Let every man and woman among us, whether meeting together at church, or remaining at home, call upon God with much earnestness, and He will doubtless accede to these petitions. Whence does this appear evident? Because He is exceedingly desirous, that we should always take refuge in Him, and in everything make our requests unto Him; and do nothing and speak nothing without Him. For men, when we trouble them repeatedly concerning our affairs, become slothful and evasive, and conduct themselves unpleasantly towards us; but with God it is quite the reverse. Not when we apply to him continually respecting our affairs, but when we fail to do so, then is he especially displeased. Hear at least what He reproves the Jews for, when He says, “Ye have taken counsel, but not of Me, and made treaties, but not by My Spirit.” For this is the custom of those who love; they desire that all the concerns of their beloved should be accomplished by means of themselves; and that they should neither do anything, nor say anything, without them…Let us not then be slow to take refuge in Him continually; and whatever be the evil, it will in any case find its appropriate solution.
Chrysostom
Homilies on the Statues
- In Commonweal, novelist and professor Liam Callanan writes about The Question and belief in the university context: “[T]oo often, I find, we transmit to our students the notion that healthy skepticism isn’t just a trait of scholarly inquiry, but its sum. Forget God: our students don’t believe. To have faith in something-Jesus, the Surgeon General (cigarettes are back, in a big way), or the president (they liked him better as a candidate, now he’s just another politician)-is to be marked as a dupe. Credulity is frailty.”
- Gregory Pullum argues that Strunk & White is to blame for “50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice.” Well, it’s not that harmful — but Pullum is certainly passionate about it.
- The controversies over philanthropy may seem complex at first, but in reality, they come down to a question that is quite simple: how much should philanthropy be directed by political correctness? The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy has called for at least 50 percent of a foundation’s grant dollars go to the poor and disadvantaged — an idea that sounds well and good, until you realize what this does to museums, conservation, medical research, and other fields.
- Micah Mattix, The City’s Reviews Editor, has written several pieces over the last month for other outlets. It is well worth reading his essays on poetry and materialism and The Peculiar Life of Sundays.
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