The Arrow's Path

I never claimed to be a big fan of the President, but if I had to try to do that job, I'd probably be a chain smoker too ...

I have always religious, at least on some level. There were times in my life where I tried very hard to hide from God. Certainly during those periods, I do not think anyone would have ever expected me to be religious, but I do not think there was ever a time in my life, even in what passed for my rebellious college days (I can count on one hand the number of times I ever went into a bar or to a wild party when I was in college), where I did not believe God existed. Now, there were periods in my life where I might had been very fuzzy on whom God was. By that, I mean, was God the Trinity, the great HaShem, or some fuzzy Great spirit of our ancestors? I don't think I ever really went beyond monotheism. Buddhism, Hinduism, or New Age-y stuff never held any allure to me personally, probably because I simply never understood it. I have never really done well with anything that smacks of mysticism or fluff spirituality, or perhaps more specifically the "spiritual but not religious...

There is a huge new interview with the new Pope that will no doubt make waves in the news because it is incredibly theological in nature. The media is notorious for not understanding theological themes, and so loves to take all sorts of snippets completely out of context to prove their pre-conceived assumptions about the new Pope.   Case in point, I have already seen some tweets and preliminary hand wringing over one offhand comment he makes about "not being a right winger." I can only imagine how that is going to be misinterpreted because right wing in South America (See Pinochet in Chile for an example) is a whole different bird than what it means in the States or in Europe and also has a whole different meaning in church-speak, liturgical, theological, and otherwise. Just be prepared and read what he actually says n context, not what media elites misquote or misunderstand.  I think the nugget of this interview is crucial to understanding what Pope Francis is all about...

I opened with a short preface yesterday about divine revelation. I have touched piecemeal on this topic before, but I thought a few specific meanderings on this topic might be in order. This might just be a flight of fancy on my part, but I think a lot of the doctrinal turmoil that Christians (or any religion for that matter), who believe they have the Truth, get embroiled really stems from our understandings of divine revelation. We believe we have the Truth, and that Truth must come from God because God is Truth. Various Christian traditions come to believe they have received the Truth not because they were able to figure it all out on their own, but because God revealed his Truth to us in some manner. This is, in essence, Divine Revelation. The original Catholic encyclopedia had a snappy little definition of Divine Revelation that I found interesting and surprisingly concise, as that version of the Catholic Encyclopedia, though erudite, is not known for its brevity. It defines ...

Pope Francis made some waves a week or two ago about some off the cuff comments about atheists having to follow their consciences. Much ballyhooing instantly went around the internet about the Pope being some relativist or was teaching some New Age goofiness or else is the liberal hero many in the American media desperately want him to be. Yet, again, this news just in: The Pope is Catholic. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 847-848 clearly says: "847-848: This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own , do not know Christ and his Church:  Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of t...

I admit I do love CS “Jack” Lewis. One of the beautiful things about CS Lewis was his gift for simplifying complex ideas to make them understandable to normal, everyday people who did not necessarily have advanced degrees or had read copious amounts of erudite books on theology or classic mythology. For example, I read his Narnia series growing up and have always loved some of the imagery that he uses as a theme, particularly the image of stepping through a doorway into some other realm or country. While magical or perhaps fanciful, I have always resonated with that image because I think it is nonetheless true in some sense of how God works. Patristic theology and monastic writers speak extensively on these very Platonic themes. Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain comes to mind, as does Augustine’s City of God . While I may never have stepped through a wardrobe or been sucked into a framed painting of a sea ship, there are many times in my life I feel like I have been very muc...

only pay in cash . This is why I don't follow college football much anymore. I also think they stupidly penalize for hits that ten years ago no one would have thought was dirty . It's a contact sport.

On Friday night, I was in my pajamas and about to get ready for bed. With a daughter who seldom sleeps past 6AM, I am forced to go to bed fairly early. I do this under protest, as I am more prone to be up later and sleep in later. It took my body about two years to adapt to having to be in bed before 10PM. But, this is neither here nor there. On Friday, I had let the dog out into the back yard for one final restroom break. I had not much shut the door when I heard my dog start barking in the back yard. My dog is not prone to barking, at least immediately. If she is left outside for too long, she will occasionally start barking at passersby on the street as something to do, but she will seldom start barking immediately. As it was already dark outside, I was curious why she was barking in the "big mean dog" voice. I poked my head out the back door. I did not see anybody walking on the street, but I assumed it must have been a car or something. I was shutting the door again ...

This is just bizarre .

September has finally come. I know a lot of people have said that the summer seemed to fly by. I, by virtue of the fact that I am contrary by nature, feel the exact opposite. I think this has been one of the longest summers I can remember. I have basically moved, started a new life in a new state, and adjusted to a new life, all in the span of basically the summer. I have a feeling it is actually going to be fall that flies by for me, particularly now that we are finally getting summer weather.