Barry Lopez Quote January 26, 2008
Posted by jclerch in : critical thinking , add a commentNo culture has yet solved the dilemma each has faced with the growth of a conscious mind: how to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in all life, when one finds darkness not only in one’s own culture but within oneself. If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of a leaning into the light.
Thoughts on Revolutionaries January 26, 2008
Posted by jclerch in : politics , add a commentThe new rebel is a skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore, he can never really be a revolutionary. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all enunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces but the doctrine by which he denounces it. Rational optimism leads to stagnation. It is irrational optimism that leads to reform. Before any act of reform we must have a cosmic oath of allegiance. Can we hate it enough to change it; love it enough to think it worth changing? Is he enough of a pagan to die for the world and enough of a Christian to die to it? This combination is impossible for the rational optimist, but possible for the irrational optimist. Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to suit the vision. Progress does mean (just now) that we are always changing the vision. It should mean that we are slow but sure in bringing justice among men; it does mean that we are very swift in doubting the desirability of justice and mercy. We are not altering the real to suit the idea. We are altering the ideal; it is easier. The Evolutionist says, “Where do you draw the line?” The Revolutionist answers, “I draw it here; exactly between your head and body.” If our life is really as beautiful as a fairy tale, we shall have to remember that all the beauty of a fairy tale lies in this; that the prince has a wonder, which stops just short of being fear. If he is afraid of the giant there is an end of him. But if he is not astonished at the giant, there is an end of the fairytale. The whole point depends on his being at once humble enough to wonder, haughty enough to defy. So our attitude to the giant of the world must not be merely increasing delicacy or increasing contempt; it must be one particular proportion of the two, which is exactly right. The perfect happiness of man on earth (if it ever comes) will not be a flat and solid thing like the satisfaction of animals. It will be an exact and perilous balance; like that of a desperate romance. God says: I could have told you all this a long time ago. If there is any certain progress it can only be my kind of progress, the progress towards a complete city of virtues and dominations where righteousness and peace continue to kiss each other. An impersonal force might be leading you to a wilderness of perfect flatness or a peak of perfect height. But only a personal god can possibly be leading you (if indeed you are being led) to a city with just streets and architectural proportions, a city in which each of you can contribute exactly the right amount of your own color to the many-colored coat of Joseph.
