Life, Death, and Love

You might recognize this as lyrics from Carly Simon's Have You Seen Me Lately album: the fourth track.

"...And life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon, and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight...."

I ran into it as part of a prayer by Fr. Bede Jarrett, who had said he was repeating something William Penn wrote. Rossiter W. Raymond wrote the lines into his "Death is Only an Horizon" poem.

I'll get back to a longer excerpt from Fr. Jarrett's prayer: after talking about death, life, love, and all that.

Memento Mori and Carpe Diem

"Memento mori" — Latin for 'remember your death,' more or less — makes sense: if done with common sense. Recognition of approaching death can have a wonderfully focusing effect.

But there's wisdom in "carpe diem," too. The phrase, from a Latin poet's "Odes," isn't the oldest suggestion that enjoying the 'now' makes sense.

The idea goes back at least as far as the "Epic of Gilgamesh"¹ and Ecclesiastes 2:24.

So do comparisons involving folly and wind:

"...As for man, his days are numbered,
whatever he may do, it is but wind...."
(Gilgamesh to Enkidu, in "Epic of Gilgamesh;" tablet III, the Old Babylonian version; via Wikipquote)

— — —

"⁴ 'What the eyes see is better than what the desires wander after.' This also is vanity and a chase after wind."
(Ecclesiastes 6:9)

As I've said before, it's hardly surprising that the Hebrews picked up imagery from Mesopotamian cultures. (March 29, 2015; July 15, 2014)

Moderation

Pleasure, enjoyed in moderation, is a good idea:

"³ There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and provide himself with good things by his labors. Even this, I realized, is from the hand of God.

"For who can eat or drink apart from him?"
(Eccelsiastes 2:24-25)

If that doesn't sound "Biblical," maybe it's because America's assumptions and attitudes about God and faith tend toward the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" style.

Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners" sermon is old-fashioned 'fire and brimstone' preaching, filled with encouraging words like these:

"...every unconverted Man properly belongs to Hell...."

"...The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you...."

"...you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God...."
("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," pp. 6, 9, 15, 18; Jonathan Edwards (July 8, 1741) (via Digital Commons@University of Nebraska-Lincoln))

God does not hate me, or you.

"For God so loved the world that he gave ⁷ his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn ⁸ the world, but that the world might be saved through him. "
(John 3:16-17)

God loves us, and wants to adopt us. (John 3:17; Ephesians 1:3-5; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 52, 1825)

As adopted children, we're expected to act like God matters. I've been over that before. (October 4, 2015; September 6, 2015)

Getting back to pleasure, life, and getting a grip — God made and is making a good and beautiful world. (Genesis 1:1-2:9; Catechism, 31-32)

Pretending that this world's beauty is icky makes no sense. Not to me, anyway. Neither does assuming that getting more stuff should be top priority:

"And if riches be a desirable possession in life, what is more rich than Wisdom, who produces all things?

"And if prudence renders service, who in the world is a better craftsman than she?

"² Or if one loves justice, the fruits of her works are virtues; For she teaches moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful for men than these.

"Or again, if one yearns for copious learning, she knows the things of old, and infers those yet to come. She understands the turns of phrases and the solutions of riddles; signs and wonders she knows in advance and the outcome of times and ages. "
(Wisdom 8:5-8)

Moderation makes sense. (Catechism, 1809, 2264, 2362, 2405, 2496, 2522, 2548)

Life, Death, and Beyond

Human life is sacred, and health is a 'precious gift.' I'm expected to take care of my health: within reason. (Catechism, 2258, 2274-2279, 2288-2289)

Sooner or later, though, I'll die. Right after that, there's a final performance review: my particular judgment. (Catechism, 1021-1022)

I'm not looking forward to it, but it's unavoidable.

Then I live forever, which is good news or bad news, depending on what I do with the package I've been issued.

If I've taken God seriously, I'll have loved God, loved my neighbors, seen everyone as my neighbor, and treated others as I'd like to be treated. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

I've discussed faith, works, and James 2:14-26 before. (September 6, 2015; March 22, 2015; July 27, 2014)

After my particular judgment, there's Heaven, the Purgatory-Heaven track: or Hell. (Catechism, 1023-1037)

Purgatory is not a 'get out of Hell free' card. It's more like an ICU or emergency room for souls, and that's another topic.

Bottom line, we get one life, one soul, and one chance at eternity. Hope is a virtue, despair is not an option, and hope lasts as long as we live. (Catechism, 366, 988-1014, 1021-1022, 1501, 1817-1821, 2091)

This looks like a good place for more of that prayer:

"...What you give you do not take away, for what is yours is ours also if we are yours. And life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon, and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further; cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly; draw us closer to yourself that we may know ourselves to be nearer to our loved ones who are with you..."
("For Our Departed Loved Ones," Fr. Bede Jarrett; from "The Catholic Prayer Book;" complied by Msgr. Michael Buckley, edited by Tony Castle; p. 309 (1984, updated 2013)

Creation 2.0

Where was I? Carly Simon, dust, death, judgment. Right.

After death and judgment there's this creation's closing ceremony — the Last Judgment — and we see what's next. (Catechism, 1038-1050)

Some speculation about Creation 2.0 is informed; some not so much.

I've indulged in that sort of guesswork, but I think this pretty well sums up what we know:

"I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people ⁴ and God himself will always be with them (as their God).

