Galileo One Day, Jesus the Next

Philosophers, poets, thinkers, mystics — if we really understood them, would we quote them so often? Or would we instead relate our own direct experience, through our own actions and in our own words, or in whichever way is most natural, such as making bread, playing with children, and planting flowers? Truth is timeless. Realization is always fresh and new: it’s both perishable and everlasting. Still, quotes serve a purpose. Even when they are not lived and understood, or when we use them to show others how smart or enlightened we think we are, or wish to be, they can be the perfectly timed inspiration for others, and an important step in their development. We are all, too, in a way, unwitting borrowers and lenders of ancient wisdom, simultaneously bearing the marks of crucifixion and discovery: Galileo one day, Jesus the next, pilgrims, slaves, Odysseus.

April 24, 2021

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