June 7, 2011

The Oldest Work of Art

Five Dancers, by Auguste Rodin


God is the oldest work of art. He is very poorly preserved, and many parts of Him are later additions. But that is the way things get built: by our being able to talk about Him, by our having seen everything else.

Early Journals

5 comments:

  1. ha! this is so good . . . when i looked at his portrait to the right, i thought i saw the edges of a wry smile forming. steven

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  2. Steven, it's a good thing if our later additions to God are smiling ones, no?

    This text/post reminds me of Jack Miles' Pulitzer prize winner: God: A Biography, in which he describes God as presented in the Bible, but without any religious deference. God develops. His character changes, his relationships change. He could be your parent with all his disciplinary failings, or your kindergarten teacher who slapped your mouth, or the fitful child on the playground who didn't want to share the best swing.

    How great is that last sentence? Is God what is left, after everything else is considered?

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  3. "the way things get built"....does this suggest that God-as-creator and human-as-creator are somehow intertwoven, that all creating is of the same cloth?

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  4. THANKYOU Lorenzo and Ruth for taking the time to do this project! I love Rilke's work and it is so uplifting and inspiring to me to get a little snippet of wisdom from him every day. Great work guys, I really am grateful

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  5. this is very gorgeous - its winter where i am - i was up early this morning i came home from 7.30 am from the gym a great blue sky newly washed from rain a bird high high high against a cloud, tress silver wet and shiny.

    jenni g

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"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Go ahead, bloom recklessly!