Painting

But The Parts of Our Bodies Are Not Just Connected Through Physical Mechanisms: Panpsychism and the Combination Problem

April 4, 2017 Art, Painting, Philosophy, Theory, Thoughts

“…the elements or constituents of organisms are related to each other in two basic ways—through external (physical) relations and internal (nonphysical) relations. The external relations are studied in physics, and involve the four forces of electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear, and gravity. These forces bind physical components together. But the parts of our bodies (cells,…

To be grounded in the earth gives us the means to grow towards the sky.

August 2, 2016 Art, Painting, Philosophy, Poetry, Theology

“It is a grim irony the more we lose our connection to the primal, natural state–often described as “animalistic”–we actually lose more and more of our own humanity. To be grounded in the earth gives us the means to grow towards the sky. Yet part of our fall into civilization has meant losing those psychic…

Nature is more like a goddess than a machine.

November 19, 2015 Ecology, Painting, Philosophy, Theology, Theory

“If Whitehead’s universe is really god-infused, the materialists say, then his speculative adventure in cosmology is for that reason also made irretrievably irrelevant for any modern, scientific, rational investigations of nature…The problem with this assessment of Whitehead’s scheme, as I understand it, is that the story of modern scientific rationality and its technological mastery over…

Is Glamor as the Opposite of Beauty? Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu on Superficiality and Truth

September 4, 2014 Art, Christianity, Painting, Theology

“When I ask my students, ‘What is the opposite of beauty?’ they very quickly respond, ‘ugly.’ That’s what society tells us. But what if I say it’s glamour? We start seeing that glamour is the most dangerous thing because it disguises itself as beautiful, attracts us to it, ensnares us in false hopes and superficiality,…

Money-Theism: Joerg Rieger Explains How Economics is an Odd Sort of Religion

September 29, 2012 Art, Christianity, Current Events, Painting, Philosophy, Theology

Part of the problem with the current economic crisis is that economics is based on an odd sort of faith, expressed tongue in cheek by the term “money-theism,” which has been popularized by comedian Stephen Colbert. There are a few big faith claims, like the ideas that economic deregulation always promotes growth, that tax cuts for powerful corporations…

Contemplation as Revolution | Art by Mark Waren Jacques

August 8, 2012 Art, Christianity, Painting, Theology

“[C]ontemplation represents a way to disengage from the toxicity of our current world order, not in terms of supporting violent revolution, but in an opposite move: by embracing a revolution of humility and love. We cannot beat the greedy, violent, unjust enemy-that-is-us with weapons or military might. Only by “dropping out” of the system can…

The Buffered Self | Art by Ryan Browning

April 14, 2012 Art, Christianity, Painting, Philosophy

The modern view of the self, the view that dominates within the psychotherapeutic community, is characterized by what Charles Taylor has called the “buffered self.” For a variety of reasons, which Taylor describes in his book A Secular Age, the modern notion of self-hood became introverted and individualistic, the self as isolated and distinct (“buffered”)…

Healing by Wendell Berry | Art by Matt Small

February 14, 2012 Art, Design, Painting, Poetry

Healing I The grace that is the health of creatures can only be held in common. In healing the scattered members come together. In health the flesh is graced, the holy enters the world. II The task of healing is to respect oneself as a creature, no more and no less. A creature is not…

When Poetry Is At Its Best | Art by John McCormick

February 11, 2012 Art, Christianity, Painting, Poetry, Theology

Many people of faith feel a desire to speak about that which is most precious to them, about that which has transformed their lives, that which they feel has liberated them. Yet that needs to be contrasted with the concern that every time we speak of that source, that place of liberation, we somehow do…

The Earth is Watching You | Art by Nancy Mladenoff

December 27, 2011 Art, Illustration, Literature, Painting

The Mikasukis back up Lost Man’s Slough was maybe the last Indins in the U.S.A. that never signed no treaty with no Great White Father. Called ’em Cypress Indins cause they hollowed dugouts out of cypress logs. Never paddled hardly but stood up in the stern, used push poles, followed water paths that in the…