Freedom

Existential Alphabet

Wrote this several years ago and was reminded of it today: 

Existential Alphabet

A is for Angst, that Dizzying Freedom
B is for Being, its Possibility and its Tedium
C is for the Character of Conscience as Call
D is for Dasein, almost Any Existence at All
E is for Existential, it’s What We Are 
And E is also for Experience –in the World, not as Brains Stuck in Jars 
F is for Flungness and Throwness, experienced by the Knower
And G is for God who just might be the Thrower 
H is for the Actual Historicity of Truth 
And I is for the Immanentizing Ideologies of Untruth
J is for Judgments, we make these by Thinking 
K is for Kenosis, when our own Will starts Shrinking
L is for Logos, we’re talking the Divine Ground 
And M is for Mystery, since it’s not just Lying Around
N is for Nihilism and No Objective Morality 
O is for Ontology and Openness to Reality 
P is for Problematizing, my least favourite Verb 
And Q is for Questioning, which is much less Absurd 
R is for Relationship to the Other Man
And R is also for Recognition that should be Reciprocal, if it can
S is for the Separateness in the Human Condition of Plurality
And T is for Transcendence Beyond Worldly Temporality 
U is for Utopia and All such Prideful Conceits 
V is for this Will replacing Vision Not even being Discreet
W is for World, with a Structure quite Complex 
X is for Xenophon, ’cause his Name starts with ‘X’
Y is for ‘Youth’ and ‘Old Age’, Historical Metaphors that have Misled
And Z is for Zoomorphism, ’cause that starts with ‘Zed’
 
Now I think I know my existential alphabet… Next time will this be a waste of time, in retrospect? 

Book: The Personalism of John Paul II

One of my very favourite organizations, the Hildebrand Project, has just released this little book titled The Personalism of John Paul II.

I read it today and here’s the brief review I wrote of it on Amazon: Continue reading →

“Be a Jew, forever!”

On this date in 1977, Shimon Peres became the 8th Prime Minister of Israel. As Shmuel Rosner wrote in this New York Times article, “Mr. Peres began his life in Vishneva, a village on the border of modern-day Poland and Belarus. When he left for Palestine in 1934, under his original name, Shimon Persky, his grandfather told him, ‘Be a Jew, forever!’ The grandfather, along with much of his family, perished in the Holocaust.” Continue reading →

We keep celebrating

“Most Jews throughout history have not been free, whether from murderous regimes or famines or pandemics. What we have been is devoted to the idea that we deserve to be.” – Alana Newhouse

This article from which I quoted above is one of my favourites I’ve read recently. In it, Alana Newhouse reflects: “The Passover Seder centers on the experience of being thrust out of our homes, but these days we feel trapped inside of them. The story involves miraculous plagues that saved us; today we pray for the end of one. There’s the commandment to clean our homes of all non-Passover food, which we just spent innumerable hours and dollars hoarding.” Continue reading →

Our education in leisure

“We have come to accept compulsory military service in peacetime for the sake of national security. Am I too bold in suggesting the idea of compulsory adult education in leisure time for the sake of spiritual security?” — Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

How do you spend your leisure?

I love this question. Continue reading →