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March 5, 2006
Saint Julian
from Saint Julian
Walter Wangerin Jr.Blue-eyed with lily-white skin--Oh, how comely was the Lady of the Castle as she ducked her head and grabbed for the sailing linen and laughed at the whirling breezes as if they were sprites or dryads, the children of dreams and memories.
It was upon occasions of such unconscious abandon, occasions when his mother broke her silences and danced with the day, that Julian--watching through some high window or lattice above--was so moved with love for his mother that he fell to his knees and gave thanks unto Heaven for the rain of grace and goodness in his life.
How would you like to be the type of parent for love of whom your children spontaneously fell to their knees and gave thanks. I'm not yet, but it certainly seems a worthy goal so long as they are thanking God for grace and goodness.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 4:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 6, 2006
Silence is Broken!
I'm back.
First, my thanks to all who prayed for us on our retreat. It was wonderful, and while it was very Carmelite, I will share with you some of the fruits of that retreat as seem appropriate and as the Spirit leads.
Second, my apologies to those who commented and did not receive a reply, but you understand the circumstances, and I thank you for all your wonderful comments.
Third--on with the blog.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
God Spoke One Word
Twice during my retreat I encountered this phrase from "The Sayings of Light and Love" of St. John of the Cross.
"God spoke one word."
I knew immediately the meaning, but it took a while for the implications to sink in. If God spoke only one Word, what are all those words in the Bible about? Yes, I know I'm slow, but obviously, every one of them is about Jesus Christ. How? Until I meditate on every one of them I cannot tell you. Truthfully even afterwards, I suspect that I will not understand the full mystery of it. Nevertheless, I know that it is true.
To give you an example, in this morning's Office of readings:
"Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the Lord. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will rescue you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment."
There's more, but let's stop there.
What I heard as I read this substituted the words "your sins" for "the Egyptians."
" I am the Lord. I will free you from the forced labor of your sins and will deliver you from their slavery."
How will he do this? "I will rescue you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment." Arms outstretched on a cross--the mighty acts of judgment, those which condemned the savior and brought Him to the cross, but also those that occurred after His death, in which the veil in the temple was torn in two, breaking the barrier between the Holy Spirit of God and His people.
This is an anticipatory reading of the passage. That is to say, it is reading into the passage and not the literal meaning. The literal meaning must be preserved, but the language used eerily forecasts the kind of redemption we were to receive.
Rolling this all into a ball and sending it spinning across the field, we come back to "God spoke one Word."
Praise the Lord!
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
Okay, more like Changes in Longitude--Tampa isn't that far south of us.
One thing I derived from my weekend was the need to strengthened my Carmelite vocation in everything I do. As a result, I decided to abandon my daily reading of In Conversation with God. This series of meditation is very powerful, very useful, and very helpful, but it is a different way of spirituality and hence somewhat subversive of the things I am called to practice as a Carmelite.
Carmelites occupy a great middle way of asceticism. The Saints adopted the practices of the Church during their times, but Carmel's way has never been one of extraordinary penance or mortification. Rather, Carmel's way has one ascetical point--prayer in solitude, prayer in the desert of the heart.
Now, this doesn't sound like much, but the practice of solitude and silence in the ordinary day of a married man (in my case) or woman is actually an enormous discipline. Try to find a space of two minutes when one thing or another isn't demanding your immediate attention. Physical solitude is a difficult thing to find, and it is an even more difficult thing to want when one has a spouse and a child as dear to them as mine are to me. Nevertheless, this is the ascetical practice to which I am called, and for which I will need to develop a plan.
As a result, the small mortification of the day, and penances, and other practices suggested by those with an Opus Dei spirituality, simply don't fit into the Carmelite way. They are not bad practices--indeed, they are very, very good practices, but one thing I am learning about vocation is that it must be observed with a laser beam focus if it is to mean anything. To this point I have had the focus of a bare light bulb. Light goes everywhere but does not illuminate much of anything well. A light bulb cannot be used to perform the surgery that true adherence to a vocation entails. The laser focus gives God the tool with which to remove the cataracts and restore vision. With that same light He purifies and refines until I am what He has called me to be.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Joyful Lent
Lent is such a time of solemn joy. My heart rejoices in the opportunity for renewal and for reflection and for spending time with God. Rethinking one's life is a critical part of Lent. The fruits of that rethinking are all too soon gone with the coming of Easter and it's great joy.
