Van Rijn on a raft city converses by radio with Chee Lan and Adzel who are in space. During a pause:
"Silence dwelt, under the wash of sea waves and whisper of stars." (VI, p.389)
The stars whisper? They make some sound. See here.
Adzel approaches what may be a hostile castle on the Moon, like a Selenarchic citadel in Poul Anderson's later Harvest of Stars future history:
"For a moment, the spatial silence pressed in so huge that it well-nigh smothered pulse, breath, airpump, foot-thuds." (VII, p. 394)
Of course vacuum is silent because it is the absence of air which vibrates, causing the sensation of sound in ears and brains. However, Adzel has his radio switched on so he will still be hearing the stellar whisper. We need to travel through space, not just read about it.
This might be the final signing off for a while.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And there also the far more peaceful and benign Convent of St. Martha of Bethany on the Moon, in "Kyrie." And I still regret it was impossible for Poul Anderson to place that story in the Technic series.
Sean
Sean, as a member of the Church, what suggestions do you have to halt and reverse the decline of those seeking the life religious (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_shortage_in_the_Catholic_Church, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sisters_and_nuns_in_the_United_States)?
Kaor, Keith!
I don't how I can help REVERSE the decline of women's religious orders--because so many factors and circumstances plays a role in that tragedy. But I do believe it would be good for the Church and the world if that happened. And, in fact, my understanding is that orders who remained firmly orthodox and faithful to their ideals are doing better than those which succumbed to "Modernism" or "liberalism" (in the left wing sense). So, my conclusions is that the way for old or new religious orders to prosper is a reinvigoration of both faith in Christianity and the ideals of the founders of those orders.
Why BE a nun if you don't first BELIEVE Christianity? That would make no sense!
Sean
Indeed... One can be a strong Christian and not seek the cloistered llfe- as I gather you are not a monk.
Is there a formal term within Catholicism for seeking orthodox and traditional forms and practices?
-kh
Kaor, Keith!
Correct, as Christ himself said, not all are called to be "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven."
You already said it, the formal term for belief in perfectly ordinary Christian doctrines is "orthodoxy." The rest, as regards forms, practices, customs, etc., follows from that.
Sean
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