Amazon.com Widgets

Samwise

Joined: Dec. 10, 2012

Bio:

Very proud of my family: my wife and my new born son—Joshua!

Most recent posts by Samwise:     (See all of them)

Jerzy Kluger and Karol Wojtyla

Mar. 4 at 10:34am | Comments: 2 | Most recent comment: Mar. 7 at 10:16am

Editor's note: This post was moved, with Samewise's permission, from the Member Feed. A few notes on the book entitled The Pope and I, by Jerzy Kluger: Before WWII, in Wadowice, Poland, two men grew up in a Catholic/Jewish neighborhood.  The most famous of these men is Karol Wojtyla, but the second is his lifelong Jewish friend, Jerzy Kluger.  Together, they spent their elementary and highschool years in Wadowice, only to meet again after the War...

JPII vs Solipsism

Dec. 18 at 5:24pm | Comments: 5 | Most recent comment: Dec. 19 at 12:07pm

Much like the Divine Physician, John Paul II could diagnose world culture on epidemic proportions.  His wise influence helped to topple the iron curtain, calm the storm of feminism and reconcile Jewish/Christian greivances.  Like a good doctor, John Paul II had an effective remedy for major societal hurts. A warning he gave to future generations of thinkers, moralists, and policy makers was the danger of solipsism in philosophy.  Solipsism...

JPII and Acting

Dec. 11 at 12:52pm | Comments: 0

From sports to writing to philosophizing, JPII covers a lot of leisurely pursuits. But he takes such topics and makes them more accessible to the layman, so that there's no place that the layman can go without JPII having already gone. It's refreshing to know that a man has freed up such a vast array of subjects, so that no one has to wonder whether or not the truth of Jesus can be known, and in being known, set men...

Latest comments by Samwise:     (See all of them)

Re: Mercies hurt

Jun. 12 at 11:42am | see this comment in context

The Eustace reference works well!

I have heard Mark-- on the radio-- speak about Uncle Andrew too.  Together, Eustace and Uncle Andrew make for some of the most off-putting characters in Narnia, and can annoy readers to the point of wanting to imitate Edmund (of all people).

On the radio, Mark pointed out the unrepentant nature of Uncle Andrew, exhorting listeners to  have "child-like faith' instead.  It was a good reminder that ingenuity and IQ are not all we're meant for.

Re: A short thought about suffering

May. 20 at 4:10pm | see this comment in context

Gollum too, is a fitting example of addiction.

His 'precious' literally annihilates his personhood--splitting his personality into 2:  such that he can no longer say 'me' but only 'we'.

In other words, he is not free to exercise an "I-Thou" relationship of persons, but pitifully, "we-it"

 I argue that addiction does precisely this: objectifies the personal dimension of reality, such that everything to the addict can only be viewed in relation to the object, "it".  Persons themselves are merely means to the end of possessing "it".  It is nothing short of slavery to the "precious" 

Re: A short thought about suffering

May. 20 at 3:56pm | see this comment in context

The man with the lizard on his shoulder in Lewis' Great Divorce, captures addiction best in my view. 

Of the handful of NA groups that I've sat in on, the addicts describe "stinkin' thinkin'" as a kind of rationalizing voice in their heads that convinces them to sabotage their sobreity.  Particularly in times of family reunions or very stressful situations, the voice seems irresistible to them.  They lose the ability to be responsible, and sabotage all for the sake of "getting a fix".

In Lewis' book, the man defeats the lizard with much difficulty--and promptly transforms into a much greater version of himself.  This is the case too with the few instances of addicts I've seen who "kicked the habit", and were able to gain employment/independence/accountability for staying sober.  They literally improve their posture/thought patterns/speech/etc.  From vice to virtue--a very difficult road w/ drug use--and a desperate need for God's unmistakable grace.

Re: Does God Have Favorites?

May. 10 at 3:24pm | see this comment in context

Patrick, imagine if the opposite of what you're saying were true--namely, that egalitarianism reigns among the saints.  Mary is equal to St. Jerome? (he would be furious).

Rather, think of Dante's purgatorio--climbing a mountain of virtue.  Each of us have specific virtues we need to work on in order to grow in holiness:  you mentioned 'love'/charity.  And, most likely there's at least one other virtue that is troublesome.  Now, Dante was wrong in judging specific individuals to hell, etc.  but his system was correct in terms of what you and I can work on. 

This is a major difference that I've noticed between Catholicism and Protestantism.  The Church is a hierarchy in terms of the degree that we're able to exercise virtue/responsibility/etc.  

Re: Heaven is a person

May. 10 at 10:15am | see this comment in context

The godfather of my newborn son studies personalism at Mundeiline Seminary in Chicago.  He introduced me to St. Augustine's De Personas Trinitatae recently, and argued that personhood stems from the triune Persons of the Blessed Trinity.  "Let us make man in our image..."

In a mysterious way, I experienced this reality in my son's baptism two weeks ago.  He has the Trinity within him now!