But I was thinking, shouldn't the coming of Easter actually cement in place those good things we have done, those practices we have established. Shouldn't the coming of Easter be a true resurrection--not of the old habits and ways, but of the spirit within. If I have found a way to build a cell and retire to it during Lent, shouldn't that cell still be strong and vibrant in the Easter light and shouldn't it hold for me the same attractions? Indeed, greater attractions as it has become my home?
The solemn joy of Lent becomes the glorious Joy of Easter, and all the good we have done, all the practices we have begun can become a cohesive part of our lives.
I think the all-too-common problem with Lent is that people see the solemnity, but fail to pick up on the joy. We give things up in a spirit of penitence, but it should be thought of as shedding things that keep us away from the Lord. It isn't penitence, but joy that lights up all those practices that bring us closer to God.
Rejoice in the Lord, always, again I will say it, rejoice. And this is Always--Lent included. So rather than thinking about what we are "giving up," think about what we a shedding, sloughing off. Each little thing we can let go of changes the old person, each moment of grace we take advantage of is a ray of light to that seed scattered on the ground. Each observance of lent, be it a full stations of the Cross, or a single aspirative prayer, helps us to move closer to God, all through His grace.
Oh, Lent is such a season of great joy and great opportunity. Seize it. Seize the day, seize the light that is offered!
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
On The Way of the Cross
To demonstrate just how few heebee-jeebies this particular Carmelite has, I direct your attention to a very interesting set of posts chez Disputations. Tom is doing a really fine job of helping us to understand just what it means to take up your Cross and follow Jesus.
Another reason to thank God for the many parishioners of St. Blogs.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 11:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Paradoxes of Faith
from The Way of the Cross with the Carmelite Saints: St. John of the Cross
[W]ho seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ.
Christ's cross is His Glory. The resurrection, which affirms the triumph of the Cross is also glorious and joyful, but the act in which the separation of humankind from the intimacy of God was accomplished was the death on the Cross. If we seek to avoid the Cross, if we avert our eyes from it, we are averting our eyes from His glory, His great triumph. On the Cross He reunited God and His children. In the great Alone of His suffering, He forged the unbreakable covenant of our Salvation.
Honestly, I can't begin to understand it. I can't begin to tell what it means. But the words echo in my mind and the reality thrills my spirit as few things have done. What a gracious, loving, merciful, welcoming God we have. Isn't it time for all of us to stop rebelling and return home?
Posted by Steven Riddle at 12:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Road of the Cross--A Consolation
Here's a thought that I am only beginning to come to terms with:
from The Way of the Cross with the Carmelite Saints: St. John of the Cross
On this [narrow] road there is room only for self-denial (as our Savior asserts) and the cross. The cross is a supporting staff that greatly lightens and eases the journey.
I have a few minor problems with the first part. Mostly they are problems of proportionality and my role. I must deny myself, but in denying myself, I may not deny others. For example, I may give up a great many things, but I cannot impose upon my wife and child to give up those same things. I can encourage and I can lead by example, but an imposition from without is not self-denial but simply oppression.
Self-denial may be difficult, but I at least understand it. I'm only beginning to sense the truth encompassed in the second sentence, and I probably won't be able to make much sense of it to you, but here I go anyway.
When you love deeply, everything you do in love is made easier by being in love. Self-denial isn't self-denial, it is making a gift of yourself. You want the best of everything for the person you love and you're willing to see to it that they get it. You deny yourself some small trinket or even something necessary in order to fulfill the need you perceive. When your love is Jesus Christ, taking up your cross is part of His being able to bear His. We all participate in being Simon the Cyrene when we choose to carry our cross and deal with the burdens of the world at large. In this sense the cross becomes a staff. It is something we have taken up in love, not in thinking about ourselves, but in thinking about Jesus.
True self-denial denies even the concept of self-denial. It cannot be self-denial if it is given in love. Yes, you are incidentally denied something, but that something you are denied contributes to the welfare of another, if only in the spiritual realm. Self-denial does not always see the denial, it sees only the end for which the denial occurs--Jesus Christ. Thus, taking up the cross becomes not so much a chore as an exertion of love--a sign of our Love for the savior. Indeed, when love carries the burden, it works so strongly that it lifts us up as well.
