Mass; spirituality books
Jul. 31st, 2019 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterJust so you are aware: this post is difficult for me to share publicly, so I may make a decision later on to lock it.
Since this small liberal arts college is Catholic, the announcement of the president's sudden death was accompanied by an announcement for a Mass to be held that same day (yesterday) at 12:30. I listened to my heart, and my heart told me to go, so I did.
Cue strong flashbacks to the other most recent Mass I attended, also for someone's death (yeah, my Dad's). So, wow, here's something I have now learned about myself, that this is probably going to happen every time I attend a Mass in the future. Whether I like it or not, my relationship to the Mass is changed. [I will continue to refer to myself as a Cathaholic.]
When I was home in Seattle, I spent some time perusing my parents' bookshelves in the living room. Our family home has two built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace (which is how all houses should be built, naturally). The rough organizational system for the bookshelves is that my Mom's books are on the left, my Dad's books are on the right.
My Dad was an intensely spiritual person. My entire life, he has always woken up an hour early to pray each morning. He read extensively and discussed a wide range of theological literature (and beyond) with a range of spiritual community members, both within the Catholic Church and beyond. The "beyond" part relates to his sense of the importance of placing the human story in the broader context of our current scientific understanding of the origins of the universe as a whole (preferred term, "Cosmos"). Part of my perusal was, are any of the books here things that I would like to read, that would give me a connection to my Dad and continue the exploration of where his perspective and mine overlap and diverge?
I picked one or two books up, and started to thumb through them. My immediate, clear reaction was that the books didn't speak to me. At all. Which is interesting to contemplate, because I do share my Dad's sense of wonder about human existence within this universe. Just...zero connection with the rhetorical style, there. Beyond that is the more general question of when and whether there are books in this arena that DO have the power to speak to people across generational divides. (and of books vs. oral traditions). I am certain of at least one thing, that there's more than one correct answer this question, heh.
Since this small liberal arts college is Catholic, the announcement of the president's sudden death was accompanied by an announcement for a Mass to be held that same day (yesterday) at 12:30. I listened to my heart, and my heart told me to go, so I did.
Cue strong flashbacks to the other most recent Mass I attended, also for someone's death (yeah, my Dad's). So, wow, here's something I have now learned about myself, that this is probably going to happen every time I attend a Mass in the future. Whether I like it or not, my relationship to the Mass is changed. [I will continue to refer to myself as a Cathaholic.]
When I was home in Seattle, I spent some time perusing my parents' bookshelves in the living room. Our family home has two built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace (which is how all houses should be built, naturally). The rough organizational system for the bookshelves is that my Mom's books are on the left, my Dad's books are on the right.
My Dad was an intensely spiritual person. My entire life, he has always woken up an hour early to pray each morning. He read extensively and discussed a wide range of theological literature (and beyond) with a range of spiritual community members, both within the Catholic Church and beyond. The "beyond" part relates to his sense of the importance of placing the human story in the broader context of our current scientific understanding of the origins of the universe as a whole (preferred term, "Cosmos"). Part of my perusal was, are any of the books here things that I would like to read, that would give me a connection to my Dad and continue the exploration of where his perspective and mine overlap and diverge?
I picked one or two books up, and started to thumb through them. My immediate, clear reaction was that the books didn't speak to me. At all. Which is interesting to contemplate, because I do share my Dad's sense of wonder about human existence within this universe. Just...zero connection with the rhetorical style, there. Beyond that is the more general question of when and whether there are books in this arena that DO have the power to speak to people across generational divides. (and of books vs. oral traditions). I am certain of at least one thing, that there's more than one correct answer this question, heh.
