Why do people act as if the future is waiting for them? Already existent and yearning for them? Pulling them into the torrent of "forward" progress?
To me, the future is constantly born. My future doesn't exist until I give birth to it.
The present is full of labor pains.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
One of my recently-found favorite poets, Genevieve Glen, is a favorite because of how she writes about God, life, faith, and so often in terms of what I would call everyday paradoxes. Here's an example:
O Silence Sonorous with Word
O Silence sonorous with Word,
O Breath unseen, of Love unheard,
O unconsuming Fire, dark Light,
We worship at the edge of night.
O God beyond all speech or thought,
O God in song half-hid, half-caught,
O God for human mind too much,
In crib and cross and bread we touch.
O timeless One in majesty,
O indivisible yet Three,
O Source and Sabbath of our days,
Accept, accept our stammering praise.
~Genevieve Glen, O.S.B. (1998)
O Silence Sonorous with Word
O Silence sonorous with Word,
O Breath unseen, of Love unheard,
O unconsuming Fire, dark Light,
We worship at the edge of night.
O God beyond all speech or thought,
O God in song half-hid, half-caught,
O God for human mind too much,
In crib and cross and bread we touch.
O timeless One in majesty,
O indivisible yet Three,
O Source and Sabbath of our days,
Accept, accept our stammering praise.
~Genevieve Glen, O.S.B. (1998)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Mackled Meaning
Dear Reader,
In looking for a name for this blog, I came across the word "mackle." Here's the definition from the online Oxford Dictionary: "a blurred impression in printing." "Mackled" then is an impression that has been blurred in printing.
Although I will certainly try my best to write clearly, my "mackled letters" will express my thoughts and feelings (vague or not) about my observations of the "blurred" aspects of life. Given that I see much of life in terms of paradox, I will sometimes use metaphors or “double entendres” to express my experience. I might even make-up new words. I will often let the ambiguous remain ambiguous.
I like seeing the special in the ordinary, the sacred in the secular, the divine in the human, those things which seemingly should be polar opposites, never to meet, and yet meet and do so frequently. In fact, in my experience, they seem to be two sides of the same coin. Maybe a better image would be to describe these opposites as inter-twining threads w/in the same tapestry. To use a musical metaphor: they together make up the point and counter-point of the same fugue, or the four voices of a hymn, or the multi-faceted timbres and lines of a symphony.
The blur in observing these pairings is in resisting or not being able to hold the paradox of how they each inherently invoke the other. It's not in recognizing the differences or in seeing the juxtaposition of "opposites" that I could conclude my vision is less than clear. It is in attempting to homogenize their perspectives, or in trying to amalgamate their various functions, that I could remain blind to the deepest beauty of the fabric. Can I hear the parts of a fugue in dialogue, and can I hear the dialogue as meaningful counterpoint, rather than only the resulting harmonies?
But why write about these matters? And why in the form of letters? I’m not an authority or even a scholar of my topics. I don’t plan to analyze the parts and explain their inter-locking functions. This will really just be a diary of some of my observations and ponderings. More often than not, I will probably ask questions and leave them unanswered or partially considered. I will explore tangents that seem to lead no-where. I will address myself to you the unknown reader, or to an unidentified known reader, or to God, or to the ether, or to myself. I.e., while this will be an exercise in writing, I will be quite indulgent w/ myself, and I make no promises to the reader! The main reason I will write is because I need to express myself in writing. I write in letters because these are mostly personal reflections that I’d like to voice to an Other; whether or not answered, they are sent.
~Mack
In looking for a name for this blog, I came across the word "mackle." Here's the definition from the online Oxford Dictionary: "a blurred impression in printing." "Mackled" then is an impression that has been blurred in printing.
Although I will certainly try my best to write clearly, my "mackled letters" will express my thoughts and feelings (vague or not) about my observations of the "blurred" aspects of life. Given that I see much of life in terms of paradox, I will sometimes use metaphors or “double entendres” to express my experience. I might even make-up new words. I will often let the ambiguous remain ambiguous.
I like seeing the special in the ordinary, the sacred in the secular, the divine in the human, those things which seemingly should be polar opposites, never to meet, and yet meet and do so frequently. In fact, in my experience, they seem to be two sides of the same coin. Maybe a better image would be to describe these opposites as inter-twining threads w/in the same tapestry. To use a musical metaphor: they together make up the point and counter-point of the same fugue, or the four voices of a hymn, or the multi-faceted timbres and lines of a symphony.
The blur in observing these pairings is in resisting or not being able to hold the paradox of how they each inherently invoke the other. It's not in recognizing the differences or in seeing the juxtaposition of "opposites" that I could conclude my vision is less than clear. It is in attempting to homogenize their perspectives, or in trying to amalgamate their various functions, that I could remain blind to the deepest beauty of the fabric. Can I hear the parts of a fugue in dialogue, and can I hear the dialogue as meaningful counterpoint, rather than only the resulting harmonies?
But why write about these matters? And why in the form of letters? I’m not an authority or even a scholar of my topics. I don’t plan to analyze the parts and explain their inter-locking functions. This will really just be a diary of some of my observations and ponderings. More often than not, I will probably ask questions and leave them unanswered or partially considered. I will explore tangents that seem to lead no-where. I will address myself to you the unknown reader, or to an unidentified known reader, or to God, or to the ether, or to myself. I.e., while this will be an exercise in writing, I will be quite indulgent w/ myself, and I make no promises to the reader! The main reason I will write is because I need to express myself in writing. I write in letters because these are mostly personal reflections that I’d like to voice to an Other; whether or not answered, they are sent.
~Mack
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