Transparency

The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12-16

I was convicted recently at a retreat with the Brothers of St. John, that I need to dwell with the word humility. What does it mean to be humble? What does it mean for me to be humble? What can I change in my life to let go of things that I consider as 'my accomplishments?'

Humility really finds me on my dystopian journey. For what is the greatest weapon we have against relativism? Humility. In a culture filled with people who bear the weight of being both source and summit of their own dignity, they can't see past their own anguish. Who better to shock the world out of itself than someone who is focused on others. Someone who does not rely on his own strength to give him dignity. This is the man my main character needs to be. So in order to discover all of the facets of this character and what sets him apart from his broken world, I also need to go on a journey of humility. Father Joseph Mary put it best when he said:

"If we are truly humble, we put ourselves in last place. It is not, then, crushing when others put us in the last place."

My journey since December has been difficult. Humility is not the natural state of the choleric. God is wise and merciful though. To bring down this choleric spirit, he gave me the gift of physical hardships. I recently back-slid into blooming and constant neck pain from my still-healing whiplash injury of two years ago. I bring this up, because the hero of my dystopia must also be familiar with living in pain, having a visible ailment to suffer through in the midst of his dark world. These physical weaknesses forcibly placing me in a position of saying "I can't do everything." Or rather, "I can't be everything I want to be." The most crushing of them all is the phrase "I need help." Yet even these frail strides are only the first steps toward embracing humility in my daily life. I will call this first stage Transparency, or the feeling/knowledge that the whole world can see through you to your very core. My many weaknesses rising to the surface to be viewed by all.


I finished an excellent book this week, "From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again" by Etienne Gilson. It is an excellent book speaking poignantly on the harm science has done to metaphysical man. That because science cannot scientifically explain teleology (that every created work, insofar as it exists has a purpose, or 'end') it cast it aside as an explanation for living being. Teleology not only gives man a purpose, it gives man a source, that his end is to return to that from which he was created. Scientifically, then, we have man made in the image of man, which is precisely the philosophical conclusion of relativism. Finishing this book made me eager to read more, so I highly recommend it.

I return again to this question of what it is to be man made in the image of man and its hindrance to humanity reaching the fullness of truth. Pride as the great deceiver, putting the power to bestow honor and glory in man's own hands. This creates a self-centered man. There is an amazing chapter in "Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures" by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger entitled "We Must Use Our Eyes" and it deals with this very concept of breathing dignity back into the hearts of modern man. Therefore the cure for transparency is to be seen. No other solution could be more ironic. So we turn to our closest friends, our families, our mentors. "Go and show yourself to the priests" Mark 1:40-45. Be seen as you are. Stop hiding in the shadows.


I saw a quote by Madeleine L'Engle on facebook. "You have to write the book that wants to be written." I have never heard truer words that speak to the mechanics of creative writing. Now having discovered so much on this dystopian journey, I have to return to my work and find the voice for the book that wants to be written. I have a strong outline for twelve chapters right now, and these discoveries in humility, which have added so much depth and color to the world I am creating, call me to go back and rewrite the entire outline from the beginning. with new insights in mind.

I will end with this. Mother Teresa's advice on how to be humble:

• Speak as little as possible about yourself
• Mind your own business
• Avoid curiosity
• Do not try to take care of other people's business
• Accept contradictions with good humor
• Overlook the faults of others
• Accept insults
• Accept to be neglected, forgotten and despised
• Be kind, even if provoked
• Do not seek to be admired or inordinately loved
• Give in in discussions, even if you're right
• Choose always what is most difficult.

Martyrology of Dystopian Fiction

I'm learning a lot through literary research. It never ceases to amaze me how much more you can get out of reading when you read with a question in mind. Well, I have a whole head full of questions that I take with me as I'm touring dystopian fiction.

I am still, unsurprisingly, reading George Orwell's "1984." It's notable that early dystopian fiction novels such as "1984" and "A Brave New World," both feature a detailed explanation of why the world is as it is. A person can glean quite a bit on what makes up a dystopian world from this particular section of the book.

The revelation I am currently enthralled by came from "1984." The first part of my revelation is that each dystopian world is dealing with questions of Metaphysics, or the philosophy of being. More specifically in experimenting with how to change the existence of a person as they are into something they choose them to be. They each attempt to fundamentally change people from their natural state, through the taking of the mind and the memory to create the sort of person that they desire.

The second part of this revelation is that the only way to change a disordered dystopian world is through martyrdom. George Orwell wrote it best when he revealed that his dystopian world did not allow martyrs, that by breaking into a rebel's mind and memories they could create whatever sort of criminal they desired. This would mean that they could still put the criminal to death, but by changing the person's metaphysical nature they steal from them the ability to be a martyr.

A martyr, as someone who would rather die than to say or do anything against what they are convicted is the true the good and the beautiful. In "1984" they remove the threat of martyrs by turning rebels into sniveling, mindless cowards who will confess to whatever is put into their heads.

Then looking at the other dystopian books I've read lately I began to see that each one has a martyr propelling change. Then it occurred to me that in order for a society of people who firmly believe that their dystopian world is actually utopia to see the need for any kind of change, then their eyes needed to be opened in a radical way.

What I liked most about this revelation in "1984" was The Party's awareness that martyrs had the ability to ruin the control on power that they possessed. This vein is hinted at in other dystopian universes, but it so admirably laid out in "1984."

