In my main blog, The Solitary Walker, I’ve been considering the work of the Scottish poet Norman MacCaig over the past few months.
A Man I Agreed With
He knew better than to admire a chair
and say What does it mean?
He loved everything that accepted
the unfailing hospitality of his five senses.
He would say Hello, caterpillar or
So long, Loch Fewin.
He wanted to know
how they came to be what they are:
But he never insulted them by saying,
Caterpillar, Loch Fewin, what do you mean?
In this respect he was like God,
though he was godless. – He knew the difference
between What does it mean to me?
and What does it mean?
That’s why he said, half smiling,
Of course, God, like me,
is an atheist. Norman MacCaig
“Atheist he may be, but Norman MacCaig speaks for the holiness of the everyday world in every one of his poems. He seizes the fleeting moment in his verse in order to transform it, or to reveal it, in an affirmative act of praise and endless celebration. The celebration is endless because the poet’s art lives on, long after what inspired it has changed or passed away. And the celebration is endless because ordinary life goes on, and there is always delight to be found there, if only we have eyes to see.” From The Poetry Of Norman MacCaig by Roderick Watson
I quite often hear atheists come out with things that seem more spiritually insightful than the more obvious suspects. I suppose atheism is, in a way, the ultimate via negativa.
That’s so true, Dominic. Religious believers should in no way have a monopoly over the sacred and the holy. Your idea about atheism being the ultimate via negativa is brilliant!
And the doubts of Thomas, the betrayal by Judas – just as necessary to the underpinning of Christianity as all those goody-goody saints with their unshakeable convictions.