The Circle Dance of Time

by John S. Dunne

Overview

There is nothing wiser than the circle, Rilke says in his Stories of God. John Dunne's new book explores the wisdom of the circle. He uses the metaphor of the circle dance, a folk dance in which the women form an inner circle, holding hands and moving clockwise; the men form an outer circle, moving counterclockwise. When the music stops the person opposite you is your partner for the next dance. Dunne interprets the circle as the great circle of life and light and love that comes from God and returns to God. Dunne emphasizes the far point on the circle, farthest away from God, and uses that to discuss the difficulties of our secular age. In the individual life, the far point is a dark night of the soul. Yet Dunne sees that far point of loneliness and darkness as a point as well, marking the return to love and light. So the theme of the book is like the words of an old Bedouin to Lawrence of Arabia, "The love is from God, and of God, and towards God." The book concludes with the words of twenty-one "Circle Songs," composed by the author.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268063375
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	05/31/2010
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

JOHN S. DUNNE (d. 2013) was the John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and the author of twenty books, including Deep Rhythm and the Riddle of Eternal Life (2008) and A Vision Quest (2006), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Reasons of the Heart 1

Heart as Center of Stillness 3

Heart Surrounded by Silence 12

God Sensible to the Heart 21

God Kindling the Heart 23

God Illumining the Mind 31

The Vision of Emanation 41

"A melody that sings itself" 43

"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces" 52

The Vision of Return 63

"Our heart is restless" 65

"Until it rests in you" 74

The Far Point on the Circle 83

Love Passing through Loneliness 84

Light Passing through Darkness 94

Life Passing through Death 104

The Vision of God with Us 115

Circle Songs 129

Notes 135

Index 159

Editorial Reviews

This remarkable book records the spiritual search of a lifetime. It articulates this search through a series of powerful recurring images—that of a centre of stillness surrounded by silence, that of the circle dance of time itself, and many others—which confront and connect with and explicate each other in a number of combinations. The faith which is struggling to find expression is a Christian faith, but the images come from a great many sources and have been framed by people on many spiritual paths. What emerges is a powerful vision of Christian faith, centred in the Gospel promise of eternal life, which is at the same time in continuous exchange with the other great traditions, religious and philosophical, of human spiritual search. This combination of profundity and openness makes The Circle Dance very much a book for our time.” —Charles Taylor, McGill University

"I think of John Dunne as a kind of erudite Catholic Tevye, carrying on such an intimate conversation with God that we can learn about love just by listening in. Repetitive in the same way as Proust, or the rosary, his Circle Dance of Time is so joyful a meditation on our journey through time with and toward God that in places I thought my heart might burst; maybe better not to read before bed. " — Melinda Henneberger, Editor-in-chief, PoliticsDaily.com

“’I take one step at a time,’ John Dunne writes, ‘a paragraph a day, out of the heart, going from insight to insight.’ He takes images, mostly from quotations, ponders them, juxtaposes them and returns to them again and again from different points of view, always seeking insight into them. Dunne invites us to make the effort . . . to share the vision and join the dance.” —America

“In this remarkable book, The Circle Dance of Time, Dunne describes the intellectual and spiritual journey through time like a circle dance, where God’s love will illuminate the dark side of the human condition, or the far point on the circle, according to Dunne’s metaphor. . . .The Circle Dance of Time brings to the reader the light of intellectual nourishment and spiritual encouragement needed in these dark and hectic days. This book is recommended for college, university, and seminary libraries.” —Catholic Library World

From the Publisher

Almost every sentence calls on readers to meditate, to ponder images until insights come, to become aware through these insights of 'God with us' in our own hearts, and finally to experience our lives and world as taking part in the great circle of God's love. None of this come easily . . . . Dunne invites us to make the effort, even if only a paragraph a day, to share the vision and join the dance.

America

Almost every sentence calls on readers to meditate, to ponder images until insights come, to become aware through these insights of 'God with us' in our own hearts, and finally to experience our lives and world as taking part in the great circle of God's love. None of this come easily . . . . Dunne invites us to make the effort, even if only a paragraph a day, to share the vision and join the dance.

America