The End Justifies the Means
While recuperating from battle wounds in 1521, a Spanish soldier named Ignatius Loyola dedicated his life to Roman Catholicism and the pope. In 1540, the pope gave Loyola approval to begin a new religious organization called the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, as a part of the Counter-Reformation. They purposed to maintain and reclaim members […]
Spirituality
Owen Waters writes: “The frequency of your inner self’s consciousness exists within a frequency band which is higher than your outer self. When your conscious mind catches even a glimpse of that spiritual essence within you, it becomes excited by the higher frequency. Communicating with your inner self is, by definition, an exhilarating process.” Groovy. […]
We Really Did Know
You’ve seen those fake arrows that are meant to fool no one. They are not supposed to look like they are really sticking through someone’s head. They’re a joke. We really do know that they are fake. There are a lot of things that we are actually able to know. When we don’t, it is […]
Then and Now
From a distance, when we look at mountains, they merge into one another as if they really are one disconnected group. However, if we walked straight toward them, we most often find many miles separating them from each other. God expects us to see the future the same way. We know that because of how […]
Selective Sovereignty
In 1510, while teaching at the University of Wittenberg, Martin Luther visited Rome and was appalled by the corruption and worldliness he saw in the papal court. Do you have a problem with this? How could he judge worldliness? Isn’t that an external? What was he seeing that the “reformed” do not see today? People […]
Underrated
Some are going to take this as an opportunity for me to say something new and shocking, but right now I’m sticking with it. OK, here goes: I think homelessness is underrated. Stay with me. I mean it, at least for now. Where did I get this “crazy” idea? I was driving my son home […]
Trampling the Tulips
I’m a fruit and vegetable guy anyway. I like to harvest something. I want to pick it and bring it to the dinner table. So usually every year I plant at least tomatoes and green beans. I’ll move out from there to onions and squash. Someone else can plant the flowers. I like looking at […]
A Time and a Place
My mind drifted to our away football trips. It actually drifted about something drifting, which you’ll see. With everybody piled into the bus with equipment, luggage, and school books, it became rather claustrophobic. But then, these were guys, boys, big ones, from divergent socio-economic environments, and one that had stomach problems on a certain occasion. […]
It’s All Relative
I’ve got post basketball scream throat. This is the third game in a period of a week of which I would cause heart palpitations to a speech therapist. My son plays and I coach the team. I view sports in many ways similarly to art and music. As a game, basketball would seem to have […]
Big and Ambiguous
If you are a parent, perhaps you don’t know much about the seven deadly sins, but you at least know about the seven deadly excuses. Let’s recite a few together: “I forgot.” “I don’t remember.” “I didn’t know that.” “I didn’t get what you meant.” Who can be wrong when no one can know what’s […]