Subject: Re: Crabby Hermits
From: Scout Thompson (one38@one38.org)
Date: Mon Sep 18 2000 - 06:11:20 GMT
Reminds me of a Muslim text by the name of "The Wedding of Zein."
By Tayeb Salih, I believe he's from West Africa. Zein is the
true saint of the neighborhood, the pole of the universe, as the
muslim mystics called it; and while the priests, saints and holy
men all aspire, Zein was born from the womb laughing.
A good tale, though the writing, as far as "literature" goes, is
not so hot, if you're into long strings of adjectives.
-s.
Scottie Bowman wrote:
>
> '... If you're going to aspire to sainthood, you cannot
> be like everyone else ...'
>
> I suspect the moment you 'aspire to sainthood' you've
> probably blown it for good.
>
> The world, after all, is full of obsessives - as a rule,
> walking monuments to guilt - who, in their striving
> for perfection, make life a misery for themselves &
> all around them. By their demands & their example
> of self-flagellation they fill their observers & especially
> their dependents with guilt & feelings of inadequacy.
> ('Now, Jerry, how does that one feel? You look terrific
> in it. I think it fits perfectly.') Among this lot you'll
> find the clerics ('Yes, you too, Mother T. with your
> antibiotic-hungry victims.'), all the humble little
> wouldn't-presumers of the world, the Jewish mothers
> of all denominations & your usual scattering of gurus
> & Indian rope tricksters.
>
> On the other hand, you do sometimes come across
> something quite different, someone who lifts the heart
> & fills the people he encounters with all the richness &
> possibilities of life.
>
> The latter signal the presence of what I understand
> was originally meant by word 'charisma'. But I doubt
> if sainthood ever occurred to them. And they NEVER
> mention the words God or Enlightenment or Bhagabongo.
>
> Scottie B.
>
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