Not my will, but yours
March 10, 2017 Vol 1, No. 42
A journal for restless minds Under Construction For the love of knowing
On Faith Not my will, but yours
Et Quod Hoc ... This and that ...
Deacon’s Diner Food for a restless mind
Under Construction For the love of knowing
sane person living in a global insane
T
his is personal, but hopefully,
call me crazy, but believe me when I
it will be at least marginally
tell you, there is a method to my
useful to a few. Last Septem-
madness.
asylum. No, No, and No! So please,
ber I voluntarily matriculated
at John Paul the Great Catholic Universi-
What worries is the seeming dis-
ty, with the express intent of obtaining a
inclination of so many to know, real-
graduate degree in Bib-
ly and truly know
lical Theology.
anything beyond a
Now attending
for
tight
some,
Each week Colloquī will contain articles on theology, philosophy, faith, religion, Catholicism, and much more. Be forewarned! Articles may and often will contain fuel for controversy, but always with the express intent to seek the Truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.
circumscribed
set of data and even
graduate
then, for some, that is
school may be “no big Colloquī is a Deacon’s Corner weekly journal. Its mission and purpose: to encourage serious discussion, to promote reasoned debate, and to provide serious content for those who hope to find their own pathway to God.
am not claiming that I am the only
thing,” but when one is
more than they are
fast approaching seven
want to know.
decades on this grand green globe, some have
And, this is incredibly
seriously
important,
questioned
the state of my mental faculties.
knowing
is not the same as learning or wisdom, although to know a thing you
To those I say, “Fair enough.” I admit, to on occasion, having been accused of having a few screws loose, so I am not at all offended or taken aback by their concerns with my mental health.
must first learn of it, and wisdom only comes when you use what you know wisely. Knowledge does not necessarily come with a college degree; such higher education may
But … I do find myself, more of-
ten than not, concerned about the mental well-being of others. And no, I 1
open heretofore unknown vistas but then, little more, for unless the mind CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
were human in the theological sense, but authorization of then Joseph Cardinal
is receptive and open to accepting new whose immediate progenitors were not.
Ratzinger:
ideas, with flexibility and alacrity, knowledge can never fill the mind.
This seems to fly in the face of evolu-
“Catholic theology affirms that the
tionary biology. Evolution occurs gradual- emergence of the first members of the hu-
P
erhaps an analogy will help to ly, by the accumulation of genetic changes man species (whether as individuals or in illustrate: imagine trying to fill that spread through populations. New populations) represents an event that is
a jar (mind) with a liquid species do not appear at a single stroke, in not susceptible of a purely natural expla(knowledge) … with the lid tightly one generation; there was not a “first cat” nation and which can appropriately be sealing it. No matter how fast or hard whose parents were non-cats. There is no attributed to divine intervention. Acting you pour (educate) nothing will alter contradiction with theology, however. Bio- indirectly through causal chains operating what is inside that closed jar (mind) logical speciation is indeed a gradual pro- from the beginning of cosmic history, God unless and until the lid is removed. cess, but in the traditional Christian view, prepared the way for what Pope John Paul Then and only then, when the jar the conferring of a spiritual soul upon hu- II has called “an ontological leap … the moment of transition to the spir(mind) is wide open to reitual.”
ceive, can the jar be filled.
al mind is God’s gift, it is
M
what, above all else, differenti-
tionalism. Since Copernicus,
ates man from all other crea-
science has eschewed anthro-
tures. Yet there are those who
pocentrism in any form, con-
would deny such distinctive-
tributing to what Stephen Jay
ness, who, all too eagerly at
Gould called “the dethrone-
times, deny any possibility of
ment of man.”
The mind is a wondrous creation, uniquely human in its ability to reason; the ration-
odern thought,
secular of
course, objects to
any notion of human excep-
ontological discontinuity beAs Barr explains it: “A more
tween humans and other ani-
promising approach to finding
mals.
man beings is not a biological process at the beginnings of human rationality may Stephen M. Barr, professor of all. It is quite consistent to suppose that a lie with the study of language. This is parphysics at the University of Delaware long, slow evolutionary development led to adoxical, perhaps, in that spoken language and author of The Believing Scientist: the emergence of an interbreeding popula- leaves no fossils or artifacts. One can, Essays on Science and Religion, in his re- tion of ‘anatomically modern humans,’ as however, investigate the neural machinery view of the book Why Only Us: Language paleo-archeologists call them, and that of language, the genetic basis of that maand Evolution by Berwick and Chomsky when the time was ripe, God chose to raise chinery, and the deep underlying strucnotes that “Only humans are made in the one, several, or all members of that popula- tures of language itself. This is the avenue image of God and have immortal souls tion to the spiritual level of rationality and pursued in the remarkable new book Why Only Us by Robert C. Berwick and Noam
endowed with the spiritual powers of ra- freedom.”1 tionality and freedom. This does not admit of degrees: One either has an immortal soul or one does not. The discontinuity must therefore be historical as well as ontological. In our lineage there must have
B
Chomsky.… Using an array of sophisticatarr reminds of the 2004 Vati- ed arguments based on discoveries in lincan document “Communion guistics, neuroscience, genetics, computer and Stewardship: Human Persons science, evolutionary theory, and studies of
Created in the Image of God,” with the
been a first creature or set of creatures who
animal communication, they develop a set CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
2
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Berwick and Chomsky arrive, on pure- my madness, which I will now en-
of hypotheses about the nature and origins ly empirical grounds, at the conclusion deavor to explain. of human language, which will (if they that there is. All animals communicate, od made us in his image and hold up) have far-reaching implications. … but only humans are rational; and for likeness and breathed life—a [They] argue that only human beings have Berwick and Chomsky, human lansoul— into each of us, along language. It is not that there are other ani- guage is primarily an instrument of with the gift of reason, the ability to mals possessing it in germ or to a slight rationality. Barr concludes his book think, to know and to love him. He degree; no other animals, they insist, pos- review with this: expects us to use—to the best of our sess it at all. The language capacity arose “They present powerful arguments ability—his gift for good and to never very suddenly, they say, likely in a single that this astonishing instrument arose just stop, until we see him face-to-face in member of the species Homo sapiens, as a once and quite suddenly in evolutionary heaven. Each has been given a variety consequence of a very few fortuitous and history—indeed, most likely in just one of gifts and no one is void of any gift. unlikely genetic mutations. member of Homo sapiens, or at most a few. We are called by God to make the
G
W
hat Berwick and Chom- At the biological level, this involved a sud- most of what we have, no matter how sky have observed is a den upgrade of our mental machinery, and great or how small.
