Anthropogenic Global Din
But I was glad I had recorded for him
The melancholy. —Patrick Kavanagh, “Wet Evening in April”
“Interior and exterior silence are necessary in order to hear the Word,” Pope Benedict told the massed pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on March 7, 2012, on the last of his catacheses on the personal prayer of Jesus, specifically on Christ’s silence on the cross. He hardly had to point the lesson—“our age does not, in fact, favour reflection and contemplation”. In a civilisation attended by constant noise, the Pope had to tell his audience not be afraid of silence, for when they feel “a sense of abandonment” in the stillness of a prayer, they should be confident that “this silence, as happened to Jesus, does not signify absence”.
Of course, it isn’t just the divine Word which you can’t make out in such Golgotha moments. It can be difficult enough to hear somebody talking right next to you. Ambient noise may leave you on edge, if not on the edge. Sometimes you can’t even hear yourself…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins