tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91010552842920327352024-03-12T21:56:31.887-04:00ModalitiesAlbert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-85498934486934084342022-02-11T08:43:00.002-05:002022-02-11T09:00:26.376-05:00Index of Blog Postings<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><b> INDEX OF BLOG POSTINGS</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> In the Blog Archive column to the right, click on year, then month, then desired title.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus as Self-proclaiming Son of God, Jesus as Self-giving Teacher of Righteousness (February 2022; reposted from February 2019)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On Keeping Hope Alive (January 2022)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fragments on Grace (January 2021)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Gracious Light and Shadows (May 2021)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Music Notes (April 2021)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Sayings of Mirth and Meaning and Maybe Both (April 2021)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus and Immigrants (October 2020)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Appreciation: A Gentle Virtue (August 2020)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"Sure on this Shining Night": Origins and Meanings (July 2020)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Should I Pray for Donald Trump? (June 2020)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Shakespeare on Heads of State (January 2020</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Christian Virtues (January 2020)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Evil Is Always...What? (November 2019)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ultimate Mystery, Ultimate Trust: A Personal View (June 2019)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Christian Caring for the Poor: </span><i>Lectionary</i><span> Disregard for Biblical Foundations (December 2016)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Pistis</i>: Faith as Believing, Faith as Trusting (October 2016)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Three Chorales from Bach's <i>St. Matthew Passion</i>: Cheap Grace and Costly Grace (March 2016)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Boethius on Happiness and Blessedness: A Problem of Misleading Translations (January 2016)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Satie's <i>Kyrie Eleison</i>: Analysis and Arrangement for Piano (November 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Nature of True Virtue</i> by Jonathan Edwards: Tribute to a Man at Odds with Himself (July 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Santayana's <i>Introduction</i> to Spinoza's <i>Ethics</i> (April 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Schleiermacher's Mysticism: A Letter to his Distant Beloved (March 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Word Painting in Bach's <i>Magnificat</i>: Part 1 of 3 (January 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Word Painting in Bach's <i>Magnificat</i>: Part 2 of 3 (January 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Word Painting in Bach's <i>Magnificat</i>: Part 3 of 3 (January 2015)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Reflections on Dying: A Brief Anthology (June 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven: Part 1 of 3 (May 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven: Part 2 of 3 (May 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven: Part 3 of 3 (May 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven: Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall (May 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus's Prayers and Christian Praying (May 2014)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">St.. Augustine on Number, Music, and Faith (December 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Clara Barton: Battlefield Angel, Embattled Spirit (November 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Coleridge on Scripture: "Heart-awakening utterances of human hearts." (November 2013</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Evil is Always...What? (October 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Syrian Crisis: The Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter (September 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Geneva Conventions: What Are They? What Are They Worth? ((September 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Program Notes for Bach's <i>Mass in B Minor</i> (September 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Chartres Cathedral and the Seven Liberal Arts (August 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Holy Wisdom and the Liberal Arts (August 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Isaac Watts: God as "Boundless Unconceivables and Vast Eternity" (August 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Calvin and Copernicus: On Faithful Reasoning and Reasoning Faith (August 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore </i>(July 2013)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why the Title "Modalities"? (July 2013)</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><b>*****</b></span></p>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-2823365514442298362022-02-10T08:10:00.006-05:002022-02-11T10:14:49.925-05:00Jesus as Self-proclaiming Son of God, Jesus as Self-giving Teacher of Righteousness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3ec-oWG_AA9Ncr0yxRPR0jWs3z3Er_NAfQsxp5SSg257yG87RssHmfFwDq9sZewprcRGSuh-Qw6IviX1LvFiwIT3-JK397jywm6mS0bNDcVBWzliyXEVH3a-IxT3Rfxg86lgVDyZ3oJEzW1l03faxaFGuILo9Wliugw4-10_eBN_jYxPRJnRWDzRB9w=s4576" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4576" data-original-width="3035" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3ec-oWG_AA9Ncr0yxRPR0jWs3z3Er_NAfQsxp5SSg257yG87RssHmfFwDq9sZewprcRGSuh-Qw6IviX1LvFiwIT3-JK397jywm6mS0bNDcVBWzliyXEVH3a-IxT3Rfxg86lgVDyZ3oJEzW1l03faxaFGuILo9Wliugw4-10_eBN_jYxPRJnRWDzRB9w=s320" width="212" /></a></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOqs2tDNPFG6FlWafjUQMXSqCwwDW697HUZyX3_HFe_YuJcQI5QJidDW87XHQCeVTsvMOT3DEoS-HMsG63C4aBSja24S73-d28TqhMSgZO1qa1-2XAgnEQsILUBWhyGm8Ht5hRTPgcZEUw2H2nHSs1Yg42lMpTHCoZYN3ngiHHWCWM4rRtNDBPmgmcrA=s590" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOqs2tDNPFG6FlWafjUQMXSqCwwDW697HUZyX3_HFe_YuJcQI5QJidDW87XHQCeVTsvMOT3DEoS-HMsG63C4aBSja24S73-d28TqhMSgZO1qa1-2XAgnEQsILUBWhyGm8Ht5hRTPgcZEUw2H2nHSs1Yg42lMpTHCoZYN3ngiHHWCWM4rRtNDBPmgmcrA=s320" width="163" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The four Gospels of the New Testament are of two kinds. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels, as they "see together" or share a common orientation. The orientation of the Gospel of John is fundamentally different. We can see this difference particularly in the contrasting presentations of Jesus in the Synoptics and in John.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Synoptic Gospels portray Jesus as a paradigm and teacher of righteousness. In Jesus's interactions with his followers, antagonists, and onlookers, he counsels repentance, forgiveness, and righteous living.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus's life and teachings in the Synoptic Gospels offer abundant guidance for righteous living. A partial listing would include<br /></span><ul style="list-style-type: circle;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">showing compassion</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">asking and granting forgiveness</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">loving even persecutors and enemies</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">being humble</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">showing gentleness</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">caring for widows</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">caring for children</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">caring for the hungry and thirsty</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">caring for strangers</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">visiting the imprisoned</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">lending to the needy</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">giving alms to the poor</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">guarding against lust</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">guarding against hypocrisy</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">tempering justice with mercy</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">avoiding public display when praying and fasting</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">turning the other cheek when struck</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">making peace</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">cultivating a pure heart</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">recognizing the moral dangers of wealth</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">refraining from swearing</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">not bearing false witness</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">judging not that we be not judged</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">doing to others as we would be done by them</span></li></ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In John's Gospel we find a sharp contrast. John contains none of this rich Synoptic vocabulary of righteousness—humility, forgiveness, caring for strangers, and the rest: none of this language at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What does Jesus talk about with his followers, antagonists, and onlookers, if not righteousness? He talks mostly about himself, particularly about himself as Son of God. Some examples:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me" (John 6.44, <i>New Revised Standard Version</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me" (7.28–29).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The Father and I are one" (10.30).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (14.11).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> "Now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed." (17.5)<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus also speaks of himself in numerous assertions beginning with "I am" (Greek: ἐγώ εἰμι).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the bread of life" (6.35, 48).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the living bread that came down from heaven" (6.51).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the light of the world" (8.12).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am he [the Son of Man]" (8.24).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the good shepherd" (10.11, 14).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (14.6).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower" (15.1).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Synoptics, in contrast, record no Jesus sayings of the form "I am" + predicate nominative.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Readers might acknowledge that the Synoptics and John present Jesus in quite different ways and conclude from this that the two accounts are complementary—that is, that we have a fuller portrait from the two perspectives than we would have from either perspective alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But this is too simple. At crucial points the images of Jesus in the Synoptics and in John are not complementary but contradictory:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him" (John 8.29).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <i>versus<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A man ran up and knelt before him [Jesus] and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone" (Mark 10.18; also Matthew 19.17 and Luke 18.19).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The woman [encountering Jesus at Jacob's well] said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming. ...When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you" (John 4.25–26).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <i>versus</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He [Jesus] asked them [his disciples], "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he [Jesus] sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him (Mark 8.29–30; also Matthew 16.20 and Luke 9.21).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father" (John 5.22-23).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <i>versus</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6.37; also Matthew 7.1–2).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me" (John 11.41–42).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <i>versus</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray...so that they may be seen by others. ...But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matthew 6.5–6).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Though John includes none of the Synoptic vocabulary of righteousness, John's Jesus does instruct his disciples to obey his commandments:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love" (15.10).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus tells the disciples to wash the feet of others, Jesus himself setting an example (13.2–5). Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples to love one another (13.34–35; 15.12–17). And he charges his disciples to "feed my lambs" and "tend my sheep" (21.15–17). These commandments, however, are directed to those within the fold of Jesus's believers. They are not presented as righteous directives for Jesus's disciples to follow in relating to persons outside their sheepfold gate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">John's Jesus is a severe gatekeeper. Only believers in what Jesus has said about himself are granted admittance. Others are shut out. His antagonists ask him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus responds:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish" (10.24–30).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The sheepfold's exclusivity is explicit throughout John's Gospel. Eternal life is only for those who believe Jesus's claim that he is God's Son. On this point the good shepherd's language can be shrill:<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Those who believe in him [the Son of God] are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (3.18).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (3.36).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits...." (10.7).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (14.6).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />John's gospel is a textbook of closed boundaries; the Synoptics are textbooks of open boundaries. John portrays Jesus as a shepherd intent on herding sheep into his protective fold. The Synoptics portray Jesus as a shepherd who leaves his flock—not secure in a sheepfold, but at risk "on the mountains" and "in the wilderness"—to rescue a straying sheep (Matthew 18.12–14 and Luke 15.3–7). Jesus sends his disciples forth to "all nations" (Matthew 28:19) to "proclaim the kingdom of God and to cure diseases" (Luke 9.1).<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the course of his Gospel, John seeks to confirm Jesus's claim to be the Son of God by detailing a series of miraculous "signs," such as changing water into wine, performing healings, feeding a crowd of 5,000, and raising people from the dead. Near the close of his Gospel, John states explicitly that his purpose in writing has been to present these "signs" so that readers will come to believe Jesus's claims about himself:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (20.30–31).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the Synoptics, Jesus explicitly refuses to give signs:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation" (Mark 8.11–12; see also Matthew 12.38–39, 16.1-4, and Luke 11:29).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">John is fixated on public miracles that can induce belief (4:54). In contrast, the Synoptics portray Jesus as taking deliberate measures to keep healing private:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They brought to him a deaf man.... Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. [There Jesus restores the man's hearing.] Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one.... (Mark 7:32–36)</span></div></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. [There Jesus restores the man's sight.] Then he sent him away to his home, saying, "Do not even go into the village" (Mark 8.22–26).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Synoptics picture Jesus healing people and feeding crowds, not as signs to induce belief, but as acts of compassion in response to human need.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="color: #001320; font-size: medium;">When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9.36).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="color: #001320; font-size: medium;">When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick (Matthew 14.14).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="color: #001320; font-size: medium;">Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way" (Matthew 15.32).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="color: #001320; font-size: medium;">Moved with compassion [for two blind strangers], Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him (Matthew 20.34).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; tab-stops: 463.5pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #001320;">In revealing contrast, nowhere in his Gospel does John find occasion </span>to use the word "compassion" (σπλαγχνίζομαι). In the Synoptics "compassion" occurs eight times. </span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The four Gospels present us with a contrast between correct believing and righteous living. I admire the host of Christians who embrace both sides of this contrast, living exemplary lives of inspiriting belief inseparable from compassionate caring.<br /><br />In my experience, however, many Christians focus on John to the neglect of the Synoptics. The result can be persons confident that professing belief in Jesus as the only Son of God has secured their place in the fold of the saved, once for all and exclusively, with no particular imperatives of righteousness at the core. I think this kind of confidence offers one key to the puzzle of how Christian voters can continue to support political leaders who seem to lack any moral core.<br /><br />One commentator has said that the Gospel of John has exerted an influence on Christian theology that is "profound and pervasive" (<i>Mercer Dictionary of the Bible</i>, p.460). I would add that in too many instances John's influence is peremptory and precluding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It seems to me that fidelity to the Gospel texts requires Christians to come to honest terms with the distinction between John's self-proclaiming Jesus who restricts eternal life to those who believe his claim to be the only Son of God, and the Synoptics' self-giving Jesus who models and counsels righteous living as the way of God's Kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><br /></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-50742887608407520962022-01-23T09:14:00.004-05:002022-01-24T09:06:07.470-05:00On Keeping Hope Alive<p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3c1uGbwr7ajjSa-XA12Bn2kCzh4XV08kxYfOwHiLfjP-kaQ5PrT3k-gQDWU8GeZs1SK2j0xl0MAFYmrlT2bkYZCaUJfiEfR53o546H2yj4znIdMAqYrno1qRL7lzfCekqdwUfmfdIsCu/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3c1uGbwr7ajjSa-XA12Bn2kCzh4XV08kxYfOwHiLfjP-kaQ5PrT3k-gQDWU8GeZs1SK2j0xl0MAFYmrlT2bkYZCaUJfiEfR53o546H2yj4znIdMAqYrno1qRL7lzfCekqdwUfmfdIsCu/s16000/Screen+Shot+2022-01-16+at+1.39.35+PM.jpeg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Albrecht Dürer<i>, Melancholia </i>(1514)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Kenneth Clark writes:</span><span> "In the Middle Ages melancholia meant a simple combination of sloth, boredom and despondency that must have been common in an illiterate society.... This figure is humanity at its most evolved, with wings to carry her upwards. She holds in her hands the compasses, symbols of measurement by which science will conquer the world. Around her are all the emblems of constructive action: a saw, a plane, pincers, scales, a hammer, a melting pot, and two elements in solid geometry, a polyhedron and sphere. Yet all these aids to construction are discarded and she sits there brooding on the futility of human effort. Her obsessive stare reflects some deep psychic disturbance. ...Here, in Dürer's prophetic vision, is one more way in which civilisation can be destroyed, from within." (<i>Civilisation: A Personal View</i>, Harper & Row, 1969, pp. 152, 155.)</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">*****</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a time—it must have been when I was younger—when I was often wrong about global affairs but rarely in doubt. Things were simpler back then. I took a stand opposed to most everything supported by the Republican Party, and took a stand in favor of most everything supported by the Democratic Party.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now our nation has more guns than people, and our campaign expenditures have no limits. Global issues—from pandemic to immigration, from global warming to ocean pollution—are paralyzing partisan politics, both national and international. I find myself asking "What would Greta do?" I don't understand filibusters or cryptocurrencies. I feel threatened by fear and despair.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Yet I am convinced that the false confidence I once had and today's threat of despair both betray spiritual attitudes appropriate to religious life.</span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Here I am a Christian indebted to the Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In his <i>Ethics</i> (1677) Spinoza inquires into differences between <i>fear</i> and <i>despair, </i>and<i> </i>into<i> </i>differences between <i>hope</i> and <i>confidence</i>. In both cases, he writes, the differences depend upon the presence or absence of <i>certainty</i>.</span><span> </span><span>[Footnote 1]</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Spinoza defines <i>confidence</i> as "a positive feeling arising from <i>certainty</i> concerning some desired outcome." Remove the <i>certainty</i>, he writes, and <i>confidence</i> becomes <i>hope.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Despair,</i> he writes, is "a negative feeling arising from <i>certainty </i>concerning some undesired outcome." Remove the <i>certainty</i>, and <i>despair</i> becomes <i>fear.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Spinoza believes that as finite creatures we can never be <i>certain</i> of outcomes. Therefore, <i>confidence</i> and <i>despair</i>—both presupposing <i>certainty—</i>are unrealistic states of mind.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">In contrast, <i>hope</i> and <i>fear—</i>both admitting <i>uncertainty—</i>are realistic states of mind.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">I take heart from Spinoza's description of <i>hope</i> and <i>fear </i>as realistic, as opposed to unrealistic <i>confidence</i> and <i>despair</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">In traditional Christian lists, <i>hope</i> is named as a virtue, but <i>confidence</i> is not. In traditional Christian lists <i>despair</i> is named as a vice, but <i>fear</i> is not.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Celebrating the story of Christ's coming into history, Christians can therefore sing "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight" </span><i>Hopes</i><span> and </span><i>fears</i><span> are realistic. We can live with them. Not so with presumptuous <i>confidence</i> and existential <i>despair</i>.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In his mid-18th century poem "Eloisa to Abelard,"Alexander Pope </span><span>describes melancholic despair: </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> </span>Melancholy sits, and round her throws</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> </span>A death-like silence and dread repose...." </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>"Death-like silence and dread repose...." The contagious symptoms of despair are <i>silence</i> and <i>inactivity</i>. </span>It follows that the remedies for despair are speaking out and taking actions. How are we to accomplish this?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">A paramount way is by means of our voluntary associations.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville toured America and in 1824 and 1840 published a monumental two-volume report he titled <i>Democracy in America</i>. In the United States he was exceptionally struck by what he calls "intellectual and moral associations":</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations...religious, moral, serious, futile, extensive or restricted, enormous or diminutive. The Americans make associations to give entertainments, to found establishments for education, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the antipodes..., to found hospitals, prisons, and schools.... Nothing, in my opinion, is more deserving of our attention than the intellectual and moral associations of America. ...We have hardly ever seen anything of the kind. </span><span>[Footnote 2]</span></span></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In a 2021 fact sheet titled <i>Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in the United States, </i>o</span>ur US State Department echoes de Tocqueville:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">NGOs represent virtually every conceivable ideology, political cause, religion, social issue, and interest group.... Indeed, NGOs exist to represent virtually every cause imaginable.</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">Then this dumbfounding State Department disclosure:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Approximately 1.5 million NGOs operate in the United States. </b>(My emphasis.)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;"> No excuses: we can pick as we wish<span>!</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span>For years I have admired and supported the </span><i>Friends Committee on National Legislation. </i><span>FCNL is an NGO composed of two distinct organizations: a lobbying organization and a charitable organization.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are FCNL words of self-definition:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.</span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> We seek a society with equity and justice for all.</span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span><span><span> </span><span> We </span></span></span></span><span>s</span><span>eek a community where every person's potential m</span></span><span>ay be fulfilled.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> We seek an earth restored.</span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">The FCNL website offers specific educational and service opportunities in great number and variety:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Census accuracy and inclusivity / Deportations / Discrepancies of wealth / Economic justice / Environment and energy / Gun violence and prevention / Hunger at home and abroad / Immigrants and refugees / Involvement of religious congregations / Justice reform / Letters and visits to Senators and Representatives / Local lobbying / Middle East peace and justice / Native American justice / Nuclear weapons / Shutting down the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility / An annual Lobby Weekend of Advocacy and Action in Washington DC / Threats to our democracy / US poverty alleviation / US militarism and wars / Elections and voting / Youth participation / and more.</span></span></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">FCNL is an NGO that particularly impresses me. Other citizens will of course choose differently. But none of us can complain of a lack of options.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, <i>Melancholy</i>! Lift your scowling face from your fist. Put to use the instruments of knowledge that surround you. Keep hope alive by joining NGOs where members make donations, share hopes and fears, speak out, and take actions.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>*****</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Postscript</i>: Professor James Luther Adams (1901–1994), one of the preeminent Christian social ethicists of the 20th century, took pleasure in quoting Christ's words in Matthew 7:16 and 20: "You will know them by their fruits." Then he would parody with a twinkle: "You will know them by their <i>groups</i>."</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>*****</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Footnote 1. <i>Ethics</i>, Part II, Prop. XLIX, Note. <i>Ethics</i>, Part III, Prop. XVIII, Note II. <i>Ethics,</i> Props. XIV–XV, <i>Explanation.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Footnote 2. </span><i>Democracy in America</i>, Volume 2, Section 2, Chapter 5.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-1696348818821489732021-12-01T15:13:00.000-05:002021-12-01T15:13:50.169-05:00Fragments on Grace<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zbCJk7o9ZXlz4VkuOnUYxVgPrAyqp2UqOLycQTNF3n9lFa4pmbGD1a0r9BUsqRtfS06WZldMH-Kkbb-OueZBpeo0jbwOLgs66MGCAZDevLXEqRi6nA6hi3bMxdqA5Kb7LjtgmUqQfZaQ/s1231/DPF+1+-+118+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1231" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zbCJk7o9ZXlz4VkuOnUYxVgPrAyqp2UqOLycQTNF3n9lFa4pmbGD1a0r9BUsqRtfS06WZldMH-Kkbb-OueZBpeo0jbwOLgs66MGCAZDevLXEqRi6nA6hi3bMxdqA5Kb7LjtgmUqQfZaQ/w640-h400/DPF+1+-+118+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">When despair for the world grows in me,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I come into the presence of still water.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For a time I rest in the grace of the world,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">and am free.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> ~Wendell Berry</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">Within the past year two friends have independently asked me whether I can explain the religious concept of "grace." I've had to reply "not really." The best I've been able do is to assemble this collection of sentences containing the word "grace."</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Fragments on Grace</span></b></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Hope for the world's despair:<br />we feel the nations' pain;<br />can anything repair<br />this broken earth again?<br />For this we pray:<br />in every place<br />a spark of grace<br />to light the way.<br /> ~Ally Barret<br /><br />Grace strikes us when we are in great pain. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying "You are accepted."<br /> ~Paul Tillich<br /><br />The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you.<br /> ~Frederick Buechner<br /><br />I recognize the delivery of grace to my day, even if I cannot identify a specific return address.<br /> ~Mary Anne Radmacher<br /><br />Grace is a power that comes in and transforms a moment into something better.<br /> ~Caroline Myss<br /><br />You can have the other words—chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it.<br /> ~Mary Oliver<br /><br />We are born broken. We live by mending. The grace of God is glue.<br /> ~Eugene O'Neill<br /><br />Grace is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them.<br /> ~Saint Augustine<br /><br />For me, every hour is grace.<br /> ~Elie Wiesel<br /><br />I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.<br /> ~Edward Everett Hale<br /><br />The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy.<br /> ~Martin Luther<br /><br />To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness.<br /> ~Eckhart Tolle</span><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Knowing the odds against your unique birth,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">the small chance your step would be directed</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">my way or that I would be selected</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">by you from all the women on earth,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">aware of how often couples are pulled apart</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">by accidental sources of distress,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">circumstances none before could guess</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">who celebrated their propitious start,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">how can I set our table without awe?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">We eat and do the dishes, one ritual</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">of many. Yet what seems to be habitual</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">is daily thrown by probability's law.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">That by my side is your most likely place</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">remains for me what I know best of grace.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Marian Willard Blackwell</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to our efforts will flood the soul.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Simone Weil</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Karl Barth</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">The wind of divine grace is always blowing. You just need to spread your sail. Whenever you do anything, do it with your whole heart concentrated on it. Think day and night, I am of the essence of that Supreme Being-Consciouosness-Bliss. What fear and anxiety have I?</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Swami Vivekananda</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Sense of sin may be often great and more felt than grace; yet not be more than grace.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Thomas Adams</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Above all, live in the present moment and God will give you all the grace you need.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Francois Fenelon</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Sometimes our brains are our own worst enemy because grace isn't logical.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Judah Smith</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">It is rash to intrude upon the piety of others: both the depth and grace of it elude the stranger.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~George Santayana</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">You cannot predict when grace takes place; you can only wait.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Mata Amritanandamayi</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Each season brings a world of enjoyment and interest in the watching of its unfolding, its gradual harmonious development, its culminating graces—and just as one begins to tire of it, it passes away and a radical change comes, with new witcheries and new glories in its train.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Mark Twain</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">It seems to me one cannot sit down in the Round Reading Room of the British Museum without a heart full of grateful reverence. I own to have said my grace at the table, and to have thanked Heaven for my English birthright, freely to partake of these beautiful books, and speak the truth I find there.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~William Makepeace Thackeray</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Grace is something you can never get but only be given.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Frederick Buechner</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">You cannot beat the clock. My advice is to grab your moments of grace and enjoy them while they last.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~Amy Dickinson</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Amid countless everyday miracles, I come in contact with something greater than myself and realize I am a part of it. I move in wonder through inspiration, reverence, gratitude, interconnectedness, transcendence, and grace.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"> ~John Paul Caponigro</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center;"><b>*****</b></div><br /></span><br /></div></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-85418900534249627532021-05-07T11:48:00.000-04:002021-05-07T11:48:25.874-04:00Gracious Light and Shadow<span style="font-size: large;">Awaiting an expected phone call on a recent afternoon, I lay back on the bed in my Study and was struck by this color-and-shadow pattern on the ceiling:</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Qs5Nr9aFUPhgAcQMsHS76cvfqVQErFiIDfUf5HmAW8c7NlLYvYvlks_0nJkueIf9Z-P20ocTkelgfbOVu5G7KVGFQgDGEYCKa-xmLQaHt217ATq7_Q0gX77RRr1tD8pyHFzCCUD2TTDd/s1280/DSC01231.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1280" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Qs5Nr9aFUPhgAcQMsHS76cvfqVQErFiIDfUf5HmAW8c7NlLYvYvlks_0nJkueIf9Z-P20ocTkelgfbOVu5G7KVGFQgDGEYCKa-xmLQaHt217ATq7_Q0gX77RRr1tD8pyHFzCCUD2TTDd/w640-h488/DSC01231.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I've tried to understand the dynamics of this complex pattern. Here's what I think.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">On the left, the main source of light is my Study window, transmitting relatively cool, blueish daylight.<br /><br />On the right, the main source of light is a lamp on my desk, with a warmish bulb and a yellowish lampshade, resulting in an orangish hue.<br /><br />On the vertical walls in the photo we can see the basic blue and orange.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Each of the light sources was casting a shadow of the fan onto the ceiling. A shadow is a darkening, and darkening intensifies color that is otherwise pale. Thus the shadows appeared bluer and oranger than their unshadowed backgrounds.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Orange light from the desk lamp was being blocked by the fan blades, and the resulting shadow was therefore a darkening of predominantly ambient blue light. Thus the darkened shadow looked blue.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, the blue light transmitted by the window was being blocked by the fan blades, and the resulting shadow was a darkening of predominantly ambient orange light. Thus the darkened shadow looked orange.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />At three locations the blue and orange shadows crossed paths. These crossings are brown—the simple combination of blue + orange.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In my blog posting of April 6, I quoted Hans Küng: "</span>This is grace: new chances in life." </span><span style="font-size: large;">The color-and-shadow dynamics on my ceiling have been for me a form of grace: new delight in life.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>*****</b></span></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-25342120767391745292021-04-18T09:33:00.000-04:002021-04-18T09:33:31.943-04:00Music Notes<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQxktnQ7sy61NqpUFSVG60fHKnwqB_q6pIBGCPxdvVNklGODL_mGvxtk97aGV3r49OI4NVXIsU85vvlVM3y14ku4ZW-Oi01grn1bD1t6sslSbwJ0AfKp0xtW0wLPcLzh5RuQqXk5a1jZy/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="875" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQxktnQ7sy61NqpUFSVG60fHKnwqB_q6pIBGCPxdvVNklGODL_mGvxtk97aGV3r49OI4NVXIsU85vvlVM3y14ku4ZW-Oi01grn1bD1t6sslSbwJ0AfKp0xtW0wLPcLzh5RuQqXk5a1jZy/" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. (Documented in <i>The Ultimate Quotable Einstein</i>, ed. Alice Calaprice, p.237.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I get most joy in life out of my violin. (<i>The Ultimate Quotable Einstein</i>, p.237.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">To know the cause why music was ordain'd!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Was it not to refresh the mind of man</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">After his studies or his usual pain? </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>(Shakespeare, <i>The Taming of the Shrew</i>, Act III, Scene 1.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In sweet music is such art,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Killing care and grief of heart....</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>(Shakespeare, <i>King Henry VIII</i>, Act III, Scene 1.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mathematics is music for the mind;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Music is mathematics for the soul.</i></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">It is no accident that medieval scholars in organizing their curriculum placed music along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy in the quadrivium. (Donald E. Hall, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Musical Acoustics</i><span style="text-align: left;">, Brooks/Cole Publishing, p.444.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br />Music is universal, crosses cultural, historical, and intellectual boundaries, and is grounded in mathematics. Mathematics is also universal, crosses cultural, historical, and intellectual boundaries, and is reflected in music. The interconnectedness of math and music pulsates and sings with a rhythm and harmony of its own. (Trudi Hammel Garland and Charity Vaughan Kahn, eds., </span><i>Math and Music: Harmonious Connections</i>, p.5.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Mozart is universal. One marvels again and again how everything comes to expression in him: heaven and earth, nature and man, comedy and tragedy, passion in all its forms and the most profound inner peace, the Virgin Mary and the demons, the church mass, the curious solemnity of the Freemasons and the dance hall, ignorant and sophisticated people, cowards and heroes (genuine or bogus), the faithful and the faithless, aristocrats and peasants, Papageno and Sarastro. And he seems to concern himself with each of these in turn not only partially but fully; rain and sunshine fall on all. This is reflected, I think, in the utterly lovely but always, it seems, effortless and inevitable way in which he shapes and arranges the relationship among human voices, or in the concertos between the reigning solo instrument and the accompanying strings and wind instruments—which never merely accompany. Can one ever listen enough to what happens in a Mozart orchestra, how the components are introduced, unexpected but always with perfect timing in their own height or depth and tone color? It is as though in a small segment the whole universe bursts into song because evidently the man Mozart has apprehended the cosmos and now, functioning only as a medium, brings it into song! (Karl Barth, <i>Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</i>, Eerdmans Publishing, pp.34–5.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Mozart's music is not, in contrast to that of Bach, a message, and not, in contrast to that of Beethoven, a personal confession. He does not reveal in his music any doctrine and certainly not himself.... Mozart does not wish to say anything: he just sings and sounds. (Karl Barth, <i>Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,</i> p.37.)<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Of Mozart's more than sixty pieces of church music, one need think only of the C Minor Mass, the Credo Mass or the Coronation Mass, and also of the <i>Ave verum corpus </i>from the end of his life, which in the intense expressiveness of its melody and chromatic harmony can show how music itself can be worship. (Hans Küng, <i>Mozart: Traces of Transcendence</i>, Eerdmans Publishing, p.31.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The mysteries of <i>Ave verum corpus</i> are embodied in subtle gestures.... Mozart stages the great Christian mystery of corporeal pain and spiritual redemption as a ravishing, yet quietly personal, revelation. Within the world of <i>Ave verum corpus,</i> the word of God is a whisper in your ear, a rustle in your blood, a breath. (Scott Burnham, <i>Mozart's Grace</i>, Princeton University Press, p.75.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Whoever has discovered Mozart even to a small degree and then tries to speak about him falls quickly into what seems rapturous stammering. (Karl Barth, <i>Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</i>, p.27.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Claudio Abbado, conductor, to a young pianist preparing Mozart: "Keep it simple; don't make it beautiful." "But it <i>is</i> beautiful." "Yes: that's my point." (Documentation unknown.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Here [at the Opera] it was that Emmy found her delight, and was introduced for the first time to the wonders of Mozart and Cimarosa. The Major's musical taste has been before alluded to, and his performances on the flute commended. But perhaps the chief pleasure he had in the operas was in watching Emmy's rapture while listening to them. A new world of love and beauty broke upon her when she was introduced to those divine compositions: this lady had the keenest and finest sensibility, and how could she be indifferent when she heard Mozart? The tender parts of <i>Don Juan</i> awakened in her raptures so exquisite that she would ask herself when she went to say her prayers of a night, whether it was not wicked to feel so much delight? But the Major, whom she consulted upon this head, as her theological adviser (and who himself had a pious and reverent soul), said that, for his part, every beauty of art or nature made him thankful as well as happy; and that the pleasure to be had in listening to fine music, as in looking at the stars in the sky, or at a beautiful landscape or picture, was a benefit for which we might thank Heaven as sincerely as for any other worldly blessing. (William Makepeace Thackeray, <i>Vanity Fair</i>, chapter 61.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The ear changes with the generations, and what is cacophony to me may well draw tears down the cheeks of my nephews and nieces; so I will confine myself to affirming that poetry which renounces the singing quality plucks its own wings. (Sir Edward Marsh, quoted in <i>Musical America</i>, January, 1991).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Music is the art most nigh to tears and memory. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Certain strains of music affect me so strangely; I can never hear them without their changing my whole attitude of mind for a time, and if the effect would last, I might be capable of heroisms. (George Eliot, <i>The Mill on the Floss,</i> Bk.5, Ch.1— the character Philip speaking.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs, and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music. At other times one is conscious of carrying a weight. (Eliot, <i>The Mill on the Floss, </i>Bk.6, Ch.3 — the character Maggie speaking.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">There is no feeling, perhaps, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music. (Eliot, <i>The Mill on the Floss</i>, Bk.6, Ch.7, the author's observation.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">But Maggie, who had little more power of concealing the impressions made upon her than if she had been constructed of musical strings, felt her eyes getting larger with tears. (Eliot, <i>The Mill on the Floss</i>, Bk.6, Ch.7.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">There is nothing in the world more like prayer than music. (Source unknown.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Unto Thy word so tunèd let me be,<br />That in each part I may thereto agree.<br />They sing and play the songs which best Though lov'st,<br />Who do and say the things which Thou approv'st.<br /><br />Teach me the strain that calmeth minds enraged,<br />And which from vain affections doth recall.<br />So to the choir where angels music make<br />I may aspire when I this life forsake.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>(Poem attributed to William Austin, 1587–1634.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>...May I reach<br />That purest heaven, be to other souls<br />The cup of strength in some great agony,<br />Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,<br />Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,<br />Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,<br />And in diffusion ever more intense!<br />So shall I join the choir invisible<br />Whose music is the gladness of the world.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> (</span>George Eliot, "O May I Join the Choir Invisible")</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">O God, whose voice is as the sound of many waters,<br />thou hast bidden us to worship thee with the sound of the trumpet,<br />with psaltery and harp, with stringed instruments and organs,<br />and to be glad in thee and to shout for joy:<br />Help us to contrive by all means to set forth thy most worthy praise,<br />that our art may be tuned to thy glory.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> (J</span>ohn Robert Walmsley Stott, alt., documentation unknown.)<br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A painter paints pictures on canvas. Musicians paint their pictures on silence. (Leopold Stokowski, documentation unknown.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. (Aldous Huxley, "The Rest Is Silence," in <i>Music at Night and Other Essays</i>.)</span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Music’s ability to express the inexpressible was recognized by the greatest of all verbal artists. The man who wrote <i>Othello</i> and <i>The Winter’s Tale</i> was capable of uttering in words whatever words can possibly be made to signify. And yet...whenever something in the nature of a mystical emotion or intuition had to be communicated, Shakespeare regularly called upon music to help him to "put it across." (<i>Ibid</i>.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">When the inexpressible had to be expressed, Shakespeare laid down his pen and called for music. And if the music should also fail? Well, there was always silence to fall back on. For always, always and everywhere, the rest is silence. (<i>Ibid</i>.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Who hears music, feels solitude peopled at once. (Robert Browning, "A Transcript from Euripides.")<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />When we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present. (Alan Watts, documentation unknown.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them. (Alan Watts, documentation unknown.)<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">From Einstein's dedication of the Wall of Fame at the 1938–39 World's Fair in New York: "To the Negro and his wonderful songs and choirs we are indebted for the finest contribution in the realm of art which America has so far given the world." (<i>The Ultimate Quotable Einstein</i>, pp.311–12.)</span><div></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In 1926 Einstein was invited to participate in the First International Congress for Sexual Research, to play one of the violin parts in a Brahms String Sextet. His answer: "Unfortunately I don't feel I'm in a position, on the strength of either my sexual or musical abilities, to accept your kind invitation." (<i>The Ultimate Quotable Einstein</i>, p.236.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Even if one loves to play<br />One's little fiddle night and day<br />It's not right to broadcast it<br />Lest the list'ners scoff at it.<br />If you scratch with all your might—<br />Which is certainly your right—<br />Then bring down the windowpane<br />So the neighbors don't complain.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> (A verse composed by Einstein and sent to his friend, the mathematician Emil Hilb, 1939; </span>translated by Alice Calaprice, <i>Ultimate Quotable Einstein</i>, 466.)<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />"Violins"<br /><br />The violins have been gregarious<br />Right from the time of Stradivarius<br />And in the worst orchestral weather<br />They like to string along together<br />Producing tones, both high and deep,<br />From hair of horse on gut of sheep.<br />And yet to play the violin<br />One has to take it on the chin;<br />But violinists take a chance<br />Because they know it brings romance.<br />With shaking head and swaying hip<br />Thus handily the gypsies gyp—<br />Thus easily the fiddlers can<br />Bring life and love to any man—<br />And so we see, from this tirade,<br />Why Rome burned up when Nero played.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span> (</span>Laurence McKinney, <i>People of Note</i>, Crowell-Collier Publishing, 1940.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Einstein can't be blamed for this one!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span>A rare recording of Einstein playing his violin—the 2nd movement of Mozart's </span><i>Sonata</i><span> in B-flat major KV378—is at </span><span face="system-ui, sans-serif"><a href="https://bit.ly/3wQ1hOJ" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3wQ1hOJ</a> .</span></span></div><div><span><span face="system-ui, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">*****</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><p></p></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-1554094191179921102021-04-06T10:27:00.002-04:002021-04-07T17:45:54.371-04:00Sayings of Mirth and Meaning and Maybe Both<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
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</span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LIm_1YnPgDVZ-13_AE_F-roVOU35ufj6trcYyfQAzmVgbhXIqYSBt1mzcJMp-W_N0IHtLrbBso6WIlcavZVjoaogKeRgu9k9IR6DpDMfjp2eTSHPzzJT28XguPWBSEtTOH2u2-VfqKb2/s1280/IMG_3304.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LIm_1YnPgDVZ-13_AE_F-roVOU35ufj6trcYyfQAzmVgbhXIqYSBt1mzcJMp-W_N0IHtLrbBso6WIlcavZVjoaogKeRgu9k9IR6DpDMfjp2eTSHPzzJT28XguPWBSEtTOH2u2-VfqKb2/w331-h307/IMG_3304.jpeg" width="331" /></span></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Steeple and Paraglider</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lake Bohini, Slovenia</span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Since
college days I have collected sayings that I find edifying and entertaining. My
file contains scores of cards, dashed off with no concern for careful documentation
and no thought of ever sharing—till now. As a result, the fifty sayings that I
share here are often loosely documented or undocumented. I offer my thanks and,
where necessary, my apologies to the originators</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>~</i>~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Vital religion is like good music: it needs no defense, only
rendition. A wrangling controversy in support of religion is as if the members
of an orchestra should beat folks over the head with their violins to prove
that the music is beautiful. Play the music! (Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Church marquee: "Tithe. Anyone can honk." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A prig is a person whose opinions we always know, though we
never ask.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is the part of wisdom not to bewail nor to deride, but to
understand. (Benedict Spinoza, <i>Ethics</i>) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">An Amish man is asked, "Are you saved?" He
responds, "I'm not the one to ask. Ask people who know me." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Peace is not an end to differences; it is a way of dealing
with differences. (Roger Fisher, <i>Harvard Magazine</i>, March-April 2004) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Confusion we can clear up. Mystery we cannot. Be clear, and
revere mystery. (Scott Russell Sanders) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The best things in life are not things. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't believe everything you think. (Allan Lokos) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our world neglects vastly too many people, leaving them to
swallow their tears and live on the salt.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Savoring the world and saving the world are profoundly
connected. (E. B. White) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Devil comes to a Legislator and says, "I can offer
you unlimited special interest money, money impossible to trace; in return I
ask for your soul and the souls of your children." The Legislator ponders
for a moment and asks, "What's the catch?" </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The only remedy for the irreversibility of history is
forgiveness. (Hannah Arendt) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We must tangibilitate the Gospel. (Father Divine)<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">To tell a lie is easy. To tell only one lie is difficult. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Reality is that which, when you don't believe in it, doesn't
go away. (Peter Viereck) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is grace: new chances in life. (Rev. Hans Küng, <i>On
Being a Christian</i>) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">What right have you to be scornful, whose virtue is
but a deficiency of temptation. (William Makepeace Thackeray, <i>Vanity Fair</i>) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Seven Social Sins:</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Wealth without works</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Pleasure without conscience</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> Knowledge without character</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> Commerce without morality</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> Science without humanity</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> Worship without sacrifice</span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Politics without principle</span></span></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">(From a sermon by Rev. Frederick Lewis Donaldson, Westminster
Abbey, March 20, 1925; promulgated by Mahatma Gandhi.) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We must build that kind of society where it is easier for
people to be good. (Peter Maurin, often quoted by Dorothy Day) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">As far as I can tell, the only time Jesus wants people in
the closet is when they are praying. (Rev. Dan Ivins, referring to Matthew 6:6) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A text out of context becomes a pretext. (Rev. Jesse
Jackson) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Church should comfort the afflicted and afflict the
comfortable. (Adapted by Martin Marty from a saying about newspapers.) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic?
Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but we must take it because conscience tells us it is right. (Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr., speech at the Poor People's March in Washington DC, 1968)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The trickle-down theory of economics is at variance with the
prophetic message "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:24) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have
forgotten your aim. (George Santayana, <i>Life of Reason</i>) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Liberal democracy must be more than just the Market plus elections, (Václav Havel) </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">O God, Protect me from your followers. (Bumper sticker) </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The problem with much Christian mission work is that it's
all mouth and no ears. (Prof. Diana Eck) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Christian discipleship: a realistic, reverent, reconciling
life of service. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I wonder if Muslims look at us and think, "You're going
to have to look a lot more redeemed before I'll believe in your redeemer."
(Rev. William Willimon)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">A raindrop plunged in greyness may not know </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">when God bends light within to make a bow. (Marian Willard Blackwell)
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you
care. (Teddy Roosevelt)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We have to believe in free will. We have no choice. (Isaac
Bashevis Singer) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A sense of mystery keeps strength gentle and certitude
vulnerable. (John Dominic Crossan) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The problem with ideology: it does not represent or conform
to or even address reality. It is a straight-edge ruler in a fractal universe.
(Marilynne Robinson) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a
personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by
the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond
all reason. (Dag Hammarskjöld, <i>Markings</i>) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Being a pacifist between wars is like being a vegetarian
between meals. (Ammon Hennacy) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deal kindly with us, O Lord, deal kindly,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">for we have suffered insult enough;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">for too long have we had to suffer the insults of the wealthy,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the scorn of proud men. (Psalm 123:4–5, The New English Bible)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are not punished for our sins, but by them. (Elbert
Hubbard) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have always been thinking of the different ways in which
Christianity is taught, and whenever I find one way that makes it a wider
blessing than any other, I cling to that as the truest—I mean that which takes
in the most good of all kinds and brings in the most people as sharers. It is
surely better to pardon too much than to condemn too much. (George Eliot, <i>Middlemarch</i>) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Political activist and community organizer Virginia Walker
Broughton was told by her husband "You need to stay home." She
replied, "I've had a talk with God. God told me this is my calling. I have
to do this. So you and God work this out." (Told by Prof. Evelyn Brooks
Higginbotham in <i>The Black Church</i>, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We know that it is wrong to cheat, to steal, to lie; that
people are precious in the sight of God and must always be treated as such;
that manners matter; that kindness counts; that knowledge is superior to
ignorance; and that the simplest courtesies are superior to the most
sophisticated arguments. (Rev. Peter Gomes, welcoming service for new students,
Harvard University Memorial Church) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A reporter asked Rev. Hoyt Blackwell, President of Mars Hill
College, about rumors of friction among the faculty. He answered: "Yes, we
have enough friction to give us traction." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are of one heart but of two minds. (Rev. William Sloan
Coffin, Jr. on discussions of homosexuality at New York's Riverside Church) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Several friends visited W. C. Fields at a sanatorium where
he had gone after a bad binge. They were astounded to find him sitting up in
bed reading the Bible. When they asked why he was reading that particular book,
Fields replied: "Looking for loopholes." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wisdom from the movies:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>"God loves you just as you are, and loves you too much
to leave you that way." (<i>Junebug</i>) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>"Sometimes we must just keep on living until we feel
alive again." (<i>Call the Midwife</i>) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>"Do your best each day, and see what tomorrow brings."
(<i>Riding the Bus with My Sister</i>) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>"Have courage and be kind." (<i>Cinderella</i>,
2015) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wealth is not a sin, but it is a problem. (Rev. Peter Gomes,
<i>The New Yorker</i>, 11/11/96) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~ </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Too often our Christian social ethics seems to extend little
further than the maxim to leave the rented beach cottage as clean as we found
it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)</span></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*****<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
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<!--EndFragment--></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-70404557252219613962020-10-06T08:54:00.005-04:002020-11-09T09:20:35.229-05:00Jesus and Immigrants<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KQncytyw5IkMgLNX-5ZIsj838rcypwRM4X7LoZAFwIi1bPXhJdY8TRvvE8GEEZPgu5mqlIDfTpNLIsDag1m2uyzUvig5TWP6QB3agHjM6SpBhw4JzlCSC8rwD9KvTXQJ-ynni98S92rF/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1007" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KQncytyw5IkMgLNX-5ZIsj838rcypwRM4X7LoZAFwIi1bPXhJdY8TRvvE8GEEZPgu5mqlIDfTpNLIsDag1m2uyzUvig5TWP6QB3agHjM6SpBhw4JzlCSC8rwD9KvTXQJ-ynni98S92rF/w506-h640/1st+century+Israel.jpeg" width="506" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Agents with the US Border Patrol raided a faith-based humanitarian aid camp</div><div><div style="text-align: center;">for undocumented immigrants near the US-Mexico border on the evening of October 5—</div><div style="text-align: center;">the second action taken against the camp since July.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The raid on Byrd Camp was announced on Twitter by Roy Villareal, </div><div style="text-align: center;">chief patrol agent for the Tuscon Sector, </div><div style="text-align: center;">who referred to the camp derisively as a "so called Samaritan camp."</div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>...Christian Century</i>, November 4, 2020</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Antagonism toward immigrants, expressed today by many of our nation's citizens and leaders, bears some resemblance to hostility between Judeans and Samaritans as reflected in the Gospels of the New Testament. I think it is important for Christians to take particular note of relationships between Jesus and Samaritans.</span></p><p><span><span style="font-size: large;">Samaritans were among various conquered peoples who in the 8th century BCE had been deported by the king of Assyria as immigrants to colonize Samaria—first the name of a city and then of a territory north of the southern kingdom of Judea.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though both Samaritans and Judeans claimed descent from Abraham and Sarah, it was common for Judeans to regard Samaritans as foreigners, as outsiders. This antagonism was grounded in different languages, different temple sites, differing ritual requirements, differing versions of scripture, and competing claims to land. <span>These differences resulted in mutual suspicion, ostracism, and outright hostility.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Gospel Texts</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">We see volatile antagonism towards Samaritans among Jesus's own disciples:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem. </span><span>And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. (Luke 9.51–56, <i>New Revised Standard Version</i>)</span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus rebukes his hot-headed disciples and avoids confrontation by simply trying a different village.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Poor James and John! They were likely aware of the scriptural story in which the prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven—twice in quick succession—to consume a hundred and two soldiers of the Israelite king who was reigning in Samaria (2 Kings 1.9–12). Jesus was being widely regarded as a prophet. Wouldn't it be a good idea for him to call down fire on these inhospitable Samaritans!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We can understand Jesus's recurring, weary laments addressed to his disciples: "Are you still without understanding?" (Matthew 15.16; see also Mark 4.13; 6.52; 7.18; 8.17; 8.21; 9.32; Luke 9.45).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">When Jesus sends out his twelve apostles—without him, on their own—to minister to spiritual and physical needs of the populace, he gives them careful instructions for avoiding confrontation:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10.5-7)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">As for Jesus himself, his interactions with Samaritans were amicable, as in this encounter sometimes known as "The Grateful Samaritan":</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17.11–19)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">The most familiar of Jesus's parables is traditionally titled "The Good Samaritan":</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher, "he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, "Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend." Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10.25–37)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">By praising a Samaritan as exemplary while casting a shadow of shame upon two religious officials—a priest and a Levite—Jesus went beyond the pale for some of his compatriots. Perhaps Jesus's ecumenical largess lies behind this angry outburst from his antagonists:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" (John 8.48)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thus labeled a Samaritan and accused of having a demon, Jesus denies demonism, but changes the subject and lets the charge of immigrant-sympathizer slide:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me." (John 8.49)</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Gospel of John provides an extensive account of an encounter between Jesus and Samaritans, devoting most of a chapter to Jesus's two-day stay in a Samaritan village. John's lengthy narrative includes extensive theological preachments, which I have abridged here to keep focus on Jesus/Samaritan interactions:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He [Jesus] left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar. ... Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)<b> </b>The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with the Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem...."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?"</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">...Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days....</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee.... (John 4.3–40)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">This affable interaction between Jesus and Samaritans should not lead us to think that Jesus was always pacific. Jesus was capable of anger and severe judgments, but we never find him criticizing Samaritans.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Most often Jesus's criticisms are directed toward hypocrisy among the religious elite. In chapter 23 of Matthew, for example, Jesus levels seven distinct accusations at religious leaders. One accusation begins with the exclamatory "Woe to you, blind guides...." The other six begin with "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Each of Jesus's seven "woes" criticizes a specific domain of hypocrisy. Here is one of the seven in its entirety, critical of religious leaders who focus on picayune details of sacrificial offerings while neglecting their essential social and spiritual obligations:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23.23–24)</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span></p></blockquote><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Concluding Comparisons</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Comparing Jesus's Samaritan interactions with present-day attitudes toward immigrants can go only so far. Differences will far outnumber similarities. Yet I believe that some specific comparisons deserve attention.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span>1) In Jesus's encounter with the ten lepers, the gospel narrative identifies the man who returned to thank Jesus as "a Samaritan." Jesus himself calls the man a "foreigner" (</span></span><span><span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;">ἀλλογενής, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><i>allogenēs</i></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;">:</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> "of another race"). </span><span style="font-size: large;">This term significantly overlaps "immigrants" in our day. (Luke 17.18)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">2) Jesus focuses on the better attributes of Samaritans, not on their worse. The parable of the Good Samaritan is certainly an example. We see another example in the conversation of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus is somehow aware of the woman's history of five husbands and of her current co-habitation with a sixth man, but he does not make this an issue. Had he done so, the villagers might not have invited Jesus "to stay with them." (John 4.40)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">3) The fire-from-heaven narrative that we considered above (Luke 9.51–56) opens with the phrase "he set his face to go to Jerusalem." Jesus would have been well aware that Samaritan tradition prohibited giving assistance to pilgrims who were on their way to what Samaritans considered the wrong temple—the temple in Jerusalem. The woman at the well points this out:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain [Mount Gerizim], but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem. (John 4.20)</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus responds, not with divisive geographical or denominational argument, but with words of spiritual transcendence:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4.24)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">If we widen our view beyond Samaritans, we find that Jesus's healing ministry was thoroughly ecumenical and international. We read of Jesus ministering widely in Gentile territory.</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">(a) Jesus ministers among Gentile residents of the Decapolis (see map above), populated three centuries before New Testament times by "Greek-speaking immigrants,"<b>**</b> and Gentile-ruled by Romans during the time of Jesus's ministry. (Matthew 4.23–25; Mark 7.31–37)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">(b) Jesus commends a persistent Gentile woman, a Canaanite, crying out "my daughter is tormented by a demon"—first ignored by Jesus, then fended off by the disciples, then greeted by Jesus dubiously, but in the end praised by Jesus: "Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done as you wish." (Matthew 15.21–28; Mark 7.24–30)</span></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">(c) Jesus is active in Gentile territory near the Sea of Galilee, where he ministers to "a man who had demons"—bound in chains and screaming. (Mark 5.1–20; Luke 8.26–39) Matthew reports that there were two demoniacs. (8.28–34)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">(d) Jesus interacts with a Gentile centurion, a Roman citizen, whose plea to help his sick slave was rewarded with Jesus's commendation: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." (Matthew 8.5–13; Luke 7.1–10)</span></p></blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Amidst the immigration crisis of our day, I believe that the words of Jesus concluding the parable of the Good Samaritan should be a guiding commission for all of us who call ourselves Christians: </span><span>"Go and do likewise." (Luke 10.37)</span></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">*****</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">With Christ there is no east or west,</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">with Christ no south or north,</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">but one great healing fellowship</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">throughout the whole wide earth.</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Join hands, disciples of all faiths,</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">what'er your race may be;</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">all children of the living God</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">are surely kin to me.</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ...John Oxenham, 1908, altered</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p> ____________</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>*</b>We get a glimpse of the complex tradition of temple tithing in the biblical book of Numbers, 18.21–32.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>**</b><i>Mercer Dictionary of the Bible</i>, ed. Watson E. Mills, Mercer University Press, 1990, "Decapolis," p.206.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">*****</b></p></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-30013793401576086372020-08-28T09:05:00.005-04:002020-08-31T11:28:36.659-04:00Appreciation: A Gentle Virtue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4JEcGoxoqfgSzt2Ev_bdDnTh8qSvGkS9879eAYQMHzwdYdWKh-syUk7vQglSyhxnaQiU6TftUarR8TcKzaTxqvnNJfnxzdKd7Ro9YXiRrx0tdZQnvwFWwyP5ZxTuUsJfqP9hB7iON92V9/s217/images+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="217" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4JEcGoxoqfgSzt2Ev_bdDnTh8qSvGkS9879eAYQMHzwdYdWKh-syUk7vQglSyhxnaQiU6TftUarR8TcKzaTxqvnNJfnxzdKd7Ro9YXiRrx0tdZQnvwFWwyP5ZxTuUsJfqP9hB7iON92V9/w271-h231/images+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Lists of Virtues</b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Recently our nation's public expressions of appreciation for first responders and medical workers have led me to wonder why <i>appreciation</i> is not included in traditional lists of virtues.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Let me share some thoughts about this, and offer some suggestions in support of <i>appreciation</i> as a virtue.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Virtue is defined in various ways. I think of a virtue as a quality of character and conduct that makes for good.<span style="font-size: small;"><b>*</b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Tradition has provided us with many lists of virtues. Socrates listed <i>justice</i>, <i>liberality</i>, <i>courage</i>, <i>temperance</i>, and <i>truthfulness</i>. Thomas Aquinas listed <i>prudence,</i> <i>justice</i>, <i>temperance</i>, <i>justice</i>, <i>fortitude</i>, <i>faith</i>, <i>hope</i>, and <i>love</i>. Benjamin Franklin assembled long lists of virtues including <i>justice</i>, <i>frugality</i>, and <i>sincerity</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Traditional lists like these express virtues as nouns.<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Scouts list their virtues in a different form. </div></div><div> <br /><i>The Boy Scout Law</i> <br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>A Scout is</div><div> trustworthy</div><div> loyal</div><div> helpful</div><div> friendly</div><div> courteous</div><div> kind</div><div> obedient</div><div> cheerful</div><div> thrifty</div><div> brave</div><div> clean and</div><div> reverent.</div></blockquote><p>Here virtues are expressed as adjectives.</p><p><i>The Girl Scout Law</i></p><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div>I will do my best to be</div><div> honest and fair,</div><div> friendly and helpful,</div><div> considerate and caring,</div><div> courageous and strong, and</div><div><span> responsible for what I say and do,</span></div><div><span>and to</span></div><div><span> respect myself and others,</span></div><div><span> respect authority,</span></div><div><span> use resources wisely,</span></div><div><span> make the world a better place, and</span></div><div><span> be a sister to every Girl Scout.</span></div></blockquote><div><span><br /></span></div><div>Girl Scouts express their law with verbals—the infinitive <i>to be</i> plus adjectives ("to be honest...") and with additional infinitives plus objects ("to respect myself and others...)."</div></div><div><br /></div><div>It is instructive to compare the differing grammars of these three styles of listing</div><div><br /></div><div>In the traditional lists of virtues, the nouns—"prudence, "justice..."—are reified and static, abstract and distant.</div><div><br /></div><div>In contrast, the adjectival virtues of the Boy Scout listing—"trustworthy, loyal..."—are more dynamic and humane.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Girl Scout listing is personalized ("I will do my best to be..."), confessional ("responsible for what I say and do"), and energizing ("make the world a better place"). Its verbal phrases are vital pledges: "to respect"; "to use"; "to make."</div><div><br /></div><div><div><font face="inherit">The traditional virtues are all limited by a significant deficiency. With the exception of <i>hope</i> and <i>love</i>, the traditional virtues are without verbal forms. We cannot say "to prudence" or "to justice." </font>But <i>appreciation</i> has the verbal form <i>to appreciate</i>, and this infuses the word with energy.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Certainly a Boy Scout might pledge to be <i>appreciative</i>—an adjective.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I think that <i>appreciation</i> might find its most cordial welcome among the infinitives and adjectives of a pledge like the Girl Scout Law. As a possible example:</div><div><br /></div><div><span> </span> ...and to</div><div><div><span> respect myself,</span></div><div><span> <i>appreciate others</i>,</span></div><div><span> </span> respect authority,</div><div> <i>etc.</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Appreciation </i>as a Virtue</b></div><div><br /></div><div>W<span style="font-family: inherit;">ith so many lists of virtues in existence—far more numerous than the three lists I've chosen to mention here—what might </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">appreciation </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">add?</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Appreciation</i> is richer in meanings than we usually pause to consider. The <i>Oxford English Dictionary </i>includes a range of distinct meanings.<i> To appreciate </i>may be</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">1) to register or take notice: "The brain's occipital lobe appreciates the influence of light upon the retina." </div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">2) to understand or discern: "Napoleon, appreciating the magnitude of the danger, reigned his horse about."</div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">3) to enhance or elevate: "The price of gold appreciated in today's metals markets."</div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">4) to be grateful for: "I appreciate your kindness."</div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">5) to evaluate or assess: "I appreciate the sacrifice your kindness has cost you." </div></div></div></blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">We usually associate a<i>ppreciation</i> with only the final two of these five meanings. In doing so we tend to think of <i>appreciation</i> not as a virtue but as simply good manners. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All five meanings together, however, can broaden and deepen the concept of <i>appreciation</i>. In particular, I would include <i>appreciation</i> among Christian virtues, which can be illustrated by stories from Jesus's ministry.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1) Jesus takes notice, appreciating needs that are easily overlooked: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">A woman seeking healing "had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, 'if I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.' Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, "Who touched me?"' But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him , and told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'" (Mark 5:25–34; also Matthew 9:20–22 and Luke 8:43–48)</div></div></blockquote><p>2) Jesus is discerning, untangling complex ethical issues:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:38–41; also Luke 9:49–50) </p></blockquote><p>3) Jesus enhances by elevating humility above presumptions of superiority:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4; also Mark 9:33–36 and Luke 9:46–48.</p></blockquote></div>4) Jesus is grateful, giving thanks and sharing with others:<div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">He took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. (Mark 8:6–7; also Matthew 15:36)</div></div></div></blockquote><p>5) Jesus assesses and evaluates the cost of discipleship:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Peter said, "Look, we have left our homes and followed you." And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:28–30; also Mark 10:28-31)</div></div></blockquote><div><div><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>A Gentle Virtue</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Over the ages, various philosophical and theological traditions have paired lists of classic virtues with lists of opposing vices: <i>liberality vs. greed</i>; <i>humility vs. pride</i>; and so on. These pairings have never proved consistent or convincing. What the pairings <i>have</i> done, unfortunately, is to frame traditional virtues in terms of stark oppositions.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Our nation is currently acting out these kinds of stark opposition in street demonstrations: <i>right/wrong</i>;<i> true/false</i>;<i> either/or.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We have a welcome exception to these expressions of stark opposition, however, in our public demonstrations of appreciation for frontline workers struggling to subdue COVID-19. These demonstrations of appreciation provoke no opposing demonstrations. <i>Appreciation </i>is a gentle virtue, taking the form of the poster pictured above, rather than storms of stones <i>versus</i> phalanxes of shields. By "gentle" I mean minimally argumentative.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But not all is peace and simplicity. The word "police" on the poster, for example, can give rise to argument and take on a divisive life of its own. Do we demand justice for police or justice for minorities?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">To acknowledge specific disagreements does not discredit <i>appreciating</i>. This gentle virtue must be thoughtful, taking careful notice of difficulties; trying to discern possible responses; enhancing chances for peaceable resolution of differences; being grateful for the Mom-and-son poster, at the same time recognizing both the courage and the controversy the poster can represent. In short, we should take care to appreciate <i>appreciation</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In situations of social conflict, we must not expect too much from <i>appreciation.</i> A gentle virtue cannot be expected to disperse street violence, but it can serve as a leaven. Daisies inserted into rifle barrels have been known to exert a calming effect.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the personal level, it seems to me that words and acts of appreciation seldom result in opposition or disagreement. Appreciative words and acts are virtuous, expressing qualities of character and conduct that make for good.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">The biblical book of <i>Proverbs </i>is<i> </i>a thirty-chapter cloudburst of traditional virtues <i>versus </i>vices. For example:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">When pride comes, then comes disgrace;</div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"> but wisdom is with the humble.</div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">The integrity of the upright guides them,</div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"> but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.</div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,</div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"> but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:2–4)</div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><p>But squarely in the center of this book of dichotomies we find a quiet aphorism:</p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">A gentle answer turns away wrath,</div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)</div></div></div></blockquote><p>I believe that in the midst of our harshly stirred-up culture, "We appreciate you" expresses a virtue—gentle, but with power to turn away wrath.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_fL43VFrzBfiOBMH9LiCancd93PbPo6StLld0Crw7QM6ES_4MlTZtvU7e-yapEttx7EAsJ1OQ3eFioWgegb1nzrfOeZlZTXw-zH8ch4QZMochvN-i_XPcPreueZnvO70miU9VQo3rApZ/s267/Two+Masks.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="267" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_fL43VFrzBfiOBMH9LiCancd93PbPo6StLld0Crw7QM6ES_4MlTZtvU7e-yapEttx7EAsJ1OQ3eFioWgegb1nzrfOeZlZTXw-zH8ch4QZMochvN-i_XPcPreueZnvO70miU9VQo3rApZ/w267-h189/Two+Masks.jpeg" width="267" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58gjRJ6fN80sJQy4F6VUhpla6clu9gMP0_cIeqQRYiXJv4nw9qu2SWXp6q042OnFm1MmMhU-mrWQgN4TGlUxOKGpiHGuW7osiIgI7c1lMx4XTXVZFPHZHtqXGAO_vJTLtheKA69Dyqmxc/s300/Bells.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58gjRJ6fN80sJQy4F6VUhpla6clu9gMP0_cIeqQRYiXJv4nw9qu2SWXp6q042OnFm1MmMhU-mrWQgN4TGlUxOKGpiHGuW7osiIgI7c1lMx4XTXVZFPHZHtqXGAO_vJTLtheKA69Dyqmxc/w300-h168/Bells.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XauoK_QUPwXR8wK9KZxxthO7Ppoi7QY4WJxsz16fbK19X_mO2AbmcI5Hq7_t7ZeHjAvGJsNkobBK9as_el4oCWx3z3JGXeK6rz7whonHy0HPdYNwdyuxWS79fn__5vjzokpRgZUZ1VzO/s1006/Appreciate+You.jpeg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1006" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XauoK_QUPwXR8wK9KZxxthO7Ppoi7QY4WJxsz16fbK19X_mO2AbmcI5Hq7_t7ZeHjAvGJsNkobBK9as_el4oCWx3z3JGXeK6rz7whonHy0HPdYNwdyuxWS79fn__5vjzokpRgZUZ1VzO/w262-h219/Appreciate+You.jpeg" width="262" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMKfBkbcM7AZB9lDAjXaK8pGbJp1IDEVUsKH30ixddDonMYO2oW0a1DUWjSLZS-9UQMWpeAVk1kNOfWnha29PIwUQAK8WDNWI0BHxSCNBnsYnkT4c6YLMcyo2DvZEq60blQpm3px5aGPy/s1280/IMG_8222.jpeg" style="clear: right; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1280" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMKfBkbcM7AZB9lDAjXaK8pGbJp1IDEVUsKH30ixddDonMYO2oW0a1DUWjSLZS-9UQMWpeAVk1kNOfWnha29PIwUQAK8WDNWI0BHxSCNBnsYnkT4c6YLMcyo2DvZEq60blQpm3px5aGPy/w262-h145/IMG_8222.jpeg" width="262" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>*****</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">__________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>* </b>I'm indebted here to Daniel Harrington and James Keenan, <i>Jesus and Virtue Ethics</i> (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), p.23.</div></div></div></div>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-33107734386962794302020-07-20T12:31:00.003-04:002020-07-28T08:29:18.868-04:00"Sure on this Shining Night": Origins and Meanings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 1.15; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIej7bNC9H5KpJNp6qDVb_RLj6EoJvUVNORZSwnEdsK-cBQQvouH6I5uOyvuUEyb_expoOs67Xoea31-UKSLlSIWvMKHT8HvHNYBBDI7dGILV2lv-uCntH0sv0eDoUnTFOr352SyHlMI-/s1600/stars3.jpg" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIej7bNC9H5KpJNp6qDVb_RLj6EoJvUVNORZSwnEdsK-cBQQvouH6I5uOyvuUEyb_expoOs67Xoea31-UKSLlSIWvMKHT8HvHNYBBDI7dGILV2lv-uCntH0sv0eDoUnTFOr352SyHlMI-/s400/stars3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<br /><span style="line-height: 1.15;">Morten Lauridsen's 2005 choral composition "Sure on this Shining Night" sets to music several lines of a James Agee poem published in 1934. Performers, audiences, and listeners have warmly embraced this lovely marriage of lyric and music.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times"; line-height: 1.15;">Among a host of recordings by professional, amateur, and youth choruses, I especially admire the recording by the Minnesota Chorale Artists, with Lauridsen at the piano: < <a href="https://bit.ly/2AxnpoQ" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/2AxnpoQ</a> >.</span></div>
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<blockquote>
Sure on this shining night<br />
Of starmade shadows round,<br />
Kindness must watch for me<br />
This side the ground.<br />
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The late year lies down the north.<br />
All is healed, all is health.<br />
High summer holds the earth.<br />
Hearts all whole.<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering far alone </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Of shadows on the stars.</span></div>
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A number of commentators have called these ten lines "an untitled poem by James Agee." This is misleading. The lines are actually excerpts from a longer poem by Agee. A web posting by Debi Simons, 10/25/15, acquainted me with the fact that the lyric is "ripped from the middle of a longer Agee poem titled 'Description of Elysium'."</div>
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"Ripped" is a strong word; I prefer "excerpted" or "extracted." But I fully understand Simons' point: it seems unfair to lift and isolate ten congenial lines from a poem of forty-six lines, when the final sixteen lines of that poem are somber in the extreme.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Presumably the ten-line extraction was made by the composer Samuel Barber, who in 1940 set the words for solo voice and piano in what soon became a beloved art song titled "Sure on this Shining Night."<b>* </b></span>I've found no evidence that that Agee had any part in excerpting the text or naming the song. <span style="font-family: "times";">Agee and Barber first met in 1947, and they became good friends. Barber wrote "I met with him last week and admired him," and later recalled "I used to have lunch with him once every two weeks or so."</span><b style="font-family: times;">**</b><br />
<b style="font-family: times;"><br /></b></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The entire "Description of Elysium" was included in the volume of Agee poems titled <i>Permit Me Voyage</i>, published in 1934 by Yale University Press. Here is the complete poem, to which I have added section numbers in brackets to keep us oriented.<br />
<div>
<blockquote>
"Description of Elysium"</blockquote>
<div>
[<i>Section 1</i>]</div>
<div>
<blockquote>
Whole health resides with peace,<br />
Gladness and never harm,<br />
There not time turning,<br />
Nor fear of flower of snow</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Where marbling water slides<br />
No charm may halt of chill,<br />
Air aisling the open acres,<br />
And all the gracious trees<br />
<br />
Spout up their standing fountains<br />
Of wind-beloved green<br />
And the blue conclaved mountains<br />
Are grave guards</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Stone and springing field</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Wide one tenderness,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The unalterable hour</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Smiles deathlessness:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">No thing is there thinks:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Mind the witherer</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Withers on the outward air:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">We can not come there.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
[<i>Section 2</i>]</div>
<blockquote>
Sure on this shining night<br />
Of starmade shadows round,<br />
Kindness must watch for me<br />
This side the ground.<br />
<br />
The late year lies down the north.<br />
All is healed, all is health.<br />
High summer holds the earth.<br />
Hearts all whole.<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-family: "times";">Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering far alone </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Of shadows on the stars.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
[<i>Section 3</i>] </div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Now thorn bone bare</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Silenced with iron the branch's gullet:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Rattling merely on the air</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Of hornleaved holly:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The stony mark where sand was by</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The water of a nailèd foot:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The berry harder than the beak:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The hole beneath the dead oak root:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">All now brought quiet</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Through the latest throe</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Quieted and ready and quiet:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Still not snow:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Still thorn bone bare</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Iron in the silenced gully</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Rattling only of the air</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Through hornleaved holly.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Section 1 of "Description of Elysium" characterizes the timeless realm of the blessed dead: "Whole health resides with peace, / Gladness and never harm...."</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> Agee yearned for such innocence, but was profoundly disturbed by human failures, including his own.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Section 2 expresses the poet's response to a night of marveling inspiration: "Sure on this shining night / Of starmade shadows round...." Composer Lauridsen has described this moment of respite amidst human folly as "the wondrous awe that one has being within nature."***</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Section 3 introduces menacing apocalyptic imagery: "Now thorn bone bare...o</span>f hornleaved holly." Agee wrestled with his harrowing premonition that "Pride, a mortal sin, can quite as coldly and inevitably damage and wreck the human race as the most total power of ‘Greed’ ever could."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The final two lines of Section 2 have generated a great deal of discussion:</div>
<div>
<blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 1.15; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times";">Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering far alone </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times";">Of shadows on the stars.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What do the enigmatic phrases "weep for wonder," "wandering far alone," and "shadows on the stars" convey? Are the phrases ominous? Are they transcendent? Are they simply inscrutable? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
I have long been undecided about whether the concluding couplet of Section 2 expresses hope or despair or enigma, and have found Agee's phrase "shadows on the stars" completely puzzling. But I think I have some new light to shed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Several singers and listeners have told me that the final couplet of "Sure on this Shining Night" seems to be a darkening transition into the bleak remainder of the larger poem. But in fact the larger poem has no such transitions.<br />
<br />
Section 1 ends with the absolutely exclusionary words "We can not come there." Section 3 begins abruptly with bleak new imagery of "hornleaved holly." In between, Section 2 is quite distinct—not transitional but entire.<br />
<br />
Allow me a personal observation. A few years ago a hornleaved holly sprang up volunteer in my little patch of garden. The official name is "Chinese Holly," <i>Ilex cornuta</i>. It is an escaped species, not native. Where it came from I do not know. One thing I do know—and this from bleeding experience—is that the horned leaves of <i>Ilex cornuta</i> make an impenetrable barrier:<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDu__4qVtxirEyzGI7Sm_aSD_H-1Hm8wxqBV18sesaREV773F_w2HuQmLaMjaUDbVach63m_uztjt-3XokQiacJ_98Cu7565GvmXoGn1ITwYu_qd1DzLgKxvbHvu5mUxm21c1EmAk3OW7a/s1280/2020-06-06+15.39.20.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDu__4qVtxirEyzGI7Sm_aSD_H-1Hm8wxqBV18sesaREV773F_w2HuQmLaMjaUDbVach63m_uztjt-3XokQiacJ_98Cu7565GvmXoGn1ITwYu_qd1DzLgKxvbHvu5mUxm21c1EmAk3OW7a/s320/2020-06-06+15.39.20.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />My Horn Leaf Holly<br /><i>Ilex cornuta</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Still worse are the rigid, desiccated leaves of dead holly: </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvjxFACMN5cp4PnenwYyDbHdTObi1w7TMFhLtJHeJp46FKEZXH5plQ_eP6BdsOQJgt_dMsFkWkMsRz7sa8Jtq0WTKYHiEXcf9ruSoBALsBViMDzpmD7KpXBciUip6uVE3spphwHZ7NALG/s1280/Dead+Holly.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvjxFACMN5cp4PnenwYyDbHdTObi1w7TMFhLtJHeJp46FKEZXH5plQ_eP6BdsOQJgt_dMsFkWkMsRz7sa8Jtq0WTKYHiEXcf9ruSoBALsBViMDzpmD7KpXBciUip6uVE3spphwHZ7NALG/s320/Dead+Holly.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Now thorn bone bare...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Rattling merely on the air</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Of hornleaved holly....</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Given these barriers, I think we can say that we have three poems, joined only by mutual exclusion and a common title. "Sure on this Shining Night" finds itself between inaccessible innocence and goodness on the one hand, and quaking fear of self-destruction on the other. So, too, Agee finds himself, and the human race.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
A few details from Laurence Bergreen's exemplary biography, <i>James Agee: A Life,</i> have further convinced me that Section 2 is coherent and expresses Agee's transcendent, spiritual experience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bergreen informs us that in 1930, the summer before Agee's junior year at Harvard, he was introduced to the household of Arthur Percy Saunders and Louise Brownell Saunders of Clinton, New York. The Saunders family quickly embraced young Agee, and the fondness was mutual.<br />
<br />
Agee wrote to his mentor and life-long friend, Father James Flye: "They're the most beautiful and happy family to know and watch I've ever seen. It's hard to write of such people without becoming mawkish." At summer's end he wrote to Louise, "I've been homesick ever since I left you, and the last time I was homesick, I was nine years old." Agee and one of the Saunders daughters, Olivia or "Via", were mutually attracted and married in 1933.<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Bergreen reports that Agee "roamed the large Saunders home at will, pausing to amuse himself with the professor's powerful telescope, through which Agee gazed at shivering images of the moon and the rings of Saturn." Bergreen describes the Saunders family as "blessed with enough money and intelligence to live exceedingly well." Also he reports that the father was a scientist, a retired professor of chemistry at Hamilton College. I think it fair to assume that the Saunders' telescope was a good one.</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></span></div>
