These days I've been making a strange but very revealing discovery: things that really touch and matter most are those related to our raw human nature - not the polished, refined well-thought out actions or programmes. They are not about our ideas and concepts. Grand things leave us in awe for a couple of minutes, or a couple of days, but what leaves a lasting impression and affects us deeply is the small petty things done for us or to us. It is not the big achievements but the personal encounters with the others 'clay feet' or our own, that really touch us.
Being a man of the head, I've mostly felt enthralled by ideas and new concepts, but today as I review my own life and all that I've gone through, what really stands out is the sensible, not the rational. What leaves an indelible mark on us is the 'off-trackness' of others.
Truly words elude me at this moment to aptly describe my feelings. But it is there!
Being a man of the head, I've mostly felt enthralled by ideas and new concepts, but today as I review my own life and all that I've gone through, what really stands out is the sensible, not the rational. What leaves an indelible mark on us is the 'off-trackness' of others.
Truly words elude me at this moment to aptly describe my feelings. But it is there!
I'm glad you're making this discovery, Cas. Very often, it is these small and seemingly petty interactions with others, ourselves or nature that have a very deep impact. Things that don't seem logical or sensible even. And these tiny things shock you into glimpsing the vastness of existence.
ReplyDeleteI also like to have my head in control but it happens very often that things are beyond its capability. For me, some things are purely intuitive and I struggle with myself to see whether they make any sense. And sometimes, I don't care and say oh whatever, I'll take the consequences.
What totally absorbed me about the book, the last temptation of Christ, was precisely the raw humanness of Jesus. You love him because he is completely human like you. I think he works/uncovers his divinity through his humanness. And that's my personal meaning for the cross. And i believe the author when he says he loves the person of jesus. It wouldn't be possible to write that book otherwise.
Dear Brother it is really true
ReplyDeleteBut often our insecurity takes over to say it is ideas that are important rather than feelings...