Quote Wednesday
Does your mind desire the strength to gain the mastery over your passions? Let it submit to a greater power, and it will conquer all beneath it. And peace will be in you—true, sure, most ordered peace. What is that order? God as ruler of the mind; the mind as ruler of the body. Nothing could be more orderly.
--St. Augustine
We would remind [such] people that it is the law of nature that all things must be of gradual growth...
--Pope John 23rd
The law of correspondence with Dr. Coulton is the survival of the rudest. (aka blogdom?)
--H. Belloc, from Pearce's "Old Thunder"
God Bless Our Troops
--sign outside a Columbus strip club
If you want a committed man, visit the mental hospital
--sign seen outside cheap motel on drive to work
April 08, 2003
Targeting Journalists?
It was early. I was still squinting from the light and from disconnection from the dream state. But I believe I heard a BBC reporter, indignant over the bombing of the Palestine Hotel which left at least one reporter dead, asking:
Is the U.S. military targeting journalists?
If accurate, this sort of cynicism is this side of surreal. I get the same feeling when I hear people say dismissively, "any chemical weapons found will have simply been planted by the U.S.".
The spokesman calmly denied the allegation. It would've been funny to hear him flippantly say:
Thank you for your question. President Bush yesterday signed an executive order eliminating journalists, especially those hostile to the Bush Administration. Given our "smart bombing" technology, we hope to be able to strike London's BBC with a minimum of civilian casualties.
It was early. I was still squinting from the light and from disconnection from the dream state. But I believe I heard a BBC reporter, indignant over the bombing of the Palestine Hotel which left at least one reporter dead, asking:
Is the U.S. military targeting journalists?
If accurate, this sort of cynicism is this side of surreal. I get the same feeling when I hear people say dismissively, "any chemical weapons found will have simply been planted by the U.S.".
The spokesman calmly denied the allegation. It would've been funny to hear him flippantly say:
Thank you for your question. President Bush yesterday signed an executive order eliminating journalists, especially those hostile to the Bush Administration. Given our "smart bombing" technology, we hope to be able to strike London's BBC with a minimum of civilian casualties.
All You Need Is Love
In college I was disappointed when I got higher than a 95% on an exam. It meant I had over-studied. Time was a precious commodity, not to be wasted. My goal was to do enough to get the "A", not to surpass that out of any love for the subject matter.
How different this is from the spiritual life! Admittedly, there is and always has been a "test" aspect to it. Our first parents were tested in their obedience to God concerning the forbidden fruit. But that aspect was changed in some fundamental way with the New Covenant. It became a cooperation with God, Emmanuel or 'God with us'. Ideally, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means doing the right thing is a byproduct of love for Him, rather than surviving the test... I have no ambition for a higher place in heaven, but I should have a desire to love Him more nearly.
In college I was disappointed when I got higher than a 95% on an exam. It meant I had over-studied. Time was a precious commodity, not to be wasted. My goal was to do enough to get the "A", not to surpass that out of any love for the subject matter.
How different this is from the spiritual life! Admittedly, there is and always has been a "test" aspect to it. Our first parents were tested in their obedience to God concerning the forbidden fruit. But that aspect was changed in some fundamental way with the New Covenant. It became a cooperation with God, Emmanuel or 'God with us'. Ideally, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means doing the right thing is a byproduct of love for Him, rather than surviving the test... I have no ambition for a higher place in heaven, but I should have a desire to love Him more nearly.
Shellynna comments on the Pope on Disordered Affections:
He's got a more universal view. We don't understand what he sees, or how he sees it, but for the most part we can trust it. If it were a different, obviously less holy, less God-centered man than John Paul II, I'd probably be criticizing him, too. As it is, I'm willing to trust.
Makes sense to me.
He's got a more universal view. We don't understand what he sees, or how he sees it, but for the most part we can trust it. If it were a different, obviously less holy, less God-centered man than John Paul II, I'd probably be criticizing him, too. As it is, I'm willing to trust.
Makes sense to me.
How does the Christian's life of prayer depend on the Holy Spirit?
1. St. Paul teaches that Christians need and receive the special help of the Holy Spirit to pray as they ought: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom 8.26-27).
2. This passage is frequently taken to mean simply that the Spirit causes us to ask as we should and stirs right desires in us. There seems no reason, however, for excluding a more straightforward meaning of the Spirit "himself intercedes for us."
