The Enlargement of the Heart

A quick quote -- one that is simple yet at the same time very difficult:

By shame we extinguish shame. That is why the sacrament of confession is so powerful and so regenerating. We bear a little shame on earth for the sake of the Lord, and He gives us such grace, so as to be able to overcome our sins and receive healing for our brokenness. Therefore, becasue He Himself, in His way down, bore the "cross of shame", the more shame we bear the better, the more grace we shall receive for our healing and for a glorious salvation . . . And so it is unavoidable for us, too, to bear a little shame, if we wish to follow Him. He bore shame for our salvation, the cross of shame, and when we share that shame for His sake, according to His commandment, and in order to reconcile ourselves to Him, He considers that a response of gratitude, and He measures out His gifts to us.

-- Archmandrite Zacharias, The Enlargement of the Heart

I am a poor example of bearing shame on a number of levels. I am nonetheless inspired and energized by quotes (and more importantly the lives from which they spring forth) such as these, which call me not to question difficulty in life, but to give thanks for it. Glory to God for all things.

Po-mo, Po' me

This person:

a) is in a photo shoot for Rolling Stone magainze with photographer Annie Leibovitz

b) has very likely spent too much time pondering his appearance in the mirror

c) is a Seattle Mariners fan

d) ate way too much curry last night

e) is an ultra-hip pomo Christian writer

I'm sure Donald Miller is a good guy but I can't help but give him a hard time for this picture.

Warning . . .

. . . the following quote contains some political "buzz words" (I hear there are some elections coming up soon). Part of my frustration with politics is its inability to deal with the ills of the human condition. Dostoevsky defines this as a great "blasphemy" against God:

"[this blasphemy is] denial not of God, but of the meaning of His creation. The whole of socialism emerged and began with the denial of the meaning of historical reality and went on to a program of destruction and anarchism . . . the scientific and philisophical refutation of the existence of God has already been abandoned, present-day practical socialists are not occupied with it at all, instead they deny with all their might God's creation, God's world, and its meaning. Here in this alone does modern civilization find its nonsense."*

As a Christian, I am forced to deal with the tension of my responsibility as a citizen and the realization that (in my opinion) no matter who I vote for, it involves a compromrise of my faith and casting a vote for, in the words of a friend, "the evils of two lessers" who willingly perpetuate the blasphemy Dostoevsky describes above.

This is not to say that political system is void of any value or that some temporal concerns are frivolous or even purely temporary. Certain moral issues facing this country are black and white. However, deciding which party to vote for, with their secular "answers" for eternal problems, is not.

Not only do I disagree with the means by which our political parties seek to fix societal ills, I am cynical of a political system that is BASED on disagreement with one another. From my viewpoint it is the political system itself, not the polarizing issues or the media (which Donald Miller and others have recently scapegoated as a reason for the current state of polarization in our country) which deserves the primary blame. How are we supposed to be "unified" when a president who wins the election "easily" with 60% of the popular vote still has millions of people who voted for the other candidate and disagree, even strongly with his/her position? I'm no genius but that doesn't sound like a recipe for unity.

*quote taken from the introduction written by Richard Pevear to the novel Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky, pg xx.

I've seen a Carman concert in the round

You know you are feeling tired and/or possibly getting sick if you find yourself unable to move from the couch while watching a Carman concert on TBN.

Deep thoughts

I hate politics.

That is all.