tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1200095319903628542012-01-14T22:36:37.626-07:00"...the Spirit of Truth Who art everywhere present, and fillest all things..."Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-54568461548791862292012-01-10T21:36:00.005-07:002012-01-13T22:16:24.134-07:00

  The figure is lost in a blur of significant digits, stretching beyond any point of an infinite list. Too many matters consuming its place, a miniscule space for the heart of a matter. Dis-integration Brakeless but driven to lay on the tracks an explosive sequence of strokes, how ironic this horse full in motion. Its cogs keep on churning whatever the load, machining down rails to the end of

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-48901736340876273012011-12-26T11:04:00.003-07:002012-01-14T22:36:37.644-07:00

Many years ago as a young adult I attended, for my first time, a liturgically-informed, protestant church.  What I liked about the prescriptive forms and scripted prayers was the ability to know what the pastor would say.  Best of all I was spared the extemporaneous public prayer with overt efforts to stir the feelings of the congregation: "Father God, we just ask for...and Father God, we just...

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-31154740162739461082011-11-26T20:04:00.002-07:002011-11-30T22:27:26.283-07:00

I watched an animal experiment. Until now I had only heard about such things, like the famous LD-50, or politicized portrayals of heartless men brutalizing monkeys that look frantically about for escape. The experiment I observed was much less adrenaline inducing and much further removed from any impulse to indignation. But given the tactic of evil to create grand and spectacular expectations of

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-48454606915113678072011-10-27T23:32:00.002-07:002011-10-28T10:27:35.140-07:00

The army of progressives ambles on, one battle left behind, toward the next, in spite of surging pride for duty's call to bring its light to all the race of man! Not wearied but enlivened by the fight, with justice-painted grins on faces grim, it walks erect by faith in moral Right that saves benighted men from headless crowns! It marches girt with epistemic arms, congealed with blood from

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-19483957447500036662011-09-28T22:06:00.000-07:002011-09-28T22:06:57.556-07:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, by any measure, an impressive organization.  As an Orthodox Christian I bear a conflicted admiration, feeling sympathetic on the one hand, envy on the other, and aversion on the third hand (we Orthodox do everything in triples).  All this stems from one simple reality:  this people tends to be ethically sound and, on top of it, they and their

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-77156207978318032412011-08-24T22:12:00.000-07:002011-08-24T22:12:55.151-07:00

Strife is now and ever. Mind the how of striving! Mind for what you strive! Can you find the good way? Will a good result? Should joy attend your come-and-go, At least one yes will make it so.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-63564537064049893212011-07-16T21:41:00.003-07:002011-07-19T18:14:30.413-07:00

When chances change the plans I wrote to make the near-at-hand remote, it feels like bile in the throat, a sour pungent stinging coat: anger’s venom burns. The chord within my spine grows taught; my mind with chaos overwrought; my doubting, hopeless, heart distraught; my weak’ning will, subdued, will not let go its grave concerns     for what may be or might have been. My good impulses deep

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-14101879196361455402011-06-28T23:15:00.024-07:002011-07-04T07:35:27.663-07:00

Judge not lest ye be judged.When my ears hear that, my mind hears this:Condemn not lest ye be condemned. It seems a harmless substitution, but changing Judge Not... into Condemn Not... has the unfortunate consequence of omitting that other part of judging we also ought not do. For when passing judgment we might just as likely acquit as condemn, as justice demands. Thus the original injunction,

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-33724882293431293372011-06-16T11:02:00.025-07:002011-07-21T07:09:21.618-07:00

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Holy Master, have mercy upon me and save me a sinner. or Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and of Mary, have mercy upon me and save me a sinner. or Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God who art merciful, save, and have mercy upon, me a sinner. Many will recognize these as variations on the Jesus Prayer, which I've always seen written like this: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-24307739951665543952011-06-14T17:42:00.012-07:002011-06-16T20:56:22.874-07:00

Rejoice, O virgin Mary full of grace;For God, the Lord, has set His throne in thee!How blest of women, thou among them all,And blest the fruit, the issue of thy womb;For thou hast born the Savior of our souls!

