Philosophers...

This is an exerpt from a comment paper on value theories:
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Initially I was going to say that it seems that philosophers could solve the issue of value very easily... with the premis that a Christian God exists. It seems to me a bit egotistical of philosophers to refuse to address such an issue... Tending to want to simplify the system, philosophers reject the premis on the assumption that 1. God does exist, and we cant know, or 2. God doesn't exist, and thus why complicate the system with the premis of a God? But this decision seems to bite the philosophers in the rear, leading to a tonne of other complications... i.e., value outside of Humanity's perception, Justice and other universals... it seems to me more evident each time I read the book that the premis of a God is much more elegant and seemingly more sensible... as it seems that philosophers like O'Neill are trying to clarify things so much so that things get even more confusing.
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I'm coming to a greater appreciation of how knowing a God exists unifies so much knowledge, and without a God, how much more difficult it is to know anything... it reminds me of Zeno's paradox about the Runner... (the runner to get to the end must first be able to get to the half point, but to get the half point, he must get to the half of the half point... eventually saying that for the runner to reach the end he mus cross an infinite amount of points, but that's impossible and thus running{or moving} is impossible.) The way I see it is the divisions are different knowledges... if you try to build a whole (reach the end) from all the divisions, it's not possible, because you have an infinite distance to cover... but say you have already reached the end of the distance, by not worrying about the divisions, just about the Goal (God). Once you've gotten to the Goal, you can look back and divide your path however you choose, and it will make sense, as to how it got you to your Goal.

I don't know if the analogy is well formed, but I'm typing fast, as It's dinner time... and I've got to go eat. I'll try to clear it up later.

Class

I looked a bit a head in my metaphysics book... and found that the Author (aka., my professor) comes to the conclusion in the section about God and Evil (theodicy?) that "therefore, there is no God"... so I'm going to need to rediscover refutations of this as the only solution... if anyone has any leads on ways of defending God and Evil, please send them...

One of my tactics will be to deny that the exisitence of evil is contradictory with the concept of an All-loving God...

Another I'm going to look into, is to state that if the view of evil is that it is only a finite thing, and God is infinite, then evil is not contrary to the all-powerful God.

But I'm far from even seriously starting into inquiry about how to defend it... so any help will be of great use.

Christian radio

Just had a thought earlier today about the radio spot that says that on the last day there will be people who tell jesus about all of their christian works... but he will say to them that he did not know them... (then it goes on talking about faith...)


If you have works, but no faith, then you are not saved. (as the above argument states)
If you have faith, but no works, then you are not saved. (as "faith without works is dead")
Lets say that it is only the case that you can have faith, but no works, or works, but no faith.
If these are your premises, then you are not saved OR you are not saved. Which is redundant, so we can reduce this to say: you are not saved (i.e., there is no possible way to be saved, if faith and works are mutually exclusive).

The problem with the argument is that faith and works are not mutually exclusive, but they are compatible. And it seems that it is only through both that we can be saved.

I thought of it this way today... if faith can be likened to God knowing us, then works seems able to be likened to us knowing God (knowing God calls us to action). And it seems the case that a relationship only occurs when both know each other.

So, a relationship with God requires Him to know us (give us the gift of faith) and for us to know Him (serve him through action), and not solely one or the other.

