"Our situation today is totally different from this. Of course we still have to contend, as the desert fathers had to, with the forms of evil endemic to the fallen human state. But, as a consequence of choices made by individuals and increasingly tolerated when not actively supported and subscribed to by society as a whole, we are now forced to live in society, if not in the world at large, according to forms that not only do not correspond in any way to the reality of the divine, human, or natural order, but are themselves actively and positively evil to a degree that goes far beyond the evil inevitably endemic to the fallen human state or that is a “natural” consequence of the fall; "
Not necessarily "totally different". The Fathers also lived during the years of Roman decline, which had all sorts of evil, from rejoicing for human killings and torture in the arena (including killing of Christians themselves), to all kinds of perverted sex and indulegnces, and from extreme greed and cruelty, to worship of dark imported Gods and self-worshiping/god-hating gnostic religions and philosophies...
Aug 3, 2022·edited Aug 3, 2022Liked by Farasha Euker
Great idea for a guest post. Every word Sherrard wrote is freighted with gold. One of the greatest spiritual and cultural lights Britain has brought forth. Look at any photo of him. Class and nobility are etched on every line of his face. A sane, rightly orientated society (not the UK then!) would laud him from the eves - statues, buildings named after him and so forth. But he isn't. Not that I can see anyway.
His presence and proximity were crucial, I feel, in keeping Christianity on Kathleen Raine's radar. Without PS around, I think Temenos might have drifted away from the Faith and all its mystical depth altogether.
The artist Cecil Collins once said of him (to John Tavener), 'Philip's really hot on sex and really hot on Orthodoxy.' Oddly enough, though Lawrence wasn't a professing Christian, I think the same words apply equally to him. There were no barriers, for either man, between sexuality and the sacred. Why should there be? They were on the same level - cut from the same cloth. They both had such a sacramental, holistic view of man and the cosmos. They foresaw the ecological crisis and, more than that, the deep materialistic biases that cause it and also ensure its continuation. Two Sun Men if ever there were! Prophets of the coming transformation, perhaps.
Can I ask please - what are you referring to exactly when you mention 'a perverse form of conservatism' currently threatening Orthodoxy? Do you mean its alleged co-option by elements of the American right or the kind of nationalist church we see in Russia, say, or something else again?
I'm Roman Catholic fwiw.
Keep up the ennobling and enriching work you're engaged in. You're playing a big part in setting the tone for the world that's coming after the Machine.
Thanks for this, Farasha. One small thing: in Sherrard's first paragraph, in the following sentence, there seems to something missing. Should it be "were it within", perhaps?
"They could be made sense of, were within the scope of human comprehension, and through a process of askesis leading to purification could be allayed or transcended."
"Our situation today is totally different from this. Of course we still have to contend, as the desert fathers had to, with the forms of evil endemic to the fallen human state. But, as a consequence of choices made by individuals and increasingly tolerated when not actively supported and subscribed to by society as a whole, we are now forced to live in society, if not in the world at large, according to forms that not only do not correspond in any way to the reality of the divine, human, or natural order, but are themselves actively and positively evil to a degree that goes far beyond the evil inevitably endemic to the fallen human state or that is a “natural” consequence of the fall; "
Not necessarily "totally different". The Fathers also lived during the years of Roman decline, which had all sorts of evil, from rejoicing for human killings and torture in the arena (including killing of Christians themselves), to all kinds of perverted sex and indulegnces, and from extreme greed and cruelty, to worship of dark imported Gods and self-worshiping/god-hating gnostic religions and philosophies...
Great idea for a guest post. Every word Sherrard wrote is freighted with gold. One of the greatest spiritual and cultural lights Britain has brought forth. Look at any photo of him. Class and nobility are etched on every line of his face. A sane, rightly orientated society (not the UK then!) would laud him from the eves - statues, buildings named after him and so forth. But he isn't. Not that I can see anyway.
His presence and proximity were crucial, I feel, in keeping Christianity on Kathleen Raine's radar. Without PS around, I think Temenos might have drifted away from the Faith and all its mystical depth altogether.
The artist Cecil Collins once said of him (to John Tavener), 'Philip's really hot on sex and really hot on Orthodoxy.' Oddly enough, though Lawrence wasn't a professing Christian, I think the same words apply equally to him. There were no barriers, for either man, between sexuality and the sacred. Why should there be? They were on the same level - cut from the same cloth. They both had such a sacramental, holistic view of man and the cosmos. They foresaw the ecological crisis and, more than that, the deep materialistic biases that cause it and also ensure its continuation. Two Sun Men if ever there were! Prophets of the coming transformation, perhaps.
Can I ask please - what are you referring to exactly when you mention 'a perverse form of conservatism' currently threatening Orthodoxy? Do you mean its alleged co-option by elements of the American right or the kind of nationalist church we see in Russia, say, or something else again?
I'm Roman Catholic fwiw.
Keep up the ennobling and enriching work you're engaged in. You're playing a big part in setting the tone for the world that's coming after the Machine.
One love. Grace, peace and mercy,
John
Thanks for this, Farasha. One small thing: in Sherrard's first paragraph, in the following sentence, there seems to something missing. Should it be "were it within", perhaps?
"They could be made sense of, were within the scope of human comprehension, and through a process of askesis leading to purification could be allayed or transcended."
As always, keep up your good work.
Robert
I've read "Rape of Man and Nature multiple times" - every time it hammers deeper into my soul