Safe Haven

I have tried recently to be more conscientious about this. I have many friends who do this, and they tape the prayer to their bathroom mirror, or something similar. But you know me: I don't plan things; I don't think I've done a single thing that has become lifeless. I suppose that's the danger as a Catholic; to me, that is only theoretical. Predictably, I use my own words. It's pretty close to what you might find written down. And most of them--if not all--reference Jesus as he is offered to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I can tell you right now with no hesitation or feigned piety, that it fills my heart with joy just to say those words. It fills my heart with joy just to think about what they mean. As he said in John 6, "the bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." In essence, Jesus is offering himself for the life of the world. We often talk about what we will do to evangelize the world, and we should. But we must under...

I got a little bogged down when trying to elaborate why I didn't think the Reformed notion of the visible church cohered with their notion of the invisible Church. Namely, there is no necessary connection between my visible community, and the universal Church. The discrete visible communities of Christians which are the visible outposts containing those among the saved, have nothing to do with each other. There is nothing which unites a Reformed believer and a Methodist, unless it is something revealed prior to the existence of those discrete communities. The supposed unity between them, and between all those who emerged from the Protestant Reformation, is a pretense, and an ad hoc fabrication. Those orthodox believers within those communities who wish to preserve dogma may express passionate concern about that goal, but their own profound disagreements with one another puts the lie to the claim that the hermeneutical methodology of Sola Scriptura can produce the clarity always sou...

This is a cool new podcast that my friend Luke T. Harrington started. He wants to interview people that have changed their minds on something big. He said something about wanting the show to be 5% information and 95% therapy for him. I'm still trying to figure out how it's going to be therapy for him! Ian Barrs is also a friend of mine, though we haven't met in person yet. Gotta love the Internet yet again. I don't know many British expatriate types, who moved to America, dabbled in politics, and are now literally making themselves useful on local Christian radio, hoping to talk fruitfully about issues of concern to that audience and beyond. Suffice to say, Ian is an interesting guy. I will also very shortly have my own interview episode appear from the show, so that should be exciting. I had loads of fun doing it. Luke is a talented and generous presenter and host, a good interviewer. I think I kinda steamrolled him personally, but hopefully it will be okay. Anywa...

I pray for you often, though I hope you don’t need it by now. I’d definitely like to think you’d enjoy being here, talking with the adult me. I don’t know how much we are alike, but when I began to idolize Atticus Finch, I imagined that’s how you’d be, if we’d lost Mom instead of you. There’s nothing permanent about death, so I say I “lost” you. You’re not gone, but you won’t be back here. I’m still here, so to me, you’re “lost”. I have done plenty of reckoning with the sorrow and a certain finality of death, so now is the time to concede nothing more. I often say I miss you, and I do, but I feel closer to you now than I did while you were here. That’s the power of what is eternal, as I am sure you know. I do my best not to waste the moments of life, though I fail at that most days. There is something indescribable about living, about being human. I feel sad for those people who don't see the point. Ultimately, Jesus and the Church. I'd have preached at you a bit, had you...