The Unknown Land of the Blog-O-Sphere

First of all I would like to welcome everyone to my new blog. The title of the blog is taken from a phrase that was printed on ancient maps before the world was fully explored and mapped. The Latin phrase terra incognita literally means "unknown land." Ironically, after being on earth for millennia and after having been to the moon, humans are still discovering "new places" on the earth. I chose this title because I love the rich symbolism of the phrase. The first meaning, I believe, still has meaning to this day, in a culture obsessed with life in cities, urbanism and man made things. We currently live in a society that does not and cannot see the wisdom, the beauty and the truth found in the natural world. Other subtle nuances of the phrase can be taken to mean the unknown land of the interior world of thought, the spiritual world, the philosophical world, and the moral world. Unlike the physical landscape, these other "landscapes" are much more frightening and can be just as adventurous. In addition to the phrase terra incognita ancient geographers would also inscribe the words, "here be dragons" in places unknown and unexplored. I am sure that in the cyber world just as in the physical world there are plenty of dragons to watch out for. The themes I am most interested in "thinking out loud" about [or "blogging" about] are nature, exploration, adventure, truth, beauty, art, goodness, and God. I realize that this is a very broad range of topics. But, it is my contention that all of these disparate subjects are intimately connected. Please stay tuned to this blog for further updates, thoughts, musings, brain droppings, etc...The French philosopher, E. Gilson got it so very right when he wrote the words, "finding out truth is not so difficult, what is difficult is not to run from it once we have found it" (The Unity of Philosophical Experience, pg. 61).