"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
At this moment, you already have everything you need to do everything God is asking of you. So why aren’t you doing it yet? William Law summed up the hard truth well when he said, “If you will look into your own heart in complete honest, you must admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not a saint: you do not wholly want to be”
Matthew Warner, Messy & Foolish
Braxton Hunter recently came on my radar and I’ve since watched a lot of his videos discussing theism. He’s like a cooler William-Lane Craig who also happens to look a little bit like Jason Statham…
I’ve recently discovered “People & Songs”. Here’s “O Death”:
O death, where’s your boast, where’s your glory?
And what of your pretension have you left?
Foolish was your pride and vain ambition
You tried and were found wanting in the end
All you did was all you could and yet it failed you
For Jesus rose and sank you to the grave
And in resurrection, I refuse to fear you
O death, you died and I’m alive instead
O death, where’s your bite, where’s your triumph?
Quickly, how the tables turned, it seems
You must have thought that Friday sealed your victory
But Sunday came and trampled on your scheme
All you meant for evil
God destined for my good
Kill my body you could
But still, I’ll live on forever
And when I should breathe no more
Louder then I’ll sing for
Death, you are the wide door
To where I’ll live on forever
In the presence of my Savior
O death, you died but I’ll live on forever
O, I’m alive and I’ll live on forever
Thank You Jesus for the way that it is finished
Thank You Jesus for the way that it is done
Thank You Jesus for the way of Your salvation
O Jesus, for Your death defying love
When speaking to pro-choice advocates who assert that unborn aren’t worthy of protection, I often ask:
(a) Is there a cut-off point during a pregnancy after which abortion should not be allowed?
(b) Are there any reasons reasons why someone might want an abortion which are insufficient? For example, if the mother wanted a son and was pregnant with a girl.
I like asking these questions because it helps lay out very clearly the limits of that person’s support for abortion, as well as that person’s reasoning for being pro-choice. For example, if someone says that they would be against Third Trimester abortions, then it allows us to probe for the reason why abortion in this case is wrong and not before. We can then see if there is any meaningful difference between the two cases.
I’ve written before on the subject of my insomnia, but the other day I came across a post on Aleteia by Elizabeth Scalia which I thought I should share. It’s a prayer to pray before falling asleep:
My dear God in heaven, O Creator, O One who loved me into being…
Now that the voices are silenced and the crowded world of projects and overwhelming noise is hushed, here, at my bed, I seek your consolation.
My spirit roots for you, as an infant seeks out the breast, seeks you as a child seeks the succor and embrace of a father —
the parent who will whisper, “Shh, I am with you,” and bring solace to the soul with an unconditional love.
I believe in your love, and I hope in you, and I pray you will grace me with the gift of faith, unfailing, the gift of wisdom, beyond my instincts, the gift of trust, which is so hard.
I give glory and thanks to you for this day as it ends, and beg that you will give me eyes to see that in all things, you have been with me: in what was difficult, and what was easy, in what was anxious and what was peaceful.
In those times I sought you out, or forgot to, You were with me, still, and I thank you.
Today, I failed in love; you know this. I beg you to forgive me.
Today, I lost my temper; you know this. I beg you to forgive me.
Today, I was selfish; you know this. I beg you to forgive me.
Today, I felt desolate, unsure, and afraid; I beg you to reach me, and to teach me again that you love me, and are near.
That you are, O God, the safest of safe places, the wayside resting place, where I may catch my breath, and seek you out, before going on.
Before I rest tonight, I must thank you for your love, beg your pardon for my failings, and your shelter from my interior storms.
O my Lord, at this moment, all is calm, and sleep beckons me.
It is your world! I place all of my concerns into your hands, and all of my fears into your Sacred Heart, the Self-immolating gift that is never consumed.
I believe in you.
Although I cannot understand all that is before me, I know all things work toward the purposes of your mysterious plans for my own good. And I trust in this.
And I beg for the gift and grace to trust you even further, day by day.
I ask this in the name of Christ Jesus, seeking the prayers of Mary, his Mother, and of my guardian angel and patron saint (Name).
I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:9)
Amen.
TO MARY VAN DEUSEN: On how one responds to the diagnosis of serious illness and on four strategies for coping.
10 April 1959
I have just had Sister Hildegarde’s letter. My heart goes out to you. You are now just where I was a little over two years ago—they wrongly diagnosed Joy’s condition as uremia before they discovered cancer of the bone.
I know all the different ways in which it gets one: wild hopes, bitter nostalgia for lost happiness, mere physical terror turning one sick, agonised pity and self-pity. In fact, Gethsemane. I had one (paradoxical) support which you lack—that of being in severe pain myself. Apart from that what helped Joy and me through it was:
1. That she was always told the whole truth about her own state.
There was no miserable pretence. That means that both can face it side-by-side, instead of becoming something like adversaries in a battle-of-wits.
2. Take it day by day and hour by hour (as we took the front line).
It is quite astonishing how many happy—even gay—moments we had together when there was no hope.
3. Don’t think of it as something sent by God.
Death and disease are the work of the Devil. It is permitted by God: i.e., our General has put you in a fort exposed to enemy fire.
4. Remember other sufferers.
It’s fatal to start thinking ‘Why should this happen to us when everyone else is so happy.’ You are (I was and may be again) one of a huge company. Of course we shall pray for you all we know how.
God bless you both.