Thursday, October 31, 2013

Our true place is where we find rest.

...Why only of [the Holy Spirit] who alone is said to be your Gift? Because, I think, in your Gift we find rest, and there we enjoy you. Our true place is where we find rest. We are borne toward it by love, and it is your good Spirit who lifts up our sunken nature from the gates of death. In goodness of will is our peace. A body gravitates to its proper place by its own weight. This weight does not necessarily drag it downward, but pulls it tot he place proper to it: thus fire tends upward, a stone downward. Drawn by their weight, things seek their rightful places. If oil is poured into water, it will rise to the surface, but if water is poured onto oil it will sink below the oil; drawn by their weight, things seek their rightful places. They are not at rest as long as they are disordered, but once brought to order they find their rest. Now, my weight is my love, and wherever I am carried, it is this weight that carries me. Your Gift sets us afire and we are borne upward; we catch his flame and up we go. In our hearts we climb those upward paths, singing the songs of ascent. By your fire, your beneficent fire, are we inflamed, because we are making our way up to the peace of Jerusalem. For I rejoiced when I was told, 'We are going to the Lord's house.' There shall a good will find us a place, that we may have no other desire but to abide there for ever."  
[Augustine, Confessions]

Saturday, October 26, 2013

choice, not chance


“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” 
[Aristotle]

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I the LORD have created it.

"Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the LORD have created it."

Isaiah 45:8

Friday, October 18, 2013

what we would prefer not to talk about

 I think literature is best when it's voicing what we would prefer not to talk about.

[Rick Moody]

Friday, October 04, 2013

they never lose a minute


“Sooner or later, the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing.”
[V.S. Pritchett]

in each sister and brother

If God comes down to earth through [the] Son made flesh, then we ascend toward heaven through Jesus present in each sister and brother for ...