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

"The Sacrifice of Isaac"

"Apogee and Perigee Reminders"© 1999
Oil on Wood

“How long will we fill our pockets Like children with dirt and stones?
Let the world go.
Holding it, We never know ourselves,
never are air-born.”
Rumi


"The Quality of Boundaries"© 1999
Oil on Wood

⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Genesis 22, The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989

Weisiger Chapel, Presbyterian Hospital, Charlotte NC
Concrete and Black Walnut Altar, LED lighting, etched Acrylic Panels
In association with Hospice and Palliative Care 2009

From the Editor: A common contemporary definition of sacrifice is: to forfeit (one thing) for another thing considered to be of greater value. In ancient Hebrew, the root of the word for "sacrifice," korban, is kuf, reish, beit. This root means "to draw near." Let's look at Abraham's and Isaac's dilemma in that regard. To draw near. Even as a child, I thought that Abraham's obsequious acceptance of God's dictate was admirable. But flawed.Yet, what I have only come to understand of late, is Isaac's relationship to these dueling 'fathers'. Isaac was capable of toting a load of sticks up a mountain. So he was stout. Surely he could have rasseled down his old man and avoided getting trussed up beneath a drawn knife. But he participated. He drew himself into proximity of a life threatening and yet also transformative situation. He said, "I see the wood." Then asked, "Where is the lamb?"
Rather, we should ask, "Where is the would?" Where is the motivation to take a stand and place oneself in a sacrificial posture - to draw near?
And instead of ramming towards altars, should we be considering alters? The Third Way; the Unimagined. And in community, could we become an alterNation? A collection of specific entities willing to be sacrificed and yet ask, "Where is the would?" In The God and The Universe Conversations, God states that, “Anything that serves as a catalyst for novel invention is invaluable in God’s view”.
Where is your WOULD, Pilgrim? What draws you near?

Workers prepare to assist at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant."We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care."

The birds don't alter space.
They reveal it. The sky
never fills with any
leftover flying.
Li-Young Lee Book of My Nights

This concludes Week Seventeen 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.

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty"
(Prov.11:24).

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

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

“It is no good casting out devils. They belong to us,
we must accept them and be at peace with them.”
D.H. Lawrence

"Duck and Cover"
Civil Defense Film 1950

Today's Editorial: "On Context, Tides and Empathy"

An acquaintance recently asked, "If one friend is worried about the tax bill and I cut my finger, which matters more?" Intriguing question. One that points out that no relational equation can have an answer that is insulated from the prevailing circumstances. A new wave forms behind the wave that is in collapse and all waves are similar. It is the Tsunami that reeks havoc on a large scale, yet even the smallest wave is an agency of erosion. Perhaps empathy is not about understanding or about comparatives. In this moment, let us consider that empathy is a method of recognizing each circumstance as essentially linked and then embracing that beyond our own personal traditions of being.

Posted Direct from the Spidey-Hole.



Seabrook Island, SC.
Preparatory Study for "Contemplative Tides"© 2010

“Res Vera”

“Excuse The Universe if The Universe appears not able to think 'outside the cosmos', but it seems that time would have to be a definable order of successions if Becoming were as significant as God lets on", intoned The Universe in a display of munificent logic.

"For the purposes of argument, that is an extraordinarily clarifying statement", replied God. "In a static reality. But in fluid time formats, the progression of Becoming is interactive with both continuity and potentiality."

"Dang, God - God has an answer for everything!" fumed an exasperated The Universe.

Jack Matney Memorial Labyrinth.
Presbyterian Hospital. Charlotte, NC (detail)
Photo by Mary de Wit, in2Wit.

“Realitas Objectiva (or: Clothes Make the Man)”

“So then, God", continued The Universe, "is there any point for an Entity to make a plan? The Universe means, given the input of non-local potentialities and all."

"Plan away, by all means', soothed God. "Plans are great comfort to many Entities. Just keep aware that as soon as an Entity implements a plan, it has always already long begun. And when a plan is completed, it may be in the midst of casting out countless galaxies."

"What a beautiful awareness", sighed The Universe.

Seabrook Island, SC.
Preparatory Study for "Contemplative Tides"© 2010

“Intermittently Rational”

“The Universe considers that The Universe is capable of sustaining persistent qualities", flexed The Universe unabashedly. "And that these qualities fundamentally define Nature!"

"Gosh, that frozen logic works in theory", God mulled. " But a Monistic Universe then only embraces the illusion of change. A Pluralistic Universe, however, might consider the alternative view of Nature as a society of diversities."

"Yeah, yeah - that last thing God said", replied the Universe with animation.

"From Here to Eternity" 1953
Directed by Fred Zinnemann

"All my thoughts, words and deeds
Were only bringing me closer
To universal embrace:
Here I am resting joyfully in myself,
Wrapped in deep silence on all sides,
And my heart beats in the rhythm of everything
Which surrounds me.
Enough. No need for words.”
Julian Tuwim


This concludes Week Ten 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.