“… many that are first shall be last; and the last first.”
Mark 10:31
Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.
Matt 5:42
Journey toward Love
St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia treasured the following quote from the writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian. He had it printed and handed out to his visitors.
We should look upon all the faithful as one person and consider that Christ is in each one of them. We should have such love for them that we are ready to sacrifice our very lives for them. For it is incumbent upon us neither to say, nor think of any person as evil, but we must look upon everyone as good. If you see a brother afflicted with a passion, do not hate him. Hate the passion that makes war upon him. And if you see him being terrorized by the habits and desires of previous sins, have compassion on him. Maybe you too will be afflicted by temptation, since you are also made from matter that easily turns from good to evil. Love towards your brother prepares you to love God even more. The secret, therefore, of love towards God is love towards your brother. For if you don’t love your brother whom you see, how is it possible to love God whom you do not see?
For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God Whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).
Fr Stephen Freeman
Wisdom and Knowledge
Knowledge is knowing that a Tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing that you don’t put Tomato in a fruit salad!
Brian Rosner
There is a difference between knowing something and knowing what to do with it and what not to do about it.
I might know when I am right about something, but there is knowing whether or not to make a big deal about it. Something I think I need to apply more to marriage, parenting, faculty meetings, and social media!
Knowledge is factual, while wisdom looks towards practical application and takes into account broader considerations about context and consequences.
Knowledge is about knowing the what; while wisdom considers how and when to apply that knowledge.
Knowledge can be acquired through study and learning (or a quick Google search); yet wisdom comes from life-experience, mistakes, and reflection.
Knowledge should inform decisions, so we get the facts right; but wisdom provides the guardrails for how we use knowledge, and it helps us navigate the complexities in life.
Pursue knowledge, yet act with wisdom!
Pray that “wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Prov 2:10).
Michael Bird
Maybe someone should start an Opaque Church, where we could learn to give up one kind of vision in hope of another. Instead of wearing name tags, we would touch each other’s faces. Instead of looking around to see who’s there, we could learn to listen for each other’s voices.
Learning to Walk in the Dark: Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night
Taylor, Barbara Brown
Prescient Quote: 1985
Americans are the best entertained and quite likely the least well-informed people in the Western world. I say this in the face of the popular conceit that television social media, as a window to the world, has made Americans exceedingly well informed… what is happening here is that television social media is altering the meaning of ‘being informed’ by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation… misleading information—misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented, or superficial information—information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing. [my edit]
Neil Postman Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Human Institutions
“Human institutions cannot be equated with the kingdom of God, but until the full consummation of God’s kingdom, we will need human institutions to constrain us. Evangelicals, therefore, should rethink their longstanding anti-institutionalism. It’s wise to be wary of placing too much faith in a human institution, whether in government or anywhere else. But if the only alternative to governmental institutions that we have to offer is radical individualism, we probably need to reread the Bible’s teachings about the individual sinful proclivities that make institutions a necessary part of our fallen world.”
Daniel K Williams
“illusion of asymmetric insight.”
The conviction that we know others better than they know us—and that we may have insights about them they lack (but not vice versa)—leads us to talk when we would do well to listen and to be less patient than we ought to be when others express the conviction that they are the ones who are being misunderstood or judged unfairly.
Emily Pronin
a majority of Americans believe that the US spends about 25% of its budget on foreign aid. Most Americans believe that amount should be cut down to 10%. The problem is that in reality, the U.S. spends less than 1% of the budget on foreign aid.
Inner Religious Experience
Until someone has had some level of inner religious experience,?there is no point in asking them to follow the ethical ideals of Jesus or to really understand Christian doctrines beyond the formulaic level. We quite simply don’t have the power to follow any gospel ideal—such as loving others, forgiving enemies, living simply and nonviolently, or humble use of power—except in and through union with God. Nor do doctrines like the Trinity, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, salvation, or the mystery of incarnation have meaning that actually changes our lives. Without inner experience of the Divine, these are merely ideas in books. Without having what Bill Wilson of Alcoholics Anonymous called “a vital spiritual experience,” nothing authentically new or life-giving happens.
Richard Rohr
‘Ideas create idols. Only wonder leads to knowing.’
St. Gregory of Nyssa
ARCHIE update
4.5 lbs.
Thankful
STILL ON THE JOURNEY