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-6062079274353335902011-05-15T17:55:00.005-07:002011-05-15T18:04:48.988-07:00

When I was younger I thought the forked tongue was a limited-use tool, a tool of crooks and charlatans. But as my solar lap-count increases, I discover ever more versions of it. The "inside joke" is a simple example when used to block, through embarrassment, individual action against group norms: ancillary comments that keep an issue moving in the desired direction. All forms of mass

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-51189478397806618862011-04-13T16:10:00.007-07:002011-04-14T15:56:34.747-07:00

While watching a movie, I noticed a clash of worlds in many scenes. One world was the movie's creation, that symphony of suggestions which is the magic of theatre to shield the mind from reality, allowing its escape into make-believe. The other was the real world itself, present in the reality of people behind this illusion, like hands that guide a marionette's barely visible strings. For

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-31284024228120804602011-03-07T22:17:00.009-07:002011-04-14T15:52:50.999-07:00

What! No figs for me? Curse you fruitless tree! Wither away and die! All your sap run dry! Unfit to be a board! After weeks the treeremains, and there I see apples blooming small. You're no fig at all! Nor am I the Lord.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-47676684177367635952011-02-15T17:41:00.015-07:002011-07-18T21:56:24.462-07:00

Lightly falling snow. Whisp'ring wispy flakes swirl and shift on quiet air. Icy liquid dust. Beneath the silent flurry, chasing in the wind every trans'ent sparkling gem, their beauty to behold, I race, catch, arrange, interlocking spokes of every white kaleidoscope into a grand design. Patterns in a pattern. Intricate, sublime. Quickly, now! Quickly sort! Their time's so short!

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-10706116868939755862011-01-27T22:34:00.011-07:002011-06-23T05:43:44.716-07:00

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom, acquired from the experience of singing in well directed choirs. I like how these can apply by analogy to much of life. I leave it to you to do your own analogizing.Always bring a pencil. Use it.Diligence and discipline set you free to sing from the heart.The only way to improve at sight reading is to sight read.Don't depend on your neighbors. You'll copy

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-64392150001648743152010-12-22T12:08:00.013-07:002011-05-16T21:57:26.278-07:00

From the first time I heard Bach I've loved his music. And this, of course, led me to try other baroque composers. For the most part I liked what I found, but Bach has a distinctive quality, and for me, Bach has remained the quintessence of counterpoint. In my younger years I thought of counterpoint in contrast to more familiar music. Whereas music is generally a melody with a supporting chord

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-56688915585877584382010-11-27T22:29:00.011-07:002010-12-05T22:46:21.752-07:00

Many years ago I heard it said that in photographs a sunrise cannot be distinguished from a sunset. I never troubled myself to test the theory, but it always rung hollow. I never believed it simply because I have never seen (even to this day) a sunrise that looked like a sunset, or visa versa. It may be that my eyes can’t separate my psychological impressions (or emotional, or spiritual, or

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-73338753766557482492010-11-18T20:08:00.007-07:002010-11-18T20:27:33.731-07:00

Life and loneliness are virtual synonyms.Such was the opinion of a newlywed man, expressed in a somber, even tone. Alas! A lad's darkness a lass heals not. She may be a respite here and there, but his cure is beyond both him and her.What am I to another or another to me? It matters little who it is, whether stranger, spouse, sibling, friend. It seems I am an onion mask. I am what I seem, I

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-74262067793697494542010-11-12T21:33:00.004-07:002011-06-28T22:33:34.057-07:00

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-86561148487272762412010-10-27T22:22:00.011-07:002011-02-16T22:45:14.990-07:00

Conceive as you will, give birth to speech,a garment to be worn out on the street,or shelved right next to that purple thingyou like so well but no one's ever seen,or tossed away at random to a rummage,as a childhood's blanketed security.To exist, alas, is mere conceiving,while a deeper breath is weaving.But to don our silks and rags,That is life!Models or mannequins are we(at least)or better yet