Martyrology of Dystopian Fiction

• "Brave New World" > John the Savage
• "Farenheit 451" > Guy Montag
• "1984" > Winston
• "The Giver" > Jonas
• "The Hunger Games" > Primrose

Out of the Darkness - Dystopian Fiction

I'm working on a new book idea. I've written and started several books in my youth and in retrospect I feel that my fatal flaw was that I did not talk enough about the project, story line or characters. The result is a continual reading and rewriting to develop the world, plot and motivations for the world I created.

This time I'm going to be seeking more sounding boards, more people to ask me questions and challenge me to really develop the world. If we haven't had a conversation about this endeavor yet and you'd like to chat, let me know! I'm eager to share. 

The secondary challenge is that I feel driven to set out into the deep of a new genre, Dystopian Fiction. It's a genre that has been popping out of the woodwork into popular films and books lately and I find that I have an idea to add to the pot. 

Once the idea took me I immediately ran to target and bought a three ring binder, loose leaf paper, and dividers to organize my thoughts. Then for the next three weeks I could be found scribbling ideas into the margins of my binder, proudly sporting a blue ink-stain on my pinky from dragging it through the freshly scripted words. 

After all my preliminary thoughts were down on paper I began to challenge myself to do more, ask more questions and build the world more. This naturally led me on a journey through those who came before me toting the weight of creating a dystopian world and its problems. I'll include a list of the books I've read and brief notes below. 

My next phase is something I'm taking from L.M. Montgomery's "Chronicles of Avonlea." So far I'm calling it "Experiences of the World," where I take on a major problem facing the society of the world and place several characters within that scenario to follow it through to its eminent conclusion in a series of short stories.

Still to come; rousing research into the science of today to glean ideas for a science of the future. Followed by another round of back stories and additions to the binder before I begin to transcribe plot points onto index cards to develop further. Quite a process. Can't wait!

My goal is to create a gripping tale of a journey from darkness into light.

What I've been Reading: Spoilers Included (think of it as reading part of my research)

Published 1949
George Orwell died in 1950
Written in the Midst
and Published after WWII

   


I'm in the midst of George Orwell's "1984" and must say that I like it best of all the books on this list, even though I'm just barely begun. Orwell has created a world where history no longer exists insofar as no one can be certain that anything is true. Society is set up in such a way that a fact isn't a fact at all because it can always be rewritten to suit the Party's desires for the time. All this driven by "Big Brother" and the in-home surveillance from which Winston finds a rare and solitary respite to begin writing a journal. This act alone is tyranny against the Party not to mention his deplorable preference to be alone and solitary. Can't wait to find out what happens next.

Published 1932
Written between
WWI and WWII

A close second to my love for "1984" is Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World." Where to even begin, Huxley's rousing writing-style often left my head spinning and my heart longing to read more. This is really the story of a man who managed to grow up with some sort of watered down morality amid a hedonistic society that has done away with monogamy and natural childbirth in favor of babies born in tubes, conditioned for a predefined class and set of characteristics. The thing about John the Savage is that he was born naturally of a Beta Minus and once discovered is toted around as a novelty until he succumbs to his passions forsaking his morality and, in shame, hangs himself. Huxley had a skillful style, which gave the reader the idea of a new scientific advancement, without going too deeply into the details of how it worked.

Published 1953
Post WWII 

My understanding is that people often find Ray Bradbury's "Farenheit 451" to be a rather strange story. It's story line meanders and is all over the place. Before you read this (long) short story, you should read about the author himself and about when he wrote this story. Once you do, you find that this is Bradbury's guttural reaction to Hitler's book-burning post WWII.  In a world where homes are now fireproof Guy Montag is a firefighter who has been entrusted with the duty to burn any and all books. When Montag himself begins to collect books in secret and worse still, to read them, he can never go back. Once discovered it becomes a race against a mechanical unstoppable hound to flea the city into the unknown.

Published 1993

Lois Lowry's award winning "The Giver" takes us to a world where there are no memories. An interesting feature of this book is that once again we see that families do not conceive babies naturally, only instead of this being an expression of unchained eroticism it is the casting off of 'stirrings' in favor of society's shades of grey. Jonas is called from among his classmates to receive the memories, which are held only by The Giver. He is allowed to keep the memories as a means to solve problems in the society, like a reference guide. When Jonas begins to see the injustice of depriving society of memories he runs away taking an unlikely passenger with her, casting these memories back among the people he left behind.

Published 2008

When asked how she came up with the idea for "The Hunger Games" Suzanne Collins said that it came to her while she was flipping channels one evening. She surfed between scenes of a reality tv show and news coverage of troops. This brings us the tantalizing tale of Katniss Everdeen as she volunteers as tribute in the place of her young sister  in the 74th Hunger Games. Collins delivers a gripping story filled with complex world and character development. In the midst of this story Collins poses questions every reader should ask themselves. Who am I? What is freedom? What does my choice in who I love say about me?

Published 2011

Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series were the hardest books for me to get through on my list. Rather than over-extending myself on the reasons why I'll merely say that I felt the world and characters were underdeveloped. One of the other main flaws was that Roth endeavored to explain her world with science she wasn't able to convincingly explain. My younger sister will tell you that there are two sides to this story and that, of course, Roth's work is valid and useful to her readers.

What is Dystopian Fiction?:

• Dystopia:  an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. (Merriam Webster)
• Dystopian Fiction: A genre of literature, which features a dehumanized and fearful world focusing on a specific issue. Often, dystopian fiction is a satire of what is seen in the current times.

