I am very excited. Winter break is here! My train leaves tomorrow at 1345 (probably 1400) and I will, God willing, be home the evening of the 22nd of December. This semester has gone by so quickly I blink and it's gone. Just yesterday it seems as though I was attending Convocation! But when I look back upon the semester, it seems as though it has taken forever. It is a strange dichotomy, St. John's. But it is a fun dichotomy.
Collegium was last night and it was a blast. Naturally I wore my tux with coattails and played the allegro from Beethoven's sonata and my Christmas carol. It was a lot of fun and my growing skill is appreciated. My piano repertoire is growing and when I am physically relaxed and play music not too difficult for me, it works. Yes, it was fun. Yes I hope I can do it again, especially during Spring Collegium, and have the whole sonata done.
I am heading to Lamy tomorrow around 1030 with Keith and Kate; Keith ever so kindly is dropping us off at the station so we can catch our respective trains. The trip from Lamy to St. John's will be a bit more dificult to figure out, but I am sure I will think of something.
Christmas is going to be a ball. All 12 of us will be home, from Dad to Rebecca to Abby, so our house will be full and noisy. Awesome. I'll get to see old friends and family and relax for four weeks. Then it's onwards, onwards to 2008 and the termination of my freshman year at St. John's! Hallelujah!
What a crazy year it's been. What a crazy, blessed, awesome, inspiring, and rediculous year. Ooh rah.
12.20.2007
12.03.2007
17 Days Till Break.
Just think: 17/18 days till the semester is over! I'd say "By the Dog!" in Greek only I do not know how.
It has been a good semester. I have finally recovered (mostly) from my October paralysis, so homework comes easier to me now and I do not struggle so much. I am able to practice again, and my adoration of Beethoven's music has never been higher.
But the semester is so close to being over! It is crazy. In exactly three weeks I will be sitting in my room at home doing who knows what. It's mindblowing. The end of the year and Christmas itself are also approaching but I don't let myself think about those yet - of far more importance to me right now is the five page Heraclitus paper I have to write in nine days.
I am very happy here. I could not have imagined such a perfect school for me. I love my freshman class, I think my tutors are awesome, and my courses are beyond fabulous. Thank you God.
It's going to be crazy, going home. A lot of things are going to be different. Many things will stay the same, however. My faith will remain constant. My God will remain constant. And love will remain constant.
Speaking of love, I should write an entry about Miyazaki's anime movies because almost every single one I have seen is about love in one form or another. He is a master because he shows love, and love being more than sex. We've got sex to a T in modern movies. But this old guy from 50's Japan shows us what love is like. It is beautiful and it is inspiring. Who could have thought that an animated movie could do that in such superiority to 'live-action' films? I certainly did not.
I apologize. Reading this post is like driving a manual transmission at high speeds with poor use of the clutch. I will break off and collect my thoughts in order to write more when I have more time.
Toodles!
It has been a good semester. I have finally recovered (mostly) from my October paralysis, so homework comes easier to me now and I do not struggle so much. I am able to practice again, and my adoration of Beethoven's music has never been higher.
But the semester is so close to being over! It is crazy. In exactly three weeks I will be sitting in my room at home doing who knows what. It's mindblowing. The end of the year and Christmas itself are also approaching but I don't let myself think about those yet - of far more importance to me right now is the five page Heraclitus paper I have to write in nine days.
I am very happy here. I could not have imagined such a perfect school for me. I love my freshman class, I think my tutors are awesome, and my courses are beyond fabulous. Thank you God.
It's going to be crazy, going home. A lot of things are going to be different. Many things will stay the same, however. My faith will remain constant. My God will remain constant. And love will remain constant.
Speaking of love, I should write an entry about Miyazaki's anime movies because almost every single one I have seen is about love in one form or another. He is a master because he shows love, and love being more than sex. We've got sex to a T in modern movies. But this old guy from 50's Japan shows us what love is like. It is beautiful and it is inspiring. Who could have thought that an animated movie could do that in such superiority to 'live-action' films? I certainly did not.