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-79681993498449715042010-09-13T21:38:00.011-07:002010-09-14T06:20:08.613-07:00

Have you seen company advertisements touting their staff's competence like this: "XYZ Inc. brings 150 years of experience in designing the perfect custom solution for you." This, of course, sets in motion the beads of my mental abacus, hoping to discover the true number and age of designers (or relevant personnel). Who are they trying to kid? What if they really have a staff of children with

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-88660146471528557482010-08-26T21:42:00.020-07:002010-08-29T07:40:48.865-07:00

Among many precious moments in Fiddler on the Roof, there is Perchik’s “proposal” to Hodel:Perchick: "Hodel, there's a question, a certain question I wish to discuss with you."Hodel: "Yes?"Perchick: "It's a political question."Hodel: sigh "What is it?"Perchick: "The question of...marriage."Hodel: confused pause "Is this a political question?"Perchick: "Well, yes! EVERYTHING is political."

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-40444245086439890982010-07-06T17:43:00.009-07:002011-07-12T17:09:58.492-07:00

People do not change, But they do mature. One becomes better. One becomes bitter. Knowingly or not, People do decide.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-69063494873235146972010-06-30T21:56:00.020-07:002010-12-23T07:05:59.792-07:00

If you are not secure in your identity as an individual, then you will find a surrogate self—you will trade it in for the security and identity that someone else, or something else, will provide. Filling this gap is so essential that you will go to any length to achieve it—even to giving up your beliefs, your life, to follow someone else’s grand scheme, and in this unconscious surrender you can

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-85144847164304667892010-06-28T13:17:00.010-07:002010-07-06T22:46:13.617-07:00

A parishioner in her late 70's died of a heart attack on June 24th. Everyone new her as Aunt Sally. I have seen a number of funerals...Let me be more direct: I have seen a number of dead people. Beginning with my grandfather whose last breath I was on hand to hear, I’ve noticed the same change in all. The body, although resembling the person, simply isn't that person anymore, and the absence

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-77598654368601371102010-05-29T09:15:00.008-07:002010-07-06T22:47:48.897-07:00

I went to the Grand Canyon again. Having hiked through it each of the last 3 years, this was additionally special because I took both my oldest daughters—the first time for the younger. Each time I enter the canyon I find a familiar fight recast for the present. The struggle to walk miles with 40 lbs on my back mirrors an internal struggle. Wrestling with discomfort—thirst, sore feet, sore back,

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-79319423194758402862010-05-15T10:28:00.012-07:002010-07-27T22:10:25.964-07:00

Feelings are not facts. So they say, but I disagree. Feelings, in fact, are real, and we deal with them—whether confronting, converting, or ignoring them. Feelings are facts, just like a theft, rain, a celebration. The question is, are they, or should they be, determinative? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. How should someone choose? Reason?Thoughts, too, are facts–whether confronted,

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-23786361201736798312010-04-18T21:40:00.008-07:002010-07-10T10:00:24.442-07:00

I watched Le Fabuleax Destin D'Amélie Poulain, a French movie with subtitles. The basic setting and characters were charming. The clear moral of this story was about courage to embrace life's little joys. Unfortunately a hidden nihilism quietly contradicted the hope that might otherwise be drawn from them.The story focuses on Amélie, born of essentially neurotic parents. Indeed, all the

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-86742461279598192822010-04-12T16:43:00.011-07:002010-12-24T15:52:22.310-07:00

Describing intrinsically great music might be like extolling stout over pilsner, or Pepsi over Coke (Dr. Pepper is better than both!). But quality in music, I believe, is an objective question. And if I'm honest, my preference for stout over pilsner is not.With music, there is more than flavor involved. Human nature itself comes to the table. And to find it, I use a rule of thumb:Great music

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-39230440736986353152010-03-24T22:58:00.009-07:002010-11-14T18:02:22.008-07:00