COLD

So I woke up early this morning to get some work done on the computers at the lab (I don't own one)... and enjoyed the nice iowa morning... and by nice I mean... downright evil... 6 BELOW! what DID THEY DO TO THE WEATHER! Okay... calm down... Anyhow... this weather is insane... but I got to the bus stop right when the bus came and joined the sardines... got to school and the lab was down... as were the other labs in the building I was in... as I was heading to another building I remembered I could check out a laptop, which I promptly did, and am now on... My classes are interesting... Philosophy of Physics, Logic, Buddhism, and Metaphysics... Phil Phys is interesting as I used to be a physics major, and it seems promising, as the teacher is affable. Logic... well yes... I took it last semester in san antonio, but it didn't transfer right, and though I could go and protest, I discovered that the class it did transfer in as, counts to my degree, and that it would be a good idea to start off my Iowa state career with a good GPA... also I still have several things I need to learn in logic, and I don't mind reinforcement of the teaching. Buddhism is interesting... it seems to have a very interesting teacher... and the subject matter is quite interesting... in fact for an oral report I'm going to work on the Catholic-Buddhist dialogue (so if any of you have info on that, please email me sirhair@gmail.com ), and Metaphysics is interesting... I think my teacher is pro-abortion and is an atheist... and so far my class seems to be hostile to faith... which will make this class an interesting cross... having to stand up amongst lions and defend the truth... already I know I'm going to have to decrease that He may increase... anyhow... I hope soon to post some pics but... as of now I don't have a permanent computer... so that may be a bit... also my classes are all intensive reading classes... (except logic) which is much different from my last few classes... which were only read the text book type classes... anyhow... I think its a bit odd that the best and brightest of the nation (or at least Iowa) are all so vehemenently opposed to truth and tradition... they want so much to be unique and novel that they accept any garbage that presents itself as gold... may the youth of our nation stop being such... such teenagers.

Iowa

Well... I am actually very okay, I've just been busy... I'm in the process of moving up to Iowa State university on the 6th. I'm currently in Des Moines... I've got a new red Parka with a comfy and detachable Fleece lining... I've got gloves, a hat and cold weather... but I miss the 81 degree weather of San antonio today! :-( it's 22 or something here... and it "feels like 11" according to weather.com... other than that I'm just getting administrative things done before school starts next week... and looking for a job Thanks for the concern Penitens!
I'll hopefully be posting more in the weeks to come...
God bless!

YAY

I think I'm healthy (well not fully but only a few more days and this congestion should be gone). and I got at least 3 A's in my classes, with the fourth class most likely an A, also. This last week Lee was sick (I was too) so he didn't do youth night, so I had to... it turned out really well... we talked about Ambrose, and the gospel... the activity was having three students act out a scene (of their choice) and then three youth that watched it one at a time (with the rest waiting outside) saying what they saw... noting that all the stories were similar, and accurate, but also complemented by the others, and we related that to the gospels... and how each person needs to hear things in different ways... that we should reach others where they are.

sick

sick sick sick...

Usually I get sick after school ends.. this time, it seems the bugs are preemptively striking... next week is finals, I've got one on monday (photog) one on tuesday (I'm pretty sure it's astronomy) and two on thursday (logic, and psych). Yay... my official resignation was put in on tuesday, and on the 28th I'm no longer the Youth Minister. on the 30th I hope to move to IOWA! (yes I actually said Iowa in a positive manner). I've been training Lee over the last few weeks in how to handle the youth and develop a Youth ministry program... he's coming along, and I'm sure with help from the volunteers, he'll do quite well.

Just went to the eye doc, and got a picture of the inside of my eyes... so these are my eyes, if you want a better view, check out the free software at www.optos.com.

Right eye!

This is the left eye...

If you want to check it out, view the whole image (click on it) and then right click and save the file. Then open the optos software, and open up these images for some quite interesting eyes!

Scott Hahn

Here's a brief overview of what Scott talked about:

He talked about his conversion story in detail... how his questions and study as a Presbyterian seminarian(?) and minister lead him to a greater understanding of the truth about Christianity... he talked about St. John Chrystostom, Augustin, and other Church fathers broke open scripture for the first time in a way he had never experienced... in a way that made sense like no protestant theology could. He compared Moses and Jesus' stories, from infancy to the desert, where Israel failed, but Jesus succeeded... he made the point that Jesus quoted Moses' chastisements of the Jewish people when they failed (in Deut)...

He also talked about how Jesus and Moses both chose 12 to rule and 70 to govern.

