The Mystery of Life and artistic expression

Faith & Science Conversation
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Continuing the discussion from Another way to use our minds, Richard Rohr on Unknowing and Christianity:

That seems a sad reaction to an inspiring talk. But rather than your questions, I would rather ask why someone who calls themself “apistos” (ἄπιστος), which translates to “unbeliever” or “unfaithful,” needs to comment at all? Why bring unwarranted, unjustified and misguided criticism into it?

What do you know about mysticism, metaphysics, mystery, darkness, or unknowing? How would you know that there’s nothing behind that? How can you judge whether they were hollow words? The most important question is, though, how come “bags of enzymes” suffer and love. How come they yearn? Why is that not a mystery?

Unlike you, there are many people who have found life to be such a mystery and spent time inquiring, probing, and questioning. The answers they found were hard to put into words, and they used poetry, music, drama, and many forms of artistic prowess to express their fascination and the inspiration they gained. Some simply measured what they could see and came up with astounding formulas and geometrical forms integrated into the fabric of life. Some probed the consciousness that eludes our explanations, and some have discovered sentience in places they hadn’t expected it.

Granted, I am also sceptical that anyone has found the final answer to all those questions, and I see the anthologies of scripture as merely pointing in a direction for us to look for ourselves, but the metaphors, allegories and mythologies are not unwarranted. They are expressions of wakefulness, fascination, and attempts to copy forms and ideas that spring to the attentive mind.

That makes someone who says, “There is nothing to see!” rather bland in my eyes. Especially when I see the recurring themes of scripture also recurring in life. But then again, perhaps one needs eyes to see and ears to hear, and be able to sense the underlying spirit of life that is pulsating in everything.

But I turn to the believers here and am curious whether faith is merely “fact-based” in their minds, or whether the ineffable that thwarts our attempts at certainty, the nagging doubt that makes us ask questions, and the appreciation of artistic expression are acceptable as inspiration and, at the same time, humbling indications that certainty, above all, is denied us.

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Well said!

As I said I love it all. Naturally : ) I’m wired that way. I don’t repudiate my path. I’m grateful for it all. All the mysticism, metaphysics, mystery, darkness, or unknowing on the way. All the being moved. As I am yet. By the same parts of the Bible that move everybody. It is an immensely powerful testament to… evolution. Which reminds me, I haven’t heard ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ yet this year! It’s so beautiful I can’t breathe.

[Blandly of course.]

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We sang it a few weeks ago.
And absolutely.

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We all find the aesthetics of ‘Veni, veni Emmanuel!’ beautiful, also here in Germany, where it is said to have originated. The narrative it tells is compelling, yet the whole Advent issue seems to ignore the kingdom of heaven in our midst. Admittedly, the common narrative assumes the return of Logos rather than his presence and devalues calls us to follow him rather than worship him.

As a universalist who recognises recurring themes in religious thought throughout the world and history, I see it as retelling the story of gentle resistance to the seemingly dominant shadow of humanity and our tendency to overlook the darkness within and around us. Introspective contemplation and meditation practices help us to become more attentive and humble, and I have always been better at listening than speaking.

Throughout my career, I was a nurse in confessional elderly care centres, primarily responsible for the hospice ward. I said prayers and learnt traditions for my residents/patients that were not my own, which inspired me to seek out the diverse traditions of the world. Despite not being Catholic, I gave devotional talks to staff and was praised by priests and pastors alike for my understanding that healing is not just physical, but also spiritual.

This makes me someone who tends to find hearing by everyone but devout believers and atheists. In my retirement, I am more locally active and I avoid public appearances, which during my time as elder of the parish and manager of care centres I had enough of. I believe it is important to share the good news that love and care will prosper, even when we are opposed, like the light of a single candle dispels the darkness.

We are called to be light in the world and salt of the earth in all wisdom traditions, whether with these words or with others. Jesus was for me the embodiment of this message, a channel of the divine: of truth, beauty, goodness and unity. Maybe we have something in common.

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Aye. I revere Jesus as a pivotal in human social development. I extend the good will I would receive. To him and all faithful. By degree, As for Veni, veni, Emmanuel, aye, formalized in C18th Germany, from much older Benedictine monastic material going back 1,200 years. I always pray appropriately for all who ask. Immediately. According to their expectation.