Characteristics of Dystopian Fiction:

• Propaganda and fear portray a dystopian world as a utopia.
• Dehumanized world for a presented greater good and for the sake of advancement. Often this advancement is scientific.
• Free-thought is discouraged and enforced by a fear of persecution.
• Often futuristic, but with satirical veins that could be something readers face in their own lives.
• Oppression and high surveillance.
• A central ruling power, which is feared and respected.

Essay Three - Chapter Two: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay Three: What does it mean to believe?

Chapter Two: Can Agnosticism be a Solution?

There are two basic structural analogies of the perspectives on religious faith: friendship and revelation.

Friendship:

• It may be true that it is impossible for each individual to know everything within the network of human relationships.
• So they participate by faith in the knowledge of others.
• Nevertheless, we remain in the sphere of human knowledge that is accessible.

Revelation:

• Faith in revelation passes the boundaries of knowledge, typical to human life experience.
• Revelation remains an object of faith.
• This surpasses realities that are accessible to the knowledge of our experience.
• There is no one in this field in whom we can put our trust. AS no one could have direct knowledge of religious faith.

The questions of our society include: Is this faith compatible with modern knowledge? Would it be more prudent for man to wait to pass judgement on religious faith until science can have definitive knowledge? Atheism claims to know too much and has a dogmatic element of its own. At most one can take his nonexistence as a hypothesis, on the basis of which to explain the universe. It is never possible (scientifically) to go beyond the sphere of the hypothetical in this question, because you can never scientifically be certain that God does not exist.

This reality points to the unsurpassed limits of the human condition.That man has a capacity to know man as being. (Again this is metaphysics, the study of being). As the scientific atheism is impossible to prove, it becomes urgent to know whether the question of God indeed surpasses the human condition. This is where the limits of science must not be confused with the limits of existence.

Ratzinger encourages us to  not be hasty in a "rational" response to agnosticism, rather patiently examine it as a plausible answer, to discover whether it can apply to humanity and science. Can it answer the question of existence? The humility of a philosopher, they begin by discovering what is first. Can man be content to live under the hypothetical formula 'as if God doesn't exist.' The question of God is a practical problem that touches every part of our lives. So we are faced with two alternatives. 

Either we live as if God existed or we lives as if God did exist. Man cannot remain neutral on the question of God. It is not to be avoided, changed or resisted. 

"Where everything and the foundation of everything, are involved, the one who endeavors to comprehend is inevitably challenged to get involved with the totality of his being, with all the faculties of perception he has been given. And his search for knowledge must aim not only to collect a large number of individual details, but as far as possible to grasp the totality as such." (p90)

Essay Three - Introduction: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay Three: What Does it Mean to Believe?

Introduction

A mode of natural 'faith' is indispensable in our daily life. So when answering the questions of faith's necessity or whether or not it is merely a juvenile transitory fancy. We must look to what is first. In our daily life we make use of technologies, which for the most part, we do not have the expertise to say how or why the thing works. While our experiences verify that such technologies do exist and do work based on basic principals. We are relying on those credible knowledgeable persons who do have the knowledge to say how a thing works. We are filled with knowledge of common experiences (a-priori) and rely by a natural faith on the wisdom of others. 

Nevertheless it is not a pure faith bereft of any confirmation, hence it is a lesser faith, yet it is the basis which all men might understand. (p82)

Essay Two - Chapter Three: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay Two: The Right to Life

Chapter Three: "We Must use Our Eyes"

If you don't read any other part of this book, read this chapter. This chapter changed my life! So here's a summary of its goodness, which is not nearly rich enough.

The decision of abortion begins with the choice not to look at the baby. Hence the world hides its existence with words like fetus of zygote. They choose not to see the other because if they were to look at him, the unique and  unrepeatable life would make demands on their liberty.

In their suffering they turn away from humanity. When it is in our suffering that we may truly answer the question "Who am I?" For example it was after Christ had been scourged that pilot cried "Ecce Homo" or "Behold the man." (John 19:5) As discovered in metaphysics: man is, the baby is (exists), necessarily his dignity also exists. (Metaphysics: the philosophical study that is concerned with the basic causes and nature of things)

 

Affirming this dignity begins when we affirm our own dignity. In the security of this knowledge we can truly look at the other in a way that affirms them and allows them to be free. When I see man as a thing, I forget my dignity and his.

The context for this respect for life comes from faith in creation. That each man is created in the image of God. In this way Christianity is a remembrance of that look of love from the Father upon humanity. Therefore the task of announcing the dignity of man falls on those who see man in his dignity. The Christian is among the world the life which animates it, as the soul with the body. In affirming the dignity of others, while at the same time loving those who hate you and rising above the flesh, the Christian can purify the world and its dignity.

Essay Two - Chapter Two: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay Two: The Right to Life

Chapter Two: The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of the Law

Without the ability to come to a basic moral understanding, the foundations of a healthy society cannot stand. The current mode, which society bases its political and social decisions puts the freedom of expression above the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Through this gaze the right to an abortion is invoked through the liberty of the woman, man and society. The woman has her right to her professional work, the safeguarding of her reputation and a standard of life. The man has the right to his lifestyle, pursuit of his career and the enjoyment of the fruits of his labor. And for society, it has the right to control numerical population, guarantee the prosperity of its citizens and the management of resources. 

Nevertheless exercising these rights leads to the detriment of a life. The rights of some are affirmed at the cost of the rights of another. This leads to the proof that to exercise the right to an abortion is in support of the mindset that laws are related to power and that laws protect the most powerful. This implication poses a threat to authentic democracy. 

