Carlos Fuentes in his novel The Campaign writes that God doesn’t need the Church but the Church needs God.
The universe is a big place. It’s so big and mysterious that the human mind perceives just a tad of it, a mere slice. String Theory claims that our senses only experience a few of its surface dimensions, four of them. Our eyes are trained to see colors and sizes so everything becomes color and size. I see what seems large but proportionally what is it? I’ve always liked those small to large video takes, where we see from space and swoop down to the eye of a frog. Proportion. But it’s not just about proportion. Medieval mystics, such as Hadewijch, who wrote about and gave advise on how to live, had their own way of getting close to the mysteries of the world and explaining them.
When I read about Michael Sheridan’s letter in Colorado Springs concerning Catholic politicians and their votes, I have to snicker (recalling Fuentes) at its cynicism, but it’s a snicker that bugs me, because such an action at this time and in this place seems to me small-minded, foolish, mean, and dismissive of a great tradition of human thinkers and dismissive, ultimately, of human proportion. The universe demands big thoughts, big eyes, big leaps, big telescopes, and small gestures that matter because they’re a piece of that thing which in its whole, even in some of its parts, is too grand and wonderous to understand. Consider the size of a nebula or the power of a black hole or the intricacies of a string. Compared to these hate and ignorance are about as insignificant as it gets.
Prayer in its many forms is a small thing, but it’s still a way of speaking to the Nebula and to those places where the lamps are born.
Beautiful picture. Although, is it me, or does that “wisp” of “smoke” in the upper left corner look like its flippin’ me the bird?
Sorry. I couldn’t resist.
However, with all due respect and seriousness, what I wouldn’t give to find out whats behind all that “space”. Thanks for this post.
In my insignificance to mankind, my failure to embrace and serve the human race because I’m small, I feel the guilt and bear the pain of my existence. In helping, loving those whom I can touch, I feel a small redemption.
I plan to explore the lettuce garden.
Ignore the previous entry. I was in the grip of a strange, religious impulse and, as is most common in such circumstances, I screwed up. I confess to great disdain for religion and prefer the Nebula to anyother religious formula I’ve heard lately. This disdain has been growing in me and my actions over the last couple of years. I am losing my ability to tolerate the religious. I see them as dangerous, a threat to me and what I find valuable in my life, work, and family. I would like to organize a great funeral for God, inviting all, and after a few hymns, a eulogy or two, we could get on with things.
Well they tried that once before, but the Body turned up missing.
A nice welcome to Bob Wren, professor of all things. He’s one of the guys who taught me how to teach Shakespeare.