Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong
Dear K,
Thanks for sharing The Awakening.
Driscoll is a fine instrumentalist and a soulful singer.
His musical composition is quite engaging.
You may already know, Karen, that I am very fond of tracking down the etymological roots of words - and, never having taken a look at the roots of "paradise", I found this Wikipedia entry very interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise
My previous etymological research has revealed (as you may already know) that apocalypse derives from the Greek words meaning "to lift a veil".
I think that what may be happening in the world is a kind of slow motion apocalypse in which the veiled workings of political, economic and religious structures are beginning to lift -- the same veil which, in the past, "rulers" honchos and mugwumps have used to bamboozle humankind into accepting the necessity of fear and consequent docility.
Now (perhaps) "the veil is lifting" on these age-old manipulations - just as Toto pulled back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz.
And now we see that "we are all in the same boat" - people who get up and sit on the pot in the morning.
And since the old, settled "power structures" are finally revealed as structures that benefit "a few" at the expense of (the formerly docile) "many", we are all sailing (drifting?) on uncharted waters, wondering what form humankind's "new structures" might take. (Here's a pertinent, short book I discovered at the University of Toronto: https://www.readbookpage.com/pdf/pagan-and-christian-in-an-age-of-anxiety/)
Getting back to the etymology of "paradise" - as a "walled off place", often a garden -- I have been blessed with the opportunity to live in peasant communities without electricity or drinkable water. The land that these peasants cultivated often ran right up against wilderness, wilderness that was home to dangerous animals - jaguar and mountain lions, not to mention poisonous snakes and scorpions that lived inside the same homes where humans lived. (Some day I may get to the tale of my exceedingly painful - and then psychedelically hilarious - midnight encounter with an alacran that bit me en route to the outhouse.)
In such a "wild" environment, palisades (wooden fences) were erected to separate the outer limit of "civilization" from the abrupt beginning of "wilderness".
Indeed our English expression "beyond the pale" -- which we use to refer to things or behaviors that are truly outrageous -- comes from the Latin word, palus, for post or stick/stake, most particularly stakes used to support a fence.
Etymology Palisade derives from pale, from the Latin word pālus, meaning stake, specifically a "stake" used to support a fence. A palisade gangs these side by side to create a fence entirely made of pales. Typical construction Typical construction consisted of small or mid-sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no free space in between.
Consequently "outside the fence/pale/palisade" -- the clear cut boundary between "civilization" and "wilderness" -- meant "outrageous" or "preposterous" - "beyond the pale."
But now there is very little wilderness, and the whole world is illuminated by electric light.
And so it is that now we can see what was previously hidden.
Paradise no longer brings to mind a place that's "walled off" or "walled in", but rather a boundless, open place where we are to move, to dance, to celebrate without misgiving.
And so it may be that "a new earth" is being born - admittedly, with all the messiness that accompanies birth.
And this "new earth" (with its corresponding "new heaven") are not what we may have thought or imagined in the past.
I will close with Mother Teresa's reference to seeing Jesus in other people - particularly in the poorest, most "worm-eaten" of our brothers and sisters. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/myiasis/index.html
I take Teresa's observation at face value.
We are called upon to see Jesus in the actual embodiment of other people. According to Teresa's belief (which I share) Jesus IS the innermost spirit of everyone. Any desire to distinguish is, I think, "playing with words" to dodge the reality.
Perhaps I go farther that Mother Teresa in that I believe in the "mystical body of Christ" -- which IS to say, the universe is ALL God's flesh - a limitless incarnation of Deity.
And so, I get to love Jesus by loving your sister Cindy because Cindy is an embodiment of Christ's mystical body.
Of course, there is much that we could speculate about God's immanence ("his" indwelling within reality as we perceive it with our senses), and God's transcendence, ("his" otherworldliness, "his" inaccessibility to our senses).
But for me, I stay more focused on acts of Love when I am directed toward one particular person, one particular incarnation.
And Cindy's incarnation makes the practice of Love especially lovely.
But loving Cindy also spills over into the growing "pool" of love which is now available to love others.
None of which is to suggest I am any kind of role model: I am a very flawed, profoundly injured human being.
I do (or at least ponder) stupid - even hurtful - things every day.
And don't get me started on "sins of omission"!
If you have not read 19th century Scottish minister, George MacDonald's fantasy-fiction (written for children and adolescents) I strongly encourage you to check out "The Princess And Curdie" which is, I think, where MacDonald (whom C.S. Lewis acknowledges as his "master") introduces the crucial concept of a person's "direction" in spiritual life "being everything".
Basically, MacDonald proposes that an extraordinarily good-holy-saintly person can be right at the top of the "spiritual ladder", BUT if that person has recently been lured to engage "the dark side", he or she -- by virtue of starting to descend into darkness -- is FAR worse off than a clearly evil person who has just decided to climb from the bottom of the ladder toward the light. Indeed, the evil person's "metanoia" ("turnaround") is immediately cause for joy and celebration.
Here is a very readable PDF of "The Princess and Curdie": file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/the_princess_and_curdie_by_george_macdonald.pdf
I think you will be greatly pleased if you check out "the Curdie books".
Just read the first two paragraphs. I think you'll want to carry on.
Pax et amor
Alan
On Tue, May 31, 2022 at 11:07 AM K wrote:
Thought you would like this somg and arrangement.kjhttps://youtu.be/7BY83ET5sQwSay "stop" if do not want any more songs I like. As you suggested, C. My friends and I share music. You are an inspiration to me: both of you.LoveK
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