The Passion of Jesus Christ. As we approach the holiest week in the Christian calendar, the week of the Lord’s passion, I am thinking a lot about time. I am thinking about what I do and do not want to do with the time that I have, what is both used and wasted, but also how much of my time…
HARA Kenya, Designing Japan: A Future Built on Aesthetics. HARA Kenya is one of the most influential designers working today. A theoretician as well as a practitioner of contemporary design, he is responsible for the success of some of Japan’s most beloved product brands, such as MUJI. In Designing Japan, A Future Built on Aesthetics, Hara sensei explains his belief…
Crisis in the Church. The scandal in the Catholic Church today has shaken the lives of many. If that isn’t bad enough, the crisis may have only gotten started. The gale-force winds only begun to blow. What can be done in the face of such a storm but to hunker down and pray it out? Well, pray, yes. But defense…
Genevieve von Petzinger, The First Signs. Although the full story of human origins may forever remain an enigma, over the last twenty years scientists have been able to uncover new clues as to who we are as a species. Shedding light on when we first became “cognitively modern” has been for archeologist Dr. Genevieve von Petzinger an ice-age journey into…
Maasai People of East Africa, The Maasai Creed. The Maasai Creed is one of the most beautiful expressions of Christian faith ever written. It is a testament to the fact that the message of Christianity need not remain trapped within the Greek and Latin forms which dominate the religion. Simple, yet elegant, it is rich in images memorable for their delicate…
Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food. The spirituality of food is undoubtedly older than organized religion. Its bounty means sustenance and survival. Its scarcity, death. As a physiological need, Abraham Maslow theorized that food is foundational to human motivation. To secure fertile lands and rich hunting grounds, blood has been shed over millennia in war. And yet there is no…
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation. “Every moment and every event of every person’s life on earth plants something in his or her soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of invisible and visible winged seeds, so the stream of time brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of human…
Steven Pressfield, The War of Art. From the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance and Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield writes of more than just the secrets to artistic success in The War of Art, and its sequel, Turning Pro. A veterans’s toolbox or a tricks-of-the-trade pass from a master is expected. Identifying the enemy within however is this author’s candid wisdom for…
Dietrich von Hildebrand, Transformation in Christ. Now and then one comes across a book which though unexpected seems familiar at the same time. That’s how I feel about Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Transformation in Christ. It’s fashionable to talk about inclusivity, about plurality, and about multicultural societies. Who doesn’t want to be welcoming towards others? Who isn’t enriched, it would seem,…
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica. In part 1, I wrote of Aristotle’s understanding of happiness as explained by classicist Edith Hall of King’s College, London. In doing so, I hinted at the enduring efforts of Thomas Aquinas in using Aristotelian philosophy as a framework for Christian theology. Whereas Aristotle believed happiness as being human action directed towards good ends, Aquinas taught…