radical dissimilarity be- Berwick and Chomsky’s theories of this are Martin Mosebach wrote this: “It is tween all animal communication sys- both more plausible than competing theosaid that every apparently new thing has tems and human language. Animals ries and more consistent with data from a always been with us. Alas, this doesn’t communicate simply and linearly variety of disciplines. But they recognize seem to be the case. The industrial revoluwhereas human language—and here it that more than machinery is involved. The tion, science as a replacement for religion, gets highly technical in its descrip- basic contents and meanings, the deepand the phenomenon of the wonderful and tion—involves the capacity to gener- lying elements of human thought—’wordlimitless increase in money (without a ate, by a recursive procedure, an un- like but not words’—were somehow there, similar increase in its material equivalent) limited number of hierarchically struc- mysteriously, in the beginning.” have given rise to a new mentality, one tured sentences. Elsewhere, in the same source, I that finds it increasingly difficult to perThe authors provide an example to happened upon this gem—admittedly ceive the fusion of spirit and matter, the illustrate this: “Birds that fly instinctive- taken completely out of context but spiritual content of reality that those who ly swim.” As they explain it, the adverb apropos nonetheless: “I learned from the lived in the preindustrial world across “instinctively” can modify either “fly” experience, in the end, that all vanity is thousands of years took for granted. The or “swim,” that is the sentence can be vanity, all lust is lust, and all excess is forces that determine our lives have beread “Birds that fly instinctively—swim” excess, no matter what the objects of one’s come invisible. None of them has found an or “Birds that fly—instinctively swim.” desire.”2 The resulting ambiguity is obvious. But there is no ambiguity in the sentence “Instinctively birds that fly swim.” As
the
authors
note,
here
“instinctively” must modify “swim” despite its greater linear distance.
W
aesthetic representation. In a time that is overloaded with images, they have lost the hy apropos, you may power to take form, with the result that the well ask? It is so for no powers that govern our lives have an in-
other reason that it re- tangible, indeed, a demonic quality. Along turns us to the beginning of this essay. with the inability to create images that Why I decided to embark on a rigor- made even the portrait of an individual a ous graduate course of study at my problem for the twentieth century, our
There is much more, of course, but somewhat advanced age, it may be contemporaries have lost the experience of this ought to be sufficient to answer at argued, may be nothing more than reality. For reality is always first seized in the very least the question of whether simple vanity. But then, I think not, for a heightened form that is pregnant with there is an ontological discontinuity as I stated before, there is method to meaning.”3 between humans and other animals.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
3
Though
On Faith
T
and roads, no AAA, no hotels, motels, or
long in the land of Canaan in a place on every street corner—for there were
here is always mystery in transcendent
Abram
Sar’ai and their relatives had lived travel lodges, no fast food restaurants
Not my will, but yours
the
childless,
which
defies all understanding. What fails the mind to
comprehend too often leads to resignation; absent means to quantify or measure, to justify or prove, we shake our fists and shout above the silent roar: “Thou cannot be and yet I know thou are.” We read in Isaiah: “8For
called Haran. Then, out of the blue one no streets. And once gone, there would day, God commanded Abram to just be no going back for a visit with the pack up and leave: “Go from your coun- folks; you were gone forever. So leavtry and your kindred and your father’s ing home meant a total break with the house to the land that I will show you.” past, something unimaginable in these No howdy-dos, no pleasant chit-chat, days of instant communications and just “Go, leave, get out of here.” To near constant connection. where? “to a land that I will show you.” Not exactly the clearest road map for someone to follow, but nevertheless, “4Abram went as the LORD had told
A
nd yet, God said go and Abram went. But why? Why was Abram willing to do as
God had asked? In today’s world,
my him.”
even with all the easy travel and mod-
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
ern accommodations, it is hard
are your ways my ways, says the
to imagine many, if any, who
Lord. 9For as the heavens are high-
would be willing to just pack
er than the earth, so are my ways
up and go somewhere, some-
higher than your ways and my
where to be determined later.
thoughts than your thoughts.”1
Perhaps that is an indictment
We understand and yet, we
on the shallowness of our faith
do not understand at all. For
or perhaps an unwillingness to
we cannot describe the inde-
place our trust in God. Who
scribable; we cannot know the
can say? All we know is that
unknowable; we cannot reach
Abraham did as God directed.
beyond the limits of our im-
Let us not forget, however,
poverished minds to touch, to
what God promised Abram:
see, to imagine the incompre-
“2And I will make of you a great
hensible.
nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you
We cannot resolve the mystery of the divine, but God with but a thought, can reveal himself to us.
