that is more like it Jane, i love that combativeness in you. how dare you leave just when we may be beginning to uncover nerve endings. all the endless meaningless dribble is foreplay, a feeling each other out, a defining of terms and biases. its seeming aimlessness serves a critical function in paving the road toward real talk about real issues. From your study of mediaeval times you should be highly aware of the elaborate structure of meaningless preamble that precedes discussion of the issue at hand; right from the Royals on down to the common folk. I recall, from my childhood in another culture, my endless impatience as my father, with me in tow, would transact business. For example, something as simple as buying groceries at the local market; my dad and the proprietor would babble inanities sometimes for an hour before they would talk price on some vegtables. And if you needed some official to stamp a permit or cut through red tape an entire day can be spent before even mentioning the permit. In planning travel itineries whole extra days must be scheduled that serve no purpose other than to talk endlessly and meaninglessly by way of greetings to officials as we pass through their villages. So what is the meaning of our "meaningless dribble"? Perhaps it is a simple exersize in patience (a most profound spiritual practice and lesson for the impatient ego); maybe it is a human artifice that God uses to highlight and curtail the initiatives of that in us which is willful. Perhaps in our haste to pursue "spiritual" lessons we overlook and neglect the value to be found in the mundane. In any event, as Carol gently reminded me, all the words and the thoughts behind them, wheather implicit or explicit, are revealing one way or another. On a more personal level your aim is deadly accurate. What I say is meaningless and I am more shallow than even you think. I take your words to heart. SI as a medium is a paragon. Communicating through it is at once both a metaphor and the reality. Intentional perseverance will bear fruit. "...knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope." (Romans 5: 3-4)
with equally deep fondness Grace,
ghunk |