Have you ever been grateful for your teeth?I went to the dentist to have a filling. Quite honestly, I was scared of getting that shot in the back of the mouth. You know, the one with the long needle that forages through miles of soft tissue before gently exploding into the jaw's joint like electricity.Well, of course I got that shot, despite reasons to hope otherwise. All my anxiety built up

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-73865760108645023572010-03-07T21:12:00.012-07:002010-12-24T16:03:37.320-07:00

I read the review of a book that, among other things, correlates the theological understanding of the word “sin” to varied historical settings, specifically the available vocabulary and attendant idioms of the time. I found this helpful, but only because of the way the review handled it. Done another way it could have been infuriating.Most interesting were the distinctive overtones that became

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-75747341642706045642010-02-15T16:19:00.005-07:002010-12-24T15:59:50.971-07:00

Recently I flew on a commercial airline for a short business trip. There are few experiences more subtly awe striking than the moment when the plane lifts off the runway and climbs, miniaturizing the world in my window. Even now my vestigial boyhood balks: this huge volume simply should not be over the heads of thousands. It should fall like the rocks I heaved into streams! And yet, the sleek

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-50315161426156143012010-01-22T20:04:00.010-07:002011-07-18T21:56:53.827-07:00

There's a place where time stands still in current, While all around, and within, shapes are shifting. A moment out of time within a room. Motion without length. Movement of space itself. Myself in kinetic pause. That silent split-second before a fall. Stretched void after choosing: Strike-out or ball? Protracted state of input 'tween what's begun and what's to come. Just look at

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-23173447383482017932009-12-31T16:51:00.010-07:002010-12-27T08:30:45.244-07:00

This is the second of a two-part entry dealing with the nature of the human being—specifically the seeming existence of more than one “self” within us. Part 1 looks at it through Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Part 2 through The Unseen Warfare, revised by St. Theophan the Recluse. For Part 1 go here.How is it that, like Ebenezer Scrooge, a person could become such a stranger to himself? Dickens

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-26021966514950265952009-12-24T15:33:00.020-07:002010-12-27T08:27:47.544-07:00

This is a two-part entry dealing with the nature of the human being—specifically the seeming existence of more than one “self” within us. Part 1 looks at it through Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Part 2 through The Unseen Warfare, revised by St. Theophan the Recluse.The story of Scrooge, although familiar, suffers from caricature. It's easy to call to mind the grumpy old buzzard, the awkward Tiny

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-30602763940689766442009-12-04T23:38:00.003-07:002010-12-23T06:53:05.560-07:00

This Proverb has haunted me for over a decade:"The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy."PR. 14:10 NASBIt seemed to say (and I think it does say) that loneliness, at least on the most intimate level, is in the bedrock of life. It is there in sorrow; it is there in joy. No one else can really share in them.I must admit: experience has shown this to be true.In

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-25411406675286974692009-11-29T18:24:00.006-07:002010-12-23T06:54:51.625-07:00

People have two levels: the surface persona, and the solid self underneath. I experience most people only on the first level, their “non-solid” selves, if you will (borrowing a bit of Lewis’s concept from The Great Divorce). Often, however, I indirectly observe the solid selves of others in various ways—and this perception is on a level where language does not exist. I see or sense...or something

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-57045360941814165762009-11-14T22:52:00.002-07:002010-12-23T06:55:59.235-07:00

I watched a horse walk.First I concentrated on the hind legs (and next the fore) stepping in turn. I compared these with the human walk. They’re quite different, of course. So I imagined myself crawling: the rhythm of my legs (hands, too) felt different than when walking in standard bipedal mode. There was more to this feeling that description fails to show, but here’s a try. If my soul

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-43262487219490115662009-11-08T21:25:00.007-07:002010-12-23T06:57:50.249-07:00

“Run along, now.”This phrase rings in my mind as something an adult would say to a child simply in order to be rid of the child—to be rid of a duty, as it were. It’s a sad refrain.I once knew a conscientious man, who always kept himself busy, finding things that needed some sort of mending, correcting, cleaning, sorting out. Everything he did was with utmost consideration for propriety, and he

