kierkegaard today

I think Kierkegaard would be horrifed if he knew that a person two hundred years after his birth was writing about him on the internet. The totality of Kierkegaard’s philosophical thought is that one must find the answer that is true for me by acting upon it. (I am no philosopher so tell me if I am mistaken!) I always feel like I am simply adding to the “idle chatter” that is social media.

But I found this article interesting: Is Kierkegaard Still Relevant Today? As an aside, we used to live in a very small country town, hours from anywhere. The local shops stocked Philosophy Now while our suburban middle class shops only do lotto tickets and the like. Different market?!

Anyway, the article finishes with this paragraph:

Kierkegaard does not present us with absolute, objective truths, but challenges us to discover subjective truths for ourselves. He proposes to encourage us to become independent: “The phrase ‘know yourself’ means: separate yourself from the other” (The Concept of Irony, 1841, trans H.V. Hong and E.H. Hong, p.177, 1989). In the end, what Kierkegaard does is dare us to live, by choosing how we live, and by taking responsibility for our lives. Can we rise to his expectations?

I really like the quote: “separate yourself from the other”. No sense running with the crowd going in the wrong direction. But for me it has further implications. I do not speak on behalf of a school of thought, a religious party, or a political movement. I have no authority other than that of speaking for me. And I am the only person responsible for my actions (and speech). That does not mean that “truth” does not exist or is created by me. It simply means that I cannot hang on to the shirt-tails of a movement and except to go in the right direction for me.

I have become more aware that I am simply hiding in the crowd to avoid facing myself. Other people can journey with you but they cannot journey for you.

So maybe the post should really be called “me today”?

to be a saint

Some Merton for today:

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I have always loved that quote. In the Prologue to No Man Is an Island, Merton expands upon the quote. For a person (like Merton) formed in the classical western Catholic tradition it is a strange place to start. Maybe a topic for another day!?

For me it is about living my identity as God-given – seeing the divine in my life and also in the life of others. Living the part of me that is undefinable, indescribable, the nothingness within me where I meet Being. And, if I am going to be honest, for most of my life I have run away from that part. In a desire to be heard, to be listened to, to be an authority, I have ignored “myself” and tried to define myself away from God. In reality God (and “me”) are completely beyond definition, completely other.

In Merton’s language I have tried to hide behind a “false self” by putting on masks to make myself acceptable to others so that they would listen to me.

merton

Most of the people in my life (apart from family) are in books. Whether a Danish thinker from the 1900s, or a monk from the 1950s, the people who most inspire me – and make me think – are people I meet in books.

So here is one: Thomas Merton.

I identify with his need for solitude. The Journals which were published after his death show a man “working out his salvation with fear and trembling”. We also have a number of his talks which show a man full of humour and insight.

So welcome Thomas Merton!

sorry …

… I said I would post everyday but somehow missed a couple of days. Ok, not “somehow” but I had other things happening. I did start a post on Sunday about religion in general but I am not sure that I want to share that part of my life just yet.

So, in lieu of a post with insight (LOL), here is a Kierkegaard quote I found online (the source of which I tried to find but have not yet):

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“established order” or cult?

Soren Kierkegaard, Practice in Christianity, writes,

The established order desires to be totalitarian, recognising nothing over it, but having under it every individual.

I sometimes wonder if some modern institutions are not more cult than organisation?!

Moral of the story: join groups but do not let them rob you of your individuality.

blogging

I have been playing around with WordPress. It has been some years since I used the free version and a little less since I had my own hosted WordPress blog. I will admit I enjoy the technical side. I am thinking of moving to one of the paid plans to remove the ads and to get a private URL.

But before that my intent: post every day! Something I have read, something I am thinking about, or some random observation. Maybe a review of a movie or TV show? Not for an audience (sorry) but for me. Check back tomorrow!

kierkegaard’s world

Here are a collect of links to a great simple introduction to Soren Kierkegaard:

It is also available as an audiobook.