H
3 ere we have to seriously will be a blessing. I will bless those who shift our perspective and bless you and him who curses you I will
place ourselves in the con- curse, and by you all the families of the text of that time and place. This was a earth shall bless themselves.” What are Seventy-five. Abram had lived for very long time ago, by most estimates we to make of this in light of the fact seventy-five years and his wife Sar’ai some 4,000 years ago, in what is called that Abram had no children? How exWhen he does, how will we respond?
sixty-five. Now mind you, as we are the Middle Bronze Age, somewhere actly would he become a great nation told “32The days of Terah”, Abram’s fa- between c. 2100 and c. 1900 BC, in an- with no one to bear his name? How ther, “were two hundred and five years;”,2 cient Mesopotamia. could such a promise be a sufficient so at seventy-five, Abram was younger inducement for Abram to move away than his father by some one hundred
Travel was difficult at best; there from all he had known? Would it be
and thirty years but still not exactly a were no easy modes of travel: no enough for any one of us? young man. trains, planes, or automobiles, no CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 4
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
A
the
miracles
he
worked—are history. They would have quickly
gain we must remind our- roadmaps that will lead us directly come to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah. selves, it was a different and confidently to God. time and place. Name and
family honor were the essence of a man. It was the age of the patriarch, an age where wealth and social status
Jesus points to the Father, and in turn, the Father commands us to keep our eyes focused on his Son.
N
either would they have missed the obvious similitude in the presence of the
bright cloud, reminiscent of the one
stood for little against the demand to
In the Gospel we are invited to the that covered Mt. Sinai when God great reveal, the moment when Jesus forged his covenant with the people of one’s own generation. What we perreveals his true self to Peter, James and Israel. But when they heard the voice ceive to be of grave importance would John. Though it may not be immedi- from the cloud saying, “This is my beserve for nothing then and there. Thus ately obvious, the Transfiguration loved Son, with whom I am well pleased; what God had promised was for event transcends time, with the ap- listen to him,” in that moment, they Abram nothing short of immortality. pearance of Moses and Elijah engaged would have known, beyond all doubt, extend one’s ancestral lineage beyond
God delivered on his promise, although Abram—whom God renamed Abraham—did not live to see it ful-
in conversation with Jesus. Imagine the impact such a vision
that they were in the presence of the Son of God.
must have had upon Peter, James and
Yet, for all that had been opened John, three Jews. Before, as they were to them, there on the mountain top, are descendants of Abraham and are climbing the mountain with Jesus, they could not have understood all blessed in his name as God so promthey knew that Jesus was someone that the transfiguration foreshadowed. ised. special; they were fascinated by his They saw the glory, yet knew not of teachings and his actions, but they had the cross, of all that was yet to come. Abraham died before the promise no clear thought of who he really was. They saw the promise but not the path was fulfilled; he had to take the fulfillfilled. Jews, Christians, and Muslims
ment of God’s promise on faith. It was faith, more than enough. Unlike Abraham, who dared to travel where he did not know to go, we generally need a road map to point the way and we seldom if ever embark on a journey without knowing where it should end. Without a map to guide us or a destination to reach we are
On the mountain though, they saw, for the first time, Jesus in the context of Jewish history, a prophet no doubt, standing with Moses and Elijah,
required to get there. For Jesus, and for Peter, the road to Jerusalem lay waiting. God said “listen to him.”
conversing with them as equals.
T
As with Abraham before, God did he transfiguration of Jesus not elaborate. As is most often the clearly anticipates his coming case, God sees the big picture and resurrection and ascension leaves the details for us to figure out.
into the Glory of God. That Jesus is But we are never without a guide to treated as an equal by two of the most lead us to God. Trust in Jesus, for he where, rather than risk losing our way. revered figures in the history of Israel, will get you there. most often want to stay put, to go no-
Yet, when we consider the one destination we know, with absolute certainty, is inescapably before us, shouldn’t we rely on a road map with pinpoint accuracy to get us there? Everything—Jesus’ words, his actions, his prayers, his temptations, his stories, his suffering, his friends, his disciples,
one symbolizing the Law and the other the Prophets, would have assuredly
Amen.
astounded the three devout Jews who knew scripture and their history. Seeing Jesus with Moses and Elijah, they would have placed him in context which would have opened
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent (A) Genesis 12:1-4 2 Timothy 1:8-10 Matthew 17:1-9 1. Isaiah 55:8-9.
their eyes to his significance in their 2. Genesis 11:32. 5
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
W
hat is perhaps the gravest sin is to waste the mind, to leave it fallow, stupe-
fying one’s mind by feeding it what amounts to nothing more than mental junk food or worse, nothing at all. The vacuous disregard for the mind is a rapidly growing epidemic, fueled by the insatiable lust for empty pleasures, absent any spiritual or moral ground upon which one can kneel in humble gratitude for the gifts we have been given. We each have the freedom to choose, to choose whether to strive to make the most of, through dedication and utmost effort, the gifts God has given us, or not. Either way, it is entirely up to us; God gave us the gifts, it is up to us to fully employ them.
As R.R. Reno comments: “We
Et Quod Hoc ...
ought not to parse interviews too closely.
This and that ...
U
I’ve made more than my share of sloppy
niversity of Chicago professor, Rachel Fulton Brown, writes (While We’re At It, First Things, April 2017)
“If you drive
out explicit theology from public education, you get not no theology, but only bad theology, theology never properly examined as such.” Her point in writing this was to explain why Milo Yiannopoulos arouses such passionate opposition
formulations over the years. But the notion of the West giving rise to Christianity gets things backwards. As a simple historical matter, to a great extent, Christianity gave rise to Western civilization. There’s a theological problem as well. No culture “created” Christianity. Our faith is founded on God’s revelation, not Western civilization, or any other civilization.” To that I must say, amen.
