Tag: Misunderstandings

What Am I Supposed to Do?

You have been told, O mortal, what is good
   and what the Lord requires of you:
Only to do justice and to love goodness,
   and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)

This doesn’t sound right!
   I thought what God expects from me is to obey the Ten Commandments:
   1. – I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.
   2. – You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
   3. – Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.
   4. – Honor your father and your mother.
   5. – You shall not kill.
   6. – You shall not commit adultery.
   7. – You shall not steal.
   8. – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
   9. – You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
   10. – You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
   This is not such a hard list to follow—most religious people more or less do!
   Besides the Ten Commandments, I thought what God expects from me is to obey the “Commandments of the Church”:
   1. – Keep Sundays and Holidays of Obligation holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile work.
   2. – Keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church.
   3. – Go to Confession at least once a year.
   4. – Receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year, and that about Easter time.
   5. – Contribute to the support of our pastors.
   6. – Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred, nor to solemnize marriage at the forbidden times.
  In practice, this can be a somewhat more specific and demanding list to follow—but most “practicing Catholics” more or less do!

   The danger of having religious laws, rules, and regulations to obey is that we may treat them like civil laws, rules, and regulations—that is to say, if we can “get away” with it, we may not observe and obey them as we should.

Trust in the Lord and do good.
   that you may dwell in the land and
   live secure.
Find your delight in the Lord
   who will give you your heart’s desire.
(Psalm 37:3-4)

This doesn’t sound right either!
   Do justice – love goodness – walk humbly with God – trust in the Lord – do good – find your delight in the Lord.
   This seems like a very easy business, a bit vague but easy enough to do.
   Ah, that’s the temptation—and misunderstanding—just because something sounds simple and easy doesn’t mean that it is!
   A long or short checklist of specific duties, regulations, or rules is much easier to observe and follow than a short list of complex and challenging ideals.
   When we were children, we learned how a good child should behave. When we were taught about going to confession before communion, we had a clear and easy checklist and self-accusations in mind.
   It’s not good enough for us to behave like a child all our lives. It’s not enough to “go to confession” like you were first taught as a child. “Goodness” and “trust in the Lord” are much more than something you breakdown into a sort of spiritual scorecard!
   Micah’s advice was right on—and still is easier said than done!




20 August 2023

Getting a Little Personal . . .

A dictionary definition of Person is:
   [from Middle English persone, from Old French, from Latin persona, literally an actor’s face mask, hence a character, person, probably from Etruscan phersu, a mask]
   1. A human being, especially as distinguished from a thing or lower animal; individual man, woman, or child.
   2. [Chiefly British] an individual regarded slightingly, as one of a lower status.
   3. a) a living human body.    b) bodily form or appearance [to be neat about one’s person].
   4. personality; self; being.
   5. Grammar: a) division into three sets of pronouns and, in most languages, corresponding verb forms. the use of which indicates and is determined by the identity of the subject.   b) any of these sets.
   6. [Archaic] a role in a play; character
   7. Law: any individual or incorporate group having certain legal rights and responsibilities
   8. Theology: any of the three modes of being (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) in the Trinity

A dictionary definition of (Latin) Persona is:
   [a mask, especially as worn by actors in Greek and Roman drama]
   1. role, part, character, person represented by an actor
   2. in general: the part which anyone plays
   3. a personality, individuality, character

   In Greek and Roman drama, the same actor could play more than one role (provided that the roles did not require being on the stage at the same time) using different facial masks and clothing—and, of course, speaking with a different voice.
   There was an old custom of placing at the beginning of the text of a play a “Dramatis Personae,” a descriptive list of the characters in the play, not of the players themselves.

