The following communication was intercepted recently. My Dear Wormwood, At last you have learned the value of patience and a well-thought out strategy regarding your charges. I'm happy to have been proven wrong in your desire to undertake a project of such immensity following your colossal failure in Great Britain all those years ago. Yet the board of Senior Tempters viewed your proposal in a positive light, and assigned you such resources as to undertake this noble work. The key part of your strategy which should be recorded for posterity is the notion of justifying hatred whenever the occasion arises. If you move too quickly you will tip your hand to your charges and they will reject you outright. But beginning in small places, they will gradually acclimate themselves to greater degrees of hatred and the change to their souls will be so imperceptible that they will take no notice at all. Treat them as you would the proverbial frog in a boiling pot of water.  The theory...

Several years ago I sat in an optometrist's chair and was curious about what my vision was uncorrected.  So as I looked through this giant view-master he removed all the corrective lenses from my eye and said, "Can you read that?" "Read what?" I responded.  The doctor then put the lenses back in place and showed me the giant E that's at the top of the chart.  My eyes were horribly out of focus.  Thanks to the miracle of contact lenses I can see well enough to drive, read, write, and do everyday living.  Just don't ask me to shoot a basketball - it never turns out well. I've recently been reading "The Psychology of Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in which he describes the joy people experience when the reach a flow state.  Such a state is characterized by intense concentration, focusing all of one's energy on the task at hand so much so that external distractions are tuned out automatically.  The experience is similar whether it...

Today is part 4 of our Lenten Journey outlining the faith.  This topic builds on the last one.  Sin and redemption naturally leads to a discussion of God the Son.  This section is found on page 848 in the Book of Common Prayer Jesus is the only perfect image of the Father, and shows us the nature of God.  Jesus reveals that God is love. Last time we talked about how we put ourselves in the center of the universe when we enter into judgement.  Because so many people are also trying to be in at the center, it's like we're in a constant game of King of the Mountain.  Another consequence of this dynamic is that we are unable to see God clearly. In my living room at home I have a fireplace.  It runs off of gas logs and is quite nice in the winter when I need a little extra heat.  As long as I am far enough away from it I feel the warmth, see the light, and have a pleasant experience.  But if I were to stand in the middle of the flames,...

Today marks Part 3 of our Lenten Journey through the Catechism.  Catechism is just a fancy same for instruction.  It is my hope to present the basic teachings of the Christian Faith here through the lens of my Episcopal heritage and the Book of Common Prayer.  This week we'll be looking at the topic of Sin and Redemption, which is discussed in the same prayer book on pages 848-849. Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation. It's pretty common to hear that seeking our own will instead of God's is sin.  It's less common to hear how that distorts our relationships in life - our relationships with God, others, and all of creation.  In Genesis 3:6 our first parents ate the fruit of good and evil - or more specifically, the knowledge of good and evil.  The serpent tempted them by claiming that they would be like God, knowing both good and evil.  First...

Today marks Part 2 of my Lenten Journey through the Catechism - the Ten Commandments.  (BCP pg. 847-848) When I was a teenager I remember commenting in Sunday School how we hear a lot of Thou Shalt Nots, and isn't there anything that tells me what I should do.  My classmates quickly flipped in their Bibles to the two greatest commandments, which are to Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Dt 6:5) and to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).  Yes Jesus described these two as the greatest commandments but in reality he was quoting from the Torah.  They had already been around for quite a while. In The Episcopal Church, our Catechism uses these two commandments as a frame work to understand the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  To be fair Moses was given another 603 at that time but after the first ten the rest of Israel thought the experience was too intense and sent Moses to learn the rest, and then co...

This is part 1 of an ongoing series commenting on the Outline of the Faith, commonly called the Catechism. Lent will be upon us in just one week, and it's an appropriate time to look back on who we are and what God has done for us.  This week I'm going to examine the first section of the Catechism, entitled Human Nature (pg 845 Book of Common Prayer) We are part of God's creation, made in the image of God.  It means we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God. Freedom is a concept that can be really elusive.  Often people think they are free when in reality, they are stuck in the same fixed cycle of unproductive behavior, whether it's a self-destructive addiction, a reoccurring argument with a loved one, or a continued and repeated problem in one's professional life.  Often times we think freedom means expressing whatever pops into our head at the moment, hoping for catharsis, or doing whatever ...

Today I've been reading the often predictable and obnoxious posts about gun violence / gun control in light of the recent tragedy in San Bernardito, CA.  The usual battle lines are drawn, positions become entrenched, thus ensuring that no constructive dialogue will take place and nothing will change.  I fear that in our future we will experience many more episodes like this because we've become a culture that's addicted to violence much like a heroine user becomes addicted what's inside the needle.  Everyone seems to think that their position is the right one, while ironically every single one of these talking points are absolute garbage and serve to exacerbate the problem.  Let's elaborate: We could prevent this kind of violence if we had stricter gun control laws. The issue here is that it fails to address the very source of the violence - the human heart.  As long as people have made up their minds to kill others as retribution for their misdeeds they ar...