Amen brother. I was neck-high in politics for most of my younger life. In 2014 I felt that the Lord was asking, "why are you striving so hard for this nation that will one day end when you can work for My Kingdom that will never end?" I rode out the final days of my elected position and put my hands to a different plow. Appreciate you MWD!
I would appreciate your comments on how you would address the deep phenomenological challenges presented here. I agree on the image of the sail -- without the essential suppleness, the sail cloth the sail is useless or less useful. But as creatures, made for communion, are we simply an instrument for God's locomotion or is there something more? And if there is anything more how do we make sense of what is truly right versus the wisdom of man?
Regardless of whether we are seeking political solutions (or not) most crave some form of consistency as we consider and make sense of our surroundings -- but as you know Christ challenges not just Isreal's desire for a king but our desire for home and hearth.
The Sermon the Mount leaves me shattered phenomenologically and even my (and I anticipate most everyone else's) heroes of the faith fail to meet the standards of the Sermon on the Mount. Alternatively if there are Saints who have lived out the Sermon on the Mount, I doubt many of us can understand their life.
I don't believe God seeks to leave us in chaos (i.e. the sail has a purpose and direction in the hands of the sailor), nor should we simply wait for the next world in some form of Gnostic-lite, but most of humanity cannot live in a .... [NTD: insert favourite Christian community or setting of your choice] but what is the solution. Is it simply to avoid the outermost throws of modernity?
This is an interesting question. I'm not sure I'm up to tackle it. The point of this particular book was not to recommend a solution per se. It was more to warn folks about the dangers of Mammon-worship disguised as Christian conservatism. That's why I said:
<< Ultimately, the answers are not to be found in men like me or books like this. They’re in Scripture and the Fathers. They’re in the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Mass, or whatever you prefer to call it. They’re within you, dear reader. Remember what Saint Paul says: “You are an epistle of Christ”—yes, you—“written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” >>
Exactly the message I needed this morning.
Great encouragement for these dark times. I look forward to reading the entire book.
Love your enemies.
Amen brother. I was neck-high in politics for most of my younger life. In 2014 I felt that the Lord was asking, "why are you striving so hard for this nation that will one day end when you can work for My Kingdom that will never end?" I rode out the final days of my elected position and put my hands to a different plow. Appreciate you MWD!
That's an amazing story. Glory to God. Thanks for being here, brother. I appreciate you!
I really don't need another book... but I could not help buying yours after reading this. Thank you Michael. God bless you.
I would appreciate your comments on how you would address the deep phenomenological challenges presented here. I agree on the image of the sail -- without the essential suppleness, the sail cloth the sail is useless or less useful. But as creatures, made for communion, are we simply an instrument for God's locomotion or is there something more? And if there is anything more how do we make sense of what is truly right versus the wisdom of man?
Regardless of whether we are seeking political solutions (or not) most crave some form of consistency as we consider and make sense of our surroundings -- but as you know Christ challenges not just Isreal's desire for a king but our desire for home and hearth.
The Sermon the Mount leaves me shattered phenomenologically and even my (and I anticipate most everyone else's) heroes of the faith fail to meet the standards of the Sermon on the Mount. Alternatively if there are Saints who have lived out the Sermon on the Mount, I doubt many of us can understand their life.
I don't believe God seeks to leave us in chaos (i.e. the sail has a purpose and direction in the hands of the sailor), nor should we simply wait for the next world in some form of Gnostic-lite, but most of humanity cannot live in a .... [NTD: insert favourite Christian community or setting of your choice] but what is the solution. Is it simply to avoid the outermost throws of modernity?
This is an interesting question. I'm not sure I'm up to tackle it. The point of this particular book was not to recommend a solution per se. It was more to warn folks about the dangers of Mammon-worship disguised as Christian conservatism. That's why I said:
<< Ultimately, the answers are not to be found in men like me or books like this. They’re in Scripture and the Fathers. They’re in the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Mass, or whatever you prefer to call it. They’re within you, dear reader. Remember what Saint Paul says: “You are an epistle of Christ”—yes, you—“written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” >>
Close // between this piece and Paul Kingsnorth’s recent work!
I'm a big fan of PK and he kindly blurbed "After Christendom."