Tardis People!

Each being contains in itself the whole intelligible world.  PLOTINUS

Image Credit:  http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/entertainment/tardis_bmqhf.html

Alright.  I'm completely stuck on this notion of each human  being as a "universe" - perhaps several!  Like Doctor Who's Tardis - SOOO much bigger on the inside!!  (and I would argue, in so many more dimensions!)

Walt Whitman, in his famous poem Song of Myself -  described all kinds of things occurring around him, as if they were a part of him and contained within him - and so far as we understand consciousness - they are!!

If we could roll out some kind of map or representation of all that is contained within the consciousness of a single individual - it would display much of the physical world (albeit with individual emphases and distortions) and an infinite amount of thought, feeling, imagination and individual perspective.  It would be HUGE in every dimension possible, and anything but finite or static.

NOT a Book Review!

If you haven't done so already, DON'T FORGET to check out yesterday's GUEST POST, by Doug B.  For me, it highlights the notion that rest is, indeed, a gift.  Enjoy the read...  and please leave some thoughts or encouragement in the comments! 


Okay.  I think I've FINALLY finished my "Peter Rollins binge".  I just finished reading Insurrection, and though book reviews are not my 'thing', I thought I'd share some of my impressions, and a few things from the book that I found worth chewing over.

As the title suggests - this is NOT a book review.  I'm not even going to try to do a thorough critique - plenty of thinkers who are far more qualified have already done that - but Rollins' thinking explores some areas I've been poking around in too, so there was a lot in there I was really ready to wrestle with (try saying that three times fast!!)  As far as critique goes, I suppose I'll just say that the book left me with as many questions as answers, and there is a lot in it that really didn't 'click' with me. 

In spite of the 'gaps', there were some strong ideas put forward in the book that definitely resonated with me - so I'm going to give you my rundown on those today.  (True to my usual habit, you really are getting my version - this is what I gleaned from the book, so if you want an accurate understanding of what Rollins is on about, you'll just have to read it yourself...  this is the 'Kerry version' - okay?)

More than Listening

 

I had planned to write about something else today, but there's a conundrum gnawing at my brain, and it won't let me go until I tussle with it, so here goes...

This week, I posted videos by two quite different thinkers, Peter Rollins and Alain de Botton.  Rollins is a Christian theologian.  De Botton is an Atheist philosopher.  In spite of this, the two have something in common.  I think the "something" is listening (which was also the something I had planned to write about today).  They are both men who are prepared to listen, and, even more than listening, to actually evaluate their own beliefs and behaviour through the perspective of the "other". 

So you might expect their perspectives to mesh, quite nicely;  but whilst there are some points of agreement (the importance of listening being the biggest) their perspectives do. not. sit. comfortably. together. at. all.

And for me, the thing I find utterly compelling when I listen to both is NOT their agreement, but the jagged dissonance that exists between them. 

Places Worth Visiting!

Valentines Day has never been big on my calendar (it's not such a big deal in Australia, anyway), but this year I ignored it more assiduously than usual.  Jay Kim, however, at Farewell to the Sea, posted some thoughts on love that are worth sharing.  You may have noticed that I revised my "about me" box recently - and, yes, I borrowed that little phrase at the end from Jay :)


Since we've been on the topic of rest, here's a bit of a different take, from Michael Thompson, over at  Perichoretic Life.  He writes about Sleep as Sacrament.  That's a perspective I'd never really considered.  I love his point that in the Biblical view, the day starts with rest, then moves on to the things we have to do, so that we are always operating from a place of rest.


A dose of Peter Rollins!
Okay.  THIS has got to be the most powerfully provocative, and deeply resonant thing I have come across in a long time. (& I don't mean the sketch... although that's also very cool)

Sketch drawn during the talk by Matt Lumpkin. http://mattlumpkin.com/

I just spent a couple of hours watching a video (linked below) of Peter Rollins speaking.  I will be watching it more than once.

Having said that, if you want to absorb it, you'll need to set aside some time.  The talk goes for about an hour, followed by a half hour question time.  It's worth the time - ALL of it.

In this talk, Rollins turns traditional conceptions of Christianity on their head.  During the question time, he draws parallels and distinctions between Christianity as he sees it and both Buddhism and New Atheism.  More than anything I have ever read or heard, he makes SENSE of the cross!

A whole bunch of ideas I've been groping at myself, quite independently, are articulated here in ways I could not have said.  I couldn't embed the video on blogger, but here's the link:

Introducing:  Peter Rollins, Salvation for Zombies!

Check it out, even if you ignore everything else I ever recommend!

& That's all from me!
xx
Kerry

A Modern Parable

The Big theme for me this week, is over and over, the need to identify with those "outside".  AND, I just discovered Peter Rollins.  His name seems to bounce around the blogosphere a bit - but until now I'd never heard him speak or read any of his stuff.  I think that's gonna change!

Enough from me - have a listen to this parable.  How does it sit with you?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!