Safe Haven

Usually when people say, "I just want to love Jesus, and love like He loves" they do not mean they could do more works of mercy. We need to understand that, and see it for what it is: it's a cry for help. Sola Scriptura has done its nasty work, and the inability to know and come to agree on what Jesus has in fact said has reached its full flower. This person quite literally does not know what he or she is to believe. They've done the best they can to relativize whatever they could not fix, and here they are. Here's the thing, though: If you're going to even attempt to do or be anything like Jesus, you're already pretty far into the narrative of God's People. You've already accepted the authorities that gave us that story. The Church was meant to be as visible as Israel was, and more so. The New Covenant is the incorporation of the Gentiles into the People of God, which Christ--the Messiah, the Son of God and son of David, has willed to call His...

5. The original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film (1990) can't possibly be matched by the most recent one. [You haven't seen the recent one.--ed.] I don't need to. 4. I'm starting the Vikings defense/special teams against the Bears this week in fantasy football. I'm sorry, but not. 3. Speaking of football, it's a highly anticipated match-up this Sunday night: Patriots and Colts. Brady against Luck. The aging "Golden Boy" against "The Kid." [Boy, he is a gunslinger, too, that Luck.--ed.] The brains of Manning and the arm of Favre. 2. The family-size box of Cheez-Its stares at me, and I at it. We all know who will win the war, one delicious cracker at a time. 1. Al Roker is trying to set a Guiness World Record for the longest continuous weather broadcast: 34 hours. Are you kidding me?

Good idea.  You all know that my greatest sympathies with something resembling liberalism are in the area of prison/justice reform. I do not believe that anyone is simply a product of his environment, but neither do I believe it has no impact. Liberalism's failure in the US is directly related to the belief that people are inclined to the good. We are not; we are good with respect to our original design, and the end for which we are made. But, by virtue of those things, we have a dignity that ought not be thrown aside. In fact, for us to employ people whose sole function is to enforce the degradation of that dignity is itself a degradation of their dignity. In theology or politics, it comes back to what we mean by "mercy." Mercy is not the forbearance of evil; it is rather the plain confession that a particular evil and its effects are not the end of a person's story. They really aren't meant to wallow in regret and self-hatred. "Go and sin no more" is...

5. "The Big Fundamental," better known as future Hall Of Fame player Tim Duncan, wasn't good tonight. 12 points and 13 rebounds. I know a lot of players who wish they could suck like that. 4. 4-3 now, and as much as we enjoy the role players becoming stone-cold killers--especially come playoff time--I'm sure you're asking what I'm asking: "Where the #$@! is Patty Mills?" 3. And Tiago Splitter. 2. And Marco Belinelli. 1. I guarantee you Coach is mad, because they gave up 100 points.

Jason and Christian, again.  I want it known that 2006 was the only time I missed an election. I voted this time, and I was pleased to do so. I enjoy following politics as well. It's just interesting. I'm the political opposite of Christian, though. Stellman knows than I am ideologically flexible enough to be a good time. It's hard to say I was happy about the results; there is enough variance in the Republican Party itself, with respect to the goodness of government as such that I'm a long way from feeling heady. On the other hand, the Democratic Party is so arrogant, and so fundamentally opposed to my view of the world that they deserve to get smacked. Hard. Over and over again. Christian's non-faith still seems like a huge non-sequitur to me, although we have arrived at our places from very different starting points. I wasn't raised anything , but my childhood with alcoholics and those recovering from it was such that if you asked me at 12 years old wheth...

That's what "Interstellar" is about. With all due respect, no one cares deeply about relativity. We need it as an explanation for why the characters face various problems related to time, but that's it. Dr. de Grasse Tyson wants to talk about it, but that's because it's all he has. That is what we call "emptiness," my friends. The way I see it, we either talk constantly about things we can't measure because we're stupid, or because we're so much more than stupid. What would St. John Paul the Great say? Who would you rather be like? Food for thought.