The book of Genesis offers identity, purpose, and hope to God's chosen people through the land; this tangible gift from God allows the people to suffer and thrive according to their obedience to Him and commitment to His promise. God gave to Adam the gift of land in the garden of Eden, to tend it … Continue reading Genesis
Category: Short Bits
Dancing about Architecture
Life is funny: there can be times when we feel so connected to one another, we are in sync and almost finishing one another's sentences, and there other times that we could be sitting beside one another right now but there is a gap miles wide between us. Sometimes we can be engaged with one … Continue reading Dancing about Architecture
Adesse
A little lifting-up of the heart is enough; a short remembrance of God, an interior act of worship, made in haste and sword in hand, are prayers which, short as they may be, are nevertheless most pleasing to God. ~~unknown
Pray for Me
I first became aware of Josèmaria Escrivá's teachings in a little movie called The DaVinci Code. However, as we all know, that film is a highly entertaining one built upon a teeny tiny foundation of pseudo- truth and an overwhelming amount of fiction, fantasy, and "what if"? In the past few years I have discovered … Continue reading Pray for Me
How Much Does It Cost?
Henri Nouwen writes: "Nuclear man no longer believes in anything that is always and everywhere...He lives by the hour...His art...is a combination of divergent pieces, is a host impression of how man feels at the moment [emphasis mine]." Further, "We see man paralyzed by dislocation and fragmentation, caught in the prison of his own mortality...We … Continue reading How Much Does It Cost?
Is It Live or Is It Memorex?
In post-modern culture we guard the written word and even the ideas behind the ideas with patents, trademarks, and copyrights. We protect and lay claim to our creation like a dog marks its territory. However, there are some scholars who find it necessary to analyze the verbiage, syntax, and style -- to distinguish the "authentic" … Continue reading Is It Live or Is It Memorex?
Ah! The Humanity of Man
It seems to me that we mortal men desire to see relevance and to understand meaning in every event. We need to understand the "why" and "how" of things, and by doing so we validate that thing's presence, its breaking through into our little worlds with its disruptions or smoothing over. We need the link … Continue reading Ah! The Humanity of Man
Adesse
This compelling love, steeped in silence, is required of every soul. This obedience to the present moment is, moreover, an act whereby they dedicate themselves totally to the external will of God as a matter of course. This is their rule, method, law and way. Pure, simple and sure, it is a straight path along … Continue reading Adesse
Aquinas, Grace and Sacrament
Aquinas speaks to the relation between nature and grace concerning the sacraments. However, we should first understand the value of grace according to Aquinas and his predecessors. In Question 2, Article 10, he references Augustine: “By the same grace every man is made a Christian, from the beginning of his faith, as this man from … Continue reading Aquinas, Grace and Sacrament
Jesus in a Box
I do not believe that, as a general rule, we live into the phrase "'the kingdom of God, as Jesus proclaimed. I do not believe we understand the gravity and power of its implication; because of the limitations inherent in our humanity, I believe we limit God. Let me step back and lay some groundwork … Continue reading Jesus in a Box