On dead meese and being wrong...

[Winston Kinch]

Ashley wrote:
...a question that arose in my own head was the safety of the list for
people to explore and risk being "wrong" (which in reality is just an
opportunity to learn something new, no?). It is my trust and deep sense in
the strength of this community and the richness of content and support that
it provides for its members, that encouraged me to release my dead moose
inquiry. Recently i've been pondering (thanks for lighting the fire, chris)
the ability for constructive criticism or negative feedback to surface on
an online community...


If I get your drift, Ashley, I think you're onto something here. My sense
is that some time ago we (the list) were sailing very close to the wind of
terminal niceness. Far from challenging the codex, we flirted with
indulging in - what is it they say - an orgy of self congratulation:
enjoyable for a while but ultimately cloying to many. I think we have
tacked away from that, and on balance that is a good thing...

Here is a tale from "the song of the bird" by Anthony deMello which  is
worth pondering in context....

The mystic was back from the desert.

"Tell us" they said, "what God is like."
But how could he ever tell them
what he had experienced in his heart?
Can God be put into words?

He finally gave them a formula -
inaccurate, inadequate - in the hope
that some might be tempted
to experience for themselves.

They seized upon the formula. They made it
a sacred text. They imposed it on others
as a holy belief. They went to great pains
to spread it in foreign lands. Some even
gave their lives for it.

The mystic was sad. It might have
been better if he had said nothing.


Cheers,
Winston

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