Do what you do not for fear of hell or hope of heaven, but for the love of Jesus Christ. When that motivates all that we are and all that we do, the world itself is transformed, and what appear to be heroic acts of virtue are baubles, trifles, never enough to satisfy our desire to give. We suffer with the suffering of being unable to give enough, of being mortal and confined and limited. Our suffering greatly increases as our love increases and I wonder if even the suffering is not suffering, but it is part of the transformative union that allows us to share the aloneness of Jesus on the Cross for a single moment. If for an instant I could be with Him when He was most abandoned, what a consolation that would be to the entire world. If I could enter into that dark and terrifying place and say, "I'm here Lord," what a consolation that would be. Suffering would still be suffering, but it would be transformed in Him.
I go on too long. I am only beginning to understand, and my lack of understanding makes many words of what is probably a very simple thing. But it is a thing I need to know better and embrace more completely. Self-denial is meaningless if all I ever look at is my self and what is being denied. Self-denial seeks to look beyond the mere temporal object to the final Glory for which we have surrendered the object so important to us.
What a joyful, wonderful time Lent is. I want to say to all the world, "Come on in, the water's fine. And the company is just grand."
Posted by Steven Riddle at 12:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Command of the Lord
Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
What then is this command of the Lord?
Deut 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
And what is the natural result of this?
Matthew 22:37
37] And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
[38] This is the great and first commandment.
[39] And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
[40] On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
or in the RSV
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 1:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Amateur Catholics
A group blog--some of these characters you already know.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 2:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 7, 2006
Entering the Word
Of the "legitimate" reasons I have heard from Catholics for not reading the Bible more often, one stands out. There is in a certain sector of the Catholic population a fear of "private interpretation" and of "going Luther" on the Church.
While one should not discount the possibility of this happening, one does well to put the whole thing in perspective. Luther was a highly trained religious, steeped in knowledge of the Scripture and exposed constantly to some real abuses occurring in the Church of the time. Admittedly these abuses were not necessarily pervasive, and I do not know enough history to say whether or not they were condoned by the hierarchy of the time. Nevertheless, they were enough for a man concerned about true holiness to begin to have his doubts about the Church, its laws, its rules, and its structure.
Most of the people who are concerned about this seem to live in fear of what they might find in scripture--as though just beneath the surface is a great Kraken that will drag them under and convince them that all they have known and loved since childhood is mere fairy tale. By turning the pages of this great love letter from God, the thought goes, we become progressively more fundamentalist.
Well, there's a great deal more to fundamentalism than merely turning the pages of the Bible. The Bible was "defined" by the Church and is one of the great gifts of Catholic Tradition to the world of Christians. It is true that after Luther a certain amount of suspicion accompanied the private reading of Scripture, and it did take the Church populace (if not the hierarchy) an unduly long time to get over this--in fact, many are still not over it entirely.
I'm here to tell you, as a former Baptist and a fair reader of scripture, that if you are one of the people worried about reading scripture for this reason, you will find nothing there to trick you into leaving the Catholic Church. If your faith is otherwise secure, if you aren't one of those who thinks that there's a lot of fact around The DaVinci Code, in short, if you are in the solid middle of St. Blogs, there is nothing in scripture that is going to drag you under. The Church will not suddenly transform into the Whore of Babylon and the Pope will not assume the aspect of the beast with seven heads and ten horns.
No, indeed. Proper reading of the scripture will reinforce all you already know from other sources. As a Baptist and a fundamentalist, following the rules of my own Church in the reading and interpretation of Scripture, I found that the Catholic Church had gotten it right and we had it wrong. One dip into John 6 without compromising your fundamentalist principles and you're sunk--the real presence is real, the Eucharist is not a symbol, and so forth.
"Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church," might be subject to illimitable debate in some circles, but as soon as one glances casually at the historical reality, one is struck with the harsh reality of the establishment of the Catholic Church with Peter at its head.
Scripture is filled with reconfirmations of Catholic thought and doctrine because the Catholic Church is built on the dual foundations of Scripture and Tradition. Tradition gave us the scripture, and Tradition assists us in understanding scripture.