So in saying abortion is a right negates that all men are created equal and that it is a profound iniquity when the rights of some prevail over the rights of others. In fact, it negates that human rights belong to man by nature: fundamentally, the right to life. 

"A state that claims the prerogative of defining who is and who is not the subject of rights consequently accepts that some persons have the right to violate the fundamental right to life of other persons, which contradicts the democratic ideal. When it accepts that the rights of the weakest may be violated, it also accepts that the law of the jungle prevails over the rule of the law." (p64) 

Essay Two - Chapter One: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay Two: The Right to Life

Chapter One: Why we must not Give up the Fight

"What is man that you should be mindful of him? Mortal man, that you keep him in mind?" (Psalm 8:4)

The question of the right to life for life that has been conceived and not yet born is a decisive question. To present all the seemingly logical reasons why the problem of abortion ought not be taken so seriously, or even fought over is to neglect the fundamental element that builds our societies: man. If you are not beginning an argument by first going to its source, then all philosophies and ideals founded on that argument are vain-glory. 

There are those who despair of a solution and remain on a superficial level. Siting responses such as:

• The legal approval of abortion has not changed much of our private lives or the life of society. 
• Each can act in accordance with his conscience. 
• A woman who doesn't want an abortion isn't compelled to have one. 
• Women who have abortions would have had them even if it were illegal, and this way they at least have medical attention.

Man's very existence is a gift. So if a man exists he ought to be mindful of his own frail mortality. To have a society ordered by justice would begin with this concrete truth. Man is mortal. So to deal deathly blows upon those conceived in the womb, is not only filled with the basest form of injustice, but is the weapon by which "man loses his own identity." (p60) 

There are many passages where God stakes his claim on man as made in His image. Giving each man his worth and dignity. This inalienable dignity of man made in the image of God sets us apart from the rest of creation. The attack on the right to life is also an attack on the dignity of man.

Essay One - Chapter Three: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay One: The Crisis of Culture

Chapter Three: Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith

Cardinal Ratzinger began this look on Christianity and Culture with the question of Rationalism. This crux of the crisis of culture lies in whether or not man can acknowledge and search the truth. In that line, he first examined the moral norms of our society. Then on a the heels of highlighting how our culture's advances in science and technology are not growing in tandem with its morality, he examines whether rationalism is a universally valid and logical mind-set. As the views and philosophy of rationalism is strictly anti-metaphysical, rather it doesn't affirm the dignity of man. 

In this chapter, Ratzinger examines Christianity as an intelligent religion, or a religion of logos (logic.) The philosophy of the enlightenment cleared the road toward higher truth. It reignited an appreciation for the good, true and beautiful. The roots of the enlightenment were searching for God, which is why in his treatise on the rationalistic world-view Ratzinger encourages it to return to its roots. In religion the search for the true, good and beautiful leads you to God as the ultimate source. Therefore, the gaze of the Christian brings harmony to the philosophies of the enlightenment.

God is the ultimate answer to the definition of man. As created in the image of God they are equal in dignity, regardless of their place in the social order. The bridge between Christianity and rationalism is openness to self-reflection. Self-reflection gives a person a readiness to accept correction, and continue to grow. This in turn allows him to return to the source, the Creator, from whom every real thing comes.

The question the world is asking is whether the world comes from a rational source or an irrational source. If the world comes from an irrational source then reason is merely a a bi-product of the world's development. In that lame line, if the world comes from an irrational source, then its reason would itself be irrational. However if the world comes from reason, then the world's end is reason, as it returns to the source. As such reason that proceeds from reason is open to all that is truly rational. 

The enlightenment set out to define morality as if God did not exist, trying to keep it essentials in order to guarantee the basis of life in society. In the beginning, this worked as society already had fundamental Christian convictions. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher of the late 1700's, put God outside of reason. He saw no coherent possibility of acting in light of morality, for what are morals without God? Any way you look at it, shaping human affairs without God leads to the annihilation of man. Even if man doesn't find the path to God's existence, he ought to live as if God existed. This doesn't limit freedom, rather it supports all our human affairs.

Essay One - Chapter Two: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay One: The Crisis of Culture

Chapter Two: Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture

When entering into a study of culture, having first come to the understanding that today's advancements are not growing in tandem with morality, we must look at two questions. The first is whether rationalism is a universally valid and completely scientific philosophy? This would mean that it was strictly rational and that the reason guiding it was common to all men. The second question, then, is whether rationalism is complete in itself? This would mean that it has no use for its own history, nor would it have any use for God.

Rationalism is guided by a set of generally valid moral values. That religion cannot be imposed by the state, that freedom must be protected, and the separation of power and control of power. This is an endeavor to respect the fundamental human rights of man. Historically, religious neutrality of state is an illusion. Only technological advancement matters, and it is what drives their philosophy.

Upon this hinge, you may see that rationalism is strictly anti-metaphysical. (Metaphysics is the philosophical study of man as being, of living life awake to the unchanging being of man, even as his physicality and surroundings change. This does not mean that he cannot improve himself, rather he exists. In fact, it is a philosophy that enables man to be most fully himself and most fully alive.) In rationalism, man is the product of himself. These general moral guidelines produce men who do not accept moral authority, where only his own calculations under given proof provide the framework for life. He defines his own morality. Therefore a philosophy, which aims to respect the rights of man, diminishes them by engendering the mutilation of man.

