One thing I will be doing is continuing on with my latest Blook (a cross between a Blog and a book) Details of my various Blooks can be found on previous posts under some of my previous names here.
The Blook is "The Christian Mystics", many of them considered "Dharpma Friends" by Buddhists. The actual difference in [i]experience[/i] between theists and non-theists is of interest to me.
Here is the Work in Progress cover of the Blook:-
WIP? Well, the colour, picture and title are all subject to change....😀
The current picture is the Church of Little Gidding, which is the name of the fourth quartet of T.S.Eliots "Four Quartets". Mr Eliot knew the Christian mystics well and I have always loved the last few lines.....
[i]We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. Quick now, here, now, always— A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything) And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one. [/i]
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SW-User
Waiting now for the invasion of grandchildren (bless them) and exact numbers before preparing dinner. While waiting, here is another book on Universal Reconciliation. Buddhist? Well, one only needs to know the Eternal Logos to find any faith in any other.
"Once Loved Always Loved" by Andrew Hronich
The blurb says:-
[i]In this book, Andrew Hronich endeavors to synthesize the many strands of orthodox doctrine into a single telos: ultimate reconciliation. While a great deal of ink has already been spilled on this subject, this book addresses ponderances previously overlooked due to a lack of ecumenical dialogue between the differing streams of Christian tradition. Ancient lights, such as Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Clement of Alexandria are given a voice to speak again to the masses, whilst contemporary thinkers, such as Thomas Talbott, David Bentley HInart, and Eric Reitan, are unleashed upon the unwitting world of Christian philosophy. Stagnant tradition has hindered the church from abiding by its historic motto semper reformanda, but with its ecumenical voice, this book calls on Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox adherents alike to acknowledge apokatastasis panton, the salvation of all beings, as the orthodoxy it always has been.[/i]
Sadly Universal Reconciliation is seen as a "soft option", a "feel good" teaching. Not so, if taken seriously. It means that instead of just washing our hands of anybody we are called ourselves to see Christ in all, in every "other", to truly [i]hear[/i] their voice.
As Merton:-
....[i]the deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. it is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity. My dear brothers and sisters, we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.[/i]
It is a deep and profound calling, a great mission.