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.' "
(Revelation 21:3-4)

I'll see you there: I hope.

More about life, death, and making sense:

• "Suicide: No Future in It"
  (August 22, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Despair, No: Prayer, Yes
• "Time, Decisions, and the Long View"
  (August 12, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Looking Ahead
• "Death? Been There, Done That"
  (April 5, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Jesus Died - - -
  • - - - and Stopped Being Dead
  • The Last Hour — Two Millennia and Counting
• "Fire, Brimstone, and Lollipop Faith"
  (March 15, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Hellfire and Lollipops
  • Sin, Love, and Robots
  • Living the Truth
• "Moderation and a Pythagorean Dribble Glass"
  (January 25, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Pythagorean Cups: The Thinking Person's Dribble Glass
  • Love, Money, and Not Going Crazy
  • Ecclesiastes, Kansas, and Beyond

---

¹ Gilgamesh was probably a Sumerian king, sometime between the reigns of Qa'a and Khufu. He's also the hero of the "Epic of Gilgamesh." There's an Old Babylonian version of "Epic of Gilgamesh," but we're more familiar with the copy found in Ashurbanipal's library.

"...As for man, his days are numbered, whatever he may do, it is but wind...."
(Gilgamesh to Enkidu, in "Epic of Gilgamesh;" tablet III, the Old Babylonian version; via Wikipquote)

"...Humans come then go, that is the way fate decreed on the Tablets of Destiny.
So someday you will depart, but till that distant day Sing, and dance.
Eat your fill of warm cooked food and cool jugs of beer.
Cherish the children your love gave life.
Bathe away life's dirt in warm drawn waters.
Pass the time in joy with your chosen wife...."
(Siduri to Gilgamesh, in "Epic of Gilgamesh," via Wikiquote)

Moderation and a Pythagorean Dribble Glass

Today's second reading reminded me of Harold Camping's high-profile End Times predictions, a few years back:

"¹² I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,

"those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning,

"those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away."
(1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

About "... the world ... is passing away...." — I do not think the end of the world is at hand: not any more so than usual, at least.

It's been a few years since Harold Camping became momentarily famous for yet another failed 'Bible prophecy.'

This post is not about the Last Judgment — but I'd better clear the air about my take on apocalyptic predictions.

I'm a Christian, a Catholic, so I take the Last Judgment and Mark 13:32 seriously.

That's why, the next time an 'End Times Bible prophecy' hits national news, I may write about it — but I won't believe it.

Our Lord didn't know the timetable — so I won't assume that someone who follows, consciously or not, the traditions of Monatus, Hippolytus of Rome, and Edward Irving does. That doesn't make sense. Not to me.

My guess is that we've got a long wait ahead of us.

"Wait" isn't the right word. Just before leaving, our Lord gave us standing orders. For anyone else, we'd have given up long ago. But Jesus is — unique — and that's another topic. Topics.

A False Alarm, and Points for Originality

Hyppolytus of Rome is Saint Hippolytus of Rome now. The last I heard, his feast day's in August.

Saint Hyppolytus of Rome said the Second Coming would happen in the year 500. He died a martyr more than two centuries shy of another spurious Parousia.

A messy death doesn't guarantee Sainthood, many Saints died of natural causes, and that's another bunch of topics. (February 14, 2010)

'End of the world' false alarms aren't unique to Christianity. Wikipedia lists apocalyptic predictions from the last two-dozen-plus centuries. I'll grant that most items listed are by Christians.

I give Emanuel Swedenborg points for originality. He suggested, in 1758, that the Last Judgment had occurred in the previous year. (February 28, 2014)

This post was going to be about something, and it wasn't wannabe prophets. Let's see: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; "the world in its present form is passing away." Right.

Pythagorean Cups: The Thinking Person's Dribble Glass

I've read that Hero of Alexandria used Pythagorean cups in his robotic systems. That's probably a reference to Heron's fountain, Heron is another version of Hero's name, and I am not going to wander off-topic again. Not for another paragraph or two, anyway.

Pythagoras of Samos didn't invent the Pythagorean theorem, but he's the first chap to show why it works - - -

Let's try this again. It's one of those days.

A Pythagorean cup is a thinking person's dribble glass, sort of.

It looks like the result of a cup and bundt pan committing crimes against nature. The cup's central column is hollow, with a little pipe inside, and a hole near its base.

The cup works fine, as long as you don't fill it past the top of that inside pipe. If you do, Pascal's principle of communicating vessels kicks in, and you've got the cup's contents pouring out the bottom.

Pascal's principle of c. v. is also called Pascal's law, which is not to be confused with Pascal's rule about binomial coefficients. Blaise Pascal didn't draft Pascal's law the way Robert A. Taft and Fred A. Hartley, Jr., sponsored the Taft-Hartley Act: and that's yet more topics. (January 2, 2015)

The cup, pan, and ladle in the photo are in Ashikaga District in the Tochigi Prefecture, but it's not there any more. 足利郡, that is. I'm pretty sure the cup's still there.

Anyway, it's a learning tool. Empty, it's tilted. Pour a little water into it, it goes upright. Pour in more, and it tilts again.

That, finally, gets me to the point of this post. Moderation is a good idea.

