Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The image is one thing and the human being is another.
It's very hard to live up to an image, put it that way.
- Elvis Presley, born on this day, 1935
Well, Elvis hits it right on the head, yes? I’m sure he was just thinking of himself – what he had to deal with in terms of being Elvis, and what his fans expected him to be. At some level or other, every one of us has to confront this issue. Who are we. Are we being ourselves, or are we letting others “tell us” who they want us to be. How much time do we spend trying to meet others’ expectations?
Christianity, along with other religions, really ups the ante! We are called to be Christlike! Now, if that doesn’t make you feel stressed, nothing will.
But let’s think about this. We seem to think that being Christlike means we have to be exactly like Jesus, behave exactly as He did, love exactly as He did. I don’t think so. There isn’t only one image or definition of “Christlike”. And it doesn’t mean that to be Christlike we can’t be ourselves, the unique self that God made each of us. What it does mean – to me anyway – is that we become “as Christ” in our own unique and individual way. Jesus’ great love may have led Him to a death on Calvary, led him to the Cross - but each of us will have our own “Calvary” and our own “Cross” on the path to becoming a loving human being.
An imposed “image” is false. An “image” discovered in the mystery of finding our unique Self , and embraced, is more what I think God had in mind.
Elvis – and it happens to many – got lost in the expectations of others. Let’s not go there.
Brian+
Monday, January 7, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Brian’s Reflection: Monday, January 7, 2008
From somewhere in the skies above us come, from time to time,
flaming discs and weird phenomena. What are they? Whence
have they come?
- Voiceover for “Buck Rogers” radio show (1939); the comic
book series started on this day, 1929
Zowie! I remember Buck Rogers. He had been going 17 years before I was born! I think I remember listening to the radio program at night in bed. Could that be right? Would they have had it on so we little kids going to bed could listen? I seem to remember “The Shadow” at that time too.
I am a complete devotee of “science fiction”. I have all the Star Wars DVD’s, and I watch reruns of Star Trek (in any version) whenever I can. I like thinking about what the future can possibly bring. In this sense sci-fi is like Scripture. They both hold out enticing possibilities for us humans. Most sci-fi is hopeful – it is optimistic that we can grow and develop in positive ways. The humans in Star Trek have “done away” with religion (presumable because religion proved basically negative - a warning we need to hear!), but they always explored various aspects of religion in intelligent ways when met in other species.
“Flaming discs and weird phenomena”. We humans are fascinated! A huge numbers of people believe in ET’s, in flying saucers, in aliens. I don’t believe in any of them. But I do believe that we human beings want to become fully and gloriously human. “God” is a path to that becoming. What amazes me is that so many humans cling to gods who offer the opposite.
Give it up! Buck Rogers was a decent guy, fighting for fairness and justice against the forces of evil. We could do worse than emulate him!
Brian+
From somewhere in the skies above us come, from time to time,
flaming discs and weird phenomena. What are they? Whence
have they come?
- Voiceover for “Buck Rogers” radio show (1939); the comic
book series started on this day, 1929
Zowie! I remember Buck Rogers. He had been going 17 years before I was born! I think I remember listening to the radio program at night in bed. Could that be right? Would they have had it on so we little kids going to bed could listen? I seem to remember “The Shadow” at that time too.
I am a complete devotee of “science fiction”. I have all the Star Wars DVD’s, and I watch reruns of Star Trek (in any version) whenever I can. I like thinking about what the future can possibly bring. In this sense sci-fi is like Scripture. They both hold out enticing possibilities for us humans. Most sci-fi is hopeful – it is optimistic that we can grow and develop in positive ways. The humans in Star Trek have “done away” with religion (presumable because religion proved basically negative - a warning we need to hear!), but they always explored various aspects of religion in intelligent ways when met in other species.
“Flaming discs and weird phenomena”. We humans are fascinated! A huge numbers of people believe in ET’s, in flying saucers, in aliens. I don’t believe in any of them. But I do believe that we human beings want to become fully and gloriously human. “God” is a path to that becoming. What amazes me is that so many humans cling to gods who offer the opposite.
Give it up! Buck Rogers was a decent guy, fighting for fairness and justice against the forces of evil. We could do worse than emulate him!
