not of this world

first draft of an image of Magdalene at the feet of Christ i’ve commissioned Lisa T. to draw for me : )

nathanlivefromthehighbrow.mp3

He insisted however that he didn’t want to get rid of prostitution entirely, since it is part of the area’s history and a major tourist draw for the city.

sure hope they do it.

if they don’t, i’ll have to seriously reconsider whether my candidate has some. you.know.whats.

(until NBC yanks it off youtube)

God’s rescue of them implicates you, obligates you, for you, by hearing this story and responding affirmatively, become Israel, and it was Israel whom He rescued. Telling the story brings it alive. The historical prologue brings the past to bear pointedly on the present. In the words of the rabbinic Passover liturgy (Haddadah), “Each man is obligated to see himself as if he came out of Egypt.”

It is significant for our understanding of the nature of the religion of Israel among the religions of the world that meaning for her is derived not from introspection, but from a consideration of the public testimony to God. The present generation makes history their story, but it is first history. They do not determine who they are by looking within, by plumbing the depths of the individual soul, by seeking a mystical light in the innermost reaches of the self. Rather, the direction is the opposite. What is public is made private. History is not only rendered contemporary; it is internalized. One’s people’s history becomes one’s personal history. One looks out from the self to find out who one is meant to be. One does not discover one’s identity, and one certainly does not forge it oneself. He appropriates an identity that is a matter of public knowledge. Israel affirms the given.

-from Sinai & Zion: An Entry Into the Jewish Bible, Levenson, emphasis his

thunderheads blush dawn
dove encrusted skies
awake the tongue

Happiness belongs to man in respect of his intellect: and, therefore, since the intellect remains, it can have Happiness.

Thus the teeth of an Ethiopian, in respect of which he is said to be white, can retain their whiteness, even after extraction.

Ia IIae, Q4, a5, ad3 (dealing with the question of the possibility of happiness for the separated soul)

every once in awhile Thomas’ examples make me hear Simone’s voice in my head going “errr?” but the more i considered it, i guess it is a good example, maybe came across as less odd in the 13th century… there is always McInerny’s charming line that

the art of teaching consists of tactful condescension…

want to share this week’s Ultimate Issue Hour, on Faith & Doubt - it’s a great hour in itself, but also because our very own Soopermexican calls in and makes an excellent point, advertises for TAC, and charms the pants off dear Dennis Prager, all with impeccable smoothness. His call is about 20 minutes in…

get it?