Thursday 2/3 -- CHS Melton

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Date Posted: 22:20:41 02/03/00 Thu
Author: Chris B
Subject: Thursday 2/3

I know that Thursdays are long days for many of us, but as usual I don't want to stop, and I'm also pretty jazzed about this message board. Computer geek that I may seem, I have never done this kind of thing before, have you?
So I was pretty quiet on the outside, although I doubt that it looked like I was bored on the outside and I assure you that I was not. We have a lot of people with things to say and this is very very good and I enjoy it immensely. I don't get to hear from everyone, and you don't sometimes hear too much from me due to the limitations of time, so I was particularly interested in trying this message board thing. My thoughts tend to be kind of orthagonal and orbital as one might perceive things coming in from left field. I often come home to relative isolation from an imersion in connection and my thoughts start to re-enter the atmosphere with no one there to greet the astronaut or hear my space stories. So in this first test of the message board, I shall try to not max out the capacity of the system.
But I also consider brevity to be a virtue where ever possible.
It seems that we have the notion that the image of G-d is quite beyond our grasp, yet I hear a lot of holes in sentences filled with the word "God" which tend to start collecting lots of human attributes. Then I notice that the image of G-d may be quite out of reach, but that the image of how G-d communicates or how G-d is revealed or how we hear G-d seems to be considerably less problematic. But doesn't the notion of how G-d is revealed contain assumptions or images of G-d?
I like the idea of understanding the different groups within Judaism based on thier images of the process of revelation. It seems to me that a large component of the images of revelation is not necessarily begotten by the image itself but by the need for synchronizing the dance of community. If the individual has too much freedom to interpret, it's hard to dance with them. You don't know which way they will turn next. It leads to awkwardness on surface levels and on deeper levels which can be difficult to articulate. You are free to dance freestyle, but you are limited to freestyle, and it's hard to dance very close with someone without getting bonked unless you get to know them really well. If however, the guidelines are solid, the beat is distinct and it's source is agreed upon, you can glide along with a harmony and a sensitivity that reaches the heights of human communal experience. It could also be related to the difference between a freestyle jazz jam and a classical symphony. One person's freedom is another person's captivity. Different perceptions. And the imagery that we use for the process of revelation can never be more than a rationalization for the style that we resonate with.
As for me, I may be in trouble again, for to confine myself to an image of revelation feels like idolatry. I probably drift to the extreme left when I remove images of revelation, but I have a strong feeling for the need to be connected in synchrony like the extreme right. I'm not so sure the extreme right does not have a way of transforming language into a language of this high level of bonding which makes the surface levels of truth trivial compared to the
depths. Perhaps once you have experienced it, it goes without saying.
Have I lost anyone yet? Maybe this helps explain why I don't talk much sometimes, but I thouroughly enjoy myself and all of your company regardless.
Shabatt Shalom
Carmiel (alias Chris B.)

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Replies:

Re: Thursday 2/3 -- Beth Hammer, 12:17:13 02/09/00 Wed