Schneider describes what he calls "awe" or the "inscrutable" forces of our existence. For the religious this concept may be manifest as a god or gods, for the scientific-minded this may be the forces of nature, energy--forces that we cannot still entirely explain and certainly not completely control (although we often try!). My personal interpretation of "awe" has to do with our state of interconnectedness. Meaning, we are inherently part of a larger reality, whether or not we recognize or act on this state of being. We sense awe in those moments when we are awake to that experience--music, art, prayer, being in nature can all be catalysts for this sense of connection (Norman writes about this experience of "mystery" in the last chapter of On Humanism). At the same time, we may experience awe in all different ways, all the time--and this sense/worldview/experience, Schneider suggests, can serve as a moral compass to help us navigate the contradictory nature of the world and our own nature: "we cannot have magnificence without uncertainty and we cannot have mystery without hope" (161).
Schneider adds, "Linked with mystery is responsibility, the challenge to respond. It is precisely out of uncertainty that we are called to responsibility" (161).
Schneider than goes on to describe the "ethical task." He uses Paul Tillich's concept of "listening love" to describe the state of presence that serves as the foundation for balancing our emotional, intellectual, and our conditioned (coming out of our positionality) reactions and engaging in the process of "discernment."Thus, the first ethical task is the willingness to engage in the inner dialogue (the inner Socratic dialogue that Arendt calls, thinking! And Lehrer also describes this cognitive process in ("The Brain is an Argument"), to struggle with, even doubt ourselves at times as "stuggle jolts the system, dents the armor, and hars the rails" (144).
So, in a sense, we are back to the beginning of the class, listening to Martin Luther King speak truths that could hurt his cause, hurt him, but need to be said because he knows that the civil rights cause that he is leading is connected to all oppressed peoples in the world. Remember I also spoke with you about MLK's doubts and his own weaknesses and flaws?
The contradictions of our reality are both gift and burden because we are conscious, thinking beings. The very things that we fear about ourselves, are also our greatest resources--for example, our vulnerability (think On Kindness, Precarious Life). Our greatest ethical resource is our ability to think, to doubt, to question, to reflect--starting with ourselves. With this process comes the struggle with and recognition of our own contradictions. I think of these contradictions as the dynamic energy that makes us, us and allows us to continue to learn and grow. The more we accept that our unique individual selves are dependent on the larger reality with which we are inextricably linked, the more we will realize, as do the whistleblowers, that our own well-being is tied to the well-being of others, the earth, and maybe beyond!
So, there you have it--use the text, use service, and take it from here!
As I was trying to imply in class, I feel that I reach that sense of awe when I am actually taking action with service learning versus the feeling I have in class. In class, I feel that we are able to talk amongst each other and discuss what we can do for the community, but we cannot do it until we actually take action. (I'm sorry if I offended you in class, Julia! It's not what I was trying to say!) Like Schneider says, "we cannot have magnificence without uncertainty and we cannot have mystery without hope" (161). Thus, regardless if we are in service or not, we must ponder on this statement.
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