If you follow the Church's very clear guidelines on how to read the Bible, (in short--you never read it alone because others have read it before you and all of presently defined practice comes out of understanding it with the mind of the Church) you will not travel off into the realms of private interpretation.
Surely there are problems in the Church of today. And surely the Church does sometimes fail its children in their formation and essential understandings. But the reality of the present-day situation is that we have enough books and enough guides and enough helps for reading the Bible that no one is left completely to their own resources.
In short, the "Luther" excuse for not reading the Bible every day is not a valid one. So a couple of tips for reading the Bible:(1) one may still be in the grip of fear, but pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance before starting, and trust in the Holy Spirit, the same spirit who guides and has guided the leaders of the Church throughout the ages to lead you to the truth. He will not lead you astray. (2) Don't read the Bible looking for an offensive weapon or a way to "combat" protestants, or to lead your fallen Catholic friends back to the Church. The Bible is not a weapon, proof-texting is not a profitable enterprise, wrenching Scripture from its context and applying a single verse rather than an interpretation that encompasses the whole. The Bible is a love letter. Read it as such. Stay with it. Linger over it. Read a passage time and time again. Memorize it--not to use in an argument over the veracity of this or that doctrine, but as a memento to carry with you wherever you go--as words to cherish and savor in those moments when you have nothing else to do and no Bible to hand.
Keeping these points in mind, the reading of Scripture becomes an opportunity for conversation with God, and, for a change to allow God to do most of the talking. Remember in the words of Fr. John O'Holohan, "It is not, 'Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking,' but 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.'" You don't need to fill up the silent spaces, you don't need to talk incessantly. Just read and spend time with the Lord in scripture. If for no other reason, read for the poor souls in purgatory--the Enchiridion of Indulgences grants a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions to anyone who spends a half-hour a day reading scripture. For less time a partial indulgence is granted. So, if you can't bring yourself to do it for yourself, offer yourself the opportunity to help those most abandoned, and longest separated from the beatific vision. With this beginning you may find that the habit of scripture reading takes hold and your whole faith life is enriched beyond your greatest expectations. That, at least, is certainly my prayer for those of your who take up this most wonderful of practices.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:21 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Lenten Reading from the Web
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel (iii)
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew
Some of these might hit the spot for self-imposed mortifications, but most of them are very good reading in their season and place--even if the translations are somewhat older.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 10:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ack! Another Refugee from the Draft Button
. . . made what was to be covert, overt. Thanks Julie for your comment, but I have relegated that particularly entry to the limbo of the drafts from which it should never have escaped.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 4:23 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Lenten Checkup
At this point we have traveled through nearly an entire week of Lent and its a good time for a reevaluation. The following prayer is the closing prayer from evening prayer for today:
Father,
look on us, your children.
Through the discipline of Lent
help us to grow in our desire for you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
For those who do not keep to a regular rhythm of morning and evening prayer, spend a few moments with the prayer above.
After you have done so, ask yourself--are my Lenten disciplines actually causing me to grow in my desire for God? Can you say honestly that what you have done up until now really makes you think of God more often? Does your heart turn to Him more regularly throughout the day?
Or does the discipline of Lent simply make you miserable and unpleasant to be around? Are you grousing because you can't have your cigarettes, chocolate, coffee, or cola? If so, your practices may be off-target. Refocus, ask the Holy Spirit what will make you turn to Him more often. How can you have more "Mary" moments in your "Martha" world? This is the purpose of lent. Heroic penances and terrible sacrifices are meaningless if they do not turn you more toward God. They are nothing more than the puffery of spiritual pride--the ability to outdo your neighbor in self-abnegation.
But what is the purpose of that abnegation? If it isn't to bring yourself into the presence of God and to increase your love and intimacy with Him, then it is entirely wasted. If it is more than what the Church demands of her children, it doesn't even have the merit of obedience.
So take this opportunity to make your Lent joyful and productive. Leave yourself behind and move forward. Move constantly toward God.
