Reason: the Servant in a King’s Robe

A few months ago i met a czech guy at the laundry place just down from my apartment. I wasn’t sure how the machines worked so i asked a random bystander who happened to be an intern for Nato. we began discussing and when he told me he was from Prague i asked him if he had ever heard of Jan Huss. He smiled, then looked at me curiously and asked me how i knew of Jan Huss. I explained that i had studied theology and that he was a guy that i had come to appreciate. (Even partly paving the road for Martin Luther.) It seemed strange for him that someone like myself, a soldier, had studied theology so he asked me why. i told him that religion was the essence of culture and culture the dress of religion, and that for this reason, understanding humanity was impossible without understanding their idea of the Almighty – which is in a sense a strange reflection of themselves.

Anyhow he then told me that he believed the three Greatest influences on humanity were the Greeks (for Philosophy), the Romans (for Politics), and Christianity (for the control and abuse of both). In a way, i couldn’t disagree with his synopsis. Fair enough, i thought to myself.

When we think of Reason – the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic – the Greeks should immediately come to mind. This process, whether we are willing to admit it or not, is not a fixed absolute methodology. It is logic based on a Greek system of thought. Now the laws of nature are absolute, which means that there should definitely be some universality when it comes to reasoning… but alas, this doesn’t seem to be the case. this is quickly apparent when we try to philosophically reason with people from very different cultures/religions.

Our Western reason requires explanation. I need to know why for everything. And the logic must be comparable to other known realities. But my why is biased… because i already have an idea of what i want to think. So that reason is greatly influenced by… well, let’s say Desire. Ultimately, as much as the Greeks wanted Reason to be a God in itself, WE are still gods over it… and our desire will always reign over Reason. Always. It is no different today. Society is attempting to replace God with Science. But in reality, nothing changes, except names. priests in white robes become scientists in white coats. Society had God before, and God was Good… but human desire was still supreme ruler. Today we have science, and science is also good, but human desire is still supreme ruler. what we desire to be real… Becomes real in its consequence.

now is the cure to this interminable infection the removal of desire (as buddhism suggests)? perhaps… but i hope not. Desire is not all bad… but often desire is inconsiderate, which makes it dangerous as far as societies are concerned. My desire often prevails. So what is my point? – Reason is a myth. it is a socially accepted vehicle for serving humanity’s real Lord and Master, Desire. Like the corrupt Church beforehand.

We need God… We need Love. We need the His Word. We need mysticism and mystery, we need to be enchanted by an all powerful, uncontainable, and indescribable Being. it is the only thing which can over-rule Desire – transform it into Love. it is the only thing powerful enough to make humans think twice about causing pain, destroying, casting insults, starting wars, killing, and most importantly worrying only about themselves. If a Just and Loving being is in the center of the universe, people will stop fearing for themselves. Fear… that which is the opposite of Love. Fear.People are so afraid, and this fear drowns out Love. We are naturally reflective being… we see smiles, we smile. we see laughter, we laugh. we see love, we love. This is our innocence, this is humanity without fear… this is humanity holding a new born baby. I am convinced that even the most evil men and women smile when holding something so innocent, so harmless. There is no reason not to. As usual, and as is always the answer to all things, Love. love is harmless… and therefore ironically the most powerful actuality in the universe.

Reason is the accepted vehicle for reaching Desire. Desire will induce Fear, as immediately Desire begins to compete and worry about other Desires that may overrule it. Every one becomes a potential enemy… everyone becomes potentially harmful. inevitably – on reflective beings – this pervasive Fear has enormous consequences. Everyone receives a default setting of “potentially harmful.” This insidious human infliction is contagious and never stops destroying what Could be. We are all people who can only smile and immediately love a tiny harmless toddler. If only we could all see each other as harmless (as not competing against our desires), we would also smile and love each other without any effort, letting our true default setting be unchanged. letting our true default setting be Free at last. . .

M a g i c

… people who believe in something greater than themselves tend to have a different feel about them. they are forced to wonder… forced to look above – forced to live haunted by a great mystery. it changes people, obviously. it removes our somewhat trivial lives from center stage and creates an enchanted mist. i once heard a theologian say that the world has become disenchanted. . .  and that so much has been lost because of this. we are curious/thirsty beings who look up and thrive on ‘more-ness,’ on grandeur… on the ’super’-natural. our spirits don’t want to be in the center.. they want to be part of something beyond – simply something beyond.

