Monday, October 26, 2015
What Did I Just Read
There are so many thoughts packed into very few pages; therefore, I will try and focus on one to flesh out. When it is suggested that not being in despair is the great rarity, I was quite shocked. There is so much truth to that simple statement though. I thought every man would know if he were in despair or not, but after reading I am unconvinced that one would know. He says despair is a "sickness of the spirit". When struggling with the eternal, and not the mere physical forms of say "sickness", it is possible to not really know if you're in despair or not. Kierkegaard loses me when he says that "not to be in despair may mean precisely to be in despair, and it may also mean having been saved from being in despair". Honestly, this makes no sense to me, but then he goes on to say that "there is no immediate state of spiritual health". I guess that makes sense if you apply that to you thinking that you are perfectly fine spiritually, but not really being fine spiritually at the same time.
I commented on Daniel's post.
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The idea that not being in despair is a great rarity was an eye opener for me as well. I usually imagine despair as a state of turmoil, but after reading, I think I agree that despair is much more prevalent than I would've thought on my own. Also, I agree with your confusion on the quote "not to be in despair may mean..." that one lost me too. I think I can understand either half of the quote by itself, but when it's put together, I'm at a loss because it seems to contradict itself.
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