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Showing posts from February, 2012

Tolstoy, after Rousseau, on Knowledge and Wisdom

“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”

Excellent Relationship Advice

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God's Will: Christ in you

Maybe someone can help me: was it Aristotle who said a thing cannot be beautiful if it is too big, cannot be comprehended as a whole, or viewed all at once? One can’t help but wonder how one looks at a starry sky or the majestic mountains much less smell a flower and say “this is not beautiful.” One wonders if the other is not confused between the absolute (there is something a thing called “beauty”) and the particular (“this or that is beautiful”). I could say, “That is beautiful,” and you may disagree. Contrariwise, I may disagree with you say is beautiful. Yet, there is one point of agreement we share: beauty exists. The particular of what is beautiful is where we differ. No, there is beauty in complexity and simplicity, in part or as a whole. This is the beauty of God’s will. What He desires for mankind is complex but simple and stunningly beautiful: complex on His part and simple for us. Since man desires to do his own for himself with the hope that God understands, man ma

The Baptizer

When I was perhaps six or seven years old we made a vacation stop at Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico. I did not appreciate the adventure as much as I could have being so young. Perhaps I was travel weary. Perhaps I was scared to death. Maybe both. One feature along the path was dark hole opening up in the floor just a few feet beyond the rail. Not much separated small children from the void and there was no help to confidence in the placard that read, “The Bottomless Pit.” Walls and columns of stalagmites were lit up with blue and pink and white lights, but this hole was the epitome of all things black. I distinctly remember a rope ladder with wooden rungs anchored at the top of the hole spilling down into the abyss and it may be a trick of memory, but I recall the ladder seemed to be broken just about the place where the light ended and the yawning chasm began. There may have been some dusty scientific equipment staged to feed the imagination. As if I was not terri

The Prophecy of Scripture and John the Baptizer

Superman is easy to pick out in a crowd provided he is not out of costume. Any figure able to squeeze into smashing tights and a cape instantly conjures the image of “hero.” The Incredibles helped us rethink the whole cape thing; nevertheless, we still have this modern-day picture of a figure based on those tell-tale signs. The Gospel of Mark begins with a description of a very peculiar man. He is dressed in camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and his diet is locusts and wild honey. We are also told the whole country of Judea was going out to him and all the people of Jerusalem and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. Now, what was attractive about this man? Why were so many going out to him, spilling their guts and being baptized? Was it is attire? What does the dress say about a man? Guys, there’s a great website out there called, “The Art of Manliness” which comes complete with a section on dress and grooming . Yes, men m