While in New York on a family vacation we stopped by the Burke Library at Columbia to grab a quick picture with my Galatians book. Our youngest’s best question after we found it in the stacks: “Did you really think all of those words??”
St. Alphonsus on Uniformity with God's Will
I stumbled upon this brief text at church today, written by the 18th century Italian St. Alphonsus de Liguori.
His distinction between conformity with God’s will and uniformity is helpfully described in the definitions below. And in the illustration that follows he excellently explains why it matters—what is to be gained through the pursuit of uniformity.
Conformity is bending our will to the will of God. Uniformity is making one will of God’s will and ours, so that we will only what God wills; that God’s will alone is our will.
And here is why that “uniformity of will” is worth pursuing:
If souls resigned to God’s will are humiliated, says Salvian, “they want to be humiliated; if they are poor, they want to be poor; in short, whatever happens is acceptable to them, hence they are truly at peace in this life. In cold and heat, in rain and wind, the soul united to God says: “I want it to be warm, to be cold, windy, to rain, because God wills it.”
This is the beautiful freedom of the sons of God, and it is worth vastly more than all the rank and distinction of blood and birth, more than all the kingdoms in the world.
This is the abiding peace which, in the experience of the saints, “surpasseth all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7). It surpasses all pleasures rising from gratification of the senses, from social gatherings, banquets and other worldly amusements; vain and deceiving as they are, they captivate the senses for the time being, but bring no lasting contentment; rather they afflict man in the depth of his soul where alone true peace can reside.
Solomon, who tasted to satiety all the pleasures of the world and found them bitter, voiced his disillusionment thus: “But this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Eccles. 4:16). “A fool,” says the Holy Spirit, “is changed as the moon; but a holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun.” (Eccus. 27:12). The fool, that is, the sinner, is as changeable as the moon, which today waxes and tomorrow wanes; today he laughs, tomorrow he cries; today he is meek as a lamb, tomorrow cross as a bear. Why? **Because his peace of mind depends on the prosperity or the adversity he meets; he changes with the changes in the things that happened to him. **
The just man is like the sun, constant in its serenity, no matter what betides him. **His calmness of soul is founded on his union with the will of God; hence he enjoys unruffled peace. **
I am wrapping up an essay on three recent tech commercials that each typify a distinct approach to the role of technology: (1) technology as a tool, (2) technology as an Everything Machine, and (3) technology as a replacement for human activity. The commercials are from Instacart, Apple, and Google.
After a denial last spring by a count of 5 (against) to 1, the City Council has now unanimously approved our permit that will allow us to purchase a permanent home for our campus in the City of Richardson. Very grateful to our community for rallying support and showing up en masse!
Sermon: Humanity in Christ
A sermon on rest, interruptions, and what it means to be human. Mark 6 is the primary text. Proper 11, the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 2024.
Sermon: Hungry for God (John 6)
By moving Jesus’s words about his body and blood out of the Last Supper and into the context of this chapter, what is John trying to reveal about humanity, and what is John trying to reveal about Jesus? A sermon for Proper 13 2024: the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. The primary text is John 6:24-35.
The smile on Simone Biles' face at the end of her floor routine was the look of a woman who knows that she has run her race well, with all of its ups and downs. What an absolute joy to watch.
We finally started and finished a built-in bunk bed set for the kids and Bandit. This is the second time that Viv has drawn out an idea that I have mostly executed, with plenty of advice from friends and the internet along the way.
Finishing touches: glow in the dark stars on the ceiling.
Classical And Anglican Conversion Part 2: This world is enchanted.
Part 2: This world is enchanted.
This is the second exploration of the various realizations that contributed to my conversion into the worlds of Anglicanism and classical education at (roughly) the same time.
Not all updates happen automatically, and computer attacks often occur because people or businesses are slow to adopt patches sent by software companies to fix vulnerabilities—in essence, failing to take the medicine the doctors prescribe. In this case, the medicine itself hurt the patients.
Kudos for a helpful tech explanation of the unique nature of the crash in this WSJ article about the CrowdStrike update.
Those whose livelihood depends on this being “the most consequential election of our lifetime” are not the most trustworthy people to determine whether or not this is actually the case. The fact that it has been said about each of the past dozen elections should also cause us to reconsider.
God save the Kane. ⚽️
Classical And Anglican Conversion Part 1: God Is Infinitely Grand
This is the (perhaps?) first short exploration of the various realizations that contributed to my conversion into the worlds of Anglicanism and classical education at (roughly) the same time.
A stomach bug and multiple driving days have made it difficult, but my current run streak is alive and well at 30 days.
It was a bit of a scramble towards the end, and I’m really proud of our family for making it to this remarkable view of a 120 foot waterfall just outside of the Great Smoky Mointains National Park.
Running (on) the Appalachian Trail with Zoë (10) and Rowan (8).
Sermon: Praying Psalm 22 in the season of Lent
A sermon from Lent 2024 on adopting Psalm 22 as a prayer for Lent.
I am taking the next couple of days away from work in order to take a writing retreat to SMU’s Bridwell Library during work hours. Significant progress on day one towards the completion of a long-overdue manuscript.
Beef as a means of grace?
Kicking off the run streak again. Last one was 366 days and ended in March of 2022.