von Balthasar on God as other
God, who is for us the Wholly-Other, appears only in the place of the other, in the "sacrament of our brother". And it is only because he is Wholly-Other (in relation to the world) that he is at the same time the Non-Other, the one who, in his otherness, transcends even the inner-worldly opposition between this and that being. Only because he is over the world is he in it. But being over it does not deprive him of the right, the power, and the Word, to reveal himself to us as eternal love, to give himself to us and to make himself comprehensible even in his incomprehensibility.
- Hans Urs von Balthasar, Love Alone is Credible
(trans. D. C. Schindler; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004 [1963]), 150.
Speaking of shedding interesting light, twenty points to whomever can shed interesting light on this picture. What is it?
26 comments:
A potato?
Is it prehistoric amber? Maybe with a mosquito in it?
The sun viewed through a very dirty window?
A lamp from ikea?
A dinosaur egg?
Good tries, but keep guessing. Perhaps there will be consolation points for best incorrect guesses.
Do you know anything about von Balthasar's connection to Heidegger or Levinas? From the quote it seems that the concept of the capital 'O' Other is in the same ball park as Levinas' notion.
- JRS
The pic could be a lump of quartz with a golden back light. It seems to have that sort of igneous, crystaline structure.
A gold nugget?
A cirrhotic liver?
the cap of a skull?
Some more good guesses. I will allocate points for being close/creatively way off to some of these guesses once someone gets it (or very close). Hint: I took this photo on our recent trip.
JRS - as for von B's link to Heidegger or Levinas, I'm not sure. The concept of the 'other' has been much discussed beyond Levinas, though he has made it particularly famous.
is it a photo looking through a hole in a cave to a lit place?
def a lava lamp
opal? Gold? Honey? A seriously deformed moon? utvgglv? (sorry, thought the word verification was giving me hints)
Mike w
Pete, Rach and Mike - sorry, keep guessing. It's tricky, that's why it's worth 20 points.
Although one of those guesses wasn't too far off.
Amber?
Donna already guessed amber.
Something related to the glow worm tunnell?
Nope.
A cleverly disguised rabbit?
I'm not sure rabbits are that clever.
Nectar?
Nope. I saw another example of this same phenomenon just this afternoon (though in a less dramatic setting). This was, however, the first time I'd seen it since taking this image.
Hmmm - on looking back through the comments, I've realised that one of them was really quite close and perhaps I should just give them some points and call it done. Otherwise, the fact that I ruled it out as incorrect may prevent anyone from guessing the correct answer.
Therefore, I'll give JRS fourteen points for coming close. It was actually a lump of limestone crystal (part of a stalactite) with an electric torch behind it. I took this picture during a tour at Jenolan.
Blast. Hey, what time is it over there? Why are you still up?
The time it says on the box (comment): 10.30 pm.
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