Pilgrimage Through the Meaning-Desert

The General Eclectic

We open with this podcast with a discussion about good books, and why we read what we read, and in particular, how fiction can draw you in, grab you, and give experience. Reading fiction is no mere escapist cope, but rather an invitation into other worlds and broadened horizons, a kind of pilgrimage of the imagination. In the second half, Rod pivots to talk about the rise of DMT and other hallucinogens, and the coming mainstreaming of these kinds of "religious hacks." Are they "real," or are they mere phantoms of the mind. These questions move us into a discussion about spiritual realities, and the relative cultural naivete of the modernist delusions. We are participants in the meaning-deserts of modernity, and old books might provide a way to re-enter into the mysteries of creation. Links: Carl Trueman podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OulW5T-9pgY&t=11s Mary Harrington podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-PANVg0QR0&t=4s How God Becomes Real by T. M. Luhrman: https://www.amazon.com/How-God-Becomes-Real-Invisible/dp/0691164460/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639595917&sr=8-2 That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-Fairy-Tale-Grown-Ups/dp/B00HTK8EQQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=ZOSQNBP0TBVM&keywords=that+hideous+strength+by+c.s.+lewis&qid=1639596153&sprefix=that+hide%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-4 R. L. Wilkins' "Church As Culture": https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/04/the-church-as-culture Leon Kass' The Hungry Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Soul-Eating-Perfecting-Nature/dp/0226425681 Charles Taylor's The Secular Age: https://www.amazon.com/Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674986911/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=charles+taylor&qid=1639596347&s=books&sr=1-1