The face of Heaven is Jesus, and although the Trinity dwells within us--our entire lives are a quest for the face of God beyond us.  It almost sounds too easy, until I consider the wounds that Jesus brought to his Father at the Ascension, and the cry of abandonment he spoke on the cross.  How can the Trinity be so risky? 

My son is no longer an orphan in God's family--and yet, he will always strive to be fully adopted, fully integrated, fully vulnerable to the 'slings and arrows' of this world--for the sake of personally seeing God's face.  

Stay informed

Reading circles

Lectures

Latest comments

  • Re: Two new items for my case against "unprincipled forgiveness"
  • By: Tim Cronin

  • Hi Katie, In John Milbank's "An Essay Against Secular Order" he talks about the reality of forgiveness. He says that without forgiveness being accepted and realized it does not have a true reality. Neither does forgiveness have a true reality if it is merely formal. Receiving forgiveness involves a complete realization of consciousness of egocentricity. This involves a suffering on the receipient of forgiveness. It also involves a suffering on the forgiver through the re-establishing of the bonds of the relationship. -Tim

    Jun. 13 at 3:11pm | See in context

  • Re: Mercies hurt
  • By: Samwise

  • The Eustace reference works well!

    I have heard Mark-- on the radio-- speak about Uncle Andrew too.  Together, Eustace and Uncle Andrew make for some of the most off-putting characters in Narnia, and can annoy readers to the point of wanting to imitate Edmund (of all people).

    On the radio, Mark pointed out the unrepentant nature of Uncle Andrew, exhorting listeners to  have "child-like faith' instead.  It was a good reminder that ingenuity and IQ are not all we're meant for.

    Jun. 12 at 11:42am | See in context

  • Re: The Least I Need to Do
  • By: CATHY ECHANIZ-BECK

  • Not in particular, Devra.  It's kind of fuzzy to me, too. :)  Just a general sense I had, of Ivan's feeling guilty and wanting to do better.  Ha!  I should re-read that one; it was good! 

    Jun. 11 at 11:55am | See in context

  • Re: The Least I Need to Do
  • By: Katie van Schaijik

  • I love the reminder that turning away from serious vice is "the beginning of freedom".

    The next big liberation, in my experience, is from illusions of rectitude and self-sufficiency. It's the willingness to face and absorb the truth about ourselves—especially our impotence to save ourselves, or even to live well.  

    It's painful, but definitely freeing.

    Jun. 11 at 11:53am | See in context

  • Re: The Least I Need to Do
  • By: Devra Torres

  • I'm not sure, but maybe.  Ivan Ilyich had his lists of "thou shalt not's," but they all had to do with what was and wasn't done in his social circle.   There's something like that in Anna Karenina, too, about how Vronsky stuck to his principles, which were "Never lie, except to a woman," and "Never fail to pay a debt, unless it's a gambling debt," and so on.  Crime and Punishment is pretty fuzzy in my mind, Cathy: is there some part in particular you're thinking of?

    Jun. 11 at 10:39am | See in context

  • Re: The Least I Need to Do
  • By: Marilyn Prever

  • Was it the one about the dying man who couldn't take the first step, which was to admit he was not a good man ad to ask for mercy.The Death of Ivan Ilyich or something like that?

    Jun. 11 at 9:01am | See in context

  • Re: The Least I Need to Do
  • By: CATHY ECHANIZ-BECK

  • Dev, 

    Were you thinking of Crime & Punishment by Tolstoy??

    Cathy 

    Jun. 11 at 8:26am | See in context

  • Re: Two new items for my case against "unprincipled forgiveness"
  • By: Katie van Schaijik

  • One of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies, On the Waterfront, is Terry and Edie's first date. Terry tells her his philosophy of life. It's every man for himself. Get the other guy before he gets you.

    She lives in a different world—a world where people are part of each other, where they care about each other, help each other, and call out the best in each other. She's asking for his help. He's drawn to her world, but finds her naive. He wants her to drop her pursuit of justice for her brother. Forget it. Move on. Enjoy life. Don't risk trouble.

    The conversation ends abruptly when he bursts out in frustration, "What do want from me, Edie?"  She replies, passionately: "Much more. Much, much, much more."

    Cardinal O'Brien sounds to me a lot like Terry. "I said I'm sorry. What more do you want?" The Vatican sound more like Evie. "Much much more."

    Much more from you and much more for you.

    Jun. 9 at 1:49pm | See in context

  • Re: It's Here!
  • By: Katie van Schaijik

  • Got it. Thanks, Devra!  Can't wait to read it.

    Jun. 7 at 8:42am | See in context

  • Re: Interview with Hannah Arendt
  • By: Katie van Schaijik

  • Rhett, I'm with you in lamenting that maddening gap between the depth and delicacy of the insight you think you have and the clunky unspecialness of what comes out when you try to put in it words.

    That's the negative experience of writing your thoughts. The positive experience is when you've struggled and struggled to say something, realized you're missing something key, and then suddenly seen what it is—something you wouldn't have seen if you hadn't made the effort to put it to paper, or screen.

    Jun. 6 at 9:44am | See in context

Latest active posts