The Life of Virtue

Several great spiritual masters (including St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis de Sales) direct disciples of Jesus to begin their daily prayer exercises with adoration of God.  This direction is simple enough to obey and implement after a certain amount of practice.  It seems, however, that disciples easily forget to adore the Lord once a set of difficult circumstances arises, or if they simply do not feel like following the instruction on any given day. This has been the case in my life during recent days.  Extended travel, fatigue, and rowdy, ornery children have unsettled the usual routine.  On my own first assessment, adoration seems quite impossible.  So does joy, which is supposed to be a wonderful fruit of a robust spiritual life.  In the eyes of a witness, the demeanor that I carry during such periods very well might seem contradictory to the adoration and joy to which I call others through my work and writing.  That's right, ministers and...

"For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator."  So states the fifth verse of the thirteenth chapter of the book of Wisdom in the Old Testament.  The author of this sentence, and the sentences that precede it in the chapter, wants to remind his audience that the grandeur of natural creation is supposed to elicit thoughts and awareness of the One who has created.  That grandeur, however, ought not to be deified.  How much better is the Lord, he exclaims, "the author of beauty" ( Wisdom 13:3 )! Blowing Rock, NC Photo Credit: Wife Family and I were blessed to experience this for ourselves during the past weekend.  We took a day-long pilgrimage to a nearby mountain range to gaze upon ancient and rugged peaks, see autumn foliage that is perhaps unparalleled on earth, and share each other's company.  There is no doubt in my mind that we were successful on all three accounts.  And, there is ...

In my most recent post, I mentioned that my life includes any number of things that continue to cause anxiety for me on a regular basis.  In the ensuing two weeks, my Lord has seen fit to provide wonderful and freeing perspective, particularly through a spiritual direction session and through the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.  Therefore, this post is something of a rebuttal to that part of the previous post by way of this new and fresh (at least for me) perspective. The modern world in which we live celebrates wealth without any inhibition.  The idea is that everyone has an inalienable right to accumulate dollars and possessions without limit or end.  Efforts to eradicate economic poverty are, at base, attempts to bring more people into this ever-increasing cycle of production and profit.  The world scoffs at poverty, and the prevailing culture proposes a glamorous solution, but one that is, ultimately, bereft of real value. Throug...