   All this has something to do with how we understand the blessed Trinity, often described, as “one God in three divine persons.”
   The way this sounds in contemporary language is very different from how it would have sounded many long centuries ago.
   Should Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be more understood in the relatively modern sense of the word as distinct and separate individual persons?
   Or, should they be more understood, from the long ago meaning of “person,” as referring to three different masks, aspects, roles of the same player?
   Actually, it’s not an either-or situation; it’s more like a blend of both these and other understandings as they have evolved over the centuries.
   Sometimes we refer to things like this as a “mystery”—not in the sense of a modern “Who-done-it?” but more as something that we somewhat, but not fully, understand.
   In that, we’re a lot like the description that Shakespeare put into the mouth of Macbeth: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more.”
   In the great drama of creation and existence, you could say that we are somewhat old-fashioned in that we are clearer about the Dramatis Personae, the descriptive list of all the characters in the play of life, then we are about the players themselves.
   Anyway, we don’t have to know everything —and that exceeds our abilities in any case. But we do know for sure about the love of God for each of us and the work of God for our salvation!


6 August 2023

Wishful Thinking

“Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs based on what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality. It is a product of resolving conflicts between belief and desire.” [cf. Wikipedia]
   It’s not an either-or thing, all one way or another. As a child we have may have believed in a lot of imagined things, but, as we grew older, we tended gradually to seek evidence and rationality for our beliefs.
   Sometimes that can even be disappointing as we realize that somethings just weren’t the way we always had fondly imagined them!
   This isn’t just about fairy tales and fictions, but even about family members and friends.
   Part of growing up and maturing involves sorting out facts from fictions and accepting that our fondest memories and dreams may never have been or are not entirely true!
   It’s not that we were lied to as children, just that we were once being entertained and, as we began to grow up, now being challenged to differentiate and sort out our beliefs from naive wishes and desires.
   All this applies to everything and everyone. Our challenge is not to overreact as we seek facts, evidence, rationality, or reality—nor to fear or deny it.
   You could say that part of growing up, of maturing is using a more scientific method of thinking. We may have been using an inadequate, uncritical, or unproven way of thinking—and we shouldn’t be afraid of reexamining and revising some of our fondest assumptions or beliefs.
   And, if it turns out that at first we got it wrong, then we “try, try again!”
   This applies to everything! Nothing is so sacred that we can’t think critically about it. Growing and maturing is not just about physical and common-place things; it’s about everything, everyone, everywhere.
  This is the way God made us and the way we need to be living our lives—and it applies to everyone, everywhere, always!

   There is nothing so important, so special, so sacrosanct that we should not examine the evidence for it, think critically about it, and even test it out as best we can.
   Does this apply to school? Sure! Does this apply to politics and law? Of course! Does this include religion and faith? Definitely!
   But we don’t know and can’t know everything, know every place, know every person!
   So, even if we think as critically as we can, examine new ideas in depth and with courage, and trust no one or nothing blindly and without careful examination, we reach our limitations.
   The solution?
   We need to trust others, we need assistance, we need to be constantly rethinking about and reexamining our thoughts, decisions, and choices.
   And, in the process, we need to share what we know, ask others to share their gifts with us, and not get tired of critical thinking, planning, testing, and deciding.
   Beware of wishful thinking, but never stop thinking, especially critically. (That doesn’t mean that you should be criticizing other people’s thoughts, words, or deeds—it mostly means that you should be very careful about yours!)
   A long, long time ago when I was a child, I knew all about Micky and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and all the familiar Disney characters. I could hardly wait for each issue of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories.
   Naturally I knew enough to know that they were make-believe. But, true confessions, I still enjoy visiting Disney World as often as I can—and continuing to think critically, too!


23 July 2023

WTHOGATAP

Will I ever stop screwing things up?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I so often start out well and then forget to stick to my plan?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why have I said such stupid things again?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I blow such a great relationship?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I forget to keep such an important appointment?
   WTHOGATAP!
   How could I lose my way, going down such a familiar path?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I drink so much again, even though I know better?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I stay out so late when I had such important things to do the next morning?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I boast about things I never accomplished?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I pretend to be someone different than who I really am?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Am I doomed to be so weak and lost forever?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I so often end up in the wrong place when I know the right way so well?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why am I on a road to Hell paved with good intentions?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I do the opposite of what I know is right and good!
   WTHOGATAP!
   I’m tired of it all; sometimes I think I’d be better dead!
   WTHOGATAP!
   I want to change who I am and what I’m doing.
   WTHOGATAP!