I apologize. Reading this post is like driving a manual transmission at high speeds with poor use of the clutch. I will break off and collect my thoughts in order to write more when I have more time.
Toodles!
11.21.2007
Don Rag!
No, there was nothing to worry about. It was fine. In fact, it was more than fine. It was great and it was a real encouragement and a motivation.
I went to the PSC Senior Common Room at 1120 on Tuesday morning and therein saw Mr. Zeitlin, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Pagano, Mr. Carey, and Ms. Ames. They all went around and said how I have been doing:
I won't repeat it all because I did it already in my journal (which is more fun than a weblog anyway) but I wanted to try and figure out how I am going to apply it.
Maybe not. Let's just say I've got it mostly figured out and now I can enjoy this Thanksgiving Weekend with lots of sleep (10 hours last night!) and lots of Greek (must must must catch up!)
I must say, I really enjoy fragmented posts. Let's abandon this one with the full hope of a weekend filled with potential! We'll see how much I actually get done....
I went to the PSC Senior Common Room at 1120 on Tuesday morning and therein saw Mr. Zeitlin, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Pagano, Mr. Carey, and Ms. Ames. They all went around and said how I have been doing:
I won't repeat it all because I did it already in my journal (which is more fun than a weblog anyway) but I wanted to try and figure out how I am going to apply it.
Maybe not. Let's just say I've got it mostly figured out and now I can enjoy this Thanksgiving Weekend with lots of sleep (10 hours last night!) and lots of Greek (must must must catch up!)
I must say, I really enjoy fragmented posts. Let's abandon this one with the full hope of a weekend filled with potential! We'll see how much I actually get done....
11.13.2007
End Of The Beginning Or The Beginning Of The End?
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,156111,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl
The drawdown is beginning and it is fairly clear that very soon, America's role in Iraq will be negligible. It has been a very long haul indeed, and one fraught with doubt and worry, but it will soon be all over.
I have always thought that this war represented a new gamble regarding the Middle East. It's one thing to pound Hussein to the dust - it's quite another to create an entirely new regime from the ground up. Socrates might call it folly. Heh, most Americans (not to mention Europe) call it folly. But the war in Iraq is complicated and there are many facets to it - layers that the media and the armchair warriors usually ignore. Michael Totten's journalism efforts are remarkable and everyone should check them out. You do not get the whole picture from TIME, CNN, Fox, or the New York Times. The media focuses on Iraq burning. Totten and other independant journalists show us a bigger picture, one that is not necessarily dominated by a corporate agenda. (to claim that TIME, NY Times, FOX, or BBC do not have an agenda is to claim ignorance) But to return to the gamble.
Can a people who have known nothing but tribal factions and totalitarian oppression knowingly and willingly embrace a sort of liberty? (to call the Iraqi constitution republican democracy is foolhardy) I am not sure. I do believe it was the right thing to do. Hussein was a loose cannon, rolling around the MidEast and it was time for him to go. Iraq was being violently oppressed. Whatever violent assertions we may make about government lies, misleading, and war crimes (torture now has a new definition; apparently anything causing a prisoner discomfort is torture), it can safely be said that the President did not orchestrate the war for oil and that he does in fact believe very much in this endeavor, however mistaken it may be.
I am rambling. My position on this war is very confusing. If I were placed in the position as Commander in Chief in 2003, would I have gone into Iraq? There are good reasons to do so and good reasons to refrain. I am honestly not sure what I would have done.
To tie this into the beginning though, I do believe that the war needs to end. I don't think anyone expected it to last this long (how many times we have said that!) I certainly did not expect it to last this long. It is coming to an end. President Bush leaves office next year in January (January of 2009). He has to make some sort of drawdown to save face and give the impression that he is doing all he can to bring the conflict to an end. Whoever next takes office (please, God, let it be Ron Paul) will have a big challenge on their hands, because this stage of the war is every bit as important as Day I. As we have seen in Vietnam, if we abandon our ally, the war will be for naught. I don't want that to happen. 3,000 American deaths were the indirect cause of this war, and 3900 deaths of professional soldiers have been the result, not to mention the trillions of dollars spent and respent.