Love, Money, and Not Going Crazy

Money isn't the root of all evil. It's love of money that gets us in trouble:

"For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains."
(1 Timothy 6:10)

---

"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never forsake you or abandon you.'"
(Hebrews 13:5)

---

Some Saints have been poor as the proverbial churchmouse. Others, like Louis IX of France and Sir Thomas More, were anything but.

A trait they share with Francis of Assisi is that they had their priorities straight: God first, everything else second. (Luke 10:27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2083)

It's like humility: the idea isn't going crazy in one direction or another, but having a firm grip on reality. (September 1, 2013)

Speaking of St. Francis of Assisi, he took vows of poverty: but that's not what he focused on:

"Saint Francis of Assisi's concern with poverty was secondary in his life and stemmed from his utter reliance on and love for God, a priest familiar with the saint said.

" 'The usual image of Francis and poverty is skewed...poverty is important, but it is secondary to something else for Francis, which is absolute dependence on God,' Dominican priest Father Augustine Thompson told CNA March 21.

"While many associate the 13th century saint with poverty, he wrote little about it and when he did, he was pointing to the humility of the Incarnation and the death of Christ...."
"St. Francis' poverty often misunderstood, priest explains," Carl Bunderson, Catholic News Agency (March 24, 2013)

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" and Psalms 49:6-8

Gerry Goffin and Carole King were in their '20s when they wrote "Pleasant Valley Sunday." I was in my teens at the time, still in high school, and trying to make sense out of a none-too-steady world.

Many folks around my age realized that there was, or should be, more to life than buying stuff we didn't need, to impress people we didn't like, with money we didn't have.

That upset some of our elders, particularly when songs like this caught on:

"...Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery..."
("Pleasant Valley Sunday," written by by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, performed by The Monkees in 1967; via A-Z Lyrics)

Again, the problem isn't money. It's loving the stuff.

Then there's this snarky bit from the Bible:

"Why should I fear in evil days, when my wicked pursuers ring me round,

"Those who trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches?

"⁴ One cannot redeem oneself, pay to God a ransom."
(Psalms 49:6-8)

It's okay for Catholics to be rich or poor, healthy or sick, sharp as a tack or dull as dishwater. Wait — that's not quite right. Never mind. The point is that what matters is what we do with what we've got. (November 16, 2014)

Detachment from riches doesn't mean being poverty-stricken. It's not depending on wealth for happiness. (Catechism, 2544-2547)

The idea is living in moderation. (Catechism, 2264, 2405, 2496, 2522)

I suppose moderation could be carried to extremes, too — or used as an excuse for sloth: which doesn't mean being lazy, quite. (August 10, 2014)

Ecclesiastes, Kansas, and Beyond

I like rock 'n' roll: also bluegrass; jazz; and Bach, J. S. and P. D. Q. — and I am not going to wander off on another tangent. Some rock is about as profound as a rain puddle, some isn't. (August 26, 2012)

"...There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking...."
"Stairway to Heaven" (1971)
Led Zeppelin, via www.sing365.com

---

"...All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind...

"...Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, all your money won't another minute buy..."
"Dust in the Wind" (1977)
Kansas, via www.sing365.com

---

I'd be astounded if those songs are remembered in, say, the 44th century. But I'm confident that this will:

"³ What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?

"One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.

"The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.

"Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.

"All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going."
(Ecclesiastes 1:3-7)

---

"¹³ "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.

"But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.

"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. "
(Matthew 6:19-21)

I could quibble about "the world forever stays" in Ecclesiastes, but that'd be applying 21st-century standards to prose poetry from more than two millennia back: and I've been over that before. (February 26, 2012)

Anyway, verses like Isaiah 38:12 and 2 Corinthians 4:18 talk about life and the universe; what doesn't last, and what does.

There's wisdom in enjoying the beauties and pleasures of this world: in moderation.

There's also wisdom in remembering that this universe won't last forever: and that, for good or ill, we will. (November 2, 2014)

More about taking the long view:

• Living in balance
  
  • "Talents, and the Best News Ever"
    (November 16, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Doing Something
    • "Faith Without Works is Dead"
  • "Life, Death, and Hope"
    (November 2, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Memento Mori
    • Carpe Diem
    • Planning Ahead
  • "Humility: Accepting Reality"
    (August 10, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Self-Esteem Run Amok
    • A Balanced View
  • "Getting a Grip About Poverty, Wealth, and Amos"
    (July 28, 2013)
    Particularly
    • Rich, Poor, and Saintly
  • "Humble, Yes: Delusional, No"
    (September 1, 2013)
    Particularly
    • Beggars, Choosers, and Me
    • Detachment from Riches
• The big picture
  
  • "Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch"
    (November 30, 2014)
  • "Victory and Standing Orders"
    (November 23, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Ragnarok - - -
    • - - - and Mutant Squirrels
    • On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting
  • "Joy and Standing Orders"
    (October 5, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Move Out!
  • Caesar, Civilization, Dealing With Change — and Building a Better World"
    (August 31, 2014)
    Particularly
    • Fear, Flappers, and Europe Flambé
    • It's the End of Civilization as We Know It: And About Time!
  • "The Eighth Day: Two Millennia and Counting"
    (April 20, 2014)

Life, Death, and Hope

I'm going to die.

That's what happens to humans.

Elijah's departure, described in 2 Kings 2:8-11, was a special case. So is Mary, and I talked about that yesterday. (November 1, 2014)

How we deal with awareness of life and death depends on culture and an individual's unique experiences and personality.

