Makes me think of this Merton quote from Conjectures
“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”
Especially the ignorance of evil.” Not sure how to reconcile this statement. We are not to deny evil, but to confront it, stand up to it. Pastor Dietrich gave his life standing up to Hitler and this quote reminds us that choosing the path of least resistance allows evil to win. “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
I hadn't noticed that he was a pastor as well. (duh, it's written in prominent letters during the trailer) Here's the official site for the movie, coming out Nov 22. https://www.angel.com/movies/bonhoeffer
Very interesting-I took good to mean perfect. The points you bring out are well worth pondering.
As for immersion in the world and all the yucky stuff in it, I have a limit to how much negative information I can take in-a very small limit, at best.
So grateful for God’s word and for those who help me understand it better. Thanks!
Just this morning I was reading from the Lectio 365 the scripture from Ephesians 3:16– I pray that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit. The commentary did a play on words- The Love of Power——Power of Love. I have been contemplating that all day and as I read your words on good and evil, I cant help but compare the two thought processes. It seems that Adam and Eve actually were pursuing power in their own lives instead of embracing the Power of Gods love. (I have also been listening to Voxology podcast on Genesis and they often refer to power over verses power with). Dont we do the same with our pursuit of knowledge. At times, we want the knowledge so that it gives us a sense of power over others instead of allowing the knowledge we gain to be a tool for loving others better. As we study scripture and pray the goal is to be strengthened in our inner being through His spirit and then His spirit flows out of us to others not to have power over them but to be filled with Gods power to love. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted or misrepresented your original thought. I thought your post was terrific. It just all went together in my brain.
A.J. I am thinking similarly about all these things. The other day I thought, “Mel, you need more beauty in your life.” If I dive too deep into the things social media talks about, my mind goes too dark. As a person who struggles with mental health I need to maintain balance. That’s difficult when I also want to know all the things. 😆
AJ, I saw your posting via The Blaze Network, and I wanted to tell you how truly profound and eye opening it was for me.
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of our temple ceremonies speaks to the journey of man, using Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden story as a symbolic vehicle to discuss our fall from the presence of God and our efforts to come back to Him. We are encouraged to go to the temple often, first for ourselves and then on behalf of deceased individuals, and thus, for us, a repetitive effort, but for our learning.
And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
Your point about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil being created by God is a symbol of the agency He gives to us. But I never stopped to think that He created the tree. The fall was inevitable, and thus the need for a savior through whom we return to God's presence. We seek after truth and knowledge, of course, but the distractions and the evil that comes with it was so well expressed by you, and I hadn't stopped to equate that what might appear to be everyday efforts to be informed as drifting into taking of that fruit, which takes us away from Him and towards death.
Your early paragraph distinguishing between knowledge and information is an important one. That which is not used to love, serve, or help others is evil. How easily we are distracted and seek novelty.
Your story and points opened my eyes to many things that I have glossed over as minor details, but in truth mean so much and are truly eye opening. Thank you for taking the time to share these with us.
Makes me think of this Merton quote from Conjectures
“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”
“Some ignorance is a gift.
Especially the ignorance of evil.” Not sure how to reconcile this statement. We are not to deny evil, but to confront it, stand up to it. Pastor Dietrich gave his life standing up to Hitler and this quote reminds us that choosing the path of least resistance allows evil to win. “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.“ - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thank you for your quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I remember seeing a trailer for an upcoming movie about him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZM90izJ8sI
I hadn't noticed that he was a pastor as well. (duh, it's written in prominent letters during the trailer) Here's the official site for the movie, coming out Nov 22. https://www.angel.com/movies/bonhoeffer
I wasn’t aware this movie is coming to the theaters! Very excited to see it. Thank you!!!
Very interesting-I took good to mean perfect. The points you bring out are well worth pondering.
As for immersion in the world and all the yucky stuff in it, I have a limit to how much negative information I can take in-a very small limit, at best.
So grateful for God’s word and for those who help me understand it better. Thanks!
Wow! This is SO interesting with points I have not ever considered. 🤯👏🏼
Just this morning I was reading from the Lectio 365 the scripture from Ephesians 3:16– I pray that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit. The commentary did a play on words- The Love of Power——Power of Love. I have been contemplating that all day and as I read your words on good and evil, I cant help but compare the two thought processes. It seems that Adam and Eve actually were pursuing power in their own lives instead of embracing the Power of Gods love. (I have also been listening to Voxology podcast on Genesis and they often refer to power over verses power with). Dont we do the same with our pursuit of knowledge. At times, we want the knowledge so that it gives us a sense of power over others instead of allowing the knowledge we gain to be a tool for loving others better. As we study scripture and pray the goal is to be strengthened in our inner being through His spirit and then His spirit flows out of us to others not to have power over them but to be filled with Gods power to love. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted or misrepresented your original thought. I thought your post was terrific. It just all went together in my brain.
A.J. I am thinking similarly about all these things. The other day I thought, “Mel, you need more beauty in your life.” If I dive too deep into the things social media talks about, my mind goes too dark. As a person who struggles with mental health I need to maintain balance. That’s difficult when I also want to know all the things. 😆
AJ, I saw your posting via The Blaze Network, and I wanted to tell you how truly profound and eye opening it was for me.
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of our temple ceremonies speaks to the journey of man, using Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden story as a symbolic vehicle to discuss our fall from the presence of God and our efforts to come back to Him. We are encouraged to go to the temple often, first for ourselves and then on behalf of deceased individuals, and thus, for us, a repetitive effort, but for our learning.
And re-learning.
It closely follows this account of the creation story seen in the book of Moses seen here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp?lang=eng (chapters 2-4)
And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
Doctrine and Covenants 128:15
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/128?id=p15&lang=eng#p15
Your point about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil being created by God is a symbol of the agency He gives to us. But I never stopped to think that He created the tree. The fall was inevitable, and thus the need for a savior through whom we return to God's presence. We seek after truth and knowledge, of course, but the distractions and the evil that comes with it was so well expressed by you, and I hadn't stopped to equate that what might appear to be everyday efforts to be informed as drifting into taking of that fruit, which takes us away from Him and towards death.
Your early paragraph distinguishing between knowledge and information is an important one. That which is not used to love, serve, or help others is evil. How easily we are distracted and seek novelty.
Your story and points opened my eyes to many things that I have glossed over as minor details, but in truth mean so much and are truly eye opening. Thank you for taking the time to share these with us.
Thank you!