   When I really look in the mirror—a real one that really shows the truth, one that doesn’t fake it by showing me what I want to see—it’s usually a downer!
   It seems I’m always letting myself down; I’m so often not getting things right; I keep making dumb choices! What’s wrong with me!
   You’re a creature, not the Creator!
   You’re limited, not all knowing!
   You’re weak, not all powerful!
   You’re right to be saddened, because you really know better.
   Don’t let yourself sink deeper into the swamp of self-reproach, regret, and sadness because of broken intentions and despair!
   You know you should know better. You’ve seen the warning signs. You know deep down inside yourself where your road is really going. You know you’ve failed before and will fail again.
   Okay, you are facing reality, you are trying to be very honest, brutally honest!
   It means you have to accept the fact that you’ve blown things before and are doing it again! You know very well—proven by long experience—that you’re not perfect and you’re not infallible!
   Let’s face it, your report card about your life may have some high scores, but it’s never going to be 100%.
   It’s not your laziness, indifference, failings, or stupidity—it’s just that you’re fundamentally imperfect, in the exact meaning of the word.
   Because you’re not the Creator, you’re always going to be limited unless he intervenes and helps you.
   That’s the great secret: With The Help Of God All Things Are Possible!



9 July 2023

Powerful Symbols

A symbol is a mark, sign, or word(s) that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing something entirely different—an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences. Symbols are needed for effective communication and are used to convey ideas and beliefs. [adopted from Wikipedia]
   Take, for example, the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
   The pledge, the commitment, is to the Republic—symbolized by the flag. That means that any lack of respect to the flag is construed as a lack of respect to the republic itself. Of course, the flag is just a colorful, cloth construct—but it is treated with the respect and reverence due to what it stands for and represents.
   The Jewish Passover ritual meal uses several symbols—for example, the bitter herbs that symbolized the bondage of the Jewish people in Egypt.
   The last supper of Jesus with his disciples the night before his death was a Passover meal to which he added some additional symbols and meanings—the wine and the broken bread symbolizing his crucifixion and death.
   His followers were challenged to remember and understand these symbols and to celebrate this ritual in the future—what we know as the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
   As the centuries passed, some of the great Christian thinkers and philosophers began to consider whether the words of consecration of the Mass could be and should be taken very literally.

   We still venerate and study the brilliant ideas and explanations of St. Thomas Aquinas, utilizing the Aristotelian concepts of substance and accident.
   However sometimes so much attention was given to his detailed reflections concerning the Eucharist and the real presence that its symbolic aspect, rooted in the Passover ritual was overlooked and forgotten.
   [In the reformation era, a scornful mockery of this aspect of Thomistic theology was called Hocus-Pocus, referring to the words of consecration in the Latin Mass: “Hoc est enim corpus meum” (This is my body)].
   It helps to remember the symbolisms of the Passover meal and the symbolisms that Jesus invoked at the Last Supper. They shouldn’t be overlooked because of our religious heritage or our esteem for Aquinas.
   The consecration of the Tridentine Mass is:
   “Who the day before He suffered took bread into His holy and venerable hands, and with His eyes lifted up heaven, unto Thee, God, His almighty Father, giving thanks to Thee, He blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat ye all of this, for this is My Body.
   “In like manner, after He had supped, taking also this excellent chalice into His holy and venerable hands, and giving thanks to Thee, He blessed and gave it to His disciples, saying: Take and drink ye all of this, for this is the Chalice of My Blood, of the new and eternal testament: the mystery of faith: which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins.
   “As often as you do these things, ye shall do them in in remembrance of Me.”
   Remember! Respect and reverence!


