Wow, this was an excellent read. Such a good analogy, especially for someone who 1) grew up playing soccer, and it's the only sport I've ever loved, and 2) grew up Catholic, left the Church for over a decade, and thanks be to God, finally came back Home to the Catholic Church and now have such an immense appreciation for our Mother Church like I never did before. Everything I used to hate about the Church (the tradition, the dogma, etc.) I now love. This post put into words many thoughts I've had before, but had yet been able to put into words. Thank you! Keep fighting the good fight, brother. God Bless you.
thanks so much for saying this. a lot of times you write and wonder if anyone connects with it so this means alot. congrats on your reversion! God Bless!
Simply fantastic stuff Stephen- and amazingly, a topic I was wrestling with yesterday. I went out to lunch with two other hospital chaplains yesterday. One is a woman about to be ordained as an Episcopalian priestess. The other is a borderline atheist who recently renounced his ordination in the Christian Reformed Church. I myself, as you have gathered, am an orthodox, practicing Roman Catholic. As I listened to each of them discuss their spiritual lives, I noticed my brain short-circuiting and my heart aching. All of their language about their spiritual lives was ultimately narcissistic, therapeutic, and exactly as players of the, "new game", in your metaphor, would sound. Both approach religion as a quest to find a church which makes them feel comfortable (as opposed to challenged), which confirms them in their pre-existing opinions and political leanings, and which affirms them as people who already have the right ideas about God and reality. Neither of them seemed to have ever considered what God might want or require of them. Neither of them sought a Church where they might offer to God what He is owed, or where they might make an attempt at satisfying the divine justice owed to them for their sins. I don't think either of them actually had any meaningful concept of sin, as both expressed admiration for the local Unitarians who are certain that everyone goes to heaven. It was all so banal and beige and lifeless. The most awkward moments came when they acknowledged that all the churches they like are dying and closing their doors, and how hard it is to find churches flying the rainbow flags which have viable programs for their children. Despite the evidence before their eyes, they persist in thinking that this is evidence that they are actually the enlightened ones, and of course, enlightened people are few and far between, so that must explain why the churches are empty and the Episcopal diocese hasn't had a bishop for years. It couldn't possibly be that the Holy Spirit has removed Himself from their midst due to their blasphemy and vandalism of the faith. The, "new game" "religion" they inhabit is the religion of a God made in their own image, where they, rather than God, decide what constitutes good and evil, a total inversion, with moral autonomy as it's underlying principle. Keep up the great work and God bless you.
A fantastic way to look at modern attitudes. And a warning to us all -- half-hearted attempts to pick and choose the things we prefer to restore, and leave out the real tough stuff -- it's almost like we think a religion is supposed to make us feel COMFORTABLE, rather than challenge us to grow and improve.
Right I think the parable is another riff on Chesterton's fence. One that points out the problem of rebuilding once the wolves are in the henhouse so to speak.
Two quick thoughts here. Evil is the absence of good. This doesn't mean evil isn't active. Satan is so powerful bc the corruption of his will did not destroy all the goodness of his nature, eg intelligence. Second as I tried to convey in the second half of this post I am most troubled by how myself and my ideological bedfellows have reacted to evil rather than the evil itself.
I don't like contemporary Catholic theology and can't recommend it. Ok maybe one exception is Lawrence Feingold and also Steven long. But in many respects they're academics not public theologians. But I'd recommend anscar vonier, really all his works are wonderful and edifying and usually accessible free online. Rev Marie dom garrigou-legrange is also excellent.
i love the point about the players of the old game not talking about the old game. i think thats true, they just play. great point.
some of my other posts about privationism make it a little clearer the historical time frame i am looking at. but i really think the old game was completely demolished by the spirit of ´68. so if there was a gradrual decrease of nobility past on culturally, i think the dam only realy breaks in the 20th century.
Wow, this was an excellent read. Such a good analogy, especially for someone who 1) grew up playing soccer, and it's the only sport I've ever loved, and 2) grew up Catholic, left the Church for over a decade, and thanks be to God, finally came back Home to the Catholic Church and now have such an immense appreciation for our Mother Church like I never did before. Everything I used to hate about the Church (the tradition, the dogma, etc.) I now love. This post put into words many thoughts I've had before, but had yet been able to put into words. Thank you! Keep fighting the good fight, brother. God Bless you.
thanks so much for saying this. a lot of times you write and wonder if anyone connects with it so this means alot. congrats on your reversion! God Bless!
