Finished Reading “Heretics”

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  "G. K. Chesterton, the "Prince of Paradox," is at his witty best in this collection of twenty essays and articles from the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on  "heretics" - those who pride themselves on their superiority to Christian views - Chesterton appraises prominent figures who fall into that category from the literary and art worlds... those who hold incomplete and inadequate views about "life, the universe, and everything." He is, in short, criticizing all that host of non-Christian views of reality, as he demonstrated in his follow-up book Orthodoxy. The book is both an easy read and a difficult read. But he manages to demonstrate, among other things, that our new 21st century heresies are really not new because he himself deals with most of them." (Goodreads)

Virtuous Living

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Across the front of my rolltop desk, in front of pictures of my mother and step-mother and a sundry other items, one finds eight medallions on display. The first medallion is the "keystone", if you will, that unlocks the meaning of the other seven. These days of uncertainty and upheaval, both personally and worldwide, have driven me to meditate on that first medallion. It reminds me that when one acts according to wisdom (truth), one is emboldened with courage and self-control to do what is right (justice).

It is not my intent to debate the number of virtues or begin some deep discussion of ethics or the nature of "good." I intend to stress that living in pursuit of these four virtues while job hunting, while grandbaby sitting, while thinking as I mow the lawn, as I try to maintain the six-foot rule at Walmart, good occurs and I am content and find peace.


One would be hard-pressed to find anything better than wisdom (truth), self-control, courage and justice--but if one finds anything better, then abandon these and follow that.

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