Austin Hall Library

Reading to Reconcile

I admit to being puzzled at people who refuse to learn from those with whom they disagree. Since refusal to learn goes hand-in-hand with refusal to engage, these people reject ideas they have not even heard from their sources. Thus, they reject Aristotle's (or another such thinker's) thought, not because they have read, contemplated, reflected, understood, and been unpersuaded. Rather, they reject it because, having heard negative references, they presume it to be without value and, thus, do not engage his thought at all.

A.G. Sertillanges wrote that it is an essential condition for profiting by our reading that we "tend always to reconcile our authors instead of setting one against another." His point was not that critical analysis has no place, particularly in an academic context. But, when the aim is formation of the intellect, or personal profit from reading and study, a critical spirit is a hindrance to learning. 

As Sertillanges notes, in such situations, it is not the thoughts, but the truths, that interest us. If truth is a whole (and it is), it is not the disagreements we have with thinkers that should occupy us; it is the agreement any thinker (writer) has with reality that is our search. As Sertillanges says, "the fruitful research is to look for points of contact."

So, it is quite possible that although an Aristotelian, one may lean toward Plato in some things, just as it is possible that, without being an Augustinian, a Thomist might feed his mind constantly on the truths found in Augustine. One might even see Descartes as a corrupter of epistemology (as I do), and yet profit from some aspects of truth found in his writings (as I have).

The person who wants to acquire from authors, not fodder for derision, but truth and reflection, must bring to his reading a spirit of conciliation as well as a grasp of the universal.  

Reading: The Key to Learning

A.G. Sertillanges wrote: "Now reading is the universal means of learning, and it is the proximate or remote preparation for every kind of production" . . . "It is therefore a primordial necessity for the man of study to know how to read and to utilize his reading, and would to heaven that people were not habitually oblivious of the fact!". 

Sertillanges' rules for reading were:

1.    Read little. What he means by this is that a person must be selective when approaching the "deluge of writing" that floods the market. It is a caution against "the uncontrolled habit, the poisoning of the mind by excess of mental food, the laziness in disguise which prefers easy familiarity with others' thought to personal effort."

2.    Read intelligently, not passionately. Reading should be directed and ordered by reason, and accompanied by reflection and concentration, not an uncontrolled delight in an escape from self. Limit the "less solid and serious kind of reading". Beware of novels and newspapers. "[N]ever read when you can reflect; read only, except in moments of recreation, what concerns the purpose you are pursuing; and read little, so as not to eat up your interior silence."

3.    Choose your books. Don't fall prey to catchy titles and flashy advertising. Select your advisers carefully and go straight to the books that "satisfy your thirst." "Associate only with first-rate thinkers"--in your reading. Try to select books that address your subjects first hand; avoid books that just repeat ideas better addressed elsewhere. "The old stock or rather the permanent stock of ideas is best. . . ." Avoid novelty; "love the eternal books that express eternal truths."

Sertillanges recommends the careful choice of an "intellectual father" or guide (e.g., St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas) and, particularly at the early stage of formation, believe him rather than criticize. And he cautions that "[t]he choice of an intellectual father is always a serious thing." "Contact with genius is one of the choice graces that God grants to humble thinkers. . . ." 

Happy Fourth of July Reading

For those who want to avoid the heat and yet quietly celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, I recommend some undisturbed hours with Russell Kirk's The Roots of American Order.

Written on the eve of America's bicentenary, this stimulating book describes the foundational beliefs that have "nurtured the order of the soul and the order of the commonwealth of the United States."

Kirk begins with the Hebrew prophets and works his way through all of the most powerful influences on American society, and prefaces it all with these words: "Two centuries after the founding of the new nation called the United States of America, we need to renew our understanding of the beliefs and the laws which give form to American society. Our own society, like that of any other people, is held together by what is called an 'order'. The character of that order is the subject of this book. What is 'order'?"

Russell Kirk is a distinguished, but under appreciated, thinker and writer on the Western tradition, as well as the model of true "conservative" thought within that tradition.

Cows Are Not Capable of Boredom

My work took me to Austin, Texas, earlier this week--a drive I always enjoy because the route takes me through country dotted by small farms and mid-sized cattle ranches. Along the way, various breeds of cattle languish in the hot Texas sun by water holes and beneath live oak trees. Whatever their circumstances, whatever the weather, the cows don't seem to mind. They are content.

