“The thickest veils between man and Allah are the wisdom of the wise,
the worship of the religious, and the piety of the pious.” - Bayazid Bistami
Thinking recently about Religulous - and the religious error of pursuing religion without first pursuing humility.
“To follow It, you must be cleaned –
With mistakes that you do mean.”
Not long ago, I was speaking with a group of people about serious things, and the word “reality” was used. The woman who used it, who had sampled the waters of the various religions, corrected herself: “What am I saying,” she said. [...]
In my last piece I noted quickly that music tends to go with religion, as indicating a life of pure ornament without further purpose, like a wayside shrine or a stained-glass window - indeed like everything treated as holy as opposed to useful. Here’s another perspective.
In the endless self-repeating
Flows for ever more the Same;
Myriad arches, springing, meeting,
Hold at rest the mighty Frame;
Streams from all things love of living,
Grandest star and humblest clod;
All the straining, all the striving,
Is eternal rest in God.
- GOETHE
In any good religion, there should be something utterly unpalatable, something horrifying and blood-chilling; it could not otherwise [...]
It’s not news to note that Jesus attempted to realign human religion - typically some kind of combination of fear and self-praise - but human religion has managed to continue mostly unfazed by his critique. But occasionally the divergence still amazes me. Intercessionary prayer is one of those things. I hear Christians talking about “praying [...]
For the Feast of John the Baptist: this extremely good essay by Wendell Berry; highly recommended. Proof - as if it were needed - that the Magisterium of the Church resides not in the priesthood - which is almost always wrong - but in the Prophets. As it was, is now, and ever shall be.
But [...]
Incredible readings in Church today, and relevant to the moment. The sin of David with Uriah (I must confess I think about this story all the time, since Jung pointed out to me that Uriah is a figure of Christ), Paul’s letter to the Galatians (always amazing), and the following from the Gospel, on the [...]
Now looking at a book by Merton. Everyone tells me I should be into Merton. But I find him careless with words - so many of them, I find myself skipping them and flipping to the back of the book to see how many more I have to read - and then he sets up [...]
Still so explosive a religious figure. “Beyond good and evil,” really - Paul’s message, if understood and preached, could gobble up Nietzsche, and relativism, and modern amorality, and the like, rather than running away from it. “No one robs the strong man’s house, without first tying up the strong man.”
He forgave us all our sins, [...]
“The Mosque.”
24-Aug-10I’ve been out of the loop as far as news goes, and I will say that I really cannot believe that this mosque controversy has gone on so long. I’m utterly willing to say that anyone who believes in taking away the right of the builders to practice their religion in any place that they [...]