Miscellaneous Munchings and Musings

Early to bed means one ends up at strange hours with misty missions one cannot really grasp. A strange dream awoke me at 11:59 p.m., and I do not really remember the dream, so cannot determine its meaning; only remember I thought it significant at the time. Now (3:30 a.m.), I am up with neck pain and waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in. Of course, I smile when I remember I have no need to go to work tomorrow, so no problem. That’s a nice no problem.

Yesterday evening, I went to bed early because I was having difficulty getting into some books I had cherished after getting them from the library. The major one was In a Different Voice, by Carol Gilligan, but also her The Birth of Pleasure. I’ve stacked all these for return in the morning. Not like me, but perhaps for reason.

I’ve picked up long owned The Cloud of Unknowing. This book, written in the last quarter of the 14th century, by an anonymous English priest, is a mystical classic. In its day, it would have invoked
the Church’s wrath since it was written in English. The unwritten rule seems that mystic works written in Latin and went untranslated, were cause for sainthood, but those either written in or translate to a native language could be cause for excommunication and, in one case, burning. Meister Eckhart seems an exception since his works were condemned without he being so personally.

Many of these “untranslated” medieval mystics are now Doctors of the Church. Of course, today, they are translated, and readily available to anyone, as well as classics from the East. Two major happenings of the twentieth century now make much available that previously have never been so. First, the 1959 invasion of Tibet by Communist China launched a million Tibetan monks into the world. This foretold in the 13th century by the Buddhist leader in Tibet. The second happening was Vatican II, the council that switched Mass from Latin into native language, and released any number of closely held spiritual classics into the world. The last two popes have attempted to close the many doors opened by Vatican II, but with limited success.

With the availability of such diverse spiritual texts and post-modern discerning of alternate cultures being equally valid, many of the sacred beliefs are seen as merely cultural bias and even archaically unethical. If they weren’t exempt because of their religious status, actions from some of their religious tenants would be illegal. Further, many see religions at best as ineffectual in meeting needs and even answering questions of ultimate concern—the true mission of faith. In short, religions fail to provide convincing life-mission guidance and methods of personal transformation, and do not recognize, much less understand their failure. Instead they attempt to substitute fraternity and entertainment value. Their membership declines and many members simply no longer attend nor contribute financially.