are just not good together. You’ve really got to think before you ink because, you know, people break up and stuff, and things change and when a passing thing gets permanently etched into your body it’s really difficult to remove and more difficult to explain.
The truth is…
that except for being a Christian I have very little idea of what I want to be when I grow up. Yet that seems enough for now.
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A Thought.
Fresh out of seminary I was too ambitious, too driven, too interested in making a name for myself to soothe my own deficits. What I really needed to do was not impress God and others but draw close to both. What difference does the title in front, and the initials in back, of your name mean if there is no real love for God and others?
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Just a Note.
Each holy thing we do. Each temptation we face and overcome. Every time we choose the good, the holy, the beautiful, and the righteous is cherished by God. It’s not just our struggles and sins that will matter as we stand before Christ but even the feeblest or unforgotten act of goodness as well.
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One does learn…
to appreciate the skill of others when you try to do some of it for yourself. Suffice it to say the topic is plumbing.
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For the Soul…
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Prayers by the Lake…
Come closer to me, closer still, O majestic Spirit of Truth. Draw near, and enter into me, more deeply than light and air enter me. Indeed, I can spend an entire night without light, but without You I cannot even lie down on my bed. I can take ten steps without air, but without You I cannot even take one.
Take up your abode in my soul more deeply than my thought can follow. The entire universe is insufficient to encourage my soul to persevere in virginity, if You do not encourage her.
The world incessantly asks for the hand of my soul, in order to be wedded to her. The world offers my soul all its treasures, if only she will abandon her waiting for You. The world whitewashes all its sepulchres,1 just to entice my soul. The world sets all its ashes out in the sun and pours flattery and pomposity all over it, just to seduce my soul.
Manifest all Your splendor, O Holy Spirit, so that my soul may recognize whose bride she is.
Come closer to me, closer still, O Power of the Holy Trinity. Enter into my consciousness more deeply than thoughts and emblems of the world can. In the same way as a wise mother, when she conceives, prepares and embellishes a cradle for her child, so prepare and embellish my mind for that which will be begotten from You, O Beauty and Purity.
Many evil thoughts lurk like serpents around the cradle of Your Son. And many wicked desires emerge from my heart and seek the cradle of Your Prince, to poison Him with their arrows.
Defend the cradle of my mind, and teach my soul how to give birth and care for an infant.
Shroud in deep darkness the journey of all malevolent visitors coming to see my newborn son. And raise aloft a most radiant star over the way of the Wise Men from the East2 men who are truly wise, because they are coming to visit my most precious child with three gifts—faith, hope, and love.3
Come closer to me, closer still, O majestic Son of God. Descend deeper into my heart than any emotion, or desire, or passion of the world can descend into it. Protect my heart from the countless merchants, from the numerous buyers and sellers, who are forever swarming in legions around my young and inexperienced heart. And teach my heart not to be crazy about the motley illusions of people and things.
Take up Your abode in the bottom of my heart, as the master of a house does in his own home, my beloved Son, and be for me a merciless judge and a sagacious counselor.
Once purity of soul and sagacity of mind occupy my heart, truly in vain will evil spirits dance attendance in order to step into it.
And my heart will be filled with an ineffable heavenly peace, and will glorify God in chorus with the cherubim and the seraphim. And enriched, it will return to the soul and the mind what it borrowed, for as their equal it will recompense them in equal measure.
And my heart will be filled with sweet love for its Lord, and with compassion for and good will toward suffering souls in the world and in Hades.
Come closer to me, still closer, my majestic Lord.
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Interesting…
In More God, Less Crime renowned criminologist Byron R. Johnson proves that religion can be a powerful antidote to crime. The book describes how faith communities, congregations, and faith-based organizations are essential in forming partnerships necessary to provide the human and spiritual capital to effectively address crime, offender rehabilitation, and the substantial aftercare problems facing former prisoners. There is scattered research literature on religion and crime but until now, there has never been one publication that systematically and rigorously analyzes what we know from this largely overlooked body of research in a lay-friendly format. The data shows that when compared to current strategies, faith-based approaches to crime prevention bring added value in targeting those factors known to cause crime: poverty, lack of education, and unemployment. In an age of limited fiscal resources, Americans can’t afford a criminal justice system that turns its nose up at volunteer efforts that could not only work better than the abysmal status quo, but also save billions of dollars at the same time. This book provides readers with practical insights and recommendations for a faith-based response that could do just that.
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A Little on the MSM coverage of…
the tragic events in Norway with an emphasis on the word “Christian“. Please note that this is an Ann Coulter column so it will have some rough edges. Yet the basic idea is valid, Many places in the media have no problem identifying someone who has committed violence as a “Christian” (even if their actual beliefs, as in the case of the Norwegian killer, are not even close to it) and are very reticent to identify terrorists as Muslims even when they are very obvious and public about it.
Either way, the man who did these horrible things needs to face justice.
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Tomb of St. Philip?
Archaeologists believe they may have found the tomb of St. Philip in Turkey. If the data holds up it would be another archaeological confirmation of Scripture.
Interesting.