"the new testament is concealed in the old, the old is revealed in the new" -St. Augustin

How the Transfiguration had a parallel with Mt. Sinai... how the exodus of old Israel (Moses'), was going to be fulfilled by Jesus after the Passover (Easter)

12 baskets of food collected after the loaves of fish represented ample provisions for the 12 tribes...

Passover was one of the greatest Jewish Feast days...
with 3 important parts:
1. Slaughter the lamb
2. Sprinkle the lamb's Blood
3. EAT THE LAMB

Jesus fulfilled the old testament Passover by instituting the Eucharist...

He talked about how his first job after Presb. Seminary was to be Pastor at Trinity Presb. near D.C... and his first series of sermons was on the Gospel of John... as he went the congregation Raved but he was several weeks a head and he hit a stumbling block ... That's right... JOHN 6... and he realised that Jesus was absolutely LITERAL in his statements... (he even tried to look at the original languages and Church fathers all of whom SAID THE SAME THING... that it WAS TRULY FLESH AND TRULY BODY)

(the NIV translation: of John 6)
⁵³Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

He then promptly realised he COULDN'T preach this because he would get fired, and he just had a new child and new wife he had to support... so he one day announced he would end his series on John after chapter 5. (He went on to Hebrews and other books...)

He noted that there is only ONE time that the phrase "Born again" occurs, but 4 times "You must eat my body and drink my flesh" occurs.

John 6 occurred EXACTLY one year prior to the new Passover... the institution of the Eucharist, and the paschal mystery.

When the 100's and thousands leave him, he asks the 12 if they will leave too... and peter replies
(NAB: JN 6:68-69)
Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

Peter doesn't say he understands, only that 'we trust and believe you, because we know who you are, (not because we understand)' and Scott suggested that they probably didn't understand, they simply had faith that Jesus was of God and would not lie.

"the unanimous testimony of the early church fathers was that the Eucharist was the goal of all things" --Scott

After his series on John the Presbyterian Seminary offered him a Job... to teach John... he was able to go deeply into the scripture and then he asked several questions of the class... about the upper room where Christ instituted the Eucharist. "When did Passover end?" John Apserolini at the back of the class answered "Passover didn't end in the upper room but at Calgary" "When did it begin?" John answered "in the upper room"... John then told Scott that he had learned the answers to his questions from the Baltimore Catechism... (John was a former Catholic)... Scott was in disbelief that Catholics would teach this... and started Scott on his path to investigate Catholicism to see if we still taught what the Church Fathers taught (John later called Scott in 98-99 and told him that "it took me a bit longer than you, but I've come back" regarding his return to the Church)

After the year, he was later approached by the Chairman of Board of the Seminary, (Scott thought he was going to be fired for teaching "Catholic" ideas) over dinner, and was offered the job of DEAN (at 26.5 yrs old) of the seminary... he felt he had to turn it down, because he was having a crisis of faith... (he didn't know where God was calling him... to stay Presb.. or become... Episcopal...!). He quit his jobs and took an administrative job at his alma mater... to free up time to really investigate where god was calling... eventually he went to Marquette to complete his Ph.D., and he gave his wife a commitment that if he was called into the church, he would not become a catholic for at least 5 years (it was 1985)... over time and with study he began to really appreciate Mary (the assumption and immaculate conception made sense to him) and worse... he began to understand the great honor the Church fathers had for the bishop of Rome... and the obedience they gave him... he began to understand the Pope.

Then one day he stumbled into a catholic mass... and heard something he never expected... the bible being read! not once, not twice but 3 direct passages ON A WEEK DAY! He then noticed the parallels of the mass with the book of Revelations... and how it made more sense than the Rapture, Pre trib, post trib, pre mil, post mil, a mil, theologies of the protestants. He for the first time understood the saints... Rev... how the martyrs in heaven pray and god answers their prayers.

