Eastern/Western Divide

One of the things about the Knights of the Sacra Cor in "Waking Rose" is that they were obsessed with Martial Arts...but also loved European swords etc. This is one thing that sets them apart from a) a lot of people in the books b) a lot of real people and c) general humanity.

General humanity is...what's the word, almost tribal, Geographically as well as culturally. People tend to look down on "outsiders" or people who are "different", and we get that a lot in our Catholic "tribalism" as well. In the western world, with our Roman rite, etc., we tend to think that we can only associate or relate to western or Roman ideas and culture. The Sacra Cor guys turn that around, and especially Paul. They believe that eastern culture is not inconsistent with western ideas and vice versa. You can have a japanese katana and a scottish claymore hanging next to each other, or you can switch from aikido to broadswords in the same breath. The Chivalric ideals of the West are not opposed to the customs of the East. We Catholics have a lot to look back at in history. Saint Francis Xavier started his ministry in the orient by trying to "westernize" the Eastern Catholics. He later realized his mistakes, and learns that we need to integrate the culture into Catholicism to become truly "universal". Find the elements of the culture which are consistent with the Christian message, the Gospel, and you don't have to change anything. Another example is the Great Western Schism between the Orthodox and the Catholics. Both sides were rather "elitist". The church HAD to be either Western or Eastern, it couldn't be both.

The Sacra Cor guys seemed to realize this, and even though they didn't always agree on everything (some were pseudo-revolutionaries, which was commented on by Fish). We see this especially in The Midnight Dancers when Paul tells Colonel Durham that he doesn't believe in the whole Eastern Western divide, that there's good in both, and in particular, in the field of medicine. Paul was interested in acupuncture as well as Western methods. He would try to use both in his practice when he was a doctor.

Anyway, both the eastern and the western cultures contain persons who desire God and Eternal Life, and wherever you have that, you have a common goal.

Look forward to next post: Music: a Catholic Listener

--Paul

Abortion is Mean

First Post of the Sacra Cor Blog takes its name from Alex O'Donnell's T-shirt in "Waking Rose". It's a Black t-shirt, with white lettering (which is why the Blog looks like it does). The shirt is Blunt in message. "Abortion is Mean". Yes, it is. And why shouldn't we say it? Bluntness is not often used. I think it should be thought. Enough of this wishy-washiness. We can no longer say "Well, maybe it's something wrong in some cases, and in the mind, but really it's just this rule." It is Mean, and as Knights (and Ladies for all you female followers) we must defend the innocent and those weaker than ourselves.

Keep a look out for the next Post: Eastern/Western Divide

Paul