Creatively Advancing into Novelty
If there is such a thing as human perfection, it seems to emerge precisely from how we handle the imperfection that is everywhere, especially our own. What a clever place for God to hide holiness, so that only the humble and earnest will find it! A “perfect” person ends up being one who can consciously…
May God bless you with discomfort At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships So that you may live deep within your heart May God bless you with anger At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears To shed for those…
It has been acceptable for some time in America to remain “wound identified” (that is, using one’s victimhood as one’s identity, one’s ticket to sympathy, and one’s excuse for not serving), instead of using the wound to “redeem the world,” as we see in Jesus and many people who turn their wounds into sacred wounds…
“We invariably prefer the universal synthesis, the answer that settles all the dust and resolves every question – even when it is not entirely true – over the mercy and grace of God.” The above quote comes from the always sagacious Richard Rohr via his new book Falling Upward. In this quote he is discussing…
Virtue is intimately associated with freedom. Think of self-control. While it seems that self-control–saying “No” to the self–is a form of self-limitation it is actually a form of self-liberation. Contrast the addict or the impulsive shopper with the self-controlled person. Who is more free? The person pushed and pulled by compulsions, cravings, and obsessions? Or…
According to the Bible, the principalities are legion in species, number, variety and name. They are designated by such multifarious titles as powers, virtues, thrones, authorities, dominions, demons, princes, strongholds, lords, angels, gods, elements, spirits… And if some of these seem quaint, transposed into contemporary language they lose quaintness and the principalities become recognizable and…
What is the real me? It is certainly more than the matter of my body, because that it changing all the time. The atoms are always changing – but in some sense it is the pattern of how the atoms are formed. That, I think, is what the soul is (agreeing with Thomas Aquinas). It…
Jesus is the blueprint, the plan, the pattern revealed in one body and moment of history to reveal the meaning of all of history and each of our lives. The cross is the banner of what we do to one another and to God. The resurrection is the banner of what God does to us…
Terrible beyond despairing walk, Menacing cold clutches its stalk. Fevering swells its crippling tense, Sickness untold unfathomed suspense. Destruction impending unjust disguise, Terrifying deceit in tearful reprise. Engulfed horror at trauma pursuit, Disease stricken by powers’ salute. Fleshly shudders panicking fright, Nightmares entranced by visible light. Ghastly quakes punish the soul, Spirit painstakingly swallowed in…
“Solitude.” “It is the most foundational of the disciplines of abstinence, the via negativa. The evangelical passion for engagement with the world is good. But as Thomas à Kempis says, the only person who’s safe to travel is the person who’s free to stay at home. And Pascal said that we would solve the world’s…