The rationalistic view on liberty, in turn, also leads to the self-destruction of liberty based on their self-limitation of reason. (They only believe what they can personally rationalize.) Under the lens of the rationalistic vision of man and liberty one can say that it cannot be universally valid. This philosophy is incomplete as it has divided itself from its historical roots, and by that same token has taken itself away from its source. For example, if one were to ask where this philosophy came from, and what it's founded on, the answer would be that it comes from that which man could reason. But reason without orientation to a moral norm or standard becomes a power for destruction.

This detachment from its historical roots has caused it to dispense with man entirely. Spokesmen of the natural sciences even say that man has no liberty, which contradicts one of the generally valid moral values that rationalism is founded on. It is said that man is no different from any living being and ought not be treated differently, which makes it easier for men to be more interested in protecting endangered species of wild animals, rather than concerning themselves with the rights of men.

Overall, through these points one can see that rationalism is neither strictly rational or universally valid. To move forward as a philosophy it must reestablish its contact with its roots to be complete. They must see that the failure to draw from their Christian roots (of the enlightenment) is not true tolerance. This opposition engenders antagonism between the emancipation of man from God and the religious cultures of the world. The great religions have coexisted for centuries, yet rationalism is creating a culture where nothing can coexist. Cardinal Ratzinger phrases it like this, "Relativism becomes a dogmatism that believes itself in possession of the definitive knowledge of human reason with the right to consider all else as merely a stage of human history that is obsolete." (Christianity of the Crisis of Culture, Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph, page 45.) Man is in need of his roots if he is to survive, when you lose sight for your reason for being you lose sight of your dignity.

Essay One - Chapter One: Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

Essay One: The Crisis of Culture

Chapter One: Reflections on Cultures That Are in Conflict Today

As stated in the opening posts to my reflections on this excellent book, "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture," Cardinal Ratzinger is writing these essays to enable Christians to live intelligently in the world. This first chapter in the essay "The Crisis of Culture" immediately draws a stark comparison between living life in the knowledge of objective truth and relativism (that truth is subjective/relative to each person.)

The opening of this chapter focuses on the question "Who is man?" Ratzinger points out that from the beginning of the world, man has been given dominion over creation (Genesis 1:26.) This responsibility provides man with great opportunities, but can also be a danger to man. For man finds that he can build and advance on his own. In this way man becomes the product of his own activity. When a man is defined by his productivity he becomes nothing more than an image of man, instead of an image of God. A second danger in man having dominion over the earth is that the growth of possibilities is not matched by the development of morality. So technological advancements are made solely for the sake of advancing, without any reflection on the moral implications. No one's asking the question, does this advancement also advance the dignity of man?

We must reflect on man's freedom in tandem with his dignity. Where there is no morality, the power of man turns to destruction. Since man cannot be delivered from technology as advancement can be to the benefit of man, we must ensure that advancements come from the moral strength of man. In our times we see that there is a new moralism, one that is vague and seen as a claim addressed to others as opposed to a personal duty.

Ratzinger then turns to history, looking at the effects of the Enlightenment on European culture. I know I've heard from some people that "this is about Europe, what does that have to do with us in the US?" I found a lot of parallels between the intellectual path of the Enlightenment and that of the United States' relativistic society. Ratzinger highlights the Christian roots of Europe, and then moves into how the Enlightenment redefined the culture of Europe, actively ignoring and turning away from those roots. Under the guise of protecting others from ideas they may find offensive they created a community that excludes God. Thus forming a culture that is defined by choice, freedom of the expression of opinion, the ordering of the state to protect the rights of man, and rounding out with the prohibition of discrimination. All of which are good in themselves, but without a moral certitude these values crumble into subjective relativism. These defining goals transformed European culture into a culture led by a confused ideology. The Enlightenment claims that only the norms and substance of the Enlightenment can determine he identity of Europe. The question is whether this culture is founded on a reason common to all men? Without a society in search of the three transindentals, those of truth, beauty and goodness, its culture becomes weak, as it cannot stand on values defined by subjective choices.

In conclusion, the ever increasing technological advancement of the world is not growing in tandem with moral awareness. Since some form of morality is necessary to guide these advances, it has been diminished to universal yet abstract moral rights. These are what the Enlightenment is founded on. Even though this culture was founded in a place historically rich in Christianity, the Enlightenment chooses to hold to the mantra of a self-sustaining ideology in no need of its historical roots. So what do its concepts of choice, expression, democracy, human rights, freedom and prohibition of discrimination stand on? The vagaries of this premise automatically lend it to contradictions within its own standards of moral obligations, which leads to ta confused ideology. Turning an entire society into sheep without a shepherd. The fundamental question we must ask ourselves is: Is this culture formed on a reason that is common to all man?

Introduction: "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture"

The Introduction to "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture" was written by Marcello Pera, and is further titled "A Proposal that Should be Accepted."

I found this introduction to be riveting in its own virtue and, as opposed to some introductions to books, very necessary to proceeding any further with Cardinal Ratzinger's essays. In this introduction, the author, Marcello Pera, creates the scene by which we can understand the rest of the book. In short, the introduction is a study on the Scripture and Science. He proposes the question of whether or not the two can coincide.

Galileo

He begins by looking through history to Galileo and his letter written to Don Benedetto Castelli on December 21, 1613. For the question of science and religion has been in debate for centuries. Looking at this pivotal moment in history Pera pointed out Galileo's two theories of science and religion.The first theory was that Scripture, correctly translated, agreed with science, and in his case astronomy. Galileo's second theory being that Scripture was completely separate from science.

