Be not conformed

 

Just sitting in McDonalds with a coffee. Musing. This morning I took a peep at one of my Blooks, which consists of various notes and quotes I had made over a period of about three years - from various books. All in my cyber notebook.

The Blook begins with a few quotes of Albert Camus, the French so-called "existentialist". He was the man who said that he would "like to drive out of this world a God who has come into it with dissatisfaction and a preference for futile sufferings". I've always remembered that quote and had no need to look it up.

This time the quote that caught my eye, my mind/heart, was from Camus's book "The Rebel" and his words brought to mind the New Testament verse from the book of Romans written by St Paul:-

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (I love the cadences of the KJV)

In The Rebel (1951), Camus argues that perpetual opposition is what brings about a reaffirmation of life in the midst of mass conformity and his words, the quote, is:-

“Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.”

I think, as one who suffers from mental health issues, that those issues do have a positive. This is simply that we are very unlikely to "conform" to a world that has brought us to such a state. Rebellion is more likely. We just need belief, strength, faith, trust.

We are all part of the world and therefore, at least as I see it, it is not a case of "us" against "them", but also a case of recognising our own part in the whole sad mess.

But anyway, that is all. An image here that I chose to accompany Camus's words in my Blook....