Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee...

augustine @ 2009-11-03T19:27:00

2009-11-04T00:34:22Z

Oops. Haven't been keeping up with LJ for the past few days, in spite of my intention of not falling into that habit again...(Can you tell I'm not good at keeping New Years resolutions? :-)). So naturally I decided to start over again today, making sure I don't mess up anymore (though on Mondays and Wednesdays, when I have an evening class at school and so have less time to keep up with it, I probably will. But hopefully not other days).

One thing I am starting to feel really, really bad about, however, is that when I make comments on other people's LJ's, I often do not know what to say, so I end up repeating the same things over again(especially when it comes to praying for others) or making uninteresting comments. I feel especially bad about that because I wish I able to make helpful comments/give advice or contribute something to a conversation to let people know I'm reading and care, but only on rare occasions am I able to think of what to say. (I've never been good with expressing things. That problem is also the reason why I so often post links and quotes on my own LJ, for that matter). ...But I am very grateful for all of you being so patient! Just thought I would state that. :-)

Speaking of links, however, I wished to share a link from the website of one of my friends (grouperkun) that I thought was hilarious :-)

List of Things to do with a Dried Cuttlefish

My favorite:

Stack two slices of bread as in a sandwich, but with nothing between them. Take a large bite, being sure to leave toothmarks so that people immediately process this object as “a sandwich with one bite missing.” Put the dried cuttlefish between the two slices of bread, making a “cuttlefish sandwich” which appears to have been partially eaten. Place your delightful meal in a public refrigerator, as in an office or school. BE SURE TO LEAVE THE TENTACLES HANGING OUT OF THE SANDWICH- and for best effect, off of the plate onto the shelf.

:-)

(P.S., I suppose soon I will need to do my booklist for christianreader soon...)

Apology, and skeletons!

2009-10-30T00:11:57Z

I know I need to make and reply to some comments, but I'll have to wait till tomorrow morning, because I need to get some stuff done tonight. (Sorry!)

In the meantime, let me leave with a quote that seems appropriate this week, and which I always post about this time of year:

The importance of the human skeleton is very great, and the horror with which it is commonly regarded is somewhat mysterious...It is a singular thing altogether, this horror of the architecture of things. One would think it would be most unwise in a man to be afraid of a skeleton, since Nature has set curious and quite insuperable obstacles to his running away from it.

One ground exists for this terror: a strange idea has infected humanity that the skeleton is typical of death. A man might as well say that a factory chimney was typical of bankruptcy. The factory may be left naked after ruin, the skeleton may be left naked after bodily dissolution; but both of them have had a lively and workmanlike life of their own, all the pulleys creaking, all the wheels turning, in the House of Livelihood as in the House of Life. There is no reason why this creature (new, as I fancy, to art), the living skeleton, should not become the essential symbol of life.

The truth is that man's horror of the skeleton is not horror of death at all. It is man's eccentric glory that he has not, generally speaking, any objection to being dead, but has a very serious objection to being undignified. And the fundamental matter which troubles him in the skeleton is the reminder that the ground-plan of his appearance is shamelessly grotesque....

AND

...however much my face clouds with sombre vanity, or vulgar vengeance, or contemptible contempt, the bones of my skull beneath it are laughing for ever

-Taken from "A Defence of Skeletons", The Defendant, G.K. Chesterton (1901)

augustine @ 2009-10-27T20:08:00

2009-10-28T00:14:04Z

Yesterday at school someone made an interesting observation.

The vending machines there (at least the one closest to our classroom anyway) has Braillle on the buttons for making selections.

Given that there is no way for people to know what is actually in the machine apart from seeing it (or someone else being there to tell them, in which case the Braille would not be needed anyway), this is a puzzle we are still trying to understand....

Today in my surveying class, we had a couple of people from the Kentucky Department of Forestry talking to us about dendrology, trying to help us to learn how to identify trees, and next week we will be going on a "field trip" to learn more. Fun! lol.

augustine @ 2009-10-26T18:16:00

2009-10-26T22:38:50Z

Ever since I have come back on LiveJournal a couple of weeks ago, I have not really mentioned Chesterton at all, even though I've been posting fairly regularly.

Come on, you *knew* that wouldn't last. lol. Especially given that this is a LJ also dedicated to recording GKC info. Though admittedly since I am trying to make it more of a regular LJ as well now, consequently I won't have as great a percentage of GKC stuff.

Still, since I recently read a book about Chesterton I wanted to discuss it. It's actually a collection of four short stories written for children from a Chestertonian perspective, but I think its great for adults as well. It's called The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut. You can read more about it at the link

I'll just include an Amazon review I wrote below (one of the few times I've actually ever written a book review on Amazon. lol):

I can't really say much that has not been said already....G.K. Chesterton was one of the most influential (and fun to read) authors of the twentieth century. When he died in 1936, his obituary in the New York Times referred to him as "for more than a generation the most exuberant personality in English literature"

Unfortunately, today he is not read nearly as much as he should be. This book by Paul Nowak, however, is an excellent introduction to Chesterton. While written with children in mind, it is great for adults as well.

Not only does Nowak present a Chestertonian perspective of life in his stories (based on the writings of and incidents in the life of Chesterton), he also is a very good storyteller himself. I enjoyed reading the stories greatly. The book isn't that long (about 55 pages), but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. (And, of course, for many people, the book only being 55 pages is a plus itself, as it makes it more likely they will have the time to read the entire book).

In short, I highly recommend reading this book.

Full disclosure: while I had been planning on getting this book before anyway, one thing that naturally speeded up my decision to get it was coming across this interview, in which the author mentioned my LiveJournal.

But, if you consider my review of the book a little biased as a consequence, just read the other reviews on Amazon. There are 16 total reviews that have been posted since the book came out about five months ago (11 giving it 5 stars, 4 giving it 4 stars, and only 1 giving it lower than 4 stars, itself still a 3-star review).

-------------------------------------------

In other news, Tony LaRusa will be returning to manage the Cardinals next year, but Hal McRae is going to be replaced by a new hitting coach.

Mark McGwire.

Man, this offseason will be very interesting, no doubt. lol. :-)

augustine @ 2009-10-24T13:19:00

2009-10-24T17:56:56Z

"Wife: Arrest him!
More: For what?
Wife: He's dangerous!
Roper: For all we know he's a spy!
Daughter: Father, that man's bad!
More: There's no law against that!
Roper: There is, God's law!
More: Then let God arrest him!
Wife: While you talk he's gone!
More: And go he should, if he were the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down (and you're just the man to do it!), do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

-A Man for All Seasons

augustine @ 2009-10-20T21:17:00

2009-10-21T01:29:16Z

Very interesting post I just read (found through Mark Shea's blog:

The Age of Unreason

The author deals with the claims that Christians historically have been against "science", especially during the Middle Ages. Of course, I should state that I do not know much about the history of science, and so I admittedly cannot comment much on the specific facts he brings in his argument (though at least it appears know his facts well; I'm just stating my own ignorance). But he certainly makes a good argument, I believe, especially in the various assumptions he is responding to.

BTW, I just found something I'm going to have to get at some point:
___________________________________

By giving you access to thousands of Church resources, right at your fingertips, it’s hard to imagine any better gift to give to the one you love this Christmas!

The Faith Database is an amazing database that you will not want to be without. Search multiple Bibles, Church Fathers and Church documents simultaneously. And there is so much more.

Faith Database

CD contents include:

10 Bible Translations (Note: Some will require Internet access)
88 Council Documents from all 21 Ecumenical Councils
400 Early Church writings
165 Writings from the Doctors of the Church
74 Books from John Henry Newman
112 Books from GK Chesterton
1300 Papal writings/encyclicals
[Illustrated] Old Catholic Encyclopedia (over 12000 entries – 5000 images)
Dozens of other classics including James Cardinal Gibbon's The Faith of our Fathers, Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ and JP2's Theology of the Body
Search Catechism and Code of Canon Law (Internet required)
Over 1000 Bible Art Images, Over 100 Bible Maps
Illustrated Church history

At your fingertips, you'll have the Summa Theologica (Thomas Aquinas), The Spiritual Exercises (St. Ignatius of Loyola), The Interior Castle (Teresa of Avila), Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis de Sales), The Story of a Soul (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), and much, much more.
_____________________

At least most of that stuff would be online, of course, but still, it would be nice to have a copy on CD as well. :-)

augustine @ 2009-10-19T09:36:00

2009-10-19T13:37:08Z

From yesterday's Gospel reading:

"But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:38)

I was tagged by my friend Mardi, and I tag whoever wishes to do this, stating what you like most about the seasons :-)
_________________________________________________

In Spring: Easter, beautiful weather, spring training/start of baseball season

In Summer: good weather still (even if warmer than spring), All-Star game (well, ever since 1997, perhaps that's not a highlight anymore. lol.), my birthday.

In Fall: falling leaves, holidays (like Thanksgiving), World Series, most of Advent (since Winter doesn't technically start until a few days before Christmas)

In Winter: Christmas, and.....er....well....(I'm thinking! I'm thinking! lol.) New Years and Lent? Otherwise, I'm just waiting for spring. :-)

Rules of the tag

1. Tag at least three people after your post.

2. Post back to the blog that tagged you.

3. Post the rules of the tag and please don’t post the things you least like about the seasons, but what you like best

augustine @ 2009-10-18T16:39:00

2009-10-18T20:50:15Z

If you wish to read a very, very good post, click here. Wow. That is so good...

-----------------------------------
Well, this morning I went to Church. Sadly, my priest's niece died a few days ago (prayers would be appreciated. Thanks). So he was not there, and another priest came instead. Afterwards, I came home and wrote a letter that I will be mailing to a friend, and otherwise have basically been on the Internet, not doing much. Unfortunately, I forgot to post yesterday (d'oh!). I'm doing a little better on keeping a schedule at least. Just trying to add a little at a time. Right now, about the only thing I have done is make sure I visit LJ everyday, but that's something in any case....

My drafting/surveying teacher will be out of town on Monday-Wednesday, so as I said, tomorrow I do not have any school (except Geology), and Tuesday and Wednesday,we will be having an open lab to get caught up on any assignments we need to do. Then Thursday will be learning about identifying trees (for surveying class).

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

augustine @ 2009-10-16T20:08:00

2009-10-17T01:30:18Z

Not much to write tonight...I haven't really done much today. I went to the college this morning to see what all exactly I needed to do to find out if I was eligible for financial aid, and later in the day I went out to Wal-Mart and a couple of other places, but I haven't done much else today (except get on the Internet and read from the Bible.)

The other day I decided to start listening to my CD of Gregorian chant I have that was recorded by the choir of Benedictine Nuns of the Abbey of Regina Laudis. Besides the fact that it is very beautiful, the meditations that were included as well were by Mother Dolores Hart, who I have mentioned before on my LiveJournal. That inspired me to search YouTube to try to find a scene with her from one of the movies she was in (before she became a nun, of course. :-))

Here is one that I liked I found from the movie "King Creole" (which I have never seen), where she played "Nellie".

I don't know what I will be doing tomorrow, but hopefully I can get some stuff accomplished over the weekend that I was wishing to. Since I do not have any school Monday except my Geology class in the evening, that should help. :-) Anybody who wishes to help me is more than welcome to. lol.

OK, nothing else to write tonight. I hope you have a great weekend! :-)

Prayer requests

2009-10-15T23:35:24Z

"Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust" (Psalm 16:1)

I don't have much to update tonight. Rather, I was wishing to make some prayer requests....I have a couple of good friends, and some family members going through some rough times right now who could use some intercession.

The first friend asked for some prayers (and gave me permission to post the following)

...I will take you up on your offer of asking others to pray for me. I would like my name and the personally identifying specific details kept confidential. I wouldn't mind if you mentioned that I, a sister in Christ, has been robbed, maligned and shunned by people calling themselves members of the faith, and as such, I would appreciate prayers for justice, and healing, and reconciliation and reunification.

Also, prayers especially for protection over my son, and that Jesus reach him, and reveal Himself to him, that my son may find salvation as I have. That my son not be brainwashed and led to believe lies. That my son grow to have a heart that is compassionate, understanding, and forgiving, one full of God's love and peace and joy. Also that God convict the hearts of those who've wronged me, only so that it may lead them to repentance, that God be merciful on them, and give them the opportunity to get right with Him, and to make amends with me, for the sake of God's Kingdom, and of my son, who is an innocent in this.

Also, since I am not the only one affected like this, please ask whomever you do, to include not just me a sister you know, but all mothers, fathers, people, who are affected in similar ways to me. That God reach out to them, touch them, give them peace, comfort, joy, and justice.

Another friend also is going through a very difficult time, and while I do not wish to give any more information than that out of respect for that person's privacy, it would be very much appreciated if you prayed for her.

And finally, I ask you to please continue praying for my sister and her family as well. Thanks.

augustine @ 2009-10-14T20:29:00

2009-10-15T00:29:29Z

Hmmm. I'm wishing to start updating every day (*cue sound of moans from everyone* lol) but unfortunately on Mondays and Wednesdays I have Geology class in the evening, which makes me get home later at night (this past Monday was an exception since I did not have class). Hopefully I'll be able to do it in any case. Anyway, I am feeling better about my regular classes. As I stated, I have been struggling a little (in a couple of classes), but I have seemed to be doing better this week, I think (especially in one class in particular). I am very glad that my teacher is so patient. He is very good as well.

One thing I have recently done is canceled Dish Network....I had no problems with it; it's just that I hardly ever watch TV anymore (and I only had Dish Network because of one channel in the first place, which I can watch over the Internet, though with some problems). At least that is one thing I won't have to be worrying about paying anymore. :-)

I also cleaned up my LJ profile a little...(It looked a little cluttered. :-))

OK, nothing else to write right now. Except, I nearly forgot, tomorrow is my nephew's eighth birthday. :-)

Something a friend shared... :-)

2009-10-13T22:52:24Z

BTW, I am planning on sending out Christmas cards this year....(Which I haven't ever done before. D'oh!) If anyone wishes to receive one, please email me an address to send one to. Thanks! :-) (I know it's early, of course, but I just wish to have the information I need already when I do get to sending them out).

augustine @ 2009-10-12T20:53:00

2009-10-13T00:54:45Z

Wow...I'm updating for the third day in a row...I wonder how long its been since I did that.

Anyway, I was fortunate that tonight I did not have geology class like I usually do on Mondays (and Wednesdays also). So I was able to come straight home tonight after my other classes. I also found out that I will be having *only* geology class on Monday, and none of the other classes. So that will be nice to have a little break (even though I just got done with a five day break. lol.)

One thing I have been doing for the past month or so is trying to read through the Bible from beginning to end...It's been a couple of years since I did that last. Right now I'm in 2 Kings, and I hope to finish by the end of the year (Once the semester ends about December 12, I'll have some more time).

I suppose before I forget I should list the books I read in September (I still haven't updated on christianreader, so I'll have to do that later....

Dialogue with a Skeptic by Thomas Howard

This was a short book (a little less than a 100 pages), in which Howard holds a imaginary conversation with a skeptic of the Christian faith. It is very well written, and reminded me of he is one of my favorite writers of all time (in the top 10, certainly, and in the top 3 of living writers)

Free From All Error: Authorship, Inerrancy, Historicity of scripture, Church Teaching, and Modern Scripture Scholars by Fr. William Most

As the name implies, this book defends the inerrancy of Scripture, including making a moderate use of the historical-critical method. I read it online here. (It is also in print). It was very good (and is not that old, relatively speaking).

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent by John Henry Cardinal NewmanAnother book I read online here, this was the longest of the books I read this month (a little over 500 pages). In it, Newman addresses the question of how we are able to give assent to propositions, especially religious ones, and when it is valid to do so.

