THE FORMS OF HUMAN HISTORICITY by Fr. Michael Moga, SJ
"Man,
in a word, has no nature; what he has is history"
Ortega
1. The Historicity of Human Nature
- Plato and Aristotle will affirm that true knowledge is found in the knowledge of "what" something is, the nature of something.
2. The Historicity of an Ego Self
- it seeks to understand "who" not What
- has a changing and unchanging character
3. The Historicity of Personal Self
Dimensions of Historicity
1. Historical Worlds
- as persons, we live in the worlds of past, present, and future
- the personal past is always with us, giving us a sense of our own identity, we know who we are because we have a sense of where we have come from
- Much of the rich meaning of our lives comes from this world of past
2. Involvement Worlds
- hobby and career- such involvements give us personal identity
3. Value Worlds
- Values such as family, politics, faith, and, beauty give a character to our personal lives, blessing us with meaning and inspiration.
4. Qualities of the Personal Self
- Given-ness
- We experience that our religious lives are thoroughly through the "gifts." We are religious because God created us and loved us first
5. Fluctuating
6. Challenging-Surprising
7. Moods
- Care and Concern
- Mood is a dominant element in personal existence.
a. For the future- there is a general mood of anticipation, a sense that something is coming
- Have a positive (anxiety) and negative mood (hope)
- mood of trust that "all will be well by the grace of God"
- Those hopes come from relationships
- Those loves open up my life and give me strength
b. For past- vivid and powerful
- have a negative character as it gives a powerful sense of regret
- That negative mood from the past haunts my personal life
- have a positive character that someone has been blessed
- The mood of past can also include a positive mood of gratitude
c. For the present- many moods can take on different forms
- can be negative= sense of meaningless or even absurd
- A feeling of constantly repeating the same meaningless actions every day and nothing is being accomplished, such lives are empty.
- can highlight the sinful dimension of our lives
- can be positive=sense that what we have here and now is opportunity
- something beautiful can be produced, our friendships and loves can develop, and our sensitivity and understanding to grow.
- the mood of urgency- to make good use of opportunities that are given
- the mood of poignancy- all will end soon, the approach of death
- Mysterious- they are given to us as well as chosen by us
- We have the sense that human existence is capable of being much richer than such a mechanical process
- They are given but how are they given us and why are they given?