By the way — my diabetes, hypertension, and assorted other health issues, are pretty much under control: so my death is probably years, maybe decades, away. The clock's ticking, though.

Memento Mori

"Memento mori" — Latin for 'remember your death,' more or less — makes sense: if done with common sense. Recognition of impending doom can have a wonderfully focusing effect. (May 20, 2011)

However, I don't have a skull mounted on my desk: reminding me that my days are numbered. For one thing, I don't think that'd be consistent with respect for the dead. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2299-2300)

Carpe Diem

There's some wisdom in "carpe diem," too. The phrase, from a Latin poet's "Odes," isn't the oldest suggestion that enjoying the 'now' makes sense. The idea goes back at least as far as the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and Ecclesiastes 2:24.

The options aren't limited to morbid fascination with death or fleeing this fact of life by focusing on immediate pleasures.

God made and is making a good and beautiful world. (Genesis 1:1-2:9; Catechism, 31-32)

There is no problem with pleasure, enjoyed in moderation:

"³ There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and provide himself with good things by his labors. Even this, I realized, is from the hand of God.

"For who can eat or drink apart from him? "
(Eccelsiastes 2:24-25)

Human nature being what it is, I'd better add this footnote:

"[24] Unrestrained indulgence is not advocated here, but legitimate pleasure and the cheerfulness it begets."
(Footnote 3, Eccelsiastes 2, New American Bible (November 11, 2002)

Planning Ahead

I will live forever.

That's good news or bad news, depending on what I do with the package I've been issued. I've discussed faith, works, and James 2:17-26 before. (October 5, 2011; August 27, 2011)

Right after I die, there's a final performance review: my particular judgment. (Catechism, 1021-1022)

I'm not looking forward to that, but it's unavoidable.

After the particular judgment, there's Heaven: or Hell. Purgatory is not a 'get out of Hell free' card. It's more like an ICU or emergency room for souls, and that's another topic. (Catechism, 1023-1037)

Bottom line, we get one life, one soul, and one chance at eternity. Hope is a virtue, despair is not an option, and hope lasts as long as we live. (Catechism, 366, 988-1014, 1021-1022, 1501, 1817-1821, 2091)

After that, there's this creation's closing ceremony — the Last Judgment — and we see what's next.

There's been a great deal of speculation about what Creation 2.0 will be like: some of it informed; some not so much.

I've indulged in that sort of guesswork: but I think this pretty well sums up what we know:

"I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people ⁴ and God himself will always be with them (as their God).

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.' "
(Revelation 21:3-4)

I'll see you there: I hope.

More of my take on long-term planning:

• "Time, Decisions, and a Sense of Scale"
  (September 28, 2013)
• "Life, Death, and a Sore Wrist"
  (April 21, 2013)
• "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
  (March 11, 2012)
• "An Eternal Life I can Live With"
  (August 27, 2011)
• "Last Judgment: Attendance Mandatory"
  (May 21, 2011)

Humility: Accepting Reality

A man trying to organize a men's choir said I had a fine voice. Given a choice, he asked, wouldn't someone prefer a beautiful voice to a powerful mind or athletic body?

I agreed, but was a bit embarrassed: since I've got two out of the three. My wife's opined that if bad hips hadn't kept me from excelling at sports: I'd be insufferable. She's probably right.

Self-Esteem Run Amok

Since pride is a sin, is it wrong to be proud of my voice?

Yes — and no. It depends on what sort of "pride" is involved.

When "pride" is self-esteem run amok, it's one of the seven capital sins: along with avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866)

Ancient Greeks called it hubris. It's a bad idea in stories, from "Oedipus Rex," to Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Paul Ryder's "Cosmic Monsters."

Most of us don't get the sort of reality checks featured in Greek tragedies and epic poems, but hubris is a bad idea in real life, too.

"...A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you...."
("Mere Christianity," C. S. Lewis)

Since I'm a Catholic, I see it as a cause of envy, unjust social and economic inequities, war, and hatred of God. (Catechism, 2094, 2317, 2540)

Getting a Grip About Humility

One sort of humility is a sort of make-believe: smart folks pretending they're not; strong people pretending they're puny. Acting that way is "polite" in some situations, but in its own way it's as unreasonable as hubris.

Another sort of humility is the opposite of hubris. I'll get back to that.

St. Thomas Aquinas had quite a bit to say about pride, reason, and getting a grip, including this:

"...'A man is said to be proud, because he wishes to appear above (super) what he really is'; for he who wishes to overstep beyond what he is, is proud. Now right reason requires that every man's will should tend to that which is proportionate to him. Therefore it is evident that pride denotes something opposed to right reason...."
("The Summa Theologica," St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province (Benziger Bros. edition, 1947))

I'm "proud" of my voice, to the extent that I'm happy about having the native ability, and opportunities to learn how it works. That's using "right reason" to understand how I fit into my culture. But boasting about what God gave me would be an "offense against truth." (Catechism, 2481)

As if life wasn't complicated enough, I could even be proud of being humble:

"...Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, 'By jove! I'm being humble', and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear...."
("The Screwtape Letters," C. S. Lewis)

A Balanced View

Humility is a virtue. Being delusional, not so much. (September 1, 2013)

As a Catholic, I'm expected to have a balanced view of myself, others, and God. It's okay to admit that I'm pretty good at writing, for example: as long as I acknowledge God's role in my existence and abilities.