from students and faculty when invited to speak at colleges and universities. She observes that students are being taught ersatz theologies that deny being theologies. “Multiculturalism; race, class, gender; the purportedly secular Occasionally one runs across a modiideals of socialism and Marxism” have cum of common sense in an otherwise “become their faith.” Without any train- all too uncommon source. In a recent ing in what it means to have a faith— column written for the local newspa-
This past quarter has been at how to assess it, what to make of chal- per (John Rosemond “Living with children,” Reno times overwhelming, often difficult, lenges and doubts, how to distinguish Gazette-Journal, March 8, 2017, 2C) Family Psystressful, challenging, too near the between core commitments and less chologist John Rosemond opined, “The breaking, but … oh, the now knowing crucial convictions—these students are problem in American parenting is the of the new; the unexpected turns, the unable to face Yiannopoulos’s chal- 1960s.” Uh oh, that is a bit too close to heights and depths of learning, of un- lenge to their progressive faith. Thus home for me. He continues, “Among derstanding what I did not know be- the juvenile responses of outrage and other things that defined that every interfore. And the friends I found among protest, as well as the darker, more esting (ref. ancient Chinese curse) decade the pages, pages, pages, and the end- troubling reactions. “The violent re- was the replacement of rationality by emoless pages that I read: those I will re- sponse to Milo’s tour of our college cam- tionality. It was during the 1960s that the member, and remember well and long. puses, culminating in the riot at Berkeley, media, various self-appointed spiritual is evidence of a deep crisis in religious gurus and the mental health professional Why, you ask? To feed my mind, thinking.” community urged people to ‘get in touch to now know more than I knew then, with their feelings.’ And it was during the Brown’s secular theories of our to use the limits of what I have been 1960s that parents were told by mental given for the glory of the One of whom times are persuasive but less so are health professionals that children had a I owe everything I am and hope to be. Yiannopolous’ comments made for an right to express their feelings freely.” interview: “[Western civilization] has 1. Stephen M. Barr, First Words, First Things (April 2017), 61-63.. 2. David Bentley Hart, From a Vanished Library, First Things (April 2017), 28. 3. 1 Cor 12. 4. Martin Mosebach, Return to Form, First Things (April 2017), 42.
created a religion in which love and self-
Ouch! Guilty, guilty, guilty! But
sacrifice and giving are the highest possible isn’t that still true? Please don’t tell me values… That’s a good thing.”
now that I’m to blame for my children’s dysfunction and unhappiness! CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
6
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
opposite is true).” Well, ain’t that the
So sorry to disappoint, says the pits?
Food for a restless mind
good doctor, as he continues to throw But wait, there’s more bad news to
ice water all over my much beloved pre-conceived parenting skills.
come. The doctor has more to say: “Granted, shame can be taken to ex-
“I now know—and beyond a shadow of doubt—that with rare exception, one’s feelings are more apt to deceive than promote good decisions. I also know the pre-
tremes, but shame is essential to the formation of a conscience, which is essential to responsible self-government.”
psychological (pre-1960s) parents insisted that their children control the expression of emotion for the good of those children (as well as the good of everyone who were ever
All banter aside, where was Mr. Rosemond years ago? This makes sense.
in contact with those children). I also
are perpetual victims. Furthermore, the sionate, responsible human being, not an undisciplined nature of their emotions is emotional basket case. destructive both to themselves and others. Happiness is not a matter of letting ‘it’
Undisciplined emotions destroy relation-
all hang out. Quite the contrary, it is all
about holding most of ‘it’ in. It is about But then there’s more! Oh, the self-control, respect for others and responshame of it (pun intended.) sibility. It is about a value system that “Fifty years later, America is paying a terrible price for having ever believed that
places others before self. A certain amount of repression is a good thing.
when it came to children (and most other
America needs a ‘Make American
things), mental health professionals knew Parenting Great Again!’ movement. When what they were talking about.” all is said and done concerning the many Now you are really cracking me up, doc. Seriously?
well bust my buttons, “that insisting upon emotional control was repressive and authoritarian (and therefore harmful). They
claimed,
political concerns of the day, one indisputable fact remains: a culture’s strength ultimately depends on the strength of its child
“They claimed, without evidence,”
without
evidence,”
again???? “that enforcing shame upon a child who had behaved anti-socially—they named it ‘shame-based parenting’—would result in psychological problems (when the
F
or those restless minds that hunger and thirst for more. Each week
interesting and provocative titles, written by Catholic
authors,
articles, for you to feed your restless mind.
BOOKS Faith Comes From What Is Heard Lawrence Feingold Emmaus Academic July 8, 2016, 756 pages.
Called To Communion Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Ignatius Press 1996, 165 pages.
Orthodoxy G. K. Chesterton Digireads. com March 30, 2004, 121 pages. Originally published 1908.
PERIODICALS First Things Institute on Religion and Public Life Editor: R. R. Reno Ten Issues per year. www.firstthings.com
Touchstone
structure is fine and dandy, but building
A Journal of Mere Christianity Editor: James M. Kushiner Bi-Monthly. www.touchstonemag.com
ture citizens is even more fine and dandy. In fact, it is the most important thing there is.”
Catholic Answers Magazine Well, almost. Love of God and
love of neighbor are perhaps a wee bit more important, don’t you think? 7
in
addition to those referenced in the
-rearing practices. Building a strong infraemotionally resilient and responsible fu-
this
space will offer a menu of
“Children are not naturally disposed
know that people who are ruled by their to shame. It must be trained into them by emotions—people who cannot think loving parent who are not supposed to straight, in other words—are not happy enjoy what they must do. A child so people. In their own enslaved minds, they trained is destined to become a compas-
ships, property and spiritual health.”
Deacon’s Diner
Share the Faith, Defend the Faith Editor: Tim Ryland Bi-Monthly. www.catholic.com
Books are available on Amazon.com or from the author’s web site at:
deaconscorner.org
Deacon Chuck Lanham is an author, columnist, speaker, and a servant of God. He is the author of The Voices of God: Hearing God in the Silence, Echoes of Love: Effervescent Memories and is currently writing his third book Without God: Finding God in a Godless World. He is the bulletin editor for Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church. He has written over 230 articles on religion, faith, morality, theology,
Each issue of Colloquī can be viewed or downloaded from
http://deaconscorner.org. Deacon Chuck can be contacted thru email at
[email protected] Colloquī is a weekly publication of Deacon’s Corner Publishing. Copyright © 2016 by Deacon’s Corner Publishing. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A. www.deaconscorner.org
Deacon’s Corner Publishing 4742 Cougar Creek Trail Reno, Nevada 89519
8
A journal for restless minds Under Construction For the love of knowing
On Faith Not my will, but yours
Et Quod Hoc ... This and that ...