Let's take these theories one by one. Galileo's first theory, that Scripture agrees with science predicates these presuppositions. That scripture, as an objective truth, cannot be accommodated to our understanding. Rather, we must bend our minds to understand the truths of scripture. In this same light, scientific observations cannot be called into question by scripture because they are also objective truth. For a truth to be objective, it cannot contradict itself. Therefore science and scripture can work hand in hand, both leading to truth about the world and humanity. In this theory science and religion cannot conflict because they both proceed from the Divine Word. They advance together, enabling the others pursuits in the light of truth. Because of this science is bound to religion for the sake of harmony.

Looking at Galileo's second theory, that Scripture is completely separate from science we see a different set of presuppositions. Science and religion have two very different ends. The point of science is to discover facts, whereas the point of religion is to gain Salvation. An example he uses is that "the Holy Spirit teaches us to go to heaven, not how heaven goes." (page 8, Pera, Marcello, "Cristianity and the Crisis of Culture".) This theory pits Science against Religion, thereby completely separating them as one being irrelevant to the other. Because the two are independent of each other the cannot conflict because one cannot have anything further to add to the other. He points out further that Faith cannot be seen as proper knowledge as it is based on belief and can become subjective, thus it must be kept separate from the objective truths proved by science. The outcome of this theory is that science is free of religion for the sake of progress, even if the progress is morally wrong. It was this great division between religion and science, made by Galileo, that faith and truth became opposed to science and fact.

Immanuel Kant

It was from this divergence that the philosophies propagated by Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804, came to be. It was Kant who proclaimed that the logic of separation was more powerful than that, which unified Science and Religion. Further he said that religion must accept what science puts forth, even when science excludes God from the equation. Due to this separation the moral action, which requires God, cannot hinder science.

Hopefully you can see the trend that was started by Galileo. That science without reference to morality advances for the sake of progress only, without any reflection on what the progress will do to humanity. 

That being said, Pera goes on to say that progress of science is good and the foundations that began the Enlightenment are good. Yet there have been no checks or balances to the growth and spread of secularism. Now there is a gap between wisdom and knowledge. Further, Pera points out that all men are called to live as if God existed. For if each man, regardless of his view of God, lived as if He existed our world and society would necessarily be elevated to the genius which founded it. Living as if God existed provides, at the very least, a moral baseline from which all progress can be measured.

Road Map to "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture"

The time has come! I don't know how many people have been anxiously awaiting this, but I've been excited about it! As a precursor  I have not yet finished the entire book, merely 2/3 of it. But I feel that from that 2/3 I can begin to piece my way through it. The way I see it, by the time I catch up with blog posts to how far I am in the book, I'll be finished and ready to wrap up this exciting series.

Why does this book excite me so much? Well, it puts into glorious perspective the unique crosses believers face in our current culture. Not only that, but it points to deeper truths. These truths, if we take the time to reflect on them can make us more human, more real, and more fully alive in ourselves.

I spoke briefly about how interesting the choice of cover for this book was in my last post. This particular epitome will focus on the mode of "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture," so that in my next post, I can dive into the matter without further ado. This post can also serve as a valuable road map and reference to my future posts.

Simply put, "Christianity and the Crisis of Culture" is a collection of three essays written by, then, Cardinal Ratzinger. Here's the layout:

• Introduction
• Essay 1: The Crisis of Cultures
• Reflections on Cultures that are in Conflict Today
• The Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture
• The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith
• Essay 2: Right to Life
• Why We Must not Give Up the Fight
• The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of Law
• We Must Use Our Eyes!
• Essay 3: What Does it Mean to Believe?
• Faith and Everyday Life: A Fundamental Human Attitude
• Can Agnosticism be a Solution?
• The Natural Knowledge of God
• "Supernatural" Faith and its Origins
• Development of Premises
• Faith is anchored in what Jesus and the saints see
• The verification of faith in life
• Faiths "I," "you," and "we"

Here's how I plan to proceed:

I'm going to take one essay at a time. I will offer one post summarizing each of the chapters of that essay and then a final post at the end of an essay to tie it all together.

Another Friendship Post

"Friendship is nourished by sacrifice for the sake of serving one's friends and truly love thim. And without such sacrifice there can be no real friendship..."

-Bl. John Paul II

I sat on my deck last night. The warm winds of summer are beginning to blow into Peoria. I watched it fill the trees with life, the gentle sounds of its movement filling the air and mixing with the laughter of my friends. Light from inside my apartment and the lights draped about the railing of my deck cast warm glows on the faces that surounded me. It was a delightful evening.

The easy comraderie of the group, as the conversation ebbed in flowed from epic tales, to scientific fun facts, to movie analysis, filled the night. All of us united by bowls of ice cream. It was from my perch amidst my friends that joy spilled forth to fill my heart. These beautiful people who surruonded me will be gone soon, all moving toward the next stage in their lives. Yet, we will always be united in the moments we shared during their year with the Eagle Eye Institute.

This family of people, who come from all walks of life, all kinds of backgrounds, have let their hearts find solace in the rhythm of life with the Community of St. John. This shared experience of our time with the Community is not enough to forge a friendship though. The difference this year, with these people, is that I let myself be vulnerable and open to them. It's not always easy, I know that at the end of their year, they will all leave, but what a joy to build a friendship now.

I may not know what form these freindships will take in the future, but I find that I am not worried. When united through a shared desire, I know our paths will cross again.

