Dear Lawrence,
Many thanks for this response!
Yes, that last line is simply what came out 'as the wind blew through me'.
I'm aware that it is extremely open to interpretation, and I am not quite
sure how to interpret it myself (that's often the way, I find, when I simply
allow whatever comes to express itself, without censorship).
What I'm fairly clear about is that it's not a solely (it's more like a
soul-fully) masculine voice. It's more like a voice transformed from the
superiority of 'A Men', to the humility of 'O Men', through acknowledging
the presence of space as a cavity at heart. There's a hint of exasperation
with 'Men Only' in it too. This is what's needed to sustain the 'fluid
communion' through the dynamic synthesis of 'left-brained' reductionism and
'right-brained' holism into the sense of bodily self as an including middle
that holds each in the influence of the other. Moreover, I think the 'O Men'
could also sound a warning bell, which would account for the jarring you
felt. It is saying, please don't let one side or other completely dominate
the marriage. Please don't simply replace one form of repressive influence
(20th century reductionism) with another: bring out and sustain the best of
both worlds, the 'focus' and the 'circumspection', together.
Warmest
Alan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lawrence Martin Olivier" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:33 AM
Subject: Re: Soul and Spirit in Theopoetic Expression (fwd)
Hi Roy and Alan
I enjoyed the poem, thank you for the experience. I am also exploring making
connections between by Mind, my Soul, my Spirit and my Body and at another
level exploring making connections between my Ontological Values, my
Epistemology, my Pedagogy, my Language and my Research - a sign of our
intellectual times - a movement away from 20th Century reductionism.
What though came as a thunderbolt and jarring, is the poem's finale "O Men".
The poem begins with a strong masculine voice and ends with one. I found
this disappointing, what happened to the "Fluid Communion"?
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: Practitioner-Researcher
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alan Rayner
Sent: 02 June 2010 04:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Soul and Spirit in Theopoetic Expression (fwd)
------------ Forwarded Message ------------
Date: 02 June 2010 10:09 -0400
From: roy reynolds <[log in to unmask]>
Dear Ones,
Over the past two days Alan Rayner (British scientist-artist) and I (UU
minister) have co-authored a poem and narrative exposition of that poem.
Both of these articulate an understanding of the partnership of Soul and
Spirit in concrete and cosmic dimensions. These are exploratory writings,
not final products, but they represent our current understanding and vision.
We offer this to you for reflection, use, and dialogue (including critical
and constructive feedback). This framing of Soul and Spirit as partnering
poles in an ongoing dance articulates a new vision of nature which is
jointly (and separately) being expressed by mathematician Lere Shakunle and
mycologist Alan Rayner. The specific Soul-Spirit framing draws directly on
the work of James Hillman, Robert Sardello, and Thomas Moore and, as well,
on the field of Process Theology (or panentheism).
This is a first public attempt to merge these various understandings in a
creative writing venture. We offer them to you as a work-in-progress, but
would ask that you cite us as the source if you choose to use the poem or
narrative exposition. Please be sure to include Lere Shakunle as one of the
three visionaries whose work undergirds this endeavor.
We offer this in hope that it will help deepen understanding of an emerging
philosophical-theological-Sophianic vision.
Sincerely,
Roy
Rev. Roy Reynolds, Interim Minister (Unitarian Universalist)
UU Congregation of Gwinnett, Lawrenceville, GA
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
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