Again a personal note. In my senior year of high school I ground a six-inch mirror and mailed it off to be silvered—or in Agee's own terminology, "quicksilvered" ("The Truce", 1931). Upon its return I mounted the mirror in a tube with a secondary mirror and focusing lens. The magnification was good, but the telescope was limited in performance by the unsteadiness of my homemade tripod.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When all was completed I climbed at night to a dark hilltop. I focused first on the moon. The detail was stunning but not deeply engaging. Then I focused on Saturn. The tawny image of perfect, ringed symmetry suspended in prodigious darkness and absolute silence caught my breath and brought tears to my eyes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">It is probable that the Saunders telescope resolved detail beyond the capacity of mine. In particular, it might have disclosed the phenomenon of Saturn's shadow upon its rings, and the rings' shadows upon Saturn's surface. With amateur telescopes, s</span><span style="font-family: "times";">eeing this phenomenon usually requires repeated viewings over long periods of time, as Saturn's position is constantly changing in relation to the locations of earth and sun. Also, earth's atmosphere must be at its clearest.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">We know that the Saunders' father, called by his middle name Percy, did view the stars repeatedly. A biographer of the family writes:</span></div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">He lectured, it is true, in chemistry, but through his warm personality he was able to come in close touch with many students. They shared his interest in music, art, literature, drama. On clear nights they could gather with him in the fields and explore the heavens through his telescope.<b>****</b></span></div>
<div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">In the practiced hands of Percy the 1930 telescope might well have resolved the Saturn shadows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Telescopic View of Saturn from Earth</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Here the sun is behind the viewer, below and slightly to the right. We glimpse part of Saturn's shadow on the rings as the small black interruption of the rings immediately above the sphere, slightly to the left. The shadow cast by the rings onto Saturn's surface is the very faint pinkish band, parallel to the rings, about a third of the way between the rings and the top of the planet's sphere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">I think that Agee might have included the phrase "shadows on the stars" in his verse as a kind of nod to his generous host through whose telescope he had shared views of Saturn's shadows. (</span><span style="font-family: "times";">I'm assuming that that Agee chose to use the poetic-licensed "stars" instead of the literal but clomping "planets.")</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> The family biographer describes Percy as "a unique, incredible being. And yet he moved among us so simply with that quiet amused charm of his, unaware that he was in any way set apart from the rest of us." We are also told that </span><span style="font-family: "times";">Percy had an interest in literature. Agee's future father-in law seems</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> a person likely to appreciate his clandestine reference in verse to shared experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">There's a similar puzzle in the second stanza of Section 3. The phrase "a nailèd foot" has seemed to me impossibly obscure. Now I have learned from Bergreen that in the summer of 1930, Agee "was forced to hobble about on one foot, the painful result of inadvertently stepping on a nail." So I think phrase may be another in-family wink and nod—"nailèd foot" both describing Agee's summertime injury and also reinforcing Section 3's recurring theme of "thorn bone bare."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Two thirds of a century later, NASA launched its Cassini spacecraft to explore Saturn and its rings and moons. Here are two Cassini images:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunlight coming from the right;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">planet's shadow falling to the left.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small;">Sun coming from the lower right;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small;">Saturn's horizontal rings near the bottom;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small;">surface shadows of the rings at upper left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Percy and Agee were never to see such stunning images. But Agee and NASA share a sense of wonder. In a NASA report titled<i> Ten Things: Why Cassini Mattered</i>, the tenth item is this: "Cassini revealed the beauty of Saturn, its rings and moons, inspiring our sense of wonder." <i>Wonder</i> makes additional appearances in the report: "For more than a decade, NASA's Cassini spacecraft shared the wonders of Saturn." And "Cassini revealed in great detail the true wonders of Saturn."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">Wonders of astronomy were often in Agee's thoughts. </span>To Father Flye he suggests that body and mind are "like binary stars." His poem, "A Nursery Rhyme" (1937), compares "nebulae" to "the blown seeds of a dandelion," and seems to refer to the possibility that other galactic intelligence may be observing us:</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
Our galaxy, so runs the hope,</div>
<div>
Is mirror for a telescope.</div>
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</div>
<div>
It is important to acknowledge that when the word <i>shadow</i> appears throughout Agee's writings, more often than not it serves as a metaphor for death. Here are two of many examples:</div>
<div>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
So, for a space, the Shadow will relent,</div>
<div>
Befooling us with slow yet sure consent:</div>
<div>
And, in due time, once more it will return,</div>
<div>
Coolly to blot out what once more must burn.</div>
<div>
..."The Shadow" (1930)</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div>
How God must grieve, </div>
<div>
<div>
Watching in all this shadow land</div>
<div>
The flinching vigil candles of this countless loss</div>
<div>
In night’s nave each a life.</div>
<div>
...Letter to Father Frye, March 29, 1945</div>
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<div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
In Section 2, however, I believe that "shadows of the stars" evokes not death but Agee's living wonderment at his sheer existence in a vast cosmos graced with the delicacy of Saturn's shadows.</div>
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</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times";">I am often unable to penetrate Agee's turgid poetry. So I feel fortunate that we have a prose account of an experience of wonder under the sky as sensed by a young boy. It comes from Agee's novelette, <i>The Morning Watch</i>, published when he was forty-two. Agee names his central character Richard, but the novel is obviously rooted in autobiographical recollections of Agee's experiences at St. Andrew's Episcopal School, 1919–1924, when Agee was in his early teenage years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Young Richard and some of his classmates break rules by slipping outside after lights-out;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">For the first time this year, he felt the ground against the bare soles of his feet.... Even though the ground in this schoolyard was skimmed with dusty gravel, its aliveness soared through him like a sob and lifted his eyes in wonder upon the night. There was no moon and what few stars were out, they were made faint by a kind of smiling universal milky silence, not fog, or even the lightest kind of mist, but as if the whole air and sky were one mild supernal breath.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"> Agee portrays Richard in attendance at the St. Andrew's Good Friday service:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">His heart opened. Almighty and everlasting God, he prayed, Maker of all things, Judge of all men (and he saw as in a wheeling rondure the shining of all things, the shadows of all men)....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">I think we've no reason to doubt Agee's weeping for wonder beneath the rondure of stars, suspended in what he calls </span><span style="font-family: "times";">"space and darkness of sky beyond conjecture" ("Dedication", 1934).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">We have one further detail of "Sure on this Shining Night" to consider: the phrase, "wandering far alone."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">By all accounts, Agee was throughout his life an ebullient socializer, talking far into the night with enraptured comrades, male and female. Yet in matters of the "binary stars" of mind and soul he suffered increasing solitude. A simile Agee uses in <i>The Morning Watch </i>could well apply to himself: </span><span style="font-family: "times";">"lonesome as nebulae."</span></div>
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Agee was profoundly motivated by Christian morality. John Hersey speaks of his "enormous humanity and pity and sorrow." Adam Kirsch speaks of Agee's "desperate sincerity and fearful compassion." Robert Fitzgerald, Agee's close friend from Harvard days, writes, "For poverty and misery in general he had a sharp-eyed pity. Yet 'Church' and 'organized religion' in relation to awe and vision bothered his mind."</div>
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Agee attended Christian worship. At Harvard he frequented the Cowley Fathers Monastery (Anglo-Catholic) near Harvard Square, assisting as a server in the Mass. He sang in an octet at First Church (Congregational) Cambridge. Later, he and Via went to Anglo-Catholic Confession and partook of the Lord's Supper. They were married in a traditional Episcopal service.</div>
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Dwight Macdonald, Agee's friend since St. Andrew's days, spares no words:</div>
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Although he was deeply religious, he had his own kind of religion, one that included irreverence, blasphemy, obscenity, and even communism (of his own kind). By the late forties, a religio-conservative revival was under way, but Agee felt as out of place as ever...always out of step.</blockquote>
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MacDonald's words are borne out by Agee's self-description:</div>
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I have a religious background and am 'pro-religious'—though not on the whole delighted by this so-called revival—but doubt that I will return to religion.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">In 1938, Agee, age 29, wrote to Father Flye, "I trust nothing else save a feeling of God, and love, and in part myself...." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">In 1945, age 36, he wrote to Flye:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">It seems unlikely that I will ever become fully religious or a communicant again. But I hope I need not tell you, and feel sure you will not scorn, how grateful I am for such religious feelings as I do have. ...</span><span style="font-family: "times";">I have to doubt so much that at the same time I trust: thoughts and realizations mixed with personal and historic memories and projections so fill me with tears, and with faith and certainty, that it seems incredible to me not to be a Christian and a Catholic in the simplest and strictest senses of the words. But I am at once grateful for the emotions and doubtful of them.</span></blockquote>
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In 1950, age 40, five years before his death, Agee wrote to Father Flye:</div>
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I evidently move, as I imagine many people do, in a rough not very predictable cycle, between feeling relatively uninvolved religiously and very much involved: though I'm not sure that "religiously" is the right word for it: but anyhow a strong sense of being open, aware, concerned, in the ways which are rooted usually in religion, or in the more serious kinds of poetry or music, or just in a sense of existence—i.e. a relatively very full and emotionally rich sense of it, as compared with the opposite side of the cycle. I'm evidently swinging into it again now. At times or moments I feel virtually sure that nothing short of coming back into a formal religion (probably the one I was brought up in) will be nearly enough for me: at others, just as sure I never will. But at all times I feel sure that my own shapeless personal religious sense, whatever that may be, is deepening and increasing: even the swings away are less far away from it: keep some kind of religion with it. I wish I were with you and could talk about this, but even if I were I doubt there would actually be much to say about it...essentially a very private matter and should be....</blockquote>
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In mind and soul, t<span style="font-family: "times";">his most gregarious of poets felt himself solitary—"very private," </span><span style="font-family: "times";">"wandering far alone."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times";">CODA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Agee's lyric and Lauridsen's musical setting seem to me a perfect wedding. The flowing melodic lines and melting harmonic tensions—seconds and fourths, sevenths and ninths—convey tender warmth throughout.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Amidst the gentle harmonic <i>tensions</i>, the only sustained <i>dissonance</i> comes with the enigmatic words we have been considering:</span></div>
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I weep for wonder wand'ring far alone<br />
of shadows on the stars.</blockquote>
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Lauridsen asks the altos to sing a dissonant C ("far alone"?) and repeat that discordant note throughout three full measures. The dissonance is subtle but disquieting. Then the resolution of that dissonance on the concluding word, <i>stars, </i>is as heart-melting as any musical cadence I can call to memory.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">In the recording linked at the beginning of this posting, listen for these three dissonant measures and their cadence at 2:43ff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">James Agee</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">__________</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><b>*</b></span> Besides Barber and Lauridsen, a least two other composers, Mark Foster and Z. Randall Stroope, have<span style="font-family: "times";"> published settings of "Sure on this Shining Night."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">*<i>*</i> </span><span style="font-family: "times";">I have included references for only a few of the quotations in this posting, trying to minimize what the literary critic Edmund Wilson has called "scholarly barbed wire." If anyone should want particular references, feel free to send me a reque</span><span style="font-family: "times";">st by e-mail (albertblackwell39@gmail.com) and I shall answer promptly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><b>***</b> Quoted by Margaret B. Owens, "Morten Lauridsen's Choral Cycle, <i>Nocturnes</i>; A Conductor's Analysis" (2019). </span><span style="font-family: "times";">< <a href="https://bit.ly/3j5fGzF" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3j5fGzF</a> ></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><b>****</b> Elsie M. Pomeroy, <i>William Saunders and His Five Sons, </i>The Ryerson Press – Toronto, 1956.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><b>*****</b></span></div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-651432869671623522020-06-01T10:04:00.000-04:002020-06-06T12:51:03.195-04:00Should I Pray for Donald Trump?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Betendes Mädchen </i>(<i>Praying Woman</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">by Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz (1867–1945)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A few weeks ago a close friend asked me "Do you think we should pray for Donald Trump?" I answered, "Yes, I suppose we should." But this exchange left me thinking hard about <i>how </i>we should pray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let me offer some reflections on the nature of Christian praying, quote a number of prayers for our President, and share some thoughts about fault finding, human dignity, and demonic risk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Praying: Conditional and Normative</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">My thinking about Christian praying has been significantly influenced by Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834)—German pastor, biblical scholar, theologian, philosopher, and political activist. He writes that when Christians pray "in the name of Jesus" we should understand this to mean praying "in the sense and spirit of Jesus," praying about "the concerns of Jesus." Too often, he writes, we tend to pray for divine alterations of future conditions, seeking to "exert an influence on God."^1</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher names these different modes of praying "normative" and "conditional." Normative praying seeks to align our concerns with norms established by Christ's life and teachings. In contrast, conditional prayer seeks to "deflect" God's will according to conditions we request.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher maintains that normative praying should always be accompanied by actions that accord with Christ's norms: "Appropriate prayer occurs only when we engage in activities that go to fulfill our Christian vocation." Conditional praying, on the other hand, tends to "lapse into magic," awaiting an outcome that is in accord with our wishes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher grants that it is natural for our prayers to express our deepest, most personal hopes and concerns. At the same time, in our praying we should seek to align our concerns more fully with those of Christ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If our prayers are answered, Schleiermacher suggests, our appropriate response is gratitude: <i>Thanks be to God</i>. If our prayers are not answered, our appropriate response is acceptance: <i>Amen </i>(<i>So be it</i>). Both outcomes may give us occasion to grow in understanding our faith, to learn more about making Christ's norms our own.^2</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think that the biblical touchstone here is Christ's passionate praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his arrest and crucifixion:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. (</span><span style="font-size: medium;">Luke 22:42; also Matthew 26:39, Mark 14: 36)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Model Prayers</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Where else may we find model prayers?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many spiritual traditions provide examples. I have found model prayers particularly in </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Book of Common Prayer </span></i><span style="font-size: large;">(<i>BCP</i>)—the Episcopal volume that contains "the regular services appointed for public worship." Or more fairly, <i>BCP</i> prayers have found me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In Episcopal worship our congregations regularly pray for our President, as also for other governing authorities:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">[Officiant:] That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, </span><span style="font-size: large;">the President of the United States, and all </span><span style="font-size: large;">others in authority, that they may do justice, and love mercy, </span><span style="font-size: large;">and walk in the ways of truth,</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">[Congregation:] <i>We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.</i> </span><span style="font-size: small;">(<i>BCP</i> p.150)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The prayer here is that Christlike norms—in this instance justice, mercy, and truth—</span><span style="font-size: large;">may rule in the heart of our President and other authorities. In specifying norms, the prayer offers congregations touchstones for assessing both Presidential actions and our own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Numerous <i>BCP</i> prayers offer similar touchstones:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. <i>Amen</i>. </span><span style="font-size: small;">(<i>BCP </i>p.820)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The providential norms named here are security, peace, wisdom, strength, truth, righteousness, and service.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another prayer broadens its scope to include international leaders and authorities as well as our nation's President:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For our President, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in </span><span style="font-size: large;">authority, let us pray to the Lord.</span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Lord, have mercy. </span></i>(<i>BCP</i> p.<i style="font-style: normal;">384)</i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <i>BCP </i>sometimes directs that the President be called by name (see "for N." below), and some prayers name specific national and international institutions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them; for N., the President of the United States; for the Congress and the Supreme Court; for the Members and Representatives of the United Nations; for all who serve the common good: t</span><span style="font-size: large;">hat by God's help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord. </span><span style="font-size: small;">(<i>BCP</i> p.278)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The norms here: serving the common good; seeking justice and truth; living in peace and concord.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another prayer specifies the President, members of his Cabinet, Governors, Mayors, and other national authorities:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we </span><span style="font-size: large;">may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to </span><span style="font-size: large;">other nations of the earth.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lord, keep this nation under your care. </i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors </span><span style="font-size: large;">of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative </span><span style="font-size: large;">authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their </span><span style="font-size: large;">duties.</span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Give grace to your servants, O Lord.</span> </i>(<i>BCP</i>, p.821)</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here the norms are domestic peace, being a blessing to other nations, and wisdom and grace in the exercise of duties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Finding Fault</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Does praying for our President and others in authority rule out criticizing them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I would say by no means. Affronts to norms that we express in our praying are sound bases for finding fault—whether the affronts are the President's or our own.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Surely we may find fault with President Trump when we compare his conduct with norms expressed in the <i>BCP</i> prayers we have considered: justice, mercy, truth, wisdom, righteousness, service, the common good, domestic peace, blessing to other nations, grace in the exercise of duties.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What is more, Christian norms expressed in the <i>BCP</i> prayers are neither all-inclusive nor exclusive. I believe that when finding fault we should be guided not only by religious norms but also by constitutional law, and by civic norms for basic decency such as these:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">To contend without being contentious</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To disagree without being disagreeable</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To object without being objectionable</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To make judgments without being judgmental</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To act zealously without becoming a zealot</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To seek certainty without claiming certitude</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To seek wisdom without claiming to be wise</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To feel righteous indignation without becoming self-righteous</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Christian, constitutional, and civic norms are tight ropes to walk, but I believe that with resolve our nation can do better than we're currently doing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Human Dignity</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Eighteen months into Donald Trump's presidency, conservative columnist George Will described Trump as "this sad, embarrassing wreck of a man" and as "the most insecure human being I've ever seen."^3</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not proud to recall that upon hearing Will's words my reaction was a triumphal whoop. A</span><span style="font-size: large;">nother twenty-two months later, my glee has been chastened and subdued.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have realized that George Will did not demonize President Trump, as I have sometimes tended to do. Will spoke of President Trump in human terms: "a man," a "human being," "sad" and "insecure." I find the tone of Will's characterization close to lamentation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Again I find guidance in the <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the Episcopal baptismal service the entire congregation joins parents and godparents in affirming </span><span style="font-size: large;">"The Baptismal Covenant." The concluding sentences of the covenant are these:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Celebrant</i>: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>People</i>: I will, with God's help. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>BCP</i> p.305)</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Scores of times, over many years, I have recited that pledge to respect the dignity of every human being. Now I need to abide by it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my view, all too many of President Trump's decisions and actions and attitudes deserve criticism. I believe that he is gravely damaging "justice and peace among all people." I shall oppose and try to counteract him in whatever ways I am able. But I shall try my best to remember that I am criticizing a person, and that Trump supporters are persons also.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Another friend has asked, "Should we pray, at least in private, that Donald Trump will be defeated in this fall's bid for re-election?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To me this seems uncomfortably close to conditional praying (indeed, to magic). Yet President Trump's evident thoughtlessness in relation to moral norms gives urgency to our prayers. That our President might "do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth" is certainly a prayer—whether normative or conditional— to which I can respond: "<i>We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.</i>"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Beseeching prayer, however, obliges me to take action in ways that I believe will protect and advance moral norms: communicating with members of Congress; working to unseat the President together with selected members of Congress; supporting principled political and charitable organizations; voting conscientiously.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I have compared following moral norms to walking a tight rope. I would say that deliberating about actions and performing them feels more like juggling.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Throughout, I shall try my best to respect President Trump as a person, a fellow human being, in accordance with this prayer—printed in <i>The Book of Common Prayer</i> with an underlined blank space that invites specific, up-to-date naming:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">For those in positions of public trust, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u>especially Donald</u></span><span style="font-size: large;">, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord.</span> (<i>BCP</i> p.550)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Again this seems a conditional prayer asking God for magic, but I'm unable to suppress a sincere <i>Amen.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Demonic Risk</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Once more from a friend, a final, trenchant question: Might respect for our President as a person blind us to the emergence of the demonic?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">My answer is yes, this can certainly be the case. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">History gives all too many instances of once-respected leaders who have proved to be demonic. Once a culture becomes possessed,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> as with Soviet Communism and Nazism, the demonic becomes a black hole. Moral norms, constitutional law, civility, respect for personhood—all are sucked into the vortex and annihilated. It is too late.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So the key word in my friend's question is "emergence." We must not be blind to demonic emergence.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Historically, the first stage in demonic emergence is erasure of the difference between true and false, dismissal of any distinction between fact and fiction.^4</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As President Trump is insensible to moral norms, so he is to truth.^5</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">My motivation for saying this is not disrespect for President Trump but alarm for our nation—alarm that so many Senators, Representatives, Cabinet members, White House staff, media commentators and fellow citizens share our President's obliviousness and continue to support him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We must name emerging signs and symptoms of the demonic for what they are, devising measures to isolate the contagion, strengthening public resistance, seeking societal cures, administering national healing, bolstering each other against despair and cynicism—doing what we already know to do, but with </span><span style="font-size: large;">intensified watchfulness and commitment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We must nourish our nation's concern for moral norms and truth— clarifying them in our praying, enacting them in our living, always b</span><span style="font-size: large;">alancing and juggling. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Surely it is fitting to pray "May it never come to pass," but only if we take action to resist demonic emergence.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And we must ever pray for our own personhood:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them. <i>Amen</i>. </span>(<i>BCP</i>, p.229)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
_______________<br />
<br />
^1<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span>All Schleiermacher quotations are from his <i>The Christian Faith </i>(<i>Der Christliche Glaube</i>), Sections 146 and 147.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">^</span><span style="font-size: small;">2</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span>The most concentrated presentations of Christ's norms are found in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–49).<br />
<br />
^3 Interview on MSNBC, July 18, 2018 < <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgccOuZ0qg&t=588s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgccOuZ0qg&t=588s</a> > at 2.13–17 and 4.7–10.<br />
<br />
^4<b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b>I recommend the brilliant and disturbing book by Michiko Kakutani, <i>The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump </i>(Tim Duggan Books, 2018). My thanks to Dr. Keller Freeman for acquainting me with Kakutani's book.<br />
<br />
^5 <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">See Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelley, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth </i>(Scribner, 2020).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
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<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
Heartfelt thanks to my readers, Drs. Anne and John Shelley, for their friendship, encouragement, and substantive suggestions.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>***** </b></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-76357529744222812272020-01-10T09:13:00.000-05:002020-01-16T09:19:00.090-05:00Shakespeare on Heads of State<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malcolm</td></tr>
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During these months when citizens of the US, and of numerous other nations, are examining qualifications
for heads of state, Shakespeare, who knew a thing or two about politics, expresses thoughts that might resonate with us.<br />
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In <i>Macbeth</i> (4, 3, 1–139), Macduff and Malcolm have a complicated argument about "king-becoming graces."<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the midst of what Malcolm calls their "warranted quarrel," he articulates a list of ideal virtues for a head of
state:<o:p></o:p></div>
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...justice,
verity, temp'rance, stableness,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bounty, perseverance, mercy,
lowliness,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Devotion, patience, courage,
fortitude....<o:p></o:p></div>
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Earlier in the argument, however, Malcolm has lamented:<br />
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I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;<br />
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash<br />
Is added to her wounds....<br />
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And Macduff has earlier confessed despair:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have lost
my hopes.</div>
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In a list that contrasts radically with his enumeration of "king-becoming
graces", Malcolm characterizes "the particulars of vice" in high places:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Luxurious, avaricious, false,
deceitful,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sudden, malicious, smacking of
every sin<o:p></o:p></div>
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That has a name....<o:p></o:p></div>
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Macduff equates a sovereign's lack of self-restraint with "tyranny"<b>*</b>, which leads to downfall:<br />
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>...Boundless
intemperance<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In nature
is a tyranny. It hath been<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Th'untimely emptying of the happy throne<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And fall of
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As their "warranted quarrel" subsides, Macduff complains that he is left conflicted:</div>
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Such welcome and unwelcome things at once<br />
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O nation miserable!...<br />
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again...?</blockquote>
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Malcolm concludes the Scene with a dispirited couplet: </div>
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Receive what cheer you may:</div>
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The night is long that never finds the day.<br />
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<b>*</b>See Stephen Greenblatt, <i>Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics</i> (New York and London, W. W. Norton, 2018). I am grateful to Professor Stanley Crowe for calling my attention to this laudable book.</div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-68876949593418759522020-01-04T11:22:00.000-05:002020-01-27T10:03:28.028-05:00Christian Virtues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Pleiades</i> or <i>Seven Sisters</i></span></div>
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<i>This posting is a transcript of the concluding ten minutes of a sixty-minute lecture I gave as part of Furman University's series "</i><i>What Really Matters</i><i>." The series was established in 1982 to honor the life and work of L. D. Johnson, who served as chaplain at Furman 1967–1981.</i></div>
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<i>In earlier portions of the lecture I endorsed a Christian ethics of virtue and responded to six common objections to that tradition. In conclusion I offered a selected listing of biblical virtues. Several friends have urged me to publish the final portion of the lecture, as my oral presentation had gone by too quickly. That final portion, lightly revised, I have posted here. </i><i>The entire lecture is available in audio at <a href="http://bit.ly/ChristianVirtues">What Really Matters</a> .</i><br />
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<i>New Testament listings of </i><b><i>virtues</i></b><i> can be found at Matthew 5.1–11; Luke 6.20–38; Acts 24.24–25; Romans 5.3–5; Romans 12.9–21; 1 Corinthians 13.1–13; 2 Corinthians 6.6–7; Galatians 5.22–23; Ephesians 4.32; Colossians 3.12–17; 1 Timothy 6.11; James 3.17–18; 2 Peter 1.5–7.</i><br />
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<i>New Testament listings of </i><b><i>vices</i></b><i> can be found at Matthew 15.18–20; Mark 7.20–23; Romans 1.28–31; 1 Corinthians 6.9–10; 2 Corinthians 12.20–21; Galatians 5.19–21; 2 Timothy 3.2–6.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">...[In conclusion,] I continue to embrace my Christian tradition in part because I find salvation by grace through trust—which I understand as trusting Christ's way of repentance, forgiveness, and amendment of life—a healing doctrine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The virtues enter this healing process at two points: at the beginning, when honestly comparing our lives to these transcendent ideals leads us to repentance; and at the end, when these ideals guide us in our attempting to amend our lives. These roles of the virtues explain why Paul, the great preacher of salvation by grace, gives us list after list of virtues that should guide the faithful—and also some graphic lists of vices to avoid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Paul originates a basic triad of Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love </span><span style="font-size: small;">(1 Corinthians 13.13)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">. <span style="font-size: large;">But these are only three of the many virtues that Paul lists. In the Middle Ages the church was to formulate listings of seven cardinal virtues, but again Paul's listings far exceed seven.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few summers ago, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, Marian and I took off on a lark to satisfy our shared interest in amateur star-gazing. Knowing that we would have to escape the humid haze of our eastern summers, we took down the <i>Almanac</i> and looked up the driest place in the country for the first week in August. It was Death Valley. (No, no: not the Clemson football stadium. That <i>original</i> Death Valley, way out west.) So we picked the second driest place in the country, Boise, Idaho.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sure enough, we had one good and two wonderful nights to view the stars, though the smoke of range and forest fires kept us on the move. Marian worked at the constellations on the macro level, and I wrestled with our son Christopher's sixteen-power telescope to search the firmament at the micro level.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">In one of those moments that give me goosebumps even in recollection, we focused our scope on the constellation of the Seven Sisters or the <i>Pleiades</i>—in Greek mythology, seven sisters, daughters of Atlas, turned into a group of stars. In biblical scripture the <i>Pleiades</i> are singled out by the book of Job</span></span> (9.9; 38.31)<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: large;">and by the prophet Amos</span></span> (5.8)<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: large;">as a particular splendor of God's creation. Among and around the seven points of light visible to the naked eye, our little scope disclosed a dazzling cluster of sister stars, all born of the same molecular cloud and mutually bound by gravity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">So it is with the virtues. Through the lens of New Testament writings we find a host of sister virtues to guide the faithful—repentant, thankful for their forgiveness, and resolved to amend their lives. Are these exclusively Christian virtues? Heavens no—no more than the stars are Christian stars. They are a host of transcendent virtues, resplendent above us all, brought nearer by the lens of Judeo-Christian scripture, as also by lenses of other traditions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">I would like to conclude with a partial survey of this cluster of sister virtues—qualities of character that make us good, qualities that really matter. In alphabetical order:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Compassion</i> really matters, virtually defined for Christian tradition by the Samaritan's care for a stripped traveler, beaten and left for dead on the road to Jericho. </span>(Luke 10.25–37)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Fidelity</i> really matters, such as the Apostle Peter taught by failing at it so miserably in the high priest's courtyard </span><span style="font-size: small;">(Matthew 26.69–75; Mark 14.66–72; Luke 22.54–62)<span style="font-size: large;"> and the three Marys exemplified so courageously by being last at the cross and first at the tomb. </span></span>(Matthew 27.55–61; 28.1–10; Mark 15.40–41, 47; Luke 23.48–49; 24.1–12)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Forbearance</i> really matters, such as Christ repeatedly showed toward his non-comprehending disciples who, despite their "little faith" </span>(Matthew 6.30; 8.26; 14.31; 16.8; Luke 12.28)<span style="font-size: large;">, had in truth left their homes and followed him. </span>(Matthew 19.24–29; Mark 10.23–30; Luke 18.25–30)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Forgiveness</i> really matters, as we learn when Peter asks "How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" and Jesus responds with hyperbole: "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven times." </span>(Mt 18.21–22; Luke 17.3–4)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Fortitude</i> really matters, </span><span style="font-size: large;">like that of the intrepid Abigail as she rode her donkey into the profanity of King David's anger to soften his implacable will and domesticate his savage heart. </span>(1 Samuel 25.18–35)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Gentleness</i> really matters, like the gentleness mitigating the imagery of post-exilic prophets when they compare chastened Israel to an untrained calf or a wayward son or daughter </span>(Jeremiah 31.16–20)<span style="font-size: large;">, whereas before the sufferings of the Exile the prophets had upbraided the Israelites for being greedy "cows" and "lusty stallions" neighing after neighbors' wives. </span>(Jeremiah 5.7–8; Amos 4.1)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Graciousness</i> really matters, like the graciousness transforming the tense meeting between Peter the Jew and Cornelius the Gentile, thus accounting for my standing before you this evening as a Gentile grafted into the salvation-history of Judaism. </span>(Acts 10.17–38)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Harmony</i> really matters, echoing the spiritual harmony among the disciples at Pentecost so strong as to overcome the discord of nationalities that has disrupted human solidarity since the tower of Babel. </span>(Acts 2.1–21)</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Honorableness</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> really matters, like that of Joseph of Arimathea, who withheld his consent from dishonorable proceedings of the legal body of which he was a member, and asked Pilate for the body of Christ to give it an honorable burial.</span> </span>(Luke 23.50–56)</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Kindness</i> really matters, such as the naive islanders of Malta showed in kindling a fire for the shipwrecked Paul and his shivering companions and welcoming them with hospitality.