Please Listen to Me, by Ember

'My faith has nothing to fear from my scholarship', de Vaux once stated to Edmund Wilson. No doubt it didn't, but that was never in fact the real question. The real question was whether his scholarship, and its reliability, had anything to fear from his faith.

OK, so I purposefully left out the origin and author of that quote up there. Why would I do that? Well, I didn't want anyone to be prejudiced by the title of the book or the author when he/she reads it. Just read  it. What does it mean to you? Do you agree? Do you disagree? If you found out that someone you liked and agreed with wrote it, would you like it more? If not, would you like it less? And why?

Why do we sometimes feel the need to disagree with or malign everything that a person says without any objectivity, just because we disagree with certain things, or even most of what that person says or does? Should we reject truth when we see it because we judge the source as being bad? And is truth always something that feels good to us, or might we be calling certain truth evil just because it feels uncomfortable for us to hear it?  

Take this example, for instance. Should I get mad at my husband if I ask him how a certain dress looks on me, and he says that it looks really bad? It does matter how he says it, and the condition of our relationship, but let's say we have a pretty good relationship. Some people would get mad regardless, so their husband would have to lie in order to keep the "peace". Maybe some people want to live like that, not knowing what other people are REALLY thinking. Maybe they would rather want to hear pleasant lies, but I don't. I do think there are better and worse ways of dealing with situations where sensitivity may be involved.  But good or bad, the truth is more important. What if you and your husband have opened up good lines of communication with each other over the years and when he says, "No, that dress looks awful on you." You laugh and say, "I think I'll get rid of it." Or, what if he knows that you are sensitive about it, so he clarifies and says, "Hun, you are so beautiful, but that dress is not a good style for you. That one that is [color] and [style] looks really good on you." Or, if someone is really just a big jerk, and is trying to be mean, wouldn't you rather know it, than be constantly living a big lie? We can build up good relationships with good people by being honest and loving. Who cares about the other ones?

Also, if I judge what someone says as being bad without acknowledging any truth that it may contain, then how are we ever going to progress? This is not very helpful, "It's black,"  "No, sir, it is white, you are stupid,"  "You're stupid, it's obviously black!" "I'm trying to be civil with you, it's white (what a moron),"  "But can't you see it is black (pompous ass)."

But maybe some people prefer darkness, "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light because their deeds were evil."  (Jn 3:19)

Maybe someone wants to know where and from whom that quote up there came from? But if you do, just make sure you also ask yourself, "Why" and "What do I plan on doing with the information?" If you do want to know, I'll write it in the comments, but you have to say please.

Evolution, by Leaven

Lately I've been reflecting on what it means for me to evolve - not in the Darwinian sense of apes to homo sapiens, but in the sense of growth in personhood.

In my experience, the pattern of this growth seems to be a circular spiral, rather than linear. Some of the layers of this spiral seem to be clear, transparent, light-filled. When I am in one of these layers, I am aware of new insights, new snatches of wisdom. Then I journey onward to a new layer in the spiral, perhaps a new depth of consciousness, a layer that is dark and opaque. The things I thought I knew and understood before are now no longer clear. But the seeds of growth continue to gestate in this darkness. When I emerge to the next transparent layer, I see again from a deeper and wiser perspective than before. And so the journey continues . . .

This evolution reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from T. S. Eliot's poem, "Little Gidding":

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling, we shall not cease from exploration.

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.

Justice or Mercy? by Ember

Well, I've been spending a little time staying up late into the night exploring the darkness the last few days. It is the time of year to see a lot of interesting things at night. It's always a relief when morning comes on each new day... but we do learn so much at night. I really love the Day that God has made for us. It is not made up of day only, rather it is made up of, day, night, day; one day, and it was good!

You find out amazing things about God at night. I've been thinking it's like an eclipse. An eclipse isn't bad, right? But it would be if the sun never came back, as was the fear of the proverbial native. We like lots of day, but when we get an eclipse every once in a while it is really cool!

Did you know that during an eclipse we learn something about the sun that we would never know if not for the eclipse; if not for the fact that the moon is in the exact position that it is, that it is the exact size that it is, that it is the exact distance from the sun that it is? During a complete solar eclipse is the only time we are able to view the sun's corona. Scientists get really excited about this and they could tell you a lot about all the amazing stuff they learn from this phenomenon.  Well, this reminds me about how I learn special things about God in the darkness.  .  . maybe even about God's crown, hum.

Anyway, this is what I was thinking about today as a result -- Choice. We have choice because we have free will. However, the choice is not really between good and evil. Even though there is, in a sense, good and evil, to us good and evil appear to be a certain way because of our limited perspective. To God everything appears differently because he is all knowing and outside of time and space.

The choice for us is between justice and mercy. Because, in the end, we do not instruct God about what is good and evil. He instructs us. Regardless of what you think or deem to be good or evil.  It does not matter in the end, right? You will be forced by the consequences to accept the will of God, if there is a God, right? So if God says, "White is black, black is white." You say, "Yes, boss!"  Right?

It doesn't matter if you say, "I know God is good and I choose the good." What is THE good? If you are standing there at the end and God says, "This thing that you thought was good, you know that? Well, that was, in fact, not good. This thing that you call evil, you know what I am talking about? Well, I call it good." 

What will your choice be then? Justice or mercy?