At the time when Martin Buber was preparing his seminal book I and Thou for publication, he considered the following sentence for its motto:
“This book presents the beginning of a way that I intend to continue in and in which I intend to lead others.”
(Buber, quoted in Rivka Horwitz, Buber’s Way to I and Thou, 55; see Turning to the Other, 38)
Buber was an avid
hiker. This blog expands on his avocation, using it as a metaphor of
associating with him in dialogue. To trek is to undertake a serious journey on
foot. Buber’s “way” in the proposed motto, Weg
in German, commonly refers to just such a path for just such a journey. This
blog is a place where we will “trek” alongside Buber, moving with him in a
dialogue which is our journey afoot with him.
Perhaps, like Cervantes’ Don Quixote, we may discover that
on this dialogical trek with Buber, “The way is always better than the inn.” («El
camino es siempre mejor que la posada»). We need not rush to any predetermined
goal; every step along the way is a moment to behold.
Buber’s proposed motto for I and Thou, his pivotal creative work, can be read in terms of
trekking: like a trekker’s map, the book presents, locates “the beginning of a
way,” the trailhead for a trek that Buber firmly envisions, a trek along which
he “intends to lead others.” His intentions mark both an envisioned course into
the future and an envisioned role for himself as a leader of others. Thus Buber
becomes the lead hiker on a journey, a trek, an adventure of discovery and
transformation that lies before us.
How true! There is a Swedish poem by Karin Boye, I rörelse, which expresses this beautifully:
ReplyDelete”Visst finns det mål och mening i vår färd
men det är vägen som är mödan värd”
Badly translated: Yes, there is a goal and purpose of our journey but it is the way that is worth the toil.