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>(Acts 28.1–7)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Liberality</i> really matters, like that of Job, who supported widows and orphans and street people, not withholding "anything that the poor desired." </span>(Job 31.16–23; cf. Deuteronomy 15.10–11)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Meekness</i> really matters, as when royal David's descendant insists on welcoming little children, "even infants," to his arms and his blessing.</span> (Matthew 19.13–15; Mark 10.13–16; Luke 18.15–17)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mercy</i> really matters, as when, in the only capital case to come before him, Christ voids the sentence of a woman caught in adultery.</span> (John 8.1–11)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Patience</i> really matters, like that of the sower of kingdom seeds who awaits their sprouting and growing—"he knows not how"—into the blade and then the ear and then the full grain in the ear.</span> (Mark 4.26–29)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Peacemaking</i> really matters, as Christ directly declares: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."</span> (Matthew 5.9)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Purity</i> really matters, like the Canaanite woman's purity of heart that willed one thing despite two </span><span style="font-size: large;">abrasive dismissals by Christ, finally to win his wonder for her great faith.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>(Matthew 15.21–28)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Reverence</i> really matters, such as Christ taught his disciples—"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name"</span> (Matthew 6.9; Luke 11.2)<span style="font-size: large;">—and prayed amidst his own anguish, "not my will but yours be done."</span> (Matthew 26.39; Mark 14.38; Luke 22.42)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Self-examination</i> really matters, lest we presume to remove a speck from our neighbor's eye when we have a log in our own.</span> (Matthew 7.1–5; Luke 6.41–42)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sympathy</i> really matters, like that dazzling shaft of sympathy that flashes across the narrative of Deborah's gloating victory-song to illumine the camp of the enemy, where we see the mother of Sisera awaiting, in desperate self-deception, the return of her murdered warrior son.</span> (Judges 5.26–30)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Tenderheartedness</i> really matters, such as Mary and Martha witnessed in Christ as he wept on his way to view the body of Lazarus, their brother and his friend.</span> (John 11.32–35)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Thankfulness</i> really matters, like that of the one leper of ten, and he a Samaritan, who alone returned to thank Christ for his healing.</span> (Luke 17.11–16.)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Truthfulness</i> really matters, as Ananias and Sapphira learned too late to save them from the falsehood that poisoned their hearts.</span> (Acts 4.32–5.11)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Wisdom</i> really matters—she who heartens us with a promise that we hardly dare to trust: "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me."</span> (Proverbs 8.17)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Having reached the end of the alphabet, let us give the concluding words to the Apostle Paul:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And now, my friends, all that is true, all that is honorable, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, all that is gracious—if there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, fill your thoughts with these things.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> And the God of peace will be with you. </span>(Philippians 4.8–9)</blockquote>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-85060118191445444582019-11-11T13:04:00.000-05:002019-12-05T15:47:01.957-05:00Evil Is Always...What? (Revised)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>This is a revision and expansion that replaces my earlier posting of October 18, 2013.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>*****</i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Occasionally I hear the question "What is the nature of evil?" and sometimes the question leads to worthwhile conversation. But what would we think of someone whose answer to the question began with the words "Evil is always..."? How could anyone presume to address a question of illimitable complexity by opening with a generalization?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yet a number of my life's formative figures have done just that, and I believe that they cast clarifying light. The figures I have in mind are Reinhold Niebuhr, Jonathan Edwards, Saint Augustine, and Martin Luther King, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The bluntest of these figures is the theologian and public commentator Reinhold Niebuhr. In 1944, with World War II raging, Niebuhr described evil using the charged word "always":</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Evil is always the assertion of some self-interest without regard to the whole, whether the whole be conceived as the immediate community, or the total community of mankind, or the total order of the world. The good is, on the other hand, always the harmony of the whole on various levels. Devotion to a subordinate and premature "whole" such as the nation, may of course become evil, viewed from the perspective of a larger whole, such as the community of mankind. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness</i>, Scribner's, 1994, 9–10)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Niebuhr's basic ethical imperative is to strive for increasing harmony among ever-broadening communities of concern.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of Niebuhr's formative predecessors was the New England theologian and minister, Jonathan Edwards. In <i>The Nature of True Virtue</i> (1755) Edwards describes "all sin" as selfishness without regard to larger contexts in which things are interconnected. Edwards refers to the most comprehensive context as "the great whole of existence" or "being in general":<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All sin has its source from selfishness, or from self-love that is not subordinate to a regard for being in general. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Ann Arbor Paperbacks, 1960, 92)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The opposite of sin is the subject of Edwards' book: "true virtue."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">True virtue most essentially consists in <i>benevolence to being in general</i>. Or perhaps, to speak more accurately, it is that consent, propensity and union of heart to being in general, which is immediately exercised in a general good will </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>True Virtue</i>, 3, Edwards' emphasis).</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Edwards' basic ethical imperative is to strive for ever-broadening goodwill toward the great whole of existence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">This basic principle of Niebuhr and Edwards bears the imprint of Saint Augustine, particularly Augustine's early work</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Confessiones</i></span>*<span style="font-size: large;"> (397–400 AD).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In Book 7 of <i>The Confessions</i> Augustine chronicles his crisis of faith as he struggled with the question: Whence evil? (<i>unde malum</i>). He calls out to God:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I pictured your creation filled with your infinite being, and I reflected, "Look, this is God, and these are the things God has created. God is good, and though he is far more wonderful than they in every respect, still he who is good has created them good; see too how he surrounds and pervades them. Where, then, is evil; where does it come from and how did it creep in? What is its root, its seed? Or does it not exist at all? ... Either the evil we fear exists, or our fear itself is the evil. So where does it come from, if the good God made all things good?" </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>The Confessions</i>, 7.5, tr. Maria Boulding, Vintage Books, 1997.)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Augustine tells us that more than a decade of spiritual struggle as an <i>animo vagabundus</i>, a "vagabond soul" </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>Confessiones,</i> 5.6),</span><span style="font-size: large;"> brought him to a resolution that we may find startling:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Quaecumque sunt, bona sunt.</i> "Whatever is, is good." </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>Confessiones, </i>7.12)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the face of it, who could ever believe this blunt assertion? What could Augustine possibly mean by it? He knew all too well <i>miseris certe hominis, </i>"humanity's undoubted wretchedness"</span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>De Civitate Dei</i>, XIX, 6).**</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I think that Augustine's maxim is better translated as "Whatever <i>has being </i>is good." The usual translation, "whatever <i>is</i>...," might suggest that all circumstances, all situations, all actions are good. But that is not what Augustine discusses here. His interest is human being.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Augustine believes that our <i>being</i>, our sheer <i>existing</i>, is good. Indeed our sheer existing is wondrous. Yet our being is always limited. From infancy we are habitually self-centered. As a means of survival, our infant self-centeredness is good. But it is crucial that "we eradicate these habits and throw them off as we grow up."</span> (<i>The</i> <i>Confessions</i>, 1.7, tr. Boulding)<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">This implies that every person at every stage of life has potential for greater goodness, that is, potential for enlarging self-concern to include concern about others, about more good for all. Our moral challenge is to actualize this potential.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Augustine asserts that evil is not <i>substantia, </i>not substance:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">[If evil doers] should be deprived (<i>prevantur</i>) of all good, they would simply not exist.... Insofar as they have being, they are good. Whatever has being, then, is good. And so evil, the source of which I was seeking, cannot be a substance (<i>substantia</i>), because if it were, it would be good. </span>(<i>Confessiones</i>, 7.12)</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Augustine describes evil not as substance but as lack: absence (<i>absentia</i>) of good; privation (<i>privatio</i>) of good; diminution (<i>minuere</i>) of good. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>Confessiones</i> 12,3; 3,7; 7,12; <i>et passim</i>)</span><span style="font-size: large;">. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Evil, then, is not substance to be vanquished but vacuum to be filled. Amelioration comes not by destroying something named "evil" but by flooding deficiencies of good with more abundant goodness—as darkness is dispelled, not by obliterating something named "the dark," but by flooding darkened realms with light.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Both Augustine and Edwards affirmed that God is not a being among other beings. God is Being Itself—<i>id quo est</i>, "that which is" </span>(<i>Confessiones</i>, 7.17)<span style="font-size: large;">; "the foundation and fountain of all being" </span>(<i>True Virtue</i>, 15)<span style="font-size: large;">. In this understanding, there is something of God in every person's being, and therefore at least a seed of potential for increased goodness.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">But what if the seed fails to germinate? Edwards addresses this crucial question directly:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Particularly, if there be any beings statedly and irreclaimably opposite, and an enemy to being in general, then consent and adherence to being in general will induce the truly virtuous heart to forsake that enemy, and to oppose it. </span>(<i>True Virtue</i>, 8–9)</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Augustine grappled with the question of <i>how</i> we are to oppose evil. On the governmental level, he introduced the term "just war" (<i>iusta bella</i>) into Western tradition, meaning morally-calibrated war of last resort to confront adamant evil. He cautions that a person waging war is just only "if he remembers that he is a human being and laments (<i>dolebit</i>) the fact that he is faced with the necessity of waging war." </span>(<i>De Civitate Dei</i>, XIX, 7) <span style="font-size: large;">He stresses that our moral obligation is to oppose evil in ways that will maximize the possibility of greater good in the end.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">On the individual level, Augustine addresses the issue of punishment for offenders:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Punishment that is just and legitimate (<i>iusto atque licito</i>)...is for the benefit of the offender, intended to readjust him to the domestic peace from which he has broken away...so that either the man who is punished may be corrected by his experience, or others may be deterred by his example. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>De Civitate Dei</i>, XIX, 16)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">To me, Augustine's reasoning suggests an abundance of means for opposing evil in our day—means such as international cease-fire declarations; balanced truth-and-reconciliation commissions; honest human rights councils; prompt prosecution of criminals in non-retributive trials; practicable rehabilitation programs in prisons; moderated town meetings amidst social upheaval; accommodating relationships with people whose views offend us; forgiving responses to personal injury—ever keeping in mind that all too often our own views lose sight of Augustine's arduous goal of "keeping totality in view" </span>(<i>Confessions</i>, 7.13, tr. Boulding)<span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"International," "balanced," "honest," "prompt," "non-retributive," "practicable," "moderated," "accommodating," "forgiving"—certainly such qualifiers are idealistic. And certainly Augustine knew well that basic principles are not the end of ethical navigation but its beginning, its moral compass and rudder. Persons who embrace moral principles face unavoidable dilemmas about how to make realistic decisions and act upon them in the face of unforeseeable outcomes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">No one was more fully aware than Niebuhr of the difficulties, ironies, and tragedies involved in making principled decisions and acting upon them. More than most public figures, he was willing to change his mind about ethical issues and to admit former errors of judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />In the 1940s, for example, Niebuhr favored U.S. involvement in World War II. When his nation's development of the atomic bomb became public knowledge, he approved that decision. When the U.S. dropped atomic bombs to convince Japan of certain defeat, Niebuhr again approved, though he lamented the targeting of two cities filled with civilians instead of some unpopulated demonstration area. With the coming of the Cold War he supported the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) as a means of preventing war that might otherwise cross the nuclear threshold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />By the time of his death in 1971, however, Niebuhr was voicing doubts about some of his earlier attitudes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The development of the hydrogen bomb, of guided missiles and of tactical atomic weapons has made many of our conclusions otiose.</span>***</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Niebuhr came to believe that nuclear war would be "ultimate and suicidal holocaust." In his language quoted at the beginning of this posting, he came to believe that nuclear war threatens "the immediate community..., the total community of mankind..., and the total order of the world." Niebuhr actively supported proposals for an international No First Use treaty. (Today only China and India have declared no first use policies, and only the United States has used nuclear weapons in warfare.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Martin Luther King, Jr. was likewise all too aware of the difficulties, ironies, and tragedies involved in making principled decisions and acting upon them. This is in part because he was an admirer of Niebuhr. Recalling his years as a graduate student, King writes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I became so enamored of his social ethics that I almost fell into the trap of accepting uncritically everything he wrote. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<i>Stride Toward Freedom</i>, Perennial, 1964, 79)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">King avoided that trap. Niebuhr believed that evil sometimes necessitates violent resistance; King confronted evil non-violently. Niebuhr disapproved pacifism; King was a pacifist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />In the end Niebuhr and King agreed about the ethical imperative of avoiding nuclear war—in Edwards' language, "an enemy to being in general." Niebuhr's dread of "ultimate and suicidal holocaust" echoes in King's language:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war.... If modern man continues to flirt unhesitatingly with war, he will transform his earthly habitat into an inferno such as even the mind of Dante could not imagine. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Nobel Prize Lecture, December 11, 1964)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">King put his trust in the moral principle of allaying evil with good, keeping in view the world's totality:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Nobel Prize Lecture)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">King's sermons</span>****<span style="font-size: large;"> offer hopeful images of dispelling evil's darkness, not by violence, but by the light of goodness:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">—————<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">*<i>Confessiones</i>, Latin text, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1968. My translations except as otherwise noted.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">**<i>De Civitate Dei</i>, Latin text, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1957–72. My translations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">***Niebuhr quotations from Campbell Craig, "The New Meaning of Modern War in the Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr," <i>Journal of the History of Ideas</i> 53.4, 694–96.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">****<i>Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community</i>? Harper, 1967, 62–3; <i>Strength to Love</i>, Harper, 1963, 37.</span></div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-64264774758479309472019-06-24T10:14:00.000-04:002020-04-03T10:57:12.228-04:00Ultimate Mystery, Ultimate Trust: A Personal View<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwh82d7k_8i0Kk2uQnTr1BPry3JU8jpRrpys1iqNTxEdLtM3XATMig0CSp7d8ESmUNRdK3pcmDy5LFCzwG-UeXyP9Z81CTiduWsE_jmeR51ZiWlr4dMXV9JgZzCedHWUydsOeY587hYT4/s1600/waterfall2_kpno_900+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwh82d7k_8i0Kk2uQnTr1BPry3JU8jpRrpys1iqNTxEdLtM3XATMig0CSp7d8ESmUNRdK3pcmDy5LFCzwG-UeXyP9Z81CTiduWsE_jmeR51ZiWlr4dMXV9JgZzCedHWUydsOeY587hYT4/s400/waterfall2_kpno_900+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Waterfall Nebula</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">An unexplained cosmic structure some 1,350 light years from earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The "waterfall" of gas spans about 10 light years.</span><br />
<a href="https://go.nasa.gov/2Y5xqjw" target="_blank">https://go.nasa.gov/2Y5xqjw</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNYkB7W0OWlmgcdnjaj_ExCLT7ivc7cmJXrxTc07783GuKP9AW3wLCFZJoRH6fIiYKXsclpZ0f8wIfXWTSk3Q3P-b_nlR5TqMoDFwSp0dKXENG-JG8R497z31achLKJNhcl2jAVh4kPcN/s1600/Seven+Virtues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNYkB7W0OWlmgcdnjaj_ExCLT7ivc7cmJXrxTc07783GuKP9AW3wLCFZJoRH6fIiYKXsclpZ0f8wIfXWTSk3Q3P-b_nlR5TqMoDFwSp0dKXENG-JG8R497z31achLKJNhcl2jAVh4kPcN/s640/Seven+Virtues.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Seven Virtues</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Personifications above, Representatives below</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Francesco Pesellino and Workshop, Florence, <i>ca</i>1450</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Birmingham Museum of Art</span><br />
<a href="https://bit.ly/2XsLE0Q" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://bit.ly/2XsLE0Q</span></a></td></tr>
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Astronomers are revealing a universe vast beyond comprehension and vastly alien to life. Can thoughtful Christians continue to embrace the central affirmation that God the Creator is love?<br />
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Biblical language and Christian hymns are rich with poetic symbolism. Will thoughtful Christians sustain and nourish traditions of sacred metaphor amid a culture of literalism, both scientific and religious?<br />
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News coverage keeps us continually disturbed by situations of appalling human suffering. Can thoughtful Christians respond to the question "Why doesn't God intervene?"<br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: small;">I have found help with such questions in two spheres of reflection: the cosmos as ultimate mystery, and faith as ultimate trust.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">ULTIMATE MYSTERY</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Biblical scripture offers numerous declarations that God is beyond our understanding. Sometimes the declarations draw imagery from land and sea:</span></div>
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How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!<br />
How vast is the sum of them!<br />
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;<br />
I come to the end—I am still with you. (Psalm 139.17–18, New Revised Standard Version)</blockquote>
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The first man did not know Wisdom fully,<br />
nor will the last one fathom her.<br />
For her thoughts are more abundant than the sea,<br />
and her counsel deeper than the great abyss. (Ecclesiasticus 24.28–29)</blockquote>
Often the imagery is astronomical:<br />
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For my thoughts are not your thoughts,<br />
nor are your ways my ways,<br />
says the Lord.<br />
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,<br />
so are my ways higher than your ways<br />
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55.8–9) </blockquote>
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God made the Bear and Orion<br />
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south<br />
who does great things beyond understanding,<br />
and marvelous things without number. (Job 9.9–10)</blockquote>
These words come from an age when our world was assumed to be central to creation and the constellations were thought to be embedded in a fixed dome of sky:<br />
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"He made firm the skies above." (Proverbs 8.28)</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I compare these biblical passages with reports from contemporary astronomers concerning cosmic numbers:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">There are something like 300 billion stars in the Milky Way, so if 10 per cent of them have planets there are around 30 billion planets in our galaxy alone, and there are over 100 billion galaxies in the observable Universe, for a total of something in the order of 10 to the 21st power<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>(that's 1 then 21 zeros) planets in the observable Universe. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[University of Cambridge Institute of Astronomy <a href="https://bit.ly/2MJ7sBm" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/2MJ7sBm</a> ]</span></blockquote>
Job got it right: "...marvelous things without number."<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Astronomers are also updating cosmic distances. Recent photographs have registered galaxies 13 billion light years away. I think about that: 13 billion is an immense number; 13 billion miles is an unimaginable distance; but these galaxies are 13 billion <i>light years</i> away. In miles, that's 75 followed by 27 zeros. It's instructive to write that number out.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: small;">Isaiah got it right: "...the heavens are higher than the earth."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
I remind myself that in biblical times the background dome of sky must have been far darker and the stars far more brilliant than I have ever experienced. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Biblical writers certainly felt wonder and awe under their sky. But they knew nothing about astronomical numbers, ages, and distances. </span></span>Aware today of the incomprehensible scope of the universe, must I not admit that creation seems vastly alien to human interests?<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">This is in fact not a new question. </span></span>Immediately following Job's "Bear and Orion" passage quoted above, the ancient text makes an unsettling tack. Job has been calling out to God from the midst of appalling personal suffering. Now he inveighs against his Creator God for being indifferent to his misery:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;<br />
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.<br />
He snatches away; who can stop him?<br />
Who will say to him, "What are you doing?" (Job 9.11–12)</blockquote>
With natural disasters such as earthquakes and tempests in mind, Job then broadens his perspective and generalizes about the Creator's indifference to human well-being:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is all one; therefore I say<br />
he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.<br />
When disaster brings sudden death,<br />
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. (Job 9.22–23)</blockquote>
We can expand Job's catalogue of natural disasters by adding tsunamis, tornadoes, E-boli viruses, lightening bolts, and the like.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">Reflection on Job's accusatory words about the Creator's indifference has led me to revisit the naming of God in the Hebrew Bible:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3.13–14)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">The Hebrew name here is YHWH. An imperfect verb, YHWH reflects God's continuous, constant character. "Thus W.F. Albright could translate YHWH as 'caused things to happen, causes things to happen, and will keep on causing things to happen.'" </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">["Tetragrammaton," <i>Mercer Dictionary of the Bible</i>, p.889.]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">We might therefore speak of God as Ultimate Cause. But this suggests that God is a being among other beings, though of vastly superior power. I think it better to keep to the biblical plainness of I AM—not God as a being, but God as Being Itself.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">More and more frequently I speak with thoughtful Christians who feel estranged, even repelled, by childlike images of God as a manlike being. After a disaster w</span></span>e often hear the anguished question "Why didn't God intervene?" But to intervene is "to enter as something extraneous" <span style="font-size: x-small;">[<i>Oxford English Dictionary</i>].</span> I AM implies All-Indwelling, to which nothing is extraneous. The question of divine intervention does not apply.<br />
<br />
I think that Christians may rightly join insurance companies in calling <i>natural</i> disasters "Acts of God." Yet Christ transforms the complaint about divine indifference to a lesson about divine impartiality:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; <i>for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.</i> (Matthew 5:43–45, my emphasis)</blockquote>
In light of this teaching, instances of <i>human</i> enmity or atrocity should lead Christians to ask not "Why doesn't God intervene?" but "How can <i>we</i> intervene, impartially?"<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe that Christians would do well to appreciate our humanlike conceptions of God as sanctified metaphor. We </span></span>should minimize anthropomorphic conceptions of God in the domain of doctrine, at the same time enriching the symbolism of our hymns and prayers. These poetic expressions give voice to our deepest fears and highest aspirations, articulate our human needs and humane norms. Their metaphorical use of personal language for Divinity is instinctive and wholesome:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Cure thy children's warring madness,<br />
bend our pride to thy control;<br />
shame our wanton selfish gladness,<br />
rich in things and poor in soul.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Save us from weak resignation<br />
to the evils we deplore;<br />
let the gift of thy salvation<br />
be our glory evermore.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,<br />
serving thee whom we adore.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> [Harry Emerson Fosdick, "God of Grace and God of Glory," <i>The Hymnal 1982</i>, #594]</span></blockquote>
<div>
I believe also that beyond even our most sublime symbolic language, Christians should acknowledge divine mystery.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;">A few years ago I was surprised to discover a kindred spirit in Isaac Watts (1674–1748). Watts authored some seven hundred and fifty Protestant hymn texts. I grew up singing "Joy to the World," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and a dozen more. But I did not know that Watts was an accomplished astronomer, or that he published both a handbook of astronomy and a collection of hymns on the theme of creation's ultimate mystery. From the Watts hymn "God's Infinity":</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Thine essence is a vast abyss</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> Which angels cannot sound,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">An ocean of infinities</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> Where all our thoughts are drowned....</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">In vain our haughty reason swells,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> For nothing's found in Thee</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But boundless unconceivables,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> And vast eternity. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Isaac Watts, <i>Horae lyricae</i>, 1706</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">]</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">From "Worshipping with Fear":</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Created powers, how weak they be!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> How short our praises fall!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So much akin to nothing we,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> And Thou eternal All. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Watts was able to meld his stark cosmic humility with the ardent Christian devotion he expresses in his other hymns:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Blest be the Lord, who comes to us</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> with messages of grace!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Who comes, in God his Father's name,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> to save our sinful race. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[<i>The Hymnal 1982, </i>#50]</span></blockquote>
In the end, Watts accepts the final inadequacy of our words and commends the "solemn reverence" of silence. From his hymn "God Exalted above All Praise":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Eternal Power! whose high abode<br />
Becomes the grandeur of a God,<br />
Infinite length beyond the bounds<br />
Where stars revolve their little rounds....</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God is in Heaven, and men below;<br />
Be short our tunes; our words be few;<br />
A solemn reverence checks our songs,<br />
And praise sits silent on our tongues. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Isaac Watts, <i>Horae lyricae</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">]</span></blockquote>
During the late 18th century this bold hymn was found in every protestant hymnal. In hymnals published since 1980, the hymn has made only three appearances. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[This information thanks to Hymnary.org. <a href="https://bit.ly/31NZzhy" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/31NZzhy</a>]</span></div>
<div>
<br />
I believe that hymn collections should restore this Christian astronomer's neglected texts, and that Christian organizations should commission fresh texts and music appropriate for hymnals in our age of cosmic cartography.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;">ULTIMATE TRUST</span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">I have another 18th-century soulmate in Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758)—though we have our serious quarrels. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[See my blog posting of 07/07/15, <i>"The Nature of True Virtue" by Jonathan Edwards.</i>]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;">With characteristic acuteness Edwards observes that while theologians undertake to <i>describe</i> God with countless doctrinal adjectives, such as "immutable" and "omnipresent," biblical scripture <i>identifies</i> God with only three nouns:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God is Reason (<i>logos</i>) (Jn 1.1)<br />
God is Light (<i>phos</i>) (1 John 1.5)<br />
God is Love (<i>agape</i>) (1 John 4.8 & 16)<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Edwards, <i>Treatise on Grace and other posthumously published writings, </i>ed. Paul Helm, 1971, p.119.]</span></blockquote>
<div>
To Edward's list we may add<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God is Truth (<i>aletheia</i>) (John 17.17)<br />
God is Spirit (<i>pneuma</i>) (John 4.24)</blockquote>
These nouns are only suggestive, but I think of reason, light, love, and truth as a good starter list of Christian values that invite my ultimate trust.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I deliberately use "trust" here, rather than "belief" or "faith." Biblical translators render the Greek word, <i>pistis</i>,<i> </i>variously. "Belief," I feel, is too easily identified with unexamined assent to theological propositions. "Faith," unlike <i>pistis</i>, has no verbal forms; I cannot say that I <i>faith</i> something.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">In contrast, "trust," like <i>pistis</i>, has both nominative and verbal forms. Like <i>pistis, </i>"trust" is active not passive, dynamic not static, relational not private. "Trust" gives us the transitive verb <i>"</i>entrust." I can entrust myself to virtues such as reason, light, love, and truth. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[See my blog posting of 10/31/16, <i>Pistis: Faith as Believing, Faith as Trusting.</i>]</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Scripture's fifth identifying noun, <i>Spirit, </i>is not a value or virtue or norm. What does it mean to say that God is Spirit? At one point </span>Edwards answers plainly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Holy Spirit is the sum of all good things. Good things and the Holy Spirit are synonymous expressions in Scripture. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[<i>Treatise on Grace</i>, <i>op. cit., </i>p.124.</span>]</span></blockquote>
I find Edwards' insight concerning divine nouns valuable for reflection and suggestive for prayer:<br />
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Eternal Light, shine within our hearts;<br />
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;<br />
Eternal Truth, be our support;<br />
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance;<br />
Eternal Spirit, be our guide. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Derived from a prayer attributed to Alcuin of York (c.735–804)]</span></blockquote>
</div>
Godly qualities are certainly not restricted to this starter list of biblical nouns. Many traditions offer constellations of virtues and norms by which to steer a righteous life.<br />
<br />
Hebrew scripture offers a triad of virtues:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;<br />
and what does the Lord require of you<br />
but to do justice, and to love kindness,<br />
and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6.8). </blockquote>
Half a dozen Christian norms are embedded in the "Blessed" sayings from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, among them:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...<br />
Blessed are the merciful...<br />
Blessed are the peacemakers... (Matthew 5.1-16)</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Apostle Paul provides us with the most extended of all biblical summaries of Christian norms. In his <i>Letter to the Romans </i>Paul recommends, in simple language, some two dozen moral qualities that are "good and acceptable and perfect."</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12.1–21).</span></span></blockquote>
Paul also reminds his readers of the Ten Commandments revealed to Moses (Romans 13.8-10).<br />
<br />
One traditional Christian list joins the four Classical virtues with the three Christian virtues or graces:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Faith, Hope, Love </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[See the Pesellino art work above.]</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mahatma Gandhi kept lists of virtues. Reversing the traditional word order "God is Truth," Gandhi placed his ultimate trust in the affirmation "Truth is God." He grounds this trust in Sanskrit scripture—expressing in passing his opinion that anthropomorphic images of God, though not "fully significant," are likely to remain "generally current":</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The word Satya (Truth) is derived from <i>Sat</i>, which means "being." Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why <i>Sat</i> or Truth is perhaps the most important name of God. In fact it is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth. But as we cannot do without a ruler or a general, such names of God as 'King of kings' or 'The Almighty' are and will remain generally current. On deeper thinking, however, it will be realized, that <i>Sat</i> or Satya is the only correct and fully significant name for God. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[M. K. Gandhi, <i>Truth is God</i>, ed. R. K. Prabhu, Navajivan Publishing House, 1955, p.20.]</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Might Christians extend Gandhi's grammatical reversal to "Reason is God," "Light is God," "Love is God"? I think we should consider it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">The traditional "God is Love," for example, is difficult to make intelligible in a creation that is stupendously alien to life. "Love is God," in contrast, identifies love as a godly quality deserving my ultimate trust, meriting my devotion, warranting my worship.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">Sorting through virtues and incorporating them into day-to-day living can be a messy struggle. Whatever listings we consider, problems arise. Virtues are sometimes at odds with each other. Are the virtues of love and mercy, for example, compatible with a soldier's fortitude in defense of justice? Adopting virtue as an ultimate concern can easily can lead to self-righteousness—to becoming what Mark Twain has called "a good person of the worst sort." Or the converse might apply: I may find find virtue an unaccomplishable goal, and the result might be moral despair.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>In this last regard, I find support and solace in my tradition. Christianity is a religion of righteousness, but not of perfectionism. A man asks Jesus:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." (Luke 18.18–19; also Mark 10:17-18; Matthew 19:16–17)</blockquote>
Christ taught his followers not a life of impossible perfection but a healing path of repentance, forgiveness, and amendment of life:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5.31–32).</span></blockquote>
At one point in Paul's summary of Christian norms, mentioned above, he includes a qualifying clause that I find encouraging: "<i>If it be possible, </i>so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12.18, my emphasis). Paul is tacitly recognizing that living "peaceably with all" is sometimes <i>not</i> possible.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I believe that entrusting ourselves to righteousness is the crux of Christian life. This requires courage, and I am grateful for the Psalmist's pledge and petition:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">let me never be put to confusion (Psalm 71.1, King James Version).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">In Edwards' extraordinary final treatise, <i>The Nature of True Virtue </i>(1755), he enlarges the domain of virtue beyond what we have yet considered, and the enlargement is boundless. Wasting no time, Edwards defines true virtue on page 3:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">True virtue most essentially consists in <i>benevolence to being in general</i> [Edwards' emphasis].</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Edwards uses numerous synonyms for <i>being in general</i>: "the universal system of existence"; "the great whole"; "the universality of things"; "the whole of universal being"; "universal existence"; "being as such"; "the whole of universal existence." (The many phrases here that involve the word "universe" reflect the likelihood that Edwards was the first resident of the Americas to read Isaac Newton.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">Edwards defines <i>benevolence</i> as "consent, propensity and union of heart to being in general, which is immediately exercised in a general good will." His definition suggests that a virtuous </span></span>life is a trajectory of increasing good will toward "this great whole we stand related to." <span style="font-size: x-small;">[<i>The Nature of True Virtue, </i>Ann Arbor Paperbacks, 1961, pp.3, 18n.]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The opposite trajectory, Edwards says, is sin: "private interest </span></span>independent of regard to the public good" <span style="font-size: x-small;">[p.19]</span>. He writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All sin has its source from selfishness, or from self-love not subordinate to a regard to being in general. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[p. 92. See my blog posting of 10/18/13, "Evil Is Always...What?"]</span></blockquote>
For me this graceful 16th-century anthem expresses the dynamics of Christian living:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake,<br />
lay not our sins to our charge,<br />
but forgive that is past<br />
and give us grace to amend our sinful lives;<br />
to decline from sin and incline to virtue,<br />
that we may walk with an upright heart,<br />
before thee now and evermore.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[The school of composer Christopher Tye, c.1505–c.1574]</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;">ULTIMATE UNION</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></div>
I am left with two ultimates: a cosmic sense of ultimate mystery and a religious sense of ultimate trust. Does "God" therefore become but a bipolar name for cosmic incomprehensibility and abstract virtues? <br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For me these two ultimates are organically united. Again the Psalmist:</span></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> the moon and the stars that you have established;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">what are human beings that you are mindful of them,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> mortals that you care for them?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Yet you have made them a little lower than angels,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> and crowned them with glory and honor (Psalm 8.3–5).</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The "Yet" here is profound.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