The universe is too big to be contained… the world is too unexplained to be known. how can this simply be. – religion is the byproduct of these notions… of these (universal) feelings and observations. soon we will stop wanting to conquer mystery… that will be the day. to remove limits is to live in an enchanted world again…

i love YOU

… of course – people tend to only love those who love them. is there anything more ultimately egocentric? it’s crazy how much we have romanticized this word… love … how much we have dressed it up and then fantasized about it. it’s like water… we need it, we desire it, it is a vital life ingredient – because it keeps us healthy and well. it keeps us feeling special… it keeps us feeling valuable. sometimes people who are loved a lot have urges to shed it upon others. just like when you’ve been given lots of money. hmm… maybe love is fueled by egoism… but is in itself, Perfect. now all we have to do is change the fuel, but how? … i guess, as i have mentioned before, it’s just the wrong word. we confuse love and desire all the time. love today really means desire… ephemeral and self-centered.

Love is truly unattainable… for love is God and God is perfect. And only when we are perfect will we be able to love. really love. until that day… we can only and simply Desire. but because we don’t like this reality – we will dress up desire so that it looks like love. we will dream and fantasize.. we will bring back the myth of altruism to a people desperately in need of it. . .

Zooming Out: Wisdom

“With much wisdom comes much sorrow, with much knowledge much pain”

“The thoughts of the wise turn to the house of mourning, but the thoughts of a fool to the house of feasting”

“Do not be over-wise”

 

The grandeur of Wisdom makes your centrality seem more and more… absurd.

In Psychology 101 you start to learn about the Stages of Development. In the early stages, ‘the me’ is incredibly dominant. To the point where you believe you ARE unique… a diamond in the rocks, per say.  This of course changes as you ‘grow.’ You slowly begin to realize that you aren’t really that unique, that you aren’t some precious stone amongst the heap of gravel. At this point in development, something usually happens, because this realization isn’t necessarily the greatest of news flashes. Often rebellion, depression, or some major shift in attitude (good or bad) follows suit; “adolescence” perhaps..

I used to think of wisdom as being fairly connected to knowledge, I would say: knowledge is the fuel to wisdom, or that enough knowledge matures into wisdom, or wisdom is the appropriate application of knowledge at the right time and the right place. BUT, I have started to think differently as of late. I don’t think this is the real message or the Core of Sage-ism.  In short, wisdom is like… the Google Earth Effect. Let me explain.

It would be difficult to speak of Wisdom without wondering why mourning, sorrow and pain seem to walk hand in hand with Her. Major themes in Proverbs, Psalms and other poetical books, such as the ancient wisdom of Egypt (Amenamope) and Mesopotamia, insist on the acquisition of wisdom as the most noble of pursuits. Proverbs says that the world was built upon her and that it is only by seeking wisdom with all your heart that you will Begin to Understand.  - So there is a definitely something to this quest…

I think the more you touch and taste, the more you see and feel, the more you listen and discover, the more you hurt and suffer, the more you fail and succeed… basically the more you live and learn, THE more you see the Big Picture… as the picture grows your individual significance gets proportionally smaller and smaller. You stop being the center of the universe and become one star amongst millions. The smaller you get the bigger others become. Wisdom is the distance one takes from him or her self – Wisdom is zooming out with Google Earth – Wisdom is realizing that you are nothing more than one Reference among billions.

BUT having said this, I believe the results are wonderful and loving… but at the same time painful, lonely and especially aggravating.  You begin to care about others, especially their feelings and well-being, because they are like you, as big, as bright, as important, and as valuable. (And as much as honesty remains a noble trait, sensitivity rockets up to contest… as it should.) Ignorance is bliss because it’s easy to simply care about yourself, about your world, your opinions, your desires, etc. Wisdom MAKES you smaller, Makes you less certain about yourself, Makes you Humble, and makes everyone else in contrast, Bigger.

To love and to be loved. This should be a unbalanced formula… where the act of loving does not depend on being loved. As said in previous posts; this is the formula to paradise – Wisdom… the Instrument.

I am having a hard time writing my thoughts… too many interconnections. it seems like such common sense – and it is, but somehow it makes so many things clearer. selfishness is such a retarding trait/characteristic. like a drug. temporary fix that just leaves holes. seems good on the outside and the results are immediate… but draining..

