As promised in the two previous posts, I am offering my plan for the completion of this topic, Knowing Oneself, along with an announcement of interest.
- I have decided to bring this lengthiest blog topic I think I have ever done to a close by addressing the topic of “Knowing Your Values and Your Ethical Stance.” On what basis do you make a decision about what you will do in a situation with “moral weight?” And if you want to go a step further, what are the 2 or 3 “principles” you think/believe you could never compromise. In the next post, I will lay out some suggested parameters for our thinking and, hopefully, in the same post, offer my own response to the question(s) posed. That leaves the other topics I had originally suggested—your major likes and dislikes, an exploration of “soul,” and what makes you distinctively—if not uniquely—your “own” person—as “leftovers,” if important ones, for another day.
- And here is the announcement of interest: With the completion of the final topic in, hopefully, one or, if necessary, two posts, I will be going on a “hiatus.” For at least two months, perhaps more, there will be no new posts on my blogsite! The reason is simple and, I confess, self-serving. One of the areas where in all my educational and professional life I did not explore and learn what I should have, has to do with World Religions. I have a “skimming,” superficial knowledge of some but not all and nothing close to the broader and deeper understanding that I have observed in a few of my friends and have jealously coveted for some time. I am fully aware of the time it has taken to post a new blog virtually every week to ten days over the past three years. I cannot continue to do that and still devote the time and attention that I want to give to this study of the major religions of the world. Sometime, then, in the next week or two, I will bid you farewell for a respite, a “breathing space,” and will let you know down the road when words may reappear “On the Boundaries.”
Postscript relevant to the Knowing Oneself topic:
David Brooks, who always writes well, has an interesting and intriguing opinion piece in the September 2, 2021 NY Times, entitled, “You Are Not Who You Think You Are.” I recommend it—it’s worth looking up.
6 Responses
A truly exciting venture: to explore world religions. I’ve always wished there were a college nearby–and I had time–so that I could audit a course in this very subject (as well as a course in art history). Warm wishes as you begin this journey.
Thanks for reading! I do, of course, share your wishes–I’d love to be taking a class as well as reading on my own, but even with colleges nearby, I don’t know whether any course would be available. But we can do this on our own and, perhaps, gain some insights from each other.
How I conti up to admire you and the example you set for those along the journey with you.
Thanks for your kind and generous comment, Joyce. If there is anyone I know who fits the “example’ you mention, it would be you! I do believe that human beings are basically meaning-and-pattern-seeking creatures, and that it is crucial to our survival and definitive of our existence that we make some “sense of things;” So, as you well know, the journey is important and since we cannot know when or where ours will end, we continue to search and to learn. And so, though physically separated, I walk the journey with you!
I will miss your regular posts, but you’ve certainly earned the hiatus, and I will look forward to learning from you what you have learned when you return. If you find a religion organized around otters, sign me up.
Thanks, David, for reading and commenting, as always. My guess is that you know more about the religions of the world already than I do and maybe more than I will know when I’ve studied a while. That said, I’ll be glad to converse with you about what I’m learning—always happy to have an excuse to interact with you. If there’s going to be an “Otter Religion,” my guess is that you’ll be one of its founders!