We know that Being has evolved over billions of years in billions upon billions of galaxies, vastly alien to humankind.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And <i>Yet</i>....</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In our infinitesimal domain of the universe, Being, following undeviating cosmic laws, has given rise to life, to human beings, to us, to me. And it is possible that life has arisen in our infinitesimal domain <i>only</i>. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[See David Kipping's "Why we might be alone in the Universe"</span> <a href="https://bit.ly/2wOIky6" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/2wOIky6</a> ]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The light of reason has become manifest in my self- and cosmic-consciousness. I am blessed with memory and skill. Prophet and sage, Redeemer and Mahatma have taught and modeled righteousness for me. </span></span>I am endowed with the capacity to discern virtues worthy of ultimate trust. I create and enjoy beauty. I love and am loved. I rejoice in the Holy Spirit as the sum of all good things.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Reason, Light, Love, Truth, Spirit: all of these are somehow, inscrutably, unfathomably <i>incipient</i>, <i>ingrained</i>, <i>immanent</i>, and now <i>manifest</i> in Universal Being, in God.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;">How can this be? I am silenced by a sense of <i>mysterium tremendum et fascinans—</i>mystery perturbing and enthralling. I am absorbed in awe, gratitude, and reverence<span style="text-align: justify;">.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-26416662136198931982016-12-10T13:08:00.000-05:002020-02-08T09:10:35.790-05:00Christian Caring for the Poor: Lectionary Disregard for Biblical Foundations<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Gleaners</i><br />
Jean-François Millet, 1857<br />
Paris, Musée d'Orsay<br />
With bounteous stacks of harvest in the background,<br />
the three peasant women scratch for stray stalks.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Recently I was invited to lead a group from my congregation, St. James Episcopal Church of Greenville SC, in a sequence of Sunday morning sessions on biblical teachings about caring for the poor. Our group's explorations led to an unexpected realization about <i>The Revised Common Lectionary</i>—the guide to biblical readings that is used throughout more than twenty Christian denominations </span><span style="font-size: large;">to structure Sunday worship</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">Our group began its explorations with the Pentateuch, the Bible's opening books known traditionally as the "Five Books of Moses." We found that the poor were to be granted interest-free loans sufficient to meet their needs. We learned that owners of olive groves, vineyards, and fields of grain were to leave behind an adequate harvest for poor gleaners. We read that in every third year a tithe of the full harvest was to be set aside to provide for orphans, widows, and resident aliens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">In every seventh (sabbath) year all debts that for honest reasons remained unpaid were to be erased, and indentured servants were to be set free, with provisions sufficient for beginning their independent lives. During each fiftieth (Jubilee) year, land holders who had purchased agricultural property were to return that property to the families who had been the original owners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We found these Mosaic directives embedded—sometimes buried—within eight chapters of the Pentateuch: Exodus 22; Leviticus 19, 23, and 25; and Deuteronomy 14–15 and 23–24.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Further survey of the Hebrew Bible disclosed that these Mosaic chapters are the foundation for numerous subsequent passages about caring for the poor. The prohibition of interest on loans to the poor reappears in Nehemiah 5, Psalm 15, Proverbs 28, and Ezekiel 18 and 22. Gleaning rights reappear in Judges 8 and Ruth 2. Sabbath-year obligations reappear in 2 Chronicles 36 and Jeremiah 34. Jubilee language reappears in Numbers 36 and Isaiah 61.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">When we came to the Gospels of the New Testament we recognized that Jesus's teachings concerning the poor rest upon these Hebrew Bible foundations. In the inaugural event of his public ministry, for example, Jesus uses Jubilee-year language:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18-19, echoing Isaiah 61:1–2)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus also broadens the foundations. For instance, Jesus's words about lending are not limited to collecting no interest. His teaching is more radical: "Lend expecting nothing in return." (Luke 6:35)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A member of our group wondered aloud where the foundational Mosaic passages about caring for the poor occur amid <i>The Revised Common Lectionary</i>'s three-year repeating cycle of biblical readings. Acting on little more than a whim, we perused the <i>Lectionary</i>'s index to locate readings from Exodus 22, Leviticus 19, 23, and 25, and Deuteronomy 14–15 and 23–24.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were startled to find that the <i>Lectionary</i> includes only one reading—only 2 verses—from these eight chapters: Leviticus 19:9–10.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Leviticus chapter 19 appears in the <i>Lectionary</i> twice, in fact, but its second listing omits these verses concerning gleaning. The <i>Lectionary</i> includes none of the other foundational readings concerning social justice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of the dozen or so subsequent Hebrew Bible passages (listed above) that echo Mosaic teachings on caring for the poor, the <i>Lectionary </i>lists only one, Psalm 15, </span><span style="font-size: large;">commending those "who do not lend money at interest."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our inquiry no longer seemed whimsical. We realized that worshippers in thousands of Christian congregations are being largely deprived of exposure to the disarming details of foundational Bible passages concerning care for the poor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of our group exclaimed, "This <i>must</i> have been deliberate!" Discussion led us to admit that we had no way of knowing whether the exclusion was deliberate or not. We realized that in truth we knew nothing about the guiding principles of the Consultation on Common Texts—the interdenominational committee that compiled the <i>Lectionary</i>. As our group's convener, I was asked to look into the issue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Letters of inquiry to two liturgical officers of my Episcopal denomination brought no reply. I addressed a similar letter to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, asking whether someone on her staff might be able to shed some light.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We received a reply from our Presiding Bishop—prompt, substantive, and pastoral. She thanked us for our letter, expressing regret that we had received no earlier response. She recognized our chagrin about the absence of particular passages from the <i>Lectionary</i>. She noted that <i>Lectionary</i> readings give significant attention to Jesus's concern for the poor, and thanked us for sharing that concern. She wrote that not being herself a historian of the <i>Lectionary</i>, she was referring our inquiry to officers of the current Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church in the hope that they will take our concerns under advisement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our group agreed that this response was more than we had expected and the most we might have hoped for. Now our hope is that the Episcopal Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music, together with the interdenominational Consultation on Common Texts, will in fact take this issue under advisement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">By covering the full range of Mosaic teachings—interest-free loans to the poor; the rights of gleaners; the third-year harvest tithe for orphans, widows and resident aliens; the seventh-year erasure of indebtedness and setting free of indentured servants; and the fiftieth-year redistribution of land—a revised <i>Lectionary</i> could reclaim these disregarded foundations of social ministry, to the spiritual edification of Christian congregations around the world.</span><br />
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For further reading: Scott N. Callaham, "Old Testament Preaching from the Lectionary: Challenge, Case Study, and Reflection," <i>The Expository Times</i>, 124:12 (2013), 582–89. William H. Willimon, "Assessing the Gains and Losses in a Homiletical Revolution'" <i>Theology Today</i>, 58 (2001), 333-341. David G. Buttrick, "Preaching the Lectionary: Two Cheers and Some Questions," <i>Reformed Liturgy and Music</i>, 28 (1994), 77-81. Justo L. González and Catherine G. González, <i>Liberation Preaching: The Pulpit and the Oppressed</i> (Abingdon, 1980), esp. 40-42.</div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-33974926422974061912016-10-31T16:11:00.000-04:002016-11-22T12:06:53.655-05:00Pistis: Faith as Believing, Faith as Trusting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Jesus Heals a Leper</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Pen and ink drawing</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Amsterdam: Rijskprentenkabinet</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>And to the man from Shomron he said, "Get up, you may go; your trust has saved you."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Luke 17:19 (Complete Jewish Bible)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Three young counselors from a non-profit agency were visiting my church to speak about their summer camp for children who lack the opportunity to attend camp otherwise.<span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a;"> </span>The first speaker began with these words: "Our purpose at Camp Bob is to help children grow in trust and hope and love." <i>Yes</i>, I thought: lovely phrasing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Christian churches are more accustomed to the phrase "<i>faith</i> and hope and love." But among most churches I know, "faith" has come to mean "belief"—accepting religious doctrines, believing theological assertions. "Trust," in contrast, suggests an inward sense of acceptance and confidence, reliance and fidelity. As I listened to the counselors, my thought was that our children will be aided in their spiritual growth more by experiencing <i>trust</i> than by learning articles of <i>belief</i>. I think that Christian adults also do well to seek a prudent balancing of believing and trusting.<br /><br />Here I want to explore some biblical roots of the widespread equation of faith with belief, and to suggest how a complementary appreciation of faith as trust can be supported by discerning translation of biblical texts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I shall limit attention to the four Gospels of the New Testament, first considering the Gospel of John, then contrasting John with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These latter three are known as the Synoptic Gospels, as they "see together" or share a common orientation, whereas the orientation of John is fundamentally different. I shall take examples of English translation from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), with a few references to other translations.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Greek word translated into English as "faith," "belief," or "trust" is <i>pistis</i>. <i>Pistis</i> occurs in many grammatical forms, both nominative and verbal. In the Gospel of John the word appears 89 times, always in verbal forms, and always translated in the NRSV as "believe," "believed," "believes," or "believing." This continues a tradition of translating that has roots as deep as the King James Version of 1611 and is almost universal among today's standard translations, such as the New International Version and the </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">New English Translation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Frequently in John <i>pistis</i> means believing theological propositions: believing, for example, that Jesus is the only Son of God (3:18); that Jesus is the Savior of the world (4:42); that Jesus is the one who alone is God (5:44); that Jesus is the bread of life (6:35–36); that Jesus is the Son of Man (9:35); that Jesus is the Messiah (11:25–27); and numerous other constructions of the form <i>"believe" + theological proposition</i>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a dozen or so passages of the Gospel of John, Jesus scolds his followers because they do not believe theological assertions about himself. For example:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. (John 5:37–38)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">John's summation states clearly that the book's overall purpose is to instill belief in theological propositions:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think that it would be difficult to overstate the influence among Christian churches of this equation of <i>faith</i> with <i>belief in doctrines</i>. The influence of the Apostle Paul's writings is equally strong,* but here I shall keep to the Gospels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Synoptic Gospels are in striking contrast. John's signature construction—"<i>believe" + theological proposition</i>—appears nowhere. In one passage where the Synoptics use <i>pistis</i> in a theological context, Jesus explicitly warns his disciples <i>not </i>to believe theological propositions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then if anyone says to you, "Look! Here is the Messiah!" or "There he is!"—do not believe it [<i>mè</i> <i>pisteúsete</i>]. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23–24; cf. Mark 13:21–23)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Translators of the Synoptic Gospels most frequently render <i>pistis</i> as "faith"—a word they never use in translating the Gospel of John. This differentiating of the Synoptics from John is useful. But should <i>pistis</i> be translated only as "believe" in John? And is "faith" the best word for translating <i>pistis</i> in the Synoptics? I think not.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />"Faith" differs grammatically from <i>pistis</i>. We have seen that <i>pistis</i> has both verbal and nominative forms. Not so with "faith," which has no verbal forms. We cannot say that someone <i>faiths</i> something, or has <i>faithed</i> something, or is required <i>to faith</i> something.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Translating <i>pistis</i> with "faith" hobbles the Greek word. The noun "faith" objectifies and makes static the dynamic spirit of <i>pistis</i> that is active among Jesus and his followers in the Synoptics—challenging, guiding, liberating, healing, sustaining. <i>Pistis</i> in the Synoptics regularly suggests a living quality of persons who come to Jesus in an atmosphere of openness and expectation, fidelity and persistence, mercy and compassion.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />For these reasons I think that "trust" is frequently a better translation of <i>pistis</i> than "faith." Like <i>pistis</i>, but unlike "faith," "trust" has both verbal and nominative forms. "Trust" suggests active relying on personal qualities such as character, ability, honesty, fidelity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For reasons that I do not understand, translators of the Synoptics rarely translate </span><i style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">pistis</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> as "trust." Again this is true of the King James Version, the New Revised Standard Version, </span><span style="font-size: large;">the New International Version,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> and </span><span style="font-size: large;">the New English Translation.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I am therefore glad to report my recent discovery of the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB), translated by David H. Stern. In each of the Gospels, including John, Stern uses four words to render <i>pistis</i>—"faith," "believe," "trust," and "honest." He bases his word choices upon discerning consideration of the word's context.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This chart summarizes the translation of <i>pistis</i> in the NRSV and the CJB.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We see that in John the NRSV translates <i>pistis</i> exclusively as "believe," and that in the Synoptics the NRSV favors "faith" and rarely uses "trust." The CJB, in contrast, minimizes the use of "faith" in all the Gospels, generously—perhaps too generously—using "trust" instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stern writes that he "generally uses the word 'trust' instead of 'faith' to translate <i>pistis</i> because 'trust' more clearly signifies to English-speakers the confident reliance on God that generates holy deeds, as opposed to mere mental acknowledgement of facts and ideas." (<i>Jewish New Testament Commentary</i>, 1992, p.229)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I find Stern's translation of the four Gospels a stimulating and heartening development, deserving of widespread recognition and consideration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stern's use of "trust" has had a transformative effect on my own reading of the Gospels. This is particularly true in the Gospel of John, where "trust" humanizes the excessive rationalism that is suggested by exclusive repetition of "believe." Compare the NRSV summation of John's Gospel (John 20:30–31), already quoted above, with the JCB's translation of the same passage:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>NRSV: </b>Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>CJB: </b>In the presence of the <i>talmidim</i> Yeshua performed many other miracles which have not been recorded in this book. But these which have been recorded are here so that you may trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by this trust you may have life because of who he is.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(As is obvious here, Stern's translation preserves many names in the forms that were common in first-century Judaism.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are a </span><span style="font-size: large;">few more parallel quotations from the </span><span style="font-size: large;">NRSV</span><span style="font-size: large;"> and the </span><span style="font-size: large;">CJB</span><span style="font-size: large;">. My hope is that readers might be prompted to make their own comparisons. The websites <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/">www.biblegateway.com</a> and <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/">www.biblestudytools.com</a> are of inestimable help in this kind of study. The Complete Jewish Bible is online at <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/cjb/">www.biblestudytools.com/cjb/</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">NRSV:</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> "For she said to herself, 'If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.' Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, 'Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.'"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>CJB</b><b>:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> "For she said to herself, 'If I can only touch his robe, I will be healed.' Yeshua turned, saw her and said, 'Courage, daughter! Your trust has healed you.'"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mark 4:40</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NRSV:</b> "Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'"<br /><b>CJB:</b> "The wind subsided, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you no trust even now?'"</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">NRSV</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large;">:</b><span style="font-size: large;"> "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much...."</span></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">CJB:</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> "Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones...."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>John 1:7</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">NRSV:</span> </b><span style="font-size: large;">"He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him."</span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">CJB:</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> "He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In this final verse I especially appreciate Stern's translation of <i>pistis</i> that brings together "trust" and "faithful."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For me <i>pistis</i> is <i>believing—</i>that is, understanding, testing, selecting, and accepting doctrines of my Christian tradition with thoughtful discernment. <i>Pistis</i> is also <i>trusting—</i>that is, dedicating life to the challenging, correcting, sustaining, and healing ways of Jesus. And <i>pistis</i> is <i>faith</i>—resolve, persistence, steadfastness, and patience in the lifework of believing and trusting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As a name for this spiritual lifework I might suggest "faithing," were the word less clumsy.</span><br />
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*See "Facets of faith/trust in Pauline thought" by J. Lyle Story, <i>American Theological Inquiry</i> (Online), 5 no 1 Jan 15 2012. Also <i>Two Types of Faith</i> by Martin Buber, Syracuse University Press, 2003.<br />
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-91339572939134252492016-03-24T10:29:00.001-04:002021-10-17T19:14:04.780-04:00Three Chorales from Bach's St. Matthew Passion: Cheap Grace, Costly Grace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /><span style="font-size: large;">St. Peter's Denial</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Rembrandt (1606–1669)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Peter's hands suggest dismissal of the charge, "This man is one of them," made by a servant girl (Matthew 26:71), who illumines Peter's face with a candle. Guards sit in the foreground. Barely discernible in the background, Jesus, his hands chained behind him, looks over his shoulder at Peter (Luke 22:61).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In German protestant tradition a chorale is a religious text set to a traditional tune, often sung in unison by worshiping congregations. Over his career Bach composed more than four hundred harmonizations for chorale tunes. His matchless <i>St. Matthew </i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Passion</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i>includes twelve chorales harmonized for a chorus of soprano, alto, tenor and bass singers, accompanied only by low strings doubling the bass line. The <i>Passion</i>'s chorales were not intended to be sung by the congregation but rather to represent the congregation's responses to the unfolding gospel story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here I want to share an observation about three separate appearances of</span><span style="font-size: large;"> one chorale tune</span><span style="font-size: large;"> in which Bach communicates, by musical means, a contrast between naive faith and mature faith.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Bach uses this harmonized chorale tune five different times in the <i>Passion</i>. The tune is best known in English as "Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded," after a Latin text of ten verses translated into German by Paul Gerhardt as <i>O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.</i> In each of the chorale's instances Bach sets a different verse of Gerhardt's translation. Bach composed four different harmonizations for these five occurrences, the first two instances being harmonically identical. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">We shall consider the 1st, 2nd, and 5th of these occurrences of the <i>O Haupt</i> tune, first examining the three texts and their contexts within the <i>Passion</i>, then turning<i> </i>to Bach's expressive harmonic settings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Texts</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">With a solo Evangelist as narrator, Bach's oratorio presents the passion story as told in the gospel of Matthew, chapters 26–27. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The movements immediately preceding the first occurrence</span><span style="font-size: large;"> of </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>O Haupt</i> </span><span style="font-size: large;">present the story of Jesus's last supper with his twelve apostles. The narrative includes several disturbing sentences: "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me"; "Woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed"; "You will all become deserters because of me this night."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then comes the chorale's first occurrence (Movement 21 of the <i>Passion</i>). The text represents a worshipper pleading for Christ's acceptance and acknowledging Christ's spiritual blessings:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i> Erkenne mich, mein Hüter,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Mein Hirte, nimm mich an;</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Von dir, Quell aller Güter,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Ist mir viel Gut's getan.</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"> Dein Mund hat mich </span><span style="font-size: large;">gelabert</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Mit Milch und süßer Kost;</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Dein Geist hat mich begabet</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Mit mancher Himmelslust.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Acknowledge me, my Guardian</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> My Shepherd, accept me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> From Thee, Source of all goodness,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Great good hath come to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Thy mouth hath nourished me</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> With milk and sweet sustenance;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Thy Spirit hath favored me</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> With many a heavenly joy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the succeeding movement the Evangelist particularizes the passion story by focusing on the apostle Peter:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Peter said to him, "Though all become deserters because of you, I will not desert you." Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this very night, three times before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At this point we hear the second occurrence of <i>O Haupt</i> (Movement 23), this time representing Peter's response, with which the congregation may also identify. Peter pleads for Jesus not to scorn him, and pledges to remain with Jesus even unto death:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Ich will hier bei dir stehen:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Verachte mich doch nicht.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Von dir will ich nicht gehen</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Wenn dir dein Herze bricht.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Wenn dein Haupt wird erblaßen</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Im letzten Todesstoß,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Alsdann will ich dich faßen</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> In meinen Arm und Schoß.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I will stay here with thee:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Oh do not scorn me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I will not leave thee</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Though thine own heart is breaking.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> If thy face should grow pale</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In the final shock of death,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Even then shall I embrace thee</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> within my arm and breast.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In the 3rd and 4th occurrences of <i>O Haupt</i> the texts relate to specific subjects distinct from these pleas for Christ's acceptance, so let us move on to the chorale's 5th and final occurrence (Movement 72) where the theme of pleading recurs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In the intervening forty-nine movements o</span><span style="font-size: large;">f the <i>Passion,</i> Jesus is arrested, and his disciples have now "deserted him and fled." Peter alone remains close by.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Peter is recognized by two different servant girls and then by other bystanders, all of whom declare his association with Jesus. Twice Peter denies this. Upon the third accusation "he began to curse, and he swore an oath, 'I do not know the man!'" Then Peter remembers Jesus's earlier words to him: "Truly I tell you, this very night, three times before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." The Evangelist concludes: "And he went out and wept bitterly."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus now suffers mockery and physical abuse. He is crucified between two bandits, and hangs exposed for hours. The Evangelist sings: "And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice...'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' ...Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Bach places the final occurrence of <i>O Haupt </i>at this intense moment<i>. </i>The text is a fervent plea for Christ not to be absent in the hour of the worshipper's own death:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> So scheide nichts von mir.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Wenn ich den Tod soll leiden,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> So tritt du dann hierfür.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Wenn mir am allerbängsten</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Wird um das Herze sein,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> So reiß mich aus den Ängsten</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> Kraft deiner Angst und Pein.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> When some day I must must depart,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Do not then depart from me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> When I must suffer death,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Then come to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> When the greatest anxiety</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Will agitate my heart,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Then wrest me from my fears</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> By virtue of thine agony and pain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Harmonizations</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This review of the three chorale texts brings us to Bach's musical arrangements. As we have noted, the harmonic settings of the first two occurrences of the chorale are identical, except that the first is in the key of E major and the second is in the key of E-flat major.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first occurrence:</span><br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/BoXotqgijDY" style="font-size: x-large;">A performance of Movement 21 may be found here.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The second occurrence:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/ZxCf_QsK4UA">A performance of Movement 23 may be found here.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is Bach, and so we may expect the four-part arrangement shared by these two movements to be perfect. And indeed it is. Each vocal line proceeds smoothly. Moving parts—that is, single syllables that are assigned two notes—steer a placid course between sounding too spare and becoming too complex, and each of the four parts gets its fair share of melodic movement. Moments of harmonic tension are mild and promptly resolved. It is the kind of arrangement found today in most protestant hymnals. I played this setting for a friend who was not well acquainted with chorales and he exclaimed "beautiful!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bach's arrangement of the chorale's fifth and final occurrence bears the key signature of C, which has no governing sharps or flats:</span></div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/tgKmBNcJm5w"><span style="font-size: large;">A performance of Movement 72 may be found here.</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the chorale's first two occurrences Bach began on a major chord. Here he opens with a minor chord. In measure 2, on the word <i>scheiden </i>("depart"), the bass line drops downward, not by the comfortable interval of a 5th as in the earlier settings, but to a 5th that is diminished by a half-step. This is the interval of a tritone—two notes separated by three whole tones—and the tritone is historically regarded as the most discordant of intervals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That downward stride to F-sharp gives the bass line the lowest note to be found among <i>O Haupt'</i>s five </span><span style="font-size: large;">settings. Indeed, it is the lowest note in all of the <i>Passion's </i>twelve chorales. Also the movement's key of C is lower than the tonality of any other chorale in the </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Passion</i></span><span style="font-size: large;">, giving </span><span style="font-size: large;">this version a darker hue overall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In measure 3 Bach has the sopranos sing the word <i>scheide</i> ("separate", "depart") not with the expected single note or two-note slur but with a nervous figure involving 16th notes—a musical gesture that twice in other <i>Passion</i> chorals Bach chooses to set the word <i>Missetaten</i> ("sins," "misdeeds").</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the double bar line, with the words<i> Wenn mir am allerbängsten wird um das Herze sein </i>("</span><span style="font-size: large;">When it befalls my heart t</span><span style="font-size: large;">o become most fearful"), the bass line again drops a tritone and then follows a tense melodic course of five successive 2nds—2nds being intervals discordant enough to evoke a need for resolution. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the chorale's final four measures, on the words <i>so reiß much aus den Ängsten (</i>"then pluck me from my fears"), Bach assigns to the tenors the 16th-note shiver sung earlier by the sopranos, and on<i> Ängsten</i> ("fears") he has the basses sing yet another downward tritone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the final phrase of the chorale, <i>kraft deiner Angst und Pein (</i>"by virtue of thy agony and pain"), seven of the eight intervals sung by the basses are 2nds; for the tenors all of the five concluding intervals are 2nds. This tense and serpentine chromaticism requires Bach to notate five accidentals—that is, flats or sharps added to notes in order to indicate departures from the basic tonality. In contrast, the first and second versions of the chorale conclude easily, requiring no accidentals to set their comforting closing words "with many a heavenly joy" and "within my arm and lap."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Accidentals can in fact serve as a </span><span style="font-size: large;">gauge for the contrast between the two earlier choral settings and this final one. Each of the earlier settings involves 7 accidentals overall; this last setting requires 25. I think that Bach got the proportion about right. I suspect that h</span><span style="font-size: large;">aving made vows in times of relative tranquility many of us find it at least three or four times more difficult to carry through when a moment of testing arrives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Movements 21 and 23 come early in the <i>Passion</i>,<i> </i>at a narrative distance from Jesus's suffering and death. From that distance the chorus finds it relatively easy to vow fidelity, come what may. In contrast, Movement 72 sounds in the immediate presence of Jesus's </span><span style="font-size: large;">suffering—his cry of despair, his agonizing death—and the chorus expresses the congregation's existential dread regarding their own denials, their own broken vows, their own deaths.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The chorale of Movement 72—despite its dissonances and tensions, indeed because of them—is fully as beautiful as the chorales of Movements 21 and 23. On first hearing it might not strike us as particularly distinctive. The <i>Passion</i>'s chorales are not dramatic music, but they impart musical drama. Like all masterpieces, they reward repeated exposure with new disclosure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the music of Movement 72 I hear struggle with suffering, despair, and death. In retrospect I recall Movements 21 and 23 as </span><span style="font-size: large;">all too smooth, all too placid, all too mild. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Borrowing language from <i>The Cost of Discipleship</i> by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor who was arrested and executed by the Nazis, I hear in Bach's three chorales a distinction between "cheap grace" and "costly grace."</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Cheap grace, Bonhoeffer writes, is "grace without cost." Costly grace</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">is <i>costly</i> because it calls us to follow, and it is <i>grace</i> because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is <i>costly</i> because it costs a man his life, and it is <i>grace</i> because it gives a man the only true life.</span></blockquote>
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<br />Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-37134931496812756022016-01-27T10:45:00.000-05:002016-01-27T10:45:12.113-05:00Boethius on Happiness and Blessedness: A Problem of Misleading Translations<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Boethius: De arithmetica, De musica.</i> Early 12th century.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cambridge University Library, MS li.3.12, fol. 61v.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In his lap is a monochord.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="text-align: justify;">Boethius (480–524) is, after Plotinus, the greatest author of the seminal period [c205–c533], and his </i><span style="text-align: justify;">De Consolatione Philosophiae </span><i style="text-align: justify;">was for centuries one of the most influential books ever written in Latin. It was translated into Old High German, Italian, Spanish, and Greek; into French by Jean de Meung; into English by Alfred, Chaucer, Elizabeth I, and others. Until about two hundred years ago it would, I think, have been hard to find an educated man in any European country who did not love it. To acquire a taste for it is almost to become naturalized in the Middle Ages.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;"> ...C. S. Lewis, </span><i style="text-align: left;">The Discarded Image</i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>, </i>introducing his discussion of Boethius</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;">The Consolation of Philosophy </i><span style="text-align: left;">resides on my shelf of admired works, with the<i> Enchiridion</i> of Epictetus and<i> Confessions </i>of Augustine on one side, and Spinoza's <i>Ethics</i> on the other. Together these books have provided a foundation and stimulus in my searching for a worthy life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Consolation</i> is in five divisions. Books 1–3 contrast two distinct modes of living: a life that is ruled by fortune, whether good fortune or misfortune, and a life that is steered by moral character. Books 4–5 discuss the nature of evil and tensions between ideas of divine providence and human freedom. Our concern here will be Books 1–3, where an ill-advised convention among modern English translations obscures Boethius's essential distinction between happiness </span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><i style="text-align: left;">felicitas</i><span style="text-align: left;">) and blessedness (</span><i style="text-align: left;">beatitudo</i><span style="text-align: left;">)—a distinction that he makes as carefully and consistently as St. Augustine had done a century-and-a-quarter earlier<i>. </i>A most welcome exception to this ill-advised convention is a recent translation, to which we shall come at the end of this posting</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The author's full name, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, reflects his Roman heritage of aristocratic status and privilege. In his early 40s he had risen to the position of intimate advisor to Emperor Theodoric. Then he suddenly found himself accused of treason. He was imprisoned, tortured, and executed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Boethius wrote <i>The Consolation of Philosophy</i> during his imprisonment. He describes himself as "pressed down by the heavy weight of my sorrow." </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Silent and alone, I was thinking about these things and began to record my tearful complaint, when it seemed to me that a woman appeared, standing over my head. She had a holy look, and her eyes showed fire and pierced with a more-than-human penetration. (Book 1, Section 1)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Though Boethius does not immediately recognize his imposing visitor, she is Philosophy, to whose service he had early dedicated his life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At first Philosophy is severe with him:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Did I not give you all the weapons you needed, ones that would have kept your mind safe from harm? At least they would have, if you hadn't thrown them away. Do you recognize me? Why don't you say anything?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then she relents somewhat and softens her tone:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When she saw that I was not just silent but totally speechless and completely unable to talk, she gently laid her hand upon my breast and spoke. "There's no real danger here. He's simply dazed, as one would expect of a man suffering under delusion. He's forgotten who he is for a moment." ...Saying this, she folded her gown, and with it wiped my tear-filled eyes. (1.2)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Boethius now recognizes his visitor and addresses her as "Queen of all Virtues" (<i>omnium magistra virtutum</i>). What Philosophy calls Boethius's "delusion" is that he has allowed his life's previous good fortune to define "who he is." Now amidst extreme misfortune, he finds himself "drowned in darkness."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Philosophy resolves that the time has come "for remedies instead of tears," and she sets Boethius upon a remedial course. She begins by encouraging him to tell his sad story: "You can't expect the benefits of treatment if you won't uncover your wound." (1.4) This Boethius is more than eager to do, filling half-a-dozen pages with his complaints and lamentations:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So then I collected my strength of mind and replied, "Do I still need to explain my bitter sorrow? Isn't it clear enough how Fortune has raged against me? ...Was this the way I used to look? ...Is this the reward I get for following you? (1.4)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Philosophy seizes upon Boethius's central complaint:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You suppose it's the changes of Fortune that have overthrown your soul. ...You believe that Fortune has changed towards you: you are wrong. These have always been her ways and nature. She's retained her character in her very fickleness towards you. She was just the same when she fawned on you and tricked you with the promises of a counterfeit happiness. ...Now you've given yourself to the rule of Fortune; you must conform yourself to her ways. Would you try to hold back the force of a wheel in motion? O most <span style="text-align: justify;">foolish of men! If Fortune began to be permanent, she would cease to be Fortune. (2.1)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here, in the image that is probably</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the<i> Consolation's </i></span><span style="font-size: large;">most influential contribution to western intellectual tradition, Philosophy observes that Fortune spins her wheel, inevitably and arbitrarily, and the </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">felicitas</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> of those at the top</span><i> </i><span style="font-size: large;">has but one way to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Philosophy makes it clear that she is not "waging an inexorable war against Fortune." Happiness that comes from Fortune should be enjoyed, provided only that beneficiaries do not become so greatly dependent on good fortune for their sense of well being that they forget who they are as moral creatures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This brings the narrative of Books 1–3 to its focal point. