___Este blog tem como objetivo criar um espaço de comunicação com amigos presentes e futuros. Normalmente, falaremos de teologia, filosofia e cultura. Comentários devem ser postados com respeito e consideração. ___This blog has the purpose of creating a space for communication with present and future friends. Usually, we will talk about theology, philosophy, and culture. I ask for commentaries to be posted with respect and kindness.
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Monday, December 5, 2011
Alteridade
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Águas que Instruem
Sunday, November 6, 2011
NOSTALGIA
Thursday, October 27, 2011
I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (Rev. 2:4).
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13).
"With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
(T.S. Elliot – “The Four Quartets”)
We are wired with a sense of returning, which is essential for life. We enjoy a vacation trip, but after a while we need to go back home. In all eras, we hear the voice of prophets, sages, and reformers calling for a return to the origins (ad fontes); a renew of the ways of seeing things. We name these callings rebirth, renaissance, reformation, and so forth. Why the need for such a movement towards the starting point in order to find the new, which has already been seen and is known?
I believe it is because we have a tendency of not paying attention; not valuing the things that we think are already common and normal. Then, we lose the newness that can be found in our everyday life. For this reason, when I listen to a symphony of Mozart and do not feel touched by it, I get very uneasy wiht myself. Although I know the notes, they cannot sound only as notes, but as music touching my inner being. When Jesus spoke about the reign of God (which is not a distant realm of a fairytale. Not either a place we go when we die. But the nearness of God's presence), he tried to teach us that the reign of God can be seen not on the extraordinary but on the ordinary. Hence, Jesus spoke of the kingdom as the farmer planting his seeds, the woman baking her bread, the fisher throwing his net, and the like. What for some people might sound too natural, it is actually the nearness and accessibility of the transcendent in the immanent. Thus speak the Word:
11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. (Deut. 30.11–14).
We explore and research in order to find the Word of God. However, at the end of our exploring and research, we discover that God’s word was not far, but very near, in our hearts: our starting point. This is not a word of discouragement for exploring, but to dig even deeper into ourselves, which is not other but the kernel of God's illumination. Actually, it is a word of encouragement as T.S. Elliot said, “We shall not cease exploring.”
Can we approach Scripture allowing God to speak with us through it? It seems a ridiculous question, for we proudly proclaim that Scripture is the Word of God. However, if we are not cautious, we can transform our interpretation of Scripture into the Word of God. Then, after finding the interpretation that is adapted to our views, we tend to write it on the stones of our traditions. For this reason, I ask: Can we hear a very well known text as when we heard it for the first time?
Old Folks at Home
Friday, October 21, 2011
BRASIL 500 ANOS
BRASIL 500 ANOS
Fall River, Massachusetts. 21/04/2000.
Brasil, 500 anos de descobrimento?!
Brasil descoberto!
Quem descobre patenteia, explora, desmata, usa e abandona.
Brasil, 500 anos de descobrimento, de desmatamento e desnudamento.
Brasil, até mesmo a árvore que te deu o nome
por pouco não foi totalmente extinta.
Brasil, 500 anos de descobrimento?!
Brasil, melhor seria se tivesses sido encontrado,
porque quem encontra ama e cuida. Então, o moto seria:
Brasil, 500 anos de encontro, amor e preservação.
Brasil, até mesmo a árvore que te deu o nome
faria sombra no meu quintal.
Brasil, 500 anos de encontro.
Brasil, qual é a tua cara?
Rosto colorido de vermelho, preto, banco e amarelo.
Brasil que não é só continente, é mundo:
Brasil é Índio, África, Europa e Ásia.
Fruto do que te ama, do caboclo, do mulato, do mestiço.
Brasil, 500 anos de encontro.
Brasil, qual é a tua voz?
Voz do que clama e chora, mas que canta.
Brasil que não é um só ritmo, é polirrítmico:
Brasil é samba, maracatu, frevo e muito mais.
Poema, música e pintura. Brasil que é arte.
Brasil, 500 anos de encontro.
Brasil, qual é o teu idioma?
A resposta não podia ser outra, claro que é o brasileiro.
Brasil que não só fala de um modo,
Brasil que não é poliglota, mas que tem muitos falares,
que diz: uai tchê, se tá custoso e não entende, diga oxente.
Brasil, 500 anos de paradoxo:
Brasil, 500 anos de descobrimento e de encontro,
Brasil, 500 anos de exploração e de preservação,
Brasil, 500 anos de tristeza e alegria.
Brasil, ó pátria amada idolatrada, salve, salve!