After going a few times of going to mass and taking notes he approached a local priest (and the current bishop of Lincoln Nebraska...;-) ) He read a book from Fr. Pius Parsh (or parch) about the parallels between the mass and Revelations... he talked to the priest about what would be needed to convert... the year long RCIA and..? the Priest said, "You could teach RCIA" so you wouldn't need to go through it... all you need to do is tell me you are ready and I'll accept you into the church... "how soon?" "in two weeks at Easter vigil."

He then got released from his commitment from his wife (after she got upset and prayed about it, she quickly felt God's will in it). but she asked to be there at the mass (her first). She was overwhelmed by the mass, and hurt that she couldn't receive communion with him...

She then started to study the faith (with no obligation) and fought it a lot... until ash Wednesday when she called Scott telling him that it was a wonderful day (Scott was a bit perplexed)... and how she wanted to give up something for lent (Scott was listening)... she wanted to give up... give up her fight and join the Church, where God was calling her.... She was accepted in the church in 1990, when Scott was supposed to be according to their agreement...

And that's the first talk... I'll write down notes from the second talk later... (sacraments)

stuff

so I think I'm sick... and if I am I got it while I was visiting Kat in Iowa... Visiting her was nice, though all we did was work on homework (since I had two tests yesterday)... on the way back from Iowa, as my plane was descending I learned a lesson.. if you feel congested, before you get on a plane take as many decongestants as you can... to make sure you're not congested on the descent... if you are congested on the descent you might have the same pain I discovered monday... thousands of small needles ripping into your sinuses (for me right above my eyes) so painfully you think your sinuses are going to pop from pressure, and tears stream down your face uncontrollably and hopefully mucus starts draining (cause if it doesnt you might actually have your sinuses pop)... I've never had such an acute pain before...

Anyhow... classes this week went well, I think I got A's on my tests, but I'm not sure about my Psych test... I'm almost caught up in Photography, which I should hopefully be on monday... and this weekend I need to catch up on Astronomy also... two papers too right and a take home test to finish.

Youth group is going well... I have to put in my resignation soon... so Lee is starting to take over more responsibility...

I'm going to see a talk from Scott Hanh tonight... not sure the topic... but it promises to be an interesting night.

Other than that... I've got to make like rain, and shower.

Weekend

this past weekend I was staffing an ACTS retreat (a retreat program founded by my pastor, that now is in several states, and many parishes)... the retreat was really nice, quite a bit different from NET retreats I used to staff, quite a bit more lax, but appropriate for the age group. one part is focused on a meal, and it was really nice, it reminded me of how heaven is sometimes described as a banquet... and for the first time, with all the laughing, good humor, and brotherhood, I could finally relate to Heaven that way... it's not the food... but the community.

The rest of it was pretty standard, your basic spiritual attacks, your amazing breakthroughs, everything you expect where the Spirit dwells anew.

A few odd things happend... most of which were several other men telling me I had qualities I haven't really noticed... or didn't think others appreciated/noticed....

and several men who have daughters in the Youth group told me how their youth love it... so much so that one skipped Homecomming just to be at youth group... !!

I always wonder how well I do youth group, and always think someone else could do much better... and always wanting to quit... but on the occaisions that others tell me how their youth love it, I get strengthened...

And considering how hard it is to be a youth minister, with all the spiritual and personal attacks, I can't even imagine how hard it is to be a priest/pastor or even a deacon... so I make the recommendation to everyone reading... PRAY FOR YOUR PASTORS, TELL THEM HOW GREAT A JOB THEY ARE DOING, AND BE OBEDIENT TO THEIR PROPER AUTHORITY!

College

so college next semester is looking very expensive... it's cost will be about 15k, but it will cost over time about 25k due to interest. All for one semester.. and that's assuming that I get the loan that I need which is based off of credit worthiness... which I'm not so "worthy" of ... I need to figure out how much I'll take out in loans, I can take out about 10.5k, which is what they estimate the difference of my grants/scholarships and tuition will be.

Yikes...

I hope things work out... because I really don't want to be in San Antonio any more... I want to get a degree... not just taking useless classes.

