“Perhaps the central paradox of the religious life is that it seeks transcendence, a dimension of existence that goes beyond our mundane lives, but that human beings can only experience this transcendent reality in earthly, physical phenomena. People have sensed the divine in rocks, mountains, temple buildings, law codes, written texts, or other men and women. We never experience transcendence directly: our ecstasy is always “earthed,” and enshrined in something or someone here below. Religious people are trained to look beneath the unpromising surface to find the sacred within it. They have to use their creative imaginations. Jean Paul Sartre defined the imagination as the ability to think of what is not present. Human beings are religious creatures because they are imaginative; they are so constituted that they are compelled to search for hidden meaning and to archive ecstasy that makes them feel fully alive. Each tradition encourages the faithful to focus their attention on an earthly symbol that is particularly its own, and to teach themselves to see the divine in it.”
Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong, preface pages X, XI
Invitation: ‘... see the divine.”
Karen Armstrong (link) is one of the most world's foremost scholars on religious affairs. She is the author of several best-selling books, including: The Battle for God, Jerusalem, The History of God, and Through the Narrow Gate, a memoir of her seven years as a nun. She lives in London.
We will meet for the Community Table Monday, April 21st at 8:00 PM ET. Contact us for information HERE.
We will continue our daily Shared Solitude: Embracing the gift of silence in community offered by our Courageous friend Emily - Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 am ET and Tuesday, Thursday at 3:00 pm ET through April 18th. See details on our Calendar HERE
Learn More About Circles of Courageous Commons HERE
I want to see the divine in everything- yet my humanness sometimes gets in the way and I don’t attend with my presence. I am also aware - as Christina Cleveland expresses in God is a Black woman that Transcendence is a patriarchal aspiration. More to come on that…
While silently hiking alone in my favorite forest I see the divine in all the colors, sounds, and smells I encounter. The Light is always shining in my face and reminding me I am one with the forest and all creation.