3. We have good grounds for thinking of ourselves as having distinct personal relationships with each of the three divine persons (24-C). The Holy Spirit is the gift given by the Father to those who ask (see Lk 11.13). The General Instruction to the Liturgy of the Hours teaches: "The unity of the Church at prayer is brought about by the Holy Spirit, who is the same in Christ (See Lk 10.21), in the whole Church, and in every baptized person."
According to the promise of Jesus, the Spirit comes and remains (see Jn14.16-18). He is not only with us as a principle, but present in person. The children of God are not left in loneliness like orphans. The Spirit instructs (see Jn 14.26). He defends and guides (see Jn 16.7-14; Gal 5.25). Because of the presence of the Spirit, we have a concrete realization that we are children of God (see Rom 8.16). We cry out to God: "Father!" (see Rom 8.15). The Spirit makes up for our infantile condition by helping us in our weakness (see Rom 8.26-27). He takes a personal interest in our growth in the Christian life (see Eph 4.30).
4. The work of the Spirit in the Christian's life of prayer might be explained as follows. Prayer is the basic act of Christian life. It is normally a work of living faith--in other words, a work of charity. In praying, God's children act toward him according to the divine nature which he has begotten in them through the gift of the Spirit, as St. Paul also teaches: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom 8.14-16). However, as undeveloped, embryonic children of God (see 1 Jn 3.2), we are not yet capable of acting fully by ourselves according to the nature we have from the Father; we do not yet "see him as he is," that is, experience the fullness of divine life.
5. The Spirit, who "is the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son," therefore somehow mediates our relationship with them, supplying what we simply cannot supply ourselves, as a pregnant mother mediates her unborn child's relationships with its human father, with other people, and with the world at large, doing for it what it cannot yet do for itself.
6. Prayer is the fundamental category of Christian life, and the Christian's life of prayer depends on the Holy Spirit in the way explained. Therefore, the Christian's entire life is supplemented by the work of the Spirit.
7. Hence, the fact that the whole of Christian life is lived in the Spirit in no way means that the Holy Spirit fulfills any of the Christian's human responsibilities. Rather, just as Jesus' communion as Word with the Spirit is no substitute for his faithful fulfillment as man of his personal vocation, so Christians' life in the Spirit leaves them with undiminished moral responsibility.
Christian Moral Principles --Germain Grisez
1. St. Paul teaches that Christians need and receive the special help of the Holy Spirit to pray as they ought: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom 8.26-27).
2. This passage is frequently taken to mean simply that the Spirit causes us to ask as we should and stirs right desires in us. There seems no reason, however, for excluding a more straightforward meaning of the Spirit "himself intercedes for us."
3. We have good grounds for thinking of ourselves as having distinct personal relationships with each of the three divine persons (24-C). The Holy Spirit is the gift given by the Father to those who ask (see Lk 11.13). The General Instruction to the Liturgy of the Hours teaches: "The unity of the Church at prayer is brought about by the Holy Spirit, who is the same in Christ (See Lk 10.21), in the whole Church, and in every baptized person."
According to the promise of Jesus, the Spirit comes and remains (see Jn14.16-18). He is not only with us as a principle, but present in person. The children of God are not left in loneliness like orphans. The Spirit instructs (see Jn 14.26). He defends and guides (see Jn 16.7-14; Gal 5.25). Because of the presence of the Spirit, we have a concrete realization that we are children of God (see Rom 8.16). We cry out to God: "Father!" (see Rom 8.15). The Spirit makes up for our infantile condition by helping us in our weakness (see Rom 8.26-27). He takes a personal interest in our growth in the Christian life (see Eph 4.30).
4. The work of the Spirit in the Christian's life of prayer might be explained as follows. Prayer is the basic act of Christian life. It is normally a work of living faith--in other words, a work of charity. In praying, God's children act toward him according to the divine nature which he has begotten in them through the gift of the Spirit, as St. Paul also teaches: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom 8.14-16). However, as undeveloped, embryonic children of God (see 1 Jn 3.2), we are not yet capable of acting fully by ourselves according to the nature we have from the Father; we do not yet "see him as he is," that is, experience the fullness of divine life.