Deacon’s Diner Food for a restless mind
Under Construction For the love of knowing
sane person living in a global insane
T
his is personal, but hopefully,
call me crazy, but believe me when I
it will be at least marginally
tell you, there is a method to my
useful to a few. Last Septem-
madness.
asylum. No, No, and No! So please,
ber I voluntarily matriculated
at John Paul the Great Catholic Universi-
What worries is the seeming dis-
ty, with the express intent of obtaining a
inclination of so many to know, real-
graduate degree in Bib-
ly and truly know
lical Theology.
anything beyond a
Now attending
for
tight
some,
Each week Colloquī will contain articles on theology, philosophy, faith, religion, Catholicism, and much more. Be forewarned! Articles may and often will contain fuel for controversy, but always with the express intent to seek the Truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.
circumscribed
set of data and even
graduate
then, for some, that is
school may be “no big Colloquī is a Deacon’s Corner weekly journal. Its mission and purpose: to encourage serious discussion, to promote reasoned debate, and to provide serious content for those who hope to find their own pathway to God.
am not claiming that I am the only
thing,” but when one is
more than they are
fast approaching seven
want to know.
decades on this grand green globe, some have
And, this is incredibly
seriously
important,
questioned
the state of my mental faculties.
knowing
is not the same as learning or wisdom, although to know a thing you
To those I say, “Fair enough.” I admit, to on occasion, having been accused of having a few screws loose, so I am not at all offended or taken aback by their concerns with my mental health.
must first learn of it, and wisdom only comes when you use what you know wisely. Knowledge does not necessarily come with a college degree; such higher education may
But … I do find myself, more of-
ten than not, concerned about the mental well-being of others. And no, I 1
open heretofore unknown vistas but then, little more, for unless the mind CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
were human in the theological sense, but authorization of then Joseph Cardinal
is receptive and open to accepting new whose immediate progenitors were not.
Ratzinger:
ideas, with flexibility and alacrity, knowledge can never fill the mind.
This seems to fly in the face of evolu-
“Catholic theology affirms that the
tionary biology. Evolution occurs gradual- emergence of the first members of the hu-
P
erhaps an analogy will help to ly, by the accumulation of genetic changes man species (whether as individuals or in illustrate: imagine trying to fill that spread through populations. New populations) represents an event that is
a jar (mind) with a liquid species do not appear at a single stroke, in not susceptible of a purely natural expla(knowledge) … with the lid tightly one generation; there was not a “first cat” nation and which can appropriately be sealing it. No matter how fast or hard whose parents were non-cats. There is no attributed to divine intervention. Acting you pour (educate) nothing will alter contradiction with theology, however. Bio- indirectly through causal chains operating what is inside that closed jar (mind) logical speciation is indeed a gradual pro- from the beginning of cosmic history, God unless and until the lid is removed. cess, but in the traditional Christian view, prepared the way for what Pope John Paul Then and only then, when the jar the conferring of a spiritual soul upon hu- II has called “an ontological leap … the moment of transition to the spir(mind) is wide open to reitual.”
ceive, can the jar be filled.
al mind is God’s gift, it is
M
what, above all else, differenti-
tionalism. Since Copernicus,
ates man from all other crea-
science has eschewed anthro-
tures. Yet there are those who
pocentrism in any form, con-
would deny such distinctive-
tributing to what Stephen Jay
ness, who, all too eagerly at
Gould called “the dethrone-
times, deny any possibility of
ment of man.”
The mind is a wondrous creation, uniquely human in its ability to reason; the ration-
odern thought,
secular of
course, objects to
any notion of human excep-
ontological discontinuity beAs Barr explains it: “A more
tween humans and other ani-
promising approach to finding
mals.
man beings is not a biological process at the beginnings of human rationality may Stephen M. Barr, professor of all. It is quite consistent to suppose that a lie with the study of language. This is parphysics at the University of Delaware long, slow evolutionary development led to adoxical, perhaps, in that spoken language and author of The Believing Scientist: the emergence of an interbreeding popula- leaves no fossils or artifacts. One can, Essays on Science and Religion, in his re- tion of ‘anatomically modern humans,’ as however, investigate the neural machinery view of the book Why Only Us: Language paleo-archeologists call them, and that of language, the genetic basis of that maand Evolution by Berwick and Chomsky when the time was ripe, God chose to raise chinery, and the deep underlying strucnotes that “Only humans are made in the one, several, or all members of that popula- tures of language itself. This is the avenue image of God and have immortal souls tion to the spiritual level of rationality and pursued in the remarkable new book Why Only Us by Robert C. Berwick and Noam
endowed with the spiritual powers of ra- freedom.”1 tionality and freedom. This does not admit of degrees: One either has an immortal soul or one does not. The discontinuity must therefore be historical as well as ontological. In our lineage there must have
B
Chomsky.… Using an array of sophisticatarr reminds of the 2004 Vati- ed arguments based on discoveries in lincan document “Communion guistics, neuroscience, genetics, computer and Stewardship: Human Persons science, evolutionary theory, and studies of
Created in the Image of God,” with the
been a first creature or set of creatures who
animal communication, they develop a set CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
2
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Berwick and Chomsky arrive, on pure- my madness, which I will now en-
of hypotheses about the nature and origins ly empirical grounds, at the conclusion deavor to explain. of human language, which will (if they that there is. All animals communicate, od made us in his image and hold up) have far-reaching implications. … but only humans are rational; and for likeness and breathed life—a [They] argue that only human beings have Berwick and Chomsky, human lansoul— into each of us, along language. It is not that there are other ani- guage is primarily an instrument of with the gift of reason, the ability to mals possessing it in germ or to a slight rationality. Barr concludes his book think, to know and to love him. He degree; no other animals, they insist, pos- review with this: expects us to use—to the best of our sess it at all. The language capacity arose “They present powerful arguments ability—his gift for good and to never very suddenly, they say, likely in a single that this astonishing instrument arose just stop, until we see him face-to-face in member of the species Homo sapiens, as a once and quite suddenly in evolutionary heaven. Each has been given a variety consequence of a very few fortuitous and history—indeed, most likely in just one of gifts and no one is void of any gift. unlikely genetic mutations. member of Homo sapiens, or at most a few. We are called by God to make the
G
W
hat Berwick and Chom- At the biological level, this involved a sud- most of what we have, no matter how sky have observed is a den upgrade of our mental machinery, and great or how small.
