we are limbs to each other

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

– Saʿdī, medieval mystical poet, native of Shiraz, Iran translating the Prophet Mohammad

yup. good people…

pete has this analogous thing (for something philosophically useful but i can’t remember what it is right now) where he talks about falling in love. it goes something like this:

you can have a list of characteristics, attributes, traits, talents or interests you want in a person and you carry it around looking for someone who’ll fit the bill. but that’s not what you fall in love with. you fall in the love with the person. that is, the human that is made up of those characteristics, attributes, traits, talents or interests and maybe a whole lot of other stuff besides. maybe you fall in love with someone other than what you thought you wanted or needed, who doesn’t match that list you were carrying round at all. when it happens, whether they match that list or not, the list doesn’t seem to matter much anymore. you can’t fall in love with a list of characteristics. what you love is a whole person.

as i see it, what you love is the ineffable them-ness.

and sometimes i get to wondering if community, or indeed church, is no different…

HFASS keeping it absolutely Real

for as far away as they may be, i’m glad Nadia and her people are there. for they tick many boxes on the list. and then there’s the them-ness.

everytime i think i’m done with it all, i am reminded of what matters most…

LB