Heretical Jukebox

The journey up and down the road will warry us if we think it is all dependent upon our efforts. Our truck will run out of gas. We will be surely crawling towards our goal. So keep Trucking and move forward, but Christ Goes First.

1228-1306 Jacophone De Todi

Plato and Socrates may contend

And all the breath in their bodies spend
Arguing without end -
What's it all to me?
Only a pure and simple mind
Straight to heaven its way doth find;
Greets the King - while far behind
Lags the world's philosophy.

Jaciphone De Todi (1228-1306)

Two medieval point of views emerged:

(1)Those in the monastery held onto the faith. Monks/theologians meditated solely on the word of God and the meaning of Christianity.

(2) Those in the university held onto reason coupled with faith. University professors meditated on the Word of God and how it related to the WORLD. They then waged an intellectual jihad for the merits of Christianity against worldly based human reason.

Dominican and Franciscan monks attempted to blend the role of the professor and the theologian together, an imperfect union of faith and reason.

Dayyenu

How many acts of kindness God has performed for us!

Had he taken us out of Mitzrayim without carrying
out judgment against the Egyptians- Dayyenu.

Had he carried out judgments against the Egyptians
without vanquishing their gods-Dayyenu.

Had He vanquished their gods
without dividing the sea for us - Dayyenu.

Had he divided the sea for us,
without leading us across on Dry land- Dayyenu.

Had He led us across on dry land without taking care
of for forty years in the desert - Dayyenu.

Had He taken care of us for forty years in the desert
without feeding us manna- Dayyenu.

Had He fed us manna without giving us
Shabbat- Dayyenu.

Had He brought us to Mount Sinai without giving us the
Torah-Dayyenu.

Had he given us the Torah without leading us
to the Land of Israel- Dayyenu.

Had He led us to the Land of Israel without
building the temple for us- Dayyenu.

How manifold and miraculous are the great deeds that our God has performed us, from taking us of Mitzrayim to building the temple.




עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְריִם. וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה,
וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת–אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי
בָנֵינוּ, מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם. וַאֲפִילוּ כֻּלָּנוּ חֲכָמִים, כֻּלָּנוּ נְבוֹנִים, כֻּלָּנוּ
זְקֵנִים, כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעִים אֶת–הַתּוֹרָה, מִצְוָה עָלֵינוּ לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה
לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, הֲרֵי זֶה מְשֻׁבָּח:
Avadim hayyinu l’far’oh b’mitzrayim, v’yotzi-ehnu Adonai Eloheynu mi-sham b’yad khazakah
u’vizro’a n’tuyah, v'ilu lo hotzi ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu et-avoteinu mi-Mitzrayim, harei anu uvaneinu
u'vnei vaneinu, m'shuabadim hayyinu l'Pharaoh b'Mitzrayim. V'afilu kulanu
chachamim, kulanu k'vonim, kulanu z'keinim, kulanu yod'im et-ha-Torah, mitzvah aleinu
l'saper b'y'tziat Mitzrayim. V'chol hamarbeh l'saper bitziyat Mitzrayim, harei zeh m'shubach.

Father Thomas Keating: Spiritual not Religious

We go back to a time when mysticism was a strong pulsating heart. We walk down the corridors of a monastery that is protected inside a cave. The cave is dark. The darkness is thick; like your moving within a cloud. A torch in your left hand allows you to view pictures on a wall. You look closely now at one of the pictures; you see a painful moment in your own historic quest. The pain has been there for a long time and has begun to corrode your heart.

(Father Thomas Keating speaks of releasing your grip on Religion and walk in the faith that could save your hardening heart.)