{"id":10191,"date":"2014-09-02T16:03:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-02T20:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=10191"},"modified":"2014-09-02T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T20:03:18","slug":"enclosing-ourselves-in-false-infinities-pope-francis-bookclub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/09\/enclosing-ourselves-in-false-infinities-pope-francis-bookclub.html","title":{"rendered":"Enclosing Ourselves in False Infinities [Pope Francis Bookclub]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus<\/a>. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all<\/a>\u00a0and\/or read along.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s chapter, Pope Francis contrasts Abraham with Lot, the latter too willing to cling to his present place and moment to follow the Lord where he leads. \u00a0In the course of his exegesis, he draws this distinction:<\/p>\n

Those who set out on an exodus from themselves make a definite option: they prefer time to space. \u00a0They are betting on time, for time always opens onto the horizon of eternity; it knows nothing of \u201ccompetition\u201d for space. \u00a0But this journey in time is not without it hidden traps, for we sometimes camouflage space in the guise of time. \u00a0We believe that we are \u201con exodus\u201d in the dimension of time, which is always God\u2019s domain (what Blessed Peter Faber calls the \u201cMessenger of God\u201d), but we unwittingly create domains of possession. \u00a0That \u201cgreat moment\u201d we experience as something absolute and definitive is merely the result of our turning time into space. \u00a0God is not there, \u00a0We have settled down; it is our executive office disguised as the pilgrim\u2019s trail\u2026 And since all reduction of realities is forced and violent, the space in which we travel as peers of the realm is nothing but a labyrinth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As usual, I like my theology best in the form of topology analogies. \u00a0And I really like this paragraph because it helps to create a positive vision of what Christians often describe as death to self (and which is frequently muddled together with Buddhist<\/a> non-attachment). \u00a0Here, the Christian is reluctant to hold too tightly to the present moment because she longs for something larger, not because she is systematically limiting her ability to desire.<\/p>\n

When Pope Francis talks about the limited labyrinths we build, I naturally thought of a torus. \u00a0(Or, as it\u2019s known in the non-topology world, a donut). \u00a0As you can see in the (slightly slow moving gif below) you can make a torus out of any finite, flat sheet. \u00a0You just join up one set of ends to make a cylinder, and then stitch the cylinder\u2019s ends together to create the donut. \u00a0(Note, not how edible donuts are made).<\/p>\n

\"Torus_from_rectangle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A torus might\u00a0feel<\/em> infinite to someone living on it\u2019s surface (like, say the protagonists of\u00a0Sphereland<\/em><\/a>) because you can walk and walk and never reach an edge, but it\u2019s a very small kind of infinity, formed by just gluing all the edges of your original landscape together so that you don\u2019t have to look at them. \u00a0But, once you construct the torus, your focus is on it, not the infinite space that it is embedded in.<\/p>\n

When Christians interact with the world, it\u2019s certainly permissible to love and delight in people, moments, and things \u2014 the thing to be on guard against is not any\u00a0<\/em>attachment but a false understanding of these small, constrained things as satisfying the love and desire for the transcendent that, Augustine says, makes our hearts restless until they rest in Thee.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m on day 6 of a Norbertine novena, in honor of my friend Michael Hannon, who just entered the abbey. \u00a0<\/em>Please feel free to pray along.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all\u00a0and\/or read along. In this week\u2019s chapter, Pope Francis contrasts Abraham with Lot, the latter too willing to cling to his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":10192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[227],"class_list":["post-10191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pope-francis-bookclub"],"yoast_head":"\nEnclosing Ourselves in False Infinities [Pope Francis Bookclub]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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