Tests

Tests tests tests... two on tuesday... and buches of work/church things to work on this weekend...

so I'll be blogging more later... after the storm.

Study and test tips...

Here are some study and tests tips... I'll try to add more as I remember/rediscover them...
Study tips:

• Study eating something, then eat the same thing while you are testing (starlight mints are reccommended)
• Hybridize to summarize (e.g., Spearmann had a theory of Generalized intelligence, Spearilzed; Thurston had an intelligence test based off of seven factors, Turseven) Just make sure that you are hybridizing relevant information for the type of test.. then study the hybridized term... repeat it over and over, and check to make sure that you remember what it represents. On a multiple choice test, this helps with recognition of the answers... whenever you see Thurston, you'll think Seven (intelligence factors) and vice-versa.
• sleep after you study something really important, or at least take a break, and do something completely different.
  
• Get a good nights rest before the test
  

Test tips:

• Be calm, medium stress... enough to be fast and have adrenaline running, not enough to be terrified... be happy and excited.
• Take MANY MANY practice tests to get used to the rhythm and style.
• Do easy ones first, SKIP ones that require thought. (Circle the question number and write below it the answer your 'gut' told you)
• Mark on your test... underline keywords, cross out definate wrong answers
• circle correct answers and move on.
• after you've answered the easy ones return to the hard ones, you might find that your mind already solved them...
• if you get bogged down, move on, and forget about it. Return later.
  
• mark answers on sheet after you've answered all the questions**WARNING** (this helps prevent mistakes from numbering when you skip a question, and keeps your mind focused on the test and not on transfering the answers, which can cause confusion and distraction, but be careful! make sure you have time to transfer the answers!!!)
• check answers... but be wary of changing your orignal answers... you usually will change them to be wrong.

IA state

So I got accepted to Iowa State the other day! But the reality of it's cost has hit... I'll need 9k in loans every semester... ouch... And this exciting news has got me scrambling to get everything in to them so I can get my Financial Aid, Transfer Credits, etc to work out. (they are transfering in over 100 Credits, and due to my ap scores, I'll start there with 41-46 local credits.)

And on top of that I have a test tomorrow that I've studied for, but could study better if I wasn't thinking about all this stuff... and trying to handle the stress... oh and I have youth group tomorrow, and I have to find a way of picking up t-shrits from the printers... shirts that are a few months overdue and I don't have a car.

*STRESS*
Praise god.
Edward

Disobedience frustrates me...

So last night we had a meeting for the retreat I'm staffing... We have two deacons on staff... one of the deacons and the Retreat leader was informing us of a decision made by our Pastor, who is also the founder of this Texas wide retreat program (there are also some retreats held in alaska and other states). Fr. Pat had said that we will make a very particular change to one of the parts of the retreat... well much selfish questioning came about that basically amounted to "well that doesn't apply to me" at which point the deacon would say "I think Father has made it very clear" and he would say the statement making it clear that there were no exceptions... after a few rounds of attacks against father's mandate, and after the deacon began to be viewed as unauthoritative, I took the floor and began by saying "I'm going to piss alot of you off... but suck it up..." I went on to say that we are men and we need to be virtuous, true, and need to be obedient, disobedience is a mortal sin according to Thomas Aquinas, its breaking one of the ten commandments, that the reason why so many young men loose their faith is because the men they look up to are hypocrites choosing when to and when not to obey... when it is something they desire, and when it is not... (at this point I was getting really impassioned because of the complete injustice that the generations of men who are not virtuous have done to my generation and the one behind me...) I ended by saying, be men of truth, of virtue and love... suck it up and obey.

Then the next person said the now imfamous (to me) phrase from the Charasmatics at my church... we need to pray about it, and see what God is calling each to... and it could be that we obey or disobey.

I hate that philosophy... yes pray, but pray for obedience, and strength to bear your cross... if a rightful autority has given a mandate or command, you must oblige... the philosophy that God would ever call you to disobedience against a just mandate is insane... is it any wonder that I am routinely struggling against this philosophy...

