Jane Austen, In and Out of the Closet

"…It is a handsome chapel, and was formerly in constant use both morning and evening. Prayers were always read in it by the domestic chaplain, within the memory of many; but the late Mr. Rushworth left it off.""Every generation has its improvements," said Miss Crawford, with a smile, to Edmund.(Mansfield Park, Chapter 9) The great...

Against Self-Fulfilment! Against Self-Realisation!

None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself…We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves; let each of us please our neighbour for the good, for building up.(Saul of Tarsus, Letter to the Romans 14:7 and 15:1-2, NABRE) To be...

The Transcendent Genius of Rudyard Kipling

Those who are blessed with great talents are sometimes also greatly tormented by inner-demons which lead them on to great follies (or worse.) We, however, should not allow our vision of the greatness that talent produces to be blocked by the clouds of darkness that folly sends up. We ourselves do not desire that other...

Against ‘Lived Experience’

The relative knowledge that resides in the intelligence and its intellections is said to stimulate our longing for the real knowledge attained by participation. This real knowledge, which through experience and participation brings about a perception of what is known, supersedes the knowledge that resides in the intelligence and the intellections.(Maximos the Confessor: Fourth Century...

Focus On (More Than) Your Breathing

Mindfulness is one of the most popular meditation practices in the West and it is very secular by nature.(Giovanni Dienstmann: Practical Meditation) Mindfulness is acceptance(Padraig O'Morain: Mindfulness on the Go) Our lives are like a film, and we are the stars of the story.(Terri Kozlowski: Practical Ways to be More Present and Aware to Live...

Read Old Books! And Do So Slowly

He was allowed two books a week from the prison library. In the first week of his sentence he read both books through in one day, devouring them with the swift efficiency that he gave to all his business matters. He finished that day with the restless, nervous fatigue that he had come to regard...

Love Your Enemies

How happy we were when a military postcard, or even better, a letter arrived from Reinach! He was stationed in the vicinity of Verdun. In one letter he once sent us each a snowdrop. He had picked them himself, and they were still fresh when they arrived.(Life in a Jewish Family, Edith Stein; Chapter VII)...

In Defence of (a sense of) Sin

“God help us!” said Holmes after a long silence. “Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’”(The Boscombe Valley Mystery: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)...

Concealed Entrance

For a while now The Great Stoppage had been replaced by the Slow Reawakening. Life had visibly and audibly resumed something akin to its habitual rhythms. John Delacroix experienced this as a kind of loss and not, as apparently he was supposed to, as a definite gain, a victory even. During the stoppage he had...

Say His Name!

You don't need a horoscope or a microscopeTo see the mess that you're inIf you open up your heartYou will know what I meanWe've been polluted so longNow here's a way for you to get cleanBy chanting the names of the Lord and you'll be free(George Harrison) A young monk was anxious about the eternal...