Brian+
Sermon for: January 6, 2008 [Epiphany]
[Is 60:1-6][Ps 72:1-7,10-14][Eph 3:1-12][Matt 2:1-12]
Brian McHugh, priest
Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. These are the three gifts that the Magi brought to the young Jesus. They are believed to have been Medean priest-politicians from Parthia or Persia. Jesus was probably somewhere around one year old at the time. They stopped to ask the soon-to-be-dead King Herod, a non-Jew who had bought the office of king from the Romans, where the true “King of the Jews” might be found. I confess to an utter cynicism about anything politicians say, so it does not surprise me that Herod lies to them and uses them to try and ferret out what might be a threat to his power. And while there is no non-Scriptural corroboration, Herod’s reputation for ruthlessness might indeed have led him to the mass murder of children born in the timeframe the Magi indicate. Genocide on various levels is not a new thing. We are acutely aware in our contemporary World what horrors people in power will do to keep it.
Why does Matthew’s Gospel alone include this story, for which there is no parallel historical evidence? I side with those scholars who say that the Matthew version of the Gospel is keen to show that the birth of Jesus is not just of concern to the Jews, but for the whole World. The Magi were non-Jews, and so represent the larger World for Matthew. And St. Paul, in his words to the church in Ephesus, says that through him and through the Mystery of Christ revealed to him, “the Gentiles – more non-Jews - have become “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers of the promise of Christ Jesus”.[1]
Whatever else the Magi came seeking, I deduce by the gifts they brought that they were both seeking and expecting someone unusual. They bring Gold as if to a king. They bring Frankincense as if to a great priest. They bring Myrrh, used in the embalming process of important persons. Yet they bring all these to a child born in a makeshift barn to poor Jewish peasants. Costly gifts to a man who would later be arrested and crucified after a year of two as an itinerant practically homeless preacher. A man who in no worldly sense was anything kingly, anything of importance in the religious establishment, or anything worth the costly process of embalming. What are we to make of all this?
Yes, of course – Matthew’s message of a Divine Saviour for the whole World, revealed in the child Jesus, is deeply important. That’s easy to see. In my view, there isn’t a human being who at some time in her life doesn’t sense the need for a power to get us through Life’s challenges or to confront the power of evil. St. Paul’s famous cry of “The things I don’t want to do I find myself doing; Who will save me?” rings in our ears. The Persian Magi, the bright light or star in the sky, the splendor of the gifts, even the contrast between Herod and Jesus as a leader deserving our loyalty, all help to emphasize the importance of this child.
But I believe that the Magi, appropriately known as the “Wise” Men, have an equally important message for every human person, and particularly for those of us who have answered the call to follow Jesus and proclaim His Gospel.
The story of the Incarnation of Jesus the Son of God to a human mother by the power of the divine Holy Spirit is what I call a “truth story”. In this case, a truth-story about us. It points to the truth that what makes us human is the indwelling of God. That every human being, as the second story of Creation[2] teaches us, is composed of the "dust of the earth" and of the divine breath of God. Jesus Himself made this clear when He appeared in the Upper Room to His disciples. He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit’. In doing this, He confirmed that we are fully human only when flesh and divine spirit become one. This is why the heart of our worship is the Eucharist, where we are given spiritual food and drink, Christ’s Body and Blood, the “true Bread which came down from Heaven”, food of the spirit to give life to the body.
Gold indicates Royalty, and Royalty reflects the majesty of all of us as human being - which is why kings and queens are called “Your Majesty”. Frankincense indicates Priesthood, even diety, which Scripture tells us we all share through the High Priesthood of Christ, and priesthood points to the intimate bond between flesh and spirit, between us and our Creator. Myrrh indicates preservation at death, and preservation points to the Mystery of Resurrection, of unending life in God.
The story of the Magi is also a “truth story”, seen in Nativity scenes and the Three Kings on Epiphany. It is to remind us that humanity needs to seek and know the compassionate God at the heart of us all. To remind us that we, like the Magi, are to honour the Christ of God who dwells in every human being; to honour the majesty and the godly nature of men and women - ourselves, each other, and all we meet.
Like the over-1000 mile journey of the Magi, becoming fully human is a challenge, often fraught with various Herods. But if we accept the journey of seeking the God Who breathes Life into us and makes us human, we join Mary and the Magi in showing the World where true Life and salvation are to be found – in the God of Love who makes a home with us.
