Ben Eastman > Recent Status Updates

"Only the body and its desires cause war, civil discord and battles, for all wars are due to the desire to acquire wealth, and it is the body and the care of it, to which we are enslaved, which compel us to acquire wealth, and all this makes us too busy to practice philosophy."

Who shall measure the range of a child's thoughts? His continual questions about God, his speculations about 'Jesus,' are they no more than idle curiosity or are they symptoms of a God-hunger with which we are all born, and is a child able to comprehend as much of the infinite and the unseen as are his self-complacent elders?

Just finished reading the chapter with Father Christmas to my daughter and she is so excited. She's very upset that Mr. Tumnus didn't get a Christmas present because he's a statue, but hopefully he will get one next year.

What if I told you that the author who gave us Mary Poppins wrote her own version of Sleeping Beauty.
It's so interesting. The Father of the Princess (A Sultan in this tale) is very much to blame for all that befalls, his materialism and sinfulness directly lead to the fairy cursing his daughter.

It's a very good take on the story. Highly recommend.

"Reason is present in the infant as truly as imagination. As soon as he can speak he lets us know that he has pondered the 'cause why' of things and perplexes us with a thousand questions. His 'why?' is ceaseless."


Can confirm, living through a ceaseless why of my own right now.

"The arts were wont to draw from philosophy, as from a wise mistress, sound judgement and right method ... When philosophy stood stainless in honor and wise in judgement, then, as facts and constant experience showed, the liberal arts flourished as never before or since; but, neglected and almost blotted out, they lay prone, since philosophy began to lean to error and join hands with folly."

"But the chief and special glory of Thomas, one which he has shared with none of the Catholic Doctors, is that the Fathers of Trent made it part of the order of the conclave to lay upon the altar, together with sacred Scripture and the decrees of the supreme Pontiffs, the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, whence to seek counsel, reason, and inspiration."


That's a fun fact.

"As the enemies of the Catholic name, when about to attack religion, are in the habit of borrowing their weapons from the arguments of philosophers, so the defenders of sacred science draw many arguments from the store of philosophy which may serve to uphold revealed dogmas."

"False conclusions concerning divine and human things, which originated in the schools of philosophy, have now crept into all the orders of the State, and have been accepted by the common consent of the masses."

"I do not dare to use the word, love. It is a word that disguises our selfish pursuit of relief from loneliness. I do not trust my own heart."

I love it when books reference other books. Fr. Elijah takes a load off and reads Manzoni's I Promessi Sposi - The Betrothed. Plus, a very meta joke as an added treat.
"At the end of the tale, the disastrous events were restored to divine order, and there was even the added bonus of a spectacular conversion. It seemed a little contrived."

Chapters 11 and 12 are phenomenal. A story within a story, with many dimensions. It was a powerful defense of God, a refutation of the problem of evil, a powerful conversion, and oh man what a twist.
O'Brien has a wonderful gift of describing Spiritual Warfare in a way that doesn't feel fake or forced. It's beautiful. Wow.

St Teresa's description of the relationship between Vocal, Mental, and Contemplative prayer has been so helpful as I strive to grow in my prayer life. She stresses that Vocal Prayer, done properly, should lead to some level of Mental prayer as we meditate on the words and allow the Holy Spirit to inspire our imagination.
Many very helpful pieces, I have found this book much easier to relate to than Interior Castle.

Eeyore's birthday is probably my favorite story so far. Absolutely Adorable, and a good story for children to learn to be grateful for any gift they are given.

Also key lore unlocked: Eeyore's favorite color is red.

"You just let the machines get on with the adding up and we'll take care of the eternal verities, thank you very much... The Quest for Ultimate Truth is quite clearly the inalienable prerogative of your working thinkers. Any bloody machine goes and actually finds it and we're straight out of a job, aren't we?"

Spooky how applicable this is 50 years later.

Very interesting first section of Chapter 4 describing the difference between the traditional description of the path to holiness and the modern stuff. As expected, the traditional is far superior.

The symbolism is great in these later chapters- the King has been absent, and in his stead evil has flourished. Calls to repent by those who are virtuous are rejected and laughed at.

The similarities in this kingdom and that of Theoden in LotR are so striking. An Eowyn character, a Wormtongue, etc. Really interesting to read what Tolkien probably read as inspiration!

The first three chapters talk about the three conversions, but never explicitly say "the first conversion is x" which is a little frustrating. It is still an interesting read so far with much to think about regarding the spiritual life.

Trying to replace my YouTube addiction with audiobooks for Lent. The Lamppost Listener is reading this book right now, so decided to pick it up. Chapters 1-3 were delightful and intriguing. Definitely going to continue the story, and I am going to keep my eyes out for an affordable and pretty set to read to my daughter someday.

Chapter 1 was delightful and interesting to read. JPII uses the Gospel story of the Rich Young Man to examine the moral life. Chapter 2 on the other hand is such a slog. Very technical moral terminology which just does not interest me much. Hopefully Ch 3 is more like 1 than 2...

Using the tale of the Rich Young Man's encounter with Jesus as a basis for talking about the Spiritual life was so profound. I will definitely be bringing it to prayer again and again.

The First Lay of Gugemar is a fairy story about a knight who is injured and caused by the deer who he shot to seek love or else never heal his wound. A magic ship takes him to a distant land, where a beautiful queen has been imprisoned by her husband. It was a little troubling that the married lady would give her heart away, but the story was vague enough in the details that I can presume at least some virtue.

"I am not sure if you properly understand as yet how much we owe to the Lord for bringing us to a place where we are so free from business matters, occasions of sin, and the society of worldly people... Do you think, my daughters, that it is an easy matter to have to ... live as worldly men do, and yet inwardly to be strangers to the world, ... like persons who are in exile- to be, in short, not men but angels?"

6 chapters in.
I'm not entirely sure why St. Teresa of Avila is so widely read. Don't get me wrong, she's brilliant and extremely holy. But she is writing specifically for the holiness of Carmelite Nuns, who live radical lives of poverty and prayer. Most of what she says I am really struggling to apply to my own situation as a Husband and Father.

"After miracles ye have passed to circumcision, after having apprehended the truth ye have fallen back to types, after gazing on the sun ye seek a candle, after having strong meat ye run for milk."

Imagine hearing this as part of a homily and calling people out on their sins. You had a greater good and you have settled for the imitation. Beautiful writing.

Chapter 2 has one of the most interesting interpretations of a Biblical text that I think I've yet encountered. Paul describes the events surrounding the Council of Jerusalem, and then a subsequent encounter with Peter at Antioch where he rebukes Peter and accuses him of hypocrisy. J Chrys. interprets this whole section as a setup, that Peter acted this way intentionally to give Paul an opening to cut down opposition