The Arrow's Path

There is much debate amongst fanboys and literary critics alike over whether JRR Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings , used allegory. Part of this stems from Tolkien's alleged dislike-even hatred-of allegory. This often bubbles up in discussion arguments about Tolkien's writings. On one hand, you often have those more ready to fully embrace the allegorical, particularly the religious and/or moral allegorical, interpretation of Frodo and the Ring of Power in the identical way one must interpret Aslan on the stone table. Then you tend to have the atheist/secularist crowd who with equal vehemence loathe any allegorical interpretation of Tolkien, or really any major work of literature with anything less than a sneering "We know better than those theist types." I paint in broad brush strokes, of course. Neither side is really right in the most technical of senses. There are many different types and degrees of allegory. Yes, some are what we might call "in

What is Jesus talking about in Luke 17? On the surface, it appears to be a mishmash of several things. It is hard to understand when taken out of context I generally take this passage to be a response by Jesus about the common expectation of a coming political or earthly kingdom, one that would restore Israel to its former glory and establish a tangible reign of God among them. Jesus responds by stating, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you" (Luke 17:20-21, ESV). This declaration shifts the focus from an external, observable kingdom to an internal, spiritual reality. The phrase "the kingdom of God is in the midst of you" suggests that the Kingdom is not a distant future event but a present reality that is already at work among the people. This teaching challenges the notion that the Kingdom can be confined to geographical or p

  Found this gem yesterday in my studies, which seemed apropos for Armistice Day: "But vain the Sword, & vain the Bow, They never can work War's overthrow. The Hermit's Prayer, & the Widow's tear Alone can free the World from fear.   "For a Tear is an Intellectual Thing, And a Sigh is the Sword of an Angel King. And the bitter groan of the Martyr's woe, Is an Arrow from the Almightie's Bow..."   -excerpt from The Grey Monk, by poet William Blake, circa 1800

As a political science nerd (one of my many interesting if worthless degrees), I have been following the Presidential election cycle in America these last several months with both fascination and revulsion. As a leftover Jeffersonian agrarian that does not really fit into either major party much anymore, I was forced yet again to hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils. I did the mail-in voting thing just because I like to have time to think and ponder my physical ballot and not be pressured cattle car style through an election booth. I last voted in person on election day in 2020 when the election poll workers were all wearing yellow Class 1 Hazmat Suits in what was quite possibly the most dystopian looking civic exercise I have ever been party to.  I have over the last few years taken an interest in polling methodology. Modern elections and political commentary seem to live or die on polling data. The art of polling is this interesting amalgam of scientific surveys, psychol

 We had a question on St. Paul's 1st letter to the Thessalonians on the Facebook group I moderate: I found this group so helpful a few years back when I converted to the faith! I have a question that piggy backs off of another question recently asked about the second coming of Christ: I know we believe in the second coming of Christ and that, on the last day, the dead in Christ will rise first and then He will take the living. This might be silly, but the Bible refers to the dead in Christ as “those who have fallen asleep.” I believe in the communion of saints and that they intercede for us. They are obviously alive and conscious in Heaven with God after their Earthly death, right? Do we not have a physical body in Heaven? Why are the saints referred to as sleeping? It makes me think of Lazarus when Jesus says he is not dead, but sleeping. We are not really conscious while sleeping? Does the Catechism ever address what happens immediately after bodily death? This alway

We had a question posed in a Facebook converts group I help admin. The question was: How do yall feel and what is your reasoning for the emphasis on using terms like “Catholic life, Catholic faith, as a Catholic, us Catholics, etc” instead of just saying Christian? My Protestant friends have brought it up multiple times about how they don’t use the words Protestant very often, if ever, and that it’s another example of how Catholics are exclusive. Thoughts? I typically use Christian, and Catholic only comes up if someone asks what church I go to. My response was as follows: I understand what you are staying. That occasionally rubs me the wrong way as well, really from both sides. I think it kind of depends on the context. Sometimes it provides clarity and precision, but sometimes it could come off as a bit elitist. Again, I think that is a criticism I level at both sides. I think primarily there is a difference in semantics that both groups are using concurrently. I think for most Cat