Slow Ways

Why do men remain radical for so long?
The mystic songs of religion and
intuition seem to drive them
away. Science, which is here to stay,
has often been a school for
radicals--think of Bentham and
Marx--with Sabbaticals of PhD’s
replacing convocations of
bishops. The slow ways of tradition
are as hard to precisely define
as the Gothic line. Have our
universities created a better
world than our churches? Slowness
is key. Bend the twig of tradition
and you avoid decay and rot. Cut
the tree down and even the benefits
of science fall to the ground.