On my trip to Austin I was reminded that human beings alone are capable of boredom. Cows may look bored, but they are not. That's what Thomas Dubay says in his book Faith and Certitude: Can We Be Sure of the Things That Matter Most To Us? In the opening chapter of this book, Dubay speaks about "existential boredom" as "an apathy about life itself", and points out that, while it may be common, it is not preprogrammed into our genes. He described such persons in the following words: "When a person is existentially bored, he may experience occasional pleasures, but for the most part his life is dreary, uninteresting, loveless. To him it also appears useless. Though he may retain some capacity for sense pleasures, he is incapable of the thrill of joy. He does not respond to reality. Splendid scenery, beautiful music, intellectual keenness, a sparkling personality all leave him untouched and unmoved. He may know the dictionary definition of love, but he has no experience of it. He is a stranger to enthusiasm, and he feels both rootless and restless."

Why are there seemingly so many such people in the world today? And what causes this state of existence? When our children were small and would exclaim, "I'm bored", we would quickly reply: "You are bored because you are boring. Go do something fun or interesting." It seemed intuitively like the right response at the time and, in part, it was true. As Dubay notes, there are probably several reasons for modern existential boredom--the cultural environment, interpersonal relations--but, most important is a person's use of freedom. Boredom has to do with "the quality of the person, not the state of the world."

In the end, however, humans are different from cows because they can experience an emptiness that cows cannot. Cows can be content with "cowness". But, human beings can never be ultimately content with the limitations of "humanness". We have inside us an "empty ache", as Dubay terms it, that cannot be completely filled in this material existence. That is "precisely the reason that every adult either is in hot pursuit of the One or is frantically seeking the many. Either we have God who does fill or we are endlessly pursuing things which do not."

Science and Religion

I have picked up several books lately that reference the scientific method and its relation to religion. My interest in science, and my library, generally move in the direction of the philosophy of science and the history of science. So, I am quite limited in the hard scientific disciplines. But, I do know enough to know that real science is no threat to religion. What passes for real science these days--popularized science--and scientism are indeed a threat to people who are easily taken in, but people of sound faith have nothing to fear from real science.

I agree with C.S. Lewis, that it is scientific materialism--the arbitrary rejection of all but natural causes and laws, and the belief that anything immaterial cannot be known--that is the real threat to religion, and all of humanity. In reality, scientific materialism is not real science at all. It is an approach to the scientific process that operates on the working assumption of philosophical naturalism. Naturalism is a philosophical view that all phenomena are explained only in terms of natural causes and laws. It arises from the metaphysical view that nature is all there is. 

The foundation for scientific materialism is philosophy, and real science has no business engaging in philosophical inquiry, or assuming a philosophical position to support its approach to observable phenomena. Science can offer nothing to the inquiry of what may lie behind the things that science observes in the universe. Nor can it offer any help in answering questions about the meaning of the universe, or its purpose. Richard Dawkins, in his River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life, purports to draw hard conclusions about questions well outside his expertise and the domain of science when he states: "The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference." Such questions of design in the context of purpose and meaning are not the domain of science; they are the domain of philosophy and theology.

Perhaps some people of faith have displayed ignorance when challenging the legitimate discoveries of science, but today the real problem is to get the scientists to stick with science and leave the philosophizing and theologizing to the people who are suited for it and can handle it with some measure of objectivity.

Plowing in Hope

Over the years, having been introduced to the fine works of the "Southern Agrarians", Richard M. Weaver, Wendell Berry, Victor Hanson, and others, I have arrived at a greater appreciation of the connection between working the land with one's own hands and the health of body and soul.

But, in addition to the writings of confirmed agrarians, the Christian faith has a long tradition of thoughtful scholarship on this very subject. A comment to the previous post ("Did I Accomplish Anything Significant Today"), by "Eric", triggered my memory in this regard. Eric links to a reflection he wrote not long ago that expresses ideas similar to my own in the previous post. Eric's post is on a site by the name of Sensus Divinitatis Publishing, with which I was perviously unfamiliar, but the Latin phrase sensus divinitatis--"sense of divinity"--refers to a deep-seated moral awareness or sense of God. The Protestant John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, called it "natural instinct, an awareness of divinity", and the Catholic St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, referred to it as "a law" that the Creator has "written on the tablets of the heart". 

I recommend reading Eric's thoughtful reflection, not because it is similar to my own post, but because he touches briefly on a modern expression of Protestant thought on human culture and work. He mentions David Hegeman's Plowing in Hope:Towards a Biblical Theology of Culture, which I read some time ago. While I do recall differing with a few of Hegeman's conclusions (e.g, his rejection of the monastic ideal of celibacy reflects a common misunderstanding), I thought his work was the best modern expression of Protestant thought I had read on this subject (Henry Van Til's The Calvinistic Concept of Culture is also an insightful modern contribution from the Protestant Reformed tradition). Hegeman's Plowing in Hope is a significant contribution to the subject faithful to the tradition of John Calvin, Groen van Prinsterer, Abraham Kuyper, and others of the Reformed tradition. 

