read this quote over the weekend (quoted in Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul by Dave Goetz), and it's been running around in my mind ever since. Heschel was a twentieth century Jewish process theologian who wrote, among other things, a highly regarded commentary on The Prophets (which I received in seminary as a gift from classmate Bob Zilhaver)."The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments...it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is a moment that lends significance to things."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
Great quote.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it seems a bit ironic that a book condemning suburbs (a collection of things) as soul killers would use the quote.
Maybe I'm misreading, but the quote suggests to me that suburbian can be just as sacred as any other place if the right kinds of moments occur there.