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Happiness that is dependent on good fortune, says Philosophy, all too easily becomes false happiness <span style="font-size: large;">(</span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>falsa felicitas</i>) </span>that cannot be trusted. </span><span style="font-size: large;">What then is the alternative? The alternative is the true and perfect happiness (<i>vera et summa</i> <i>felicitas</i>) of "blessedness" (<i>beatitudo</i>). Blessedness is "the highest good for a being living by reason," a quality that "Fortune can't take away from you." Blessedness, says the Queen of All Virtues, accompanies <span style="font-size: large;">a life <span style="font-size: large;">guided by true virtue</span><span style="font-size: large;">, a life steered by God's </span>"helm and rudder" (3.12) </span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a crucial passage Philosophy exclaims:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">O mortals, why do you seek outside yourselves for the happiness that has been placed within you? Ignorance and error seem to overwhelm you. I'll show you briefly the foundation of the greatest happiness. (2.4)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Latin word translated here as "foundation" is<i> </i>a form of <i>cardo</i>: "a hinge" or "a point about which something turns." The Loeb Classical Library edition translates Philosophy's words nicely: "Let me briefly show you on what the greatest happiness really turns."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Philosophy's argument literally hinges on this sentence from Book 2, Section 4, where attention turns from <i>felicitas </i>to <i>beatitudo</i><i>.</i> Section 2.4 is four pages in length. In the three pages that precede this hinge sentence, <i>felicitas </i>occurs ten times and <i>beatitudo </i>three times. In the section's one subsequent page, <i>beatitudo </i>occurs seven times and <i>felicitas </i>three times, and this prevalence of <i>beatitudo</i> continues throughout the remainder of the<i> Consolation</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How unfortunate that English translations of the<i> Consolation</i> almost uniformly ignore this crucial turning point in vocabulary. Most translations, without so much as a footnote, simply continue using<i> "</i>happiness" to translate both <i>felicitas </i>and <i>beatitudo</i>. For readers of Boethius in English, the point on which Philosophy's argument turns is simply lost.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Boethius's discussion of <i>beatitudo</i> climaxes in Book 3, Section 10, where Philosophy comprehensively develops her theme that "the greatest good is blessedness." How can English readers possibly follow Philosophy's lesson when they are reading that the greatest good is<i> </i>"happiness"?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Instead of being equipped</span><span style="font-size: large;"> for exploring Boethius's conviction that blessedness is "the highest good for a being living by reason," English readers are presented with what Boethius would regard as something worse than nonsense: "the highest good is happiness"; "it must be confessed that happiness is itself God"; "happiness is itself divinity"; "we have shown that God and true happiness are one and the same."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One edition, in a footnote to 3.10, offers a labored rationale for rendering the <i>beatitudo</i> of God as God's "happiness":</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That God is happiness seems an odd claim since we do not attribute states like happiness to God. Perhaps Boethius is thinking that because God lacks nothing and unhappiness is a result of some lack, God is not unhappy and thus happy.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">An accurate understanding, and a far simpler, is that Boethius never says that God is happiness. The claim he does make, that God is blessedness, is not odd at all. It accords with Boethius's perennial tradition, as in the words of the Psalmist:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the paragraph that opens this posting, C. S. Lewis mentions translations of <i>De Consolatione</i> by</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Chaucer and Queen Elizabeth I</span></span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">. Both of these pioneering translators are true to Boethius's distinction between </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>felicitas </i>and<i> beatitudo. </i>Their word choices vary somewhat, and their spelling variants are an outright entertainment. But in general Chaucer translates <i>felicitas </i>with some form of <i>wilefulnesse, </i>and <i>beatitudo </i>with some form of <i>blissfulness</i>. Elizabeth's two basic words are <i>felicity </i>and <i>blissednes. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In contrast, English translations over the past century have obliterated Boethius's distinction. This tabulation of word usage in in the climactic Section 10 of Book 3 reflects the overall pattern:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How are we to account for this ostracizing of "blessed"? One factor is certainly the dominant influence of the Loeb Classical Library translation of 1918, revised in 1973. Most modern translators have relied on Loeb's Latin text, and Loeb's English translation appears on each facing page. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Latin text is clear, and I believe that a </span><span style="font-size: large;">translator's duty is to render it accurately so that English readers may do their own struggling with the text, their own deciding about its meaning and value, about happiness and blessedness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One Boethius commentator writes in a footnote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have tried to use 'felicity' </span><span style="font-size: large;">to render <i>felicitas</i>...leaving 'happiness' for <i>beatitudo</i>. 'Happiness' might be thought a little weak for <i>beatitudo</i>. But </span><span style="font-size: large;">words like 'bliss' or 'blessedness', which are sometimes used for it, have too many overtones of the afterlife.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I find it strange that a translator should be spooked by "overtones of the afterlife" in the </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">Consolation</span></i><span style="font-size: large;">. Catholic tradition considers Boethius a martyr and has canonized him under the name St. Severinus. In this work, however, Boethius nowhere evokes his Christian faith as a source of consolation. The consolation <i>of philosophy</i> is his theme, consolation that can enable him to continue a worthy life on earth, despite his having been upended by Fortune.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When Philosophy speaks of blessedness as eternal she is not referring to duration in an afterlife. Her definition of "eternity" is densely philosophical: "</span><span style="font-size: large;">Eternity is total and perfect possession at one time of unlimited life." </span><span style="font-size: large;">By this definition, "God is eternal but the world is only perpetual" (5.6).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Philosophy's consolation is that mortals, though immersed in the perpetual passage of time, are able to "participate" (<i>participare</i>) in the eternal blessedness of God. They do this by freeing themselves from <i>felicitas</i> that depends on the spin of Fortune's wheel, by devoting themselves instead to lives that swivel on god-given virtue, particularly on the virtues known as "cardinal" (again, from <i>cardo</i>, "hinge"): prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. These hinge virtues and their ancillaries are their own reward. The reward is <i>beatitudo</i>:<i> "</i>worthiness inherent in virtue" (</span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>dignities propria virtuti</i>). "So virtue itself becomes the reward of the virtuous...." (4.3).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Boethius himself embodies that worthiness. With immense fortitude he transcended the heavy weight of his sorrow to create an artistic work of ethical wisdom that his biographer Henry Chadwick has called a "dazzling masterpiece."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am grateful that I can end this posting on a positive note. In 2012 Ignatius Press published an exemplary version of <i>The Consolation of Philosophy</i> that</span><span style="font-size: large;"> is</span><span style="font-size: large;"> faithful to Boethius's distinction between happiness and blessedness. The volume is edited and </span><span style="font-size: large;">and translated by Scott Goins and Barbara H. Wyman.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> They write:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here we translate <i>felicitas </i>as "happiness": we will translate <i>beatitudo</i> as "blessedness." ...It is useful to remember that the English word "happiness" literally refers to luck or "hap"—that is, Fortuna—while "beatitude" refers to the ultimate joy given by God. ...Blessedness, <i>beatitudo</i>, Boethius sees as the result of seeking God, the highest Good (<i>summum bonus</i>)....</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy the day that Ignatius Press blessed us with this remedial edition (from which I have taken most of the passages quoted above).</span></div>
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<br />Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-61915101687023511882015-11-11T12:46:00.005-05:002020-08-14T15:27:52.751-04:00Satie's "Kyrie Eleison": Analysis and Arrangement for Piano<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQGAyCW9K7zE938qbxa7mcbnBejzV9VAsHfzAdNjS_HlL-CFTjueY43NiZH4KtFX4HsMvM0u22rsA-nMPmVYYoPGond7Z5SOfOcHLAbPEFDJihqgfjTQBcD1cdXZyuEyymQVEoGz3PbHq/s1600/20140124052137.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQGAyCW9K7zE938qbxa7mcbnBejzV9VAsHfzAdNjS_HlL-CFTjueY43NiZH4KtFX4HsMvM0u22rsA-nMPmVYYoPGond7Z5SOfOcHLAbPEFDJihqgfjTQBcD1cdXZyuEyymQVEoGz3PbHq/s320/20140124052137.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Erik Satie (1866–1925) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">probably from the decade of his <i>Messe des Pauvres</i> (1895)<i> </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At times finding myself irritable or upset I have sat down at the piano and played the first or "Kyrie Eleison" movement of the <i>Messe des Pauvres</i> (<i>Mass for the Poor</i>) by Erik Satie. The quieting effect of these six minutes of music has never failed me. In unhurried succession, Satie's fluid melodic patterns hover over gently dissolving chords. The music is at once chaste and ravishing. I find it hypnotic, aloof from all stress and drama, uniquely calming. Its beauty assuages me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yet in my seventy or so years of exposure to music in concert halls and churches I have never heard Satie's "Kyrie" performed, nor have I ever come across a notice of its being performed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My aim in this posting is threefold: to widen acquaintance with this unparalleled piece; to provide an arrangement of the piece for piano; and to call attention to the unique structuring of Satie's composition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Satie scored the "Kyrie" for organ, bass voices and a children's choir. (A free posting of the complete <i>Messe des Pauvres</i> is available at this link: <a href="http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/8d/IMSLP03919-SatieMesseDesPauvres.pdf" target="_blank">Messe, complete score</a>.) Making infrequent and irregularly-spaced entries, the voices sing <i>Kyrie eleison</i> and <i>Christe eleison</i> antiphonally, simply doubling in unison the melodic line of the organ accompaniment. In my arrangement for piano I have omitted the vocal lines and have incorporated the organ's pedal line into the keyboard chords (see the 4-page PDF at the foot of this posting).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Satie's manuscript bears no dynamic markings, but it specifies alternating passages for <i>Orgue du Chœr </i>and <i>Grand Orgue</i>. I have indicated these alternations by adding <i>[p] </i>and <i>[f] </i>to the score. This echoes the dynamic indications in Satie's piano pieces written during the same period of Satie's career (1890-1895), which are either marked <i>pp</i>, <i>p</i> or <i>f</i>, or bear no dynamic markings at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Satie has scattered various other movements of his <i>Messe </i>with unconventional instructions such as <i>Trés chrétiennement </i>("in a very Christian manner"), <i>Avec un grand oubli du present</i> ("With a great forgetfulness of the present") and <i>Presqu' invisible </i>("Almost invisible"). Though the "Kyrie" movement has no such markings, these instructions suggest the mood Satie had in mind for his <i>Messe</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Given the gentleness of Satie's dynamic markings in his compositions of the 1890s, it is unfortunate that the three most readily available recordings of the "Kyrie" feature a blaring organ, bass voices singing <i>fortissimo, </i>or operatic soprano voices singing the part of the children's choir. Alternative recordings of the piece are difficult to come by.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As far as I have been able to discover, one elemental feature of Satie's "Kyrie" has gone undescribed, namely, the singular pattern of its structure. Satie has composed his piece from 13 modules of music, varying in length from 4 beats to 24 beats. These modules appear in the movement anywhere from 2 to 7 times each. The repetitions of each module are identical, though Satie may transpose the tonality upward or downward. In addition to the 13 repeating modules there are 2 modules that are unique, that is, appear only once.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Robert Orledge in his <i>Satie the Composer</i> (pp.186–87) reports that among the Satie papers archived in Harvard's Houghton Library, sketches for the <i>Messe des Pauvres</i> include a page devoted to 13 two-chord modules. Oddly, they are not the 13 modules that appear in the <i>Messe</i>, though some of them make appearances in other Satie compositions. Still the manuscript page makes clear Satie's calculated preparations for modular composing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the pages included at the bottom of this posting I have diagrammed the modular structure of Satie's "Kyrie," assigning each module a number and a color, and indicating its total number of appearances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For me the repeating modules in Satie's "Kyrie" help account for the music's comforting effect. With each reappearance we feel more at home. At the same time the irregularity and unpredictability of appearances and reappearances breathe freshness where tedium might otherwise result. On every page earlier modules repeat and new modules appear—a pattern that continues right through the final page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A miracle of the "Kyrie" is the harmonic continuity of successive modules when Satie chooses to make them flow, and the harmonic refreshment when he skips, usually upward, to a new and surprising tonality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I suspect that Satie's uniquely gifted ear has guided his modular composing. Possibly he has followed specific rules or rationales for the ordering and transposing of his musical modules, but if so they are not apparent to me. Readers with interests in music theory and/or mathematics might be interested in pursuing this possibility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">With the last module to make an appearance in his "Kyrie" Satie bestows a special delight. Module 13 is a parody of the three-quarter-hour chime of London's Big Ben: E–C–D–G, with E-C-D sounding in the uppermost notes of the chords, and G sounding in the lowest note of the final chord.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Both Satie and his friend Claude Debussy seem to have relished parodies of British music. For example, the British folksong <span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant: small-caps;">Keel Row</span><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant: small-caps;"> </span>appears, heavily disguised, in Satie's piano work <i>Airs à faire fair</i> ("Airs to make one flee"). Debussy constructs the entire first movement of his <i>Images pour orchestre </i>explicitly on <span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant: small-caps;">Keel Row—</span>undisguised, but enchantingly Frenchified. And so too with Satie's lovely parody here: <i>Big Ben</i> <i>à la Montmartre</i>!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A living-room recording of my arrangement for piano is posted here:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/lemuel-9/satie-kyrie">https://soundcloud.com/lemuel-9/satie-kyrie</a><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Satie self-portrait</span></td></tr>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-42414677938239298342015-07-07T11:12:00.000-04:002015-08-21T09:01:21.609-04:00"The Nature of True Virtue" by Jonathan Edwards: A Tribute to a Man at Odds with Himself<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Lithograph c1800, Artist unknown</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Courtesy of the Yale University Manuscripts </span><span style="font-size: large;">& Archives</span></span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-size: large;">Jonathan Edwards' </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Nature of True Virtue </i>(1755)</span><i>^</i>1<span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">numbers among the books that have profoundly shaped my philosophy of life. Yet my disagreements with Edwards are great. In this posting I would like to review Edwards' discussions of true virtue and of God, and then attempt to account for a disturbing dissonance I find in the theology of this extraordinary man.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I. True Virtue</span></b></div>
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Edwards wastes no time in defining his book's central term. On the third page he writes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">True virtue most essentially consists in benevolence to Being in general. Or perhaps, to speak more accurately, it is that consent, propensity and union of heart to Being in general, which is immediately exercised in a general good will.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For <i>benevolence</i> Edwards sometimes substitutes "simple and pure good will." For <i>Being in general</i> he sometimes uses "the universality of existence." <i>True virtue </i>he sometimes describes as our heart's benevolence toward "every thing with which it stands connected"—which for Edwards means simply everything, for in his conception of the "universal system of existence" everything is connected with everything else.</span><br />
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Edwards' emphasis here is on the word <i>true</i>. Not all virtue, he believes, is true virtue. He describes other kinds of virtue that are indispensable in our common life. Virtue may be grounded in our intuitive sense of justice, for example, or in our instinctive empathy for another person's situation. But Edwards is convinced that virtues not also rooted in the "consent, propensity and union of heart" to the universality of existence lack the "relish and delight in the essential beauty of true virtue, arising from a virtuous benevolence of heart."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />Edwards observes that the context of our virtue is usually limited to "private systems." "But this," he writes, "I suppose not to be of the nature of true virtue":</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For, notwithstanding that it [private good will] extends to a number of persons which taken together are more than a single person, yet the whole falls infinitely short of the universality of existence; and if put in the scales with it, has no greater proportion to it than a single person.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To me Edward's reflections suggest a governing principle for religious living: always to broaden our benevolence, ever to seek a greater common good. I think of the Psalmist's words:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart. (Psalm 119:32)</span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">II. God</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;">
Edwards’ wording "falls infinitely short" bring us to his vision of God's infinity. In a collection of articles </span><span style="font-size: large;">that Edwards wrote in his early twenties, </span><span style="font-size: large;">titled </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Mind,</span>^</i>2<span style="font-size: large;"> he depicts God in bold strokes: "God is truth itself."</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">God and real existence are the same. ...Hence we learn how properly it may be said that God is, and that there is none else, and how proper are these names of the Deity: "Jehovah" and "I Am That I Am."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">God is "the infinite, universal and all comprehending existence. ...His being is infinite. He is in himself, if I may so say, an infinite quantity of existence."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
In <i>The Nature of True Virtue</i>, written some thirty-five years after <i>The Mind</i>, Edwards' language for God suggests more transcendence: God is "the first cause and supreme disposer of all things"; God is "the Being of Beings." </span><span style="font-size: large;">But the infinity of God remains ever present: </span><span style="font-size: large;">God is "infinitely the greatest and best of Beings."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In one paragraph Edwards gathers his thoughts into what surely must be the most kaleidoscopic characterization of God ever committed to paper:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">God is not only infinitely greater and more excellent than all other Being, but he is the head of the universal system of existence; the foundation and fountain of all Being and all beauty; from whom all is perfectly derived, and on whom all is most absolutely and perfectly dependent; of whom, and through whom, and to whom is all Being and all perfection; and whose Being and beauty is as it were the sum and comprehension of all existence and excellence: much more than the sun is the fountain and summary comprehension of all the light and brightness of the day.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In another paragraph, contrasting true virtue with private systems of virtue, Edwards uses <i>infinite</i> eight times in quick succession.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />
Edwards’ sense of infinity suggests to me another religious principle: always to think and speak of God with a consciousness of infinity, together with a corresponding awareness of our finitude and an acknowledgement of our lack of comprehensive perspective or complete knowledge. I think of the prophet's words:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the L</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ORD</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)</span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">III. A Man at Odds with Himself</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>The Nature of True Virtue</i> is a surprising book to have come from the pen of this Puritan minister. Its logic and tone are philosophical. Edwards means to base his discussion on principles that are "reasonable to be supposed." In this book, perhaps uniquely among his massive writings, Edwards quotes no biblical scripture. He mentions Christ only once in passing. He expresses respect for moral philosophers of his age, acknowledging the social benefits of virtues they have defined and clarified through their analysis of "natural conscience":</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Natural conscience, if the understanding be properly enlightened, and errors and blinding stupefying prejudices are removed, concurs with the law of God, and is of equal extent with it, and joins its voice with it in every article.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Frederick J. E. Woodbridge astutely observes that if Puritan theology "should be eliminated from the dissertation on <i>The Nature of True Virtue</i>, there would remain a conception of virtue almost identical with Spinoza’s."</span>^3 <span style="font-size: large;">Several times in his personal notes Edwards makes thoughtful mention of Spinoza.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />
And yet, about two-thirds into his book, Edwards discharges a Puritan outburst about God’s final judgment and everlasting punishment of sinners:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then the sin and wickedness of their heart will come to its highest dominion and completest exercise; they shall be wholly left of God, and given up to their wickedness, even as the devils are! When God has done waiting on sinners, and his Spirit done striving with them, he will not restrain their wickedness, as he does now. But sin shall then rage in their hearts, as a fire no longer restrained or kept under. …Their wickedness will then be brought to perfection, and wicked men will become very devils, and accordingly will be sent away as cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.</span>^4</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What makes this bolt of theological lightning so heart-stopping for me is the realization that Edwards—indefatigable advocate for unbounded human benevolence and exponent of the finitude of human perspectives—here presumes to erect finite boundaries around the benevolence of his infinite God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />Specifically, Edwards restricts God's "spiritual and saving" benevolence to Christians. And not <i>just</i> to "Christians." Edwards limits God’s saving benevolence to those Christians <i>only</i> who have sensed God’s mercy and justice in overpowering and revelatory conversion experiences—experiences that must be warranted as genuine by pastor Edwards and his congregation. All other persons, be they as virtuous as Spinoza, are not <i>truly</i> virtuous, and are therefore ordained to everlasting damnation in hell fire. This means not just dying in an unalterable state of estrangement from God. It means dying into God's intentional <i>punishing</i>, God's endless <i>tormenting</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Admiring Edwards as I do, I feel a keen need to account somehow for this disturbing discrepancy between Edwards the 18th-century philosopher and Edwards the Puritan theologian. I suggest four considerations: (1) the inexorable grip of Puritan theological heritage upon Edwards’ heart and mind; (2) the ineradicable impact of his own conversion experience; (3) Edwards' failure to follow his own advice concerning conversion experiences; and (4) Edwards' breach of faith with his own sense of human finitude and the infinity of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />1) As someone who grew up amidst Puritan religion, some of it literalistic in character, I know well the ineradicable tenacity of religious presuppositions in the minds and hearts of many believers. In reading Edwards I often sense that the roots of his Puritanism are so deep and invisible that he scarcely seems cognizant of them. He offers ingenious arguments in support of the justice of God’s eternal punishment of sinners—principally the argument that offenses against infinite Being deserve infinite punishment. But this is Puritan doctrine masquerading as philosophic logic. It is not argument that is "reasonable to be supposed" in any sense of "reasonable" that the prominent philosophers of Edwards' age would have acknowledged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />2) I also know at first hand the formative power of mystical conversion experiences, though my own experiences were puny in comparison with what Edwards describes. Here is a fragment from Edwards’ prodigious, 6700-word description of his conversion experiences, from his work titled <i>Personal Narrative</i>:</span>^5</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">From my childhood up, my mind had been wont to be full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty, in choosing whom he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased; leaving them eternally to perish, and be everlastingly tormented in hell. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well, when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God, and his justice in thus eternally disposing of men, according to his sovereign pleasure. But never could give an account, how, or by what means, I was thus convinced.... However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections, that had till then abode with me, all the preceding part of my life. And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, with respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against God's sovereignty, in the most absolute sense, in showing mercy on whom he will show mercy, and hardening and eternally damning whom he will. God's absolute sovereignty, and justice, with respect to salvation and damnation, is what my mind seems to rest assured of, as much as of anything that I see with my eyes; at least it is so at times. But I have oftentimes since that first conviction, had quite another kind of sense of God's sovereignty, than I had then. I have often since, not only had a conviction, but a delightful conviction. The doctrine of God's sovereignty has very often appeared, an exceeding pleasant, bright and sweet doctrine to me: and absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Can we wonder that Enlightenment rationality could never dislodge the "inward, sweet sense," the "delightful conviction," of this "exceeding pleasant, bright and sweet doctrine" once it had so utterly ravished Edwards’ heart?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />3) As for Edwards' failure to follow his own advice about conversion experiences, we need to bring into play another of his works. Edwards'<i> Treatise concerning Religious Affections</i></span>^6<span style="font-size: large;"> was written about a decade before <i>The Nature of True Virtue. </i>I find it among the finest of his writings. In its first chapter he makes his case that genuine biblical religion must be an affair of heart as well as mind:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.... No light in the understanding is good, which don’t produce holy affection in the heart.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Edwards well recognizes, however, that "there are false affections, and there are true," and he writes two subsequent chapters "to distinguish between affections, approving some, and rejecting others; separating between the wheat and the chaff."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />To this end Edwards specifies twenty-four "signs" to help Christian readers distinguish "genuine" religious experiences from "counterfeit." The first of the signs is this:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">’Tis no sign one way or the other, that religious affections are very great, or raised very high.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again </span><span style="font-size: large;">he cautions:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">’Tis no evidence that religious affections are of a spiritual and gracious nature, because they are great…. There are religious affections which are very high, that are not spiritual and saving.</span><br />
<div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And in the next-to-last of Edwards' twenty-four signs he warns: "false affections rest satisfied in themselves."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Edwards' <i>Personal Narrative</i> leaves no doubt that his affections were "raised very high" indeed. His paradoxical language is sheer mysticism:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There came into my mind, a sweet sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express. I seemed to see them both in a sweet conjunction: majesty and meekness joined together: it was a sweet and gentle, and holy majesty; and also a majestic meekness; an awful sweetness; a high, and great, and holy gentleness.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think it regrettable that Edwards did not take to heart his own warnings about such heightened religious experience. Though he wrestled throughout his life with concerns relating to his religious experiences, in the end he seemed "rest satisfied" </span><span style="font-size: large;">that his own experience was genuine, setting him absolutely and eternally apart from most of humanity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Would that instead of this absolute separation he might have included all of humanity in the idealistic, asymptotic imagery that he uses elsewhere for saints in heaven:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let the most perfect union with God be represented by something at an infinite height above us; and the eternally </span><span style="font-size: large;">increasing</span><span style="font-size: large;"> union of the saints with God, by something that is ascending constantly towards that infinite height, ...though the time will never come when it can be said it has already arrived at this infinite height.</span>^7</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">4) Finally, I suggest that Edwards should have taken more genuinely to heart his repeated assertions in <i>The Nature of True Virtue</i> that God is infinite and that human beings are finite:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In a clear view of the Deity, as incomprehensibly and immensely great…all other beings are as nothing and vanity.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Or again:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Whatever the private system be, let it be more or less extensive, consisting of a greater or smaller number of individuals...it contains an infinitely little part of universal existence, and so bears no proportion to the great all-comprehending system.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When Edwards speaks with assurance of God's "anger and condemnation," of God's "hatred and contempt and wrath," I have to ask how it is possible for Edwards to attribute such finite human qualities to an infinite, "incomprehensibly and immensely great" God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />
Edwards attempts a justification:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We have no conception, in any degree, what understanding, perception, love, pleasure, pain, or desire are in others, but by putting ourselves as it were in their stead..., making such an alteration, as to degree and circumstances, as what we observe of them requires. ...And this is the only way that we come to be capable of having ideas of any perception or act even of the Godhead. We never could have any notion what understanding or volition, love or hatred are, either in created spirits or in God, if we had never experienced what understanding and volition, love and hatred are in our own minds. Knowing what they are by consciousness, we can add degrees, and deny limits, and remove changeableness and other imperfections, and ascribe them to God.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But how can we presume that our finite minds are ever able to "remove changeableness and other imperfections"? How many times over do we have to "add degrees" and "deny limits" to reach <i>infinity</i>? Edwards cannot have it both ways: "as nothing" and "infinite" are incommensurable. In his own words, the finite "bears no proportion" to the infinite.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Extrapolating from human qualities to divine leads directly to anthropomorphism: speaking in childlike terms of a manlike God. Edwards' language of God's "anger and condemnation," "hatred and contempt and wrath," is unalloyed anthropomorphism. Amidst his thicket of Puritan terminology, he seems to have lost sight of his own dichotomy between finitude and infinity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Edwards is a man at odds with himself. Would that instead of literalistic talk about extrapolation, his religious genius might have graced us with additional kaleidoscopic metaphors for the "foundation and fountain of all Being."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Richard R. Niebuhr opens an article on Edwards with these words:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jonathan Edwards is as complex a person as we could hope or fear to encounter in the chronicles of American culture.</span>^8</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">A complex person indeed, a person who inspires and disturbs me. I am in awe of Jonathan Edwards; his vision of true virtue has helped mould my life. But for me his doctrine</span><span style="font-size: large;"> of a God who punishes everlastingly is a </span><span style="font-size: large;">soul-jarring discrepancy. </span><span style="font-size: large;">That religious doctrine persists widely to this day. To adapt Niebuhr's phrase, it is something I always "fear to encounter in the chronicles of American culture."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">__________</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">^1 Jonathan Edwards, <i>The Nature of True Virtue</i>, ed. Paul Ramsey (Yale University Press, 1989).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^2 Jonathan Edwards, <i>Scientific and Philosophical Writings</i>, ed. Wallace E. Anderson (Yale University Press, 1980).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^3 Frederick J. E. Woodbridge, "Jonathan Edwards" in <i>The Philosophical Review</i> (vol.13, no.4, July, 1904), p.402. See my blog posting "Santayana's Introduction to Spinoza" (April 15, 2015).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^4 Edwards' language in the final clause echoes Matthew 25:41.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^5 Jonathan Edwards, <i>Personal Narrative</i>, ed. George S. Claghorn<i> </i>(Yale University Press, 1998), p.792.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^6 Jonathan Edwards, <i>Treatise concerning Religious Affections</i>, ed. John E. Smith (Yale University Press, 1959).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^7 Jonathan Edwards, <i>Concerning the End for which God Created the World</i>, ed. Paul Ramsey (Yale University Press, 1989), p.534.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">^8 Richard R. Niebuhr, "Being and Consent" in <i>The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards</i>, ed. Sang Hyun Lee (Princeton University Press, 2005), p.34.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Note</i>: Edwards' works are available in digital, searchable form on the website of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University: <a href="http://edwards.yale.edu/" target="_blank"><edwards.yale.edu></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">*****</span></div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-4459541790160947542015-04-21T08:14:00.000-04:002015-04-22T10:39:12.270-04:00Santayana's Introduction to Spinoza<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bibliothek,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>George Santayana (1863–1952) was an American essayist, poet, novelist, cultural critic and man of letters. He was also a professor of philosophy who wrote with exceptional literary grace. I am devoting this posting entirely to the text of an </i>Introduction<i> to Spinoza's philosophy written by Santayana. Since my student days I have prized Santayana's essay</i><i> as the clearest brief appreciation of Spinoza. Only recently have I come to realize that the </i>Introduction<i> is virtually unavailable—"virtually" in both the comparative sense and the digital. So far as I can discover, it can be found only in printed copies of a small volume titled </i>Spinoza's Ethics and 'De Intellectus Emendatione'<i> </i>(<i>ed. Ernest Rhys, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1910) for which the publisher commissioned Santayana's essay.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The publisher chose wisely. Santayana writes that from his student days at Harvard, Spinoza "filled me with joy and enthusiasm." In his eighty-first year he wrote that in some respects Spinoza was "my master and model" who "laid the foundation of my philosophy." Santayana revered Spinoza for "the magnificent example he offers us of philosophic liberty"; for "the courage, firmness, and sincerity with which he reconciled his heart to the truth"</i>;<i> for his "conception of the world which is unrivaled for sublimity."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Santayana introduces Spinoza's philosophy with corresponding courage, firmness and sincerity, never shrinking from forthright acknowledgement of Spinoza's most radical and controversial ideas. In other writings Santayana is also forthright in explaining his personal departures from Spinoza, particularly his belief that Spinoza's severe stoicism represses humanizing qualities of life such as beauty, pleasure, ambition and love, for which the seemingly uncaring cosmos has allowed a place. For an elegant expression of Santayana's agreements and disagreements with Spinoza see his essay </i>Ultimate Religion<i> in the selections from Santayana's writings titled </i>Obiter Scripta<i> (ed. Buchler and Schwartz, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936).</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I shall be glad to provide the text of this </i>Introduction<i>, typeset without my added photographs and with Santayana's notes at the foot of the page, for anyone who wishes to contact me: ablackwell@charter.net.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">*****</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spinoza is one of those great men whose eminence grows more obvious with the lapse of years. Like a mountain obscured at first by its foot-hills, he rises as he recedes. Some of his contemporaries esteemed him for being a good optician and an austere, scholarly man; a few felt the masterly force of his mind and opinions; others shuddered at the depth of his materialism and irreligion. This last was the sentiment towards him prevalent amongst the general public; and during the next century he was more execrated than read. Hume, for instance, speaks of "all those sentiments for which Spinoza is so universally infamous," and of his "hideous hypothesis."</span>^1<span style="font-size: large;"> The scandal consisted in the fact that Spinoza denied final causes, or purposes at work in nature, and that, in their ordinary sense, he denied the immortality of the soul, free-will, and moral responsibility. What came to turn these doctrines (which might have passed for simple materialism) into positive blasphemy was that he identified nature with God, and taught that all things, whether in the eyes of men they were good or evil, mean or noble, were integral parts of the divine being. "It would constitute," he writes, "a great imperfection in God if anything happened against His will, or if He desired anything which He did not obtain, or if His nature were so biassed that, like a finite creature, He felt sympathy with some things and antipathy to others.</span>^2<span style="font-size: large;"> "I warn you," he adds elsewhere,</span>^3<span style="font-size: large;"> "that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This very pantheism, however, was what a little later endeared Spinoza to a group of romantic Germans, who were poetical, emancipated souls and great lovers of nature; so much so that one of them, Novalis, in a famous phrase, pronounced Spinoza a man inebriated with God—e<i>in Gottbetrunkener Mensch</i>. To have perceived the relativity of good and evil, and of all human conventions, seemed to these Faust-like spirits a blessed deliverance. The cramped child of civilisation could thereby recover his animal birthright to live as nature prompted; and by the same stroke he could win his speculative liberty to think straight and to speak frankly. Nor was relief from convention the only boon brought by Spinoza's pantheism; it brought also a new enthusiasm. For to pass beyond good and evil is to reach a sublime necessity which, to an unselfish and pure intellect, may seem a grander thing. All depends on not being afraid to confess that the universe is non-human, and that man is relative. Let a man once overcome his selfish terror at his own finitude, and his finitude itself is, in one sense, overcome. A part of his soul, in sympathy with the infinite, has accepted the natural status of all the rest of his being. Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself. When he attains this dignity all things lose what was threatening and sinister about them, without needing to change their material form or their material influence. Man's intellectual part and his worshipping part have made their peace with the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Neither of these opposed judgments upon Spinoza rested on a misunderstanding. His philosophy, although one of the most single-minded and consistent that has ever been framed, actually offered these two aspects to two sorts of people. In order to grasp the secret of this apparent doubleness in our author, and to see what a perfect unity of soul it conceals, we need to remember his heritage, racial and intellectual, his temperament, and the interests he had at heart in all his speculation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Spinozahuis Museum, Rijnsburg, the Netherlands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Here Spinoza lived as a
