Apologies to Kierkegaard

Today I was in a somber mood. Its Monday, its snowy and its the last day I am only 40. Last night I went with the girls to see the movie, The Golden Compass. I hated the books. I was captivated by the movie. I loved the noble character of the liar girl, Lyra. Also, I loved that her name is appropriate.

This morning I woke up sad. I had dreamed about some of the people from my former life as a wife. I knew in the dream that they lacked souls. There was a death of another person in my dream that brought my sadness and their sadness together. I knew that I would one day grow past the sadness but it was all they could expect.

So, in a pensive mood, I listened to philosophy lectures while I worked. Today was a reading of Group Thinking by Kierkegaard. I've always thought him a writer of the obvious. He seemed to lack the original or extravegant thoughts that appealed to me as a younger person. Maybe he and I think alike so I was as unimpressed with his thoughts as I am with my own, at any rate, today I experienced him differently.

My first thought was that he was constructing the next advance from the teachings of Jesus. It was nothing revolutionary, but it carried on exactly from the point of loving others as yourself. It addressed truth as an individual manifestation and make a strong argument that it can be no other way. He wrote with such compassion and kindness, even when the statements were strongly worded that I could not help but respond to his tone.

I don't know much about Kierkegaard. I'm not sure that I will ever be impressed by his thought. It like watching a magician perform a slight of hand trick. If you know how it is done, your enjoyment comes from the beauty and technique, not the trick itself.