I heard good things about the book, and I know Newman was one of the masters of the English language, but looking at the table of contents, I wasn't sure if I would wish to read it all the way through. Needless to say, I changed my mind. It was absolutely brilliant. (Just to give you a hint, in a month in which I only read three books, and this was one of them even though it was 500 pages, you could say I was hooked on it, even though I did not think I would be starting out)

Ironically enough, this was my first book I ever read by Newman, though I have long had both his Apologia Pro Vita Sua (considered by many the greatest autobiography in the English language) and his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine in print form. It makes me wish to read those as soon as I finish some of the books I am already working on....

OK, not much interesting, I realize, but I decided perhaps I should share some daily stuff more often...

Hope everyone has a great week!

augustine @ 2009-10-11T14:42:00

2009-10-11T18:50:32Z

Promised to Joshua:

"We will obey you as completely as we obeyed Moses." (Joshua 1:16)

Am I the only one who ever wondered if Joshua was thinking to himself something along the lines of "That's exactly what I am afraid of!" lol.

OK, that was random. :-)

Anyway, went to church this morning. The Gospel reading about the rich young man (Mark 10: 17-30) makes a very good basis for a reflection on the value of detachment.

Even detachment from caring about the fortunes of your favorite sports team being swept in the first round of the playoffs. lol.

OK, nothing much else to say right now. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday!

An update

2009-10-11T02:41:43Z

I really, really need to keep up with LiveJournal more. :-) I am going to try to do so, starting next week. I actually have an idea to make sure I start keeping up with stuff again: starting a schedule! Keeping my time a little more organized would be very helpful. :-)

Anyway, I've been back in school for a couple months almost. The classes I am taking right now are Drafting Fundamentals, Parametic Modeling, Surveying (with a Lab), and Geology. I've been struggling a little bit with everything for various reasons, but I'm hoping I will start to do better from now on. I am very fortunate in that I have a great teacher for my main classes*. In fact, he is probably the best teacher I have ever had in my life.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much reading lately....In September, I only read three books (and none so far this month). Hopefully preparing myself a schedule will help in that area as well. As it is, I've decided to start getting rid of a lot of my books (At last count, I had over 1300, and I'm trying to get rid of as many as I can).

Finally, if everyone could, I would greatly appreciate prayers for my sister. I do not wish to go into details, but it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

OK, I realize that I have a boring life, and so I will not be taking up any more of your friends page. :-)

-----------------------------------
*Noticing that the way that is phrased could be misleading, let me emphasize that my geology teacher is great as well. It's just that I am referring to my other teacher at the moment.

augustine @ 2009-08-21T15:59:00

2009-08-21T20:06:33Z

I really need to follow LJ more....D'oh! (I've been checking here and there, but...) If I have missed any specially important posts by anyone (since all posts are important, I needed to add the qualifier), please let me know. Thanks!
___________________________________

From the Illustrated London News (March 17, 1906):
-----------------------------------

I see somehwere in the papers that a man has exercised his testamentary rights by leaving his wife a rope to hang herself. Over this bequest, it is not surprising to learn, has arisen a certain discussion about the reasonable limits of the legal fulfilment of wills. It certainly seems a little odd that the legal officers should be called upon to convey to a person the instrument of a legal crime. It opens a vista of possibilities. I may leave to some large and powerful acquaintace of mine a heavy axe or club to which a label shall be attached with the words "To kill Lord Northcliff." The legal officers are duly to carry this simple tribute to the legatee and to leave it in his hands. On my deathbed I may bequeath to my sorrowing relations the whole of my outfit as a criminal; bequeathing my jemmy to this nephew, my revolver to that, to another my dark lantern, to another a skeleton-key fitting all the front doors in the street. I may leave to my family a row of little bottles of poison, each correctly labelled with the name of the literary rival to whom I wish it to be administered. Some people die and leave a cellar of champagne to be divided among all the hospitals. I may die and leave my little cellar of arsenic to be divided among the hospitals. Some people leave money for the improvement of public buildings. I can leave dynamite for the improvement of public buildings. All these things, perhaps, the law will gravely and respectfully carry out. Perhaps it will publicly and politely present my heir with the large dagger ultimately designed for my oldest creditor. Perhaps, on the other hand, it won't.

I do not know how the law stands about the gentleman who left a rope for his wife. Perhaps, like religious orders in the eyes of some theologians, it depends upon the intention. One is, perhaps, too prompt in supposing that the legacy implied a hostile and malignant feeling towards the surviving partner. Perhaps the husband merely meant to convey the hope that his beloved wife would soon rejoin him in the spirit world. Perhaps that piece of rope was really a dubious-looking compliment. Or again, there is another hypothesis. Perhaps he felt that his wife was too much disposed to a superficial and insincere pessimism, and that the sudden suggestion of death would remind her of the essential happiness of living. I can remember that in my ardent youth I carried about in my pocket a large but harmless revolver, and whenever anyone said, "Life is not worth living," I produced it, and always with the most satisfactory results.
___________________________________

augustine @ 2009-08-11T14:32:00

2009-08-11T18:33:01Z

New Directions in Pooh Studies

augustine @ 2009-08-06T10:30:00

2009-08-06T14:31:24Z

"What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

"Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die. It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!"
_____________________

-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

augustine @ 2009-08-05T17:41:00

2009-08-05T21:51:31Z

Interesting interview with bestselling author Dean Koontz concerning his faith....(He's a convert to the Catholic Church). I haven't ever read any of his books, but apparently he's a pretty popular author (his books have sold over 400 million copies).

