1月1日

And when they came down from the mountain... (Mark 9:9)

We are not built for mountains and dawns and artistic affinities: they are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff of life, and this is where we have to prove our mettle. A false Christianity takes us up on the mount and we want to stay there. But what about the devil-possessed world? Oh, let it go to hell! We are having a great time up here.

The intellectualist or dreamer who by his dreams or isolation is not made fitter to deal with actual life, proves that his dreams are mere hysterical drivel. If his dreams only succeed in making him hold aloof from his fellow-men, a visionary who deals only with things belonging to the mountain-top, he is self-indulgent to a degree. No man has any right to be a spectator of his fellow-men; he ceases to be in touch with reality.

It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, and the mountains are meant for inspiration and meditation; but a man is taken there only in order that he may go down afterwards among the devil-possessed and lift them up...

If we cannot live in the demon-possessed valley, with the hold of God on us, lifting up those who are down by the power of the thing that is in us, our Christianity is only an abstraction.

Shadow of an Agony 88, 91

그들이 산에서 내려올 때에... (마가복음 9:9)

우리는 산과 여명(黎明)과 예술적 치밀감등을 위해 만들어지지 않았습니다. 그러한 것들은 영감의 순간만을 위해 있는 것 뿐입니다. 우리는 계곡, 즉 삶의 평범한 것들을 위해 만들어졌으며 그 곳에서 우리의 패기에 대한 시험이 이루어집니다. 거짓 기독교는 우리를 산위에 대리고 가고 우리는 거기에 머물기를 원하게 됩니다. 그러면, 귀신에게 사로잡힌 세상은 어떻합니까? 아, 그냥 지옥에 가게 하지요! 우리는 이 높은 곳에서 참 좋은 시간을 지내고 있습니다 하고 머물게 됩니다.

...TO BE CONTINUED

Chambers/Thoughts/1-1

1月1日