Sunday, April 13, 2008

Thought For The Day (Possibly Heretical)

Faith is not certainty so much as it is acting-as-if, in great hope.

18 comments:

  1. Well, I can dig it!

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  2. ABSOLUTELY NOT HERETICAL AT ALL!

    In fact, it is worthy of being an infallible corkscrew statement.

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  3. Well, where's the comment from the pope to put the final stamp of infallibility on it? The thought came to me in church, so that's a guarantee that it's inspired by God, right?

    Seriously, thanks, all of you. I'm timid about posting this sort of thing, because some very learned folks visit here.

    RB, wow! Included in the corkscrew statement! I am honored.

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  4. Ego te infallibilizo.
    Maya la Popessa

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  5. Popessa Maya, your holinessa, I knew you'd come through.

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  6. Well said, GM. You have the makings of an epigramist. So you have not only my Nihil Obstat but Imprimatur!

    Tobias+ Fordhamensis

    Augusta Victoria, Felis Catus
    Censor Librorum

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  7. Sometimes dreams come true! A Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur from Tobias Haller, seconded by Augusta Victoria on my wee statement of faith.

    Kirstin, thanks

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  8. Well, I'm just a humble Anglican priest, so not really qualified to speak in the company of popessas an' all, but...

    I once read something similar in the writings of C.S. Lewis. - and I paraphrase, of course - something ot the effect that if you were having difficulty believing, the thing to do was to do your best to 'do the will of the Father', while all the time praying for more light. I've often had occasion to remember that, and to pass it on.

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  9. Sorry - horribly ungrammatical sentence - I can't believe how many 'to do's' there were in it!

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  10. Tim, don't worry about saying "I do" so many times. I believe you and I are well married by now.

    I'm not having difficulty believing, but C.S. Lewis' advice is good for all seasons.

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  11. Amen.

    I suggest faith is simultaneously 2 contradictory things: standing on rock and walking on water.

    Those on the rock fear being undermined by the water; those on the water see rocks as dangerous hazards.

    I also think that both are necessary and that Christianity would not have survived without keeping hold of both simultaneously and incompatibly.

    The Church can hold both notions, though individuals can't.

    And faith is always embodied. Therefore the tension between these conceptions is always expressed in conflict.

    For me, I'm in Grandmère's church.

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  12. What may a simple country boy add to such acclaim from so august a group of admirers?

    Amen!

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  13. Johnieb, you called me on my innocence or lack thereof, and now I'm calling you on your "simple country boy" crap. You're one of the smart ones, one of the very smart ones, and you can't hide behind that persona any longer.

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