Module Four: Continually Restored
“One by one, Lord, I see and I love all those whom you have given me to sustain and charm my life. One by one also I number all those who make up that other beloved family which has gradually surrounded me its unity fashioned out of the most disparate elements . . . And again one by one—more vaguely it is true, yet all-inclusively—I call before me the whole vast anonymous army of living humanity; those who surround me and support me though I do not know them; those who come, and those who go; above all, those who . . . truly believe in the progress of earthly reality and who today will take up again their impassioned pursuit of the light.” (Chardin, The Mass on the World, “The Offering”)
“The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.”
Module Four: Continually Restored
In preparation for this week's material, please read chapters 12–14 in Sandy Tolan’s The Lemon Tree. In addition, consider the following:
“The Human Abstract” by William Blake
William Blake biography on Poetry Foundation
Author Sandy Tolan introducing Ramzi Aburedwan & Dalouna Ensemble
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s Hymn of the Universe. We will be reading from the first section, “The Offering”
In contrast to “The Divine Image” (Week 3), “The Human Abstract” paints a rather dire view of humanity. What does the tension between these two feel like to you?
In the video of author Sandy Tolan introducing the work of Ramzi Aburedwan, he talks about the transformative effect of art in the form of music. How does this shape your understanding of creativity and community?
When one engages in a creative process, there is, as Chardin puts it, a “one by one”-ness to it. If creative works are to be finished, they must be attended to through to the end one by one. However, once those works are released into the world, they join the “vast anonymous” compendium of creative work. Can you imagine what personality or effect the whole of creative effort has on the world?