11 June 2023

Accumulated Meanings

Languages are always changing—in the sense that the meaning of their words often is changing and evolving. That’s why, for instance, that occasionally, in a play of Shakespeare, we may have hardly any idea at all about what certain words or expressions mean (or meant when Shakespeare was alive).
   That’s also why it can be a really tricky business translating a very old document written in a foreign language. It helps a lot to know who the writer was and when and where and why was the document first written.
   Take, for example, a common, familiar word like person. It has evolved a lot.
   It can be traced back to ancient Greek, where it referred to the mask that an actor wore in a play and that identified the role he or she was playing.
   And, sometimes in plays, since there were often few professional actors, the same performer played more than one character, using different masks (and dressed and spoke in different ways) for each.
   That’s why the ancient Greek word for the actor’s mask gradual evolved into our common word person (which has come to mean something else entirely).
   A dictionary definition of person says that it is a noun, derived from Middle English persone, derived from Old French, derived from Latin persona: literally an actor’s face mask (hence a character, person) probably derived from ancient Greek.
   It now has many meanings, including: 1. A human being, especially as distinguished from a thing or lower animal; an individual man, woman, or child. 2. a) a living human body b) bodily form or appearance [to be neat about one’s person]. 3. Personality; self; being. 4. Law any individual or incorporated group having certain legal rights and responsibilities. 5. Theology the Trinity.

   Theology itself has changes and developments. In the very early days of Christianity, the common meaning of person still was that of an actor’s face mask—while in our day it’s much more that of an individual man, woman, or child.
   This reminds me of my Catechism lesson in preparation for First Communion (which reflected the ancient meaning of person):
   Q: “How many persons are there in God?”
   A: “In God there are three Divine persons, really distinct, and equal in all things—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
   Of course, as little kids we weren’t taught the etymology of the word, “person.” Even so, it wouldn’t have and couldn’t have adequately explained the mystery of the nature of God—but it could help a little.
   However, in light of the complex etymology of the word, “Three Divine persons” minimally suggests three different roles God plays and three different kinds of relationships God has to human beings and to all the rest of creation:
– God as the loving begetter, maker, creator, and source of all that exists (Father);
– God as the intervenor in human history who uniquely reveals himself and his love through the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus (Son);
– God as the sustainer, guide, and inspirer of our lives, the interior wellspring of our creativity, strength, and love (Holy Ghost).
   This is but one (and not the only) way of describing the one God. No matter what, all believers in the one God are talking about this one and same God whose total complexities are beyond and defy our separate traditions and our so many attempts at description!



4 June 2023

Either-Or-ers vs. Both-And-ers

What’s an “either-or-er”? The odd title suggests a keen awareness of differences, an inclination to focus on the incompatible aspects of things, perhaps a tendency to be judgmental, a likelihood to position everyone and everything on a scale of individual values.
   What’s a “both-and-er”? This odd title suggests a greater awareness of commonalities, an inclination to focus on the compatible aspects of things, a tendency to be inclusive, a likelihood to position everyone and everything within a pool of similar values.
   Here are a few examples:
   – in medical practice, a highly competent cardiology specialist may know little about infectious diseases and barely recognize them, while maybe a general practitioner would;
   – in baseball, an overall good team player may be more highly valued than an occasional heavy hitter.
   – in politics, a leader of a party who can effectively communicate and collaborate with a leader of another party is often more effective than an esteemed and perhaps popular individual who cannot.
   Historically, sometimes people who are initially more “either-or” may gradually tend to become more “both-and”.
   People initially thought of as primarily one or the other, this or that (i.e., totally different), gradually can come to be seen as having a lot of commonalities, one with the other.
   The opposite is also true: someone at first attracted by commonalties may end up increasingly focused on differences.
   Changing attitudes and understandings can also be seen in religious matters, too. Many religious groups that once had been decidedly divided one from the other and separated are gradually finding common ground.

For example:
   – Judaism originally (in the early Biblical times) was perhaps more unified and less diverse than it is today. But, even so, today, in spite of a wide variety of points of view and religious practices, all their adherents still consider themselves Jewish.
   – Christianity started as a branch of traditional Jewish religion, but after a while both Jews and Christians became more focused on their differences than their commonalities.
   – Christians themselves once had such low tolerance for differences that Christian groups with different practices came to be regarded as separate (and antagonistic) churches that were often denounced by the other. (The modern ecumenical movement is trying gradually to reverse that.)
   In our days, there are three great monotheistic religious groups—Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Each of them worships the one (and necessarily the same) God, in spite of their difference in their holy books, history, and practices.
   Something similar could be observed about other aspects of our modern society. Almost all religious, political, and social groups, in spite of their differences in practices, values, and mutual esteem, tend to share more and more what once were the separate history and values of each.
   Every person has personal dignity, unique values, and can make unique contributions. In spite of all the problems in our modern world, happily we’re gradually, slowly but surely, seeing more both-and-ers (and fewer either-or-ers)!
   At the risk of being a little chauvinistic, don’t forget, “E pluribus unum!”

