tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post9006999913844797019..comments2024-03-27T02:55:10.109-07:00Comments on Irish Papist: What's New About the New Testament?Maolsheachlannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-91945230058848435702012-10-28T11:24:03.591-07:002012-10-28T11:24:03.591-07:00I'm not sure the inhabitants of Christendom we...I'm not sure the inhabitants of Christendom were luckier than us. Sometimes I do long for a Christian society, but at the same time, going against the tide of secularism has some benefits, at least in my mind. First of all, I am a contrarian by nature and I take a certain glee in being on the unpopular side. Secondly, nobody can accuse a Christian in the Western society of our age of having a purely unthinking or automatic fate, since he or she is constantly being challenged. Thirdly, Christ's Beatitudes seem to tell us that it is more blessed for our faith to be uphill work.<br /><br />I agree with you about one's twenties. I remember being depressed for most of it and I find my thirties a blessed relief. If I could go back, it would probably be to the age of fifteen-- not because it was idyllic, but because I would like to do everything differently. All the same I can't identify with Jack Black's words at all. When I was a boy, my vision of my future was utterly bleak. I expected to be homeless and unemployed. I guess I missed out on the natural exuberance of youth.<br /><br />Thank you so much for your kind words, by the way.Maolsheachlannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-18040581053985214322012-10-27T00:33:10.484-07:002012-10-27T00:33:10.484-07:00That's very good. All that I can really add is...That's very good. All that I can really add is a rather lame "I agree". This is something that I would have been very pleased to have written myself were it possible.<br /><br />I will however say that this mood that you've described so well is something that I think most people feel particularly when they hit their 30s. The body and the various biological imperatives finally loosen their grip on the mind and let the person see things with clear, cold eyes. The simple cheap, thrills and instant gratifications don't evoke the same response any more. People realize that whatever sort of person they are at this point is probably what they're going to be. Jazz music suddenly begins to sound really good.. Jack Black summed it up to an extent, “When I was a kid, I thought I was the strongest man in the world. Then, the fastest runner and then the smartest person in the world. One by one my delusions got shut down. Now I just see myself as the lamest guy in the world.” <br />For me personally, everything about this phase of my life (I'm about to turn 35) has been a massive relief. When someone tells me they wish that they were 21 again, all that I can do is stare incredulously. <br /><br />Speaking of Johnson, I remember a passage from his biographer stating something to the effect that his faith lit the way for him but gave him no warmth or comfort. This is something that I suspect many Catholics are familiar with in modern times. I go to mass on Sundays, but for the rest of the week I'm a secular man walking through a secular society. I don't think that my ancestors knew how good they had it.<br /><br />If I remember correctly that story about the eastern monarch was in Herodotus as well, which I guess is where Lincoln got it from.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10762698451872225333noreply@blogger.com