(I have just been out to our Zen group and back.)
Before eating, Captain Nansen pauses for those who want to bless the meal.
Being nominally Reform Catholic, he crosses himself as does Ruszek.
Zeyd bows his head.
Mokoena folds her hands, looks down and whispers.
Yu and Sundaram become meditative.
Kilbirnie, Brent, Dayan and Cleland wait respectfully.
That is everyone on board accounted for.
(I have heard a Buddhist equivalent of "grace before meals" but have not committed it to memory.)
A very strong unifying factor in society is that, except for a few sectarians, everyone attends weddings and funerals of friends and colleagues irrespective of denomination or tradition. The crew accept that, in different circumstances, they would attend a Reform Catholic church for their captain's wedding or funeral - but what practices will they find on Earth after ten thousand years? (This question is answered later in the novel.)
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I believe the Catholic Church will exist 10,000 years from now. Because it is not a merely human institution.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: very unlikely. What institution survived from 10,000 years ago?
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
But I said, above, "...not a merely human institution." If, for the sake of argument, you accept the supernatural claims of Christianity as true I see no reason not to believe the Catholic Church will not still be existing 10,000 years from now.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: all religions make claims to supernatural power.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And I believe those claims to be literally true of Christianity.
Ad astra! Sean
According to New Testament prophecies, the world should not have lasted anything like this long. Paul was gathering some Gentile converts before the Second Coming which should have happened while some of them were still alive.
Kaor, Paul!
And the holy Apostle should have kept in mind Our Lord's warning to His disciples that no man knows the hour of His return. Nor does the timing matter, because all time, past and future, is eternally present to God.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
In terms of human experience, the eternal present is part of mystical religion and is a completely different perspective from Biblical eschatology.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And convinced Catholics accepts both. It's not the "either this 'or' that" of evangelical Protestants, the Catholic view is "it's both this 'and' that." That is the error of the evangelicals, impatiently joggling God's elbow.
Ad astra! Sean
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