Great article! I think this is why images of the Blessed Virgin can be so electrifyingly potent -- they can hit us right in the heart. Her loveliness (fused with her gentleness) is so touching.
I appreciate the comment, but I don't think I would take Le Guin as an authority on Lao-Tzu's thought. Better might be Rodney Stark's chapter in Discovering God on Chinese religions. I don't think I'd see it as some non-Christian equivilant of "thy will be done". On the contrary, Lao-Tzu, having spent time trying to reform the Emperor's court, and then, frustrated with his failure gave up, abandoned the court, and developed a philosophy centered around inaction.
Great article! I think this is why images of the Blessed Virgin can be so electrifyingly potent -- they can hit us right in the heart. Her loveliness (fused with her gentleness) is so touching.
I appreciate the comment, but I don't think I would take Le Guin as an authority on Lao-Tzu's thought. Better might be Rodney Stark's chapter in Discovering God on Chinese religions. I don't think I'd see it as some non-Christian equivilant of "thy will be done". On the contrary, Lao-Tzu, having spent time trying to reform the Emperor's court, and then, frustrated with his failure gave up, abandoned the court, and developed a philosophy centered around inaction.