God is dead (Nietzsche)

With his famous quote 'God is dead' Nietzsche acquired an immortal fame!  However, he was not the first to say it. Before him, Hegel states it and even F. Dostoevsky does so in his novel.  While Hegel replaces the God of religion with the 'spirit' in the context of history and progress, Nietzsche does so in the context of morality, without the metaphysical or epistemological frills of Hegel.  However the common feature in both these philosophers is the denouncing of an external guiding norm and thereby of all responsibility being offloaded onto this 'higher being'.

For the next lecture our professor had asked us to come thinking why is it that a madman goes about shouting this statement, according to Nietzsche? Why is not some academic professor or a politician? I've been trying to think why did Nietzsche put this in the mouth of a madman?

There are two things that are coming to my mind very strongly and I feel they're invariably connected but somehow cannot connect them. The first is that the mad man has nothing to lose when he makes this proclamation.  Even if a sane and all the more a man of repute were to state this, he would soon be labelled a 'madman' by the society.  A look at our modern tactics to silence whistle-blowers or activists will offer enough evidence of this.

Secondly, when a mad man goes about announcing this, people who listen to him are invariably going to disregard him - and his utterances.  Yet it will strike a cord somewhere, if not in all, at least in some. Of the latter group, some will sooner than later silence this voice within them offering some pious or religious antidote... but not without it pricking them.  Because once you begin to reflect, the itch is not going to go away.  Those who refuse to give in and go on reflecting, will eventually see the point Nietzsche is trying to make: there is no moral standard and authority residing out there, you need to take up that responsibility. No easy way of passing on the buck to someone higher up.  

Addicted to Tom Sawyer, getting the fence painted!

My first taste of reading was quite addictive... thanks to Enid Blyton and the Famous Five series. When I exhausted them in the Parish library, I widened my reading.  But soon I joined the aspirantate at Gunadala and that's where I got hold of Tom Sawyer and Huck!!  That really was some reading. And if I began to jot down some salient points from my reading, it was thanks to Mark Twain and the library system of that time.

You see, we could not borrow books more than two at a time and that too for two weeks only. But there was Tom Sawyer and particularly that episode of him painting the fence - or rather getting the fence paited... I just couldn't stop reading and re-reading that over and over again.  By the end of the week I had to return the book.  But I still wasn't satisfactorily finished reading that section... so?  Simple! I wrote that down in my favourite diary, so that I could read it any number of times, anytime without having the original book.

Seeking the treasure

I finished reading The Alchemist (by Paulo Coelho) today and found it as refreshing as I read it the first time.  So a thought from therein:

They were looking for gold. They were  seeking the treasure of their destiny, without wanting to actually live out their destiny.  

This quote is of the Alchemist himself when he is asked why is it that other alchemists are not able to turn any metal into gold.

In a sense it is true. Sometimes in our pursuit of something of great value, we are so focused, so focused on only that thing and that thing alone that we run the risk of missing the thing when we actually come across it.  Furthermore, in life, it is not always just one thing that makes sense, it is a whole gamut of things which are related.  It is not so much about achieving one thing but about seeing the inter-relatedness of reality and thereby living by it. 

Reflective extracts from The Clowns of God

Here are some reflective (and some amusing) extracts from the novel, The Clowns of God by Morris West, that I'm reading these days.

When walking along the corridor of authority it is very easy to forget that Christ was a wandering prophet who slept in caves, and Peter was a fisherman from a lakeshide in Galilee, and John the Precursor was murdered in a prison cell. (Jean Marie Barrette to Carl Mendelius p. 109)

You cannot wrestle with God. He is too large an adversary ... You cannot manage His universe either, only the small garden he has given you. Enjoy it while you can... (Abbot to Carl Mendelius p. 121)

This is my favourite one, atleast so far!:
There is no place anymore for wandering saints... most people prefer a simple religion. You make your offering in the temple and carry away salvation in a package. (Cardinal Drexel to Carl p. 123)

If God chooses to borrow my vagrant voice, he will find the words for me to use. (Jean Marie Barrette to Card. Drexel p. 204)

...enough light to see a divine sense in this mad world. Enough faith to follow the light... and some love to make the darkness tolerable. (JMB to Card. Drexel p. 204)

You were made for better company, old friend. I was born under a falling star. (JMB to Card. Drexel p. 205)

more, as and when I read...