Edging Toward Enchantment: Doubting in the Other Direction

During the Spring semester at ACU I gave three guest lectures about recovering enchantment for my friend Paul's Faith and Science class.

In that class I talked about, borrowing from Charles Taylor, how our experience in a "secular age" isn't wholly disenchanted. As I talked about in an earlier post, in a secular age we also, from time to time, bump into enchantment. While perhaps fragile and fleeting, we still experience transcendent moments. We still step into the sacred.

Consequently, while for the most part we live in a disenchanted world we are dissatisfied with that world. We suspect that a wholly disenchanted world isn't being true to our lives.

Basically, we grow disenchanted with disenchantment.

We become doubtful about disenchantment. We are dissatisfied with disenchantment. Disillusioned with disenchantment. We might even get disgusted with disenchantment.

And what I suggested to the class in my lectures is that this "disenchantment with disenchantment," this "doubting your doubts," can become material for enchantment.

Flip the script, I said. In a secular age we use disenchantment to doubt enchantment. So turn it around. Cultivate doubts in the other direction.

When, where and why do you become disenchanted with disenchantment?

When, where and why do you doubt your doubts?

Think on such things. Linger here, and you'll starting edging back toward enchantment. 

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