Can the war in Iraq succeed? At the moment, I think it can. But due to the Republic, I think it will not last long before it turns into tyranny again. And that is the most frightening and saddening thing about this whole 5 year war.
The drawdown is beginning and it is fairly clear that very soon, America's role in Iraq will be negligible. It has been a very long haul indeed, and one fraught with doubt and worry, but it will soon be all over.
I have always thought that this war represented a new gamble regarding the Middle East. It's one thing to pound Hussein to the dust - it's quite another to create an entirely new regime from the ground up. Socrates might call it folly. Heh, most Americans (not to mention Europe) call it folly. But the war in Iraq is complicated and there are many facets to it - layers that the media and the armchair warriors usually ignore. Michael Totten's journalism efforts are remarkable and everyone should check them out. You do not get the whole picture from TIME, CNN, Fox, or the New York Times. The media focuses on Iraq burning. Totten and other independant journalists show us a bigger picture, one that is not necessarily dominated by a corporate agenda. (to claim that TIME, NY Times, FOX, or BBC do not have an agenda is to claim ignorance) But to return to the gamble.
Can a people who have known nothing but tribal factions and totalitarian oppression knowingly and willingly embrace a sort of liberty? (to call the Iraqi constitution republican democracy is foolhardy) I am not sure. I do believe it was the right thing to do. Hussein was a loose cannon, rolling around the MidEast and it was time for him to go. Iraq was being violently oppressed. Whatever violent assertions we may make about government lies, misleading, and war crimes (torture now has a new definition; apparently anything causing a prisoner discomfort is torture), it can safely be said that the President did not orchestrate the war for oil and that he does in fact believe very much in this endeavor, however mistaken it may be.
I am rambling. My position on this war is very confusing. If I were placed in the position as Commander in Chief in 2003, would I have gone into Iraq? There are good reasons to do so and good reasons to refrain. I am honestly not sure what I would have done.
To tie this into the beginning though, I do believe that the war needs to end. I don't think anyone expected it to last this long (how many times we have said that!) I certainly did not expect it to last this long. It is coming to an end. President Bush leaves office next year in January (January of 2009). He has to make some sort of drawdown to save face and give the impression that he is doing all he can to bring the conflict to an end. Whoever next takes office (please, God, let it be Ron Paul) will have a big challenge on their hands, because this stage of the war is every bit as important as Day I. As we have seen in Vietnam, if we abandon our ally, the war will be for naught. I don't want that to happen. 3,000 American deaths were the indirect cause of this war, and 3900 deaths of professional soldiers have been the result, not to mention the trillions of dollars spent and respent.
Can the war in Iraq succeed? At the moment, I think it can. But due to the Republic, I think it will not last long before it turns into tyranny again. And that is the most frightening and saddening thing about this whole 5 year war.
11.09.2007
I Love The Weekend
As to why, you may probably guess with relative accuracy. My work for the week is done and I have just gotten off B&G and won't see them again until Tuesday.
Classes are improving slightly. I no longer will make a fool of myself in math class because I will actually do the propositions assigned for next week. Similarly, I will do my lab and seminar readings, and study Greek until my eyeballs drop out.
It is tough, getting back into the grind after lazing off - but I have to do it. Last year at this time I got hopelessly behind in my work (especially Latin) and it sucked. I dreaded school. I don't want to dread class and it is worth studying really hard. I just need to motivate myself better than I have been.
It all starts tonight: Dinner is in 20 minutes so right after dinner I will either go read some more of the Republic or study Greek. Since my seminar paper is not due on Monday I will not have to revise it and let it eat up my weekend. It will be a challenge definitely; but a challenge that I have to be up to.
