A gentle reader requested to know a bit more about Torgny Lindgren. And so ever one to oblige those seeking knowledge about my favorite writers, you all shall be punished for his curiosity. I have only five books, I don't know how many are available in translation: The Way of a Serpent , Light , Sweetness , Bathsheba , and Merab's Beauty . The first three that remain most vividly in my mind--the first a story about a wicked landlord who collects the rent from a family in rural Sweden and when the money runs out begins to exploit the women of the household. The title is taken from proverbs 30:19 the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. (KJV) And though my recollection is at something of a distance now, at least two, and possibly all three of these is developed in the course of a very short novel. Perhaps the best description of the book is gritty and realistic. I...
Steven,
ReplyDeleteIt seems fairly straightforward to me. Religion and religious institutions get in the way of a relationship between the individual and the godhead.
Dear Fred,
ReplyDeleteWhile I may not agree, your point is perfectly clear to me. And therefore I could understand someone preferring God to institutional religion or religion of any sort. What I can't understand is how one would prefer religion (of any sort) to God. That is opaque.
Your point I not only get, but often feel twinges of. If religions could only be purged of their human element, I sometimes say. But I look at it and say, let me see--the Spanish inquisition or God? Hmm... Seems to me to be a no-brainer. As I said, as a practicing member of religion, I'm often tempted to toss the whole mess to one side and go it alone. But what I know is the folly of that, is that I won't "go" anything under those circumstances. So religion as community of helpers, again I get. But. . . well, as I said, completely opaque.
I think I've come to the conclusion that the commentary uses the word "religion" in a manner quite different from the way I use the same word. I think perhaps it is perhaps meaning a kind of spirituality or spiritual experience--which I view as quite a different thing as religion. But I am more than likely mistaken, and have already said too much.
shalom,
Steven
Steven,
ReplyDeleteI have slowly and reluctantly come to the conclusion that there is no simple right answer to many of these questions. We live in a grey world where black-and-white distinctions are seldom found.