Thursday, February 10, 2011

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Fourteen.



"Come to the edge," he said.
"No, we will fall," they replied.
They came to the edge.
He pushed them . . . and they flew.

Apollinaire

"The Mechanics of Crepe Myrtle"© (detail) 2011
From the "Revisiting My Nature" Series


From the Editor:
What holds us back? What stops us from moving, caring not the direction (or even the dimension for the adventurous)? Many of us might cite fear as a primary barricade impeding us from living into some perceived freedom. But fear of what? The unknown? Try making a list of what is known to you and what is unknown to you and get back to us on that. We must not let our dreams calcify. As Flannery O'Connor wrote in her 1953 short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find", "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Whose hand is holding the gun to your head, Friend?



"Societies of Entities"© 2011
Digital Photograph

From the "Revisiting My Nature" Series


Our Cosmic Epoch

“The Universe hates to be obtuse," began The Universe, “but The Universe is still tripping on this idea of Disorder. If there are intertwining Societies of Entities, like planetary systems or galaxies, then wouldn’t their most effective form of existence require only Order? Wouldn’t that be the Prevailing nature of that Order?”
“Well.” God said, “Well, a prevailing Order can create Chaos through Dominance. But Dominance is not a creative action, except only in the sense that it can create Disorder by not respecting Harmony.”
“Oh, and that is Dissonance?” asked The Universe.

“No”, replied God slowly, “Dissonance is part of the balance. Dominance just shows a lack of key understanding.”


"Spiritus"© (detail) 2008
Latex Housepaint, Gesso, Silver Leaf on Paper

From the "Prayer Painting" Series


Geometrical Order of Nature

“Abstractly speaking, God, does God require that The Universe believe in God in order for God to exist?” questioned The Universe.
A belief system certainly has its intrinsic flaws”, opined God. “Suffice it to say that God is fulfilled by a considerate and involved relationship with The Universe as God currently exists in connection to The Universe.”
“That sounds like a lot of responsibility on the part of The Universe”, whined The Universe.

“Or just good livin’”, responded God



"Air on the Dirac Strings"

“There comes a time when the bubble of ego is popped and you can’t get the ground back for an extended period of time. Those times, when you absolutely cannot get it back together, are the most rich and powerful times in our lives.”
Pema Chödrön


This concludes Week Fourteen of

"The God and The Universe Conversations".


All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.
"The God and The Universe Conversations" are based on Tom's protracted reading of
Process and Reality
, by Alfred North Whitehead.




4 comments:

Donna said...

I like the quote about the bubble of the ego being popped - great visual image

Tom Schulz said...

Donna,
Check the underlined name beneath the quote for other interesting things that Pema Chodron is up to.
I liked the juxtaposition of the visual image in the quote and the computer model of the Dirac string.

Donna said...

Thanks Tom - the links are endless and certainly a lot to ponder!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tom.
The detail of your visual work says it all.
-Tom Zilian