28 May 2023

Inundation

Inundation can be defined as flooded or overwhelmed by a great volume of something.
   In our contemporary society we are increasingly inundated by the sheer volume of options and choices that are available to us and the sheer volume of information that we are challenged to digest and respond to.
   I remember, as a kid, that New York City radio station WINS used to tout, “Give us ten minutes and we’ll give you the world.” (referring, that is, to the latest news). They prided themselves on digesting all the significant daily news into a few minutes, which were repeated hourly all day long.
   Now, we have television stations that spend all day long giving us the daily news. WINS’s problem was digesting the news into ten minutes; the problem that modern television news station have is how to find enough news or how to spin out the news long enough to fill out the entire day!
   The more is definitely not the merrier!
   This is just one way that our contemporary society overwhelms us, overwhelms us by giving us too much information or by not allowing us to have time to digest and reflect upon the information we already have.
   Another common example: the shopping mall. In the old days, you simply went to the nearby store to quickly purchase something; now you go to a huge complex, often very beautiful, highlighting and selling almost anything imaginable. You never have enough money to buy all the things that inevitably capture your attention and attract you.
   How about eating? entertainment? movies? ballgames? fashionable styles?
   There are so many things overwhelming us, inundating us, every day of our modern lives—and, you know what it does? It’s like the indigestion that comes from eating too much and too fast.

   We become not only sated but satiated. We are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of our daily experiences—and as a result we’re learning less, profiting less, and fatigued and enervated.
   The same thing applies to the spiritual aspect of our lives: too many books that are recommended to us, too many sermons and advices that we hear, too many models and behaviors that we are urged to imitate or to condemn!
   Do you recall or did you ever hear the Latin expression, “Quid ad aeternitatem?” It more or less means, “What does it matter in the light of eternity?”
   We rarely, if ever, ask ourselves a question like that. We rarely, if ever, get off the endless merry-go-round of our lives. You know what happens after a while? We forget how to get off! As the merry-go-round ride is non-stop, the so many courses in the daily meal of our lives are killing us! We’re hearing and seeing so many things that we’re becoming deaf and blind!
   Is there any hope for the future? Of course!
   What to do, how to do it? It’s easy!
   Stop!
   Stop the rat race! Stop the merry-go-round! Stop trying to keep up with it all! Stop trying to digest it all!
   Don’t forget the great wisdom you probably learned once upon a time, a question and answer from the catechism:
   Q. “Why did God make you?”
   A. “He made to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and be happy with Him forever in the next.”
   Take it easy! No hurry! You have forever!




21 May 2023

Fool of a Tool

   “When did you arrive?”
   “I flew in yesterday.”
   No, you didn’t exactly fly in yesterday. You traveled on an airplane that arrived yesterday.
   If a bird could talk, it might well say, and exactly say, “I flew in yesterday.”
   If an elevator cab could talk, it might well say, “I carried five people up six floors.” But it didn’t actually. The elevator cab itself was lifted up six floors along with the five people in it.
   A pen in a museum might boast that “I signed the Declaration of Independence.” No, dear pen, you were but the tool in the hand of the person signing.
   A nail might claim credit for holding up the picture on the wall. But, actually it was driven into place with someone with a hammer. It has a function, but it needs to be empowered to function by the one hammering—and, of course, sustained by the wall, too.
   What right does the projector have to boast that “I entertained. I showed the movie”?
   Can the stove claim credit for cooking the dinner? Should the piano pride itself on the music you played on it?
   Is the family doctor the reason for the health of the family? Is the pastor the reason for the saint in his congregation? Should a president claim credit for the well-being of the country?
   One could go on and on with similar examples. The point is that having a role to play, large or small, is not the same as being responsible for the success or failure of the entire enterprise or construction.
   But, to be perfectly honest, that’s not what usually happens. Whether it’s delusion, vanity, outright deceit, or naïve ignorance, usually the leader claims credit for the victories and successes and attributes the failures to other people or things.

