Headphones and You Three. Plus One. Plus Many, Three-ing this Isaiah (also they say a multitude under a single name) is such a beauty way to wake and walk the dog out into the cold.
Celan, speaking from the harmonic of another January 20th of a different order, said we must be mindful of dates if our poems are ever to actually make the shore of the other and find heart land. Finishing a piece (finally) here just now I claimed to write from Partisan woods. Dougald, Illich on his shoulder, reminds me that this is not from Left against Right but from Etz Chaim to Etz Chaim.
When the Great Men of last century began snuffing out candles for the coming of their eternal Day, Tsvetaeva wrote that “in these most Christian of times, the poets are Yids”.
As the darkness deepened, with all that was taking place behind quiet assent, Brecht claimed that in such times to speak of trees was almost a crime. One of Benjamin’s entries in that same guest book suggested that no poem is written for the reader, no symphony for the listener. Arendt explained that this was not some elitist argot disparaging of the audience but rather to say that some matters especially regarding the Word are better not limited to the human. So maybe, to risk transposing Marina without opposable thumbs, in these most upright of times, the poets will be found on their fours, furred or feathered in flight. This is a wishing over the well of hubristic bauplan sent to drown, to humble ourselves and travel in other footsteps, not to exchange our own prejudice for that of our siblings but simply to learn that taste that is the precursor to judgement and that this faculty of becoming the other without forgetting one’s own is to have the courage to live in a place with neighbors. In times like these to keep speaking amongst ourselves is almost a crime. In times like these it is necessary to speak with trees .
This tuning fork I think rings that note. Etz Chaim. In the branching of it. In the Many and One of it.
Liz's word on the trumpeting voice made me think of a stone with inscription found in an archeological dig near the temple mount last century. On the stone it said "the place of the shofar". What once was high upon the wall of power and authority, the trumpet place, now beneath the ruins. Maybe after the drop and the passing from authority to sea-bed, with what Liz calls 'power over' left behind, we can go out outside the camp and here such Word, like David B Blower's recent post suggests, as argot of compassion---slave to slave. Arendt wrote that the tyrant is just as much bound and stripped of humanity, as alone as he seeks to make the people. This three-ing, like the cursed becoming the curse in Blower's theology of the crucifix, is the subversion of that servitude. A mutiny towards Company.
I find myself at a table that I can drink to and love, bread and wine or body and blood, or neither, or both.
Thank you for this Andrew. And that is a lovely story about 'the place of the shofar' stone. I didn't know that. From authority to sea-bed.
...'simply to learn that taste that is the precursor to judgement and that this faculty of becoming the other without forgetting one’s own is to have the courage to live in a place with neighbors'...thank you.
(and to not need to tell them to correct their spelling to 'neighbours' :-))
i very much appreciated this conversation in a number of ways, and I’m thankful that you shared it here. i’d also like to say that the podcast idea you mention and/or any online study would be of great interest to me. Having only come to finally read the Bible all the way through from beginning to end for the first time a few years ago at age 39, i relate to the sense of it confounding expectations. i continue wrestling with it, and am heartened to see others doing so as well with such vulnerable honesty and humility. All of this to say that your reflections in relationship with the text, and its lived expression, are deeply valued.
It's very helpful to read this. Thank you. I too am struck by the vulnerability, honesty and humility with which Liz and Dougald have been approaching the texts. I read it again this morning and found myself a lot more interested in what they are going to be saying about it...writing from it...in the years ahead than myself, which was a good experience!
Thanks for letting us in on the fruits of your Bible study. I’ve never liked the expression “in Jesus’ name” but where 2 or 3 come together in a kind and respectful way to read, especially sacred texts, the springs will surely flow!
Thank you for sharing ypur conversation, it is nourishing to know that other people value the bits of the Bible that I have always felt to be the closest to G_d. And other people are in a place that I can identify with, refreshing .
Thank you so much for this! I'm going straight to Isaiah 58 after typing this comment, which to say yes please, a podcast created by you and David Benjamin Blower would be a wonderful blessing.
Thank you so much for sharing your conversation. It seems important to wrest the bible away from any one particular strand of so-called belief, and allow it to speak unencumbered. As someone who left church in order to deepen his faith I echo many of your insights, and was excited to hear your own stories.
Thank so much for sharing this Mark. I’m conscious, like you perhaps, of how much I have lost by no longer being part of the church in the way that I was, and I know it is so good and important to hold the Bible with others ‘in’ the faith. So my offerings are more tentative than my tone often admits. And will be encumbered by all of my own blindness and pride! But yes, there is something very beautiful that happens when we meet in mutual vulnerability around these texts, outside of any particular church/religious traditions. I’m learning how valuable it is. Thank you so much.
Headphones and You Three. Plus One. Plus Many, Three-ing this Isaiah (also they say a multitude under a single name) is such a beauty way to wake and walk the dog out into the cold.