I'm also expected to avoid pride. It's a matter of moderation: remembering that God's God, and I'm not.

"HUMILITY: The virtue by which a Christian acknowledges that God is the author of all good. Humility avoids inordinate ambition or pride, and provides the foundation for turning to God in prayer (2559). Voluntary humility can be described as 'poverty of spirit' (2546)."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary, H)

"PRIDE: One of the seven capital sins. Pride is undue self–esteem or self–love, which seeks attention and honor and sets oneself in competition with God (1866)."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary, P)

Humility is a good idea, but blindly accepting every humiliation isn't smart.

As St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out, God gave us brains, and expects us to use them:

"...However, it is the mark of humility to accept humiliations without hesitation; not in all cases, of course, but when it is necessary. For, since humility is a virtue, it does not work without discretion. So, it is not proper to humility, but to stupidity, for a man to accept every kind of humiliation, but what must be done for the sake of virtue a person does not reject because of humiliation...."
("Contra Gentiles," Book Three: Providence, Part II: Chapters 84-163; Thomas Aquinas; translated by Vernon J. Bourke; via Dominican House of Studies, Priory of the Immaculate Conception (www.dhspriory.org)) [emphasis mine]

Being humble means accepting the truth: about myself, God, the universe, everything.

Believing that God is truth, and that truth cannot contradict truth, leads to a counter-cultural conclusion — Science, studying this wonder-filled universe, is okay. (Catechism, 159, 214-217)

Sin and Science

Over the generations, some scientists have acted as if they were "beyond good and evil," using people for occasionally-lethal experiments.

Between real atrocities like what happened at Willowbrook State School, and more-or-less lurid 'mad scientist' movies, it's small wonder that some folks think science is bad. (December 17, 2012; November 18, 2011)

Science, studying this universe, is part of being human. But like anything else we do, ethics matter. Experiments that needlessly endanger the subject are not right: even if the person understands the danger, and agrees to the experiment. (Catechism, 2292-2295)

The trick is hanging onto humility:

"...Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work...."
(Catechism, 299)

Science can't tell us why we exist, or what our goals should be. But science and technology can, used properly, let us help each other more effectively. (Catechism, 1723, 1942, 2292-2293, 2493)

We are made "in the image of God," stewards of this world: with the power and responsibility that goes with the job.

"⁴ What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?

"⁵ Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor."
(Psalms 8:6)

---

"...The development of science and technology, this splendid testimony of the human capacity for understanding and for perseverance, does not free humanity from the obligation to ask the ultimate religious questions. Rather, it spurs us on to face the most painful and decisive of struggles, those of the heart and of the moral conscience...."
("Veritatis splendor," John Paul II (August 6, 1993))

More of my take on hubris, humility, and taking the universe 'as is:'

• "Cuddly Dinosaurs and Feathers"
  (August 8, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Hubris and Cautionary Tales
  • Humility: Acknowledging God
• "Science, Faith, and Albertus Magnus"
  (February 23, 2014)
  Particularly
  • God's God: Aristotle's Not
  • Evolution and "A State of Journeying"
• "Smallpox, Science, and Silliness"
  (February 12, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Faith, Science, and Getting a Grip
• "Humble, Yes: Delusional, No"
  (September 1, 2013)
• "Faustus, Mephistopheles, and a Simple Contract: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
  (September 20, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Icarus, Faust, and Cautionary Tales

Pride: or, Humility isn't Being Delusional

I finally got last Sunday's guest post ready:

• "Pride, Walking by Faith, and Fathers"
  (June 17, 2012)
  • common sense, emotions, faith, family, Father's Day, humility, reflections, sin

Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas has been letting me post his reflections/homilies for some time now:

• "Reflections from Our Lady of Angels Church, Sauk Centre"

Last week's included one of the better explanations for what humility is: and why it makes sense.

I looked up the quote Deacon Kaas used. It's from Thomas Aquinas' "Contra Gentiles:"

English:
"[23] However, it is the mark of humility to accept humiliations without hesitation; not in all cases, of course, but when it is necessary. For, since humility is a virtue, it does not work without discretion. So, it is not proper to humility, but to stupidity, for a man to accept every kind of humiliation, but what must be done for the sake of virtue a person does not reject because of humiliation. For example, if charity demands that some humiliating duty be performed for a neighbor, one will not refuse it through humility. Therefore, if it is necessary for the adoption of the perfection of the life of poverty that a man beg, then to suffer this humiliation is proper to humility. Sometimes, too, it is virtuous to accept humiliations even though our job does not require it, in order by our example to encourage others who have such a burden, so that they may bear it readily. For, a general may at times serve like an ordinary soldier, in order to spur on others. Sometimes, moreover, we use humiliations virtuously for their medicinal value. For instance, if a man’s mind is prone to undue pride, he may make beneficial use, in due moderation, of humiliations, either self-imposed or caused by others, in order to restrain this tendency to pride, provided that through bearing these things he puts himself on a level, as it were, with even the lowliest men who perform low-grade tasks. "
[emphasis mine]