5. The Spirit, who "is the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son," therefore somehow mediates our relationship with them, supplying what we simply cannot supply ourselves, as a pregnant mother mediates her unborn child's relationships with its human father, with other people, and with the world at large, doing for it what it cannot yet do for itself.
6. Prayer is the fundamental category of Christian life, and the Christian's life of prayer depends on the Holy Spirit in the way explained. Therefore, the Christian's entire life is supplemented by the work of the Spirit.
7. Hence, the fact that the whole of Christian life is lived in the Spirit in no way means that the Holy Spirit fulfills any of the Christian's human responsibilities. Rather, just as Jesus' communion as Word with the Spirit is no substitute for his faithful fulfillment as man of his personal vocation, so Christians' life in the Spirit leaves them with undiminished moral responsibility.
Christian Moral Principles --Germain Grisez
April 07, 2003
Best Excuse I've Found Lately to Drink Before Noon
We plopped down in the living room, and I asked him why he hadn't brought his gas mask, chem suit, and Kevlar. "I wore Kevlar in the Balkans once," he said, "but it made me feel like a counterfeit, so I ditched it." Despite this cavalier disregard for safety, I was so grateful for the company that I offered him a Welcome-To-Kuwait shot of "Listerine" (as it is known by Kuwaiti customs officials). "I don't usually start this early," said Hitchens with feigned reluctance, "but holding yourself to a drinking schedule is always the first sign of alcoholism."
-Christopher Hitchens quoted here via Amy Welborn
On the other hand, if you follow a schedule slavishly in every other area of your life, why should drinking be exempt?
We plopped down in the living room, and I asked him why he hadn't brought his gas mask, chem suit, and Kevlar. "I wore Kevlar in the Balkans once," he said, "but it made me feel like a counterfeit, so I ditched it." Despite this cavalier disregard for safety, I was so grateful for the company that I offered him a Welcome-To-Kuwait shot of "Listerine" (as it is known by Kuwaiti customs officials). "I don't usually start this early," said Hitchens with feigned reluctance, "but holding yourself to a drinking schedule is always the first sign of alcoholism."
-Christopher Hitchens quoted here via Amy Welborn
On the other hand, if you follow a schedule slavishly in every other area of your life, why should drinking be exempt?
Prayers
I'd appreciate your prayers for my friend Bone who is suffering through numerous trials (recently laid off, wife has thyroid tumor - the doctor thinks it's benign but now's a good time for Heisenprayer). I've written about him here in the past, here and here. He is a colorful guy, a devout Christian, has four small children.
I'd appreciate your prayers for my friend Bone who is suffering through numerous trials (recently laid off, wife has thyroid tumor - the doctor thinks it's benign but now's a good time for Heisenprayer). I've written about him here in the past, here and here. He is a colorful guy, a devout Christian, has four small children.
Poetry to Order via the UK Guardian
At Books Unlimited we're so smart we can tell what mood you're in and what would make you feel better. Simply do our test and we'll find you some poetry to soothe your mood.
At Books Unlimited we're so smart we can tell what mood you're in and what would make you feel better. Simply do our test and we'll find you some poetry to soothe your mood.
April 06, 2003
Playing Devil's Advocate...an apologia for pacifism
Another way to look at the war is in a "Pascal's Wager" sort of way. Worst case, if we would've followed the Vatican's approach, we would not have fought the first Gulf War. Saddam would rake in the oil revenues of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and be able to buy nuclear weapons. He would own the Middle East. Millions are killed. (Again, this is the worst case scenerio).
We know the soul is infinitely more valuable than the body. And so Judgment Day comes and the accounting. Any fault imputed to you for your failure to act (i.e. to advocate war) would be mitigated by the following of the Holy Father's counsel. Whereas if you had taken the opposite approach and acted, you would be under even greater judgment for having spurned his counsel. For the Christian, there seems to be no cost, in strictly spiritual terms, of failing to go to war while there is a great cost if you are wrong. Were the early Christian martyrs wrong for leaving their children orphaned? I think not.
If one really and truly believes this life is merely a short stay at a bad motel and that heaven awaits, then one sees the soul as of infinite worth, the body little. All Christians were pacifists for the first couple hundred years. It might've been when they realized that the Second Coming was not going to be tomorrow exactly, that Christians became more "practical" in accomodating ourselves to the "real" world. Or perhaps it was a realization that every era is different, and that there is a time for war and a time for pacifism.
