I loved the night sky of Caracas, a city nestled in the valleys of the Andes. I was in third grade, fresh from Detroit, accustomed to the smoke and flames rising from the Chrysler factory down the street, and unaccustomed to the quiet space above.
I was in awe of the sky and all the stars I found in Caracas. With my dad’s help, I made a “telescope” out of soup cans taped together and a 100-watt light bulb strapped to them. I thought the best way to see in the dark was to shine a light on it. There are many. I didn’t care that this device didn’t show me anything. I was proud of my telescope. It didn’t matter how it worked.
The mountains surrounding the city fascinated me as well. As I grew up, a group of friends and I carved trails that stretched across the foothills. We named it after our last initial. 3 starts with A, so we call that section “Triple A”, followed by other sections. Equipped with packed lunches, full water bottles, and compasses like proper explorers, we ventured into this new territory, but there was only up or down to go.
The mysteries of the sky were revealed to the earth in fog, wet rocks, undergrowth, and gnarled ancient roots. El Niño trees (Guillantella caribensis). Its expansive branches are home to mosses, lichens, ferns, and orchids. Or rather, I learned. Thoreau would not have been impressed. “Your greatest success is simply recognizing such things. And you don’t need to contact the Royal Society.”
Even though I knew less, I saw more. Things sounded true before they made sense. Life was not a problem to be solved, but rather a mystery to be trusted. Now, the fascination is up to us, and it’s up to us to feel awe in something else.
words awe derived from Middle English ah, aweor ahborrowed from Old Norse Agimeaning “fear” or “fear”. In an era marked by plague, famine, and short life expectancy, awe was deeply connected to fear. Today, awe has become therapeutic and acquired through new science of emotions and digital links. Wonder becomes an algorithm that searches for users and is trained to be found by those seeking help. Or go to GGIA Story of Awe. 13 other good-feeling apps linked to Yale’s Happiness Lab – just released, but destined to crash.
Caracas’ early days are associated with more privileged things, like hiking, looking at the night sky, and finding old trees. The most rewarding part is probably climbing the mountain. Ecologist Arne Naess wrote, “The smaller we feel compared to the mountain, the closer we come to its greatness. We do not know why this is so.” Another mountaineer, the Scottish poet Nan Shepherd, wrote in his memoirs: living mountain“There is a way to love without knowing. Respect for the mountain’s otherness and wild autonomy makes uncertainty tolerant.” Ness says “Somewhere in my heart I’ve always known this. ” he added.
We can try to express what the soul already knows. That was the advice of a leading spirituality teacher. At the end of his talk, a woman in her 80s came down the center aisle of the church with a copy of his book in her hand and, walking very purposefully, said: that. “He was totally wrong. Instead, she said, ‘After reading this book, I would like to show you what I wrote.’ Then she opened the cover – her words were, “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”
Aspirations for the transcendent, the sacred, and the eternal are not private property. Perhaps the great “reawakening of religion” of our time is the rediscovery of what people have forgotten, and it is not just the often-discussed collapse of culture, but through culture There is also. When we stop forgetting, we wake up and finally see what we have been shutting out. Few people will climb the mountains, and it may be difficult to see the stars. Some of us may find happiness online, but we can all just walk down the street and take a look. Also.
When I was little and telescopes had light bulbs attached to them, I thought the best way to see in the dark was to shine a light on them. When hiking through the forest, I brought a compass like a true explorer. I had no idea that the best way to see in the dark was to turn off the lights. At least I learned that greatness doesn’t need a compass, it’s up or down. I haven’t forgotten. I knew it.
notes and reading
Henry David Thoreau – Unusual Learning (1999), The Thoreau Society – especially the magazine entry of October 4, 1859.
How to retrain your algorithm for a better new year – Keith Giles Patheos/Progressive Christians (December 24, 2024). “Hey, this is what I want more of, isn’t it? that! “
The Living Mountain: A Celebration of Scotland’s Cairngorm Mountains – Nan Shepherd (2019). Shepherd is a Scottish modernist writer and poet, best known for this mountain memoir.
“You start to feel small compared to the mountains…” – Arne Ness Always a mountain, David Rothenberg (2007), 14. Arne Naess coined the term “deep ecology” while promoting a biocentric worldview. Rothenberg is a philosopher, musician, and writer.
“A woman in her 80s…” – from Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Awakening to What Our Souls Know – John Philip Newell (2022), Introduction.
In the middle of darkness. . . – Addison Hodges Hart Knowing the Darkness: Thoughts on Skepticism, Melancholy, Friendship, and God (2009). See Hart’s Substack “Pragmatic Mystic” Hart bases mysticism on everyday experience.
“Religious awakening” through culture – But ref. barbarian god – Paul Kingsnorth (2019). Kingsnorth is a British author and former environmental activist. He recently converted to Orthodoxy. He is known for his agrarian localism, which criticizes technology and modern culture, especially the “liberal order.” His Substack blog is Monastery of Misrul. Contribute with a kindred spirit front porch republican online magazine and intellectual community.
Kingsnorth’s position justifies H. Richard Niebuhr’s active engagement with typology in the classics. christ and culture and the addition of Tex Sample in “Changing the Culture: Christ in the Culture” (chapter 12 of “Changing the Culture”) American lifestyle and mainstream church1990). Repeated distortions of the Christian faith pit grace against culture and confuse goodness with purity.
Splitsville – Zealous Separatist – Dave Seminara audience (January 2025). Seminara is a journalist, former diplomat, and widely published.
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In a different genre, see Addison Hodges Hart’s article for timely, more nuanced cultural engagement and great storytelling. Confession of the Antichrist – A novel (2020). Wordplay and wit. A statement from the main character, a former US president.If dreams are a product of my own brain, why don’t I know what happens next to my dreams? ”Suddenly I found myself freaking out.
Snitch #168 – Recovering the truth – Me
Approximately 2 + 2 = 5: https://williamgreen.substack.com/about
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