Peace

“If peace is God’s gift and has its source in him, where are we to seek it and how can we build it, if not in a deep and intimate relationship with God?”

-Bl. Pope John Paul II-
Address to the representatives of the world religions.
Assisi, Jan 24, 2002

I love calendars, schedules, and planners. One of my favorite calendars is one on my desk. It is filled with quotes from my beloved Bl. John Paul II. From time to time one of the quotes resonates with me so deeply that I have to write a blog post on it.

Peace is a word that I love. My spiritual director begins each of our meetings by greeting me with "Peace," and the very word, spoken aloud, settles my heart and soul. I have a good friend, who through all of the changes of her life, has impressed me with her trust in God's plan and the peace that she posesses. My mother posesses that calm and quiet peace about her as well.

I long for peace in my heart. There is an extreme difference between peace and complacency. At times I am complacent, where I don't care about my troubles. Probably the opposite of peace, and yet deceitful enough to mask itself as peace. For if I don't care about my troubles than they can't distress me. So for a time I am lulled into a sort of counter-productive calm.

Peace is a total and utter trust in God's plan and faith in its fulfilment. So it's not that a person chooses not to care about his troubles, but that his troubles really are weightless. It's the knowledge that even amidst troubles, God's glory shines and finds its fulfillment.

“If peace is God’s gift and has its source in him, where are we to seek it and how can we build it, if not in a deep and intimate relationship with God?”

The Traditional Birthday Reflection Post

I ran late to Mass on the morning of my birthday. I got there in time for the Gospel, so was very thankful I could receive Jesus on the day of my birth. I stayed a little extra after Mass to read the readings I'd missed. Good thing I did because God had a great message for me on my birthday:

Isaiah 48: 17 - 19
17	Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
18	O that you had hearkened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19	your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me."

I'm not often frank on my blog. I dance around what's on my heart, hinting and posing questions that I then try to answer. This reading spoke to my heart in ways that only my Beloved could. The truth about me is that I spent a year with the Community of St. John to discern whether I had a vocation to religious life. At the end of the year I discerned that religious life was not how God was calling me to love or how he was calling me to be light to the world. Praise the Lord! But that started me on an infinitely harder journey filled with a desire for something more and an obvious time of waiting on God's timing.

This year I have said goodbye to three of my friends who have left to enter convents. The other two in this picture are in India and Texas waiting to enter at the word 'go.' It's been so beautiful to see how God has spoken to each of their hearts differently, and called them forth to be who he created. They still have a long journey to vows, but they're most certainly living God's will for them. How beautiful! How difficult it is to remain here waiting and hoping in God's plan for my life. How difficult it is to remain in the fire of desire.

"O that you had hearkened to my commandments! 

Then your peace would have been like a river..."

Such a beautiful challenge on my birthday, God calling me forward and beyond my limitations toward his heart. I'm of the firm conviction that God is using this time of waiting to prepare me for the trials of married and family life. Looking back I certainly wasn't ready for them when I was in college, and even looking back one year I can see how I was not ready. If only I would listen!!!! It is so hard to live by God's laws. To be humble and obedient to Him, to remain faithful and always listen for His voice in my daily life.

"Let me rise then and go about the city, through the streets and squares; let me seek him whom my soul loves." I sought him but I did not find him. 

Song of Songs 3: 2

Oh that I might so desire God's will that I actively seek him each day. If you think of it, my desire for God's will would compel me to be most myself. It's that kind of desire that compelled the saints to live heroic virtue. It's that kind of desire, which will build a culture of life and a civilization of love. As young people we are given a beautiful gift in our unique ardor for life. For my birthday, God woke me up to my unique call to live life now, living in hope of what is to come in His plan for my life. Then peace shall abound.

Faith

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things unseen.

Hebrews 11:1

The theme of faith has been following me this week! First I had that great encounter through confession, then last night I went to a talk my spiritual director was giving in preparation for the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. The topic last night was Adoration and I was, yet again, thrown into the mystery of Faith.

Since these talks were given in preparation for the consecration, speaking of Mary's Faith was a fundamental part of the talk. Because Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of His Son, she possessed all virtue perfectly. I often think that this means that Mary didn't have a care in the world, that because she possessed all virtue and grace, that she was above those little trials and sufferings I find so painful in daily life.

Yet, in Luke 1, Mary was troubled by what the Angel said to her. Father spoke of the poverty of God's plan. Mary had complete faith that God's will would be done in her life even though she did not understand "how can this be as I do not know man." (Luke 1:34)

"How can this be as I do not know man." This difinitive statement made by Our Lady reveals the secret of her heart kept in a covenant made in her body. A vow of virginity. Aquinas writes of this verse as her revelation of that vow. In all the other covenants God makes with man of conceiving to bear a son the promised child is conceived through the bond of the flesh. However, Christ is conceived through "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." (Luke 1:34) [I could probably do a whole post just on Mary's virginity, but will maybe save that for later.]

Mary trusted, even though she had made a vow to God through her body, that what He declared to her through the Angel Gabriel would come to be. The blind faith of Our Lady, without the understanding as the world sees it, but with eyes that trust in the Word of a loving God. Even more paradoxical than the birth of Christ is His death on the Cross.

Christ came to die, "and a sword shall pierce your heart." (Luke 2:35) She trusted through the 30 years of Christ's hidden life that His timing was perfect. She lived her life with the knowledge that her Son was the Son of God and that He chose to remain silent for those years. Then a mere three years after beginning his ministry, to be put to death on a cross, deserted by His friends save for John.

