Not Merely To Live

I wanted to make FINDING STONE a hot link, but couldn't make it work in the article. I'll try here, just in case. Finding Stone page

I think of all your books, this is the one that spoke/speaks to my heart of hearts. I am moved each time I read the words, and nourished in my soul. Life is not merely for living, it is to be consumed, and shouted, and celebrated, and danced, and yes, wrestled with!

Christin,

As I bump around the internet and let my intuition and intelligence act to 'be my guide', I sometimes find new links that set me up to learn and experience more and more. The 'GATHERING' of experiences leading always toward the loving need to integrate more and more into each questing mind and heart is the harbinger of emotional. conscious, and intelligent personal growth, from which institutional growth may benefit. Good brings GOOD.

This morning, not too many minutes ago, I found a new, new way -- I think -- to get at NEW WAYS to look at INTELLIGENT DESIGN which is so maligned by many naive and arrogant folk because of linguistic and knowledge blockages. The new field I have found to explore, for a while, is scientifically named Biosemiotics. Herein as I briefly surmise now, is where parts of humans 'speak to' other parts of the same and different human beings. Life speaking to Life. Life communicating with LIFE. LIFE ITSELF. Quietly finding self and others.Seeking breadths AND depths. WONDER!

The urge to live fully can be captured in many ways: intellectually and, spiritually, and experientially. By seeing a mountain as a face turned toward heaven. To see a crying child find solace in the arms of a friendly and caring person. To know that there are others who really do understand. To sit and write and imagine. To visit and come to know othernesses. To be grateful for the received gifts from GOD. To conquer both fear and anger because your conscience and consciousness KNOW that to do otherwise would be a violation of the quest to develop in self, needed personal grace. The UNIVERSE is ever yours and ours; learn how to OWN it!

Through my deep involvements in the emerging fields of communications and computer technologies in the past I knew something about signs, signals, symbols semantics, syntax and semiotics, but NOT Bio-semiotics. The words transported me back into past times. They took me briefly backward to a Summer and a stint in summer school in Cambridge (1950, AS I RECALL) where I first heard about and read some parts of the book written by I. A. Richards and C . K. Ogden, THE MEANING OF MEANING. I was writing my doctoral dissertation about Economic Development. Is language involved in growth? Most certainly! Is there MEANING then in Economic Growth? Yes! To make SOME All, REALLY REAL All. If you WILL: to Close the spiritual-material 'gap' in one's personal psyche. To LIVE! To ENGAGE finite life!

The emerging need in the years ahead for the varied and diverse societies of persons, is to give NEW meaning to the quest for the GOOD and PRODUCTIVE LIFE: For ALL! Thus enters teleology and the determination to LIVE and to meaningfully prosper.To cultivate and find ways to improve prospects for ALL lives. ALL of us children.

You wrote about such, years ago, I suspect within the context of a wish for you and ALL the rest of us I presume. Our collective human task is to learn HOW TO CREATE the WORTHY CITIES OF GOD where HUMANE goodness can and will flourish! Where there is Meaning IN Meaning!


Christin, to you, ALL life seems to be MEANING FULL engagement. God Bless,

Dick

Dick,
I think the Fifties and early Sixties must have been an intense awakening to the meaning of MEANING. I'm reminded of Victor Frankl's book, MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING. His thought and experience had a profound impact on me then, and I still hold the image he described of the bird, perched on a post in the muck and horror of a Nazi death camp where Frankl was interred, and the bird was singing! Amidst all that terror, the bird was singing, and in the song Frankl's despair lifted and he recovered the fundamental meaning of his existence.

Thank you for your characteristically astute comments. Now I will Google "biosemiotics"! I do treasure the opportunity to benefit from all your writings here at Gather, and I hope thousands of Gather members visit your site and glean from your sage thoughts and probings into ways to create societies of humane goodness and existential wonder!

Christin

Maripat--thank you so much! The writing of FINDING STONE was pure blessing to me. I wish that it weren't out of print. Sometimes I think I should just make it available on the Internet for anyone who wants it. It had a rough publication originally. It had been bought by LuraMedia Press in San Diego, and was on the verge of being released when that press went out of existence! This is a death knell for a new book. The company was sold and became Innisfree Press. But although they acquired the rights to FINDING STONE, it wasn't really one of "their" books from the beginning. That factor in itself affects the staff's commitment. However, they did try maybe even more than a larger house might have. But they were dealing with start-up costs and other difficulties having to do with a distribution company that went belly-up. It was only a few years before Innisfree went out of existence. It's almost impossible now to find a copy of FINDING STONE, even on the second-hand market.

Amen, sister! I could not have said it any better. That is exactly how I feel too.

The desire is there. The question is how does one actually engage life in this way? Unless you become like a child ... This is so difficult to do such a simple thing.

Humm, interesting question, Liz. "Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Children don't resist life; they participate fully. Maybe that's it. And there's another line from Gertrude von LeFort's play, SONG AT THE SCAFFOLD, "Once past childhood one must suffer to return to it." Or Blake's poetry of innocence and experience. The fall from innocence makes us wary of full giving.

I believe that Jesus loved life. That as true God AND true man he laughed and experienced and was facinated by the smallest and most insignificant of what creation has to offer as well as the greatest. Might Jesus may have felt the urge to refuse life nothing??

Hey Joel! Hello!!! Yes, Yes, Yes, I believe that with all my heart.

Your words move me so deeply. I remember how I almost once had my own copy of this book. I sent the money only to learn the book was gone and never did recoup my full payment. Your gift to us is this link. Thanks Chrisitin.

You may not want to try it again, Beryl, but I just found several copies at Amazon.com Marketplace. I was looking for a copy to send my Aunt Barbara who just had open heart surgery. Just before she went to the hospital, she reminded me that she didn't have that book, never did, always wanted it. Well, as you can imagine, I had my marching orders. I was surprised they had the copies -- but there they were.

Enjoyed the article and the comments although I hope I have not contributed to the misunderstanding of Intelligent Design by using ludicrous references to evolution's mistakes in order to satirize those who claim it as the proof of creation. After all, just because evolution is true it does not prove the non - existence of God. Intelligent design stops at the molecule.
And if your friend want me to explain biosemiotics in terms of quantum theory I'll be happy to.
You are right, we should celebrate life.
Thanks for asking to join my network BTW

Ian--so happy to see you here. I found you through a comment you made to a completely unrelated article, and was so impressed I looked you up and liked what I saw. Anyway -- do visit Richard Maffei's articles on Intelligent Design. He is amazing!

The link works just perfectly . . . :-) So good to see my favorite quote. Been very quiet as I have been editing and grandchildrens' birthdays are rolling by like small jet planes.

All my love, Anam.

CAT

Oh, this was so lovely, so lovely. I would like to live this way too, even a hundredth little part, but I am too much a coward.

Amazing that you found this article, David, stuck way back among the first ones I published. Now I want to visit you--just met you for the first time tonight.

Actually you've met me before, albeit briefly, on Blogsource. In both cases, I can thank Beryl for nudging me in your direction.

Oh sure! That's right!! I thought your name looked familiar. And you're from Portland -- from one end of the state to the other ;)