Another way to look at the war is in a "Pascal's Wager" sort of way. Worst case, if we would've followed the Vatican's approach, we would not have fought the first Gulf War. Saddam would rake in the oil revenues of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and be able to buy nuclear weapons. He would own the Middle East. Millions are killed. (Again, this is the worst case scenerio).
We know the soul is infinitely more valuable than the body. And so Judgment Day comes and the accounting. Any fault imputed to you for your failure to act (i.e. to advocate war) would be mitigated by the following of the Holy Father's counsel. Whereas if you had taken the opposite approach and acted, you would be under even greater judgment for having spurned his counsel. For the Christian, there seems to be no cost, in strictly spiritual terms, of failing to go to war while there is a great cost if you are wrong. Were the early Christian martyrs wrong for leaving their children orphaned? I think not.
If one really and truly believes this life is merely a short stay at a bad motel and that heaven awaits, then one sees the soul as of infinite worth, the body little. All Christians were pacifists for the first couple hundred years. It might've been when they realized that the Second Coming was not going to be tomorrow exactly, that Christians became more "practical" in accomodating ourselves to the "real" world. Or perhaps it was a realization that every era is different, and that there is a time for war and a time for pacifism.
April 05, 2003
Lots of Interesting Reads
Review of new book on the King James translation.
Adam Nicolson has a great deal of fun with the absurdities of subsequent translations, all of which is quite deserved; the 18th-century translator who replaced Peter’s ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here’ with ‘Oh, sir! What a delectable residence we might establish here!’, or the insanity of the New English Bible, improving the simple and beautiful ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and yee shall finde’ into ‘Shoot the net to starboard, and you will make a catch.’ These bathetic and inadequate updatings are very funny, but it is important to understand why they are so hopeless. The King James Bible came to demonstrate and embody the principles of expressive English, and any deviation from it can never hope to rival its beauty and perfection.
***
NY Times review of book on early Christian thinkers, aka the Fathers.
***
WSJ opines on the Pope.
****
Eye-opening piece from Bernard Lewis.
[It was] often expressed by Osama bin Laden, among others, that America was a paper tiger. Muslim terrorists had been driven by such beliefs before. One of the most surprising revelations in the memoirs of those who held the American Embassy in Teheran from 1979 to 1981 was that their original intention had been to hold the building and the hostages for only a few days. They changed their minds when statements from Washington made it clear that there was no danger of serious action against them. They finally released the hostages, they explained, only because they feared that the new President, Ronald Reagan, might approach the problem "like a cowboy."
Review of new book on the King James translation.
Adam Nicolson has a great deal of fun with the absurdities of subsequent translations, all of which is quite deserved; the 18th-century translator who replaced Peter’s ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here’ with ‘Oh, sir! What a delectable residence we might establish here!’, or the insanity of the New English Bible, improving the simple and beautiful ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and yee shall finde’ into ‘Shoot the net to starboard, and you will make a catch.’ These bathetic and inadequate updatings are very funny, but it is important to understand why they are so hopeless. The King James Bible came to demonstrate and embody the principles of expressive English, and any deviation from it can never hope to rival its beauty and perfection.
***
NY Times review of book on early Christian thinkers, aka the Fathers.
***
WSJ opines on the Pope.
****
Eye-opening piece from Bernard Lewis.
[It was] often expressed by Osama bin Laden, among others, that America was a paper tiger. Muslim terrorists had been driven by such beliefs before. One of the most surprising revelations in the memoirs of those who held the American Embassy in Teheran from 1979 to 1981 was that their original intention had been to hold the building and the hostages for only a few days. They changed their minds when statements from Washington made it clear that there was no danger of serious action against them. They finally released the hostages, they explained, only because they feared that the new President, Ronald Reagan, might approach the problem "like a cowboy."
Muggeridge Conference
This looks very interesting. The difficulty will be enthusing my wife about it. Perhaps a gathering of St. Bloggers?
This looks very interesting. The difficulty will be enthusing my wife about it. Perhaps a gathering of St. Bloggers?
April 04, 2003
Reading Huizinga's Waning of the MIddle Ages and it's somewhat disabusing me of my benign view of that period. Especially given art like this.
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