Category: Personal

no “grand system”!

The philosopher creates and critiques continuous lines of argument. The aphorist, on the other hand, composes scattered lines of intuition. One moves in a chain of discursive logic; the other by arrhythmic leaps and bounds. Much of the history of Western philosophy can be narrated as a series of attempts at the construction of systems. My theory proposes that much of the history of aphorisms can be narrated as an animadversion, a turning away from grand systems through the construction of literary fragments.

A Theory of the Aphorism, 2

some Merton

If I know anything of intellectual honesty, and I am not so certain that I do, it seems to me that the honest position lies somewhere in between. Therefore the meditations in this book are intended to be at the same time traditional, and modern, and my own. I do not intend to divorce myself at any point from Catholic tradition. But neither do I intend to accept points of that tradition blindly, and without understanding, and without making them really my own. For it seems to me that the first responsibility of a man of faith is to make his faith really part of his own life, not by rationalizing it but by living it.

No Man is an Island, Prologue.

Hmmm?!

What quality do you value most in a friend?

I find this an impossible prompt to answer. I am not sure I have ever had a friend. Not due to other people. People are friendly to me. But I simply do not connect with people. And eventually everyone drifts away or gets sick of me.

So what do I value? Honesty with compassion. Also intellect.

not many

What jobs have you had?

Jobs that I have had for pay are …

I have worked in retail selling white goods and furniture. Not much fun!

I worked in a call centre. Nearly destroyed me.

And, drum roll, I have worked as a minister of religion. Very rewarding at times but also soul destroying.

I have had many other jobs that did not pay but that is for another post.

hard to say …

Do you practice religion?

So the problem is … How does one define “religion”?

I am not part of an institution that is considered “religious”. I go not no church, either do I consider myself part of a denomitation. There is no collective answer for an individual problem. My sin, my problem!

Institution, no matter how holy and other-worldly, can answer for me. Yes, community is nice. But in the end I stand alone before God. Or, another way to put it, change for me comes from inside, never from outside.

I do, however, think of myself as standing within a tradition of spirituality. For me that is the Book of Common Prayer. But that is not the answer – it is simply a way to shape my life. It describes my life but does not define it.

The only answer to the problem of my darkness is the Light of Jesus. No one else can take the steps that I need to make. No one else can take responsibility for me. No one else can make the “act of faith” for me. Faith in Jesus is a resolution rather than a conclusion.

So do I practice a religion?