You can find a link to the interview (about 30 minutes long) as well as a few excerpts from it here:

http://catholicexchange.com/2009/08/01/120925/

Here's a couple of them (and yes, I *did* have to put the GKC reference in bold. lol):
-----------------------------------
Dean Koontz: By the time I was going to college, I was looking for a different path from where I had been. Then I began to be drawn to — I wouldn’t say more organized, but a more formalized kind of faith. I did become engaged, more and more as the years went by, by the intellectual rigor that lies behind the Catholic Church. A lot of people will possibly laugh at that but if you know St. Thomas Aquinas and some of the other famous writers of the Church — or laymen who wrote brilliantly from a Catholic perspective like G.K. Chesterton — then you understand what I’m talking about. There is a deep intellectual basis behind it and that always appealed to me.

CC: A facet of your book Brother Odd that I appreciated was that it established that faith and science are not enemies. When did you realize that faith and science…are historically linked as walking hand-in-hand?

Dean Koontz: The birth of science comes out of the Catholic Church. People always say, “No, no, Galileo.” They don’t really know the history; they just know talking points. The reality is through various times in the Catholic Church, various sciences were founded and encouraged. There is no distance between (faith and science) except for what people try to make for political reasons. I’m interested in a number of sciences. I read a lot in quantum mechanics and I’m interested in molecular biology too. They’re not incompatible with faith but especially quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is ever-more describing a universe to us that’s uncannily like some things that faith believes

augustine @ 2009-07-15T18:41:00

2009-07-15T22:48:17Z

Honest, I'm still around. :-) Just have been neglecting LJ lately, for which I apologize ( I do not plan to keep on neglecting it).

The National League continues to disappoint during the All-Star game. D'oh!

augustine @ 2009-07-02T15:21:00

2009-07-02T19:22:29Z

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds"

-GKC, The Everlasting Man (1925)

augustine @ 2009-06-15T23:04:00

2009-06-16T03:07:37Z

Quotes from Eugenics and Other Evils by G.K. Chesterton

-They can offer us nothing but the same stuffy science, the same bullying bureaucracy and the same terrorism by tenth-rate professors that have led the German Empire to its recent conspicuous triumph.

-The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. It is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists. It is no answer to say, with a distant optimism, that the scheme is only in the air. A blow from a hatchet can only be parried while it is in the air.

-evil always takes advantage of ambiguity.

-the heroisms of history are actually the crimes of Eugenics.

-[Mankind] have always admired the maintenance of honour more than the maintenance of safety. Doubtless they thought that even the children might be none the worse for not being the children of cowards and shirkers

-Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.

-Most Eugenists are Euphemists. I mean merely that short words startle them, while long words soothe them. And they are utterly incapable of translating the one into the other, however obviously they mean the same thing. Say to them "The persuasive and even coercive powers of the citizen should enable him to make sure that the burden of longevity in the previous generations does not become disproportionate and intolerable, especially to the females?"; say this to them and they sway slightly to and fro like babies sent to sleep in cradles. Say to them "Murder your mother," and they sit up quite suddenly. Yet the two sentences, in cold logic, are exactly the same. Say to them "It is not improbable that a period may arrive when the narrow if once useful distinction between the anthropoid homo and the other animals, which has been modified on so many moral points, may be modified also even in regard to the important question of the extension of human diet"; say this to them, and beauty born of murmuring sound will pass into their faces. But say to them, in a simple, manly, hearty way "Let's eat a man!" and their surprise is quite surprising. Yet the sentences say just the same thing.

-You may call it flogging when you hit a choking gentleman on the back; you may call it torture when a man unfreezes his fingers at the fire; but if you talk like that a little longer you will cease to live among living men.

-Of these it is enough to say that they do not understand the nature of a law any more than the nature of a dog. If you let loose a law, it will do as a dog does. It will obey its own nature, not yours. Such sense as you have put into the law (or the dog) will be fulfilled. But you will not be able to fulfill a fragment of anything you have forgotten to put into it.

-Along with such idealists should go the strange people who seem to think that you can consecrate and purify any campaign for ever by repeating the names of the abstract virtues that its better advocates had in mind. These people will say "So far from aiming at slavery, the Eugenists are seeking true liberty; liberty from disease and degeneracy, etc." Or they will say "We can assure Mr. Chesterton that the Eugenists have no intention of segregating the harmless; justice and mercy are the very motto of ---" etc. To this kind of thing perhaps the shortest answer is this. Many of those who speak thus are agnostic or generally unsympathetic to official religion. Suppose one of them said "The Church of England is full of hypocrisy." What would he think of me if I answered, "I assure you that hypocrisy is condemned by every form of Christianity; and is particularly repudiated in the Prayer Book"? Suppose he said that the Church of Rome had been guilty of great cruelties. What would he think of me if I answered, "The Church is expressly bound to meekness and charity; and therefore cannot be cruel"? This kind of people need not detain us long. Then there are others whom I may call the Precedenters; who flourish particularly in Parliament. They are best represented by the solemn official who said the other day that he could not understand the clamour against the Feeble-Minded Bill as it only extended the "principles" of the old Lunacy Laws. To which again one can only answer "Quite so. It only extends the principles of the Lunacy Laws to persons without a trace of lunacy." This lucid politician finds an old law, let us say, about keeping lepers in quarantine. He simply alters the word "lepers" to "long-nosed people," and says blandly that the principle is the same.

