More on experience.... from Roisin, 11th March

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Experience into Words : One Thread

Bernard Lonergan talked about the process of experience, understanding, judgement and decision, So, experience isn't enough just on it's own. And yet, another guy writing "Conversations with God" talks about going with your experience, and your feelings, over the written word, if they are opposing. What am I meant to say to that? I'm thinking that there might be importance in the Word that would need heeding rather than following my own feelings. But I'm not sure... the authority of the self battles with the authority of the Word. And what/who is meant to dominate/win?!

And meditating on the Word is one of the central parts of prayer. One of the key Ignatian things is to imagine yourself in the scene, to experience..... and to note that experience and allow it to be, not rush to a textbook denying the experience on whatever grounds....

Do I just experience life, and draw conclusions without reference to anything but my experience? No - experience is linked to many things - people, my "world-context", the words of others that resonate and stay with me... If parts of the Word of God don't resonate, do I ditch them in favour of my own experiences? Perhaps I don't have to feel burdened by not understanding, and toss them around for rumination along the way....

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2002

Answers

Roisin, I am very interested in your opening lines. Who is Bernard Lonergan? It's just that I seem to have arrived at that conclusion at this time, and wonder has he said more about it.The experiences I have had in the past I accepted as just experiences, But probably through our writing about it I have come to realise they must be understood, studied and a decision made as to what ,if anything can be done with it. How to do all that I suppose must be the next step. Can B.L. help.

Rita.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


Bernard Lonergan is a Canadian Jesuit, who wrote mostly philosophical works around the turn of 1900s I think, although I could be wrong. One of his books is "Insight" and another one is "Method in Theology" I think. They're quite dense to read.... I remember trying to make sense of them, and it not really working! But his ideas are good.... it's just a shame his work is so dense and so I wouldn't be an authority on it!

Sorry Rita, I took a while to reply to that - everything has been pretty busy.

-- Anonymous, March 27, 2002


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