Petrarch & The Dignity of Man

I was intrigued while reading Petrarch's works because they were so revealing about the paths of life and I found myself relating to various things he wrote about.  The humanistic view of ideals is brought up when he is trying to find the perfect climbing companion.  Made me start wondering, "Are our ideals/desires ever totally me?  Or is this even possible?"  When he reached the top of the mountain and began reminiscing, it reminded of me of when I often randomly make a connection with the past over a random thing like a location, an outfit, or even something as strange as rhubarb!  I always look forward to reaching the point as he is saying that I can look back at my struggles and see them as beneficial.  I would like to disagree with him on the fact that humans are the most beautiful thing...I would much rather admire nature because it seems so much more pure and flawless.  Overall, these writings go with the time in discovering that we do not need to move physically closer to God, but instead God is within us.  However, as I got to thinking, according to my religious beliefs, God is not within everyone until they accept him into their lives.  But, He is never far away, if only all people would see the great benefits of allowing God to live within you!

As I read through "On the Dignity of Man," I was interested to see how many biblical references there were.  It is interesting to see how someone tries to connect both philosophy and religion.  I am puzzled though because there were a few biblical reference footnotes for which the verse did not exist...I kind of wonder what that is supposed to mean?!?  The overlying idea is the freedom that man has and the connection that he has with God.  The idea from class that most caused me to think was about the eros form of love being our Soul's desire to return to God.  I have always seen love on earth as being emulated from the love God showers on us, but never in the other light.  Last, I want to bring up one phrase from the reading that really made me think.  It spoke of instances where "it is a gain to lose" and I agreed like when we make mistakes yet we learn from them and end up gaining in the long run.  I am soo enjoying reading all this stuff (although not totally understanding it all...) because it is making me think and apply these principles to my own life!