This one definitely connected with me. Thank you! May God be praised :)
Simply fantastic stuff Stephen- and amazingly, a topic I was wrestling with yesterday. I went out to lunch with two other hospital chaplains yesterday. One is a woman about to be ordained as an Episcopalian priestess. The other is a borderline atheist who recently renounced his ordination in the Christian Reformed Church. I myself, as you have gathered, am an orthodox, practicing Roman Catholic. As I listened to each of them discuss their spiritual lives, I noticed my brain short-circuiting and my heart aching. All of their language about their spiritual lives was ultimately narcissistic, therapeutic, and exactly as players of the, "new game", in your metaphor, would sound. Both approach religion as a quest to find a church which makes them feel comfortable (as opposed to challenged), which confirms them in their pre-existing opinions and political leanings, and which affirms them as people who already have the right ideas about God and reality. Neither of them seemed to have ever considered what God might want or require of them. Neither of them sought a Church where they might offer to God what He is owed, or where they might make an attempt at satisfying the divine justice owed to them for their sins. I don't think either of them actually had any meaningful concept of sin, as both expressed admiration for the local Unitarians who are certain that everyone goes to heaven. It was all so banal and beige and lifeless. The most awkward moments came when they acknowledged that all the churches they like are dying and closing their doors, and how hard it is to find churches flying the rainbow flags which have viable programs for their children. Despite the evidence before their eyes, they persist in thinking that this is evidence that they are actually the enlightened ones, and of course, enlightened people are few and far between, so that must explain why the churches are empty and the Episcopal diocese hasn't had a bishop for years. It couldn't possibly be that the Holy Spirit has removed Himself from their midst due to their blasphemy and vandalism of the faith. The, "new game" "religion" they inhabit is the religion of a God made in their own image, where they, rather than God, decide what constitutes good and evil, a total inversion, with moral autonomy as it's underlying principle. Keep up the great work and God bless you.
thanks alot for this encouraging comment! God bless!
THIS is why I want people to define their terms. Google defines evil as Christian & conservative.
A fantastic way to look at modern attitudes. And a warning to us all -- half-hearted attempts to pick and choose the things we prefer to restore, and leave out the real tough stuff -- it's almost like we think a religion is supposed to make us feel COMFORTABLE, rather than challenge us to grow and improve.
>>say the game would be improved by the removal of the rule to avoid these negative consequences.
Hmmm. Would they do a cost benefit analysis? Would they predict, in some way, what the game would be like without that rule? The cherry picking goals?
Chesterton's fence.
Right I think the parable is another riff on Chesterton's fence. One that points out the problem of rebuilding once the wolves are in the henhouse so to speak.
Great analogon! Thx!
On second thought. Feingolds lectures posted on this website are thrilling. And enjoyable to listen to when walking round Europe.
Highly recommend. https://www.hebrewcatholic.net/studies/.
You're very welcome. Let me know what you think of the lectures if you do give them a listen.
Two quick thoughts here. Evil is the absence of good. This doesn't mean evil isn't active. Satan is so powerful bc the corruption of his will did not destroy all the goodness of his nature, eg intelligence. Second as I tried to convey in the second half of this post I am most troubled by how myself and my ideological bedfellows have reacted to evil rather than the evil itself.
I don't like contemporary Catholic theology and can't recommend it. Ok maybe one exception is Lawrence Feingold and also Steven long. But in many respects they're academics not public theologians. But I'd recommend anscar vonier, really all his works are wonderful and edifying and usually accessible free online. Rev Marie dom garrigou-legrange is also excellent.
thanks for this thoughtful comment.
i love the point about the players of the old game not talking about the old game. i think thats true, they just play. great point.
some of my other posts about privationism make it a little clearer the historical time frame i am looking at. but i really think the old game was completely demolished by the spirit of ´68. so if there was a gradrual decrease of nobility past on culturally, i think the dam only realy breaks in the 20th century.