The fear of getting carried away by reason, sense observation, imagination, sex, or some other dimension of humanness, is a legitimate concern. But this worry about going too far in one direction or the other can be diminished if we realize that we are holistic beings with a variety of dimensions that are interconnected. That is, we are rational, visual, and imaginative, to mention three dimensions, which all need to be in dialogue. If we are aware of who we are, we are less likely to privilege one dimension over the other. There is no guarantee, of course, that we won’t fall into various forms of extremism / polarization, but one of the best ways to understand how to stay within our limits is to be in interpersonal dialogue. A further way of enhancing dialogue would be to recognize the importance of the other, the natural world, and the biblical text as valid informers that enter into the interpersonal landscape and shape it in fresh ways. Love, awe, wonder, mystery, affirmation, critique, and justice, to mention a few, are connected to a personal referent who in giveness is sufficiently known in dialogue, yet has endless meaning and significance that goes far beyond it.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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4 comments:
Greg,
Once again, thanks for these great, insightful postings! We do tend to get quite lost and lose this holistic view for different reasons, but esp. as you put it so well, due to a "fear of getting carried by reason, sense observation, imagination, sex, or some other dimension of humanness." This is also in full agreement with the Jewish conception of "tikkun olam" --I wonder what's your take on this view, say, as summed up in Sarah Breger's essay in "Moment" mag:
How Tikkun Olam Got Its Groove
Shalom!
Nita
Nita,
Thanks. Hope you're well.
I especially likes this bit of Berger's piece. "Tikkun olam also pops up in the 3rd century Aleinu prayer that is still recited daily. The line le-taken olam be-malkhut Shaddai, [to fix the world under the Kingdom of the Almighty] is surrounded by verses describing a time when idolatry will be abolished and all will call upon God’s name. In this case, tikkun olam is a Messianic cry in which God is the one doing the perfecting, not humans." Though I would want to add a role for humanity, in spite of it being non-perfecting.
Merci bien, cher ami! Once again, you hit right on the nail: just as you quoted from Berger, "tikkun olam is a Messianic cry in which God is the one doing the perfecting, not humans" and added your note on the "role for humanity" --man, this has been my problem both existentially and theoretically, say, when dealing with social justice, equal freedom, alterity, recognition and the like.
Nita,
Working out the role of the cry of perfecting God and the lament and joy of being non-perfecting, yet significant human, is indeed a problem with existential and theoretical aspects. Seems to me this problem, and the various realities you mention where it more acutely exists, is a mutual concern.
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