The beautiful is the experiential proof that the incarnation is possible. We must have faith that the universe is beautiful, and that it has a fullness of beauty in relation to each of the thinking beings that actually exist and of all those that are possible. It is this very agreement of an infinity of perfect beauties that gives a transcendent character to the beauty of the world.
He is really present in this universal beauty. The love of this beauty proceeds from God dwelling in our souls and goes out to God present in the universe. The beauty of this world is Christ's tender smile coming to us through the material."
Simone Weil, Attente de Dieu, 1950
“They're talking about things of which they don't have the slightest understanding. It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves.”
Franz Kafka, The Trial, 1915
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare."
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 1941
God is Love. Love casts out fear. Even the most ardent revolutionist, seeking to change the world, to overturn the tables of the money changers, is trying to make a world where it is easier for people to love, to stand in that relationship with each other of love. We want with all our hearts to love, to be loved."
Dorothy Day, On Pilgrimage, The Catholic Worker, April 1948
"Myth wants power; revelation reveals the true power of God in the most extreme powerlessness. Myth wants knowledge; the Word of God asks for constant faith and, only within that faith, a growing, reverent understanding.
The revelation of God’s Word is gentle patience amidst the intractable tensions of life. Error never shows itself in its naked reality. It dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself.”
Iraneus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses, 180 AD
"A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don't bother anyone, that's the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world that they live in.”
Oscar Romero, Radio Sermon, 1 July 1979
Stocks rallied today on Trump's unilateral extension of the ceasefire with Iran until Sunday evening.
Coincidentally enough this is in time for a third carrier group to join the two already in place.
And so it was the usual post-Trump announcement, preceded by large bets hitting the oil futures markets I might add.
Gold and silver were pushed lower, and the Dollar rallied.
Stocks, at risk levels of historic imbalance, rallied to new highs.
This is confirmation for the waning of wretchedness, with their failing bodies and minds — faithless to the last.
I think we all know what is what. We may be tempted to distract and even blind ourselves, but there is it.
Remember who you are, and what it will mean to remain standing until the end.
This is what is important, what this drama is all about.
And not the raging of those dwindling into dust, with the fury of the fallen.
Have a pleasant evening.
