Heaven and Earth. East and West. Islam and Christianity.

Announcing The Marriage Of Heaven And Earth

(Notice that "earth" is a bit higher than "heaven," and that heaven's representative bends his knee.)

Fra Angelico, c. 1440

***

Dear Fred,

Thanks for your keen observation and beautiful calligraphy.

Does Medina (of "Mecca and Medina") simply mean "city?"

Paul Bowles - the American author of The Sheltering Sky who lived in Morocco the last 52 years of his life - wrote a memoir in which he described Islamics' disdainful relationship with "the things of this world." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bowles

Specifically, he referred to a fellow - maybe his own driver - who was lark-happy to have a car that transported him effortlessly. 

But this same fellow refused to perform any maintenance on the vehicle, believing that "everything" depended on "Allah's will." 

One day, the car broke down and the driver had a hissy fit, kicking the chassis, cussing "the things of this world," proclaiming, "Only Allah is Great! Only Allah endures! Only Allah provides!"

Bowles concluded that Islamics pay no attention to the "practicalities" of this world because to do so would (albeit unconsciously) diminish The Grandeur of God and degrade the need for "submission" (which is, I believe, the meaning of "Islam.")

Furthermore, by insuring the "wreck" of this world, the belief that "only God is good" is validated.

Again we witness the cheek-by-jowl relationship between Christian fundamentalists - especially "Armageddon Cheerleaders" - and their Islamo-Jihadist counterparts.

By refusing to become "conscious co-creators," fundamentalists (regardless their stripe) believe themselves in humble subjection to the transcendent Will of God.

As you may know, I am currently afflicted with excruciating abdominal pain that seems to arise from a gall stone. (Later today I should know for sure.) 

Pain is a great leveler. 

Here is what I see flat on my litter...

Without belittling the healing work (and prototypal demonstration) of Yeshua of Nazareth, it is a bald fact that modern medicine -- even in the most remote, tumble-down Congo clinic -- works more miracles in a week than Yeshua did in his lifetime.

After countless millennia floundering in The Interminable Sea of Superstition, I remain confident that humankind's astonishing achievements redound "ad majorem gloriam Dei." http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:%2010-12&version=NIV

But The Glory depends --- existentially --- on collaboration between The Transcendent and The Immanent, "The Seen" and "The Unseen."

Kingdom come.

In the end, it is the marriage of heaven and earth that matters, not the oppositional absolutism of puerile, sterile separation.

Pax tecum

Alan

PS The Spanish word Ojala' is routinely rendered as "I hope so," but actually derives from the Moorish occupation of Spain and means "Would that Allah want it so." I cannot voice my marvelment that Spanish-speaking Catholics -- every day of their lives -- offer heartfelt prayer to Allah! Would that such reverence for "the other" take root among all peoples. Ojala'

On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 2:29 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:

What I have noticed about the Middle East is that they are in a time and place of complete empathy. Everything hurts. It is a culture that is all poetry and utterly lacking in science, industry and technology. It's totally out of balance. No wonder we say it's our oil underneath their sand. They didn't even know the oil was there, and when it was discovered they did not know what to do with it.

Now they are using imported smart phones to foment a revolution. But I would say, instead of waving the bloody flag, they might put up posters of the medieval Arabic scholars who had a balanced stance of poetry and reason and who guided our European ancestors toward this balanced vision.

I continue to study Arabic and find it very revealing. Here is my practice sheet for today. It says "the beautiful city" and I mean that to refer to Cairo  -- may the beautiful side of this great city come to flourish. This is a two-word poem, and it is an act of empathy, but I would wish for those young fellow fighting in the street that they would go home or to the cafe and study chemistry and physics and mathematics, and devise state-of-the-art solar energy projects and construct highly efficient desalinization plants.

This practice sheet has not been corrected by my tutor and may contain mistakes.

--
Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214

My blog is Fred Owens

Fred Owens
35 West Main St Suite B #391
Ventura CA 93001