 

I THINK…

the Church is for us… not for God?

i was having a conversation yesterday in Gent with an old friend from Black Forest Academy. We haven’t seen each other in over 6 years, and not surprisingly we have both changed somewhat. we talked about Faith and the Church… (in the shadows of 4 Massive cathedrals.)  

he told me that he would rather know the ‘Truth,’ even if it took away his happiness. i disagreed. i am convinced that the Church is for us, for humanity… not for God (at least not directly). The church has always been evolving despite having the same foundation it had almost 2,000 years ago. it adapts for it’s people. great. it should – because it is precisely for that purpose. as was discussed in a previous post, i believe structure is a necessary aid for human happiness. ‘do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.’ there is a resounding call for happiness throughout scripture (God’s Glory is man fully alive! – St. Ignatius, Happiness is possession of all things considered good/godly – Gregory of Nyssa). The word in the Bible often translated as ‘blessed’ could just as easily, if not more accurately be translated as ‘happy.’ “Happy is the man who…” “Happy are the poor in spirit…” “Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” etc. 

So in the same line of thought; the church – it is a vessel for that purpose. it is a vessel for community, relationships, and ultimately love and happiness. the whole truth and nothing but the truth shouldn’t be THE goal of a church. the fields of Biblical Studies and Theology are ENORMOUS and also descriptive not explanatory (Dr. Tim Perry) -”Provisional articulations of truth… derived and therefore open to revision.” … getting back to the topic. 

The whole truth doesn’t exist, and nothing but the truth is the opposite of Faith. This reality, along with the Word of God acquired from scripture, should be understood as the foundation of the Church. Upon this, we progress, learn, and of course never stop loving. A pastor should have no problem ‘correcting’ a mistake or misunderstanding in a previous sermon. He or she is a shepherd doing his or her best to teach and lead a community of HOPEFULLY seekers (not in the post-modern christian sense). Not people who used to be seekers but people who will always be seekers (simply because we are called to have an everlasting neediness in regard to Truth). 

So, pastors in seminaries are often taught to preach in absolutes. Even if it (the topic of the sermon) isn’t really that absolute. Great Church Fathers and men of God have disagreed through the ages… and to this day. There won’t suddenly be answers, and yet many pastors are taught to preach in absolutes. why? I don’t have a problem with this. but many do. Structure is necessary and as long as people realize the fused foundation of the church (mentioned above) since the beginning of time then i don’t mind tentative truths that structure and create somewhat of a framework for happiness (for the majority of people, maybe not those reading this post). That is the purpose of the Church… to be a framework upon which people find happiness/love (sorry i don’t differentiate these two in this context). Truth (big T) isn’t necessary in this realm… but happiness is. (God’s glory is man fully alive). that is the purpose of the Church… for me.

Enormous Mirror of Wonders ~

If there is a God he would be better described as an Enormous Mirror. The dumber the people, the dumber the god. This notion has been continuously reinforced my entire life. Some of my professors have such a transcendent unparalleled God that they claim no concrete knowledge, per say, about him. or Barth’s concept of Divine Freedom – no human restrictions can be placed on God. none.

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now people of this world – try to figure out a God who has no restrictions, no borders, no limits… it will quickly become apparent that nothing is True (big T). everything is humanly derived – provisional articulations of truth (small t) – and must therefore be revised constantly- as history indicates.

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People need to stop claiming that they know what the big puzzle-picture looks like… when 93% of the pieces do not exist (or have been drawn in). 

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All we ARE is our heart, our spirit. the rest is detail that results from an array of erratic situations thrown at our spirit. These situations are more than often outside of our control. Some call it testing, this is crap. it’s not testing. If this testing is God’s doing then he cannot-be-omniscient. what? – he needs to check what he already knows?!… this is nonsense. now think of how much situation influences a person:

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Salvation cannot be determined by matters of geographical, historical and therefore conditional contingency – what is left then apart from the heart? once all the detail is removed – the heart is all that remains and all that matters. please don’t suggest that cognition (knowing this or or knowing that… or believing this or believing that) is of relevance. for if you do, you must correlate salvation with an ATTAINMENT of X-adeptness, Y-knowledge, and Z-comprehension. and what is the difference between attainment (a.k.a. achievement) and work (a.k.a. meriting)?? 

The HEART: the only thing that is True.