Maybe I will get lucky and will find Steve this evening and be able to borrow some awesome anime - Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle come to mind. Maybe it will be a sign that I am on the right track. Or maybe it will not work out and be a sign that I need to prove myself first. Either way, I win.
Pascal's Wager.
Classes are improving slightly. I no longer will make a fool of myself in math class because I will actually do the propositions assigned for next week. Similarly, I will do my lab and seminar readings, and study Greek until my eyeballs drop out.
It is tough, getting back into the grind after lazing off - but I have to do it. Last year at this time I got hopelessly behind in my work (especially Latin) and it sucked. I dreaded school. I don't want to dread class and it is worth studying really hard. I just need to motivate myself better than I have been.
It all starts tonight: Dinner is in 20 minutes so right after dinner I will either go read some more of the Republic or study Greek. Since my seminar paper is not due on Monday I will not have to revise it and let it eat up my weekend. It will be a challenge definitely; but a challenge that I have to be up to.
Maybe I will get lucky and will find Steve this evening and be able to borrow some awesome anime - Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle come to mind. Maybe it will be a sign that I am on the right track. Or maybe it will not work out and be a sign that I need to prove myself first. Either way, I win.
Pascal's Wager.
11.06.2007
I Love This Place
St. John's College is the perfect place for me. Everything we do here is awesome. Let me demonstrate: we have the Ark Party. We have the Faust Party. We have impromptu seminars. We celebrate Guy Fawkes Day with wine and a thorough watching of V for Vendetta. We don't burn effigies of him, of course. We recognize he fought in the name of freedom and liberty! We know that liberty and justice are not just words, they are perspectives. And we also sense the rhetoric V uses upon us and know it is easily refuted, but we enjoy it anyway. I was sitting by the fishpond a little while ago and all of a sudden a couple tutors and students got together and played acoustic dance music on a banjo, guitar, violin, and harp. I was studying Euclid and sat against my rock and listened. Pogoni Dios I love this place. How awesome is it to be in a school where the liberal arts are so highly esteemed? Tonight there is a piano and violin concert in the Great Hall, Mr. Pesic is performing the complete piano works of Brahms with the complete piano works of Schoenberg, and the Barbershop Mafia is giving a performance later this month. All of this is volunteer; we just love the arts. I do not see how life could be any better. I have my theology, the Great Books, music, and people just as passionate about these ideas as I am. What more could I want? Thank God I am here.
10.30.2007
Epiphany! (misspelled!)
So I have been searching for the answer to a nagging question: What is Christian fundamentalism? I have heard many different interpretations of this question but now have found the True Answer. First to note: Christian Fundamentalists have become something to be shunned; fundamentalism is considered a pejorative term and certainly not used for self-identification. It deserves a closer look than most of us are willing to give it, and this is precisely what I am going to do. Fundamentalism is the belief in five "fundamentals" of the Christian faith in general and Protestant faith in particular. In many ways it was an attempt to solidify and unify Christian beliefs so that the Protestant faith would not merely be blown about like the wind. (Roman Catholics have never needed this because of their emphasis on the magisterium.) The five fundamentals are:
Lest this sound like heresy to the uninitiated, let me distinguish inerrancy from infallibility. Inerrancy refers to a quality of complete and total accuracy - everything the Bible says is true, whether it is concerning doctrine, science, or details. Infallibility refers to the moral and doctrinal teachings of Scripture as being totally accurate - everything Jesus said, everything the New Testament writers said about faith, what the Prophets said about faith and God is perfectly true.
We can instantly see how these are in conflict with each other. Infallibility acknowledges the possibility for scribal errors, grammatical mistakes, and slight scientific errors in the text, and certainly in translation. Inerrancy does not allow for this save for the last item, translation errors. Some have evaded the problem by claiming the King James Version of the Bible was divinely inspired and therefore inerrant.
The inerrency of Scripture is not in alignment with ancient Christian thought.
The Virgin Birth of Christ has been believed by Christians since antiquity. It is in alignment with historic Christian thought.