radical dissimilarity be- Berwick and Chomsky’s theories of this are Martin Mosebach wrote this: “It is tween all animal communication sys- both more plausible than competing theosaid that every apparently new thing has tems and human language. Animals ries and more consistent with data from a always been with us. Alas, this doesn’t communicate simply and linearly variety of disciplines. But they recognize seem to be the case. The industrial revoluwhereas human language—and here it that more than machinery is involved. The tion, science as a replacement for religion, gets highly technical in its descrip- basic contents and meanings, the deepand the phenomenon of the wonderful and tion—involves the capacity to gener- lying elements of human thought—’wordlimitless increase in money (without a ate, by a recursive procedure, an un- like but not words’—were somehow there, similar increase in its material equivalent) limited number of hierarchically struc- mysteriously, in the beginning.” have given rise to a new mentality, one tured sentences. Elsewhere, in the same source, I that finds it increasingly difficult to perThe authors provide an example to happened upon this gem—admittedly ceive the fusion of spirit and matter, the illustrate this: “Birds that fly instinctive- taken completely out of context but spiritual content of reality that those who ly swim.” As they explain it, the adverb apropos nonetheless: “I learned from the lived in the preindustrial world across “instinctively” can modify either “fly” experience, in the end, that all vanity is thousands of years took for granted. The or “swim,” that is the sentence can be vanity, all lust is lust, and all excess is forces that determine our lives have beread “Birds that fly instinctively—swim” excess, no matter what the objects of one’s come invisible. None of them has found an or “Birds that fly—instinctively swim.” desire.”2 The resulting ambiguity is obvious. But there is no ambiguity in the sentence “Instinctively birds that fly swim.” As
the
authors
note,
here
“instinctively” must modify “swim” despite its greater linear distance.
W
aesthetic representation. In a time that is overloaded with images, they have lost the hy apropos, you may power to take form, with the result that the well ask? It is so for no powers that govern our lives have an in-
other reason that it re- tangible, indeed, a demonic quality. Along turns us to the beginning of this essay. with the inability to create images that Why I decided to embark on a rigor- made even the portrait of an individual a ous graduate course of study at my problem for the twentieth century, our
There is much more, of course, but somewhat advanced age, it may be contemporaries have lost the experience of this ought to be sufficient to answer at argued, may be nothing more than reality. For reality is always first seized in the very least the question of whether simple vanity. But then, I think not, for a heightened form that is pregnant with there is an ontological discontinuity as I stated before, there is method to meaning.”3 between humans and other animals.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
3
Though
On Faith
T
and roads, no AAA, no hotels, motels, or
long in the land of Canaan in a place on every street corner—for there were
here is always mystery in transcendent
Abram
Sar’ai and their relatives had lived travel lodges, no fast food restaurants
Not my will, but yours
the
childless,
which
defies all understanding. What fails the mind to
comprehend too often leads to resignation; absent means to quantify or measure, to justify or prove, we shake our fists and shout above the silent roar: “Thou cannot be and yet I know thou are.” We read in Isaiah: “8For
called Haran. Then, out of the blue one no streets. And once gone, there would day, God commanded Abram to just be no going back for a visit with the pack up and leave: “Go from your coun- folks; you were gone forever. So leavtry and your kindred and your father’s ing home meant a total break with the house to the land that I will show you.” past, something unimaginable in these No howdy-dos, no pleasant chit-chat, days of instant communications and just “Go, leave, get out of here.” To near constant connection. where? “to a land that I will show you.” Not exactly the clearest road map for someone to follow, but nevertheless, “4Abram went as the LORD had told
A
nd yet, God said go and Abram went. But why? Why was Abram willing to do as
God had asked? In today’s world,
my him.”
even with all the easy travel and mod-
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
ern accommodations, it is hard
are your ways my ways, says the
to imagine many, if any, who
Lord. 9For as the heavens are high-
would be willing to just pack
er than the earth, so are my ways
up and go somewhere, some-
higher than your ways and my
where to be determined later.
thoughts than your thoughts.”1
Perhaps that is an indictment
We understand and yet, we
on the shallowness of our faith
do not understand at all. For
or perhaps an unwillingness to
we cannot describe the inde-
place our trust in God. Who
scribable; we cannot know the
can say? All we know is that
unknowable; we cannot reach
Abraham did as God directed.
beyond the limits of our im-
Let us not forget, however,
poverished minds to touch, to
what God promised Abram:
see, to imagine the incompre-
“2And I will make of you a great
hensible.
nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you
We cannot resolve the mystery of the divine, but God with but a thought, can reveal himself to us.
