Monday, July 6, 2009

Silent night

Just found this little gem on Butter's blog.



The song truly is a spiritual experience. It almost made me lose sense of time, freeing my soul and making me feel calm, peaceful and warm inside. My eyes were mostly closed the first time I heard it. I didn't know what it was about -- it didn't matter. I read the lyrics at the bottom of the screen the second time around, and the wordings and imagery, though beautiful, made me a little uncomfortable. Perhaps we need another set of metaphors and images, not associated with any of the major religions when talking about spiritual experiences.

I have always found the three part Christian conception of God to be utterly confusing. For the first time however, I realized how the father son relationship can evoke feelings of love and compassion in a way that a single God perhaps cannot. Our most potent experiences of love and warmth are associated with the relations we build and nourish with other humans and it is not surprising to see humans externalizing those relations when constructing notions of a loving God. This provides an emotional explanation of why most Christians stick with their beliefs even when it apparently makes no logical sense.

6 comments:

  1. Good post. I felt the same way when I first heard it, and it sounds better in high quality mp3 (youtube videos have relatively low quality soun), so I downloaded it too.

    I like most Christian imagery, though I tend to pick and choose from the religions. Baby Jesus is a beautiful image: it shows an incarnation of God as a vulnerable newborn, as someone small and soft. This is incredibly pro-human, the idea that God is not a scary punisher but a soft, sweet person who was once a baby.

    However some religious imagery makes me uncomfortable. For example, the crucifixion is a terrible image, almost vouyeristic, and pleased about the idea of physical sacrifice. So I avoid that but expose myself to such symbolism as Mary caring for Jesus, or of him holding an animal.

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  2. That was a beautiful image of Jesus.

    Makes me feel guilty about the little meat that I am eating :P

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  3. Hi, This is a really good post. You don't find too many people analyzing Christianity in this way.

    Silent Night is a Christian song, organically, which is why the lyrics are about Jesus. Which religion were you raised in, I'm curious?

    "Our most potent experiences of love and warmth are associated with the relations we build and nourish with other humans and it is not surprising to see humans externalizing those relations when constructing notions of a loving God. This provides an emotional explanation of why most Christians stick with their beliefs even when it apparently makes no logical sense."

    So well said, Desiskeptic. The metaphorical aspect of a son (Jesus)being born and how sacred that is to a mother, family and hopefully-world, is absolutely beautiful. It is the universal, meaningful, emotional framework of family & community which is why Christianity is appealing to me. - And the reason I continue to celebrate the Christian holidays, despite how logical or factual the events were. It's living poetry. There is a harmony in that spiritually that you can't get in life when you only focus on facts & logic.

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  4. Beautifully said Di. Thanks for the comment.

    I was raised a Muslim. I have always been made to focus on the "logical absurdity" of the Christian account of the spiritual. Its surprising how a single song can make you look at the same thing so differently.

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  5. Desi Skeptic, IMO the reason why the parent-child relationship is invoked in religious (especially Christian) imagery is that the soul feels like a child, specifically a child of God. Spiritual experiences frequently feature a sense of there being a child buried within. This relationship (between the soul and God) precedes any experience of egoistic or human relationships, whether it is with our parents or others, and its quality is distinct from it.

    "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Luke 18:15-17)

    Sorry for getting all Biblical on you :P

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  6. Not to taking anything away from the beauty of the human relationships, say that between a child and a mother, I think I might have experienced what you are talking about. While I don't claim to have had any profound spiritual experiences, I have at times felt almost like a child, eyes and heart filled with wonder and compassion.

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