Thursday, June 12, 2014

"... the full engagement with this strange and shimmering world."


                       "If I Should Fall Behind"

We said we'd walk together baby come what may 
That come the twilight should we lose our way 
If as we're walking a hand should slip free 
I'll wait for you 
And should I fall behind 
Wait for me 

We swore we'd travel darlin' side by side 
We'd help each other stay in stride 
But each lover's steps fall so differently 
But I'll wait for you 
And if I should fall behind 
Wait for me 

Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true 
But you and I know what this world can do 
So let's make our steps clear that the other may see 
And I'll wait for you 
If I should fall behind 
Wait for me 

Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead 
There 'neath the oak's bough soon we will be wed 
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees 
I'll wait for you 
And should I fall behind 
Wait for me 
Darlin' I'll wait for you 
Should I fall behind 
Wait for me


"There are things we take on faith, without physical proof and even sometimes without any methodology for proof. We cannot clearly show why the ending of a particular novel haunts us. We cannot prove under what conditions we would sacrifice our own life in order to save the life of our child. We cannot prove whether it is right or wrong to steal in order to feed our family, or even agree on a definition of "right" and "wrong". We cannot prove the meaning of our life, or whether life has any meaning at all. For these questions, we can gather evidence and debate, but in the end we cannot arrive at any system of analysis akin to the way in which a physicist decides how many seconds it will take a one-foot-long pendulum to make a complete swing. The previous questions are questions of aesthetics, morality, philosophy. These are questions for the arts and the humanities. These are also questions aligned with some of the intangible concerns of traditional religion.

Faith, in its broadest sense, is about far more than belief in the existence of God or the disregard of scientific evidence. Faith is the willingness to give ourselves over, at times, to things we do not fully understand. Faith is the belief in things larger than ourselves. Faith is the ability to honor stillness at some moments and at others to ride the passion and exuberance that is the artistic impulse, the flight of the imagination, the full engagement with this strange and shimmering world."
 - Alan Lightman

(Thanks to whiskey river for the Alan Lightman quote)

1 comment:

The Solitary Walker said...

I like this broad definition of faith. It makes one realise how much one acts on trust; from gut instinct; without measuring.