"Ea vero quae abiectionis sunt sponte assumere, ad humilitatem pertinet: non quidem simpliciter, sed secundum quod necessarium est. Cum enim humilitas sit virtus, nihil indiscrete operatur. Non est igitur humilitatis, sed stultitiae, si quis quodcumque abiectum assumpserit: sed si id quod necessarium est fieri propter virtutem, aliquis propter abiectionem non recusat; puta si caritas, exigit quod proximis aliquod abiectum officium impendatur, hoc per humilitatem aliquis non recuset. Si igitur necessarium est ad perfectionem pauperis vitae sectandam quod aliquis mendicet, hanc abiectionem ferre humilitatis est. Quandoque etiam abiecta assumere virtutis est, etsi nostrum officium non requirat, ut alios nostro exemplo provocemus quibus incumbit, ut id facilius ferant: nam et dux interdum militis officio fungitur ut alios provocet. Quandoque etiam abiectis utimur secundum virtutem ut medicina quadam. Puta, si alicuius animus ad immoderatam extollentiam sit pronus, utiliter, debita moderatione servata, abiectis utitur, vel sponte vel ab aliis impositis, ad elationem animi comprimendam: dum per haec quae gerit, sibi ipsi quodammodo parificat etiam infimos homines, qui circa vilia officia occupantur." ("Contra Gentiles," Book Three: Providence, Chapter 135 [23], translated by Vernon J. Bourke. (Online at the Thomas Aquinas' Works in English, Joseph Kenny, O.P.)

Honoring the Body, Within Reason

For most of my life, I've had trouble dealing with gluttony: which is in the list of seven capital sins. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866) Gluttony involves intense human desires, where the way my body works makes it easy for me to act unreasonably.

One way to deal with gluttony is to decide that the body is bad, and try to be purely 'spiritual.' This is a bad idea. (Catechism, 2515-2516) And I'm getting ahead of myself.

Living in a Material World

The part of the Catechism I'm reading now is about man (humanity), what and who we are. Along the way I've written about American culture and language, a movie, and a unity that we don't quite have yet:

• "Diversity in Unity: Two Millennia and Counting"
  (April 18, 2012)
• " 'Not Just Something, but Someone' "
  (April 11, 2012)
• " 'Man?!!' Political Correctness and Getting a Grip"
  (April 10, 2012)
• "Genesis, Optimus Prime, and Victorian America"
  (April 10, 2012)

Here's how this part of the Catechism starts. Today's post picks up several paragraphs after #355.

" 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.'²¹⁸ Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship."
(Catechism, 355)

Backing up a bit more, I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to believe that God created everything: and that what God created is good. (Genesis 1:1-31; Catechism, 337-338) Which isn't the same as believing Bishop Ussher, or hating science: and I've been over that before. (March 14, 2012, January 18, 2012)

The bottom line is that God made the material world, and God doesn't make junk.

Matter and Spirit: One Nature

I'm not nice soul, stuck in a nasty body that's dragging me into sin. I'm a human being, and the specs for this sort of creature say that a human being is a body and soul. Not a soul trapped in a body.

"The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic LANGUAGE when it affirms that 'then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.'²²⁹ Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God."
(Catechism, 362)

There's more about body and soul, with emphasis on "and." (Catechism, 362-368) One of the important points is that man isn't two natures, body and spirit, welded together. We're body and spirit, united to form a single nature. (Catechism, 365)

Turns out that, as a practicing Catholic, I'm not allowed to despise my body:

"The human body shares in the dignity of the image of God: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:²³²

Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.²³³"

(Catechism, 364)

I'm not supposed to worship my body, either, and that's another topic. (April 15, 2012)

Living in a Good World

Deciding that the world, the physical universe, is "good" wasn't hard for me. For starters, I've been fascinated by the world as far back as I can remember.

I also wasn't dismayed at the idea that the universe seems hostile or indifferent. I grew up in an region where water is a mineral for a significant fraction of the year. I figured that if I didn't have the sense to keep from freezing to death, blaming winter wouldn't help: and blaming God would be daft. Maybe that's why this is one of my favorite bits of poetry:

"A man said to the universe:
'Sir, I exist!'
'However,' replied the universe,
'The fact has not created in me
'A sense of obligation.' "
("War is Kind," Stephen Crane (1899), via Project Gutenberg)

I've run into folks who seem to think that God shouldn't exist, because there are places in the universe where we need to use our brains to survive. I don't see it that way: but like I said, I grew up in a place where winter happened.

The point I'm groping for is that I like God's creation: even the parts that could kill me if I'm not sensible. There are some Church teachings that I've had to struggle with. Believing that the world was created by God, and is basically good, isn't one of them

Sin and Virtue

In a way, it might be easier for me to deal with gluttony, if I could convince myself that 'spiritual' was good and 'physical' was bad. I could, in principle, develop an antipathy toward food and every other physical pleasure.

But I'm not going to spend the rest of my life eating barely enough to stay alive. And I'm not going to fume about the evils of steak and potatoes. Not that I'd be tempted to do that. I enjoy being a matter/spirit creature too much.

Another option I have would be to brood about the capital sins. (Catechism, 1866) And venial sins, and every other sort of sin. I could obsess about avoiding sin, and fume about how sinful other folks were: and that doesn't seem like a good idea. At all.