Charasmatics at my church, and various other sources I've been in contact with, all have the same fatal flaw... that they personally recieve messages from God which can trump everything else. (I have met some who believe in proper obedience).

I'm sorry... but that simply is not the case (even in some of the writtings of the founders of the Charasmatic movement) Disobedience to proper authority in the proper realm of their authority is always disobedience to God's plan. And thinking yourself special and above authority reminds me of one once great angel... Lucifer. And we all know that he can come in the garments of a radiant angel, fooling those who are proud, and leading them slowly against God.

I think I'm done... need to study for a psych test on tuesday.

Last night

Youth Night last night was interesting...
We had mass (YAY!) and I think the youth are really begginning to appreciate it... except that in the middle of it I was cussed at and almost hit by one of them, after asking him to stop playing with his cell phone, (he refused, and I reached to confiscate it)... I let him be after that, and he put it away, and at the end of mass he was crying... so I imagine something else is going on in his life, which I'll ask him about next week... He's a good kid...

after mass We had snacks (cheese tray, pepperoni, crackers, chips, salsa, candies) and then I split the group into MS and HS... the MS got to play cards, and hang out (I have alot less MS than I thought!) and the HS I chastised... Last week when I was gone they had been so disrespectful to my assistant that he emailed me and said he was considering quiting... Instead of a direct chastisement... I asked them what I was doing wrong that they chose to disrespect him and other adults so much... and from there I let them talk, and they came to the conclusion that it wasn't what I was doing, but that they needed to do more to be respectful...

Anyhow... as for my live in experience at the monastery, I'm still trying to sort through it... but I wasn't exactly pleased by it... they permitted non-catholics to recieve the Eucharist, and told me not to tell non-catholics that they shouldn't recieve it... the best way I could describe it is by saying that they are JFK (and possibly Kerry) type catholics... the Kennedy's are close friends of most of the monks, and the philosophy of the monks is very accepting and ambiguous... very Bhuddist... much like Merton... the quickest way of describing their philosophy is Catholic Bhuddists...

At times I felt like I was amongst a group of Greek Stoics, who weren't founded upon the rock of Peter, but the couch of comfortability with a facade of aesteticism... they are very very well off... making litterally millions of dollars a year... and they don't need it to support the grounds as they already have a fund that does that... and when I asked them about what the money went too, the vocations director got offended... and then said well we have to pay for 3 squares a day, and then proceeded to mention some other things, and only at the end almost justifyingly, saying oh and we also do almsgiving.

But I ultimately found that I wasn't there for myself so much as for my best friend, and four strangers I met, one from indiana, one "refugee" trying to get back on his feet, and two women on my flight back... they all needed Christ's truth, and were comforted by the love of Christ, and True church teaching as opposed to the misunderstandings they've always been told about both... I'll probably be posting some journal entries I wrote on my retreat... perhaps.

Just got back

So I just got back yesterday night (11pm ish)... and was completely exhausted... didn't go to school today... yesterday when I was leaving the abbey I almost hyperventilated when I realised I had to come back to work and school... last night my pre-emptive hyperventilation proved an ominous sign.

Why must stupid things always aggrivate my anxiety.

Waiting...

Waiting for monday... trying to square away Youth Group for tuesday while I'm gone... wondering what the Abbey will be like... wondering if I am forgetting to do something... wanting to buy new bike stuff for my birthday... waiting until my friends figure out what they want to buy (to save on shipping)... and wanting to do something... and yet nothing at the same time... I cleaned up my rear derailleur, and tried to fix it... wasnt able to fix it, only hopefully "patch" it up... I think It'll ride for some time longer, but I'm still going to be looking into a new rear derailleur... which might actually be really hard to find, considering the age of my bike and the style of derailleur being quite antiquated... what should I pack for the Trappist week? I'm thinking jeans... maybe a pair of shorts... don't know...