the Hound, Tywin, etc - who were not intellectuals and as likely as not to be illiterate but were very smart and pragmatic and navigated their way through the imaginative constructs of their society.
Received the gift of recovery (nearly 16 years ago) and during my journey have had the privilege of speaking with a Cistercian monk every Sunday evening.
Recently he said that Christians seek salvation while Buddhists seek enlightenment.
In image would wish a movie I could watch with forgiveness in mind. Like an animal leaning toward its pineal. Yourself work up to including your limit so it must be a litmus in there abt looking on yourself the same of an animal leading with a starfish armpart. The type we know is preverbal to forestall judginess . Math component t is to everthing ; 70 x 70 is a good one. Or do we say a money compnnt to evert'g ? Dualism attracts like the two of them would lay tracks.
Thanks. I currently interpret forgiveness, drawing upon its etymological Latin components, as the perpetual action of Carrying that which has been Given to you. Enduring sorrows in order to enable communion with others would also suffice. As for Catholic exorcisms I would be interested in how many of those exorcised are young women and girls and if these numbers are increasing with the brutal exploitation and destruction of the natural world.
Exactly, Sam. It has a curiously potent therapeutic power for a supposed mass delusion. And it’s a tremendous epiphany to encounter that dynamic reality operating beneath the metaphorical, and so realising the grand narrative best accounts for the phenomena.
I really appreciate your take on this Sam. You got me thinking differently about paganism and now on medieval Catholicism. There is still so much about Catholicism that spooks me, but I must confess that reading Dante’s Divine Comedy (in Italian) got me through the toughest period of the pandemic. And I do believe that there are no shortcuts to getting to enlightenment/ salvation / “paradise”. Inferno needs to be faced first. Thank you for this beautiful read!
Haha. I know! An Italian I dated was surprised to see Dante by my bedside. He asked me, surprised, “you’ve read this??”. I said, “technically 3 times. First in Italian, then in translation, then again in Italian.” My relationship with Dante has been longer, and deeper, than with this Italian man :))
I am confused and a bit disturbed by the current fad of embracing Christianity without actually believing in an all powerful god- it seems like an attempt to control people and their behaviors. If there is a god- the important aspect of it is that it is all powerful and will use its magic in the interest of the believer- without the magic there is no point of god.
She seems to be the catalyst- I’ve seen a number of young writers citing her “conversion” to Christianity as something they too were embracing.
The problem is that the denial of pleasure (for example) because a god wishes it doesn’t complete the equation- the human must have some expectation of reward for his self denial. Christianity created a successful scam by convincing people that the reward for this is at the end:
“Yeah yeah but you only look dead- yeah and really you get to go to a big party. Forever? Are sure of course and all your friends are there…”
But if you DONT believe in the magic, the reward, whether that’s not being poor, or never getting cancer, or going to a big sky party- then what is the exchange for the denial?
That's interesting. Although I'm not so convinced that the Middle Ages was lacking in "reason." I think a lot of people had good common "horse sense" and there was more cynicism than we might realize. The thing is that our written record tends to be very distortive because people only put down the pious thoughts. Part of what was so brilliant about Game of Thrones was that it captured all these different characters - Bron, the Hound, Tywin, etc - who were not intellectuals and as likely as not to be illiterate but were very smart and pragmatic and navigated their way through the imaginative constructs of their society.
Thought provoking!
Received the gift of recovery (nearly 16 years ago) and during my journey have had the privilege of speaking with a Cistercian monk every Sunday evening.
Recently he said that Christians seek salvation while Buddhists seek enlightenment.
However awkwardly, I strive for both.
Thanks Christi! I've never spoken to a Cistercian monk. Sounds fascinating!
Nice work!
Thank you Nick!
In image would wish a movie I could watch with forgiveness in mind. Like an animal leaning toward its pineal. Yourself work up to including your limit so it must be a litmus in there abt looking on yourself the same of an animal leading with a starfish armpart. The type we know is preverbal to forestall judginess . Math component t is to everthing ; 70 x 70 is a good one. Or do we say a money compnnt to evert'g ? Dualism attracts like the two of them would lay tracks.
"Dualism attracts like the two of them would lay tracks" sounds like theological slam poetry to me. Cool!
Thanks. I currently interpret forgiveness, drawing upon its etymological Latin components, as the perpetual action of Carrying that which has been Given to you. Enduring sorrows in order to enable communion with others would also suffice. As for Catholic exorcisms I would be interested in how many of those exorcised are young women and girls and if these numbers are increasing with the brutal exploitation and destruction of the natural world.
Thanks Monica. "Enduring sorrows in order to enable communion with others" is a beautiful turn of phrase.
☀️
Exactly, Sam. It has a curiously potent therapeutic power for a supposed mass delusion. And it’s a tremendous epiphany to encounter that dynamic reality operating beneath the metaphorical, and so realising the grand narrative best accounts for the phenomena.
Thank you Adrian! Yeah, the "mass delusion" idea is very demeaning for what tremendous numbers of people find extremely powerful.
Sam expands ... always of interest, always intriguing.
Thank you Mary!
I really appreciate your take on this Sam. You got me thinking differently about paganism and now on medieval Catholicism. There is still so much about Catholicism that spooks me, but I must confess that reading Dante’s Divine Comedy (in Italian) got me through the toughest period of the pandemic. And I do believe that there are no shortcuts to getting to enlightenment/ salvation / “paradise”. Inferno needs to be faced first. Thank you for this beautiful read!
That is cool! I don't know a lot of people who have read Dante in Italian (including Italians!). Seems like the pandemic was well spent.
Haha. I know! An Italian I dated was surprised to see Dante by my bedside. He asked me, surprised, “you’ve read this??”. I said, “technically 3 times. First in Italian, then in translation, then again in Italian.” My relationship with Dante has been longer, and deeper, than with this Italian man :))
I am confused and a bit disturbed by the current fad of embracing Christianity without actually believing in an all powerful god- it seems like an attempt to control people and their behaviors. If there is a god- the important aspect of it is that it is all powerful and will use its magic in the interest of the believer- without the magic there is no point of god.
Curious who in particular you're thinking about? Like Ayaan Hirsi Ali?
She seems to be the catalyst- I’ve seen a number of young writers citing her “conversion” to Christianity as something they too were embracing.
The problem is that the denial of pleasure (for example) because a god wishes it doesn’t complete the equation- the human must have some expectation of reward for his self denial. Christianity created a successful scam by convincing people that the reward for this is at the end:
“Yeah yeah but you only look dead- yeah and really you get to go to a big party. Forever? Are sure of course and all your friends are there…”
But if you DONT believe in the magic, the reward, whether that’s not being poor, or never getting cancer, or going to a big sky party- then what is the exchange for the denial?