“He bent over all that groaned… the universe appeared to him an immense malady; he felt fever everywhere; he heard the sound of suffering all around him; and without trying to solve the enigma, he sought to heal the wound.” I read these words, again and again, year after year, wondering what they mean, wondering...
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“He takes her pain into his hands.” Wanting to pay attention—in that deepest way that Simone Weil calls us to —I have been reading a novel by Eugene Vodolazkin, set in 15th-century Russia, always an ambitious empire, too often an arrogant empire. While born in Kiev (contemporary Ukraine), Vodolazkin lives in St. Petersburg (contemporary Russia);...
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If there were ever a season for the believer to recognize his or her worth and focus on the dignity of his or her fellow human being, it is the Advent season! Advent is a season of waiting, preparation and expectation for the incarnation of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The word is literally defined as...
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I hate this place. How is it possible to hate what you’re thankful for? I haven’t worked out all the details yet. Some questions are better after caffeine anyway, so I pour a cup of coffee so piping hot, it requires coursework in advanced thermodynamics. I sip with trepidation, a squint-eyed geologist exploring bitter...
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A disposition to dualism. The image caught me, thinking through my work last week. From teaching here in Washington, to speaking in Birmingham and Chicago, those words captured what I saw and heard. But what is dualism? and why does it matter? On Thursday morning this jumped into my face, standing in a large circle...
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“It was not man who implanted in himself what is infinite and the love of what is immortal: those lofty instincts are not the offspring of his capricious will; their steadfast foundation is fixed in human nature, and they exist in spite of his efforts.” Alexis de Tocqueville Eternity has long been a subject beyond...
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