-The prize specimen of them was another M. P. who defended the same Bill as "an honest attempt" to deal with a great evil: as if one had a right to dragoon and enslave one's fellow citizens as a kind of chemical experiment; in a state of reverent agnosticism about what would come of it. But with this fatuous notion that one can deliberately establish the Inquisition or the Terror, and then faintly trust the larger hope, I shall have to deal more seriously in a subsequent chapter. It is enough to say here that the best thing the honest Endeavourer could do would be to make an honest attempt to know what he is doing. And not to do anything else until he has found out.

-an incapacity for any kind of thought is now regarded as statesmanship

-The State has suddenly and quietly gone mad. It is talking nonsense and it can't stop.

-The modern world is insane, not so much because it admits the abnormal as because it cannot recover the normal.

-These people have not the decision and detachment of the doctrinal ages. They cannot do a monstrous action and still see it is monstrous.

-A final instance, which can be sketched much more briefly, can be found in this general fact: that the definition of almost every crime has become more and more indefinite, and spreads like a flattening and thinning cloud over larger and larger landscapes. Cruelty to children, one would have thought, was a thing about as unmistakable, unusual and appalling as parricide. In its application it has come to cover almost every negligence that can occur in a needy household. The only distinction is, of course, that these negligences are punished in the poor, who generally can't help them, and not in the rich, who generally can. But that is not the point I am arguing just now. The point here is that a crime we all instinctively connect with Herod on the bloody night of Innocents has come precious near being attributable to Mary and Joseph when they lost their child in the Temple.

-The madman is not he that defies the world. The saint, the criminal, the martyr, the cynic, the nihilist may all defy the world quite sanely. And even if such fanatics would destroy the world the world owes them a strictly fair trial according to proof and public law. But the madman is not the man who defies the world; he is the man who denies it.

-The lunatic does not say he is as wise as Shakespeare; Bernard Shaw might say that. The lunatic says he is Shakespeare.

-They have all the ancient despotism, but none of the ancient dogmatism. If they are ready to reproduce the secrecies and cruelties of the Inquisition, at least we cannot accuse them of offending us with any of that close and complicated thought, that arid and exact logic which narrowed the minds of the Middle Ages, they have discovered how to combine the hardening of the heart with a sympathetic softening of the head.

-In the matter of fundamental human rights, nothing can be above Man, except God.

-Such people must be made to see the point, which is surely plain enough, that it is useless to have exact figures if they are exact figures about an inexact phrase.

-The fact that they often do stretch words in order to cover cases is the whole foundation of having any fixed laws or free institutions at all.

-Our press seems to have a perfect genius for fitting people with caps that don't fit; and affixing the wrong terms of eulogy and even the wrong terms of abuse.

-The quicker goes the journalist the slower go his thoughts. The result is the newspaper of our time, which every day can be delivered earlier and earlier, and which, every day, is less worth delivering at all.

-The age we live in is something more than an age of superstition --- it is an age of innumerable superstitions.

-The thing that really is trying to tyrannize through government is Science. The thing that really does use the secular arm is Science. And the creed that really is levying tithes and capturing schools, the creed that really is enforced by fine and imprisonment, the creed that really is proclaimed not in sermons but in statutes, and spread not by pilgrims but by policemen --- that creed is the great but disputed system of thought which began with Evolution and has ended in Eugenics. Materialism is really our established Church; for the Government will really help it to persecute its heretics.

-They mean that the public is to be given up, not as a heathen land for conversion, but simply as a pabulum for a experiment.

-I am no Puritan, and no one who knows my opinions will consider it a mere criminal charge if I say that they are simply gambling. The reckless gambler has no money in his pockets; he has only the ideas in his head. These gamblers have no idea in their heads; they have only the money in their pockets. But they think that if they could use the money to buy a big society to experiment on, something like an idea might come to them at last.

-Government has become ungovernable; that is, it cannot leave off governing. Law has become lawless; that is, it cannot see where laws should stop. The chief feature of our time is the meekness of the mob and the madness of the government.

-the superb man of science who wants you to pay him and crown him because he has so far found out nothing.

-Woe unto you, hypocrite that devour widows' houses and for a pretence use long words."

-In those days people talked of a "Repealer" as the most practical of all politicians, the kind of politician that carries a club. Now the Repealer is flung far into the province of an impossible idealism: and the leader of one of our great parties, having said, in a heat of temporary sincerity, that he would repeal an Act, actually had to write to all the papers to assure them that he would only amend it. I need not multiply instances, though they might be multiplied almost to a million. The note of the age is to suggest that the past may just as well be praised, since it cannot be mended. Men actually in that past have toiled like ants and died like locusts to undo some previous settlement that seemed secure; but we cannot do so much as repeal an Act of Parliament. We entertain the weak-minded notion that what is done can't be undone.

-or the general modern notion certainly is that life and liberty are in some way to be associated with novelty and not standing still. But it is just because the stool is lifeless that it moves about. It is just because the tree is alive that it does stand still.

-Many of the rich took to scepticism exactly as the poor took to drink; because it was a way out.

