Paschal:
I am always delighted, pleased to catch up with some friends from Saint Leo, most recently again from Greg Guiteras, who answered my new blog: Ask a M<arried Catholic Prfiest post "Is teh ible literally inspired by
'go" post, with a very thoughtful post of jhis own, which I will share below.
I am today, March 25, creating this blog so we can, if we choose, keep more in touch with each other, in the incredibly diverse journeys we have had. Hope those of you whose address I have John Meyer, Tom Piazzo, etc. will join with an update, soon?
Here is Greg's post: You may add a comment.
Thank
you for sharing, Paschal.
Is
the Bible literally inspired by God? Depends on what you mean by God.
I
believe that the Bible was inspired by the creative power and imagination, the
knowledge,
the
experiences, the wisdom and the biases of the writers. A traditional
Catholic theological
principle
says that God deals with his creatures according to their nature. And another
says
that
all we posit about is God by way of analogy - and that all analogies limp... that
leaves
the
field wide open!
I
also strongly believe that the writers - and we - are the incarnation of the
divine.
Just
what or who the divine is I'll leave to theologians, philosophers, mystics,
scientists,
artists,
historians, writers, archeologists, linguists and others to fight over. If they
indulge in
rational,
logical, scientific arguments they are already on the wrong track and will
never prove
or
disprove the existence of the divine. That is totally beside the point. To
quote T.S. Elliot:
"That's
not it; that is not it at all."
Perhaps
God is not a being, perhaps God does not exist; i.e., rather beyond being,
existence.
perhaps
God is a process, the process of becoming,
the process of becoming who we
are...
Perhaps
God is the experience of
one's innermost self.
Some
mystics share that to become human is to become divine. I for one believe it!
Long
ago, in a passed life, at a meeting of local clergy (I was the token
Catholic), a reverend
declared,
"I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me." I thought I'd
puke.
Today,
I rather believe him. The Bible has the power to change lives, to inspire us
toward
becoming
divine...
The
Family Faith group of my parish have asked me to give a reflection on my
experience of
Religion
and Art. A working title is: "John's prologue, the Trinity and the Arts:
toward a theology
of
art." Sounds pretentious for a brief reflection, but that is what it is
about!
On
another front, I'm putting the finishing touches on a portrait of my prep
school classmate,
Bill
McKeown, to be presented to him as a gift on the occasion of his induction
into the
Saint
Leo Athletic Hall of Fame.
John
Meyer may have told you that his class commissioned me to paint portraits of
Frs.
Damian
and James which now grace the hallowed halls of the university.
I'm
also working on to more portraits to be given to the university. My classmates
('54) have
commissioned
me to do a portrait of our headmaster Fr. Raphael. And the class of '64,
the
last prep class has asked me to do one of their headmaster Fr. Robert. Both
will be
presented
at our 60th and 50th class reunions this fall.
I'm
in touch with another classmate, John Riley. You knew him in the prep and met
him again
in
the summer of '56. He's a Notre Dame grad, Blue-Key, ex-marine, and Freshman
sprinter
under
the inspiring coaching of John McEvoy, who you brought down to St. Leo.
Congratulations
on the recent publication of your book. I regret not being able to download the
chapter
you sent; I would have loved to offer a review.
I
hope you are well, are continue to evolve into the divine...
Fraternally,
Greg
Guiteras
