• About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Leadership
    • ADF: A Druid Fellowship
    • Photos
  • Services
  • Calendar
  • Resources & Social Justice
  • Membership
  • Blogs
    • Prairie Tidings (Church Blog)
    • Rev. Badger's 2019 Stoic Blog
    • The Practical Bard (Rev. Missy's Blog)
    • Little Druid on the Prairie (Rev. Lauren's Blog)
  • Policies
  • Contact Us
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Leadership
    • ADF: A Druid Fellowship
    • Photos
  • Services
  • Calendar
  • Resources & Social Justice
  • Membership
  • Blogs
    • Prairie Tidings (Church Blog)
    • Rev. Badger's 2019 Stoic Blog
    • The Practical Bard (Rev. Missy's Blog)
    • Little Druid on the Prairie (Rev. Lauren's Blog)
  • Policies
  • Contact Us
Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

A Year of Contemplation

Turn it Inside Out (Day 117)

4/27/2019

 
Picture
Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

Turn it inside out and see what it is like - what it becomes like when old, sick, or prostituting itself. How short-lived the praiser and praised, the one who remembers and the remembered. Remembered in some corner of these parts, and even there not in the same way by all, or even by one. And the whole earth is but a mere speck.”
​(Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.21)

Multiplicity of Truth© means there are myriad ways of coming to be in knowing-relationship with “whatever”, and they’re all right and true, within the boundaries of those relationships. 

“Turning it inside out” is Marcus’ way of saying know and understand all there is to know about something, without bias. 

Let’s take something very personal to me: my wife. Rev. Bee is soft, and beautiful, and warm, and kind, generous, intelligent, and ultimately loving. Most of the time those words are the ones I use to relate to and describe her, within my own internal dialogue, as well as outwardly to others. But sometimes I practice thinking of her without the biases of love, desire, or commitment. Sometimes I image her infirmed, or as the victim of age and gravity, or dementia, all the bits about her that made her special, gone. Sometimes I contemplate my wife through the simple lenses of biology and entropy, nothing personal. Sometimes I turn it the other way inside out and imagine her as “more”, doubling her already-blinding brilliance. 

The stoic idea behind all this “premeditatio malorum” is this: by consciously examining situations from the inside out, we can be less daunted by them, and thus, less likely to be swayed by them. 

Interesting thoughts on the eve of my 48th birthday. 

(See y’all tomorrow… after a couple morning dates with Rev. Bee and our youngest kiddo!)

Comments are closed.

    About the Blog

    Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind. 
    How things are structured can be found in the first post. 

    About the Author

    Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove.  He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace. 

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.