-Now the trouble of the nineteenth century very largely came from the loss of this; the loss of what we may call the natural and heathen mysticism. When modern critics say that Julius Caesar did not believe in Jupiter...they overlook an essential difference between those ages and ours. Perhaps Julius did not believe in Jupiter; but he did not disbelieve in Jupiter. There was nothing in his philosophy, or the philosophy of that age, that could forbid him to think that there was a spirit personal and predominant in the world. But the modern materialists are not permitted to doubt; they are forbidden to believe. Hence, while the heathen might avail himself of accidental omens, queer coincidences or casual dreams, without knowing for certain whether they were really hints from heaven or premonitory movements in his own brain, the modern Christian turned heathen must not entertain such notions at all, but must reject the oracle as the altar. The modern sceptic was drugged against all that was natural in the supernatural. And this was why the modern tyrant marched upon his doom, as a tyrant literally pagan might possibly not have done.

-prosperity does not favour self-examination;

-"Modern conditions" are treated as fixed, though the very word "modern" implies that they are fugitive. "Old ideas" are treated as impossible, though their very antiquity often proves their permanence.

-The curious point is that the hopeful one concludes by saying, "When people have large families and small wages, not only is there a high infantile death-rate, but often those who do live to grow up are stunted and weakened by having had to share the family income for a time with those who died early. There would be less unhappiness if there were no unwanted children." You will observe that he tacitly takes it for granted that the small wages and the income, desperately shared, are the fixed points, like day and night, the conditions of human life. Compared with them marriage and maternity are luxuries, things to be modified to suit the wage market. There are unwanted children; but unwanted by whom?...He means that the employers do not want to pay [the parents] properly. Doubtless, if you said to him directly, "Are you in favour of low wages?" he would say, "No." But I am not, in this chapter, talking about the effect on such modern minds of a cross-examination to which they do not subject themselves. I am talking about the way their minds work, the instinctive trick and turn of their thoughts, the things they assume before argument, and the way they faintly feel that the world is going. And, frankly, the turn of their mind is to tell the child he is not wanted, as the turn of my mind is to tell the profiteer he is not wanted. Motherhood, they feel, and a full childhood, and the beauty of brothers and sisters, are good things in their way, but not so good as a bad wage. About the mutilation of womanhood and the massacre of men unborn, he signs himself "Hopeful." He is hopeful of female indignity, hopeful of human annihilation. But about improving the small bad wage he signs himself "Hopeless."

-Why is he told none of the truth about the mediaeval civilization except a few cruelties and mistakes in chemistry? Why does a mediaeval burgher never appear till he can appear in a shirt and a halter? Why does a mediaeval monastery never appear till it is "corrupt" enough to shock the innocence of Henry VIII? Why do we hear of one charter --- that of the barons --- and not a word of the charters of the carpenters, smiths, shipwrights and all the rest? The reason is that the English peasant is not only not allowed to have an estate, he is not even allowed to have lost one. The past has to be painted pitch black, that it may be worse than the present.

-But I am much more concerned in this chapter to point out that all these things have been adopted in principle, even where they have not been adopted in practice. It is much more vital to realize that the reformers have possessed themselves of a principle, which will cover all such things if it be granted, and which is not sufficiently comprehended to be contradicted

-That was one side of the [Socialist's] argument: that the change would remove inequality; and there was an answer on the other side. It can be stated most truly by putting another model institution and edifice side by side with the Post Office. It is even more of an ideal republic, or commonwealth without competition or private profit. It supplies its citizens not only with the stamps but with clothes and food and lodging, and all they require. It observes considerable level of equality in these things; notably in the clothes. It not only supervises the letters but all the other human communications; notable the sort of evil communications that corrupt good manners. This twin model to the Post Office is called the Prison. And much of the scheme for a model State was regarded by its opponents as a scheme for a model prison; good because it fed men equally, but less acceptable since it imprisoned them equally.

It is better to be in a bad prison than in a good one. From the standpoint of the prisoner this is not at all a paradox; if only because in a bad prison he is more likely to escape. But apart from that, a man was in many ways better off in the old dirty and corrupt prison, where he could bribe turnkeys to bring him drink and meet fellow prisoners to drink with. Now that is exactly the difference between the present system and the proposed system. Nobody worth talking about respects the present system. Capitalism is a corrupt prison. That is the best that can be said for Capitalism. But it is something to be said for it; for a man is a little freer in that corrupt prison than he would be in a complete prison. As a man can find one jailer more lax than another, so he could find one employer more kind than another; he has at least a choice of tyrants. In the other case he finds the same tyrant at every turn. Mr. Shaw and other rational Socialists have agreed that the State would be in practice government by a small group. Any independent man who disliked that group would find his foe waiting for him at the end of every road.....

-Through all this modern muddle there runs the curious principle of sacrificing the ancient uses of things because they do not fit in with the modern abuses. When the tares are found in the wheat, the greatest promptitude and practicality is always shown in burning the wheat and gathering the tares into the barn. And since the serpent coiled about the chalice had dropped his poison in the wine of Cana, analysts were instantly active in the effort to preserve the poison and to pour away the wine.

-Often she will cry as hopelessly, and as it were helplessly, when deprived of her child as if she were a child deprived of her doll. Indeed, a child in the street, crying for her lost doll, would probably receive more sympathy than she does.

augustine @ 2009-06-14T20:07:00

2009-06-15T00:11:31Z

Sorry I have not been posting/commenting for a while....I haven't even really been reading LiveJournal that much for the past week, so if I missed anything important, please let me know. (I'll try to check through my friends list tomorrow, assuming I don't forget).

