I'm not just looking on Earth, so to speak.Why?
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I'm not just looking on Earth, so to speak.Why?
And you see no contradiction between this attitude and Christian faith? The Gospels describe Jesus rebuking people for being reluctant to rely on God for their physical needs, calling them "ye of little faith".I understand and agree with this idea as a religious person.
I think it's suggesting something not all that dissimilar from John Lennon's famous "imagine" song.
It might have surprised both of them to know that a German-Polish mystical poet belonging to the Catholic Faith (indeed he was a bit of a Catholic zealot to be honest), said substantially the same thing in the 17th century:
"...No thought for the hereafter
have the wise,
for on this very earth
they live in paradise.
All heaven's glory is within
and so is hell's fierce burning.
You must yourself decide
in which direction
you are turning
The vengeful God
of wrath and punishment
is a mere fairytale.
It simply is the Me
that makes me fail.
Don't think that some tommorrow
you'll see God's Light.
You see it now
or err in darkest night.
No wonder you despise
the mob's insanity.
All that it demonstrates
is inhumanity.
He whose treasure house is God,
his earth is paradise.
Why then call those
who make this earth a hell
the worldly wise?..."
Angelus Silesius (1624 - 1677), Catholic mystic and poet
I encountered the sentiment expressed by the Marley quote in the OP many years ago from reading "The Cherubinic Wanderer" by Silesius, a series of mystical poems written as epigrams...
He pipped Bob Marley to the post by a few centuries
I referred to Christian standards because you did. I was replying to your post.Thanks. But why single out Christian standards one wonders?
(Bob Marley of music fame?)
I referred to Christian standards because you did. I was replying to your post.
And you see no contradiction between this attitude and Christian faith? The Gospels describe Jesus rebuking people for being reluctant to rely on God for their physical needs, calling them "ye of little faith".
Overall, "Get Up, Stand Up" strikes me as Marley's message to the people who took the Beatitudes to heart too much.
I was speaking more to the ideas expressed in the Bob Marley song. It was you who said the poem expressed the same idea, but the reply you just gave doesn't really address what "Get Up, Stand Up" is saying.I see no more contradiction than Silesius did. He is condemning a very specific understanding of God as a fairytale which the powers that be use to make this life a hell. He calls this God a fairytale - but he claims that the wise have found heaven and a different God within them in this life.
Both of us were/are Catholics, both of us agree(d) with the sentiment - albeit Silesius explains it more beautifully than I could ever hope too.
I was speaking more to the ideas expressed in the Bob Marley song. It was you who said the poem expressed the same idea, but the reply you just gave doesn't really address what "Get Up, Stand Up" is saying.
It's a beautiful insightful statement.
One Love.
Bob Marley is arguing against the Beatitudes and the Psalms ("The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."). Do you really think that this is "singing from the same hymn sheet" as a devout Catholic mystic?How not? Silesius is condemning as a fairy tale the same God, religious beliefs used to excuse injustice in this life and afterlife notions used to direct people's attention away from improving human lives in the here and now as Marley.
Bob Marley
Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights
Angels Silesius
No thought for the hereafter
have the wise,
for on this very earth
they live in paradise.
All heaven's glory is within
and so is hell's fierce burning.
You must yourself decide
in which direction
you are turning
The vengeful God
of wrath and punishment
is a mere fairytale.
It simply is the Me
that makes me fail.
Don't think that some tommorrow
you'll see God's Light.
You see it now
or err in darkest night.
No wonder you despise
the mob's insanity.
All that it demonstrates
is inhumanity.
He whose treasure house is God,
his earth is paradise.
Why then call those
who make this earth a hell
the worldly wise?
I see no substantive difference in meaning.
Angelus the Catholic mystic and Bob the reggae artist are singing from the same hymn sheet on this so far as I can see.
*grin*Well let's hope he wasn't referring to a Buffalo Soldier...
Bob Marley is arguing against the Beatitudes and the Psalms ("The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."). Do you really think that this is "singing from the same hymn sheet" as a devout Catholic mystic?
Marley's message is heretical to mainstream Christianity. This isn't a problem for him, since he wasn't a Christian... but it is a problem when you try to shoehorn it into a Christian worldview.
I don't give a rat's hind quarters about Silesius. I'm trying to talk about a Bob Marley song.If you don't, please tell me what you think based upon your reading that Silesius is saying?
I don't give a rat's hind quarters about Silesius. I'm trying to talk about a Bob Marley song.
Some people think what life worth for should be to follow a god's moral/law so they'll not receive punishment or bad consequences in the afterlife. This is base on the beliefs that their god exists.“If you know what life is worth you will look for yours on earth." – Bob Marley
What do you think? Is there any truth to Marley's statement? Why or why not?
I honestly don't understand the statement. At all. All humans are born on earth, and all live their lives on earth. I don't get the point of the statement. Maybe it would make sense with proper context. Or maybe it's just late and I'm being dumb right now.