He doesn’t think of doctrines as primarily ‘true’ or ‘false’, but as ‘academic’ or ‘practical’, ‘outworn’ or ‘contemporary’, ‘conventional’ or ‘ruthless. Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Chapter 1 Like a lot of people, I grew up with an education that was…
On Spirituality
Leo Tolstoy’s “Two Brothers and the Gold”
I didn’t expect while reading a set of short stories as research for writing my own short stories, that the stories themselves would give me any epiphanal moments. My only intention was to read to learn how to structure the stories and develop the characters and settings. But, of course, God had different plans. I…
You Choose Your Reaction
Yesterday was the longest day of travel I’ve ever had. After a foggy morning drive to Midway airport, I received a notification that my flight had been delayed by more than three hours. By the time I got to the desk to change my connecting flight, every flight out of Chicago had been cancelled. Some…
The Lent Trap
I almost didn’t buy flowers for my wife on Valentine’s Day. Since it was also Ash Wednesday, we decided to defer the celebration of Valentine’s Day until the following Sunday. That way, we could focus on the fasting required on Ash Wednesday. I spent most of the day thinking about what I was doing for…
Ash Wednesday and Memento Mori
Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. With the rise in popularity of Stoicism (mostly thanks to Ryan Holiday) among many people today, so too has come the increase in awareness of the Latin phrase memento mori, which means “remember your death.” The phrase has seen a resurgence among Catholics today, too. Sr….
