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Lisa Z Lindahl
a book bubble about
Beauty as Action
Self-Help
Author Insight
Stuff: sacred or Profane?
Do you think material "stuff" isn't important, special, at all? Or are things -- "stuff" -- important to you? Both ends of the viewpoint miss, I think, the essence of the matter (pun intended)... Because at less that 5% of the known universe, all luminous matter is precious. Whether toaster oven or emerald, maple leaf or plastic wrap -- matter, luminous matter being a tiny portion of our universe is rare and therefore very special. Some go so far as to say sacred, though most of us think it quite profane, common, everyday. This simple yet astounding fact makes me look at everything.. all "stuff" very differently.
Book Excerpt
Beauty as Action
Luminous matter, made up of photons, is the stuff we understand best and from which all matter is constructed—and it is a mere 5 percent. Only 5 percent of the universe! (This is according to latest estimates from NASA.)
Luminous matter is what we are constructed of—humans, plants, rocks, animals, and our fluid, mineral earth. I heartily concur, then, with cosmologist Brian Swimme’s statement: “matter is rare and precious.”
How does this relate to the concept of True Beauty? In this way: isn’t it interesting that in our current culture(s), we are learning—and have been learning—to despise matter. At best, we are conditioned to disrespect it and to take it for granted. Matter is crude. Matter is stuff. Matter is servant to us—material to be used, exploited. Matter is profane.
Really?
As David Korten so succinctly says, “The sacred became the servant of the profane.”
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