The Creed of Abraham

Heidegger longed for home; in this he was Odyssean. And like Odysseus, he was clever. There is always much to ponder in his writings--and yet, there is even more to set aside. Early in his life, he was hailed as a genius--and believed it--but was never able to fulfill his early promise.

James Joyce, on the other hand, was an authentic genius. And in A Portrait of the Artist he placed on the lips of Stephen Daedalus what may be the most succinct formulation of Abraham's "creed":

"I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use--silence, exile, and cunning" (pp. 246-247, Viking Compass Edition, 1964).

Silence. Exile. Cunning. These three constitute the "practice" of Abraham.