abstract

the mind rises up and wrails against the concept of
no being
when gorgias states that nothing exists
and that if it did it is incomprehensible

but what is he looking at
i think he is looking at the
immense medium of
the storehouse of mystery

we know something
therefore something exists
it stands to reason

and we possess common sense
even if people tend to defy it constantly
still we have it
we drive cars

so how would gorgias live in a community?
that's my communication question of the day
a la dies
if someone lives in a state of cognitive nihilism
decideing each day that nothing exists
i am only experienceing a psychological state
known as existential dreaming then of course
all is only imagery
but we are faced continually with the real fact
of real people
something about the human mind and self will
that is obstinant

the human person will not go away
but what is a person
this is the great question of the 20th century
i think the philosophers like levinas and scheler and edith stein
and merlou-ponty and bergson and maritan of course these people were
intensly interested in the idea of person and how the idea of person
works itself out in the real world
a world that is to some marked degree imagined
people are continually imagining things and space
so what

the community stands as a locus of grace
into which almost any character can have a footing
can have a say can have a place of refuge
there is always discipline
how to march how to bow how to put the food on the table
these are great opportunities for community
gorgias can bow to br urban
br urban who does not give a flippity dingdong
for the unknowing incomprehensible nothing shadow
he only wonders if the carrots will be planted
if the flowers and the birds will thrive
these things exist
all else is phantasm

we do well to grant ourselves the luxury
of looking upon our own ethereality
but we must have bowel movements
and we must greet one anothers' disenchantment
with the world

for that is community
a group of people who are willing
to encounter disenchantment together

how do we arrange our shared tedium
how do we remain joyfully bored with life
with one another
how do we gracefully make the best of a bad scene

these are community thoughts

come one us lord
unite us in the womb of your mother
from which we may be ever born
into a world of necessary heart blood

on the 7th day of christmas

placing a community in context

from where comes the angst?

this is a good question

people living together display angst

the stated fact that due to the discoveries
of modern science we now live in a world that
seems far more inconsequential and far more random and negligible
than previous generations were wont to admit

is there a reason for 6.5 billion people to be
hustling about in the world today

why does it matter whether or not we can see the moons of jupiter

i'm going to be real here
and then depart

i am being drawn to mass
by the bells of advent

perhaps the only question is -
how does a community sustain its
attention -
and to what ??

a routine of sleep rising prayer sustenance
quiet work worship reading play walks naps
what else

i enjoy the quiet meal

i take solace in the quiet of my cell

simple necessary work suits me fine

a community is a place of harbor
but also a place of inquiry
a place to accept the challenge to know oneself
amongst others

the inherent integrity of a community is something never to be taken for granted lest it lose its very integrity

a community is always in the same general location
as the rest of the known universe

just some jots of thought
on 12/11/2010

leaving a community

st benedict prescribes a blessing for monks
when they leave and return to the monastery

this suggests a certain amount of recognition
that monks do go out into the world
they deliver messages they promulgate
things like gregorian chant they trade in books
they engage in the business of life

the blessing forces the consciousness of belonging

however
being a wise writer and an astute observor of human nature
benedict seems to recognize as well that for the most part
the important and constant work of a community must happen
within the community itself

the world is sometimes a dangerous place
monasteries were built as strong hedges
against the willful tide of the world

franciscans and jesuits
those guys were and are daredevils
they go out there and take christ to the streets
yet they are tied into communities in a strong and binding way
whereever they go they are welcomed by their own
as are benedictines

what does it take to contemplate the ties that bind

where does the language of covenant actually lead

to decide to move away from a community is a way of deciding to look at that community from a more objective stance
in this regard religious communities have no doubt benefitted from
dedicated members who have lived away from the community
however in a spirit of prayer

i know from experience that when i am away from the community
i become sort of lazy or lazier perhaps would describe that better
and i shrug the routine of daily prayer after awhile

the receptive nature of community allows for graceful departures
and peaceful returns
this is nothing to scoff at
in our world

it shall be like departing from silence into noise
and back to silence again

what will the noise have to say

do the gyrovague boogie

(technically the term gyrovague refers to individuals who presume
a free-form approach to religious life eschewing commitment as it were
so while i fully appreciate the out-law nature of the gyrovague and the
predilection for pilgrimage - still i think it better that people get connected into community - as a way of living freely and honestly)

thoughts ramblin with thoughts of ramblin

le moine tres bleu