Posted in Addiction, Catholicism, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, Love, Religion, Spirituality, tagged Attachment, Lent, Lent and Love, Sacred Heart on March 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Note: This is the fourth, and final, installment of a series on Lent and Love (all four posts are included in that link).
With roughly a week and a half left in Lent, here are my final thoughts (finally!):
In Catholicism we have a robust tradition of “consoling the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
Yes, you heard me right.
And yes, I can guess what you may be thinking:
(more…)Posted in Christianity, Love, Religion, tagged Attachment, Child Stars, Lent and Love, Shirley Temple on March 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Note: This is part three of a series on Lent and Love (parts one and two are included in that link).
And now for a healthy blend of narcissism and humility. I will quote myself, and then I will offer a modification:
[W]hen we talk about love we are talking first and foremost about an act of the will. (…) If we have stronger feelings for our parents, our children, etc., that is perhaps to be expected. We are, after all, more familiar with these than with the Divine Essence. As long as we are not willing to compromise our love for God, we are on the right path.
This remains true, of course. But given that we are all called to the heights of holiness I should also have mentioned that at those high, graced stages, that close bond of love with God does indeed affect the whole of our being — including the emotions. But even then, perhaps especially then, the following also remains true:
(more…)Posted in Christianity, God, Love, Religion, tagged C.S. Lewis, Detachment, Lent, Lent and Love, Tyranny on March 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Ok — so in part one we talked about how Lent offers us freedom from inner slavery to various disordered attachments. We compared this to the liberation of Israel from Egypt, which results in the Israelites being led to Mount Sinai to receive the Law resting upon this fundamental Commandment:
“You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
– Exodus 20:3-6
St. Augustine of Hippo put this another way when he famously said that we should love God above all else, and love all else for the sake of God.
Does this mean that God, the Creator of the universe, omnipotent, all-good, infinite, eternal, and perfectly self-sufficient in every way, is egotistical?
(more…)Posted in Nature, Other, Travel, tagged Ecuador, Missing person, Reward on March 7, 2021| 1 Comment »
Greetings,
My good friend Travis Sackett, who I’ve not seen in many years but was a very good friend of mine in middle and high school, has been missing since February 21st. He was last seen leaving for a hike to Ecuador’s Imbabura Volcano.
Travis’ parents are offering a reward for any information leading to his return. Right now the amount stands at $1,000 USD, but could be increased depending on the amount of donations received.
Below is a link to the GoFundMe page. Again, Travis is a good friend of mine, and I have known both him and his parents for years. I can vouch for the authenticity of this fundraiser. I know times are tough right now, and I certainly don’t mean to throw another thing people’s way. But if you do feel moved to give any amount, however small, I’m sure it would be greatly appreciated.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/reward-to-help-find-travis
Photo copied from The Batavian — link: Search reportedly underway in Ecuador for missing Batavia man
Posted in Addiction, Catholicism, Christianity, God, Religion, Spirituality, tagged Lent, Lent and Love, slavery, The Cat Came Back on March 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Growing up, I remember being entertained on more than one occasion with a song called “The Cat Came Back.” It’s exactly as it sounds: A troublesome feline keeps coming back day after day, despite the protagonist’s repeated efforts to the contrary.
Well, Lent is a little bit like that cat. It ends when Easter comes around, but then it always comes back the next year. Picture, if you will, a skinny cat with a fish in its mouth. Imagine that fish is wrapped in paper. Imagine that on that paper are written in bold, all-cap letters, and in a very insistent font, instructions for fasting and self-denial.
I think most of us feel inclined to give the cat whatever little we can, and then are happy for him to go away. Once he does, we bid him good riddance and happily welcome the Bunny…and its Easter chocolates.
Poor cat. How often we’ve given him the short shrift.
But in this way we cheat only ourselves. The cat just goes his merry way, carrying his happy secret with him. He always comes back, though, ready to share that secret with the willing.
(more…)
Into the Dance 