Scraps From A Spiritual Diary

By Friar__Tuck - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Religion & Spirituality

Sunday, September 12, 2004

The Cross of Christ

I just get irritated when a preacher comes up to say that the sign of the cross is absurd because it reminds one of an electric chair. And such preachers often claim that their faith is based on the bible! And yet when I look in the bible, St. Paul refers to the cross in a most affectionate way: 1Co... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, September 10, 2004

Mary Of Nazareth and Christian Discipleship

P. I. M. P. has a blog where he (she?) connects faith in Jesus Christ as faith on a particular event, a "happening." The intent of the blog I think is to show that God has acted in human history in such a way that his saving act was made concrete in the person of Jesus. The faith of the Christian is... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

A Prayer More Than A Poem

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide; When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, September 4, 2004

The Interior Journey

I just finished watching the Eddie Murphy starrer "Holy Man" and his catch word "Journey" somehow reminded me of the journey -- an inward one -- that all Christians are invited to undergo. The doctrine is based on the experiences and writings of mystics, chiefly John of the Cross and Teresa of... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

Humility: Another Look

Humility was not always considered a virtue. Aristotle thought that it was a vice. Friedrich Nietzche's idea of the Ubermann (The Superman?) cannot include it among its catalogue of virtues. Nietzche's anti-semitism too made him regard it as the characteristic proper of slaves. Judaism took it as... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, August 30, 2004

A Patron Saint For Makers of Beer

St. Augustine of Hippo is currently the patron saint for brewers, but the reason given for this is not correct. They say that because Augustine once lived a life of drunkenness and debauchery, he has been made the patron saint of those who make beer. Nonsense. Patron saints are not assigned a... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Golum And His Precious

The Lord of the Rings' Golum is a metaphor of the soul that has allowed itself to be enslaved by a lesser good. In his character, one sees how a disordered kind of love can transform one into what it loves. "You are what you love," St. Augustine writes. Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Too Late Have I Loved You...

" Too late have I loved You, O Beauty, ever ancient ever new! " -- Augustine on the one thing he regretted throughout his life. " Our hearts were made for Thee, O God, and they will remain restless until they rest In Thee!" -- Augustine on why the soul strains upwards, like a burning flame. "Let me... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Playboy Turned Saint

When I was an adolescent, I got fascinated by the story of a playboy turned saint. The story was told and retold from the pulpit by different preachers. The story, of course, is that of St. Augustine of Hippo, perhaps the greatest Father of the Latin Church. As his story was told, there seemed to be... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, July 4, 2004

Did God Repent?

When certain preachers talk about the story of the Flood, it would appear as if God repented that he had created man. Basing themselves on the KJV rendering of the passage in Genesis 6: according to which "It repenteth God..." These make it seem as if God thinks He was at fault in creating humankind... Sign in to see full entry.

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