THE TRAP OF THE LITERAL TRUTH

"Literalism is invariably the lowest and least level of meaning," according to Fr. Richard Rohr. Which reminds me of the point made in The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an unknown 14th century monk, to "be wary of the overly scrupulous."

In my experience, the overly scrupulous are well defended in their thoughts, in their words...ready to fight in a heartbeat at even a question of their perceived facts. Per Rohr again, "Overly defended people do not change, grow, or 'realize' anything that does not confirm their illusions."

I often think that scrupulosity is the "blankie" to the intellectually self-sufficient, or probably it's the intellectually insecure. Scrupulosity...that mindset married to the literal truth, whereby any variation is not only wrong, but a lie.

The overly scrupulous remind me of what English poet W. H. Auden wrote in Apropos of Many Things: "We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the present and let our illusions die."

There. That's me putting on airs...I've never read W.H. Auden in my life, but I came across the quote and it fits. Personally, I just think,  "Oh, get over yourself for cryin' out loud." That fits, too.

Thank you.