Celan, speaking from the harmonic of another January 20th of a different order, said we must be mindful of dates if our poems are ever to actually make the shore of the other and find heart land. Finishing a piece (finally) here just now I claimed to write from Partisan woods. Dougald, Illich on his shoulder, reminds me that this is not from Left against Right but from Etz Chaim to Etz Chaim.
When the Great Men of last century began snuffing out candles for the coming of their eternal Day, Tsvetaeva wrote that “in these most Christian of times, the poets are Yids”.
As the darkness deepened, with all that was taking place behind quiet assent, Brecht claimed that in such times to speak of trees was almost a crime. One of Benjamin’s entries in that same guest book suggested that no poem is written for the reader, no symphony for the listener. Arendt explained that this was not some elitist argot disparaging of the audience but rather to say that some matters especially regarding the Word are better not limited to the human. So maybe, to risk transposing Marina without opposable thumbs, in these most upright of times, the poets will be found on their fours, furred or feathered in flight. This is a wishing over the well of hubristic bauplan sent to drown, to humble ourselves and travel in other footsteps, not to exchange our own prejudice for that of our siblings but simply to learn that taste that is the precursor to judgement and that this faculty of becoming the other without forgetting one’s own is to have the courage to live in a place with neighbors. In times like these to keep speaking amongst ourselves is almost a crime. In times like these it is necessary to speak with trees .
This tuning fork I think rings that note. Etz Chaim. In the branching of it. In the Many and One of it.
Liz's word on the trumpeting voice made me think of a stone with inscription found in an archeological dig near the temple mount last century. On the stone it said "the place of the shofar". What once was high upon the wall of power and authority, the trumpet place, now beneath the ruins. Maybe after the drop and the passing from authority to sea-bed, with what Liz calls 'power over' left behind, we can go out outside the camp and here such Word, like David B Blower's recent post suggests, as argot of compassion---slave to slave. Arendt wrote that the tyrant is just as much bound and stripped of humanity, as alone as he seeks to make the people. This three-ing, like the cursed becoming the curse in Blower's theology of the crucifix, is the subversion of that servitude. A mutiny towards Company.
I find myself at a table that I can drink to and love, bread and wine or body and blood, or neither, or both.
Ring out, Fork. Salut this note!
Thank you for this Andrew. And that is a lovely story about 'the place of the shofar' stone. I didn't know that. From authority to sea-bed.
...'simply to learn that taste that is the precursor to judgement and that this faculty of becoming the other without forgetting one’s own is to have the courage to live in a place with neighbors'...thank you.
(and to not need to tell them to correct their spelling to 'neighbours' :-))
i very much appreciated this conversation in a number of ways, and I’m thankful that you shared it here. i’d also like to say that the podcast idea you mention and/or any online study would be of great interest to me. Having only come to finally read the Bible all the way through from beginning to end for the first time a few years ago at age 39, i relate to the sense of it confounding expectations. i continue wrestling with it, and am heartened to see others doing so as well with such vulnerable honesty and humility. All of this to say that your reflections in relationship with the text, and its lived expression, are deeply valued.
It's very helpful to read this. Thank you. I too am struck by the vulnerability, honesty and humility with which Liz and Dougald have been approaching the texts. I read it again this morning and found myself a lot more interested in what they are going to be saying about it...writing from it...in the years ahead than myself, which was a good experience!
Thanks for letting us in on the fruits of your Bible study. I’ve never liked the expression “in Jesus’ name” but where 2 or 3 come together in a kind and respectful way to read, especially sacred texts, the springs will surely flow!
Lovely. That does seem to often be the case.
I was so grateful to be a fly on the wall of this conversation. A hearty thank you to all three of you.
I like to imagine Jesus hearing this passage growing up in Natzaret and living inside of it.
Yes, that would make a lot of sense!
Thank you for sharing ypur conversation, it is nourishing to know that other people value the bits of the Bible that I have always felt to be the closest to G_d. And other people are in a place that I can identify with, refreshing .
I’m really glad this conversation was helpful for you Steve. Thanks for letting me/us know.
Thank you so much for this! I'm going straight to Isaiah 58 after typing this comment, which to say yes please, a podcast created by you and David Benjamin Blower would be a wonderful blessing.
Thank you Penny! If there are any insights you’d like to share from your own reading of the text today pls message and let me know.
Thank you so much for sharing your conversation. It seems important to wrest the bible away from any one particular strand of so-called belief, and allow it to speak unencumbered. As someone who left church in order to deepen his faith I echo many of your insights, and was excited to hear your own stories.
Vanessa: please feel reinvigorated!
Thank so much for sharing this Mark. I’m conscious, like you perhaps, of how much I have lost by no longer being part of the church in the way that I was, and I know it is so good and important to hold the Bible with others ‘in’ the faith. So my offerings are more tentative than my tone often admits. And will be encumbered by all of my own blindness and pride! But yes, there is something very beautiful that happens when we meet in mutual vulnerability around these texts, outside of any particular church/religious traditions. I’m learning how valuable it is. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for sharing. Warmed my heart. What a passage for today. How God must weep at the many distorted images of him held by so many.
Hello C! Thank you for reading and lovely to have you following here. xxx