Common

Kingdom-chuckles resound,
While the scoffer sulks.
And you tell me,
“Grace in the common,
Divinity in the same.”

Frankl on Love and Sex

Again, taken from Viktor Frankl’s short but powerful work Man’s Search for Meaning:
Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see [...]

From “The Prophet”

And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and [...]

…magnify the Magnificent

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open,
all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Try SoulPancake

I commend to you Rainn Wilson’s brainchild SoulPancake, a great forum and space for discussion and rumination of morality, philosophy, spirituality, and the like. Here is Rainn’s description:
We want to make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again. Were they ever cool? I have no idea. But it seems like a good idea. We [...]

Love (God) as Telos

This is a real, holistic movement–of molecules, galaxies, and yes, human beings–towards the Divine, with radical grace serving as the engine and sustainer of the movement

An elusive (but achievable?) balance

Below is an excerpt from the Episcopal Cafe’s Speaking to the Soul. I found these words extremely affecting. They might seem trite and/or obvious at first. But sometimes we need the simple and obvious to shift our minds back to something we had known before but forgotten:
Related to keeping a rule is maintaining the balance [...]

power from on high

I really enjoy reading the Pope’s encyclicals and other public exhortations to the faithful. Admittedly I don’t do this nearly enough, because regardless of denomination, I believe the Pope’s words are relevant to all Christians around the world. I especially was moved by a recent message Benedict gave to Australian youth. It was based on [...]

mouw on benedict

I really wish I didn’t have to write my junior paper this weekend, because I would have otherwise spent a good deal of time watching Pope Benedict and reading subsequent political and theological discussions surrounding his US visit. Nonetheless, I’ve caught snippets of commentary and I plan to engage with the commentary more later this [...]