Searching for it after you've found it

Religious truth is of the same order as artistic truth, only more so. It too might appear to be subjective, but it is not. In fact, it is the most objective truth available to us. There are some people who can recognize it, others who, for whatever reason, cannot. Likewise, there are a handful of souls who, when we hear them talk about God, stand way above the rest. There is also a second tier--the Tony Bennetts, the Bobby Darins, the Nat King Coles--that are very good, but at their best, they only touch the hem of his garment. And there are third, fourth and fifth tier theologians and pneuma-babblers, through whom the primordial message only becomes more faint and garbled.

Go to the religion or “new age” section of a book store and it is no different than wading into the various bins at the record store--Johnny Cash mixed in with Tim McGraw, John Coltrane next to Kenny G., Bobby Bland next to Ben Harper, Deepak Chopra next to Sri Aurobindo, Wayne Dyer next to Frithjof Schuon, Joel Osteen next to von Balthasar. At the time Jesus lived, only a few people recognized what was going on. But they did so in an instant--John the Baptist, for example. Not to trivialize it, but he clearly experienced something that was as obvious and objective as hearing Sinatra sing the Summer Wind.

More generally, there has probably never been another time in human history when it has been easier to overrun the truth and continue searching for it after you've found it, as if it never happened. posted by Gagdad Bob at 8:16 AM 26 comments