[1] Eph 3
[2] Gen 2
[Is 60:1-6][Ps 72:1-7,10-14][Eph 3:1-12][Matt 2:1-12]
Brian McHugh, priest
Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. These are the three gifts that the Magi brought to the young Jesus. They are believed to have been Medean priest-politicians from Parthia or Persia. Jesus was probably somewhere around one year old at the time. They stopped to ask the soon-to-be-dead King Herod, a non-Jew who had bought the office of king from the Romans, where the true “King of the Jews” might be found. I confess to an utter cynicism about anything politicians say, so it does not surprise me that Herod lies to them and uses them to try and ferret out what might be a threat to his power. And while there is no non-Scriptural corroboration, Herod’s reputation for ruthlessness might indeed have led him to the mass murder of children born in the timeframe the Magi indicate. Genocide on various levels is not a new thing. We are acutely aware in our contemporary World what horrors people in power will do to keep it.
Why does Matthew’s Gospel alone include this story, for which there is no parallel historical evidence? I side with those scholars who say that the Matthew version of the Gospel is keen to show that the birth of Jesus is not just of concern to the Jews, but for the whole World. The Magi were non-Jews, and so represent the larger World for Matthew. And St. Paul, in his words to the church in Ephesus, says that through him and through the Mystery of Christ revealed to him, “the Gentiles – more non-Jews - have become “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers of the promise of Christ Jesus”.[1]
Whatever else the Magi came seeking, I deduce by the gifts they brought that they were both seeking and expecting someone unusual. They bring Gold as if to a king. They bring Frankincense as if to a great priest. They bring Myrrh, used in the embalming process of important persons. Yet they bring all these to a child born in a makeshift barn to poor Jewish peasants. Costly gifts to a man who would later be arrested and crucified after a year of two as an itinerant practically homeless preacher. A man who in no worldly sense was anything kingly, anything of importance in the religious establishment, or anything worth the costly process of embalming. What are we to make of all this?
Yes, of course – Matthew’s message of a Divine Saviour for the whole World, revealed in the child Jesus, is deeply important. That’s easy to see. In my view, there isn’t a human being who at some time in her life doesn’t sense the need for a power to get us through Life’s challenges or to confront the power of evil. St. Paul’s famous cry of “The things I don’t want to do I find myself doing; Who will save me?” rings in our ears. The Persian Magi, the bright light or star in the sky, the splendor of the gifts, even the contrast between Herod and Jesus as a leader deserving our loyalty, all help to emphasize the importance of this child.
But I believe that the Magi, appropriately known as the “Wise” Men, have an equally important message for every human person, and particularly for those of us who have answered the call to follow Jesus and proclaim His Gospel.
The story of the Incarnation of Jesus the Son of God to a human mother by the power of the divine Holy Spirit is what I call a “truth story”. In this case, a truth-story about us. It points to the truth that what makes us human is the indwelling of God. That every human being, as the second story of Creation[2] teaches us, is composed of the "dust of the earth" and of the divine breath of God. Jesus Himself made this clear when He appeared in the Upper Room to His disciples. He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit’. In doing this, He confirmed that we are fully human only when flesh and divine spirit become one. This is why the heart of our worship is the Eucharist, where we are given spiritual food and drink, Christ’s Body and Blood, the “true Bread which came down from Heaven”, food of the spirit to give life to the body.
Gold indicates Royalty, and Royalty reflects the majesty of all of us as human being - which is why kings and queens are called “Your Majesty”. Frankincense indicates Priesthood, even diety, which Scripture tells us we all share through the High Priesthood of Christ, and priesthood points to the intimate bond between flesh and spirit, between us and our Creator. Myrrh indicates preservation at death, and preservation points to the Mystery of Resurrection, of unending life in God.
The story of the Magi is also a “truth story”, seen in Nativity scenes and the Three Kings on Epiphany. It is to remind us that humanity needs to seek and know the compassionate God at the heart of us all. To remind us that we, like the Magi, are to honour the Christ of God who dwells in every human being; to honour the majesty and the godly nature of men and women - ourselves, each other, and all we meet.
Like the over-1000 mile journey of the Magi, becoming fully human is a challenge, often fraught with various Herods. But if we accept the journey of seeking the God Who breathes Life into us and makes us human, we join Mary and the Magi in showing the World where true Life and salvation are to be found – in the God of Love who makes a home with us.