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-39662026582686109292009-10-31T09:29:00.010-07:002010-12-23T06:59:34.653-07:00

When I read the book Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis, I happened across the poem of the same title by Wordsworth. It seemed rather too obvious that Lewis, an Oxford Don of literature, took his title from Wordsworth. But when I read the poem, I thought it more apt of Lewis’s A Grief Observed, in which, with tones much like Wordsworth, he meditates on the effects on himself of his beloved wife’s

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-15485222515138432432009-10-19T14:55:00.006-07:002010-12-23T07:00:37.866-07:00

Ten CommandmentsThou shalt have no other loyalty beside us.Thou shalt make no image, representation, or information available to others about what goes on here.Thou shalt not say any vain thing about us.Any day that requires our gathering, shall be sacred to you, up to a moment's notice.Honor your leader always, no exceptions, that your life may be long.Thou shalt kill whoever you want—but not

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-48568010898270638102009-09-27T06:33:00.011-07:002010-12-23T07:02:21.758-07:00

A lonely depressed woman killed herself. And I was saddened. Though I never met her, we have a common friend. I had heard that her will to live was gone, that this was imminent.On principle I view suicide as the ultimate act of selfishness, and of cruelty to the people left behind who care—and there always are. While I do not let go of this principle, I want to cry in sympathy for this woman

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-90822714543642625092009-09-19T21:11:00.034-07:002010-12-24T16:00:58.862-07:00

A concept crystallizes.Pressure builds: be known!To verbalize a glow,sound compromises.Light that shown unseen,bright and unreflected,kinetic yet serene—now fragments in a box.Catalyze the sending.Grace in tact, not wrap,fulfills the main intent:Delivered and received.Opened reassembledparts of speech createin foreign temples wavesof hopeful amplitudes.Reverberating hurts.Electrons topple down,

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-89302222491988794812009-09-01T23:19:00.010-07:002010-12-23T07:03:53.537-07:00

Eyes, they say, are windows to the soul. So true. Isn’t it ironic that as the eye of the soul begins to glow with wisdom, the bodily eyes grow dim? As for me and my orbs, we blithely approach what others dread—middle age. Far from being unwelcome, to be old has always seemed a long awaited friend. Can I become the owner of wizened eyes, encased in lines that tell a somber tale with joy?

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-50953326981208778382009-08-08T22:51:00.007-07:002010-12-23T07:08:43.723-07:00

I saw a response to an assertion. The response was really a challenge—and a good one. The assertion, while interesting, turns out to be merely interesting. The assertion: Without God, morality and ethics make no sense. The response (counter assertion, really): You can be good without God.The response was provided by ethical atheists, a phrase which some Christians find to be an oxymoron.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-25333458942623433042009-07-17T22:31:00.009-07:002010-12-23T07:09:40.043-07:00

“If you believe you can’t do something, you’re right.”“What you believe, you can achieve.”I have always hated mindless attempts at a proverb. These make two fine examples. Consider: One’s ability is distinct from one’s willingness to try. Consequently, although belief is an obvious prerequisite to trying, achieving requires both the ability and the effort, where effort requires belief.As

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-70123241202693301872009-07-14T06:07:00.006-07:002010-12-24T15:53:29.993-07:00

When the mind fails,The heart can carry you.When the heart fails,The mind must manage.When both fail?God.His way. His time.Why not go there first?

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-13700124142451916172009-07-08T20:30:00.018-07:002010-12-24T15:51:07.725-07:00

About five years ago my family and I spent a good part of a day at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. I highly recommend it, if you ever find yourself in the northwest part of that large city. Although paintings are not something that naturally draw my interest, I am occasionally fascinated by realistic depictions. But the realism, or the degree to which a painting duplicates an image as a

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-67023499161243306132009-06-07T07:35:00.006-07:002010-12-24T15:55:24.383-07:00

“This is the cross I must bear.” Often this is said in an almost despairing tone, as in, “I hate this, but I have to do it. Fine!” Or, hand on forehead with a sigh, “Woe is me!” Not much joy there, eh? Does it inspire any of you to think, “Gee this Christianity thing has a lot goin’ for it?” Hardly. It’s the reason I hate the phrase. And yet, I have referred to difficult circumstances as

