The Dream of the Perfect Act

"I think the subtitle of this book gives you a clue as to why I included it. Fenn believed that humans and society are always dreaming of what he calls the perfect act. That would mean the ‘total thing’, where humans will have all the answers. Fenn thought that this impulse usually showed up in worship when people are addressing or bowing or somehow interacting with someone they cannot see. This could be Yahweh or Jesus or Allah or any other form of religion. Your dream is always to get to that total package of understanding everything. Fenn believes there were certain times when that nearly happened. He sees people being nostalgic about what never was ‘real’. He thought that we were nearly in the range of that in times like that of Augustine. Fenn says that the theory, really only a dream, will be approached through ritual. Thus in the United Kingdom, once upon a time everyone was supposed to be ruled by one rule. But he now knows that in a free world you can’t go back to that. It’s a book about what people show they think is needed, but in the end can’t be gotten. The only way to approach it is through fragments. You can find meaning in your own soccer team or club or your own nation. But that sort of thing frightens us, or should, because nations are often a big part of the problem of taking over and giving us meaning along the way. Bonhoeffer knew the problems of this very well because he was in a plot to kill Hitler. For him the Nazi realm needed to be resisted. Bonhoeffer, through his life and letters, passed judgment on all ‘total’ concepts of human endeavour, such as worship of the state. I think one reason he made less of ritual – even though he respected arts and common life – was his fear of ‘totalism’ – as in totalitarianism and fanaticism."