28th Oct - 4th Nov 2007

I have been reading "Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World" by John O'Donohue. The book is described as "a rare synthesis of philosophy, poetry and spirituality" and begins with some thoughts about friendship (anam cara means 'soul friend'). This quotation is typical of O'Donohue's writing:

"A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you."

John O'Donohue (Irish poet, philosopher; see www.johnodonohue.com).

Additional Thoughts

"You can depend upon a friend… Between friends there rules only the promise to walk with each other and to be there for each other, in other words, a faithfulness that has to do not with acting and possessing but with the individual person and with being. Friendship is then a deep human relation that arises out of freedom, consists in mutual freedom, and preserves this freedom."

Jürgen Moltmann (theologian; from 'The Open Church', SCM Press, 1978).

Such friends are very different from the majority of 'friends' we may have in Facebook. Friendship described by John O'Donohue and Jurgen Moltmann have something of the divine within them:

"Jesus said…'I have called you friends.' "

The Bible (John 15:15).

21st - 28th Oct 2007

A quotation submitted by Elizabeth Plant:

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962, known as Eleanor Roosevelt, American political leader, wife of President Franklin D Roosevelt, active First Lady from 1933 to 1945).

Additional Thoughts
The quotation above is the counterpart to Proverbs 29:18, translated in the King James version of the Bible as:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Or in the words of Sir Richard Livingstone:

“The eternal trait of men [understand ‘people’] is the need for vision and the readiness to follow it; and if men are not given the right vision, they will follow wandering fires.”

(1880-1960; from “On Education”).

Which raises the question about what is the “right vision”.

14th - 21st Oct 2007

Last week, the anonymous quotation “Whoever dies happiest wins” led to a number of quotations about ‘happiness’ in the Additional Thoughts section. But is happiness the goal of life? People have suggested many goals in life including Nirvana, God, loving children…
Psychologist Erich Fromm suggests that we only find fulfilment in ourselves (apologies for the specifically male references - take them in the general sense of referring to both male and female):

“As long as anyone believes that his ideal and purpose is outside him, that it is above the clouds, in the past or in the future, he will go outside himself and seek fulfilment where it cannot be found. He will look for solutions and answers at every point except the one where they can be found – in himself.”

Erich Fromm (1900 – 1980; from Man for Himself, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975).

Additional Thought
Now for a spiritual perspective which contrasts with Erich Fromm:

“To find fulfilment man has to transcend himself, to discover a dimension of being beyond both the physical and the mental, and where the physical world itself is transfigured and is no more subject to corruption and death. This is the world of the resurrection, the ‘new creation’ of St Paul.”

Bede Griffiths OSB (from The Universal Christ, ed Peter Spink, DLT, 1993)

7th - 14th Oct 2007

A quotation which has many interpetations:

“Whoever dies happiest wins.”

Anon (We could imagine that this anonymous quotation was the motto of Jeremy Bentham who proposed that the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people).

Additional Thoughts
The quotation raises many questions, but let's just focus on: What do we mean by being happy? What is happiness? Here are a few possibilities (ask me if you want the full reference):

"Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving" Bible (Acts 20:35).
"Happiness lies in creativity" William Sykes, Visions of Grace.
"Happiness is...freedom from guilt" Henrik Ibsen, Rosmersholm.