Timing

Timing (apologies to al Ghazali)


Today's NY Times tells the interesting tale of how some New Yorkers--attempting to bring about some cultural rapprochement between Christians, Jews, and Muslims--had started up a" Kahlil Gibran academy" in Brooklyn. [I myself have read Gibran since the early 1960's but I confess I have always found him both pompous and profound.]

It seems that the Powers that Be in Giuliani-Land are just not as friendly as they often purport...and the whole project may need to be scrubbed on grounds of Bad Timing. The question that arises is WHEN, if ever, will it be the Kairos Moment for intercultural Convivencia, let alone harmony and understanding????

We have it on good report that Sunday the Times will also publish a review by Eric Ornsby of the new Princeton edition of "The Dream of the Poem," Hebrew Poetry From Muslim and Christian Spain. So I guess there is some hope.

As for the timing, keep in mind that these poems are from 950 AD to the onset of the Inquisition in 1492. Perhaps in seven or eight centuries, if everyone pays attention from Brooklyn to Jerusalem, convivencia will be given a try.

In meantime, I expect to do a lot searching, reading, and research at:

< http://www.ghazali.org/ >.



Yr. Obdt. Svt.,

dave buehler | Tischrede Software