On Nonlaity Liturgy
Two
Yom Kippurs ago, I was sitting in temple, fasting, irritable, when I noticed
that I liked the singing in Hebrew much more than I liked the singing in
English. This was because I don't know Hebrew and so I heard only the music;
whereas with the English verses my (fasting, irritable) mind automatically
evaluated the lyrics. This statement's true, that one's false, this one's
right, that one's ridiculous... It was like sitting next to a critique machine.
But right then I didn't want theology, I just wanted music!
In
religion, thinking is beside the point. Therefore it’s best when it makes no
statements at all; second best if those statements have no meaning. Fortunately
most religious statements are in the second category.
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