H
3 ere we have to seriously will be a blessing. I will bless those who shift our perspective and bless you and him who curses you I will
place ourselves in the con- curse, and by you all the families of the text of that time and place. This was a earth shall bless themselves.” What are Seventy-five. Abram had lived for very long time ago, by most estimates we to make of this in light of the fact seventy-five years and his wife Sar’ai some 4,000 years ago, in what is called that Abram had no children? How exWhen he does, how will we respond?
sixty-five. Now mind you, as we are the Middle Bronze Age, somewhere actly would he become a great nation told “32The days of Terah”, Abram’s fa- between c. 2100 and c. 1900 BC, in an- with no one to bear his name? How ther, “were two hundred and five years;”,2 cient Mesopotamia. could such a promise be a sufficient so at seventy-five, Abram was younger inducement for Abram to move away than his father by some one hundred
Travel was difficult at best; there from all he had known? Would it be
and thirty years but still not exactly a were no easy modes of travel: no enough for any one of us? young man. trains, planes, or automobiles, no CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 4
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
A
the
miracles
he
worked—are history. They would have quickly
gain we must remind our- roadmaps that will lead us directly come to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah. selves, it was a different and confidently to God. time and place. Name and
family honor were the essence of a man. It was the age of the patriarch, an age where wealth and social status
Jesus points to the Father, and in turn, the Father commands us to keep our eyes focused on his Son.
N
either would they have missed the obvious similitude in the presence of the
bright cloud, reminiscent of the one
stood for little against the demand to
In the Gospel we are invited to the that covered Mt. Sinai when God great reveal, the moment when Jesus forged his covenant with the people of one’s own generation. What we perreveals his true self to Peter, James and Israel. But when they heard the voice ceive to be of grave importance would John. Though it may not be immedi- from the cloud saying, “This is my beserve for nothing then and there. Thus ately obvious, the Transfiguration loved Son, with whom I am well pleased; what God had promised was for event transcends time, with the ap- listen to him,” in that moment, they Abram nothing short of immortality. pearance of Moses and Elijah engaged would have known, beyond all doubt, extend one’s ancestral lineage beyond
God delivered on his promise, although Abram—whom God renamed Abraham—did not live to see it ful-
in conversation with Jesus. Imagine the impact such a vision
that they were in the presence of the Son of God.
must have had upon Peter, James and
Yet, for all that had been opened John, three Jews. Before, as they were to them, there on the mountain top, are descendants of Abraham and are climbing the mountain with Jesus, they could not have understood all blessed in his name as God so promthey knew that Jesus was someone that the transfiguration foreshadowed. ised. special; they were fascinated by his They saw the glory, yet knew not of teachings and his actions, but they had the cross, of all that was yet to come. Abraham died before the promise no clear thought of who he really was. They saw the promise but not the path was fulfilled; he had to take the fulfillfilled. Jews, Christians, and Muslims
ment of God’s promise on faith. It was faith, more than enough. Unlike Abraham, who dared to travel where he did not know to go, we generally need a road map to point the way and we seldom if ever embark on a journey without knowing where it should end. Without a map to guide us or a destination to reach we are
On the mountain though, they saw, for the first time, Jesus in the context of Jewish history, a prophet no doubt, standing with Moses and Elijah,
required to get there. For Jesus, and for Peter, the road to Jerusalem lay waiting. God said “listen to him.”
conversing with them as equals.
T
As with Abraham before, God did he transfiguration of Jesus not elaborate. As is most often the clearly anticipates his coming case, God sees the big picture and resurrection and ascension leaves the details for us to figure out.
into the Glory of God. That Jesus is But we are never without a guide to treated as an equal by two of the most lead us to God. Trust in Jesus, for he where, rather than risk losing our way. revered figures in the history of Israel, will get you there. most often want to stay put, to go no-
Yet, when we consider the one destination we know, with absolute certainty, is inescapably before us, shouldn’t we rely on a road map with pinpoint accuracy to get us there? Everything—Jesus’ words, his actions, his prayers, his temptations, his stories, his suffering, his friends, his disciples,
one symbolizing the Law and the other the Prophets, would have assuredly
Amen.
astounded the three devout Jews who knew scripture and their history. Seeing Jesus with Moses and Elijah, they would have placed him in context which would have opened
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent (A) Genesis 12:1-4 2 Timothy 1:8-10 Matthew 17:1-9 1. Isaiah 55:8-9.
their eyes to his significance in their 2. Genesis 11:32. 5
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
W
hat is perhaps the gravest sin is to waste the mind, to leave it fallow, stupe-
fying one’s mind by feeding it what amounts to nothing more than mental junk food or worse, nothing at all. The vacuous disregard for the mind is a rapidly growing epidemic, fueled by the insatiable lust for empty pleasures, absent any spiritual or moral ground upon which one can kneel in humble gratitude for the gifts we have been given. We each have the freedom to choose, to choose whether to strive to make the most of, through dedication and utmost effort, the gifts God has given us, or not. Either way, it is entirely up to us; God gave us the gifts, it is up to us to fully employ them.
As R.R. Reno comments: “We
Et Quod Hoc ...
ought not to parse interviews too closely.
This and that ...
U
I’ve made more than my share of sloppy
niversity of Chicago professor, Rachel Fulton Brown, writes (While We’re At It, First Things, April 2017)
“If you drive
out explicit theology from public education, you get not no theology, but only bad theology, theology never properly examined as such.” Her point in writing this was to explain why Milo Yiannopoulos arouses such passionate opposition
formulations over the years. But the notion of the West giving rise to Christianity gets things backwards. As a simple historical matter, to a great extent, Christianity gave rise to Western civilization. There’s a theological problem as well. No culture “created” Christianity. Our faith is founded on God’s revelation, not Western civilization, or any other civilization.” To that I must say, amen.
