Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 10-4 The Inferno

The Annunciation and knowing the future - continued

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 10-3 The Inferno

The Annunciation and knowing the future -

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-10 The Inferno

While the universe may be viewed as evolving or progressing it is better understood as fundamentally an Incarnating cosmos. Also, while there are may be legitimate and practical concerns for the future, when our focus is on determining or knowing the future we miss our proper orientation to the intersection of time with the timeless.

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-9 The Inferno

The intersection of time and timelessness will happen only in the presence of the human mind.

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-7 The Inferno

...the future is a faded song, a Royal Rose or a lavender spray Of wistful regret for those who are not yet here to regret, Pressed between yellow leaves of a book that has never been opened. And the way up is the way down, the way forward is the way back.

TS Eliot, Dry Salvages

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-4 The Inferno

The 'eleventh hour' is the temporal dimension that is appropriate to religious life, not the present, the past or the future. It is the 'eleventh hour' that is worthy of our religious longing and hope.

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-3 The Inferno

In the early nineteenth century G. W. F. Hegel introduced the 'divinization' of history and an intellectual concern to control or know the future. This is contrasted with Martin Buber's understanding of 'magic' - the attempt to have a religious life without having a relationship to God. Truth cannot be known, only encountered. William Stafford's poem "Glances".

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-2 The Inferno

The future is the only transcendental value for men without a god

Albert Camus

Reflections on Dante's Divine Comedy - Pt 9-1 The Inferno

With this post we begin posting episodic excerpts from Gil Bailie's archival materials again. For the next long while these will be from Gil's 1984 24 cassette tape series on Dante's Divine Comedy which are being transfered into digital format. If you are interested in obtaining the complete MP3s finished so far please visit our webstore by following this link.

Those visitors who have shared contact information with us over the past years will likely in the days before Thanksgiving receive our annual Fall Appeal. We try to limit our fundraising appeals to once a year, and ask that you look kindly on our request for support for the coming year. If you are a new visitor to our weblog and want to learn more about our work please follow this link to our website.

In early 2015 Gil Bailie hopes to have the manuscript he has been working on lo these past four years in the hands of a prospective publisher. There will no doubt still be much work to be done. But when that happens we expect to see Gil back on the road. He has had to pass on numerous offers of speaking opportunities over the past few years in order to keep his focus on the manuscript. Next year that will change. If a publisher finds this manuscript worthy of publication we expect there will be some promotional trips involved following its debut. We will keep those interested in our work appraised of these events.

Thanksgiving blessings to all!