Just to let you know I'm still here. Just been busy the past week, so I've only really been checking Facebook (and even that not as much). Planning on getting back into checking LJ starting tomorrow.

I hope everyone is doing well! :-)

Voice Post

2009-06-03T21:01:08Z

OK, I made a voice post! Didn't really know what to say, but...

augustine @ 2009-06-01T15:24:00

2009-06-01T19:31:39Z

From my Bible reading today:

"Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

I'm disappointed that no one has made me any icons.:-( Please, I'm begging you! lol. (I don't know how to make icons....)

Finally, what I posted in christianreader (which you should join).
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Wow. I read more books in May that I had read in the first four months of the year combined. lol. In any case, I enjoyed all the books I read. :-)

1. Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller (about 290 pages)

A book written by a professor of biology at Brown university concerning evolution and God

2. Europe and the Faith by Hilaire Belloc (about 190 pages)

Sort of a short historical overview of the Faith in Europe by a Catholic writer.

3. The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton (about 180 pages)

From the introduction to the book, written by Martin Gardner:

"The Ball and the Cross was Chesterton's second novel and like all his novels is a mixture of fantasy, farce and theology. The basic plot is easily summarized. Evan MacIan is a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed Scottish Highlander and a devout but naive Roman Catholic. He is so politically conservative that he is a Jacobite who longs for a resortation of the Stuart monarchy. James Turnbull is a short, red-haired, gray-eyed Scottish Lowlander and a devout but naive atheist. Politically he is a romantic socialist....Both men are fanatical in their opinions.

"The two meet when MacIan smashes the window of the street office where Turnbull publishes an atheist journal. This act of rage occurs when MacIan sees posted on the shop's window a sheet that blasphemes the Virgin Mary, presumably implying she was an adulteress who gave birth to an illegitimate Jesus. When MacIan challenges Turnbull to a duel to the death, Turnbull is overjoyed. For twenty years no one had paid the slightest attention to his Bible bashing. Now at last someone is taking him seriously! Most of the rest of the story is a series of comic events in which the two enemies wander about seeking a spot for their duel, only to be forever prevented from fighting by the police and other civil authorities....

"At the end, each man comes to admire the other for the courage of his convictions, and they become good friends even as they continue their efforts to fight..."

Gardner concludes about The Ball and the Cross that one can "enjoy reading it for its colorful style, with its constant alliteration, amusing puns and clever paradoxes; for its purple passages about sunsets, dawns and silver moonlight; and for the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot."

4. The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton (about 170 pages)

Chesterton's epic poem about King Alfred's battle against the Danes in 878. Here are a couple of famous passages from the poem. First:

"For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad."

Another passage:

"I tell you naught for your comfort,
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher.

"Night shall be thrice night over you,
And heaven an iron cope.
Do you have joy without a cause,
Yea, faith without a hope.

5. Mary, Mother of the Son, Volume I: Modern Myths and ancient Truth by Mark Shea (about 160 pages)

The first book of a three-book series that explores Catholic teachings concerning Mary and her role within Catholic tradition (both what and why)

6. Mary, Mother of the Son, Volume II: First Guardian of the Faith by Mark Shea (about 190 pages)

The second volume of the above.

7. Mary, Mother of the Son, Volume III: Miracles, Devotion, and Motherhood (about 200 pages)

The third volume of the above.

8. The Da Vinci Hoax by Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel (about 300 pages)

A book that examines the numerous errors found in The Da Vinci Code

9. Basil Howe: A Story of Young Love by G.K. Chesterton (about 130 pages)

The first novel of G.K. Chesterton's, written when he was about 19 and 20, and not published until just a few years ago (about a century after it was written). As the back of the novel describes it:

"With characteristic wit the author recounts the tale of love that unfolds when a young man, Basil Howe, meets the three Grey sisters. It is a moving story which contains many insights into human life."

10. Life of Christ by Fulton Sheen (about 470 pages)

As the title suggests, it is a life of Christ, written by Fulton Sheen (a Catholic archbishop who had a very popular television show in the 1950's that drew up to 30 million viewers each Tuesday night).

Quite simply, outside of obvious exceptions such as the Bible, this has to be my favorite book (non-Chesterton) of all time. Nothing much to add to that.

11. Autobiography by G.K. Chesterton (about 230 pages)

Title is pretty self-explanatory. :-) It also has to have my favorite opening to a book ever:

"Bowing down in blind credulity, as is my custom, before mere authority and the tradition of the elders, superstitiously swallowing a story I could not test at the time by experiment or private judgment, I am firmly of opinion that I was born on the 29th of May, 1874, on Campden Hill, Kensington; and baptised according to the formularies of the Church of England in the little church of St. George opposite the large Waterworks Tower that dominated that ridge. I do not allege any significance in the relation of the two buildings; and I indignantly deny that the church was chosen because it needed the whole water-power of West London to turn me into a Christian."

12. On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard. (about 260 pages)

Thomas Howard (brother of Elisabeth Elliot) gives what is probably the best book I know of describing how Catholics....see the world, I guess you could say.
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Finally, I've decided to start reading the writings of the Church Fathers a little more, but of course not all of their works would be long enough to classify as "books", so I've decided to create a separate category for those works (but not include those when stating the number of total books for the month/year). Anyway, I read one work this month:

On Christian Doctrine by Augustine (about 80 pages)
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Books read in May: 12
Books read in 2009: 23