from students and faculty when invited to speak at colleges and universities. She observes that students are being taught ersatz theologies that deny being theologies. “Multiculturalism; race, class, gender; the purportedly secular Occasionally one runs across a modiideals of socialism and Marxism” have cum of common sense in an otherwise “become their faith.” Without any train- all too uncommon source. In a recent ing in what it means to have a faith— column written for the local newspa-
This past quarter has been at how to assess it, what to make of chal- per (John Rosemond “Living with children,” Reno times overwhelming, often difficult, lenges and doubts, how to distinguish Gazette-Journal, March 8, 2017, 2C) Family Psystressful, challenging, too near the between core commitments and less chologist John Rosemond opined, “The breaking, but … oh, the now knowing crucial convictions—these students are problem in American parenting is the of the new; the unexpected turns, the unable to face Yiannopoulos’s chal- 1960s.” Uh oh, that is a bit too close to heights and depths of learning, of un- lenge to their progressive faith. Thus home for me. He continues, “Among derstanding what I did not know be- the juvenile responses of outrage and other things that defined that every interfore. And the friends I found among protest, as well as the darker, more esting (ref. ancient Chinese curse) decade the pages, pages, pages, and the end- troubling reactions. “The violent re- was the replacement of rationality by emoless pages that I read: those I will re- sponse to Milo’s tour of our college cam- tionality. It was during the 1960s that the member, and remember well and long. puses, culminating in the riot at Berkeley, media, various self-appointed spiritual is evidence of a deep crisis in religious gurus and the mental health professional Why, you ask? To feed my mind, thinking.” community urged people to ‘get in touch to now know more than I knew then, with their feelings.’ And it was during the Brown’s secular theories of our to use the limits of what I have been 1960s that parents were told by mental given for the glory of the One of whom times are persuasive but less so are health professionals that children had a I owe everything I am and hope to be. Yiannopolous’ comments made for an right to express their feelings freely.” interview: “[Western civilization] has 1. Stephen M. Barr, First Words, First Things (April 2017), 61-63.. 2. David Bentley Hart, From a Vanished Library, First Things (April 2017), 28. 3. 1 Cor 12. 4. Martin Mosebach, Return to Form, First Things (April 2017), 42.
created a religion in which love and self-
Ouch! Guilty, guilty, guilty! But
sacrifice and giving are the highest possible isn’t that still true? Please don’t tell me values… That’s a good thing.”
now that I’m to blame for my children’s dysfunction and unhappiness! CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
6
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
opposite is true).” Well, ain’t that the
So sorry to disappoint, says the pits?
Food for a restless mind
good doctor, as he continues to throw But wait, there’s more bad news to
ice water all over my much beloved pre-conceived parenting skills.
come. The doctor has more to say: “Granted, shame can be taken to ex-
“I now know—and beyond a shadow of doubt—that with rare exception, one’s feelings are more apt to deceive than promote good decisions. I also know the pre-
tremes, but shame is essential to the formation of a conscience, which is essential to responsible self-government.”
psychological (pre-1960s) parents insisted that their children control the expression of emotion for the good of those children (as well as the good of everyone who were ever
All banter aside, where was Mr. Rosemond years ago? This makes sense.
in contact with those children). I also
are perpetual victims. Furthermore, the sionate, responsible human being, not an undisciplined nature of their emotions is emotional basket case. destructive both to themselves and others. Happiness is not a matter of letting ‘it’
Undisciplined emotions destroy relation-
all hang out. Quite the contrary, it is all
about holding most of ‘it’ in. It is about But then there’s more! Oh, the self-control, respect for others and responshame of it (pun intended.) sibility. It is about a value system that “Fifty years later, America is paying a terrible price for having ever believed that
places others before self. A certain amount of repression is a good thing.
when it came to children (and most other
America needs a ‘Make American
things), mental health professionals knew Parenting Great Again!’ movement. When what they were talking about.” all is said and done concerning the many Now you are really cracking me up, doc. Seriously?
well bust my buttons, “that insisting upon emotional control was repressive and authoritarian (and therefore harmful). They
claimed,
political concerns of the day, one indisputable fact remains: a culture’s strength ultimately depends on the strength of its child
“They claimed, without evidence,”
without
evidence,”
again???? “that enforcing shame upon a child who had behaved anti-socially—they named it ‘shame-based parenting’—would result in psychological problems (when the
F
or those restless minds that hunger and thirst for more. Each week
interesting and provocative titles, written by Catholic
authors,
articles, for you to feed your restless mind.
BOOKS Faith Comes From What Is Heard Lawrence Feingold Emmaus Academic July 8, 2016, 756 pages.
Called To Communion Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Ignatius Press 1996, 165 pages.
Orthodoxy G. K. Chesterton Digireads. com March 30, 2004, 121 pages. Originally published 1908.
PERIODICALS First Things Institute on Religion and Public Life Editor: R. R. Reno Ten Issues per year. www.firstthings.com
Touchstone
structure is fine and dandy, but building
A Journal of Mere Christianity Editor: James M. Kushiner Bi-Monthly. www.touchstonemag.com
ture citizens is even more fine and dandy. In fact, it is the most important thing there is.”
Catholic Answers Magazine Well, almost. Love of God and
love of neighbor are perhaps a wee bit more important, don’t you think? 7
in
addition to those referenced in the
-rearing practices. Building a strong infraemotionally resilient and responsible fu-
this
space will offer a menu of
“Children are not naturally disposed
know that people who are ruled by their to shame. It must be trained into them by emotions—people who cannot think loving parent who are not supposed to straight, in other words—are not happy enjoy what they must do. A child so people. In their own enslaved minds, they trained is destined to become a compas-
ships, property and spiritual health.”
Deacon’s Diner
Share the Faith, Defend the Faith Editor: Tim Ryland Bi-Monthly. www.catholic.com
Books are available on Amazon.com or from the author’s web site at:
deaconscorner.org
Deacon Chuck Lanham is an author, columnist, speaker, and a servant of God. He is the author of The Voices of God: Hearing God in the Silence, Echoes of Love: Effervescent Memories and is currently writing his third book Without God: Finding God in a Godless World. He is the bulletin editor for Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church. He has written over 230 articles on religion, faith, morality, theology,
Each issue of Colloquī can be viewed or downloaded from
http://deaconscorner.org. Deacon Chuck can be contacted thru email at
[email protected] Colloquī is a weekly publication of Deacon’s Corner Publishing. Copyright © 2016 by Deacon’s Corner Publishing. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A. www.deaconscorner.org
Deacon’s Corner Publishing 4742 Cougar Creek Trail Reno, Nevada 89519
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