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-34574346794150703712009-05-08T15:30:00.012-07:002010-12-24T15:48:38.966-07:00

I'm out of sync.My heart's irregular beatConfounds my metronomic mind.Follow the Conductor, my soul.Then all that jazz lights up with lifeIn perfect syncopationWith Him, outside of time.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-40409256187429844452009-05-07T21:18:00.008-07:002011-01-04T20:12:20.531-07:00

Years ago, when my daughters were beginning to acquire the interest in Barbies, I joked about the paucity of modest Barbies, saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a Barbie nun--Carmelite Barbie!"Well, my kids have done me one better. Check out the Barbies at Divine Liturgy, complete with iconostas, choir (back left), icon candle stands, and they even put the icons of Christ and Mary in the

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-15860180588204609642009-04-18T21:36:00.004-07:002010-12-24T15:58:07.665-07:00

A theme has been playing in my mind in the last couple of days during the Holy Week services. In a word, what would I call it? Mortality? Continuity? Aging? Time? None of these quite captures it, but “Time” seems to get the closest. (I shall have to go back and read Augustine on the subject in his Confessions). The idea pops up in situations like the following, all of which occur in an instant,

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-8117791702662167042009-04-13T23:04:00.006-07:002010-12-24T16:05:16.484-07:00

All things move in cyclical fashion along the rocky stream.The ferns grow up.The grass grows up.The fledgling birds both fall and fly.The frogs and fish grow up and die.The stream descends from start to end, from spring to Spring,Warbling through the hills,And in the Spring, heart swollen,Pours out its rage from Winter’s torrents.Still it flows, wailing, whistling, wandering, whispering,Bearing

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-47690678036322075222009-03-30T06:39:00.008-07:002010-12-24T16:06:37.425-07:00

Evolution, if understood as common descent of species, is totally accepted by the Intelligent Design crowd (yes there are some who don't, so what?). So the Darwin-Fish pictured with this posting isn't as slanderous as one might think. Darwin is not the enemy of my God, nor He of Darwin. But I'll leave that point for another post. This entry is about the legitimacy of the Intelligent Design

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-11782139257121663942009-03-18T22:17:00.014-07:002010-12-24T16:08:12.418-07:00

Clip art copyrighted by Bobbie Peachey,http://webclipart.about.com It's the 3rd week of Lent, and at Liturgy tonight I experienced again the pain and joy of fasting.The beginning of the Fast is probably the most difficult part. During regular periods in the Church calendar I don't eat hamburgers and such very often. But what happens when the fast begins? All I can think about is having a hot

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-24956045455074407312009-03-16T21:33:00.004-07:002010-12-24T16:09:16.752-07:00

For some reason a cherished memory returned to me this evening. It's one of those small episodes with immeasurable personal importance.About 20 or so years ago, when I worked at a restaurant, and was still in high school, my general attitude toward life tended to either extreme happiness and thrill, or extreme sadness, bordering on depression. Being a philosophical sort, I found much cognitive

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-21398653101584640902009-03-15T18:35:00.004-07:002010-12-24T16:11:02.105-07:00

The mind maps the visible world.The heart takes an image of the invisible.Faith moves the man forward, uniting heart and mindin service to its god.Would you sharpen your mind?Would you soften your heart?To no purpose: First set your faith on truth.Only then will your heart and mind improve,in the action of faith set on truth."What is truth?"He has a name.Man shifts between mind and heart,Or tries

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-13275496862835581872009-02-24T06:23:00.006-07:002010-12-27T08:20:38.951-07:00

The real world overflows with pain and sorrow.Yet, the same real world is shot through with beauty.Despite its pain, reality is a far more glorious and rich place than the unrealities we make for ourselves.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-11584079945889012392009-01-23T21:56:00.008-07:002011-01-04T19:53:05.581-07:00

