Photograph by Susan Waughtal An old man was upon his regular walk when he cleared the top of a gentle hill. There, at its summit, he passed a fence which surrounded a great field and manor. At a gate near the side of the road was a child whom the old man had often seen … Continue reading The Old Man and the Child
Aristotle does not begin his treatise On the Soul by declaring that we are made in the image of God. Rather, he begins with the stunningly obvious observation that among all of the things which exist, we distinguish those which live from those which do not. Each of those things which live (plants, animals, and human beings) … Continue reading This is what we call a Soul
To be a disciple is fundamentally to be a learner. But while a geometry student submits his mind to a proof or theorem, a learner of Christ is called to submit his whole being to God. And while the student may come to internalize a truth, the disciple can come to embody God’s presence. This is because both Learning and discipleship happen through a process of poetic formation. In … Continue reading The Poetics of Faith and Learning, Part 4
Like a child formed within the body of its mother, nourished by and constituted within her, all creation is constituted within the Image of God. Christ is the womb of all creation. For in him all things were created (Colossians 1:16). The creation bears the stamp of its creator, just as a child bears a likeness to his mother. … Continue reading Matrix of Creation
“You know what happens when a portrait that has been painted on a panel becomes obliterated through external stains. The artist does not throw away the panel, but the subject of the portrait has to come and sit for it again, and then the likeness is re-drawn on the same material. Even so was it … Continue reading Athanasius, Christ, Metanoia, & the Camera Obscura
This post continues an exploration of vocation. In part I, work (or career) was distinguished from our universal vocation to personhood. Yet, personhood, our primary vocation, is not realized in abstraction. In accord with its nature, personhood exists and develops in a social context. One such context is work. Work is an arena in and … Continue reading A Word on Hope: Vocation in Light of the Baltimore Riots, Part II of III
Is man a meaningful creature? Yes, but man is also a creature ordered unto God. The Imago Dei contextualizes the nature of human meaning. This post continues our exploration of man’s doubleness. In North America, stop signs are red octagons with the word ‘stop’ printed on them. There are variations, but, for the most part, they conform to this … Continue reading Empty Signs? Images and Originals Part VI.B
We have begun to explore how man is a double creature, a being who is natural and yet transcendent. The last post listed a number of ways in which this might be the case. This post will begin to explore numbers 2, 3, and 7. We can do this by first asking: What does ‘poetry’ … Continue reading The Poetic Creature: Images and Originals Part VI.A
“When I am empty, I am. When I am full; I am not. What am I?” — Answere: hole “I am what I am not. You cannot see me. Yet you look at me to see. What am I?” — Answer: A Mirror Have you grown weary of our journey into doubleness? I hope not, but I … Continue reading Man as Double: Images and Originals Part VI
Same & Other 