One of the challenges in USA culture is that we are increasingly becoming a culture in which we, “casually [say] ‘I’m gonna live my life the way I want to.’” However, the reality is that such a thought is impossible regardless of how commonly it is expressed in modern USA culture. Why do I say […]
Archives for December 2019
Humans and systems of thought
All of us use shortcuts in our thinking. That is, we have a set of “truths” that we rely on to guide our day to day interactions with the world. Many of these truths are inherited from someone(s) else who has done the hard work of thinking it through. In the modern world, we are […]
Confession is not psychotherapy
Just a few days ago, Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and All Russia, made the following comments on confession during a diocesan assembly. “It is unacceptable to make confession a means of inquiry or supervision, psychotherapy, overcoming conflicts or anything else. A priest listening to a confession should at this moment, to put it this way, […]
Antisemitism is spreading in the oddest places
Antisemitism is beginning to spread around the world. No, I do not mean merely disagreeing with one or another of Israel’s policies. Many of those disagreements are ideological in nature and need to be debated out in a serious manner between the various parties involved. Sadly, in today’s world, those disagreements are not debated seriously […]
The true soldier fights … because he loves what is behind him
The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. G.K. Chesterton Recently there was a kerfuffle because President Trump forgave several members of the Armed Forces who had been convicted of violating military standards of behavior in a war zone. They had […]
I’m not sure man needs the help
Until a man’s earthly life finishes its course, up to the very departure of the soul from the body, the struggle between sin and righteousness continues within him. However, high a spiritual and moral state one might achieve, a gradual or even headlong and deep fall into the abyss of sin is always possible. St. […]
Children, sex, family
A Father Tries to Talk to His 16-Year-Old Daughter About Sex. How does a dad tell his daughter to prioritize her own pleasure? — the title of a podcast on slate.com When I first saw the title of the podcast above, my first thought was that this had to be a somewhat contrived headline in […]
Liturgical developments in the Church
In a post from April 2019, found here, I commented the following: The development seen in the first few hundred years of the Church was a Holy Spirit guided development, just as the writing of the New Testament was. It is that Spirit-guided, but imperfect, Church that recognized the Spirit-guided writings, collected them, treasured them, […]
Separating sanctification and justification is not a good idea
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His […]