G.K. Chesterton wrote a piece called The Wind And The Trees (one of 39 essays published in Tremendous Trifles). His title alludes to the boyhood innocence that proposes to solve the annoyance of wind, "Well, why don't you take away the trees, and then it won't wind." A perfectly simple confusion of cause and effect, or more precisely (for you logic nerds, or even you Latin nerds) that famous

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-85497696801680654702008-12-31T15:20:00.015-07:002010-12-27T08:22:46.001-07:00

In part 1 (posted at the end of August!) I described Categorical Thinking, gave a couple affirming examples, and defined it as having these two components:A classification scheme, andA method of using that scheme.I ended saying that I would consider some examples where Categorical Thinking actually distorts understanding. So after all this time, I'm here to deliver.One of the main reasons for

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-50985956058249438702008-09-18T11:43:00.008-07:002011-01-04T19:58:08.926-07:00

In Christ's words from the cross, "forgive them for they know not what they do," I recently discovered something wonderful that I had not noticed before.First, I realized that most of us offend, insult, or otherwise sin against others--completely by accident. This seems a more frequent problem among people who are very close (spouses, siblings). This should have been obvious, being so common.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-13771920815066833152008-08-25T12:13:00.014-07:002010-12-27T08:24:16.135-07:00

Categorical thinking has many uses, some good, some bad. When relied on too heavily, however, it can block true understanding. Further, it can become a tool to modify the idea that spawned the categories themselves. But I'm getting ahead of myself...Let's begin by defining what I mean. Categorical Thinking is, in my way of categorizing, a two-part system that our minds use to interpret things

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-43982627641035459752008-08-19T07:15:00.008-07:002011-01-04T20:01:34.530-07:00

Mere honesty is surrender;Mere courage, hubris;Honesty and courage, victory.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-71930491879024485432008-08-08T22:10:00.015-07:002011-01-04T20:07:28.910-07:00

Winnie the Pooh got lost in the forest with Rabbit and Piglet. After walking in the direction they thought best, they repeatedly passed the same Pit. "How would it be," said Pooh slowly, "if, as soon as we're out of sight of this Pit, we try to find it again?""What's the good of that?" said Rabbit."Well," said Pooh, "we keep looking for Home and not finding it, so I thought that if we looked for

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-36795014729648758442008-08-01T12:14:00.009-07:002011-01-04T20:06:43.846-07:00

I'm reading Taoteching, progressing very slowly--on purpose. It's an English translation, of course. It's very good.What I most recently read is quoted in the title of this entry: Win then stop.Combine this with other sayings in the Taoteching, and interesting incongruities arise. For example, the Tao does not compete. In a purely logical sense, it is impossible on the one hand to say "Win then

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-14865779767374352762008-07-09T21:44:00.010-07:002011-01-04T20:08:45.834-07:00

I went to an Ostrich Ranch last weekend with my family. I was surprised at how interesting it turned out to be. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but those birds are BIG. I was also surprised at how "birdlike" they are: seemingly electric with nervousness.Ostrich must be the ugliest birds I can think of. They also seemed to be pretty stupid, too, but that might have been due to their being

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-66821363137123793232008-07-03T06:35:00.008-07:002009-03-21T06:59:34.752-07:00

On June 25th my wife’s maternal grandmother died at the age of 78. She was a faithful woman, married for 60 years, survived by her likewise faithful husband. She was an active Christian (CMA), honorable, prayerful. It is a comfort to the whole family that she unashamedly, and honestly, loved God with gratitude.Each time a grandparent has died, I’m recalled to their living legacy which resides in

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-53135977497540028102008-06-17T06:00:00.005-07:002009-03-21T06:59:11.680-07:00

This entry is merely to thank our cat. He really belongs to my wife, since he was a birthday gift many years ago, but my daughters pretty much treat him as theirs. He's mellow with that.When we lived in cooler climes he earned my great respect by effortlessly killing off the rats which, before he arrived, invaded our garage, roof, and storage shed. He was mostly an outdoor cat with indoor