Selah, a potential leader of this particular Bedouin tribe explained to me, “Allah will only care about whether you were a good man or not. If you are a Muslim and but not a good person, why would Allah accept you? If you are not a Muslim but you are a good man, why would Allah not accept you?” My response was a smile accompanied by a nod – I have talked to many different types of Muslims in my life, from pakistan, to Afghanistan, to Morocco, to Iran, to the Emirates, to American, to Tunisian, Jordan, Syria etc…  

There is something different about the way this man thinks. He was born Israeli-Bedouin (along with many others of his era) – as the Sinai belonged to them for a decade or so during his time of birth. (The Sinai went back to Egypt in 1981).

In St. Catherine there are orthodox monks, a constant flow of Christian and Jewish tourists, and 2 mosques that resound 5 times a day across the entire valley. Jewsand Christians bring money to this Muslim community… there isn’t animosity between the differences in beliefs – that i have noticed. To them, whites are christians, browns are muslims (slightly simplified, but my point remains) and there isn’t much more to it. I have often heard bedouins talk about the heart of a person… I like this notion.

I recently talked to a tunisian Muslim in Cairo who explained that there were 5 things a man had to do in order to be a ‘real’ Muslim. None of them had to do with the heart… just duties to fulfill. He told me that praying was like kissing your father, where obviously the child who kisses the father the most Loves him the most. A direct connection between quantity of prayers/kisses and amount of Love.

I thought this was similar to a situation where i saw 5 young men stand up when an old man came to greet them. He was slightly gauche as he walked funny and seemed to have a cataract. At first i liked the respect they showed this elderly man, but then i quickly realized that despite dutifully standing as a sign of respect for the man, they were mocking him amongst each other. The standing up is nothing in itself – it is a Sign of something True within… if it isn’t true within, then the sign isn’t a sign anymore… it is nothing but foulness masked in piety. The heart matters, and i think the Bedouins realize that more strongly because they meet so many people of various faiths – and there isn’t a group that stands out. they see good and bad people in every religion, even their own. So maybe they realize something that more people need to come to understand… once the religions are stripped away, what are you? – A Good person? – A Godly person?

It’s just a Feeling!

Questioning structure, whether it be religious or cultural, is an inquiry that perhaps has no gain. i don’t think humanity functions well anarchially or structurelessly. what we believe to be real becomes real in its consequence (that sums up mankind) – being birthed into a system is simple because belief is pure (unquestioned… at least for a while) people start to panic if or when their framework is messed with – usually it gets shaken and the quality of the work is checked. The more it can take, the better…? BUT – does more reasonable design necessarily constitute better life? 

i like to believe that reason reigns my mind and spirit – this is by no means a proud proclamation – Chesterton says that a madman is someone who has lost everything except his reason. more and more i wish i wasn’t so – for reasonability ultimately leads to irresolution, hesitancy, and unsureness… or one could say ‘lack of structure’… i think structure works best

i was happiest in my life when christianity superintended everything. every beam and support was poured and laid for me. i didn’t care, i didn’t know, AND i was happy… because life was simple and all i needed was a christian to get answers. The way that society today (especially in the West) is turning away from customs/traditions and questioning ancient practices may not be as enlightened as we think. I believe we will all yearn for “back in the day” one day – when things were set, when things were clear, when structure was relatively standardized within communities/societies. because only then did we have understanding for and with each other.

Is change really something humans were designed for? do animals enjoy change?? a good structure does not require change… even an okay structure doesn’t require change. Actually anything that does not increase happiness is completely unnecessary. many theologians claim that happiness is what it is all about… everything. I like to think of God as Happiness more than as Love or Grace.

I think that marriage is happy because it does create a comfort zone… a place where masks are hopefully unnecessary, a place where 2 are stronger than one, a sense of acceptance where you are appreciated and needed. This is certainly part of the equation to Happiness. Origen says that we were the bride of Moses (aka ‘the law’) but in order not to commit adultery Moses (the law) had to die so that we could then be united with Christ. If Moses is still alive, then being with Christ is adultery. I found it to be a funny and maybe profound bit of allegorical interpretation.

But that is exactly it – the law is for fools… BUT Christ does not abolish the law, he fulfills the law. I really hate christian jargon such as; Sin, Hell, Fire, Judgement, Forgiveness (not human realm), conscience, condemnation, etc. This is adulterous talk (even though i am aware that it is throughout the new testament – but i have no problem thinking that just like the rest of us, they, the disciples, also had never seen the Big Picture). So Christ broke the old Structure – but certainly created a new one… one that is beyond obedience. One that, in actuality, is impossible to abide by.

