Camouflaged sacredness

The restless hearts

« You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. »

-- Saint Augustine[1]

Camouflaged sacredness is artificially suppressed natural desire of human beings for the fellowship with God as their Creator that can never be completely dismissed but rather takes other forms of expression instead. According to Slovak theologian Ján Bohdan Hroboň the natural longing for holiness might be transposed and disguised, for example, under various secular, and often even quite drastic terms and expressions, or even under completely vulgar language, but the basic need for “something that goes beyond me” is equally strong, perhaps even stronger than in the traditional forms of the sacraments,[2] and as such remains unfilled until a person reconciles with God. Nazi resister Wilhelm Bush points out that such reconciliation is portrayed in The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, where "publican, a man who was not a very commendable person", still in his deep longing for God could eventually only wring his hands and murmur this short prayer: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."[3]

## Examples[edit]

The curses of the godless vs. the hallelujahs of the pious

“Sometimes the curses of the godless sound better than the hallelujahs of the pious.”

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer's actualization of Martin Luther[4]

Among typical examples of camouflaged sacredness would be a sentence presented in the following hyperlinked edit ************* (parental supervision advised). The sacral outflow of the same excitement of the author of the edit would be most likely something like “Hallelujah!” Hroboň mused that it would be interesting to examine and find out which of the two types of manifestation of the sacred amazement would eventually show the greater depth of awesome tribute and authentic praise.[2]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis. Confessions of Augustine (Latin). The Stoa Consortium. Retrieved on 30 Apr 2016. “Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.”
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Zuzana Bukovská (23.august 2014). Kazateľ Ján Bohdan Hroboň (Slovak). Cirkevný zbor ECAV Martin a tyzden.sk. Retrieved on 29 Apr 2016. “pri čítaní … štúdií Mircea Eliadeho porozumel, že sacrum, teda túžba duchovnosti a svätosti je človeku vlastné a ako také sa nikdy nemôže celkom vytratiť, len sa „zamaskuje“: „Používa sekulárne výrazy, formy, ale ,žasnutie', potreba toho, čo ma presahuje, je rovnako silná, ba možno ešte silnejšia ako v tradičných formách svätého.“ K teoretickej úvahe hneď pridáva „trochu drastickú skúsenosť s tým skrytým, zamaskovaným ,svätým' doslova z dnešnej ulice.“ Pred kostolom na Memorandovom námestí v Martine sa dal do reči so zvedavým mladíkom. Rozprával mu o cirkevnom zbore, o kostole, o Bohu. „Môj nečakaný hosť sa oprel o bráničku a sústredene počúval. Po mojom vysvetlení sa zmohol na slovo obdivu a úžasu. Jeho komentár s pokrútením hlavy a presvedčivým prízvukom, že to, čo počul sa ho hlboko dotklo, znel: ,Kurva!' Prijal som to ako náboženský prejav v surovo sekulárnej forme. Sakrálna forma by povedzme bola: ,Haleluja!' Bolo by zaujímavé vyskúmať, v ktorom prejave by sa dala nájsť väčšia hĺbka posvätného úžasu.“”
3. ↑ Wilhelm Busch (2001). Jesus our destiny. Brunen Publishing. ISBN 0-86347-024-6. “The other man was not a very commendable person. More or less a crook - a black-marketeer, a smuggler, or something along those lines - he was on the fringe of society. (The Bible calls him a "publican"; in other words, a tax collector.) Struck by the solemnity of the place as he came in, the poor fellow was overcome by fear. Keeping close to the entrance, he thought, "This is no place for me. The lively atmosphere in the pub around the corner suits me a lot better. I feel at home in the pub, but I don't here!" He was just about to take to his heels when he suddenly remembered why he had come to the place. He had a deep longing for God. (Aren't we all in the same state? Longing to go back home, longing to go back to our Father?) No, he could not turn away! Nor could he go forward. As memories of the type of life he had led flooded him, he could only wring his hands and murmur this short prayer: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The Bible says that at that very moment the hosts of heaven began to sing for joy. A man had found life!”
4. ↑ Eric Metaxas (2011). "8. Berlin 1931–32", Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Thomas Nelson, 120\. ISBN 978-14185-56341.

## See also[edit]

* Devil and Humor
* Nimrodian aspirations