And use the prayer as a check every day. Are my disciplines really making me decrease that He might increase, or are they having the opposite effect? Remain open to the prompting of the spirit and prepared to change (always strictly obeying the regulations of the Church and the guidance of your spiritual advisor). Be prepared to add to all of your other practices the one thing that will allow you to attend to the Lord in all joy.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Unrevised, Unrefined, from the Retreat
Hosea 2:14
I I
allure and lead and speak
her her her
into the desert/speak to her heartHow do I hear you
when I am so ready to speak?I have no ears for listening
when my heart is loading up words
that will spill-a cataract-out of the tomb of my mouth.I stuff my head with the sounds
of my own broken words
like bottleglass on a fence top
they are enough to keep all out.Oh my heart is full to breaking
full of myself, my thoughts, my ways.
It is not a tender place but a thicket
and forked and poisonous as an adder's tongue.And still it keeps filling,
filling until bursting--
bursting completely
with my self.
Bursting with the poison of the self.How can I hear you over
the chirrupping, clattering, clanking,
drumming, roaring, droning,
humming, buzzing, chiming,
ringing, three-ring circus I laugh and call myself.© 2006, Steven Riddle
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another from the Retreat
Be My Lord
In the Glory of the night
be my Lord,
in the beauty of the light upon the waters,
be my Lord,
in silence that is not silent,
be my Lord,
in the stillness that is ever-moving
be my Lord,
in the chill and dark
be my Lord,
in the cold that is cold to me alone,
be my Lord,
in the shade beneath the hollow-bellied moon,
be my Lord,
in the shade of broad branched trees at night,
be my Lord,
in the memory of sound,
be my Lord,
in the lights of passing boats,
be my Lord,
as I slip beneath the black waters,
be my Lord,
in cricket chirp and frog song,
be my Lord,
in the promise of the light
be my Lord.Let there be no other for me,
in our walking let it be our footsteps alone
that bend the blades and thresh the air,
let my song be a song for you and no other,
let my Lord have no others to stand beside Him.Oh my heart be silent
for just this moment
and hear his breathing,
the sweet breath of hay-mow breeze
is not sweeter than the gentle
stir of his hushed breathing
in my hair, and in this breathing
be all my heart can want,
all my soul can see.
Be my Lord.© 2006, Steven Riddle
By the way, I will note that I didn't claim they were good. But this is a way of marking them so that I'll come back and revise--if the spirit leads.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 8, 2006
Following My Own Advice From Yesterday
3/8/06
I examined my practices for Lent to see if there were something more I could do. Early this morning as I woke, I realized that my desire to see what, if any, comments had been left on my blog, far outweighed my desire to start morning prayer or any prayer.
That being the case, I underwent a major internal battle to remove the comments from my posts. I considered how inhospitable it would appear, how ungracious, how discourteous, how. . . You name it. The bottom line was that I kept thinking of reasons not to remove the comments because obviously, I was ATTACHED to that lifeline. A sure sign that I needed to do something. So praying, and summoning the strength. . . .
From this point onward, I will be posting without the ability to comment. It's extremely important to remember that this is not because I do not value your comments or your presence, but because I value them far too much. I would rather be with you than be with God--and as wonderful as you all are, that is not the proper order of priorities. I must decrease so that He might increase.
So please forgive me for removing the comments boxes.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:38 AM | TrackBack
The Shorter Way to God
from The Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection;Quote in Carmelite Spirituality in the Teresian Tradition
Paul-Marie of the Cross O.C.D.We look for methods. . . to learn how to love God. We want to get there by I don't know how many practices. A multitude of methods makes it more difficult for us to remain in God's presence. Isn't it much shorter and more direct to do everything for love of God, to use all the works of our state in life to manifest our love to him, and to foster the awareness of his presence in us by this exchange of our heart with him? Finesse is not necessary. We need only approach him directly and straightforwardly.
It's been my experience that when the means of approaching God are multiplied, my attention to God is divided. The means become the ends; methods become the focus of attention. Brother Lawrence here suggest a "shorter, more direct" way of approaching God, a simpler way. But, as with St. Thérèse's little way, simpler is not easier. The Carmelite way of things is very, very simple, just as most Carmelites are fairly simple; however, the Carmelite way, properly lived, I'm coming to discover, is not at all easy. Nevertheless, in this, as in all that pertains to God, if our hearts are simple and our desires quieted until only one voice remains, it is possible. And these things are possible through Grace alone. We cooperate and prepare ourselves to receive the grace (although even this is not done without Grace) and it is Grace alone which accomplishes all that need be done. We must simply focus on the End rather than all the means, and we must love the End more than any of the intermediary means. Simple, but not easy--apparently a hallmark of the Carmelite way.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:54 AM | TrackBack
"Hail Queen of Bad Words. . ."
