{mostly on fiction, poetry, spirituality, biblical studies and theology}
‘Taking up the cross’ in costly discipleship means a willingness to struggle against evil, for the sake of fullness of life, for the ‘bringing back of beauty’. It does not mean the passive acceptance of imposed suffering. Rather it means resistance to any pain or violence unjustly inflicted and an affirmation of abundant life for all. It means prioritizing love and justice inseparably intertwined.
Mary Grey, To Rwanda and Back: Liberation, Spirituality and Reconciliation
Some random thoughts from Mark Haddon’s The Red House. They spoke to me for a variety of reasons, I suppose.
The beauty kept slipping through her fingers. The world was so far away and the mind kept saying, Me, me, me. … But the valley … wasn’t this amazing? Look, you had to say to yourself, Look.
A failure to engage properly with the world. … Nothing mattered enough.
He occupies, still, a little circle of attention, no more than eight metres in diameter at most. If stuff happens beyond this perimeter he simply doesn’t notice unless it involves explosions or his name being yelled angrily. At home, in school, on the streets between and around the two, the world is constantly catching him by surprise, teachers, older boys, drunk people on the street all suddenly appearing in front of him so that his most-used facial expression is one of puzzled shock.
He had always seen his self-sufficiency as an admirable quality, a way of not imposing upon other people, but he could see now that it was an insult to those close to you.
It was the story that mattered, the story that held you together …. Saying, This happened … Then that happened … Saying This is me. But what is her story? Losing the plot. The deep truths hidden in the throw-away phrase.
Time for some more of Rumi’s poetry, again in the translation of Coleman Barks, from Bridge to the Soul: Journeys into the Music and Silence of the Heart.
I am sure I have said this before, but Rumi has been an amazing discovery for me. There is profound spiritual insight in the words of this Sufi master, and there is so much here that speaks to me at such a deep level. Some of it puts into words my own recent journey in ways that I could never have managed myself. Other parts express some of my deepest hopes and longings. And then there are many wonderful insights about God, love, friendship etc.
If only more people would read Rumi’s poetry. It would open their eyes to quite a different side of Islam. But then, he apparently is the most widely read poet in America today. There is still hope then …
We must die to become true human beings.
From gardens to the gardener,
from grieving to a wedding feast.We tremble like leaves about to let go.
There is no avoiding pain,
or feeling exiled, or the taste of dust.
I can truly relate to those reflections on dying, grieving, letting go, experiencing pain and the taste of dust.
When someone feels jealous,
I am inside the hurt and the need to possess.When anyone is sick,
I feel feverish and dizzy.
This I find comforting: that God is inside the hurt of those who need to possess others. And that he is inside our sickness.
For the grace of the presence, be grateful.
…
Imagination cannot contain the absolute.
These poems are elusive
because the presence is.
‘Imagination cannot contain the absolute’. Quite. No point to even try!
No more holding back. Be reckless.
Tell your love to everybody.…
Stand up. The prostrating
part of prayer is over.…
the beloved is absence
as well as this fullness.
I love that attitude to praying and loving God.
Be a helpful friend,
and you will become a green tree
with always new fruit,
always deeper journeys into love.
Worth aspiring to …
Learned theologians do not teach love.
Love is nothing but gladness and kindness.…
When you see a scowling face,
it is not a lover’s.
Rumi really does understand true love.
Lovers find secret places
inside this violent world
where they make transactions
with beauty.Reason says, Nonsense.
I have walked and measured the walls here.
There are no places like that.Love says, There are.
…
Lovers feel a truth inside themselves
that rational people keep denying.
This is just brilliant stuff, so true and so well expressed. Secret places in a violent world where you make transactions with beauty – that’s truly wonderful and how I wish to live.
Alles ist anders. Alles ist neu. Alles ist schön.
(Everything is different. Everything is new. Everything is beautiful.)
This quote is ascribed to Le Corbusier in Peter Stamm, Sieben Jahre. I have no idea in what kind of context Le Corbusier might have said this, but it is a pretty good description of the effects of spiritual transformation.
My last post in this series was about the imagery of the Song of Songs. And so is this one, because, having commented on its strangeness, I must say something about its dazzling beauty as well. Or perhaps illustrate it with some further examples:
O that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,
for your lovemaking is better than wine.
You are so beautiful, my love.
You are so beautiful.
Your eyes are doves.
Like an apricot among the trees of the forest,
so is my lover among the young men.
In that shade I always delight to sit;
the fruit is sweet to my palate.
…
Prop me up among blossoms,
spread me out among apricots,
for I’m sick with love.
His left hand is under my head,
his right hand embraces me.
My lover is mine and I am his.
He feeds among the lotuses.
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, be like a gazelle, my lover,
or like a young stag on the cleft mountains.
You’ve stolen my heart, my sister, my bride.
You’ve stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,
…
How beautiful is your lovemaking,
my sister, my bride!
How much better is your lovemaking than wine,
…
Your lips drip honey, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue …
You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as the stars.
Turn your eyes away from me,
for they make me tremble.
Come, my lover,
let’s go out into the countryside,
let’s spend the night among the henna shrubs.
Let’s go early to the vineyards
to see if the vine has blossomed,
if their blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I’ll give you my love.
The mandrakes give off their fragrance;
at our doors are all kinds of delicious fruits,
new as well as old,
which I’ve stored up for you, my lover.
I delight in the fact that the Old Testament features a whole book of love poetry, one of the many reasons why it deserves far more attention than it usually gets these days. I do realise, of course, that these extracts contain some further examples of imagery that may not be entirely intelligible for those unaccustomed to the Song of Songs’ ancient language, but I hope that they nonetheless illustrate its supreme beauty. The translation, still a work in progress, is, as always, my own.
So, my fourth reason for reading the Song of Songs is its beautiful poetry and imagery.
ypography, another fascination of mine. Although it is one that I have been paying far too little attention to in recent years. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps I have been too preoccupied with work. Beauty is important though because it lifts the spirit. It really ought not to be neglected. Having begun to realise that I have been quite wrong to do so, I am all the more determined to make time for the contemplation and pursuit of beauty.
One thing that I truly delight in is beautiful lettering and typography, and so I was very excited when I discovered Jessica Hische’s beautiful site Daily Drop Cap, which features a plethora of illustrative initial caps that can be reproduced free of charge on non-commercial sites. I shall make good use of them on ‘Brief thoughts & quotes’ from now on.
By the way, I came across Jessica’s site on Nonsuch Book, a bibliophile blog that also alerted me to the fact that Jessica has been involved in the design of Penguin’s beautiful Drop Caps series, an example of which is shown below.
What can I say? The heart sings when it sees a book like this!
Love for beauty; care for the material life that gives pleasure and joy; appreciation for the numinous world, revealed by the Spirit in life; and embrace of the eros that empowers human beings as social creatures to seek others – these are spiritual powers that deliver salvation.
We reenter this world as sacred space when we love life fiercely, and, in the name of love, protect the goodness of our intricate web of life in all its manifold forms. We recommit ourselves to this world as holy ground when we remember the fullness of life that is possible through our communities, our life-affirming rituals, and our love of beauty, of truth, of goodness.
Rita Nakashima Brock, ‘Paradise and Desire: Deconstructing the Eros of Suffering’, in F. LeRon Shults and Jan-Olav Henriksen (eds), Saving Desire: The Seduction of Christian Theology
Brief thoughts & quotes … 