BUT christians think it is possible! Christians are taught that it is possible… they pull out verses like, “be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect” and still don’t realize… and therefore deal with failure and guilt all the time. Yes, Christ wants all his believers to feel pathetic, worthless, lame, and evil.

The fulfillment of the law is that which requires no law. Bonhoeffer says that you can never claim a principle (this is wrong, this is right). Why – because of Christ, the fulfillment of the law. the alive and therefore relevant One who understands/loves us through the perplexity of it all. 
 
In regards to things as marriage or structure as such – i believe people constantly miss the point… and that is exactly it. the point isn’t a point at all – it’s a Feeling! ha, that just came out and i realize that maybe that is what Schleirmacher meant by Feeling.

Get Rid of the idea that Figurative language is somehow inferior to Literal language

“It is also essential to get rid of the deep–seated feeling once and for all that figurative language would be inferior to literal language, somewhat less worthy of God.” Henri Blocher 

Truth and Fact has only become inseparable recently – ancient cultures never tied the two together. Truth could be found everywhere… myths are humanity’s most ancient legacies – why? they all try to explain the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of existence/life – figuratively. (The Hebrews had similar stories to their mesopotamian counterparts, but the truths were different, humankind’s duties and place in the world were very disparate… i mean the hebrews had the same amount of creation days, with an order so similar that it would be foolish to think that this was just happenstance… and the hebrews can’t claim originality because they are outdated by the mesopotamians, Abraham comes from Mesopotamia.)

So about Myths (which we often think belong in children’s books), Figurative language has for some “enlightened” reason been deemed less worthy of God, inferior to its supposed opposite, literal language. In the ancient times this modern concept was non-existent and figurative speech appealed more to the imagination of the people. Myths and fables were used to present just as much truth as wise sayings or proverbs, sometimes more. 

So maybe we should relax a bit… not worry about the 600 or so contradictions in scripture. Not worry that scripture often borrows from mesopotamian mythologies (creation account, flood, leviathon, rahab…etc) or copies and pastes from egyptian wise sayings. Or that the genealogies for Jesus in Matthew and In Luke are completely different, even Joseph’s Father… Or that Chronicles and Isaiah gives different stories and details to Kings -To the extent that in one account God causes David to ‘take the census’ and in the other, Satan causes David to ‘take the census.’ Lots of errors in amounts of chariots or baths certain kings had. Or the obvious one in Mark where Jesus is referring to a story (about Saul and the Priest who gave the temple food to David) and gets the name wrong… says it was the son, when in the old testament it clearly indicates that it was the father… anyway, many many more. (sorry i don’t have a bible on me so i can’t be more specific, but i assure you that these are all legitimate) So what do we do with this? do we fight it? come up with reasonable explanations?! get offended that someone dares to say that the Bible is perhaps filled with human errors? why? – who cares, if your faith is based on these things then maybe it should find a new foundation… one that won’t get knocked down as easily?

“Faith may well be a metaphor, but metaphors unveil truths that would be otherwise hidden in the forests of every-day parlance.” C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkein 

‘Real’ Faith is not supported by reason, by logic, or by necessary information; this way, you can remove all the supporting structures of the Faith, and it still stands unaffected because it wasn’t based on anything tangible or logical. it is based on something intangible, transcendent, a relationship with something beyond human cognition. how could this kind of faith be challenged?

Absolutes: the real fall of humankind…

Being in Jerusalem was an interesting experience for several reasons. i was hoping to get a feeling, to be moved by the historical reality of where i was standing. My entire life has been Christianity – taking it to the point of graduate studies. But since the age of 20 or so, i have been reacting to/against my up-bringing and to this day, much of what i read and study is reactionary… maybe some of you will understand this.

Today i don’t see an answer, i don’t believe in earthly Truth but i do believe in earthly Faith. The Truth is only in that other realm, the one in which Christians and muslims hope to spend an eternity. This earth, for lack of secular wording, is fallen – therefore Truth has taken many ‘fruity’ shapes. The tree in itself is irrelevant – the Ripeness (a.k.a. Taste) of the fruit, according to Jesus, determines the state of the Tree, not the TYPE of fruit – there are many kinds of fruit bearing plants in the world, from bushes to large trees, and many of them bear good fruit (true goodness can only be of God). So maybe we should stop worrying about the Type of Tree AND the Type of Fruit and divert our attention to the amazing array of wonderful/exotic flavors revealed around the world… He is boundless, perhaps this attribute needs to be believed before being so easily spoken…?