[1] Eph 3
[2] Gen 2
Friday, January 4, 2008
Brian’s Reflection: Saturday, January 5, 2008
What is qualified? What have I been qualified for in
my life? I haven't been qualified to be a mayor. I'm
not qualified to be a songwriter. I'm not qualified to
be a TV producer. I'm not qualified to be a successful
businessman. And so, I don't know what qualified means.
- Senator Sonny Bono, who died on this day,
1998. Ran into a tree while skiing (some friends
of mine think it was the Mafia.)
Sonny Bono. Paired with Cher. Wonderful singing duo – at least I thought so. Cher so exotic. Sonny so ….. nerdy and wimpy. I thought it was a perfect symbol of how Life is. You just never know who will match with you. “Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could no lean”. Or my partner and I – connected, both Cancers, same colour eyes - but so many differences.
Qualified? Most of us are not “qualified” for what we do! I wonder about our society some times. People spending multi-thousands to get educated. And what happens? They get “qualified” to be a lawyer, or a musician, or a mechanic. But they don’t get “qualified” be to be a human being. They get qualified to be a robot of service, on the assumption that this makes money. As if money is all we need to have a successful life.
Sad, sad, sad.
“Religion” should be about getting qualified to be human. It very often isn’t. But I’m committed. I spend my life trying to demonstrate how the relationship with “God” shows us how to be Human.
Don’t worry about getting “qualified” to “make a living”. Worry about what it is to be Human. Listen to the Gospel. Listen to the great teachings of the great spiritual teachers. They won’t tell you how to make money. They will tell you how to be your true Self.
“Qualification” resides in knowing what an authentic human being is. And by bringing that to what you do.
Brian+
What is qualified? What have I been qualified for in
my life? I haven't been qualified to be a mayor. I'm
not qualified to be a songwriter. I'm not qualified to
be a TV producer. I'm not qualified to be a successful
businessman. And so, I don't know what qualified means.
- Senator Sonny Bono, who died on this day,
1998. Ran into a tree while skiing (some friends
of mine think it was the Mafia.)
Sonny Bono. Paired with Cher. Wonderful singing duo – at least I thought so. Cher so exotic. Sonny so ….. nerdy and wimpy. I thought it was a perfect symbol of how Life is. You just never know who will match with you. “Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could no lean”. Or my partner and I – connected, both Cancers, same colour eyes - but so many differences.
Qualified? Most of us are not “qualified” for what we do! I wonder about our society some times. People spending multi-thousands to get educated. And what happens? They get “qualified” to be a lawyer, or a musician, or a mechanic. But they don’t get “qualified” be to be a human being. They get qualified to be a robot of service, on the assumption that this makes money. As if money is all we need to have a successful life.
Sad, sad, sad.
“Religion” should be about getting qualified to be human. It very often isn’t. But I’m committed. I spend my life trying to demonstrate how the relationship with “God” shows us how to be Human.
Don’t worry about getting “qualified” to “make a living”. Worry about what it is to be Human. Listen to the Gospel. Listen to the great teachings of the great spiritual teachers. They won’t tell you how to make money. They will tell you how to be your true Self.
“Qualification” resides in knowing what an authentic human being is. And by bringing that to what you do.
Brian+
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Brian’s Reflection: Friday, January 4, 2008
Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.
- Albert Camus, philosopher, who died on this day
in a car accident, 1960
Camus understood. As did Plato. As did Jesus. As did Jung. As have many. “Archetypes” (a typical, ideal, or classic example of something - Encarta Dictionary) are daily realities writ large. “God” is an archetype of the mystery of Life found in all things. “Heaven” is an archetype of the Life Energy that never ceases. “The Body and Blood of Christ” is an archetype of the divine energy that sustains the heart of Life. “Satan” is the archetype of the mundane reality of evil choice and action. On and on it goes.
“The Last Judgment” is the archetype of the daily reality that we are judged by our behaviour as to the quality of our humanity. We are not to live our lives with furtive glances at a coming final judgment, hoping that we will manage to outwit the Judge. Rather, we are to live every day under the watchful eye of Compassion, of Kindness, of Generosity. At the quiet moment at every day’s end, or perhaps at any moment we make a decision, the Archetype of God the Judge blooms and shimmers before our eyes, holding out the scales upon which our character as a person is balanced. Every day, every day, “judgment” is a spirit shaping our growth in humanity.
Camus once said, “In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer”. Oh yes, we will survive the Judge. If we believe in the “invincible summer” of our divine beauty.
