A friend (two generations my elder) commented during a conversation about my last post that sex isn't sacred anymore... which got me to thinking. I wonder if anything is sacred anymore? It seems that, in society-at-large, nothing is; it seems that everything is of equal null-value, a parlaying device or some sort of currency, but hardly sacrosanct. Individuals vary; what say you?
I'd rather experience life in sacramental fashion. Try not to get caught in the rush of life or forget that we can step off the treadmill at any time, to slow down and enjoy it. Every moment and every act could be a wonderful one, carried out with love, care, attention, presence of mind. The rush of action and deadlines can be exhilarating, can be exhausting. Moments of silence and solitude, indeed, even might be carried through daily life, rather than left on the doorstep.
Makes me have a strong suspicion that Heinlein was onto something when he wrote "Stranger in a Strange Land".
An appropriate evening for Mozart's Requiem, making dough to bake rolls tomorrow, and some time sitting under the stars.
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12 comments:
Even the profane is sacred.
The Court of the Holy Temple, will be trod underfoot....made less and dispised, so it is. I personally think it is sad.
In peishan's comment, the truth there for me is that those who do trod the Holy underfoot, have been given by their teachers, the confusion and misunderstands that are necessary, to do the trodding.
Then at the same time, the world has made it a commodity and put it up for sale on every street corner, for profit, profit by those who criticise the trodding, in many cases.
That is one Beautiful put together piece, JA, Beautiful piece of Work.
I enjoyed reading early Heinlein and indeed, I read many of his works in my early to mid teens. Consequently, I had trouble adjusting to his later novels that had lots of sex, because I was used to his novels that didn't have sex or mentioned it in passing.
In some ways people are coming around, learning and enjoying meditation and quiet time because the lifestyle is healthier. If for no other reason than to live longer, people are adopting some spiritual practices as a means of stress reduction.
There is a craving in our society for spirituality and mythos because to a large extent the Sacred has been pushed aside by science and technology. How else to explain the popularity of Medium on TV, Eckhart Tolle and Joseph Campbell or Dan Brown in print. The Sacred and Science need not be antagonistic or mutually exclusive to one another. There are just elements within religion and science who reject the other and stir the fires. Science generally can't answer why questions. That is the realm of theology and spiritually. Sacraments and Sacred acts connect us psychologically and spiritually with the World and people around us and help us cope with life. Beliefs are very powerful ideas.
The problem is that over time, through questioning and observing the world, our definitions and notions of what is Sacred have changed. We no longer see acts of nature as acts of divine will against people or places. Diseases are caused by germs or viruses. You aren't a leper because you have sinned and God is punishing you. You contracted a disease. Your town didn't get flattened by a tornado because it was sinful, it just was in the path of a bad storm.
Unfortunately, not enough people consider nature sacred. Our national parks are overcrowded. Water and air quality have gotten worse. Beautiful areas that were once wilderness are becoming the playgrounds and ranches of the rich and famous. Rainforests are being destroyed for their raw resources.
I hope we can reconnect with the Sacred and with Nature soon. There are so many beautiful things that took millions of years to evolve and we are wiping them out through ignorance and exploitation and habitat destruction. I would hate to see tigers or polar bears disappear from the Earth and the wild. But, they wouldn't be the first species that man has wiped off the face of this planet.
Dear Julie,
I write too much. I'm too verbose. May you find the Bliss and the Sacredness you seek this Easter Day! You are Divine!
Contentment and Bliss to you,
John
"I wonder if anything is sacred anymore?"
This very thought is most sacred, most illuminated... where would you be now without this thought?
Shanti-
"I'd rather experience life in sacramental fashion. Try not to get caught in the rush of life or forget that we can step off the treadmill at any time, to slow down and enjoy it. Every moment and every act could be a wonderful one, carried out with love, care, attention, presence of mind. The rush of action and deadlines can be exhilarating, can be exhausting. Moments of silence and solitude, indeed, even might be carried through daily life, rather than left on the doorstep."
Peishan, I don't know exactly. With care, understanding. With the perspective that comes with our age and experience. I can look back, now, at my past self, past beliefs held sincerely and fervently... they were not false, but they were often shortsighted or narrow.
By my own reasoning, then, yes - the beliefs I hold now are likely to be shortsighted and narrow. Loving as the first priority - I think it will hold forever. But the rest... good reason to hold loosely.
Imemine... I don't know. Probably, but haven't seen it.
Jim, I think that some do not know what they are doing. Others know a good extent of what they are doing (though not the final import), and do so anyway.
John, Science explains how but not why.
Mark, I think (but have not concluded) that things are sacred because we percieve them as sacred, but can also be sacred without being percieved as sacred.
John (for the second time), it was a fairly drawn argument, but felt incomplete. Don't be discouraged. Your kind wishes are deeply appreciated; I found something...
Isaiah/Tommy, I'm glad to see you here. In response to your question, is it even possible to know? Peace,
Imemine, you too?
Yes, but evolutionary theory explains why we are here in this form. That is why religion feels so threatened by it - the scientific evidence undermines the literal interpretation of the Bible's Creation myth. Of course, one can be a theistic evolutionist, God uses evolution for its own purposes, since that view is still a belief and beyond Science to explain. (I had this discussion with my thesis advisor many years ago.) I don't wish to continue this thread to prevent a flame session. We both seek to transcend mind, and therefore, transcend religion and science which are tools of the mind.
right Julie Anon, and for me the worse is the ones (and there are more than you think) who do know the final import of the matter, and use the art of it as a tool, putting what may be the most sacred thing, speech, to the service of that finality.
Jim,
Speech isn't something sacred. It's a communication tool. Love is the most sacred thing two souls can share. Love is beyond words, beyond speech.
John
Hmmm. Very good questions and observations, Julie, as you can tell by the comments!
Everything is sacred, but a consumer society evaluates everything to its utility.
Sacramentality--God's grace moving through the forms of the world is something that children understand intuitively. Adults need help to become children again. To watch sunsets, and "stay gold," as in The Outsiders.
And they can't be helped without someone to help them. Thanks for realizing that you're the solution.
Wow, a lot of fantastic comments...
Mark, I know exactly what you mean. Thank you for such crisp words.
JBMoore; don't feel threatened in the least by evolutionary theory. But I also don't mind not discussing it. :-)
Kathy, thank you for the questions. I'm glad my other post showed my perspective.
Jim, I both understand and do not understand speech as sacred. It certainly is something to be treasured, inasmuch as it is not the things that we put into our mouths, but those that come out, that defile us.
JBMoore, if I pour love into my every act, then is the act sacred, or only the intent?
Mark; you've piqued my curiousity. I have my suspicions about the power of the spoken word, particularly those words typically used in a ritual setting (like, say, Mass!). If I come up with anything coherent, I'll let you know.
Jon; lovely, thank you. I am encouraged.
Mark; ha! :-)
Thank you all, friends, for your thoughtfulness.
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