Two Samuel stories.
Yesterday going to work, Samuel said that he was going to make a list of all the bad words and check them off as mom said them. I told him not to make a list but to write them down IF she said them. "I will, and I'll put the time." His mother, predictably was fussing and fuming over this and I was chuckling. When his mother started in with her objection Samuel did a grand salaam, and bowing deeply in his car seat he said, "Hail, Oh Queen of bad words." With that we both broke up in hysterics.
Later that same day, I sent Sam in to ask something of his mother. She figured he was coming in to beg to stay up later (again) and said, 'I'm not talking to you about it." (I found this out later.) He came back and shrugged his shoulders at me and said, "She didn't want to talk to me."
Not knowing what this was all about, I asked why.
"I don't know, maybe she has anger issues."
I really don't know where he comes up with these things, but he keeps us both in stitches most of the time.
Later: I forgot another gem that came up in this discussion. Samuel was discussing his mother's colorful vocabulary: "I'll make a list because she said the S word and the A word and the D word. And the P word."
"The P word?" I asked.
"You never know, just in case there is one," was his reply.
Yes, he keeps us on our toes.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:09 AM | TrackBack
Another Lenten Checkup
"Rend your hearts, not your garments. . ."
Do my penances and observations of Lent cause me to long for God more, or are they exterior--for all the world to see without interior effect? If my garments show more sign of wear than my heart does of being moved, I must conclude that I am still not where I need to be in my Lenten practice.
Lent is a joyful time of repentence, re-evaluation, and movement toward God. The joy may be solemn, but this Lent, God has granted me such joy in my practices and in the enhancements they make in my family life and in my life in General, that I could only wish the season to last for the rest of my life. God has been very, very good to me--now, how can I be very, very good to Him?
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:21 AM | TrackBack
Kiwa hirsuta
CNN.com - New animal resembles furry lobster - Mar 8, 2006
Even in the realm of invertebrates, an oddity. This unique specimen represents the first new Family of Decapod crustaceans described since the late 19th century.
(Second link, scroll to the bottom of the page.)
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:50 AM | TrackBack
From a Little Flower
Great beauty. The thought and admonition are absolutely beautiful.
St. Thérèse quoted in Carmelite Spirituality in the Teresian Tradition
Paul-Marie of the Cross, O.C.D.You are not sufficiently trusting, you fear God too much. I assure you that this grieves him. Do not be afraid of going to purgatory because of its pain, but rather long not to go there because this pleases God who imposes this expiation so regretfully. From the moment that you try to please him in all things if you have the unshakable confidence that he will purify you at every instant in his love and will leave in you no trace of sin, be very sure that you will not go to purgatory.
I know nothing of why Saints receive the honors they do of the Church, but I'm convinced that St. Thérèse, who is adored by both traditionalists and by others in the Church, is actually the Saint who most significantly changed our understanding of God and of Salvation. I think that she opened our eyes to the supremacy of love and to the nature of God as Father, in ways that might have been touched upon, but certainly never thoroughly explored before her. While never denying Church doctrine, look at the shades of understanding in the passage above--God "regretfully" imposes the expiation of Purgatory. Certainly not the traditional view of either God or purgatory.
This is certainly not the God one would have encountered in the writings of Saints before Thérèse; and it is an image of God a great many have tremendous trouble accepting even now. The school that so adamantly opposes Hans Urs von Balthasar's contentions in Dare We Hope that All Men Be Saved?, would be disinclined, it would seem, to accept such an image of God. And yet there is part of me that is certain that St. Thérèse got it exactly right. God may allow some of His children to escape His love, but if so, it is done not in anger, wrath, rage, and righteous indignation, but in the way a human parent finally has to let their wayward teenager come to the end of his or her own road in a jail or halfway house. They cannot (and God does not) interfere with self-will, but both parents and God are heartbroken at the choices made by their children.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 1:17 PM | TrackBack
Podcast Prayers
Obtained via You Duped Me Lord. Thanks Mark.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 2:45 PM | TrackBack
The Wily One
And I don't mean Mr. Coyote. . .
