sequel to 'Cult of the Beet'
Approfondement is a French word that means 'playing easily in the deep'.
“What difference does it make if the Gospel is mostly a lie? It’s an engrossing story and the words of its hero are excellent words to live by, even today.”
Few people know that Tom Robbins was the grandson of 2 Baptist preachers. Born to write, he was a keen and off-beat observer of life from the outset. Early in his writing career, he was accused by his contemporaries of preaching.
Outlaw that he was, he was at first puzzled, but then he got to the meat of that message and embraced it in his inimitable style.
I rather think that his grandparents would be proud at this point…
His books have each landed in my life in serendipitous ways and at exactly the right times. I didn’t recognize my teacher at first. In fact, I flung the 1st book across the room in exasperation! (Jitterbug Perfume) That kind of synchronicity can not be ignored…
He rebooted my brain in terms of imagination, depth, courage and wit. There are thousands of sermons embedded in his thought. They sneak up on you in uncanny fashion. They ignite, enliven (something most needed in this dull world) and propel you into the Mystery.
“Religion is nothing but institutionalized mysticism. The catch is, mysticism does not lend itself to institutionalization. The moment we attempt to organize mysticism, we destroy its essence. Religion, then, is mysticism in which the mystical has been killed. Or, at least diminished…”
“Wit and playfulness represent a desperately serious transcendence of evil. Humor is both a form of wisdom and a means of survival.”
“Early religions were like muddy ponds with lots of foliage. Concealed there, the fish of the soul could splash and feed. Eventually, however, religions became aquariums. Then hatcheries. From farm fingerling to frozen fish stick is a short swim.”
“If it is committed in the name of God or country, there is no crime so heinous that the public will not forgive it.”
“The enemy of the black is not the white. The enemy of capitalist is not communist, the enemy of homosexual is not heterosexual, the enemy of Jew is not Arab, the enemy of youth is not the old, the enemy of hip is not redneck, the enemy of Chicano is not gringo and the enemy of women is not men. We all have the same enemy. The enemy is the tyranny of the dull mind. The enemy is every expert who practices technocratic manipulation, the enemy is every proponent of standardization and the enemy is every victim who is so dull and lazy and weak as to allow himself to be manipulated and standardized.”
“Outlaws are can openers in the supermarket of life.”
“Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it’s the cyanide.”
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