Sunday, March 31, 2019

In the Thick of Things, post by Mark

She lived as the ancient Athenian social philosophers urged their fellow citizens to live, in constant readiness to immerse herself in one, then another national debate....Activism was a constant element in her life; she wanted to be in the thick of everyday discussion or argument. 

--Robert Coles, Simone Weil: A Modern Pilgrimage

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Timeline

1909
February 3, born in Paris

1925
Earned Baccalaureate in Philosophy from Lycée Henri IV

1928
Accepted into L'Ecole Normale Supérieure

1929
Publishes first articles in Libres Propos (edited by Alain)

1931 
Passes Agrégation and begins teaching at girl’s school in Le Puy-en-Vélay 

1931
Becomes active with trade unions and participates in worker demonstrations

1932
Transferred from Le Puy to Auxerre

An Introduction to Simone Weil: Concentration Is Consecration–Spring Class 2019

Humanity is divided into two categories—the people who count for something and the people who count for nothing.
To believe in God is not a decision that we can make. All we can do is to decide not to give our love to false gods.
Today it is not nearly enough to be a saint, but we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment, a new saintliness, itself also without precedent.
_______________________________
French philosopher Simone Weil has been described variously as a “utopian pessimist,” a “mystic of passion and compassion,” a “cross between Pascal and Orwell,” a “Catholic Jewess,” and, by French writer Albert Camus, “the only great spirit of our time.”
In this spring class, we will learn about Weil’s life and work, and let these interrogate our own. We will explore selections from Weil’s classics books, Waiting for God and Gravity and Grace, which will serve as promptings for examining our own spiritual path through journaling and correspondence.

Edith Stein

As I shared tonight, I’ve been noticing quite a lot of parallels between Simone and Edith Stein (aka St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross): Bo...