Okay, it all depends on how you look at it. But let me share with you a story of temptation--so far resisted by the grace of God, but undoubtedly to return.
I announced this morning after much agonizing that I was going to close the comment boxes. And I did.
This afternoon, driving home from work, I got this sudden inspiration. The purpose of my blog is to teach and what if the students can't get hold of the teacher. What then? I felt the Earth shift a little in its orbit, presaging some sort of sun-stopping move, or perhaps a cataclysmic shift in the magnetic field.
Grace stepped in and said in her sweetest voice, "You presumptuous buffoon. Why do you think you "teach" anything? When did you ever announce some intention to teach? Where did this vocation suddenly come from?"
And I realized how presumptuous the thought was and how counter everything I do here. Tom, at Disputations teaches, and he teaches well. I maunder, I share my small experience of the interior world, and my understanding of those who wrote texts about it. This does not a teacher make. (first) And second, who summoned these mythical students who long to drink at the font of my prodigious wisdom? I rather think I've acquired a number of very good friends who stop by to see how I'm doing. They will still do so, and I'll be able to drop by their places and the world will neither shift in its orbit or stand still. All will be well.
So, by grace, for the moment, the comment boxes remain closed, but I can see that just that small action fired up a mercenary group of devils (or a lot of psychotropic chemicals) to run an assault against me. Every time we take the smallest step in the direction of obedience, you can anticipate that three thousand very good reasons for not doing what is required will surface. Pray and let them pass by you. God knows what is happening and He will not allow you to be tempted past your ability to withstand.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:27 PM | TrackBack
We Interrupt this Program . . .
This is a test of the blogging alert system. Had there been a real blogging emergency you would have been told where to turn for information. Instead you get this bulletin:
NADA! tomorrow, as Wife, Sam, and the One who Writes, head out for the space coast for a day or so of homeschooling activities sponsored by KSC. Almost as exciting as this morning's furry lobster.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:36 PM | TrackBack
Another Bouquet from St. Thérèse
St. Thérèse quoted in Carmelite Spirituality in the Teresian Tradition Paul-Marie of the Cross O.C.D.Merit does not consist in doing or in giving much, but rather in receiving, in loving much. . . . It is said, it is much sweeter to give than to receive, and it is true. But when Jesus wills to take for Himself the sweetness of giving, it would not be gracious to refuse. Let us allow Him to take and give all He wills.
Our merits increase as we empty ourselves and allow God to fill us. Utter self-giving means utter Divine receiving, and whatever merits we might have accrued dim in comparison to being spouse to God. Once again, St. Thérèse is so right on the mark. And one of the great difficulties of our time is that so many know well how to give, but receive very, very poorly.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:58 PM | TrackBack
March 10, 2006
What KSC Means to Me
We spent the last two days at KSC (Kennedy Space Center) as part of a homeschooling "special." It was indeed special--two days admission and a lunch along with a plethora of special activities just for the homeschooling set. We saw two magnificent IMAX movies and went on two bus tours, one of which allowed us to look down on the components of the Space Station that have not yet made it into space.
I can't begin to convey the sheer excitement and wonder of all of this. I thought about the time I began to like Science Fiction and wondered why my taste for it had palled so--and then I realized. Much of science fiction reaches beyond the sheer excitement of the next twenty years. It takes for granted interstellar flight, and has produced a whole group of novels which disguise various genres in futuristic drag. We have the O'Brien Novels dressed up in interstellar fleet, and we have the soap operas dressed up as alien encounters.
I guess I'm looking for new writers who recover the wonder of those early years of Science Fiction. I think Kim Stanley Robinson might be one of them--Red Mars, Blue Mars, and Green Mars. Perhaps there are others you all might suggest.
But nothing in science fiction is remotely as exciting as the sheer possibility of the next twenty years or so. According to NASA's mission statement/vision, we will begin to see the establishment of a lunar colony as early as 2018. That is reach-out-and-touch it is so close.
Well, I guess you can tell that KSC really lit stirred some embers I had not realized had been so ashed over.