Yesterday I was at the House of Religions in Bern - a wonderful place where cultures and religions meet, where people of different faith traditions get to know each other and understand something more about each other. I find the place beautiful primarily because it makes me realize and appreciate the beauty in the other's life and history, and I assume the same happens to others. I attended a meeting of Ecumenical Accompaniers, who spent several weeks or months in Israel and Palestine. That in itself is worth a book of blogs. As I arrived at the House of Religions my eyes were drawn to a brochure "Armut und Paradies" - Poverty and Paradise. An intriguing pair of terms, and that at the House of Religions. The exhibit ponders the notions of poverty and paradise in different cultures and religions. The brochure also prepared me mentally for the meeting with the EA's - people who I regard as Saints - they gave time and themselves to a people living mostly in utter poverty in a land where the idea or perspective of paradise has been present for ages. Contrasts, complexities, terror and beauty all at once. Paradise is not exactly what comes up in the context of Gaza. But I'm fascinated and intrigued by the pairing of the terms poverty and paradise.
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Sometimes it is only when we are stripped of everything that we can be truly aware of our dependence on, our need for, the divine. Was it Augustine of Hippo who said only when you are brought to your knees do you find how to really pray?
ReplyDeletewe will each have our own concept of what constitutes the idea of 'paradise' - perhaps paradise is not 'having everything' but real at-oneness with God, with the divine - paradise is being who we were created to be.
One can be in paradise anywhere, any time. Paradise is not conditional on reaching earthly criteria: ie food, warmth, shelter... but on reaching a certain stage of our relationship with our creator...