Modern world
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Transforming the idea into a feeling
Max Jacob to a student: Meditation is not about having ideas, quite the opposite! It's about having one, transforming it into a feeling, a conviction. A meditation is good when it leads to a YES, uttered by the whole body, to a cry from the heart: joy or… Continue reading
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The funeral
Funerals serve to target, with diabolical precision, a dart that pierces the abscess of grief, allowing it to flow out gently and smoothly, like an IV drip for the sick. It hydrates the one who remains on the shore of the living, bringing them the comfort of always being, in a way, with… Continue reading
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The meaning… of funerals
The contemporary world is excited by the phrase "to make sense," a perfect translation of the Anglo-Saxon expression. It's comforting to repeat this expression to ourselves, even though it doesn't really make sense. We pick up little things that make sense, but what are these mini-meanings found on the ground almost by chance? What are these… Continue reading
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The sentence
The pain is like the ebb and flow that languidly, yet never languishes, over the hieratic rock that plays its role as scapegoat. It almost always overwhelms it, and if it misses its mark, if it doesn't quite tame the rock in that instant, it never gives up, it always begins again… Continue reading
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Beloved freedom!
Antigone is free, and since freedom is constantly being won, it would be accurate to say that Antigone is liberating herself, for one never finishes liberating oneself, and learning to liberate oneself. Freedom is the most repressed gift, for freedom embodies truth; it is the best interpreter of life. It tames destiny and calls forth… Continue reading
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The permanent conversion
Contrary to what is often said or believed, tradition demands constant conversion. Tradition is not a sinecure, a life spent at the spa! Tradition requires a perpetual effort. And even the most important effort of all: not forgetting. Tradition only exists when it is alive, and to live… Continue reading
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The call of destiny, the forgetting of vocation
To deny the origin, it's possible to claim that the existence of the past events cannot be proven, or better yet, that it was an accident, an accident amplified by gossip. This is where mitigating the situation often proves an effective subterfuge, as it doesn't require denial and relies on a degree of honesty, but if this deception allows one to… Continue reading
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From meaning to nonsense
The contemporary world is aroused by the phrase: "to make sense," a perfect translation of the Anglo-Saxon expression. It's so comforting to repeat this expression to ourselves, even though it doesn't really make any sense. We pick up little things that make sense, but what are these mini-meanings found on the ground almost by chance? What are… Continue reading
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Like robots facing death
There's no need to be afraid of these robots from Asia that seem ready to take our place, because the robot is within us and it's watching us; it's watching for that point of no return where humanity, stripped of all humanity, will display its corpse, believing it has vanquished its worst enemy. The loss of know-how regarding death has… Continue reading
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Antigone, defiant and intimate (6/7. The vocation)
So many stories about identity! The word appears neither in Greek epic nor in tragedy. Identity in Antigone's time was rooted in lineage and belonging to a city-state. Identity was imbued with rootedness. Family and city-state gathered under a virtual banner everything that the other needed to know about oneself… Continue reading
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Relativism is the horse trader!
Relativism proves to be a gentle companion. Relativism is like Father Donissan's horse dealer. One can travel in his company. He is never boring, he stays in his place, and he demonstrates unfailing empathy. However, he doesn't know compassion. Is that a problem? Rather, it's an advantage; he doesn't contradict, he agrees… Continue reading
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Becoming oneself…
Isn't becoming oneself always about becoming someone else? What can become of someone who doesn't journey toward who they truly are? We must constantly bridge the gap between who we are and who we believe ourselves to be. What can embody someone who doesn't know who they are? A… Continue reading
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The quest for identity
In its mad quest to make us believe that we can choose everything all the time, the modern era has methodically replaced being with having. Yet this logic, this ideology, has its limits: some things cannot be acquired, among them otherness. To live one's identity, to be who one is, to inhabit one's name, to allow intimacy and… Continue reading
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In light of the values
Authority has lost its nobility along with humility. Authority has become synonymous with implacable order, unthinking force, and tyranny. What a reversal of values! Whereas, according to Antigone, authority prevented tyranny! The modern era has this impression of authority because it has been trampled underfoot by… Continue reading