   It’s odd, we’re much more likely to say “The devil made me do it!” then “God made me do it”. Which, implicitly, is sort of attributing more power and influence over the course of our lives to the devil!
   Hell, no! That’s not the way our lives are supposed to be lived.
   Should the screw be claiming credit when it was the screwdriver that drove it in—or the screwdriver be claiming credit when it was worker who was wielding it? (Or the worker be claiming credit who really was empowered by God!)
   Shakespeare has Macbeth give a bleak sort of answer to this type of questions, more or less giving credit to none:
   Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
   That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
   And then is heard no more. It is a tale,
   Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
   Signifying nothing.”
   David, in Psalm 138, has a better, more true response:
   I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
      in the presence of the angels to you I sing….
   Though I walk in the midst of dangers,
      you guard my life when my enemies rage.
   You stretch out your hand;
      your right hand saves me.
   The Lord is with me to the end.
      Lord, your mercy endures forever.
      Never forsake the work of your hands!
   Tools can’t claim all credit for what a higher power achieves, using them.
   Don’t be fool and forget that you’re a tool in the hands of God!


19 March 2023

Distilling Truth

Distilling is the process of vaporizing and subsequently condensing a liguid for the purpose of purifying (or concentrating) it. Distilling is commonly associated with the preparation of alcoholic beverages.
   However, the word can also be used to refer to extracting the essential elements of anything or, conversely, to purifying or concentrating that thing.
   In this broad sense, distilling can be used to describe a process of writing an accurate and meaningful book of history or of giving an accurate and meaningful summary of processes of scientific experimentation.
   It’s a necessary process in many situations, so that the essential and primary that the writer or speaker wishes to communicate isn’t lost in a sea of detail.
   In one sense or another, distilling is important, useful, or even necessary.
   An important area where distilling is necessary—besides for the production of a good whiskey—is in interpreting the meaning and purposes of the statements, actions, or behaviors of others both previously or currently.
   This could relate to anything from cases being adjudged in a court of law to the teachings of a professor in a university or even the preaching of the Gospel in a church on Sunday.
   This also could relate to the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court or the teachings of the Church.
   When Pope John XXIII announced the calling of an Ecumenical Council, known to us as Vatican II, he used a metaphor of cleansing of a work of art. He said the Church is like a famous and beautiful painting that has become obscured and darkened over the centuries and which needs to be carefully and delicately restored to its original beauty.
   In a way, that’s a sort of process of distilling, too.

   The cleansing of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was another challenging experience. It revealed that a lot of relatively darker colors were originally not like that at all—they were just right colors covered with the grime of centuries.
   In a sense, you could almost call that a distilling process, too, since it involved removing the accumulated unessential and unoriginal things from the chapel ceiling while leaving the original work of the artist.
   When it comes to the teachings of the Church and the practices of the faith, the need for a process of cleansing and restoring, of removing the acquired and obscuring non-essential elements, of distilling is always vitally necessary!
  When we study the books of the Bible, we realize that a similar process was going on. Often later books emphasized and elaborated some teachings that were deemed essential, while ignoring or paying slight attention to others in earlier books that were very important to their writer.
   As the centuries pass and our scholarship develops we are, so to speak, distilling the essential elements of our faith and our understanding of the actions of God.
   And, and this is the most challenging aspect of our faith and religious practices, the “distilling” process never ends.
   It’s okay to enjoy a beverage, even though another version of it may be better distilled—i.e., stronger and with fewer unessential (and distracting) elements.
   Distillation, renovation, growth, discernment, or any process of positive development is a striving to get to the essential and not be distracted by the unessential.




29 January 2023