Our Life is assaulted in many ways and by many things. We are quick, we human beings, to damn ourselves - having been ill taught by mean-spirited religionists. But Jesus teaches a different standard. We are the Imago Dei. This is the “invincible summer”.
Nothing can overcome it. The “imago dei” is the archetype of the human person.
Never forget it. Thus remembering, you, we, will rise every day letting drop the burden of condemnation, and rise with healing in our wings to soar on the lightwinds of Trust.
What a World we could remake!
Brian+
Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.
- Albert Camus, philosopher, who died on this day
in a car accident, 1960
Camus understood. As did Plato. As did Jesus. As did Jung. As have many. “Archetypes” (a typical, ideal, or classic example of something - Encarta Dictionary) are daily realities writ large. “God” is an archetype of the mystery of Life found in all things. “Heaven” is an archetype of the Life Energy that never ceases. “The Body and Blood of Christ” is an archetype of the divine energy that sustains the heart of Life. “Satan” is the archetype of the mundane reality of evil choice and action. On and on it goes.
“The Last Judgment” is the archetype of the daily reality that we are judged by our behaviour as to the quality of our humanity. We are not to live our lives with furtive glances at a coming final judgment, hoping that we will manage to outwit the Judge. Rather, we are to live every day under the watchful eye of Compassion, of Kindness, of Generosity. At the quiet moment at every day’s end, or perhaps at any moment we make a decision, the Archetype of God the Judge blooms and shimmers before our eyes, holding out the scales upon which our character as a person is balanced. Every day, every day, “judgment” is a spirit shaping our growth in humanity.
Camus once said, “In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer”. Oh yes, we will survive the Judge. If we believe in the “invincible summer” of our divine beauty.
Our Life is assaulted in many ways and by many things. We are quick, we human beings, to damn ourselves - having been ill taught by mean-spirited religionists. But Jesus teaches a different standard. We are the Imago Dei. This is the “invincible summer”.
Nothing can overcome it. The “imago dei” is the archetype of the human person.
Never forget it. Thus remembering, you, we, will rise every day letting drop the burden of condemnation, and rise with healing in our wings to soar on the lightwinds of Trust.
What a World we could remake!
Brian+
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, January 3, 2008
I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend
my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more.
For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of
heaven would be even worse.
- Isaac Asimov, thinker, poet, author, fantasist,
born on this day, 1920, in Russia.
I do believe in an “afterlife”. Well - not really an “afterlife”. More an “Ongoing Life”. And I appreciate the metaphors of all faiths about what it will be like. They are colourful and beautiful, as are most metaphors about It. And, as Asimov, who doesn’t fear It because he doesn’t believe in It, I don’t either, because I do believe in It, and Jesus has said it is pleasant.
The metaphors of Heaven are supposed to make us think that Heaven is lovely – and I do. I have no interest in the details; they are irrelevant. The Afterlife will be about Truth, and “seeing through a glass” clearly instead of darkly. And about the giddiness of glimpsing finally what the Journey Onward is a little bit about. We really can’t know here the Reality, unless perhaps our imagination is fresh. And it doesn’t really matter to me.
I am not a person who can appreciate “boredom”. And I have to say that Christianity has produced some pretty boring theological “pictures” about Heaven. Ugh. As have other faiths - including the Muslim one about hoards of Virgins. (A) it makes me shudder yet again about the inability of religion to deal sensibly about sex, and (B) I prefer the idea that, having died, the mystery of sex takes an integrated place in the total reality of Being.
Life goes on forever, in a glorious kaleidoscope of dimensions of Being. One should never fear it - nthat presents a picture of “God” that is perverse. You can only “go to Hell” if you choose it, metaphorically speaking - and God doesn’t want that! And Heaven, well, Heaven, it is the most wonderful and un-boring thing you can possibly imagine. Because God lets us design It!
Sharpen your wits, oh friends!
Brian+
I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend
my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more.
For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of
heaven would be even worse.
- Isaac Asimov, thinker, poet, author, fantasist,
born on this day, 1920, in Russia.
I do believe in an “afterlife”. Well - not really an “afterlife”. More an “Ongoing Life”. And I appreciate the metaphors of all faiths about what it will be like. They are colourful and beautiful, as are most metaphors about It. And, as Asimov, who doesn’t fear It because he doesn’t believe in It, I don’t either, because I do believe in It, and Jesus has said it is pleasant.
