On the Fourth of July, my family continued a long-standing American tradition; we celebrated our country’s Independence Day by reading aloud the document we honor that day: The Declaration of Independence. I believe that looking carefully at this document helps us understand our history and the purpose for which this nation was founded. I plan … Continue reading Declaration Part II
Declaration Part I
On the Fourth of July, my family continued a long-standing American tradition; we celebrated our country’s Independence Day by reading aloud the document we honor with that day: The Declaration of Independence. I believe that looking carefully at this document helps us understand our history and the purpose for which this nation was founded. I … Continue reading Declaration Part I
Declare!
Happy 4th of July! I really encourage you to read our Declaration of Independence out loud at your family gatherings. And say a prayer for the brave men who put their names to this revolutionary parchment for our good. God bless! ____________ IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America When … Continue reading Declare!
Personhood: Part Three
This is my final installment in my three-week series on personhood. First, I wrote Part One: Personhood—Relational Being. Last week, I wrote Part Two: Personhood—Fallen Individuals. Today, I will focus on Part Three: Personhood Redeemed. In part one, I talked about what it might mean to think of the human person as a relational being. … Continue reading Personhood: Part Three
Personhood: Part Two
This is my second week of writing on Personhood. Last week, I wrote Part One: Personhood—Relational Being. Today, I will focus on Part Two: Personhood—Fallen Individuals. Next week, I’ll write Part Three: Personhood Redeemed. In part one, I talked about what it might mean to think of the human person as a relational being. This … Continue reading Personhood: Part Two
Personhood: Part One
This past week, we Catholics celebrated Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the central mystery of our faith; three Persons—the Father, Son, and Spirit—in one God. Meditating on this mystery always brings me back to the mystery of persons. In honor of this Solemnity, I’m going to do a trilogy of posts. Part One: Personhood—Relational Being; … Continue reading Personhood: Part One
Happiness and Friendship
Happiness and Friendship Friendship In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that having true friendship is a necessary part of a happy life. Everyone can relate to that in some measure. We are social animals, affected positively and negatively by those around us. Since happiness lies in fulfilling what we are, our happiest happiness is never … Continue reading Happiness and Friendship
Desire
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not. ~Macbeth, Act I, Scene 3 ____________ Desire Sometimes, you look around and realize that you are content. You have a good family, a job, friends, “golden opinions … Continue reading Desire
Stoicism
Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are… whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control… whatever are not our own actions. ~The Enchiridion, by Epictetus ____________ Stoicism Stoicism was a popular philosophy in ancient Greece and, later, in Rome. The Stoic Epictetus taught the above dichotomy … Continue reading Stoicism
Education
The value of an education… is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks. ~Attributed to Albert Einstein ____________ Education A wise woman once complained to me that the problem with the education system in the United States is that we no … Continue reading Education
A Grain of Salt 