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Of course, the backbone of CL is School of Community. SofC has to happen in person. It is an event that happens once a week for about an hour. We gather, sing a song, pray, and talk about experiences in light of our encounter with Christ, exploring what it means, how it applies, where it is difficult, support one another in striving for Christian maturity in light of the teachings of Msgr. Giussani, learning to trust Christ and each other, becoming companions on the way.I like the way Conti ends his piece: "Father Giussani used to repeat that education is a matter of mimesis and experience. The virtual society is the epitome of mimesis, an uncritical imitation, and, without the principle of experience, it collapses every possible scaffolding on which to build human relations of whatever kind.
"If this is what we want, we are simply desiring the end of the world."
Is it, to quote REM, "the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine"? This brings me, yet again, to the quote in my blog heading: "the Eucharist is the only place of resistance to annihilation of the human subject." This insight grows deeper with each passing day.
What an important and telling message...one I'll consider myself and share broadly with friends and family.
ReplyDeleteIt is commnicated by how we live, not what we say.
ReplyDeleteDoes what we say about how we live not matter then?
ReplyDeleteOr rather is the manifestation of "abide in me" actions (the how we live") that at once fulfills the individual but also inspires others?
You can see, inspiring others to seek a life in Jesus is a re-occurring theme with me.
As Christians, we have criterion with which to judge. It is important to talk about, think about, and experience what this means. In other words, it is okay and even necessary to talk about how we live, but we must be honest about two things:
ReplyDelete1) What our desire is= happiness, how we want to live
2) How we actually live.
Beyond that we must recognize that it is not a matter of closing the gap between 1 and 2. To think of it that way is to devalue experience. As my dear friend Sharon wrote the other day: "we have known the strange and unexpected correspondence in acquiescing to the baffling invitation offered in circumstance."
This gets to the issue of differentiating between being an example, which is to adhere to values and reduce Christianity to moralism, that is, to doing and witness. I do not live self-consciously as an example. I do seek to live as a witness, which is to live as a disciple, one who follows. Sometimes my following is abiding, which is hanging around even when I am struggling.