Your calligraphy continues to surprise me. You've pushed way beyond what I have usually seen of others' work. Bravo!
True was you say about how formalizing a religious philosophy calcifies it. That is certainly true of American Christianity. Some, it seems, have taken the song, Onward Christian Soldiers, seriously and it's become frightening in the extreme.
Years ago, I joined the Baha'i Faith and was not only drawn by its teachings of unity, but also its seeming free-style, small community structure. The more I delved into it, however, the more I realized it was also becoming, after only about 150+ years, a systemized organization. The American community, I believe, has a way of doing this with religions. The Persians who grew up Baha'i in Iran before coming to America, were more informal in their own elegant way with the Faith. The American leadership, on the other hand, made five-year plans for growing the numbers of members and groups and urged members to dedicate their lives to teaching and fostering growth. (How American! Manifest Destiny lives.) In doing so, it felt like the essence of the Faith had started to corrode and was becoming buried in administrivia.
Thank you! It's been fun to explore and explore...though to be honest if I had to bet in August last year, I would have assumed I'd have lost interest already! Funny what grabs the minds sometime.
As for religion...it is funny how our American entrepreneurial spirit can get in the way of things at times！ Most likely a great mindset to conquer a continent, but not particularly conducive for deep spirituality!
Your calligraphy continues to surprise me. You've pushed way beyond what I have usually seen of others' work. Bravo!
True was you say about how formalizing a religious philosophy calcifies it. That is certainly true of American Christianity. Some, it seems, have taken the song, Onward Christian Soldiers, seriously and it's become frightening in the extreme.
Years ago, I joined the Baha'i Faith and was not only drawn by its teachings of unity, but also its seeming free-style, small community structure. The more I delved into it, however, the more I realized it was also becoming, after only about 150+ years, a systemized organization. The American community, I believe, has a way of doing this with religions. The Persians who grew up Baha'i in Iran before coming to America, were more informal in their own elegant way with the Faith. The American leadership, on the other hand, made five-year plans for growing the numbers of members and groups and urged members to dedicate their lives to teaching and fostering growth. (How American! Manifest Destiny lives.) In doing so, it felt like the essence of the Faith had started to corrode and was becoming buried in administrivia.
Thank you! It's been fun to explore and explore...though to be honest if I had to bet in August last year, I would have assumed I'd have lost interest already! Funny what grabs the minds sometime.
As for religion...it is funny how our American entrepreneurial spirit can get in the way of things at times！ Most likely a great mindset to conquer a continent, but not particularly conducive for deep spirituality!