Hildegard and Francis: Spiritually Connected

Hildegard of Bingen and Francis of Assisi are two people that in my opinion are similar in many ways and both seem to have had a great influence on history and the present day. Both were somewhat “spiritual leaders” in their own way and that being mystic. Hildegard used her learnings from the German convent to preach unlike other women of her time. Her visions of the future and special callings are what made her stand out as well as Francis of Assisi’s. He all so had spiritual visions and experiences.

Francis of Assisi had a great respect for all of God’s creatures, that being animals too and really had no ties to the materialistic world thought he was once a very wealthy man. If a person could tell me exactly what would happen in my life and what my calling is and be honestly and completely real and religious about it, I would listen. Who wouldn’t want to know the good they have awaiting for the future? This is what made them stand out from some of the other religious leaders and made them respected in the public eye. I think this stands as an example of modern day preaching and possibly prophets.

 As I know, prophets and preachers are those called on to transfer a message and or spiritual experience to influence or inspire the lives of those whom the message could possibly be directed to. Not everyone has the direct connection but some can be “spoken to” or “called on” and Hildegard of Bingen and Francis of Assisi through what I have learned were lucky enough to have the connection. I could be wrong in associating the two with modern day prophets, but being that I have been in the presence of one, I do see resemblance. 

The Byzantine Empire, The Islamic Empire and Mohammad's Successors (Brief)

As we know there were many Empires throughout history, some prosperous and some not so much, in my opinion the Byzantine Empire may have been the most powerful and financially stable. Also an interesting topic of discussion is the rise of Islam through Muhammad’s Successors and what seemed to be the depletion of the Byzantine Empire. Personally I believe that if the Byzantine Empire had looked after the west as well as they did the east, the empire would have lasted a lot longer being that they had geographic advantage over the Empires that attempted attacks, power, riches, and ever more importantly, the people’s support. The official religion had been Christianity and worked well under the rule of Justinian UNTIL he taxed the citizens heavily to keep the Empire going due to debt. In the crumbling financially and economically, they were subject to takeover.

In the slipping of the Byzantine Empire, the Muslims spread and carried out attacks on them starting with Syria; they lost Syria, The Holy Land, Egypt and North Africa. The Islamic Empire seemed to be a bit chaotic, though the people oppressed by the Byzantine Empire’s rule over Europe did follow, they forced the spread of their religion. But they did become known for breaking the barriers or race and nationality which is still shown in today’s society. The Islamic Empire conquered and also took in non Muslims. Even as they spread their beliefs and practices they picked up some also from others such as the Persian Empire. Muhammad’s Successors played a great part in the spread using the 5 pillars of faith through force and also through peaceful action but not as prominently.

Both Empires shared some similarities such as the belief in one ruler, after life and that all humans are born uncleansed, but the techniques in spreading the religion definitely differed. The Christians believed in only peaceful spread and the Muslims would have it either way, you could go peacefully or brutally. Both religions today are pretty much the same and both Empires have effected today’s society in choice of religion and acceptance of different kinds of people.

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

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Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Socrates, Aristotle and Plato all have their own way of thinking, but what makes the three interesting to learn about is the fact that one was once a student of the other, deriving the ideas of the one before into new concepts. Socrates is known for questioning and being somewhat of an annoyance but this held well for gaining knowledge. Socrates’ student was Plato, whom put together the ideas of the Republic, also known as “perfection”. Plato brought on the idea that people could be perfected through being governed correctly and also developed the idealism concept. Plato’s most famous student was Aristotle, whom in a way went against Plato’s content and ideas. Aristotle judged reality by observation; with that being said what you see is what it is, in his case.

It is obvious that even though these three philosophers may not be the top picks of history’s philosophers but they do have a strong influence on thinking and processing thoughts. All in a nutshell you have those that think inside the box, and those that think over and beyond. I see Plato and Aristotle as inside the box philosophers.  Not saying they had any wrong ways of thinking but they obviously had sort of a genre to views of life. Their similar yet unique ways of problem solving elevated the human mind capacity in seeing things for more than what meets the eye. They also laid foundation for lateral, logical and critical thinking.  Today all three still have impact on educating and how it is done. In my eyes the way you see and view one’s way of thinking is dependent on your own and makes for great opportunity to invite in a new way.