Ever since I can remember, I have been conscious of being anxious; my anxiety has prompted much of my action, including many of my creative acts. My anxiety has two causes; I am anxious to play a good and useful part in the society in which I am a participant [is that a cause?]; but I am also anxious for fear that, if I am not preoccupied by mundane activities, I shall find myself spiritually naked and unscreened in the presence of the Ultimate Spiritual Reality that I have encountered, so far, only in two brief experiences. I am taking refuge from a recurrence of these experiences when I immerse myself in work; and this is just as cowardly, and just as frivolous, as turning on the television (a form of escapism which I arrogantly despise). Here I am confessing my agreement that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [Hebrews 10:31]. This is strange because, when I am thinking rationally, I am a religious agnostic.
Gropings in the Dark, essay, September 1973, in An Historian’s Approach to Religion, second edition (previously unpublished), with new Preface, May 1978, by Veronica Toynbee, OUP, 1979, posthumous
November 15 2009 at 2:03 pm
Toynbee’s opinion of television did not prevent him from appearing on it when a fee was offered.
April 29 2013 at 8:02 pm
[...] a form of escapism which I arrogantly despise [...]. [...]