I think a better approach is to focus on virtues. Like the cardinal virtues:

• Prudence
  • "Disposes practical reason to discern our true good"
  (Catechism, 1806)
• Justice
  • "The constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor"
  (Catechism, 1807)
• Fortitude
  • "Ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good"
  (Catechism, 1808)
• Temperance
  • "Moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods"
  (Catechism, 1809)

Note: "Temperance," Catholic style, is about moderation, balance, and avoiding excess. (Catechism, 2290) Carry Nation, with her Bible and hatchet, are an American phenomenon. I've been over that before, too. (October 5, 2011)

Applying what I've read, it looks like I'm obliged to see my body as good, "and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day." (Catechism, 364) That's going to take quite a lot of work. Decades of overeating and under-exercising have effects that won't be undone quickly or easily. By the way, gluttony isn't the only sin I've had trouble with. And that's another topic. Topics.

Related posts:

• God's creation
  • "Humans: How do We Fit In?"
    (March 28, 2012)
  • "Beauty, Science, and a Crazy Idea"
    (March 14, 2012)
  • "The Visible World"
    (March 7, 2012)
  • " 'Only a Few of His Works Have We Seen' "
    (February 27, 2012)
  • " 'Visible and Invisible' "
    (February 8, 2012)
• Dualism
  • "Gnosticism: Dissing God's Creation"
    (March 5, 2012)
  • "The Sea of Galilee, Four Fishermen, and God the Son"
    (November 30, 2011)
    Particuarly
    • Jesus: Divine and Human
  • "God Doesn't Make Junk: Or Mistakes"
    (November 27, 2011)
  • "Humans are Animals: But Not Just Animals"
    (August 31, 2011)
    Particularly
    • 'Darkness and Light, Locked in Combat' - Nifty Slogan, and Wrong
    • " 'If you must see ghosts ...' Materialism, Being Spiritual, and Uncle Deadly"
      (December 18, 2009)
      Particularly
      • Let's Remember: "Spiritual" Doesn't Mean "Good"

---

¹ A list of major points, from Catechism, 362-368. Like I've said before, I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." I recommend following those links and reading the Catechism yourself.

One reason I make these lists is that it helps me study the material:

• The human person is
  • Created in the image of God
  • Both corporeal/material and spiritual
    • A unified whole
  • And that's the way God designed us
  (Catechism, 362)
• In Sacred Scripture "soul" means
  • human life
  • The entire human person
  • The innermost aspect of man
    • That which is of greatest value
    • By which man is most especially in God's image
  • The spiritual principle in man
  • Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit
    (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
    • The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce a duality into the soul
    • "Spirit" signifies that
      • From creation man is ordered to a supernatural end
      • His soul can gratuitously be raised
        • Beyond all it deserves
        • To communion with God
  • The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart
    • In the biblical sense of
      • The depths of one's being
      • Where the person decides for or against God
  (Catechism, 363, 367, 368)
• The human body is
  • Part of "the image of God"
  • A human body because it is animated by a spiritual soul
  • Intended to become a temple of the Spirit
    • As part of the whole human person
    • In the body of Christ
    (Catechism, 364)
• Man is a unity
  • Body and soul
  • Man's "bodily condition" sums up the elements of the material world
  • Through man, the material world may freely praise its Creator
    • Therefore, man
      • May not despise his bodily life
        • Since God
          • Has created it
          • Will raise it up on the last day
      • Is obliged to
        • Regard his body as good
        • Hold it in honor
  (Catechism, 364)
• The unity of soul and body is very profound
  • "One has to consider the soul to be the 'form' of the body"
  • A human body
    • Is material
    • Is a living human being because of its spiritual soul
  • A human being is
    • Not two natures united
    • A single nature
      • Formed from the union of two natures
  (Catechism, 365)
• Every spiritual soul is
  • Created immediately/directly by God
    • Not "produced" by the parents
  • Immortal
    • Separated from the body at death
    • Reunited with the body at the final Resurrection
  (Catechism, 366)

Martial Arts and the Battle for Purity

Today is the second Sunday of Easter. It's also Divine Mercy Sunday. I re-posted something the local deacon wrote about that, earlier this week:

• "A Divine Mercy Homily: 'Peace be With You;' Jesus is Alive"
  (April 10, 2012)

Devotion to the Divine Mercy is one of those things that 'looks Catholic.'

Looking "Catholic"

Photos of photos of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a European nun, the ones I've seen, show her 'in uniform.' She was a European nun, in the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Her order's habit wasn't the same as what Franciscan monks wear: but it's got the same general 'look.'

These days, wearing a plain robe with a rope for a belt says "Catholic," a point used by television and movie directors now and then.

But in a way, there's nothing particularly "Catholic" about that sort of clothing. Quite a few religious orders got started in Europe, when the sort of clothing you see in "Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry" was more-or-less contemporary.

I think the name of that high-end calendar sounds classier in French, and that's another topic.


(Limbourg brothers/Jean Colombe's July, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission)
Detail from "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry," 1412-1416, Europe.

Simple, Modest, and Five Centuries Out of Date

The Catholic Church has guidelines about what folks in religious orders should wear, including this:

"...The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health...."
(17, "Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life - Perfectae Caritatis," Pope Paul VI (October 28, 1965))

My understanding is that, five centuries back or so, a loose robe of the sort monks and nuns wear today was "simple and modest:"¹ and wasn't all that different from what folks in the contemporary equivalent of blue-collar jobs wore.

