Rediscovering the Wonder of Life

 "The silver river in the night sky" photo by "matthewwu" courtesy of Flickr

Unitarian Universalist minister, the Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein*, has beautifully encapsulated an important truth for our time from Paul Ricouer concerning what the French philosopher referred to as “the second naïveté.” On her blog, Peacebang, she states:

“In Paul Ricouer’s philosophy of second naïveté, we enter into the mystery of sacred stories not with the naïveté of one who can’t think for themselves, but by choosing to engage the poetic sensibility rather than leading with our critical, intellectual faculties.  More simply put, when we have reached the maturity of second naïveté – a kind of chosen innocence — we make a decision to abide together in wonder rather than to dismantle sacred narratives in an insistent search for rational facts.”

What is remarkable about her presentation is the story she tells from her own life to illustrate her personal journey. She tells of an encounter she had with a taxi driver in Romania, and in the telling, she sheds some light on what Ricouer was getting at. In doing so, Weinstein helps us to better appreciate those moments of encounter that may come our way. Her example shows us how we may find communion with a fellow traveler rather than separation from those who may see things a little differently. We are, after all neighbors and kin on this plane of existence.  

Dr. Weinstein shows us how a rational human being living in the 21st century can incorporate that healthy use of “second naïveté” to appreciate the wonder of this life that we live.  

Here is how she begins her story:


Second Naivete: The Mystical Way of Faith
By Dr. Victoria Weinstein

It’s that magical, mythical time of year again. Virgin births and super novas shining directly over a little barn, angels crashing through walls to make shocking pronouncements, roly-poly men with white beards in red suits flying through the sky in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
“Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the the sea,
With a voice as big as the the sea.”

Do you hear what I hear?

Well, sometimes the answer is just “no.”  The word from researchers lately is that some of us are genetically programmed to have a rational view of life, and others are born with a gene that makes them more prone to a mystical experiences of the transcendent. I hope this will come as good news to all of us, who join in a free religious tradition that is not invested in our believing the same things, but in seeking and creating together inner peace, higher consciousness, intellectual challenge, compassionate community and spiritual depth wherever we may find it, by whatever name we may give it… (Please continue Weinstein’s story on her blog, Peacebang)


__________________

*The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn, Massachusetts.



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