Wednesday 22 July 2009

cruel nature, percolating spirit

Watched south pacific on bbc4 last night. some brutal instances of nature red in tooth and claw: man o' war birds with hooked bills plucking isolated tern chicks from cliff edge, then waving and snapping them in mid-air, helpless rag dolls. tiger sharks ambushing ungainly albatross chicks from below; nightmare from the deep, a ton or so of raw sinuous power thrusting torpedo-like to the surface and seizing the frail bird in its vice jaws, engulfing the doomed creature that flounders like a broken kite. but then the other, glorious side of nature, a super-pod of dolphins frolicking in the surf against backdrop of lord of the rings new zealand peaks, looping and jumping with the joy of being alive.

been pondering the stumbling block that can be posed by considering the bible to be the 'word of God' in a neat, boxed-in way. so conceived, it is all too easily blown aside for many by the stormy complexity of life, like a house of cards. it's only as i enter it with the expectant questing spirit of a child exploring a broad enchanted country, that i can submit to its wisdom, allow my spirit to percolate and revive in its truth, and then go out to be an agent of change in the world, broken bread and poured out wine. it's something to aim for anyway.

12 comments:

r.p. said...

yeah I think about the bread being broken - its not healthy just to swallow a loaf is it ?

Our minds can be so possesive that they fossilise the spirit's inspiration of the word into an concepts and abstractions....

I am sure in dying with christ I have to die even to the idea of what christ is.

" You are dead and your life is hid with christ in god"

Bruce said...

Os chambers is good on loving God rather than the idea of God. I recommend 'my utmost', bracing stuff

Billy said...

Bruce, How do you square nature with the concept of a loving god?

Children believe anything BTW.

Anonymous said...

billy,

The god you chose not to believe in is "well soft". You want us to square nature with some squeamish marshmallow loving diety. It might make more sense to square our idea of god to nature. But then if nature is a language - it is - as morrisey insists - important to remember that some people cant read.

Billy said...

Anonymous

I challenge you to provide evidence that I choose not to believe in god.

You seem to be getting away from my point some what - which was addressed to Bruce - who does believe in a loving god!

Perhaps you dont believe in such a god, in which case, the question has nothing to do with your beliefs.

Are you by any chance Rob?

Anonymous said...

i believe in a loving god - i just believe gods idea of loving is a little different from ours - maybe its the difference between jimi hendrix and songs of praise - but its a question of dimensions not degrees

the last i looked i was rob - how are you doing - what do you reckon mowbrays euro debut outshadows strachan's away defeat - must be nice looking forward to the league stages....

r.

Billy said...

Hi Rob,
That would be a belief without any evidence to back it up though.

I've mixed feelings about Celtic's impending exit. It's good for us that the wont get CL cash, but potentially bad for us if we dont win the league. With a few exceptions, I generally support them in Europe (grudgingly).

Been up to much?

Rob Penman said...

I remember having an argument with a 6ft 9 bloke in a bar in london - he was upset by the way I was supporting rangers in europe : I was screaming: " go on you ugly b****** "... "beautiful, you dirty hun" - and such effervescent oxymorons. He was upset that my provincial dislike of the boys in blue didnt extend to their european performance - to be honest my support extends to cup finals against hearts,aberdeen and dundee utd - if that makes any sense.

I do agree that being out of europe gives a team an advantage in the league - its one of these fail safe nicieties that preserves the rivalry of the old firm.

Mowbray is too much a novice for the job - he has no understanding of european football - but i think he will make them play a bit more in the league than strachan. Brown will be back for the away leg - last season they could seem half a team without him - the last game at ibrox especially...

Im off to arran tommorow - have you been up goat fell ?

r.

Bruce said...

i've been up gf rob - enjoy your trip! scotland in miniature they say. try the crazy golf in brodick too, good for all the family.
hopefully chat to you soon, when ya back?
and thanx billy for helping keep the debate current:)

Billy said...

Enjoy Arran Rob. I've done goat fell a couple of times. If you are going up it, the rout from Corrie via North Goatfell is the best. It has a few avoidable easy scrambling options.
Yep, selective support makes sense.

Bruce, thanks for not burying your head in the sand over a difficult question and keeping an open mind :-)

Bruce said...

i'm not burying my head at all billy, it's a very interesting question that i do think about and may well come back to.
having said that, God made ostriches too:)

Billy said...

God made ostriches too:)

Nah, they evolved from dinosaurs