"They do not see the image of Almighty God before them, and ask themselves what He wishes. And, for the same reason that they do not please Him, they succeed in pleasing themselves. Hence, they become both self-satisfied and self-sufficient; – they think they know just what they ought to do, and that they do it all; and in consequence they are very well content with themselves, and rate their merit very high, and have no fear at all of any future scrutiny into their conduct."
John Henry Newman
"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have relighted the flame within us."
Albert Schweitzer
The sinner, having forsaken the service of his God, falls under the dominance of Satan, and becomes the slave of his lowest passions, which are signified by the swine which the prodigal was forced to feed. But the more he obeys his passions, the more dissatisfied he becomes. No pleasure of the senses can give him happiness, and he feels an emptiness and spiritual hunger in his heart which he is powerless to satisfy. He knows no rest; he only knows that he is miserable, and hateful to himself...
Though the sinner has offended Him so grievously and so often, yet He does not reproach him, but forgives him everything, and restores him to his former rights and dignity of sonship. God alone can love in this way, and to us this sort of love is inconceivable. Our Lord portrays this narrow-mindedness of ours in the conclusion of the parable. The elder son cannot understand his father’s joy; he murmurs at it, and refuses to take part in it; and even professes to believe that his father prefers the returned prodigal to himself, the faithful, obedient and industrious son. By this behaviour of the elder son our Lord signifies the jealousy of the Pharisees, who considered themselves to be just, and murmured at the deep interest which Jesus took in sinners."
Friedrich Justus Knecht, The Prodigal Son
"We pray for the big things, and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small, and yet really not so small, blessings.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Stocks took a dive today, as one might have expected with this kind of risk-blindness we have been seeing in the recent spate of low VIX readings.
The Dollar and gold caught some safe haven tradings.
Silver followed equities lower.
So, is this yet another 'new bull market' in equities all shot to hell?
Maybe, but we certainly don't know so yet.
So far its just a fairly normal correction.
Stock futures were bouncing for joy after the bell as some of the big cap tech stocks released their earnings results.
People love the lie too much to let go of it quickly or easily.
That seems to be an unambiguous trend in many of our most prominent public figures these days.
I think its the pride. It causes people to blind themselves.
And cry big salty tears for their favorite con man, while trampling on love and the truth with self-satisfied delight.
Well, the rinse follows wash, so we might see a rally in risk tomorrow.
But let's see if stocks can keep moving higher past this great resistance area that has destroyed the last three rally attempts at breaking it.
Have a pleasant evening.
