tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post8638630775363461807..comments2023-09-28T10:08:44.827+02:00Comments on Gwynt: A Walk in the HillsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-23318030836899593492013-05-31T19:19:22.543+02:002013-05-31T19:19:22.543+02:00Bruce: I am not too certain that belief, in eithe...Bruce: I am not too certain that belief, in either direction, is what is needed. Maybe it is simply the act of open-minded engagement that is the point of the journey. For some reason that I cannot yet understand, I find your comment in some way justifies all that I seek to do, to write about. And for that I am grateful beyond words to express.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-5367368808300232682013-05-31T17:52:38.393+02:002013-05-31T17:52:38.393+02:00This post and the comments go far beyond that whic...This post and the comments go far beyond that which I usually encounter in the "blogosphere", Tom. Thank you for stirring my long-submerged thought process. (But I still can't find belief. Maybe when I grow older, eh?)Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-8022544842958394192013-05-30T09:47:01.830+02:002013-05-30T09:47:01.830+02:00Susan: Agreed. I do love your thinking, the comp...Susan: Agreed. I do love your thinking, the comparison of you as a 60w bulb hoping to hook into a million volt source. I must treat this thought gently and with kindness, and not block it with mere words.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-40268818313192389492013-05-30T09:40:42.529+02:002013-05-30T09:40:42.529+02:00Rouchswalwe: Yes, I so agree about Entish. One o...Rouchswalwe: Yes, I so agree about Entish. One of the things I love about Treebeard is his unhurried, thoughtful approach to life. Nothing is written in stone; everything can be up for re-examination - even the newest things in Middle Earth. There is a lovely line in which Pippin is talking about Treebeard's eyes, in which he says,<br /><br />"One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them, filled up with ages of memory and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present: like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree, or on the ripples of a very deep lake."<br /><br />It sounds as if you have had an engrossing weekend. When I read your example of men waiting for possible death, and read of others at the point of painful death, I know I would not deprive such souls of any comfort, religious or otherwise, if it helped. To do otherwise would be an unforgivable arrogance.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-67582677763662688922013-05-30T04:26:53.363+02:002013-05-30T04:26:53.363+02:00A very close friend of mine was a Sufi during the ...A very close friend of mine was a Sufi during the last twenty-five plus years of her life. It was she who first told me about the Muslim concept of the ninety-nine names of God, some of which are hidden from man. The idea seemed to have a rightness about it.<br /><br />I'm sure many have understood we need the ego in order for our physical survival, but not necessarily at the levels of desperate grasping we see in our current culture.<br /><br />Sometimes I think of myself as a 60w bulb hoping to hook into a million volt source. susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-51591588181807132042013-05-30T04:26:08.479+02:002013-05-30T04:26:08.479+02:00I can't help but think of Entish, that "u...I can't help but think of Entish, that "unhasty" language. Tolkien might have been on to something here.<br /><br />This past weekend, a long holiday weekend, I dove into the waters of genealogy. My maternal great-grandfather fought in World War I in the X Army on the Eastern Front. Last Friday, I found scans of that army's newspaper (over 1,000 pages) and worked my way through the first third or so. I was amazed at the reports from the front ... "nothing new," "the situation is unchanged," and "no action to report." What occupied the thoughts of the soldiers during these fallow times, with possible injury and death looming in the future? Rouchswalwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393987883437907945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-4754761015199833942013-05-28T09:13:28.422+02:002013-05-28T09:13:28.422+02:00Robbie: Thanks for dropping by. I hope you had a...Robbie: Thanks for dropping by. I hope you had a rewarding three days. As for my comfort, don't beat up on yourself: I'm fine. As for the violent rain and winds, well have a care. Don't insurance companies class those as 'acts of God'? You see, you're being observed! Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-18735060516780534982013-05-28T08:42:19.386+02:002013-05-28T08:42:19.386+02:00Back from three days at the the Hay Festival where...Back from three days at the the Hay Festival where I've been listening to philosophers (lots), atheists, an atheist translator of Cervantes, an economist (who is no doubt atheist), a stem cell scientist (worse than atheist according to George W. Bush), a historian talking about ancient Egypt (whose interests pre-dated Christianity), Brit. Mus. curator celebrating Ice Age Art(same as previous guy). You might say I haven't been going in God's way and thus I have naught for your comfort.<br /><br />For two days the sun shone, then violent rain and winds descended on us. Make your own conclusions.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-55802613898442492112013-05-25T21:25:10.698+02:002013-05-25T21:25:10.698+02:00Zephyr: Christopher: I am so very fortunate in h...Zephyr: Christopher: I am so very fortunate in having discovered the very dear people who comment on this blog. I long for the words that say, "Yes! Yes! and Yes again!"<br /><br />It seems to me to be something of a tragedy that these inner experiences cannot be adequately expressed in words, or at least in my words. I cannot say any more.......except thank you. Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-90531396850078581772013-05-25T19:24:08.528+02:002013-05-25T19:24:08.528+02:00Tom, it seems there is this experience of whatever...Tom, it seems there is this experience of whatever it is and we are both alone with it and then share it in some distant way with others who want to shout across or touch across or build bridges across all the chasms that lie between. Back in the psychedelic days of the 60s and early 70s people tried to build a culture around this yearning, hoping that a bridge had actually appeared. <br /><br />I have followed this promise of light my whole life, I believe and now my work could be (I hope it so) vistas of intimacy along the way.christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201537517464996231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-30602595926129472772013-05-25T18:53:21.830+02:002013-05-25T18:53:21.830+02:00so very beautifully written, Tom.
i feel i almost...so very beautifully written, Tom.<br /><br />i feel i almost find my key, my word while swimming in cool, clear water, alone. Or diving through ever rolling surf that i'm just barely strong enough to play in...<br /><br />thank you for this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-59328727629156053032013-05-25T16:44:07.518+02:002013-05-25T16:44:07.518+02:00Natalie: Sometimes I just don't have the word...Natalie: Sometimes I just don't have the words to respond. Let me assure you, I am smiling from ear to ear.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-84957934828112309202013-05-25T16:36:23.710+02:002013-05-25T16:36:23.710+02:00"...it is entirely possible that the ultimate..."...it is entirely possible that the ultimate source of life needs those experiences that only my ego can supply. Maybe for that reason, if for no other I, and that inner sense of presence which lies beyond my ego, are inextricably intertwined."<br /><br />Yes!<br /><br />"...There should be a word, a key to that inner door; yes, a new word to replace that baggage-laden God-word."<br /><br />Yes!<br /><br />"...Yet I choose not to stop reaching out to make that conscious contact, to satisfy this deep longing I have. "<br /><br />Yes!<br /><br />All I can do, Tom, is to say yes again to what you have so well expressed here. It echoes strongly within me and there is nothing I can add. Thank you.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-37056693894892458982013-05-25T16:31:15.246+02:002013-05-25T16:31:15.246+02:00Ellena: I think the moments of which you speak, s...Ellena: I think the moments of which you speak, showering and the quiet hours of the night, are two of those times when our minds are most relaxed and free. That's when the 'thinking' subsides and allows something else to emerge.<br /><br />When I say my replacement God-word would need to last a lifetime, it was meant to imply a lifelong experience. The advantage of a very short word - in the same experiential sense - would be that it might carry less baggage, so there would be advantages either way.<br /><br />I hope that responds appropriately to what you wanted to say. Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-73813282603492848112013-05-25T15:42:04.229+02:002013-05-25T15:42:04.229+02:00Your thought provoking post triggered a kind of th...Your thought provoking post triggered a kind of thinking in me that usually only comes up when I can't fall asleep. Today I had suchkind of houghts while taking my shower.<br />A new gradiose word for God would need to be a short one for me. Not that I ever ask for anything but I say thank you very often and think of the universe. (I wish I could write. Have a feeling that this does not say what I want it to say).<br />Thanks for showing up today. Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.com