BERNEVAL

M.A. Screech in his book on Erasmus, Ecstasy and the Praise of Folly, provides this intriguing look into the tradition of a playful expression:

The soul of Paul, says Erasmus, in gloss on II Corinthians 5:13, like the anima of all lovers, ‘is not where it animates but where it loves’ (anima non est ubi animat, sed ubi amat). This famous phrase which does not occur in the Moira but is implied there, links the ecstatic love explained in the Annotations and praised by Folly, with a millenium and a half of Christian mysticism.

The Latin is special. And to continue reading Screech is in part to learn why.

The standard expression is Verius est anima ubi amat quam ubi animat — the soul, that is, more truly belongs where it loves than where it simply animates. The expression was coined by St Bonaventura (Solioquium II. 2, no. 12, in Opera VIII, Quaracchi 1898, 49, col. 1). Bonaventura took the notion over from St Bernard, where it is less memorable since it is applied to the spiritus, not the anima (ibid. note 5); so in St Bernard there is no play on the words anima and animat. As Bonaventura coined it, it is one of those powerful expressions which was so widely used that its source was sometimes lost to view; Aquinas even attributed it to St Augustine. In the history of mysticism the idea which it embodies constitutes a bridge by which Platonic rapture passed through Pseudo-Dionysius to Bernard, Bonaventura and mediaeval mysticism generally, then on to high Renaissance ecstatics like John of the Cross, as well as to a scholarly saint like François de Sales.

And so for day 540
05.06.2008

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples advanced four principles for engaging in meaningful relationship building. They are: Recognition, Respect, Sharing and Responsibility. They are presented in that order. I believe that the order matters. A relationship progresses through these stages. The listing of the principles presents a narrative and the narration matters. It’s an ongoing story that can be represented as a mandala. In the centre of the square are three principles that are often invoked in models in the design of effective organizations. They do not immediately tell a story, at least not from the point of view of the individual actor, yet they represent, like the RCAP principles, states that are desirable. However, in this mandala formation, one might think that “responsibility” is reached through a cycle of claiming “ownership” and giving an “account” or that responsibility is manifested through owning and accounting. What do you make of this arrangement?

Mandala of RCAP Principles

For the complete RCAP report see
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/royal-commission-aboriginal-peoples/Pages/introduction.aspx

And so for day 537
02.06.2008

Justice Bastarache wrote in the Supreme Court of Canada decision in M. v. H. (1999)

https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1702/index.do

It would be consistent with Charter values of equality and inclusion to treat all members in a family relationship equally and all types of family relationships equally.

For me the social ideal of equality within and between families resonates with a 1994 vision statement “All people, including youth, determine for themselves their personal relationships. This is based upon the ability to move in and out of relations. This requires the recognition of both formal and substantial rights, both in law and in government policy.” http://chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance/eqf03.htm

And so for day 536
01.06.2008

Simon Schama in a September issue of The New Yorker (2003) writes about sculptor Andy Goldsworthy: “Sometimes misread as a placid pastoralist, Goldsworthy is in fact a dramaturge of nature’s temper, often fickle, often foul.” Schama references a documentary film of Goldsworthy at work — Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time

in which an artist is seen enduring repeatedly, the collapse of his own creation, as he attempts to build a cone of dark seashore stones. The idea, a dream of every seven-year-old sandcastle engineer, was that the cone should stand sentinel, almost submerged in the high tide, yet survive intact to reappear as the water receded.

So very specific yet so very emblematic.

And so for day 535
31.05.2008