What my forebears in Europe wore back then looks comfortable, and I'd consider wearing the same thing myself. But I won't. My reasons include:

• Cultural norms
• Safety

I'd stick out when I went shopping or strolled around the neighborhood if I wore a loose tunic. Besides, the relatively form-fitting clothes I get from rummage sales or Walmart are much more practical in today's post-Industrial era. Anyone who's gotten something caught in machinery knows why. And that's another topic.

Some Guy in Minnesota's Musing

My guess is that if someone founding a religious order today took the same approach as the first Franciscans or Benedictines, the new order's habit would be off-the-shelf sneakers, jeans, and work shirts from Kmart, Costco, or some other discount store.

I think that's not likely to happen, because Western civilization has changed quite a bit in the last half-millennia, and folks have different notions about what 'religious' people should wear.

A half-millennia from now, more change will have happened. For all I know, there'll be some order wearing an anachronistic outfit that looks a lot like a flannel shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. And that's still another topic. Topics.

I don't, by the way, think that the Franciscans, secular or otherwise, should chuck eight centuries of tradition and start wearing dungarees. If they started doing that, they'd just have to change their uniform again when the year 2812 rolled around. And that's yet another topic.

Martial Arts and Me

I spent Friday evening at a Soo Bahk Do test. I stopped learning that martial art when physical limitations caught up to me. My wife and #3 daughter are testing for the Soo Bahk Do equivalent of a black belt. I went along as a driver and photographer.


Soo Bahk Do Test, St. Paul. April 13, 2012.

I don't see a problem with being a practicing Catholic and learning Soo Bahk Do. Until physical limitations any a streak of perfectionism caught up with me, I was learning that martial art, too. I still have the 'pajamas:' the dobok I wore.

Clothing and Perceptions

Unlike everyday clothing of Europe's late Middle Ages, the Soo Bahk Do dobok doesn't look "Catholic."

My guess is that some Americans see martial arts and being Catholic mixing about as well as mongoose and cobra. Or tiger and crane, and that's yet again another topic.

Bingo, Beer, and Soo Bahk Do

If you came to the Stearns Country Fair, you might hear me calling calling numbers at the Knights of Columbus Bingo booth. It's been decades since I played Bingo, but not because I think it's immoral.

It's also been decades since I limited my alcohol intake to what happens at Mass, and a glass of wine or bottle of beer on rare occasions. I don't think drinking is immoral. I do, however, know that I've had a drinking problem: and re-ordered my life accordingly.

I stopped practicing Soo Bahk Do mostly because of my hips. (February 3, 2009) Until I can figure out a way to make my re-engineered hips, wrists, and hands do what's required in Soo Bahk Do; I won't be wearing a dobok.

Ethics, Rules, and the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church isn't 'lax,' or 'permissive.' If my personality and background were different, I could have a beer much more often than I do. But as a practicing Catholic, I'm not allowed to get drunk, blow the family's savings on a gambling spree, or indulge in any other sort of excess:

"The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2290)

---

"Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant."
(Catechism, 2413)

If my wife and #3 daughter allowed their interest in Soo Bahk Do to become idolatry, that would be a problem. So would my trying to find a way to pick up where I left off in that martial art, if I made an idol of that effort.

Idolatry, "divinizing what is not God," is against the rules. (Catechism, 2112-2114) There's the obvious sort of idolatry involving formal worship, but folks commit idolatry whenever we honor and revere something other than God, like:

• Power
• Pleasure
• Race
• Ancestors
• The state
• Money
  (Catechism, 2113)

Maintaining a 'perfect' figure, or excelling at sports could be idolatry: and a very bad idea. (Catechism, 2289)

Discipline and the Battle for Purity

Soo Bahk Do isn't a sport, by the way. It's a martial art that's about mental and physical discipline. I see that discipline as a connection between Soo Bahk Do and my Catholic faith.

But I do not think that every Catholic should take up Soo Bahk Do, or any other martial art. Any more than I think we should all play Bingo. Or not play Bingo.

But discipline? That's very much a part of being Catholic. Or should be.

We're supposed to:

• Discipline our feelings and imagination
  (Catechism, 2520)
• Practice moderation and discipline in our approach to mass media
  (Catechism, 2496)
• Teach our children with discipline
  (Sirach 30:1-2 and Ephesians 6:4; Catechism, 2223)
  • Which is not the same as beating the kids
• Follow the disciplines of chastity
  (Catechism, 2349)
  • Chastity isn't what you may think
    (Catechism, 2348-2350)
    • That's several more topics

Then there's the "battle for purity." (Catechism, 2520-2527) I'm about as sure as I can be about anything, that I won't win the "struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires" without discipline; and God's grace. (Catechism, 2520)

And that's - what else? - even more topics.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Faith and Obedience"
  (March 25, 2012)
• "That's Funny: Another Way of Being Catholic"
  (November 13, 2011)
• "Being Saved, the Narrow Gate, and All That"
  (October 26, 2011)
• "Yoga, Ephesians, and Getting a Grip"
  (May 30, 2011)
• "Catholicism: Obligations, Penance, Fasting; and Cartoons"
  (December 18, 2010)

---

¹ The Church has rules about clothing, but it's not "thou shalt wear clothing appropriate to middle-class Americans during the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, or Dwight D. Eisenhower administrations." Part of the idea is to maintain modesty, but the guidelines recognize that "...forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another...." (Catechism, 2521-2524)