The Atonement teaches (as far as I can understand) that Christ's Passion enables us to be reconciled with God and attain heaven. if this is true, than it is in alignment with historic Christian thought.
The last two, the Resurrection and reality of Christ's miracles are also in alignment with Christian thought. The latter, however, is not "fundamental" in my opinion. It certainly follows, and the Church has believed it, but it is not necessary for Christian life. Why you would want to believe that Christ reconciles us to God and deny He ever performed miracles is beyond me, but that is another story.
So Fundamentalists line up pretty well with ancient Christian practice, dogma, and belief. The biggest difference lies in the understanding of the Bible. I knew there was more to Fundamentalism than met they eye. I have heard that believing that Jesus literally rose from the dead makes one a Fundamentalist. If that is true, I am a part of it, along with all true Christians. Denying the Resurrection and Passion of Jesus makes one...a Gentile. (Gentile refers to non-Christian according to St. Thomas Aquinas)
So I have slightly distanced myself from the Fundamentalist beliefs but still share quite a majority. I believe in the Virgin Birth, the Atonement, (put a question mark on this one - I'm not sure what the Church teaches and how this lines up with what Protestants believe) the reality of Christ's miracles, and His Resurrection.
It is sad that Protestants have had to do this. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox rely on the magisterium of the Church (I am not completely sure about the Orthodox - don't quote me!) to guard and defend the faith. When you strip that protection away ("Upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will never prevail against it") the results are there for anyone to sadly gaze upon.
- The inerrancy of the Bible
- The virgin birth of Christ
- Christ's substitutionary atonement
- Christ's bodily resurrection
- The authenticity of Christ's miracles.
Lest this sound like heresy to the uninitiated, let me distinguish inerrancy from infallibility. Inerrancy refers to a quality of complete and total accuracy - everything the Bible says is true, whether it is concerning doctrine, science, or details. Infallibility refers to the moral and doctrinal teachings of Scripture as being totally accurate - everything Jesus said, everything the New Testament writers said about faith, what the Prophets said about faith and God is perfectly true.
We can instantly see how these are in conflict with each other. Infallibility acknowledges the possibility for scribal errors, grammatical mistakes, and slight scientific errors in the text, and certainly in translation. Inerrancy does not allow for this save for the last item, translation errors. Some have evaded the problem by claiming the King James Version of the Bible was divinely inspired and therefore inerrant.
The inerrency of Scripture is not in alignment with ancient Christian thought.
The Virgin Birth of Christ has been believed by Christians since antiquity. It is in alignment with historic Christian thought.
The Atonement teaches (as far as I can understand) that Christ's Passion enables us to be reconciled with God and attain heaven. if this is true, than it is in alignment with historic Christian thought.
The last two, the Resurrection and reality of Christ's miracles are also in alignment with Christian thought. The latter, however, is not "fundamental" in my opinion. It certainly follows, and the Church has believed it, but it is not necessary for Christian life. Why you would want to believe that Christ reconciles us to God and deny He ever performed miracles is beyond me, but that is another story.
So Fundamentalists line up pretty well with ancient Christian practice, dogma, and belief. The biggest difference lies in the understanding of the Bible. I knew there was more to Fundamentalism than met they eye. I have heard that believing that Jesus literally rose from the dead makes one a Fundamentalist. If that is true, I am a part of it, along with all true Christians. Denying the Resurrection and Passion of Jesus makes one...a Gentile. (Gentile refers to non-Christian according to St. Thomas Aquinas)
So I have slightly distanced myself from the Fundamentalist beliefs but still share quite a majority. I believe in the Virgin Birth, the Atonement, (put a question mark on this one - I'm not sure what the Church teaches and how this lines up with what Protestants believe) the reality of Christ's miracles, and His Resurrection.
It is sad that Protestants have had to do this. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox rely on the magisterium of the Church (I am not completely sure about the Orthodox - don't quote me!) to guard and defend the faith. When you strip that protection away ("Upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will never prevail against it") the results are there for anyone to sadly gaze upon.