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I see that you are not quite as bland as I previously thought. Then again, neither are many critics of Christianity when you get to know them. I am sympathetic towards the many victims of abuse who feel anxious when they see the churches where they suffered, and who feel that their mistreatment was trivialised or even covered up. If you see the church as a place of healing, all forms of abuse are antithetical.

My reading of history tells me that when Rome adopted Christianity, it became a power structure. Even during the Reformation and the many divisions that followed, this flaw remained. Power and wisdom have unfortunately been rivals in history, and in principle, it is also the division between the masculine and feminine, neglect and nurture.

In contrast, the parable of the prodigal son, for example, portrays the father as distinctly different from the accepted norm, even today, who is always looking out for his wasteful son and runs to meet him, showering him with kisses. This is a father demonstrating feminine principles, and would be expected more from a mother, but I believe that is the point. Jesus very often presented provocative role changes, as in the good Samaritan. Many assume the hero narrative, but Jesus is the tragic victim, just like many tragic victims, who just cared about life.

I don’t know about him being pivotal in human social development, but I see him as recovering aspects of the divine that are generally lost to us today. The dominant modern translations of El Shaddai—Almighty, All-sufficient, Overpowerer—are not linguistically secure but theologically motivated resolutions of a word whose original resonance was already obscure by the time the Hebrew Bible was being finalised. Several roots have been proposed:

  • šādad – “to overpower, devastate”
  • šad – “breast”
  • šadu (Akkadian) – “mountain”
  • a general sense of abundance or sufficiency

What matters to me is not simply which is “correct,” but what was lost when only one meaning was allowed to survive. The move from many-breasted abundance to singular masculine omnipotence is not neutral. It reflects a shift in how divine power itself is imagined. In the patriarchal reading, El Shaddai becomes:

  • the God who commands
  • who overpowers opposition
  • whose power is primarily coercive and juridical

This aligns well with later imperial theology. God as sovereign king and lawgiver. However, if Shaddai originally had connotations of breasts, nourishment, fertility, and abundant life, then the concept of divine power appears quite different:

  • power as the capacity to give life
  • authority as sustaining presence
  • transcendence expressed through care rather than control

This is a distinct ontology of power, but biblical and patriarchal interpretations have employed the term “Father” to describe God’s nature as a creator and the head of the household, reflecting both parental love and authority. But wisdom, a feminine principle in Hebrew, was said to have been at the beginning of creation.

Recovering these layers is not about replacing “Father” with “Mother,” or power with softness. It is about re-imagining divinity as generative rather than domineering, relational rather than unilateral. Relying on English versions of the bible, this is not clear to many.

What do you think?

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Not quite. Wow. I am not worthy.

Yeah, it all went to patriarchal hell with agriculture. With land ownership. Despite evolution balancing out testosterone with the menopause for at least many hundreds of thousands of years before that. Possibly millions.

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Listening to 3 successive versions now. King’s College, Kelly Clarkson, Enya. In ascending order of preference.4, Chris Tomlin. Oooo-oooo–oooh! 5, Rosemary Siemens. They get better! 6. Stephen McWhirter. Wow. 7. Skillet. Excellent. 8! The Petersens, American Folk. V. cool. … 9, DOE, nice.

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I wish there was a recording of when we sang it in Hebrew in my last year before grad school. It’s haunting enough in Latin; in Hebrew it is a deep cry for deliverance.

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“People who’ve had any genuine spiritual experience always know that they don’t know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind.”

~ Richard Rohr

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Traditional for the first Sunday in Advent, but being Baptist, I was disappointed that our church did not sing it then. Hum, am I disappointed because I am Baptist, or because the church was Baptist… maybe both.

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We always sang it in our Baptist churches and now in the Presby church.
You may need to ask you music minister to consider putting it back into rotation. And sing it often yourself.

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Enya does a beautiful version in Latin on her album, When Winter Came.

It has a haunting quality almost pleading.

On a theological note, it is based on the Scripture before the birth of Christ and as such, could be deemed as already fulfilled. A bit like “When a child is born” that seems to bypass Bethlehem altogether, as if it never happened.

Richard

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This one?

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