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<span style="font-size: large;">His life was simple and short, and worthy of his sublime doctrine, which makes every particular thing look small in comparison with the boundless universe. A Jew of Amsterdam, born in 1632, member of a colony of Portuguese exiles, he was excommunicated by the Synagogue, at the age of twenty, for his heretical opinions; which were that God might have a body (namely, the whole world of matter), that angels might be mere visions of the mind, and that the Bible said nothing of the immortality of the soul. Finding himself thus doubly an outcast, he supported himself by polishing lenses for optical instruments. He became a scholar of repute and founded his philosophy partly on a rationalised Judaism, partly on the system of Descartes, and, in politics, on the system of Hobbes. He declined a chair of philosophy at Heidelberg the better to preserve his full freedom and leisure. He lived abstemiously and alone; yet he cultivated the acquaintance of those who shared his intellectual interests, was an assiduous correspondent, a warm patriot, and a genial neighbor. He reputed himself happy, and happy he doubtless was in his pious, indoor fashion. Lodged in his corner of the great house of nature, he felt himself humbled, pensioned, and at peace. He was proud of that great house and its glories; he venerated its economy, and never dreamt of reforming it. He was content to fulfil there his little round of duties, but he was not passionately fond of them, and could look forward with equanimity to the moment when they should come to an end. This pervasive piety in his life corresponds admirably with a certain pious phraseology which we find in his works, in the midst of their astonishing boldness of thought and uncompromising rationalism. Those devout phrases were not due to policy, nor to inert habit, but expressed the genuine and ruling sentiment of his mind.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUCuEIuF2JdsWVlTYMXp6swEMucz-k8I3cYCPit24ecSkHkUQ_4Zw2UHr8s6EJQSSRUTwr309pDNAh1LWWpLWX3-_MAeOUEn77cLyrvVdwpXgz5JTpRaEhq5Hz4kH7cPg2qd1KXSBvUwG/s1600/Spinoza_0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUCuEIuF2JdsWVlTYMXp6swEMucz-k8I3cYCPit24ecSkHkUQ_4Zw2UHr8s6EJQSSRUTwr309pDNAh1LWWpLWX3-_MAeOUEn77cLyrvVdwpXgz5JTpRaEhq5Hz4kH7cPg2qd1KXSBvUwG/s1600/Spinoza_0006.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The optical bench at which Spinoza cut and ground lenses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Christiaan Huygens and other famous opticians of his age
admired Spinoza's work and valued his ideas,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> expressed in his extensive
correspondence.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That he was a Jew is a point of fundamental importance for the understanding of this attitude, so ambiguous and puzzling to the conventional Christian; it is also of importance in other respects. It determined the isolation and, when he had separated himself from the Synagogue, the independence of his life and thought; and it opened to him Hebrew learning and traditions which most writers of his day were ignorant of altogether. It thus enabled him to become the founder of the historical explanation or "higher criticism" of the Bible. This is a matter on which, as on his religious sentiment, the mind of Spinoza is not altogether easy to disentangle. On the one hand, although a pioneer in the subject, he anticipated on many fundamental points the opinions now current among scholars; for example, on the authorship of the Pentateuch, and on the human limitations of the various sacred writers, and the diversity of views and of prejudices which they betray. On the other hand, his tone and his expressions often suggest a simple and convinced acceptance of tradition on his part. He assumes without discussion that the Bible is the word of God, that the Jews are the chosen people; and, in respect to Christ in particular, he has phrases that are surprising in the mouth of a Jew and a freethinker. Thus he says: "Christ was not so much a prophet as the mouth-piece of God. ...Christ was sent to teach, not only the Jews, but the whole human race; and therefore it was not enough that his mind should be accommodated to the opinions of the Jews alone, but also to the opinion and fundamental teaching common to the whole human race—in other words, to ideas universal and true."</span>^4</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nevertheless, when we catch the philosophic intention behind this pious language, we perceive that Spinoza is sounding the very depths of rationalism, and in this respect the most radical of later critics will never be able to outdo him. God, for Spinoza, is simply the universe, in all its extent and with all its details. Hence the mind of God is not God Himself, in His entirety, but only one of His attributes or manifestations. It is all the mentality that is scattered over space and time, the diffused consciousness that animates the world. To say that the mind of God is revealed to Moses or is manifest in Christ is much as if we said that the spirit of music was revealed to Bach or was manifest in Beethoven. The Jews in particular, Spinoza says, "if they make money by a transaction, say God gave it to them; if they desire anything, they say God has disposed their hearts towards it; and if they think anything, they say God told them."</span>^5<span style="font-size: large;"> The spirit of God accordingly, means simply the genius of men, the ground of which lies indeed beyond them, in the universal context and influence of nature; but the conscious expression and fruition of it first arises in them severally, from time to time, as occasion warrants. Prophecy is merely imagination; an imagination which is truthful when, by some instinctive clairvoyance, it divines the tendency of events, or perceives the principles of profitable conduct. The divine authority of Scripture consists in its teaching true virtue. What God promises to a people is what they covet and are able to attain for themselves. Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood. Christ is not a single historic person who possessed, once for all, perfect wisdom and humility. Christ is all wisdom and humility, no matter what person may possess them. "I say that it is not in the least needful for salvation to know Christ according to the flesh; but concerning that eternal Son of God, of which philosophers have spoken,</span>^6<span style="font-size: large;"> that is, God's eternal wisdom, which is manifested in all things, and chiefly in the mind of man, and most particularly in Christ Jesus, the case is far otherwise. For without this no man can arrive at a state of blessedness, in as much as nothing else can teach him what is true or false, what is good or evil."</span>^7<span style="font-size: large;"> Thus it appears that Christ is a mystical name for whatever wisdom is involved, or is possible, in the universe; which wisdom, when it appears in the human race, is called good sense, conscience, or reflection. It is this that is the leaven and the soul of truth in all religions, and the true saviour of mankind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In respect to the religious teaching of the Bible, and the common message of all the prophets, Spinoza held exactly that opinion which Matthew Arnold made familiar to the last generation of English readers. The Bible is literature, not dogma; and this literature is a criticism of life, to the effect that conduct is the chief thing in it, and that the eternal makes for righteousness; or (in Spinoza's language) the sole purpose of revealed religion is to inculcate "obedience." By every imaginative appeal and every legal enactment, the Bible aims at securing good-will, mercy, and peace among men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is also the aim of Spinoza's own writings about religion and politics, and of his whole philosophy; so that he continues the work of the prophets whom he interprets, and is, in the same sense, a true prophet himself. Toleration is what he wishes to recommend, both to governments and to private sects, on the combined authority of revelation and of reason. Toleration is what the Bible commands, if truly understood, since it commands loving-kindness, peace, and the forgiveness of enemies. Toleration is also what the interests of the state require. Spinoza propounds the principles of liberalism in these matters with remarkable foresight and precision. "If acts only could be made the ground of criminal prosecutions, and words were always allowed to pass free, sedition would be divested of every semblance of justification, and would be separated from mere controversies by a hard and fast line."</span>^8</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Liberal illusions (if this be one of them) do not, however, characterise Spinoza's political theory as a whole. It has, indeed, been called Machiavellian, and in our day it might be called Nietzschean; but his defence of the maxim that might makes right is free from all tyrannical or aristocratic bias. What he propounds is simply a truth of natural history. Thus he says: "That I might investigate the subject-matter of this science with the same freedom of spirit as we generally use in mathematics, I have laboured carefully not to mock, lament, and execrate, but to understand, human actions; and to this end I have looked upon passions, such as love, hatred, anger, envy, ambition, pity, and the other perturbations of the mind, not in the light of vices of human nature, but as properties, just as pertinent to it, as are heat, cold, storm, thunder, and the like, to the nature of the atmosphere, which phenomena, though inconvenient, are necessary, and have fixed causes by means of which we endeavour to understand their nature; and the mind has just as much pleasure in viewing them aright as in knowing such things as flatter the senses."</span>^9<span style="font-size: large;"> And again: "The law and ordinance of nature, under which all men are born, and for the most part live, forbids nothing but what no one wishes or is able to do, and is not opposed to strifes, hatred, anger, treachery, or, in general, anything that appetite suggests. For the bounds of nature are not the laws of human reason, which do but pursue the true interest and preservation of mankind, but other infinite laws, which regard the eternal order of universal nature, whereof man is an atom; and according to the necessity of this order only are all individual beings determined in a fixed manner to exist and to operate. Whenever, then, anything in nature seems to us ridiculous, absurd, or evil, it is because we have but a partial knowledge of things, and are in the main ignorant of the order and coherence of nature as a whole, and because we want everything to be arranged according to the dictates of our own reason; although, in fact, what our reason pronounces bad is not bad as regards the order and laws of universal nature, but only as regards the laws of our own nature taken separately."</span>^10</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This doctrine contains what is superhuman and rational in the ordinary optimism of theologians, but it avoids what is sophistical in that optimism and insulting to the conscience and the sufferings of man; for it sets forth the relativity of good and evil to finite and particular interests, whilst it makes no attempt to call relative evils absolute goods. The very distinction between good and evil is what is transcended in the absolute; the two terms are not juggled with so that, where both have lost their meaning, one only seems to have disappeared and the other to survive. There is infinite being, no doubt, beyond our human interests and ideals, and, to the contemplative intellect, that being has a certain dignity, because it is great; but its greatness is not moral, its dignity is not human, and to call it "good" would be not a "higher truth" but a silly impertinence. The infinite knows no obligation, it is subject to no standard. "No man," Spinoza says, "can upbraid God for having given him an infirm constitution or a feeble spirit. As absurdly might a circle complain that God hath not endowed it with the properties of a sphere, or an infant, tormented with stone, that God had not given him a healthy body. Just so a man of weak mind cannot complain that God has denied him force of character and a true knowledge and love of the deity, or has given him so weak a nature that he can neither suppress nor moderate his lusts. For with the nature of each thing nothing is compatible but what follows necessarily from its given cause. It is not compatible with every particular man's nature that he have a great soul; and it is no more in our power to have a healthy body than to have a sane mind. This no one can deny, who will not fly in the face of experience, as well as of reason."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"But, you urge, if men sin by necessity of their nature, they are excusable; you do not explain, however, what you would infer from this fact. Is it perhaps that God will be prevented from growing angry with them? Or is it rather that they have deserved that blessedness which consists in the knowledge and love of God? If you mean the former, I altogether agree that God does not grow angry, and that all things happen by His decree. But I deny that for that reason all men ought to be happy. Surely men may be excusable and nevertheless miss happiness, and be tormented in many ways. A horse is excusable for being a horse and not a man; but nevertheless he must needs be a horse and not a man. One who goes mad from the bite of a dog is excusable; yet it is right that he should die of suffocation. So too, he who cannot rule his passions, nor hold them in check out of respect for the law, while he may be excusable on the ground of weakness, is nevertheless incapable of enjoying conformity of spirit and knowledge and love of God; and he is lost inevitably."</span>^11</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">These sayings may sound harsh to the sentimental; yet, taken merely as so much natural history, it would be hard to gainsay them, especially in this Darwinian and competitive age. Only what can exist can have interests, and only what can have interests can have rights. At least, this is the teaching of Spinoza, one of whose greatest achievements is the way in which he grafts his moral upon his natural philosophy. Every organic body endeavours to preserve itself. This endeavour is nothing arbitrary or miraculous; it is merely that equilibrium by which the organism is constituted—its vital inertia or (what is the same thing) its mechanical momentum. Such anthropology, although Spinoza calls it ethics, is a matter-of-fact record of the habits and passions of men. It is not the expression of any ideal; it does not specify any direction in which it demands that things should move. Yet it describes the situation which makes the existence of ideals possible and intelligible. Given the propulsive energy of life in any animal that is endowed with imagination, it is clear that whatever he finds propitious to his endeavours he will call good, and whatever he finds hostile to them he will call evil. His various habits and passions will begin to judge one another. A group of them called vanity, and another called taste, and another called conscience, will arise within his breast. Each of these groups, in so far as they have not coincided or co-operated from the beginning, will tend to annex or overcome the others. This competition between a man's passions makes up his moral history, the growth of his character, just as the competition of his ruling interests with other interests at work in society makes up his outward career. The sort of imagination that can survey all these interests at once, and can perceive how they check or support one another, is called reason; and when reason is vivid and powerful it gives courage and authority to those interests which it sees are destined to success, whilst it dampens or extinguishes those others which it sees are destined to failure. Reason thus establishes a sort of resigned and peaceful strength in the soul, founded on renunciation of what is impossible and cooperation with what is necessary. This resigned and peaceful strength Spinoza calls happiness; and since it rests on apprehension of the order of nature, and acceptance of it, he also calls it, in his pious language, knowledge and love of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happiness, in this sense of knowledge and love of the universe, is what all Spinoza's maxims aim to secure; they accordingly counsel great moderation in ambition, with a modest and obedient attitude towards the powers that be, whether cosmic or political. At the same time, illusion and imposture, if we take a broad view, cannot be factors in that radical power to which the wise man bows; on the contrary, they are great sources of instability, conflict, and fear. The infinite force of nature, in which alone is life, makes against them. Therefore Spinoza, for all his mildness and submissiveness to legal authority, and even to custom, is uncompromising in the sphere of ideas. The courage and confidence are perfect with which he denounces any government that does not express the organic force of society, or any religion that distorts the natural reason and conscience of man. Like the ancient prophets of his nation, but with a clearer right, he can end his denunciation of all falseness with the tremendous words, "So saith the Lord." For in breaking away from the mediæval Synagogue, and even from the orthodoxy of the Pharisees, Spinoza returned to the essential insights of the prophets, and to the primary instincts of the Hebrew nation. Like a typical reformer or revivalist, he could feel that he was merely reporting afresh an eternal oracle. His radicalism was fervidly pious. His heterodoxy came to him as the word of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nor was this all. The sanction, in the way of earthly happiness, which Spinoza promised to those who accepted his teaching, was a solid, humble, and legal well-being. It was an exact re-assertion of the sort of hope and aspiration of which the older parts of the Bible are full. All that which, in Spinoza's modest ambitions for mankind and in his hard-headed political positivism, might be a stumbling-block to the classical or romantic aristocrat is nothing but the perennial wisdom of the Jew, of the sorely-tried, plebeian, international positivist. God's thoughts, it said, are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways; but the righteous prosper by His decree, and the way of the transgressor is hard. This vindication of morality by events was not to be secured by the punctilious performance of sacrifices, nor by faith in any speculative doctrine; it was a natural consequence of the conduct in question, attached to it by the original constitution of the world. Furthermore, as the later Hebrews, in their political eclipse, had turned to inward piety and a sort of elegiac sentiment—what the Psalms express—and had found in a broken and a contrite heart a new path to salvation, so Spinoza had a mystical kind of salvation to add to the practical, homely rewards of virtue. Mere reverence for the will of God, mere understanding of the laws of nature (and these two are one for Spinoza), was in itself a possession more precious than rubies. The philosophic soul loved the beauty of the Lord's house and the place—this whole universe—where his glory dwelleth. Everything in nature and history was welcome to one who understood the mathematical necessity of all that happens; and if Job had said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him," Spinoza could express the same thought less ambiguously by saying, "He who truly loves God cannot wish that God should love him in return."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The point in religious philosophy at which Spinoza departed most from Jewish ideas, and approached (perhaps unawares) to those of the Greeks, was his doctrine of human freedom and immortality. In their ordinary acceptation both these things are excluded from his system. He was a fatalist, in the sense that he regarded everything that happens as perfectly inevitable, pre-ordained, and predictable. No idea of independent social relations, of dramatic give and take, between God and men, such as sacred history seems to assume, could be admitted by Spinoza; since for him God was not one personage in the drama of history amongst other personages, but rather the whole play of existence, in its total plot, movement, and moral. Furthermore, he conceived the human mind or soul as the consciousness accompanying the life of the human body. Therefore when the body perished, the soul was necessarily dissolved. Nor did the Jewish hope of resurrection, with its miraculous and self-magnifying quality, find any place in his philosophy. Nevertheless Spinoza used both the term freedom and the term immortality for things which he valued and accepted. Freedom, in his view, was equivalent to power. A man was free when his nature, being consistent and unified, was able to express itself clearly in his thought and work. Freedom meant virtue, in the old sense of the word; it meant faculty to do mightily and to do well; and this virtue implied or constituted happiness. Freedom, accordingly, lay not in indetermination of character, or freedom to have chosen anything else as readily as what one has actually chosen, but rather in efficiency of character, and liberty to carry out one's innate choice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Immortality, in a similar fashion, was transformed by Spinoza from something temporal and problematic, an endlessly continued existence, into something timeless and intrinsic, a quality of life. It was not the length of a man's days that made him immortal, but the intellectual essence of his thoughts. The spirit shared the fate of the objects with which it identified itself. A soul absorbed in transitory things was itself transitory. One absorbed in eternal things was, to that extent, eternal. But what, we may ask, are eternal things? Nothing, according to Spinoza, is eternal in its duration. The tide of evolution carries everything before it, thoughts no less than bodies, and persons no less than nations. Yet all things are eternal in their status, as truth is. The place which an event fills in history is its inalienable place; the character that an act or a feeling possesses in passing is its inalienable character. Now, the human mind is not merely animal, not merely absorbed in the felt transition from one state of life to another. It is partly synthetic, intellectual, contemplative, able to look before and after and to see fleeting things at once in their mutual relations, or, as Spinoza expressed it, under the form of eternity. To see things under the form of eternity is to see them in their historic and moral truth, not as they seemed as they passed, but as they remain when they are over. When a man's life is over, it remains true that he has lived; it remains true that he has been one sort of man, and not another. In the infinite mosaic of history that bit has its unfading colour and its perpetual function and effect. A man who understands himself under the form of eternity knows the quality that eternally belongs to him, and knows that he cannot wholly die, even if he would; for when the movement of his life is over, the truth of his life remains. The fact of him is a part for ever of the infinite context of facts. This sort of immortality belongs passively to everything; but to the intellectual part of man it belongs actively also because, in so far as it knows the eternity of truth, and is absorbed in it, the mind <i>lives</i> in that eternity. In caring only for the eternal, it has ceased to care for that part of itself which can die. But this sort of immortality is ideal only. He who, while he lives, lives in the eternal, does not live longer for that reason. Duration has merely dropped from his view; he is not aware of or anxious about it; and death, without losing its reality, has lost its sting. The sublimation of his interest rescues him, so far as it goes, from the mortality which he accepts and surveys. The animals are mortal without knowing it, and doubtless presume, in their folly, that they will live for ever. Man alone knows that he must die; but that very knowledge raises him, in a sense, above mortality, by making him a sharer in the vision of eternal truth. He becomes the spectator of his own tragedy; he sympathises so much with the fury of the storm that he has not ears left for the shipwrecked sailor, though that sailor were his own soul. The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To represent God as non-moral, as Spinoza does, may seem a strange reversal of the Hebrew prophets' conception of God as a power that makes for righteousness; yet what makes for righteousness, the conditions of successful living, need not be moral in a personal sense, any more than the conditions of a flame need be themselves on fire. On the other hand, that God is non-moral is an inevitable conclusion from the other half of the prophetic doctrine about God, namely, that he is the one and only God, the absolutely universal power. If Christian theology has sometimes, and with great difficulty, avoided the pantheism herein implied, the circumstance is due to the infusion into Christianity of another element, the Platonic, which is radically alien to the Jewish genius. Nothing so well vindicates the genuine Hebraism of Spinoza as the fact that he avoided all Platonism (such as Philo Judæus and other Jewish philosophers had adopted), and would have none of it, even in morals.</span>^12<span style="font-size: large;"> Pure Hebraism, when interpreted philosophically, inevitably becomes pantheistic. It suffices that we should attribute the fortunes of a single people, or of a single man, <i>exclusively</i> to God's providence and will (and to do so is the core of Hebrew piety) for God to become identical with the power, or, in Spinoza's language, with the substance, in all things. For a single man, or people, is affected by his environment, such as the elements, the devil, or the King of Babylon. If God rules our fortunes completely, this environment, which affects us, must operate solely according to His will and intention towards us; what the King of Babylon, the elements, or the devil seem to do must really be God's work. All things must be in truth his agents, however unconscious they may be of this their real function, origin, and dignity; nothing can happen anywhere in the universe save as God has decreed it; therefore He is the <i>only</i> power at work, and everything, in all its parts, is an expression of his will and nature. This is the exact doctrine for holding which Spinoza was called an atheist. It is simply the intelligent affirmation of the Jewish belief in God. Nor can we make any exception to the divine monopoly of power in the case of sin or error; for these too are parts, and often the most important parts, of the life He has assigned to us; they are the occasion of His most signal judgments and graces; they afford the most conspicuous vindication of His laws. Through these things it is evidently His will to lead us, for we are passing through them. We must accustom ourselves, therefore, to look beyond our distress or humiliation till we perceive the propriety and beauty of these tragic visitations; for it is right that the world should illustrate the full nature of the infinite, and not merely the particular ideals of man. The particular ideals of man have a legitimate authority over <i>him</i>, in his moral, political, and æsthetic judgments; but it is grotesque to suppose that they have, as the Platonists imagined, any authority over universal nature. The hawk's eye that would range through the infinite must not wear the hood of morality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is consonant with the spirit of Spinoza's religion, politics, and ethics that the highest part of his philosophy should not lie in them, but in his physics. A Platonist may treat physics as a science of appearance only, because he makes human, verbal, and moral ideals the key to a non-natural, metaphysical world. For Spinoza, however, the humanities were merely human; it was natural science alone that revealed what was fundamental, eternal, and, in his sense, divine. It did not, of course, reveal this reality completely; for, after all, natural science too is a human view, and starts from the particular vantage ground of the observer. It does not matter, however, how subjective the starting-point of science may be. Science notes something actual, even if only the existence of a mood or an illusion; and in this fact it seizes a part of infinite existence, a true item of the real world. How this fact is situated in the bosom of nature, what other facts may surround it, is a subject for investigation or hypothesis. But reality, if I may say so, is everywhere being tapped; we truly know its flavour here and there, and the samples we get of it are genuine. For Spinoza there seemed to be two regions at which science could come into contact with nature, and describe her as, in part, she really is; these two regions were mathematical physics and self-consciousness. Extension and thought (in the language of Descartes, which Spinoza adopted) were the two provinces of nature, parts of which we could survey. The science of Spinoza consisted in describing these two regions of being, studying their relation to each other, and conceiving what might be their relation to other possible things. The details of this scientific speculation, though interesting and masterly, are now somewhat antiquated; for the status of mathematical physics can hardly seem, to a critical philosopher, the same as the status of self-consciousness; and the bold assumption, which Spinoza makes for the sake of system and symmetry, that there is consciousness wherever there is extension, is too sweeping and too paradoxical to recommend itself to a scientific mind. But in the ardour of his faith in nature, in his vision of things completed and fulfilled, Spinoza has attained a notion which has a great value, though perhaps not just the value which he assigned to it. This is the notion of the absolutely infinite: of all possible bodies, such as an endless evolution, going on in infinite space, might somewhere involve; and of all possible feelings and thoughts, such as might accompany that evolution, or such as the logical play of mind might suggest or see to be possible; and then of all other things, unthinkable to us for lack of experience of them, but possible and non-contradictory in their proper nature. All these infinities of different sorts, added together, made up the sum of things, or the absolutely infinite universe. Of this universe man, with all his works, was an incident in an incident, and a fragment of a fragment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is perhaps no cogent reason for believing that the world is so large as Spinoza thought it was. There is perhaps no cogent reason for believing it to be smaller. Yet his conception, treated merely as a conception of possible being, of what might be or might have been, is well fitted to chasten and sober all those dogmatists that lay down the law for God out of the analogies or demands of their private experience. When people tell us that they have the key to all reality in their pockets, or in their hearts, that they know who made the world, and why, or know that everything is matter, or that everything is mind—then Spinoza's notion of the absolutely infinite which includes <i>all</i> possibilities, may profitably arise before us. It will counsel us to say to those little gnostics, to those circumnavigators of being: I do not believe you; God is great.</span>^13</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">G.S.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Statue of Spinoza in the Hague,</span></div>
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[These notes are Santayana's from his 1910 <i>Introduction</i>.]<br />
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^1 <i>A Treatise of Human Nature</i> (1739), part iv., section v. There is doubtless a shade of irony in these expressions, as Hume uses them; but they indicate all the better, for that reason, what was the prevailing opinion.<br />
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^2 Letter xxxii. (in the edition of Van Vloten and Land, xix.) addressed to Blyenbergh, January 5, 1665.<br />
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^3 Letter xv. (Van Vloten and Land, xxxii.) addressed to Oldenburg, November 20, 1665.<br />
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^4 <i>A Theologico-political Treatise</i>, chapter iv.<br />
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^5 <i>Ibid</i>. chapter i.<br />
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^6 "De æterno illo Dei filio."<br />
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^7 Letter xxi. (Van Vloten and Land, lxxiii.), addressed to Oldenburg, 1675.<br />
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^8 <i>A Theologico-political Treatise</i>, preface. Compare chapter xx. of the same treatise: "What greater misfortune for a state can be conceived than that honourable men should be sent like criminals into exile, because they hold diverse opinions which they cannot disguise? What, I say, can be more hurtful than that men who have committed no crime or wickedness should, simply because they are enlightened, be treated as enemies and put to death, and that the scaffold, the terror of evil-doers, should become the stage where the highest examples of tolerance and virtue are displayed to the people with all the marks of ignominy that authority can devise?"<br />
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^9 <i>A Political Treatise</i>, chapter i, section 4.<br />
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^10 <i>A Political Treatise</i>, chapter ii, section 8.<br />
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^11 Letter xxv. (according to Van Vloten and Land, lxxviii.) addressed to Oldenburg, February 7, 1676.<br />
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^12 Letter lx. (according to Van Vloten and Land, lvi.) addressed to Hugo Boxel, 1674. "The authority of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates carries little weight with me. ...It is no marvel if people who have invented occult qualities, intentional species, substantial forms, and a thousand other inanities, should have excogitated spectres and goblins, and given credit to old women, in order to counteract the authority of Democritus; whose fair fame they so hated that they burnt all the books he had written amid so much applause."</div>
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^13 At the dedication of the statue of Spinoza at the Hague, in 1882, Renan delivered an address ending with the following words: "Woe to him who in passing should hurl an insult at this gentle and pensive head! He would be punished, as all vulgar souls are punished, by his very vulgarity, and by his incapacity to conceive what is divine. This man, from his granite pedestal, will point out to all men the way of blessedness which he found; and ages hence, the cultivated traveller, passing by this spot, will say in his heart: 'The truest vision ever had of God came, perhaps, here.'"</div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-21350037258477777692015-03-13T10:51:00.001-04:002015-03-13T10:51:55.842-04:00Schleiermacher's Mysticism: A Letter to His Distant Beloved›<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834)<br />
Gypsum copy of the marble bust by Christian Daniel Rauch (1829)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Original at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin</span></td></tr>
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<b>Note</b>: I have chosen to write here without footnotes. Part 4 below is my translation of Schleiermacher's letter to Eleonore Grunow, May 3, 1802, from the German found in the <i>Kritische Gesamtausgabe </i>of Schleiermacher's works published by Walter de Gruyter (<i>Abteilung 5, Band 5, Briefe 1005–1245, </i>pp.394–97). Most of the other quotations in this posting are from Schleiermacher's <i>Speeches</i>, <i>Soliloquies</i>, and other letters. I shall be glad to provide a copy of this posting with complete references for anyone who wishes to contact me: ablackwell@charter.net.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Friedrich Schleiermacher was a pastor, theologian, biblical scholar, classicist, philosopher, political activist, and pioneer of modern liberalism in both religion and public life. </span><span style="font-size: large;">His step-son went beyond these varied public dimensions in this more personal characterization: "I have never seen anyone in whom knowledge and life were so in unison as they were in him, anyone who so lived what he thought and knew." </span><span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher had no patience for abstract concepts, whether political, philosophical or theological, that do not directly reflect, express and affect our actual living.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">We find </span><span style="font-size: large;">evidence of Schleiermacher's union of knowledge and life in his formal writings and especially in his personal letters, numbering in the thousands. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In this posting I want to focus on a single facet of this union: the mysticism that was a basis for Schleiermacher's thinking and living. We find this mysticism particularly expressed in a remarkable but generally overlooked letter </span><span style="font-size: large;">he wrote in 1802 to a woman he loved, </span><span style="font-size: large;">which I translate in Part 4 of this posting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Schleiermacher's Mysticism</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mysticism</i> can be a vague term. For Schleiermacher, however, mysticism is not some nebulous, transient, inscrutable, or incommunicable experience. His mysticism is in fact the opposite: an intimate, abiding and communicable consciousness of all individual things as parts of an infinite whole, "nothing moved by itself, nothing moving itself alone."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Every structure, every creature, every occurrence is an action of the universe, and religion is the acceptance of each individual thing as a part of the whole, of each limited thing as a manifestation of the infinite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Further, Schleiermacher's mysticism includes a deep and intimate sense that we ourselves are not the source of this infinite whole, and that our ultimate origins remain ever beyond our knowing.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> He believed that </span><span style="font-size: large;">all who honestly pursue knowledge to ultimate depths reach a point when they must acknowledge remaining mystery:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In fact every philosophy, for the person who can see far enough and wants to go far enough, leads to a mysticism.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mysticism for Schleiermacher is consciousness of what he calls our "immediate existential relation" with the infinite universe:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Religion is life in the infinite nature of the whole, in the One and in the All, in God—having and possessing all things in God, and God in all.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"From of old," he writes, "all who are truly religious have had a mystical trait."</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Schleiermacher believed that this mystical trait should dwell at the heart of religion, and that religion should dwell at the heart of human life. He </span><span style="font-size: large;">believed that this sensibility</span><span style="font-size: large;"> is not a primarily a concept to be analyzed, but a living intuition capable of transforming our manner of living.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher is quite specific about the transformative capacity of religion's</span><span style="font-size: large;"> "sense and taste for the infinite," the intuition that "humankind is not everything, but is an infinitely small part, a fleeting form of the Universe." L</span><span style="font-size: large;">iving consequences of this religious sensibility include feelings of "reverence and devotion"; a transforming of "haughtiness and audacity" into "beautiful modesty" and "attractive forbearance"; </span><span style="font-size: large;">a "pious shudder" as we realize that "there is more in nature than we know." Piety, he writes, "is always full of humility."</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Addressing readers who would disdain religion as narrow, divisive and exclusive, Schleiermacher writes that r</span><span style="font-size: large;">eligion worthy of the name engenders a consciousness that "every race and every individual is subordinated to the universe," that each is united with all others as a "living, operative member of the whole." Wholesome religion is "infinite on all sides."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There may be perceptions and feelings belonging to other forms of religion different from one's own, yet just as pious.... There is in religion such a capacity for unlimited many-sidedness in judgment and in contemplation as is nowhere else to be found.... Religion is the natural and sworn foe of all narrow-mindedness and of all one-sidedness.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How unjustly, therefore, do you reproach religion for loving persecution, for being malignant, for overturning society, and making blood flow like water. Blame those who corrupt religion, who flood it with an army of formulas and definitions, and seek to cast it into the fetters of a so-called system. What is it in religion about which men have quarreled and formed parties and kindled wars? About definitions....</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. Schleiermacher's Pietism</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While Schleiermacher's mysticism is not a transient experience but an abiding sensibility, that sensibility can be engendered, nurtured and renewed by particular occasions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher writes of such an occasion when he was fourteen. His parents had become familiar with the congregation of Bohemian Brethren or Moravians in the village of Gnadenfrei (today </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Piława Górna, Poland).</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Deeply impressed by the congregation's piety, they decided to send their son Friedrich and daughter Charlotte to school in Niesky, another Moravian community some two hundred kilometers to the northwest.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Horace Friess, a translator of Schleiermacher's work, nicely characterizes the evangelical movement known as "pietism," of which Moravianism was an example:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is essentially bent on inner moral regeneration, often strongly tinged with elements of mystical exaltation. It is supernaturalistic at first hand or by original conviction. Its liberalism consists in its freedom from ecclesiastical forms, and its reliance upon the individual's experience.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher was profoundly shaped by his two youthful years amidst Moravian pietism. He</span><span style="font-size: large;"> soon outgrew Moravian supernaturalism and Christ-centered emotionalism, but he was indelibly impressed by Pietism's liberalism and its mystical exaltation, and especially by its grounding in personal inner experience:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Piety was the mother's womb in whose sacred darkness my young life was nourished and was prepared for a world still sealed from it. In it my spirit breathed ere it had yet found its own place in knowledge and experience. It helped me as I began to sift the faith of my fathers and to cleanse thought and feeling from the rubbish of antiquity. When the God and the immortality of my childhood vanished from my doubting eyes, piety remained to me..., gradually purified and elevated.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">A return visit to the village of Gnadenfrei when Schleiermacher was thirty-four was an occasion for renewal of his pietism and his mysticism.