Reading reflection on Nasr's Foundations Chapters 1 and 2 I expect that this response will be structured differently than those

which will follow. I found the introduction and the first chapter (by Nasr) painfully difficulty reading, or at least supremely difficult to read in a critical sense. The language and sentence structure is beautiful. Sentences like, "It is the Word manifest in human language." or phrases like the opening "The Spirit manifests Itself in every religious universe where the echoes of the Divine Word are still audible" appeal to something deeper or more inward than my analytic mind can process. It is as if these words, in the introduction, are laced with intentionality of spirituality. The section entitled "Presence of the Quran" of chapter 1 describes it well, " the degree of inspiration as a result of which every sentence, every word, and every letter scintillate with a spiritual presence and are like light congealed in tangible form." (p. 5) But such beauty, language, and intentionality thoroughly confound my mind. I found some relief in the section "Traditional Islamic Scholarship' which explains in a more systematic approach. Here, in what is apparently the West, I am accustomed to the dissection of my religion, beliefs, and spirituality as Nasr suggests-it is not unlike a cadaver. I struggle to understand Spirituality as an entity and even in attempting to describe what that approach is-- I want to use flowing language and imagery as if words themselves are not enough to encompass what Spirituality is. There is a sense in which I am aware of my flawed nature--I do not speak as highly of my own tradition's book as I do a book which I have not completely and cannot begin to understand. My analytic mind would like to be critical even of this sentence, to say that I am only describing a feeling or at best an experience which comes about as a desire to want to find holiness in a text.