The metaphors of Heaven are supposed to make us think that Heaven is lovely – and I do. I have no interest in the details; they are irrelevant. The Afterlife will be about Truth, and “seeing through a glass” clearly instead of darkly. And about the giddiness of glimpsing finally what the Journey Onward is a little bit about. We really can’t know here the Reality, unless perhaps our imagination is fresh. And it doesn’t really matter to me.
I am not a person who can appreciate “boredom”. And I have to say that Christianity has produced some pretty boring theological “pictures” about Heaven. Ugh. As have other faiths - including the Muslim one about hoards of Virgins. (A) it makes me shudder yet again about the inability of religion to deal sensibly about sex, and (B) I prefer the idea that, having died, the mystery of sex takes an integrated place in the total reality of Being.
Life goes on forever, in a glorious kaleidoscope of dimensions of Being. One should never fear it - nthat presents a picture of “God” that is perverse. You can only “go to Hell” if you choose it, metaphorically speaking - and God doesn’t want that! And Heaven, well, Heaven, it is the most wonderful and un-boring thing you can possibly imagine. Because God lets us design It!
Sharpen your wits, oh friends!
Brian+
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The conception of gods as superhuman beings endowed with powers to which
man possesses nothing comparable in degree and hardly even in kind, has been
slowly evolved in the course of history. By primitive peoples the supernatural
agents are not regarded as greatly, if at all, superior to man; for they may be frightened
and coerced by him into doing his will. At this stage of thought the world is viewed as a
great democracy; all beings in it, whether natural or supernatural, are supposed to stand
on a footing of tolerable equality. But with the growth of his knowledge man learns to
realise more clearly the vastness of nature and his own littleness and feebleness in presence
of it. The recognition of his helplessness does not, however, carry with it a corresponding
belief in the impotence of those supernatural beings with which his imagination peoples the
universe. On the contrary, it enhances his conception of their power.
- from “The Golden Bough”, by Sir James Frazer, born on this day,
1854, in Scotland
Well, here it is – 2008. I wish you many many blessings and curiosities and surprises and happinesses and wonders and challenges and mysteries!
I am definitely going to spend a lot of 2008 thinking about the Mystery we call “God”. And reading what others have had to say about It. I have picked through The Golden Bough over the years. I intend to read it all in 2008. I like Frazer’s phrase “a footing of tolerable equality”.
I am caught by Frazer’s idea that the more we sense our own “littleness and feebleness”, the more we abandon our sense of power and attribute more to “the gods”. Is this just an abdication of our responsibility and of our role as creators? Of the fact, as Christmas implies, we share the Divine Life??
So many questions, so little time! But the consolation is, there is always more to learn!
May 2008 be full for you of Amazement!
Brian+
The conception of gods as superhuman beings endowed with powers to which
man possesses nothing comparable in degree and hardly even in kind, has been
slowly evolved in the course of history. By primitive peoples the supernatural
agents are not regarded as greatly, if at all, superior to man; for they may be frightened
and coerced by him into doing his will. At this stage of thought the world is viewed as a
great democracy; all beings in it, whether natural or supernatural, are supposed to stand
on a footing of tolerable equality. But with the growth of his knowledge man learns to
realise more clearly the vastness of nature and his own littleness and feebleness in presence
of it. The recognition of his helplessness does not, however, carry with it a corresponding
belief in the impotence of those supernatural beings with which his imagination peoples the
universe. On the contrary, it enhances his conception of their power.
- from “The Golden Bough”, by Sir James Frazer, born on this day,
1854, in Scotland
Well, here it is – 2008. I wish you many many blessings and curiosities and surprises and happinesses and wonders and challenges and mysteries!
I am definitely going to spend a lot of 2008 thinking about the Mystery we call “God”. And reading what others have had to say about It. I have picked through The Golden Bough over the years. I intend to read it all in 2008. I like Frazer’s phrase “a footing of tolerable equality”.
I am caught by Frazer’s idea that the more we sense our own “littleness and feebleness”, the more we abandon our sense of power and attribute more to “the gods”. Is this just an abdication of our responsibility and of our role as creators? Of the fact, as Christmas implies, we share the Divine Life??
So many questions, so little time! But the consolation is, there is always more to learn!
May 2008 be full for you of Amazement!
Brian+
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