Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible, which first appeared in 1534, renders Job 9:11 as follows: Siehe, er geht an mir vorüber, ehe ich’s gewahr werde, und wandelt vorbei, ehe ich’s merke. Lo, He passes by me before I am aware of it, and is transformed before I can take note of it. The German verb wandelt, meaning “to change,” or… Continue reading Goethe’s Process Poem
Author: hyattcarter
Charles Hartshorne’s Entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion
Charles Hartshorne has 34 entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion, the reference book edited by Vergilius Ferm. Some of the entries, such as the one on “cause” that runs over 2,000 words, qualify as mini-essays. One of my favorites, “God, as personal,” stands out as a model of clarity. All are characterized by Hartshorne’s buoyant… Continue reading Charles Hartshorne’s Entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion
The Prosaic Fallacy
Everyone has heard about the pathetic fallacy, but there is another fallacy, the exact opposite of the pathetic, that is of far more importance. This fallacy, which was first named and analyzed by Charles Hartshorne, is called the prosaic fallacy. Science tends to cast a cold eye on life and the world of nature, and… Continue reading The Prosaic Fallacy
The Greek Letter Chi Illuminates the Way
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. That verse (Matthew 19:30) is a good example of chiasmus, a rhetorical figure that reverses the terms of the two clauses that make up a sentence, or a part of a sentence. Chiasmus is thus a linguistic twist or turn that… Continue reading The Greek Letter Chi Illuminates the Way
A Koan To Lift You Up, Up and Away
For your contemplation—a “koan” by the writer and Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault: The kingdom of heaven is not later,it is lighter . . . And this by Peter Matthiesssen: “like that waterfall on the upper Suli Gadthat turns to mist before touching the earthand rises once again into the sky.” The Snow Leopard, p. 176… Continue reading A Koan To Lift You Up, Up and Away
Dōgen: Expressing the Inexpressible
“The reason of words and letters” is a translation of monji no dori,1 a central concept in the thought of Eihei Dōgen, the great Zen master who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan. The power of language, to facilitate realization, is made explicit in the following sentence that ends with a chiasmic twist:… Continue reading Dōgen: Expressing the Inexpressible
Slender Gold: Emperor Huizong’s Brush with Beauty
As a freshman many years ago, I went off to Park College, idyllically situated on hills overlooking the Missouri River just north of Kansas City. It was there I had my first opportunity to visit a world-class museum: The Nelson Gallery of Art. On that auspicious day I found myself pausing many times before the… Continue reading Slender Gold: Emperor Huizong’s Brush with Beauty
No-No Nse-Nse
The American poet Jonathan Williams surely sowed high mischief, not to mention irony, when he gave the following title to one of his volumes of verse: No-No Nse-Nse. Rearranged, these words reveal: No Nonsense. I discovered this only recently and, to my surprise, found that JW coined the word “Meta-Fours” early in the 1990s. I… Continue reading No-No Nse-Nse
Awaken Your Inner Socrates
Socrates is deservedly famous for the art of questioning he discovered and put to good use. Many who came to Socrates with confident beliefs soon came to see, under the light of his incisive questioning, that these beliefs were built upon the sands of confusion, self-contradiction, and superficial misunderstandings. This way of questioning has become… Continue reading Awaken Your Inner Socrates
Sublimity of Structure: The Hydrogen Atom
In process philosophy’s social conception of reality, even atoms are social beings. Consider the simplest case: the hydrogen atom with its one proton and electron. Did you ever stop and wonder what holds such an atom together—that is, what holds the electron and proton together, and at the same time apart, in dynamic and elegant… Continue reading Sublimity of Structure: The Hydrogen Atom