Amazing chapter - I love how I am able to learn about so many pivotal historical figures through Osner's wonderful storytelling.
"An apparition appeared in the night sky over the camps. A comet – white hot and brilliant with a fiery tail, and so low, it could fall into their midst.
'A sign!' the pilgrims cried. 'A sign!' The heat had induced them. Yet, all religions mark signs – every whirlwind, every hurricane; heat on cold days, cold days in summer (Mother is speaking, the goddess Epistími) . . ."
I was really intrigued by this section. Recently - while watching people interviewed on TV who experienced a devastating weather event - I reflected on something about the interviews. Right after a life-threatening event, people don't usually talk about the science of what happened - they talk about God.
Fascinated by this section:
"Though how important is legacy (what you’re reading here). Young men haven’t the slightest idea, immortal young men (‘persons’ I should say), knitting the world together in their new way, which is the same old way with its unseen calamities – ambition, greed, and envy never change. "
And this section:
"Then his eminence, Adhemar, ordered a gathering of his peers. 'The princes are becoming more concerned for kingdoms, and the commoners have no faith without signs and wonders. False prophets will sprout and run wild without our vigilance. The closer we come to the navel of the earth, the more Satan will fight us. Be cautious and watch. The enemy works from within.' "
Osner's writing makes me reflect on how the history of 1095 seemed so insane in some ways and yet we are struggling with some of the same issues in 2023.
What if the leaders - who are supposed to use vigilance - are THEMSELVES the false prophets? It made me think that maybe the only thing I could trust might be signs and wonders.
Amazing chapter - I love how I am able to learn about so many pivotal historical figures through Osner's wonderful storytelling.
"An apparition appeared in the night sky over the camps. A comet – white hot and brilliant with a fiery tail, and so low, it could fall into their midst.
'A sign!' the pilgrims cried. 'A sign!' The heat had induced them. Yet, all religions mark signs – every whirlwind, every hurricane; heat on cold days, cold days in summer (Mother is speaking, the goddess Epistími) . . ."
I was really intrigued by this section. Recently - while watching people interviewed on TV who experienced a devastating weather event - I reflected on something about the interviews. Right after a life-threatening event, people don't usually talk about the science of what happened - they talk about God.
Fascinated by this section:
"Though how important is legacy (what you’re reading here). Young men haven’t the slightest idea, immortal young men (‘persons’ I should say), knitting the world together in their new way, which is the same old way with its unseen calamities – ambition, greed, and envy never change. "
And this section:
"Then his eminence, Adhemar, ordered a gathering of his peers. 'The princes are becoming more concerned for kingdoms, and the commoners have no faith without signs and wonders. False prophets will sprout and run wild without our vigilance. The closer we come to the navel of the earth, the more Satan will fight us. Be cautious and watch. The enemy works from within.' "
Osner's writing makes me reflect on how the history of 1095 seemed so insane in some ways and yet we are struggling with some of the same issues in 2023.
What if the leaders - who are supposed to use vigilance - are THEMSELVES the false prophets? It made me think that maybe the only thing I could trust might be signs and wonders.