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">He came to Gnadenfrei in 1802 to visit his sister Charlotte, whom he calls "Lotte," now living as a Sister in the Moravian religious order. In a letter to his publisher written during his Gnadenfrei visit Schleiermacher again speaks of the pietism that engendered and molded his religious sensibility:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am very glad to find myself here with a dearly beloved sister, in a marvelous region, amidst wonderful impressions of an earlier time of my life. There is no other place that so awakens living memories of the whole course of my spirit, from the first awakenings of the better life to the point where I presently stand. Here consciousness of the human relation to a higher world first dawned on me—though certainly in a limited form.... Here the mystical tendency so essential for me first developed, and it has supported and rescued me amidst all the storms of skepticism. In those days it germinated, now it has matured, and I can say that after all I have again become a Moravian, only of a higher order.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">A year later he writes to another friend, "I am still the same mystic as ever."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. Overview of Schleiermacher's Letter</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">From this place and in this mood Schleiermacher wrote a letter to a distant beloved, Eleonore Grunow. He loved Eleonore deeply, but their relationship was fraught with difficulties. She was living in Berlin with a husband to whom she had been contracted at the age of twelve and who treated her with cold insensitivity. The marriage was childless. Eleonora was on the verge of seeking a divorce, and in May of 1802, the date of his Gnadenfrei letter, Schleiermacher had reason to hope that she would soon join him in marriage. But it was never to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before we come to the text of Schleiermacher's letter in Part 4, I offer here an overview providing context and highlighting certain passages from the letter, together with passages from other Schleiermacher writings, that offer testimony to his mysticism. To distinguish language of Schleiermacher's letter to Eleonore from quotations taken from other writings, I have printed the former in italics.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">As an aside, let me mention my observation </span><span style="font-size: large;">that at many points Schleiermacher's letter</span><span style="font-size: large;">—in substance and spirit, though not in style or intention—</span><span style="font-size: large;">mirrors William Wordsworth's poem <i>Tintern Abbey</i>, written four years earlier, as well as other Wordsworth poems written during the years around 1802. For one thing, both <i>Tintern</i> <i>Abbey</i> and Schleiermacher's letter were composed under the immediate sway of a "dearly beloved sister" (Schleiermacher), a "dear, dear Sister</span><span style="font-size: large;">" (Wordsworth). For another, Wordsworth and Schleiermacher were only two years apart in age. In the paragraphs that follow I shall suggest some additional parallels. I have discovered no </span><span style="font-size: large;">evidence that Schleiermacher knew Wordsworth's poems, however, or that the two men ever met.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher writes of a solitary evening walk on a hill rising above the village of Gnadenfrei, rewarded by an expansive prospect across a broad plain to distant mountains. He watches the sun set:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I sat down under a birch, rustled by the evening wind, to watch this beautiful spectacle. When the lower edge of the disk had almost touched the ridge of the mountains, all the glare disappeared, and unhindered I could see the splendid fireball clearly outlined. Thus it set, quietly and calmly.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Wordsworth: "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, / The holy time is quiet as a Nun / Breathless with adoration; the broad sun / Is sinking down in its tranquility....")</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher thinks about the illusion of the sun's motion, and in an intuitive moment of cosmic perspective he experiences a palpable sensation of the earth's rotation:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I believed now that I saw the earth rotating and that I heard the rush of the mountains, which little by little darkened and flowed together, where earlier I could have distinguished almost every range.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amidst the singing of nightingales, Schleiermacher contemplates the wondrous fact that cosmic history has made a place for human history, and the equally wondrous fact that human history has allowed a place for his own soul. (Wordsworth: "...that serene and blessed mood / In which the affections gently lead us on... / While with an eye made quiet by the power / Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, / We see into life of things.")</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Then he writes, in passive voice: <i>"It happened that everything coalesced into two feelings: I adored and I loved. I could have died of devotion and affection." </i>Elsewhere </span><span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher defines the word </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">devotion</span> </i><span style="font-size: large;">as "a losing of self in the infinite."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>And in fact all worldly activity and stir had no significance for me in this moment. I had only the one wish, to give you my whole being to enjoy as I felt it in this moment, which permeated me so, that I felt it was eternal and that you would enjoy it, though I was not thinking of the letter I am now writing. I believe I knew not a single word. Not even your name, for I saw your image and your whole soul.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Clearly we are reading a love letter. </span> <span style="font-size: large;">In a tradition tracing from the Bible's <i>Song of Songs</i> to the sensual Jesus-mysticism of Moravian piety, Schleiermacher unites mystical adoration of God with his feelings of unbounded love for Eleonore. (Wordsworth: "And from the blessed power that rolls / About, below, above, / We'll frame the measure of our souls; / They shall be tuned to love.")</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Four years earlier Schleiermacher had chosen explicitly sensual imagery to depict the "first mysterious moment that occurs in every sensory perception":</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">It is as fleeting and transparent as the first scent with which the dew gently touches the waking flowers, as modest and delicate as a maiden's kiss, as holy and fruitful as a nuptial embrace. Indeed, not </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">like</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> these; rather it is all of these </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">itself</span></i><span style="font-size: large;">. Swiftly and magically the moment evolves, an appearance, an event, into an image of the universe. As soon as the appearance fashions herself into her dear and longed-for form, my soul flees to her, not as a shadow, but as the holy Being itself. I lie on the bosom of the infinite world. I am in this moment her soul, for I feel all her powers and her infinite life as my own. She is in this moment my body, for I penetrate her muscles and her limbs as my own</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="font-size: large;">, and as my own her innermost nerves stir in accord with my sense and my prescience</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">.... May holy fate forgive me that I have had to disclose more-than-Eleusinian mysteries. This is the natal hour of everything living in religion.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">I translate with feminine pronouns here to reflect Schleiermacher's German, where the pronouns agree with the feminine nouns "appearance" and "world."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In his mature theological writings of two decades later Schleiermacher describes <i>love</i> as "the impulse to unite self with another and to wish to dwell in another." He describes <i>divine</i> love as the quality "in virtue of which the divine nature imparts itself." And he recognizes divine love as <i>revealed</i>—albeit, from a Christian perspective, revealed incompletely—</span><span style="font-size: large;">"in all those arrangements of Nature, and in all those dispositions of human affairs which protect life or further it." This view, he adds, is "rejected by many as mystical." The mystical view that many Christians reject, Schleiermacher embraces in his Christian theology.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Climbing to a lookout at the hill's summit Schleiermacher sights a distant mountain citadel, the scene of numerous battles in the region's violent history: <i>"I shuddered at the sight."</i> Then again in passive: <i>"It went through my bone and marrow as certain unpleasant sounds do, which otherwise have no significance."</i> </span><span style="font-size: large;">(Wordsworth: sensations "felt in the blood, and felt along the heart....").</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher descends the hillside to the Moravian cemetery. He thinks of the Gnadenfrei dead lying around him, <i>"uneducated, limited, knowing little of the universe</i>":</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Certainly most of them have been so. Yet they bore the eternal in their heart; they had that sense that holds the world together. And even if they did not know much of the good and had perhaps even timidly rejected it, yet they would have loved no evil. Peace to them, I thought; they may know more now and be better off.</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Two years earlier Schleiermacher had written:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I do not measure my friendship for anyone by any worldly standard of external appearances. My vision skims over the worldly and temporal, seeking inner excellence.... A friend's unique being and relation to humanity are the objects of my quest.</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And again:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Certainly I value human excellence, and commonness could almost overwhelm me with unpleasant feelings of disdain, were it not that religion grants a truly broad and beautiful perspective of all.</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Schleiermacher's walk above Gnadenfrei has renewed this "broad and beautiful perspective of all," this mystical sense of the Infinite that chastens his pride. (Wordsworth: "The man whose eye / Is ever on himself doth look on one, / The least of Nature's works, [with] scorn which wisdom holds / Unlawful, ever. O be wiser, Thou!") </span><br />
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</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On his way back toward the village Schleiermacher hears a bell striking eight o'clock and realizes that Lotte would be at that moment celebrating a foot washing with her Sisters, and he thinks once again of Eleonore:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I thought that this beautiful symbol should not be lacking in my own church—thought of humility, and of you. I would wash your feet also, and then you should bow and kiss my forehead.</i></span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>4. Schleiermacher's Letter to Eleonore Grunow</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span> <span style="font-size: large;">May 3, 1802</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Let me tell you of a solitary half hour I had this evening. Lotte left me at seven o'clock to attend yet another worship assembly; I went out to enjoy the rest of the lovely evening. My goal was a small mountain—call it rather a hill—close behind Gnadenfrei, its summit grown up in thick brush in which pathways have been cut. It is the hill closest to the plain and thus affords a splendid prospect toward the mountains.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The surroundings I shall not describe to you for I wish to speak only of my perceptions. Only this. I looked out into the Schweidnitz Valley: first, Reichenbach, where I shall be tomorrow evening, and then a good four miles farther down my return route, for I could see far out beyond the spires of Schweidnitz. So clear was the evening that in the deepest background I saw with my bare eyes the snow-covered summits, the capstone of my Fatherland. Before me, beyond the region of Peiler, I saw Fischerberg, where, several years before my birth, my father was in danger for his life. The shrapnel of an enemy cannonball shattered the barrel behind which he had conducted morning prayers before the battle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The sun was about to sink down behind the Owl Foothills, and I sat down under a birch, rustled by the evening wind, to watch this beautiful spectacle. When the lower edge of the disk had almost touched the ridge of the mountains all the glare disappeared, and unhindered I could see the splendid fireball clearly outlined. Thus it set, quietly and calmly. I thought about the illusion, and I believed now that I saw the earth rotating and that I heard the rush of the mountains, which little by little darkened and flowed together, where earlier I could have distinguished almost every range.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As soon as the sun had set, a nightingale sprang up here and there. First a thousand thoughts went through my head. The mountains always remind me of the history of the world. I thought of the first newcomers in this paradise, of the barrenness of that time, of the present splendor. The most varied centuries and ages hovered before me. And what could I do but wish you by my side, to share with you all that stirred my soul.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Soon it happened that everything coalesced into two feelings: I adored and I loved. I could have wished to die of devotion and affection. I wished for you and my good Lotte by my side, all of us with our own piety at heart, each stirred alike, and all united and embraced in love. The adoration and the love persisted. But the history of the world had made a place for the history of my soul, from my childhood years to my sanctified and sanctifying love for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thus I arose and, beneath the singing of the nightingales and the soft luster of a pastoral afterglow, hurried through the thicket, without path or trail, toward the peak of the hill where several stone steps afford a prospect over the brush. There, besides all that I have already mentioned, I had serene, quiet Gnadenfrei at my feet, and behind me the mountain citadel of Silberberg. I shuddered once at the sight of the latter. It went through my bone and marrow as certain unpleasant sounds do, which otherwise have no significance.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And in fact all worldly stir and activity had no significance for me in this moment. I had only the one wish, to give you my whole being to enjoy as I felt it in this moment, which so permeated me that I felt it was eternal and that you would enjoy it, though I was not thinking of the letter I am now writing. I believe I knew not a single word. Not even your name, for I saw your image and your whole soul.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">I went down the mountain through the thicket on the edge of an abandoned quarry, strayed about for a few minutes in a fallow field until a couple of groups of Gnadenfrei lads who were being brought out for a walk prompted me to leave. I worked my way to the cemetery, and with my look directed toward Gnadenfrei, I thought of what I recently wrote to you: that if I could idealize this Order, I would nowhere rather live with you. I pictured all the enticements of the great world and, because so much truth was in me, pictured all that flattered my vanity; still I felt that I had not lied to you or to myself. I thought of Jette [Henriette Herz, a close friend in Berlin], and it seemed as if such a life would surely be good for her also.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">The cemetery lay on the slope of a hill, enclosed by a hedgerow of beeches and planted with several rows of trees, which seem, however, not to have the heart to thrive amongst the human remains. On the one side lie the Sisters, on the other the Brothers, just as they sit in the chapel. Every grave has a tombstone, bearing no legend but only an inscription.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">I had to smile at the larger aristocratic stones. I do not idealize the persons who have been brought here up to now—uneducated, limited, knowing little of the universe, and in the search for the godly and the ungodly restricted to the smallest details of the human soul. Certainly most of them have been so. Yet they bore the eternal in their heart; they had that sense that holds the world together. And even if they did not know much of the good and had perhaps even timidly rejected it, yet they would have loved no evil. Peace to them, I thought; they may know more now and be better off. And so I went on amongst the graves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">From the cemetery a beautiful avenue of lindens led back into town, almost to my house. Eight o'clock struck. I sat upon a bench in the avenue and knew that Lotte was now celebrating a foot washing with her Sisters. I thought that this beautiful symbol should not be lacking in my own church—thought of humility, and of you. I would wash your feet also, and then you should bow and kiss my forehead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Do not think that I wrote this immediately upon my return. First I read the newspapers. Then, when I had written the first lines, Lotte came to tell me good night. I have accompanied her back home, and then done as you see.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">All day I have been anxious that you have not written me and that I have heard nothing of you through Jette.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">******</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPlaSk1bvAXotd0cp0wpUBYEpD5-OxvcclvvNA0KiWzfU2AyuGJZic8FkKL6OBsBiW55lqD-3nSwfmUp8UZHAjNYkkoOqWim68uisfDLPyTztakUZ2FY5n1AkXV8E4jVHxZsy93oJwuah/s1600/Pilawa+gorna+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPlaSk1bvAXotd0cp0wpUBYEpD5-OxvcclvvNA0KiWzfU2AyuGJZic8FkKL6OBsBiW55lqD-3nSwfmUp8UZHAjNYkkoOqWim68uisfDLPyTztakUZ2FY5n1AkXV8E4jVHxZsy93oJwuah/s1600/Pilawa+gorna+large.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Evening view to the northeast from the hill above Gnadenfrei,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">today Piława G</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">órna, Poland<br />(photograph from 1971)</span></span><!--EndFragment--></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">*****</span><br />
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<br />Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-64568462620835462332015-01-05T09:45:00.000-05:002016-11-22T13:56:07.229-05:00Word Painting in Bach's "Magnificat," Part 2 of 3<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFhm-txoFwlSi7nFw8mDwzv8ognPij34Mf-VUZwqhEJ_eiHqCMO2wThRVjX9cdlYSVSzi6NQK5EUy4BWjol1NwEtP_gMaGZEkF0f4fvytgywGRnWDh-_lU7Li1OlOWYznarwkBtaUdg_Q/s1600/stauffer_1-022014_jpg_250x1185_q85.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFhm-txoFwlSi7nFw8mDwzv8ognPij34Mf-VUZwqhEJ_eiHqCMO2wThRVjX9cdlYSVSzi6NQK5EUy4BWjol1NwEtP_gMaGZEkF0f4fvytgywGRnWDh-_lU7Li1OlOWYznarwkBtaUdg_Q/s1600/stauffer_1-022014_jpg_250x1185_q85.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johann Sebastian Bach<br />
Painting by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, c1748<br />
City Hall Museum, Leipzig</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Movement 8: <i>Deposuit</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As we have seen in the first part of this three-part posting, Movement 7 of Bach's <i>Magnificat </i>leaves<i> </i>"the proud in their conceit" reposing royally in the key of D major. Bach does not allow them to posture there for long. "Pride goeth before destruction," says Proverbs 16:18, "and an haughty spirit before a fall." Mary's hymn and Bach's musical setting observe this same moral logic. Movement 8 opens with a precipitous fall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">At the end of Movement 7 the resplendent trumpet's concluding flourish ends on an F-sharp, the note that defines its D chord as a major chord. Bach opens Movement 8 by giving the violins that same note, but this time as the platform for a plunging scale in F-sharp minor:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3nIYnBNPY9xM1b_4eOR7ythlkU2TkJYkA5_sca0c5ELtNsm1MNmORGH1XwoDV25d8SlzMtEKLDOJ-eG7u1V7EIMfJEDAs4DnCOE3EyeVY3rUUAbpyOueisIEcqIw4hDON3SEPLbxCrMB/s1600/Deposuit1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3nIYnBNPY9xM1b_4eOR7ythlkU2TkJYkA5_sca0c5ELtNsm1MNmORGH1XwoDV25d8SlzMtEKLDOJ-eG7u1V7EIMfJEDAs4DnCOE3EyeVY3rUUAbpyOueisIEcqIw4hDON3SEPLbxCrMB/s1600/Deposuit1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Notice that the violins' threatening downward sweep terminates in a jagged upward interval (bar 2). The interval is a "tritone," so named because it spans three whole tones. In the middle ages the tritone was judged so discordant that it earned itself the nickname of "the devil's interval."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A second downward sweep by the violins follows immediately, this time terminating (bar 4) with the four upward notes of a diminished chord—familiar to us from the previous movement where Bach has used it to disperse and diminish the </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">superbos</span>.</i><span style="font-size: large;"> We might note that the diminished chord is comprised of two dissonant tritones superimposed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the space of four vehement bars Bach has cast down the proud from their triumphant D-major chord.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The violins conclude the instrumental introduction with an upward sweep (bar 14), like a dismissive gesture of the Almighty hand:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVTM18HKU1SXSAuIQbyZJxVn2TmKE0uf8JLoxoh98itmFht27spd2Zfx6F9jRpRrnu_BgC__2kBZLhld334ymd0U6sDl2CA6TtsqpdTzY_eqJ-K9h3rBu1gt5gyslhChCR8YwJfNQBVd4/s1600/Deposuit2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVTM18HKU1SXSAuIQbyZJxVn2TmKE0uf8JLoxoh98itmFht27spd2Zfx6F9jRpRrnu_BgC__2kBZLhld334ymd0U6sDl2CA6TtsqpdTzY_eqJ-K9h3rBu1gt5gyslhChCR8YwJfNQBVd4/s1600/Deposuit2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then, echoing the violins' opening pattern, the solo tenor introduces the text:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Deposuit potentes de sedes, et exaltavit humiles.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i>He hath cast down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After a downward plunge of <i>deposuit, </i>"he hath cast down," and a downward tumble of <i>de sedes, </i>"from their seats," the tenor paints <i>exaltavit, "</i>exalted," on a swirling and ever-ascending melisma climaxing on a high A (bar 27). The vocal line then descends gently on an A-major scale to <i>humiles</i> "the humble."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Following another upward-swirling <i>exaltavit</i> later in the movement (bars 43–47) the tenor again descends to <i>humiles</i>, this time with a surprise:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTre9lZGKwtSHW5C_qlaj4RhsCJilaGmaxiuV1_k_lQzDpqjaAuxl1a5k-SmOG7Edlyw3POiRY1Q2GcdqxXf-C8lGkGiwEv-awlc7UpGr5laadFiC1VLoxvgn11ucXxcuFgWTvpnogB-XK/s1600/Deposuit3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTre9lZGKwtSHW5C_qlaj4RhsCJilaGmaxiuV1_k_lQzDpqjaAuxl1a5k-SmOG7Edlyw3POiRY1Q2GcdqxXf-C8lGkGiwEv-awlc7UpGr5laadFiC1VLoxvgn11ucXxcuFgWTvpnogB-XK/s1600/Deposuit3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The cadence (1st beat of bar 48) is not the expected chord of A major but a genial modulation to D major. Thus Bach grants to the <i>humiles, </i>as their rightful due, the tonality that was fleetingly claimed by the <i>superbos</i> at the close of the preceding movement. Thereupon Bach slows his pace and paints humility's quality of patient endurance by having the tenor sustain the final syllable of <i>humiles</i> for three measures on a single note (bars 48–50).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The sustained note is an F-sharp, the resplendent trumpet's note that ended Movement 7 from which Bach hurled the <i>superbos</i>. But the sustained F-sharp of <i>humiles</i> is modest and unassuming, being two octaves lower than the trumpet's.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Above the tenor's sustained <i>humiles</i> the violins continue to recall the fall of the <i>superbos </i>with descending melodic lines. </span><span style="font-size: large;">After a final </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">exaltavit humiles</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> the opening instrumental motifs return to bring the movement to a close.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Thus in Movements 7 and 8 Bach has dispersed, diminished, and deposed the conceited. In Movement 9 he will depict the humble<i>.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Concluded in <a href="http://albertblackwell.blogspot.com/2015/01/word-painting-in-bachs-magnificat-part_99.html">Part 3</a> of this posting)</span><br />
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*****</div>
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Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101055284292032735.post-84185460291818020572014-06-11T10:25:00.000-04:002020-04-29T10:49:09.582-04:00 Reflections on Dying: A Brief Anthology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b>Note to family and friends:</b></i></div>
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<i>This collection is not occasioned by any change in my life's circumstances.</i></div>
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<i>I feel in robust health.</i></div>
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<i>Albert</i></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOre2AXjAHZUyj1ofm4u2H5pFwIY5tAc8RjUXkYgAZiSlcAkhGZXeR4BuULlhqjHwYfvRVr_ZbzuhHotd1irZ5pbqcc-B4JQysGK9DXr9JM2CLoLcqi8uGU_6r2LLXq6NmMGegzZw6O4Sd/s1600/589px-Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOre2AXjAHZUyj1ofm4u2H5pFwIY5tAc8RjUXkYgAZiSlcAkhGZXeR4BuULlhqjHwYfvRVr_ZbzuhHotd1irZ5pbqcc-B4JQysGK9DXr9JM2CLoLcqi8uGU_6r2LLXq6NmMGegzZw6O4Sd/s1600/589px-Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
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Comet Hale-Bopp</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am like a slip of comet,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Scarce worth discovery, in some corner seen</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bridging the slender difference of two stars,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Come out of space, or suddenly engender'd</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By heady elements, for no man knows:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But when she sights the sun she grows and sizes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And spins her skirts out, while her central star</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Shakes its cocooning mists; and so she comes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To fields of light; millions of traveling rays</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pierce her; she hangs upon the flame-cased sun,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And sucks the light as full as Gideon's fleece:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But then her tether calls her; she falls off,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And as she dwindles shreds her smock of gold</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amidst the sistering planets, till she comes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To single Saturn, last and solitary;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then goes out into the cavernous dark.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I go out: my little sweet is done:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have drawn heat from this contagious sun;</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To not ungentle death now forth I run.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Gerard Manley Hopkins, <i>I Am Like a Slip of Comet</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Or knock the breast; no weakness, no contempt,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dispraise, or blame; nothing but well and fair,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And what may quiet us....</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (John Milton, from <i>Samson Agonistes</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Do not for ever with thy vailed lids</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Seek for thy noble father in the dust.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thou know'st 't is common; all that lives must die,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Passing through nature to eternity.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (William Shakespeare, <i>Hamlet </i>1.2.70–75)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Death is completion, fulfillment, consummation, returning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , serif;">The mere cessation of existence is no evil to any one: the idea is only formidable through the illusion of imagination which makes one conceive oneself as if one were alive and feeling oneself dead. What is odious in death is not death itself, but the act of dying, and its lugubrious accompaniments: all of which must be equally undergone by the believer in immortality. Nor can I perceive that the skeptic loses by his skepticism any real and valuable consolation except one: the hope of reunion with those dear to him who have ended their earthly life before him. That loss, indeed, is neither to be denied nor extenuated. In many cases it is beyond the reach of comparison or estimate, and will always suffice to keep alive, in the more sensitive natures, the imaginative hope of a futurity which, if there is nothing to prove, there is as little in our knowledge and experience to contradict.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , serif; font-size: large;"> (John Stuart Mill, <i>The Utility of Religion</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">O God, you are my God,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I seek you,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> my soul thirsts for you;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">my flesh faints for you,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> as in a dry and weary land</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> where there is no water.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> beholding your power and glory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Because your steadfast love is better than life</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> my lips will praise you.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So I will bless you as long as I live;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I will lift up my hands and call on your name.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and my mouth praises you with joyful lips</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">when I think of you on my bed,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and meditate on you in the watches of the night;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">for you have been my help,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My soul clings to you;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> your right hand upholds me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Psalm 63:1–7)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-size: large;">I am quite clear that the time had come when it was better for me to die and be released from my distractions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Plato, <i>Apology</i>, quoting Socrates)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Pass to thy Rendezvous of Light,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pangless except for us —</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Who slowly ford the Mystery</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Which thou hast leaped across!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Emily Dickinson)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The earth was warm under me, and warm as I crumbled it through my fingers.... I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Willa Cather, <i>My Antonia</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">O God, support us all the day long of this troublous life,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and our work done.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and peace at the last. Amen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (John Henry Newman)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Death gathers us and sows us anew.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (George Eliot, <i>Daniel Deronda</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">...Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Jan Struther, <i>Songs of Praise</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Feel free to miss me; I hope you do.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But none need grieve for my dying.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Well, really, Crito, it would strike an odd chord for a man of my age to resent having to face death.... The really important thing is not to live, but to live well.... And is it still agreed or not that to live well amounts to the same thing as to live honorably and justly?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Plato, <i>Crito</i>, quoting Socrates)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">My 80s will be my final Final</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and then I graduate from Time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Think of me, when I'm gone, with love and cheerfulness.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Alexander von Humboldt) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I do not fear death. I had been dead</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">for billions and billions of years before I was born,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Mark Twain)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and no torment will ever touch them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and their going forth from us to be their destruction;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">but they are at peace.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1–3)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Lord, teach me so to number my days,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> that I may apply my heart to wisdom.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Psalm 39:4, translated by Thomas Ken)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Those who are worthy of Life are of Miracle, for life is Miracle, and Death as harmless as a Bee except to those who run.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Emily Dickinson, letter to Susan Dickinson)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I conclude my letter with a prayer for my dearest Father's benediction and preservation..., reverencing his virtues, admiring his attainments, and ardently desiring that health, peace of mind, and fulness of merited honors may crown his length of days, and prolong them to the utmost verge of enjoyable mortality.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Frances Burney, <i>The Wanderer</i>, dedication "To Dr. Burney")</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br />~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</i></span><i><span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I suppose it is not unreasonable to say that we must not put an end to ourselves until God sends some necessary circumstance like the one which we are facing now.... Those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death.... I should only make myself ridiculous in my own eyes if I clung to life and hugged it when it has no more to offer.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Plato, <i>Phaedo</i>, quoting Socrates)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">when god lets my body be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">From each brave eye shall sprout a tree</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">fruit that dangles therefrom</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">the purpled world will dance upon</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Between my lips which did sing</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">a rose shall beget the spring</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">that maidens whom passion wastes</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">will lay between their little breasts</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My strong fingers beneath the snow</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">into strenuous birds shall go</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">my love walking in the grass</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">their wings will touch with her face</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and all the while shall my heart be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">With the bulge and nuzzle of the sea</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"> (E. E. Cummings)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Looks like I'm going to make it all the way from dust to dust.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Death is nature's way of slowing us down.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Quiet consummation have;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And renownèd be thy grave!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (William Shakespeare, <i>Cymbeline </i>4.2.2679–80)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"There shall be time no longer," the angel of Revelation said. Time is no longer. Is that not what death is.... For since the world is known to us only through our experience of it, does its existence not, in some crucial way, come to an end when we do? And is not heaven, then, merely the fact of non-existence? The loss of the fear of loss, which haunts and casts its shadow over so much of human life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Salley Vickers, <i>The Cleaner of Chartres)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I'm thinking that I may be ready for a little <i>requiem aeternum</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since Nature's works be good, and death doth serve</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As Nature's work, why should we fear to die?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Since fear is vain but when it may preserve,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Why should we fear that which we cannot fly?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Fear is more pain than is the pain it fears,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Disarming human minds of native might;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While each conceit an ugly figure bears</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Which were not evil, well viewed in reason's light.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Our owly eyes, which dimmed with passions be,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And scarce discern the dawn of coming day,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Let them be cleared, and begin to see</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Our life is but a step in dusty way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then let us hold the bliss of peaceful mind;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Since this we feel, great loss we cannot find.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Philip Sidney, <i>Since Nature's Works Be Good</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A train went through a burial gate,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A bird broke forth and sang,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And trilled, and quivered, and shook his throat</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Till all the churchyard rang;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">And then adjusted his little notes,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And bowed and sang again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Doubtless, he thought it meet of him</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To say good-by to men.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Emily Dickinson)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I love living,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and dying is part of living.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Where death is, I am not.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Where I am, death is not.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Therefore death does not concern me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Attributed to Epictetus)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">To die will be an awfully big adventure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Peter, in J. M. Barrie, <i>Peter Pan</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I want death to find me planting my cabbages, but careless of death, and still more of my unfinished garden.... Go out of this world as you entered it. The same passage that you made from death to life, without feeling or fright, make it again from life to death. Your death is part of the order of the universe; it is part of the life of the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Michel de Montaigne, <i>Essays</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">With death our past becomes our life,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and our life becomes eternal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Anonymous)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Oliver Sacks, <i>My Own Life</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dear Cousins,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Called back.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Emily</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Emily Dickinson's final letter)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To set as sets the morning star, which goes</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not down behind the darken'd west, nor hides</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Obscured among the tempests of the sky,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But melts away into the light of heaven.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Thomas Hardy, <i>A Pair of Blue Eyes</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">So, fellows, we shall reach the gusty gate,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Early or late,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And part without remorse,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A cadence dying down unto its source</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In music's course....</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Always the flawless beauty, always the chord</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Of the Overword,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dominant, pleading, sure,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No truth too small to save and make endure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No good too poor!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And since no mortal can at last disdain</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That sweet refrain,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But lets go strife and care,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Borne like a strain of bird notes on the air,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The wind knows where;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some quiet April evening soft and strange,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When comes the change</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No spirit can deplore,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I shall be one with all I was before,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In death once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> (Bliss Carman, from <i>Behind the Arras</i>)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uW6uDKrSaxlnAvAY9lMYgZU2X9IdEck_SmdZi48Vrk02Yy_6fl35S9_4Q0f4ugooWxprKxyTDIoIiAuZwS20vl9sEz_Mo-OQ_ofVBAlB66_UCSO0GQliC7svy9DAamq0bFSRMOg94_mK/s1600/The+Waterfall+Nebula.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uW6uDKrSaxlnAvAY9lMYgZU2X9IdEck_SmdZi48Vrk02Yy_6fl35S9_4Q0f4ugooWxprKxyTDIoIiAuZwS20vl9sEz_Mo-OQ_ofVBAlB66_UCSO0GQliC7svy9DAamq0bFSRMOg94_mK/s1600/The+Waterfall+Nebula.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Nebula HH-222</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*****</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Albert L. Blackwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781424744346861403noreply@blogger.com0