tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post5673163397530378087..comments2024-02-19T10:15:55.380+00:00Comments on CAUTE — Making Footprints Not Blueprints: Sandcastle builders and sailors - revisiting Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and the "Sea of Faith"Andrew James Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02693417061963197121noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-8419995703260254912013-04-15T22:13:15.791+01:002013-04-15T22:13:15.791+01:00To bring in another seaside metaphor: I was watchi...To bring in another seaside metaphor: I was watching a documentary about Isaac Newton (entitled "Last of the magicians") and it had this famous quote:<br /><br />"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."<br /><br /><i>Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton</i> (1855) by Sir David Brewster (Volume II. Ch. 27). <br /><br />Wikiquote points out this related quote from Milton (another proto-Unitarian): "As children gath'ring pebbles on the shore", John Milton, <i>Paradise Regained</i>, Book iv. Line 330.<br /><br />I think the most fruitful exploration is done in the intertidal zones between the sea and the beach.<br /><br />Thank you so much for posting the video of Secret Water - a place I have often visited in my imagination, but never in real life. I found myself looking for Mastodon footprints in the mud.<br /><br />Yewtreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-15708608308019985862013-03-10T21:25:32.189+00:002013-03-10T21:25:32.189+00:00Another very interesting mix of personal reflectio...Another very interesting mix of personal reflection with such varied reference material. Lot of food for thought. Thanks.Will Pnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-50252087778001298442013-03-09T11:26:42.637+00:002013-03-09T11:26:42.637+00:00Dear Dean,
Thanks for the comment. A few things s...Dear Dean,<br /><br />Thanks for the comment. A few things spring to mind as worth placing on the table.<br /><br />Yes, a church such as this one does have a lot invested in secular "beach life" but it was an investment made precisely because of what it learnt whilst sailing on the sea of faith (particularly during the Radical Reformation and the Enlightenment which followed).<br /><br />The point is that we have many religious (sea of faith) resources it's just that we haven't been paying attention to them recently, let alone actually using them. <br /><br />In my opinion the way to access these older religious resources and to be able to use them appropriately in the here and now is via post-modern thought. We need to develop a post-modern reading of our foundational texts and practices. Now I don't want to claim too much for it (it's not complete) but, at present, I'm re-reading the Racovian Catechism with my "Heideggerian" and "Wittgensteinin" hats on. A strange sight indeed!<br /><br />I have found that this process of reconnecting in this fashion with our radical religious tradition (its sea of faith life) has helped me immensely - not least of all in allowing me to accept once apparently very important sandcastles will fall (are falling) in the sea whilst also allowing me to keep in play the "events" that were the building of them.<br /><br />The trick is to see (and feel) that the "event" of our whole liberal Christian tradition is made up of both sea- and beach-living. <br /><br />Once seen and felt - then it has to be lived. I guess (hope) that's what were trying to do here in the Memorial Church.Andrew James Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02693417061963197121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-24905333310116202372013-03-06T10:16:05.155+00:002013-03-06T10:16:05.155+00:00I wonder how a church like this one can inhabit th...I wonder how a church like this one can inhabit that space having so much invested in the beach life so to speak? Are we as a congregation ready to embark on a journey of discovery that will lead us into a new place and are we prepared for that journey? perhaps it is a boat we need and not a wagon. still I feel there are signs of hope but I think we need to get back out of our comfort zone and maybe stop crying over a list sandcastle or two.Dean Reynoldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12684817228671682542noreply@blogger.com