She was the mother of a dead Son and her Son gave her another. "Woman, behold, your son." (John 19: 26) The poverty of Mary's faith in God's plan allowed her to accept the gift of John and subsequently to be mother to us all. To trust entirely in God's plan is to live life without fear. To walk steadily forward trusting that even though you do not know the way, that God's light will lead you to truth.

There is a rediscovery of faith in the eyes of God. The realization that looking with eyes of this world will not get you closer to knowing His plan for your life. Looking at our Lady's faith, we can rediscover how we ought to pray. To offer our very selves as the sacrifice burnt before the Throne of God and to choose to love even when we do not have all the answers as to why trials and sacrifices have come. To embrace these trials as a standard of vicotory, holding to the cross as the cry of hope.

Checking In

I recently went to confession. The strength of this beautiful sacrament always fills me with awe.

One of my many goals is to discover how to live each stage of my life well. To be fully alive throughout my whole life. It's a hard mountain to climb and my second winds come from Confession. It's not always easy to continue to climb when I don't know how much further until I reach a peak.

This week the priest spoke with me about trusting God. He touched on the very thought that it's hard to always trust God when it's uncertain what the plan is. The wisdom he gave me was that God's plan is never static, it's constantly moving forward, and if you're living life fully alive you are always in God's plan. He advised that I take some time in prayer to check in to see where God is moving in my life.

God is moving in the silence. In this non-fulfillment of my vocational desires he is moving.

We are always called to hunger and thirst for truth, for fullness, for life itself! This paradox of not being satisfied with where I'm at and yet resting in the knowledge that His grace is sufficient is filling me right now. The audacity of hope is not something that's easy to define.

The challenge is to be fully alive and fully myself in all things. Never to hide behind fear or complacency, but dive fully into life. This trust that I so yearn for must be propelled by my firm resolve and desire for the fullness of life. If I am always striving to be more myself, I shall always be walking in God's plan for my life. The time will come and His timing will be better than my idea of perfection. For even when I do discover the fullness of my vocation the next journey will begin to discover how to live well that call.

Hope: It's a lifestyle choice.

The Way of Delight

I try, as often as I can, to go out for a bike ride after work. It automatically creates space and distance from the desk and it's good for me too!

I'm a big fan of riding the Rock Island State Trail. The beautiful thing about the trail, especially right now is that it's surrounded by trees. If you've ever read Anne of Green Gables and tried to imagine the way of delight or lover's lane, the Rock Island State Trail is pretty close. In fact, I'm going to allow myself an Anne moment and rename the trail because let's face it the Way of Delight just fits my little trail.

The beautiful thing about tonight's ride was that it took place near sunset. It was hard to tell pedaling forward whether the vibrant and vivid colors I saw in the trees were true fall colors or the very colors of the sunset. The light streaking across the path and breaking through the leaves to fill the path with an otherworldly glow. Couple with that the lazy hum of a few crickets still hanging on in the warm dirt and I found a haven from the business of the world.

A moment I look forward to on every bike ride is right about where I turn around. There's this field of something that has the color of goldenrod and it grows out into the distance. Away beyond it you can see the cars whizzing to and fro as people go home to their families for dinner. And beyond the already idyllic view the sunset lit up the horizon with vivid colors that stretched forward, providing a beautiful moment to just be silent and appreciate life.

It's moments like these that make me wonder why I don't stop more often. There are so many moments in life to simply sit back and smile about, why don't I take them?! I'm going to try to remember soak up all of these delightful fall rays of gold. Life is too full of busy moments not to take advantage of quiet ones.

Toward an End

As days of my life continue forward, each marching into the next to the same rhthym, that same beat, I sometimes wonder where I'm going. To move forward and to move toward are two different ideas. To simply be moving forward doesn't necessarily imply an end goal, merely life as usual. I so much desire to be moving toward an end.

I would like to be out of vocation limbo, but I have no idea when God is going to reveal that particular end to me. Endless days of the unknowing make it hard to feel like you're moving toward anything. It can wear on a person, and without the proper guidance can run a person into the ground. It happens to some of us whether we'd like it to or not. Which is when we need to throw ourselves even more deeply, more passionately and with more conviction into the burning love Christ has for us.

The beautiful thing about God's creation is that he created each with a plan. Praise the Lord that this doesn't exclude me! If God created each with a plan, then to discover the fullness of that plan, each must be fully alive. My spiritual director was very encouraging (before he left me for the whole summer) in that to encounter God's plan for my life all I need to do is go where I am most fully myself, and ergo most fully alive. Do things that are mine to do, and live this stage of my life waiting for the fulfilment of my vocation with the same zeal as when I encounter my end.

To do this I need to be detached from those 'familiar' things that will pull me down into a pattern of predictable nothings. Each day is comprised of choices, shall I go for a walk and breathe fresh air OR sit on my couch and watch another tv episode online? When spelled out like that the choice seems obvious, I would be more awake if I went for a walk. If I can come up for a million reasons to remain asleep and join couch potatoes annonymous, you can imagine how many more reasons I give myself for why I'm not in the chapel every day.

The truth is that I cannot fight this battle alone and lately I've been trying to. Not in anything like active rebellion but those small choices I make every day that rob me of zeal and doom me to mediocrity. If I want to be moving toward my vocation, then I need to live my life walking toward it. Daring to choose to embrace my life as it is and dive into it with full abandonment.