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-15551239879337004812008-06-12T05:11:00.009-07:002009-03-21T06:58:52.405-07:00

I'm reading Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis, and have come across this. After enumerating some myths and poetry that he had explored in a period of his youth, he says"Luckily they were abandoned before these easy and vulgar metres had time to spoil my ear."As I gain more mileage around the sun, I find poetry more and more interesting and beautiful. In my case, I have attributed this to having to

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-72546493127984467532008-06-02T21:45:00.010-07:002009-03-21T06:56:34.903-07:00

My oldest daughter and I hiked the Grand Canyon, North Rim to South. We went with friends who'd done it before, the 12th time for one in our group who was over 60!This was my daughter's and my first time.Yes, millions have done it before, and many do it in a day. But the Grand Canyon is so magnificent it doesn't wear out. And the experience each of us takes with us is our own. And what an

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-74178676893350326992008-05-19T06:19:00.008-07:002009-03-21T06:56:17.587-07:00

I was walking eastward during sunrise, up a little hill. As the sun peeked over the horizon, but not yet above the hill, I felt a warm breeze stir, coming head-on. It was as though the sleeping wind awoke to play, greeting me on the way, "good morning, sir."Last night my family and I watched the sun set. As the sun dipped his feet into the horizon, we felt a gentle breeze stir, coming head-on.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-34656799966865119642008-05-03T09:17:00.008-07:002009-03-21T06:55:43.427-07:00

What a wonderful, beautiful thing to see a child grow!There my daughter (the "Monkey") sits at the piano, looking at a score of Beethoven’s Fur Elise, trying, successfully, to work her way through it. She has learned it in a simplified form in one of her early learner's books, but now, she is taking on the master in his own territory!How does this happen?My wife has gently raised my daughter to

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-75913295300909407632008-04-20T07:01:00.009-07:002009-03-21T06:54:51.795-07:00

All of life is contained in these: 1. Humility to accept facts 2. Hope for what is true and best 3. Faith that what you lack is not yet needed 4. Wisdom to see what does not change 5. Courage to perform your painful duty 6. Refuge to catch your breath 7. God, who gives all this and moreThis is the road. The end is a new place to travel.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-50966202628643212532008-04-17T19:31:00.003-07:002009-03-21T06:54:28.501-07:00

At my ten-year old daughter’s recommendation, I read Little Men, by Louisa May Alcott. This was her answer to my request for a book that she thought showed good examples of parenting.I am pleased to have found some deep insights in several areas. One of these is the Bhaer’s general view of educating children: let children be children, and let their natural interests and personalities be the tools

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-11635330494450696472008-04-14T04:03:00.008-07:002010-07-27T22:16:06.565-07:00

My garden's allthistles. At root,at seed, these barbsare my own fruit.Water and tend,my needful task.Paring, pruning,kills this bramble.Weeding, bedding,fingers bleeding,increase ironcontent: good ground.As blossoms bloomtheir pricks and pointscut deeper still:pain, prayer, will,faith. A betterblood than mine willturn hard briarsto fruitful vines.

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-50862325487643691992008-04-11T22:15:00.006-07:002009-03-21T06:53:59.401-07:00

I chanced upon what seems to be a fine blog in the Blogger universe; it is dedicated to matters of interest to those who, like myself, love C.S. Lewis's writings:It is this: http://yourdailycslewis.blogspot.com/(Come to think of it, it might be nice to find pages dedicated to all the authors that I find enlightening.)If you have not read Lewis, you have surely missed something. "What?" Good

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120009531990362854.post-53561796146118898032008-04-01T14:48:00.002-07:002011-01-04T20:01:06.019-07:00

The phrase "Know thyself" goes a long way back--at least to the famous ancient Greeks. In our present age and culture it is still a favorite, and important, phrase. I think we use the term "self-awareness" as the modern way to get at the idea of knowing oneself.There are two applications with this concept, one being selfish, and the other being honest in matters pertaining to oneself. Knowing

Theo-Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006693331950046113noreply@blogger.com3