… about the mystery of life … “I think fear is a very big element in what we do–our living in a global reality probably elicits a lot of free-floating anxiety. We’re the first humans to have to do that. You try to find something to fix that anxiety on, and take control over whatever […]
fear & control & the roots of our discomfort … Read More »
The Ride of Eternity Luigi Giussani In the first movement of Schubert’s quartet, after the very brief, almost involuntary, passing hint at death, there is like a sudden reawakening and life returns triumphant. The whole of the first movement is as though determined by the affirmation of life, death is as though obliterated. But death
death and the maiden … Read More »
Elvira Parravicini discusses Icarus’ fall and its relation to caring for those in need. “suffering and sickness are unavoidable and ultimately are the premonition of death. Chagall depicts the falling Icarus welcomed by the people of the town with open arms, with tenderness and compassion. In history, care for the sick came about this way,
chagall’s ‘the fall of icarus’ … Read More »
… of the most absolute human loneliness we can listen to a voice that calls us, and we can find a hand that takes hold of us and leads us out. The human being lives because he is loved and can love; if love has penetrated even into the realm of death, life has arrived
even in the extreme darkness … Read More »
… encounter with reality … In the soothing softness of the modern world, the mass of traditional rules which gave consistency to life broke up as the frozen surface of a stream breaks up in spring … Thanks to the progress of technology, the greater part of the restraints imposed on us by the cosmos
more observation … less discussion Read More »
“Life is a mystery, and we all acknowledge it, but we don’t really know it. You don’t know the heart, you don’t know the mind, you don’t know the body. You are in front of a mystery, you have to get that straight, and you must be there with awe and trembling because this is
vigil … a sacred word … a sacred time … Read More »
… the legend of Parsifal and the Fisher King … We refer to an episode in the legend of Parsifal and the Fisher King, concerning the mysterious malady that paralyzed the old King who held the secret of the Graal. It was not he alone who suffered; everything around him was falling into ruins, crumbling
death is only the result … of our indifference to immortality … Read More »
… the importance of relationships … “What is the difference between a child who makes a mistake and an adult who makes a mistake? That the child does not sever that bond; he can’t even look at his mistake without seeing it immediately embraced by his mother. On the contrary, what happens to us? We
the key difference between a child and an adult … Read More »
The ‘work’ of dying involves the restoration of our relationships – our relationship to ourselves … to others … to God. Luigi Giussani tells us why this is so difficult today …
on moral certainty & relationships … Read More »
We often best serve others through our own vulnerability, by opening up our own humanity (not by hiding behind roles) … Maria tells of how she healed a young boy through her own woundedness …
