We are a sign that is not read.
Friedrich Hoelderlin
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It says at the top of my journal profile that I am a Pisces. That's my "sign." What does that mean? Does being a Pisces make me any better or happier than if I was a Leo or a Capricorn? I know a woman who, when someone asks her what her sign is, says "no turn on right." I know another independent type whose sign is "No Parking."
You can wear a McCain or Obama button, or put up a similar sign on your front lawn or in your window and think that it somehow identifies you.
Our "signs" are everywhere, on T-shirts, bumper stickers, tattoos. It's easy to read those signs. But eventually they're not important. They only represent something, They aren't the thing itself.
What Hoelderlin means. I think, when he says "We are a sign that is not read" is that we are so involved with the signs of daily life and what they represent that we overlook the fact that we are the greatest and most important sign of all. We are the pinnacle of earthly creation, we are the signal to the universe of the grandness and beauty of life, we are the unified signal to all existence of the fact of survival and accomplishment, we are the receivers and stewards of life itself. We have the right and obligation, by the way we live, to announce to all creation just what it is capable of.
And yet we don't read ourselves, because we go about destroying the very existence we are a part of, including each other, and we do it under some sort of banner that pretends to describe us and proclaim who we are, that limits and categorizes us, and that sets us up one against the other.
I believe, with futility perhaps, that a time will come when the human race will
step out of the dark age it's in and put away the false labels that have governed us for too long. If I can do anything at all to hasten that time, let me do it. Not for me, but for the life I'm in.
The moral is: Don't wave a sign. Be one.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
7 comments:
I have a that in 100 yrs that all races will eventually be mixed. No black, no white, all mixed. So why label people now?
When people ask my "sign" & I say "Taurus" there is always a pause, a look and I know htey are thinking "stubborn". I smile & say "Taurus' ruling planet is Venus, that makes me sexy, creative & honest". *I will admit to be a tad stubborn, though : )
DB: I respectfully disagree with your statements here:
"we overlook the fact that we are the greatest and most important sign of all. We are the pinnacle of earthly creation, we are the signal to the universe of the grandness and beauty of life, we are the unified signal to all existence of the fact of survival and accomplishment, we are the receivers and stewards of life itself. We have the right and obligation, by the way we live, to announce to all creation just what it is capable of."
but I respect your opinion
I think we are leaving God out of the picture; we are taking all the credit for his work in creation and in our lives (just my humble opinion)
my sign - sinner but saved :)
betty
Oh I do love Betty's comments. I guess I just didn't quite get your entry tonight DB. Of course, it's going on 2 in the morning and I can't sleep. I'm an Aquarius but first I am a child of God.
Hugs, Joyce
I think Betty has hit upon a particular point ... but so have you.
The is only one race of man, one species that we all belong to, which is where I think you are going with the 'signs' ... but it all had to start somewhere, of that much I am sure. Even if it is born of amphibian flopping on the surface, what inspired it to do so?
Perhaps man can unlock the mysteries of life, or maybe not. I do think it is beyond our reach to deny that there is another 'level of existence' beyond our own. There is evidence that 'reality' is made of 'universes within universes' ...
We are a sign that is not read. So to is life.
The tree of life has roots below the ground we do not see, but they are there. The trunk is sturdy and tall dividing into limbs which divide into branches and end with all sorts of goodies-buds, blossoms, leaves and sometimes fruit. I don't need labels or signs to identify the parts but sometimes a sign might keep me from partaking in a touch or bite- i.e. Trespassers will be shot, or sprayed with poison deadly to all mankind.
I'm not sure what I just said but it makes sense to me. Basically I hate labels but love signs. Sign me crazy, Dannelle (Hugs)
Who coined the term "the family of man?" Was it Sly Stone? (wink) I don't know, but it rings true for me. We all occupy the same world, and we all need to take care of each other.
Love, Beth
I think as in this case as humans we look everywhere but within ourselves for the answer. That need to read between the words, give it our own meaning.
I do believe I understood the meaning behind this post. If we each stay true to who we are our individuality, our own captain to the ship of our lives. Less time worrying about how everyone else is doing captaining their own ships...we steer clear and true.
So many are afraid of that word alone, the underestimate individuality and the power of one. (Hugs)Indigo
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