Symbols…..Grief….Excerpts From Orkney.com……
by Bernie Bell - 09:19 on 03 January 2024
Symbols….
I have an old friend - someone I knew at University. We lost touch for decades, then - through the wonder of t’Internet, we made contact again.
He’s been very ill – cancer – not curable - but treatable. He’s had a tremendous attitude all the way through his treatments with their, sometimes extremely distressing, side effects.
At Uni. I was never aware of him having any kind of spiritual awareness or connection with God, The Universe, however you choose to refer to what IS…..
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/11/13/how-i-see-the-whole-life-lovelightgodreiki-etc-etc-thing/
Possibly, music was an expression of some kind of awareness of connection with something we’re part of - tho’ his main choice of music was Punk. He and some of his chums formed The Church of Now – the idea being to just live – very Punk orientated. They wrote ’N’ in all kinds of places all over the campus. It didn’t last long – the Punk ideology doesn’t lend itself to sustained effort.
Any way …roll forward to this New Years’ and his message on FB was deeply religious, centred strongly on how his faith and his God have helped him though a hard time. Fair enough – whatever kind of belief a person has often does help them through hard times. My own, more amorphous, way - as touched on in my ‘LIFE, LOVE etc’ piece - my own connection with and help from The Universe helped me through and keeps me going.
Still, it was a surprise to see such a hedonist expressing spiritual awareness – though a lot of Life has passed since he was that hedonist, in the NOW.
Recently there was a photo of him on his FB page and on his lapel was a little figure of a man – the simple outline of a man, like on toilet doors (no insult intended! Not at all – merely descriptive). I wondered what that might indicate – he’s the kind of person that it’s worth paying attention to details with, as those details can be indicators to interesting things.
I will now launch into pure conjecture –
Having seen how deeply religious he now is – I wondered if that little figure could be a representation of Christ? I’ve always found it confusing that a religion based on the teachings of such a very good man should choose as its symbol the figure of a hurt, broken man nailed to a cross. A more common symbol now is the plain cross – but I’m taken with the idea of using the figure of a man instead.
To me, part of the story of Jesus is that he was/is God and man. He’s a human, as are we, and also part of God, as we are. I mused along these lines in this piece…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/03/26/easter-musings/
Pure conjecture – just me playing with ideas and my response to an old chum ‘getting religion’ – but – why not choose the man instead of the cross? It’s the man that matters.
********************************************************************
Grief….
On Jackie Morris’ Twitter…
Grief can take many forms – loss by death, loss of friendship, loss of a way of life. Loss….grief…..needs to be considered and accepted if possible. I’m learning that. Jackie …knows…
***********************************************************
Excerpts From Orkney.com….
"A year in images
January is all about looking forwards to what the New Year will bring, but it’s also worth having a very quick glance back to the 12 months we've just left behind. We marked the end of 2023 by picking out our favourite images from Orkney and we wanted to share them all with you. From snowy scenes at Scapa, to wildflowers in our World Heritage Site, it was a special year for photography across the islands.
Excavations up for archaeology awards
Two incredible excavations in Orkney have been shortlisted in the 2024 Current Archaeology Awards. The Ness of Brodgar is in the running for Research Project of the Year, and dig director Nick Card is up for the Archaeologist of the Year title. Meanwhile, the Knowe of Swandro excavation in Rousay is one of eight projects shortlisted for Rescue Project of the Year. All the categories are decided by public vote, which is open now on the Current Archaeology website.
Join Orkney wildlife photographer Raymond Besant as he shares some winter photography hints and tips.
*****************************************************
Add your comment
