The below comes (now, try to stay with me) from one of the appendices of Cardinal Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua, in which, to respond to the criticisms of Charles Kingsley, he quotes at length a passage in an earlier work of his discussing miracles. The words below are from that passage: "There is in … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Miracles
Sunday Thoughts
Sunday Thoughts: Failed Systems
There is an episode of the original Star Trek called "Ultimate Computer". The premise is that the genius Dr. Daystrom has built a revolutionary supercomputer that, he claims, can run a starship more efficiently than any human captain and obviates the need for a human crew at all. They install in the Enterprise for a … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: Failed Systems
Sunday Thoughts – Corpus Christi
I think one of the great problems of the contemporary world is that we undervalue the material aspect of things. I’m sure that sounds shocking, given how materialistic we are, but actually our materialism is only what is to be expected from the undervaluing of matter. Because as with lust to sex, the evil of … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts – Corpus Christi
Stop Feeding the Beast
I struggle with what is called Depression, though recently I've had better success in dealing with it by stumbling onto a very important insight, which I call 'Don't Feed the Beast.' See, Depression takes the form of extreme negative thoughts, sometimes explicit, more often present as a kind of underlying assumption. E.g. "I am never … Continue reading Stop Feeding the Beast
Sunday Thoughts: 1-5-20
Feast of the Epiphany Reading 1: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: 1-5-20
Serpent's Den 