Are we still of any use? What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, and straightforward men. Will our inward power of resistance be strong enough, and our honesty with ourselves remorseless enough, for us to find our way back to simplicity and straightforwardness?”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, 1951
"The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering humanity. For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for Him Who came to heal and to teach, the way was not just to appear here, but to place Himself in the service of those who needed Him, and to be made known to them as they could accept it, not diminishing the value of His Divine presence by overwhelming their capacity to receive it."
Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, Alexandria 335 AD
“Man has places in his heart which do not yet exist, and into them enters suffering, in order that they may have life.”
Léon Bloy, Le Pèlerin de l'absolu, Bourg-la-Reine, 1914
"All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. All souls must admire and respect one another, walking along our path to the same goal, united in purpose and with the help of God's plan which, in its great variety, is in us all. To escape the pain caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, and give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.”
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, L'Abandon a la Providence Divine, France, 1861
"Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours."
Santa Teresa de Ávila
These are very confusing times indeed.
And yet our calling for those who follow the Word remains the same. Perhaps even more strongly put than in easy times of overabundance where the temptations to complacency harden some hearts.
I addressed the spark for today's stock rally earlier today here: Why Are Stocks Rallying?
And stocks indeed rallied, with a single pause and backstep, into the close.
Non-Farm Payrolls report this Thursday, the last business day before the great 250th American Anniversary.
The Dollar fell a bit.
Bitcoin continues bouncing along the bottom of its intermediate trading range.
VIX fell. All is well.
The first chart below compares the AI stock phenomenon to prior phenomena in the markets.
The world's Banks have offered a word of caution."Debt-fueled spending on AI is driving up the risk of a global financial crisis, central bankers have warned. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Sunday that 'excessive' spending on new AI data centres and opaque transactions risked a financial meltdown similar to the global credit crunch nearly two decades ago.SpaceX bounced almost back to where it began its IPO journey.
The BIS, known as the bank for central banks, said there was growing 'peril' in financial markets from the complex web of financial ties between AI giants, shadow banks and data centre builders unraveling. 'Financial stability could be at risk in the event of an AI bust,' the BIS said. 'Should hyperscalers slow or halt the aggressive pace of capex deployment, many borrowers across the supply chain could struggle to replace lost revenue and service their debt. The opacity of AI-sector financing compounds these vulnerabilities.'”
Matthew Field, AI Boom Risks Global Financial Crash Say Central Banks, 28 June 2026
There are a number of things worth watching this week.
In particular the geopolitical developments in Iran and the Ukraine.
Europe has taken up the mantle of trying to provoke Russia from a safe distance. The EU leadership is anaemic and uninspiring, at times almost craven. But they would yet be kings and queens, even of smoking ruins.
But we all have our burdens, and the US certainly has its own.
In Iran, the US government is continuing to engage in enormously expensive lengths to impose a secular Pax Zionica on the Near East, in its global and never ending quest for oil, minerals, and beachfront property development worldwide.
But at the end of the day, we are held responsible for what we do, and for the love we bring with us when we come home to the Father.
We are to be in the world, but not of it. And the temptation to let our love grow cold is powerful.
It is sad to see so many Christians fallen way, abandoning Christ for the world, with a piety worthy of the Pharisees.
In the end, the only real tragedy is not to have been a saint.
Have a pleasant evening.
