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On Being “Open Minded” – Pt. 1

The culture of our contemporary anglophone world, to my eye, seems ordered toward the ideal of ‘toleration.’ There is much wrapped up in this claim, but the general thrust is that we believe in some form of individualism and therefore want to allow each person to pursue life as he or she sees fit –Continue reading “On Being “Open Minded” – Pt. 1″

Serious Play

Love creates by expressingEach blessing,AddressingAll man may feel distressing.Though such grace did he reduceTo mere use;With abuse:The eternal makes no truce.Thinking freedom to be foundWithout bound—Fate confound—Only bondage did abound.The man of utility:Never free;Strapped is heBy tall demands of Beauty.‘Hear the song writ in your heart,My own art;Now’s your part:Any time you want to start.’RememberContinue reading “Serious Play”

A Reflection on What Moves Us: Power & Force

In what is, in my view, one of the most audacious works of political theory written in the twentieth century, The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt formulates a distinction between two ways in which human beings relate to one another: power & force. This pairing is specified by her to have a meaning that is notContinue reading “A Reflection on What Moves Us: Power & Force”

Dialectics and History

Plato is well known to have composed his philosophical texts in a dialogue form. Most frequently, he places the historical person of Socrates in the center of his dialogues; the great philosopher who wrote nothing down then engages with various other historical characters, more or less antagonistically, depending on the dialogue, and questions them aboutContinue reading “Dialectics and History”

Mark 2:1-12

For the Second Sunday of the Great Fast Thanks to word causing a hum,Do they come. Capernaum, The place where he’s teaching from.Travelling with great hurt and zeal –All can feelEmpyrealPowers that are said to heal.Four men carrying a friend To portendHe attendTo a body needing mend. First, to be cleansed of sin – AllContinue reading “Mark 2:1-12”

The Fathers’ Source

With love, looking upon his own image – Set now, so small, within another’s face –He feels his heart grow weak, without courage;For evil, he’d no prior need to chase. But see that chaos, known only beforeThe unbegotten force decreed His will,Was made a home for every beast and boar,As He valleys set ‘tween each risingContinue reading “The Fathers’ Source”

Specific Acts, Constitutive Identities, and the Religious

When I first reembraced my Faith, I had about a two or three week period when I went to the church nearest my apartment to pray for about thirty minutes each morning in the daily services. I did this because I did not know how to pray (I still do not, really, but now IContinue reading “Specific Acts, Constitutive Identities, and the Religious”

Some Notes on Humour

You know – nostalgia just isn’t what it used to be… A somewhat niche topic of interest to me has been the philosophy of humour. It is not a booming field, and I recognize that many people do not like to critically unpack jokes – I am sure many of us have had the gruelingContinue reading “Some Notes on Humour”

The Terrible Noise

Heavy does rest stillness when one’s alone;Leaving the world apart, now lesser known. But do we truly leave? For it follows us in, that horrible sound of it allthat ever emits from dawn to nightfall; yet – no less – so in darkness, it swallowsup anything refusing to conform.Locked here within, no possible retreat, toContinue reading “The Terrible Noise”

Why Do You Pray?

For Z. H., a wonderful friend who asked me this horribly simple question After having joined me for an evening prayer service, a friend of mine – who himself is without any strong religious affiliation – had a number of questions for me that we discussed over a couple beers. This began with simple technicalContinue reading “Why Do You Pray?”