Who Are We, You and I: Meditations on Death and Afterlife

See my talk:  Laurence H. Kant, “Who Are We, You and I: Meditations on Death and Afterlife”: Late Life Concerns: The Final Miles, Newman Center, Lexington, Kentucky, August, 2010: © 2010, Laurence H. Kant, All rights reserved:  Who Are We

Avercius (aka Abercius)

Final Draft before publication of Laurence H. Kant “The Earliest Christian Inscription:  Bishop Avercius’ Last Words Document the Emergence of the Church,” in Bible Review 17.1, February, 2001, pp. 10-19, 47:  AverciusBAS1

3b) Here is my most up-to-date edition of the text:  AverciusText

Fish Symbolism

Here is my dissertation:  Laurence H. Kant, “The Interpretation of Religious Symbols in the Graeco-Roman World:  A Case Study of   Early  Christian Fish Symbolism” (3 vols):  Yale University, 1993.  Please note that the pagination in the PDF files, though close, is not exactly the same as in my original dissertation (due to formatting issues).

I originally intended this as part of a comparative study of ancient symbols, including the menorah for Jews.   Given the length of the project, this was not practical.  However, I regard my dissertation as comparative project whose goal is to understand the nature of religious symbolism.

There are many things that I would now change, including writing style.  Of note is the Avercius (Abercius) inscription text, which has several errors; for a correct edition, see above.  I also wish that I had  included a section on the use of fish and fishing symbolism in the gospels.  If interested, take a look at the text of a talk I gave on this topic in “Essays and Talks” in “Larry Kant.”

I have also somewhat changed my views of Freud and Jung.  I always appreciated them, but my dissertation is more critical of them than I would be now.

Diss1; Diss2; Diss3; Diss4; Diss5; Diss6

The One and the Many

We cannot get to the One except through the Many.

Being and Becoming

Being and Becoming:  Being is who we are authentically; becoming is why we enter the cycle of life.  Being teaches us that the authentic present is eternal.  Becoming teaches us that change is ongoing and inevitable.  Wisdom involves integrating both.

American Yoga

This is a timely piece giving a real sense of the difference between modern fitness yoga and the authentic tradition of spiritual discipline practiced by Indian yogis and yoginis.  Yoga is an ancient spiritual practice that was then adapted in other religious traditions in the twentieth century.  Yet, it has its roots in Indian religion, and this is how it first came to the US.  Yoga is not necessarily exercise or breath work, but a system of feeling, thought, and experience. In fact, Yoga does not even have to involve the body at all, but can consist of communal activities or study.  Yoga simply means “union” (as in union with God).

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/3917/mormon-born_daya_mata_typifies_american_yoga/

A Name

Naming the Source is impossible.  Once you name “God,” you are no longer describing the Source.

Holy Texts

Our lives are holy texts, chapters in the sacred scripture of humanity.

Sacred Stories

Our lives are sacred stories. We are here to tell them and inspire others.

Lunch in Erice

There are those moments–moments when you enter a gateway, and you feel the presence of God.  I remember Erice in Sicily:  eating a meal at a local restaurant, lingering, savoring the garlic, the olive oil and the pasta–and most of all the wine–cold, white, shimmering, crisp–Ambrosia, the best wine I ever tasted, the same for Dianne and for our friend Tony. Was it the wine, the town, the restaurant, or the moment with my wife and our friend? I don’t know, but it felt like heaven:  like a dream in which my senses put me deep underwater, gliding effortlessly, with no particular goal, just living fully.

Symbols

Symbols are the medium through which feeling finds form.

Bodies in Flux

Who are we? Definable bodies? But human bodies are composed mostly of water and space. We are descendants of beings who lived in oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. Our bodies are not solid, but fluid and open. Every day the cells in our bodies are born and die. Every seven years, we are composed of entirely new sets of cells. Why do we fix ourselves into an illusion of isolation and rigidity, as concrete form, frozen images, as if we are separate things? In fact, we are permeable, protean, one composed of many, continually transforming. Made in the image of God, we are no/thing, one through many, colored glass turning in a kaleidoscope, always in flux, movement in form.

Strength

In the bleakest moments, our strength comes from where we least expect it.

Justice

Where do we find justice? Only by pursuing it. (Deut 16:20)

Breathing

Rather than working to breathe, let yourselves be breathed. Then you’re not an I, but a We.

Our Task

What is one task of human beings? To convert the everyday into the eternal.

Home

Where should we feel most at home? Inside ourselves.

Jacob’s Ladder

Where is Jacob’s ladder now? Inside each of us.

Honey

“Suckling honey from a rock” (Deut. 32:13): In difficult moments, that’s what we have to do.

Earth Energy

Tapping into the earth’s energy is a lot easier than creating our own.

Compassion

Compassion also means having compassion for those who don’t have much compassion.

Feelings

Every feeling carries with it the faint echo of its opposite: love-hate, courage-fear, compassion-anger. We always have the choice of transforming one into the other.

No Image

God has no image, and neither ultimately do we.

Self

Our names and identities reveal and conceal who we are.

Humor

To be really funny, you have to have suffered.

Love

True love is imprinted in every cell.

Finding the Source

We feel our way to the Source

Transforming Destructive Impulses

Transforming destructive impulses into something good is a key part of shalom (wholeness) for human beings.

Bad Can Lead to Good

Sometimes doing the wrong thing leads to good: Gen 50:20.

The Energy Inside You

When you think you’re exhausted, inside you there are many deeper pools of energy from which to draw.

The Fundamentalism of Atheism

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3820/way_beyond_atheism:_god_does_not_(not)_exist

This is excellent (from Nelson French).  Negative theology is where I would place myself, though I must admit that I am willing now to make some statements:  “God is not a thing, but energy in its purest, rawest, and ultimate form”; or “We should stop using the word ‘God’ and start saying ‘Source’ or “The All’ or ‘The All That Is'”; or “God is nothing (no/thing).”  Of course, my statements are inherently limited and limiting because of the nature of language, but I still believe that we can speak in proximate terms.  In any case, Wallace is correct:  atheism is generally an inversion of fundamentalism.  Very well said and apropos.

Free Will

Free will often means the choice to do what we should do anyway.

The Maple Tree and Me

There is one main difference between me and the maple tree in my backyard.  It is always who it is.  Sometimes I forget that about myself.

Wisdom Requires Mistakes

You do not acquire wisdom without making mistakes.

Creation Never Stops

Gen 1:1: “When God began to create . . . “: Creation never stops.

Heart and Mind

Feeling is the basis for all thought. The heart is the foundation on which the mind is built.

Harvests

Fallow times lead to harvest times.

Carrying Our Ancestors with Us

Ex 13:19: Just as Moses carried the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, we all carry our ancestors with us wherever we go.

The Present and the Future

Not knowing the future is a gift allowing us live in the present.

Randomness and Design

How do we make sense of the simultaneous existence of randomness and design? Both are fundamental, but apparently mutually exclusive. To make sense of that is shalom, wholeness, integration.

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