Today I discovered the old Hasidic saying that each of us should carry around two pieces of paper, one in each pocket. One piece of paper says "I am but dust and ashes": this is what I read when I'm feeling proud and self-important. But when I'm feeling worthless or ashamed, I read the other piece of paper, which says: "For me the world was created."
(With thanks to http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2010/10/giveaway-butterflyfish-great-and-small.html)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
An introspective string of words (Not again!)
Like a patient I come to you
Like a doctor you diagnose me
Introvert? Extrovert?
Intuitive, A Feeler
Likes to keep her options open
Must be a Perceiver.
Ahh yes...
You've worked me out now.
Placed ticks in boxes
Chalked up the score
Pin me up
Like a recipe, a list
A judgment pre-made.
But these letters, these percentages
This definition of me
What do they know of ...
Cool linoneum on hot dusty feet
The lifting of heart
When seeing a kite
straining against the wind
The blood sizzling in the brain
At an idea
winding its way through airless tunnels
straining for words
the breath of life
The jump in the pit of the stomach
Upon sighting a small bird at one's feet
Fearless
What does they know of ...
Weeping that doesn't stop
with the coming of dawn?
Does it remember the barely audible roar
Like a beast in pain
The quaking within
What can you do with this humanly beast
Does it know of the waiting
Waiting for the remaking
Grant me death
So that in the drowning of life
A new creature might begin
There will come a time
When this brokenness will no longer contain
When the sunlight shall stream through my veins
I will not be contained
I will hold on
I will wait
Like a doctor you diagnose me
Introvert? Extrovert?
Intuitive, A Feeler
Likes to keep her options open
Must be a Perceiver.
Ahh yes...
You've worked me out now.
Placed ticks in boxes
Chalked up the score
Pin me up
Like a recipe, a list
A judgment pre-made.
But these letters, these percentages
This definition of me
What do they know of ...
Cool linoneum on hot dusty feet
The lifting of heart
When seeing a kite
straining against the wind
The blood sizzling in the brain
At an idea
winding its way through airless tunnels
straining for words
the breath of life
The jump in the pit of the stomach
Upon sighting a small bird at one's feet
Fearless
What does they know of ...
Weeping that doesn't stop
with the coming of dawn?
Does it remember the barely audible roar
Like a beast in pain
The quaking within
What can you do with this humanly beast
Does it know of the waiting
Waiting for the remaking
Grant me death
So that in the drowning of life
A new creature might begin
There will come a time
When this brokenness will no longer contain
When the sunlight shall stream through my veins
I will not be contained
I will hold on
I will wait
My favourite blog of 2010
Alright. I've been keeping this hidden from you - yes, all of you, numbering four, who subscribe this silent simulacrum of a blog...
But I think I'd better share. (And, in fact, I have emailed posts to one of you already.)
My friend Arthur linked me to an article from this blog http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/and I've been hooked since. It's a veritable treasure-trove of all my favourite things: theology, German writers, fiction, writing, philosophy, literature ...
I don't agree with everything, but the writing is so seductive and pungent that I am often tempted to agree with it, just to have the joy of form and content cohering into one perfect happiness.
But disagreements make one think harder, and it's a pleasant business.
Check out the series of 3 gelato stories, and generally the entries in "August 2010", which includes some poignant reflections on writing from Flannery O'Connor, Rowan Williams, and my favourite, the moving entry "On Theology and Friendship."
But I think I'd better share. (And, in fact, I have emailed posts to one of you already.)
My friend Arthur linked me to an article from this blog http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/and I've been hooked since. It's a veritable treasure-trove of all my favourite things: theology, German writers, fiction, writing, philosophy, literature ...
I don't agree with everything, but the writing is so seductive and pungent that I am often tempted to agree with it, just to have the joy of form and content cohering into one perfect happiness.
But disagreements make one think harder, and it's a pleasant business.
Check out the series of 3 gelato stories, and generally the entries in "August 2010", which includes some poignant reflections on writing from Flannery O'Connor, Rowan Williams, and my favourite, the moving entry "On Theology and Friendship."
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