Kuyper (a Dutch philosopher, theologian, and politician) and Pope Leo XIII were contemporaries and both approached subjects like labor, poverty, wealth, class, and the state as fundamentally theological issues. Kuyper was strongly influenced by a German Catholic philosopher by the name of Franz Xaver von Baader, who emphasized that social power is not exercised by the individual human person, nor by an aggregate of individuals, but rather when humans form themselves into social organizations like family, church, or political groups. Kuyper went on to make a profound impact in the Netherlands and beyond (particularly on the American Founding Fathers) by formulating the concept of "sphere sovereignty", which advanced the idea that every social institution is "sovereign in its own sphere". At about the same time, Leo XIII was concretizing the similar Catholic concept known as "subsidiarity" (in his famous encyclical Rerum Novarum).

While the Catholic and Calvinistic traditions do not lead to the same socio-political conclusions, both do lead to the conclusion that the concept of culture is rooted in theological considerations. Man, created in the image of God, is mandated to forge his place in the world by the work of his own mind and hands, in conformity to the law "written on his heart". And the result is "culture". Man needs to create gardens out of jungles, because by doing so he fulfills, in part, his cultural mandate and witnesses, in part, to what it means to be human. We plow in hope that one day the creation we work with our minds and hands, though now blemished and overrun with thistles--like our souls, will once again be a garden.

Did I Accomplish Anything Significant Today?

I have worked with my mind my entire career. It is what I had at hand and I have enjoyed it. But, I cannot build my own furniture, overhaul my tractor's engine, or do the electrical wiring in my storage building. In short, I have limited manual competence, and I regret that fact.

Matthew B. Crawford, in his intriguing Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, examines what we may have lost by failing to work with our hands. I, for one, think he has a point. There was a time when the intellectual life was not inconsistent with manual competence, and even active craftsmanship.

Crawford, a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Chicago who runs a motorcycle repair shop, laments the fact that an entire generation of American "thinkers" cannot do anything. And, he sees this as a threat to American economic development. It is a fascinating thesis given the exaltation of formal education so prevalent today.

As for me, I think there is an argument to be made that working with one's hands is good for the mind and the soul. I don't have much in the way of manual competence, but I spend hours thinking about the best use of a problematical tract of land unfit for pasture or crop due to topography and the destructive effects of years of topsoil erosion. On occasion, when I should be thinking of statutes and caselaw, my mind wanders to how I might restore the exhausted and scarred hillside in the back meadow with my own hands. Do I remove more trees and plant grass, or do I give up on grass, make a trip to the quarry for rocks and "go primitive" on the landscape? I vacillate, but one's vision of one's place--and the desire to make something with one's hands--is fundamental and primal.

Integrity: It's Not What it Once Was

Mankind lost not only the supernatural gift of sanctifying grace in the fall. Man lost his preternatural gifts as well. His knowledge was darkened; he was no longer immune to suffering and death, but worst of all, he lost integrity (the subordination of his lower powers to the higher). When Adam rejected subordination of his life to God, he lost the subordination of his desires to his reason. Man was no longer a wholly integrated human being.

While the redemptive work of Christ restores man's supernatural gifts, it does not restore man's preternatural gifts. He still suffers and dies; he still lacks harmony between his reason and his desires. That's what the Apostle Paul refers to in Romans 7:14-25--the internal "civil war" in the redeemed human being.

Little is clearly said these days about this devastating loss of integrity and the profound struggle that goes on in man due to the weakness of his flesh. Failures in integrating reason and desires are most often explained only in terms of cold calculation and diabolical art. No doubt that exists, but what of human weakness?

Oddly enough, I have found this subject best addressed these days in the work of good Catholic fiction--through the pens of Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Graham Greene, Cormac McCarthy, J.F. Powers, and others like them (E.g., here).

"Who knows what goes on in a single human heart?" That's the question voiced by Father Rank in Graham Greene's heartrending novel, The Heart of the Matter. Father Rank's uncertainty notwithstanding, the common plight of man is discernible. It is no further away than the recesses of our uneasy minds. As a consequence of the fall, a certain break opened up between reason and desire. It is painful to watch a human being ground down by the constant assault of the higher powers by the lower. But, it is a poignant reminder of what we have lost this side of heaven, a dramatic warning of consequences that await those who do not mortify the flesh in this life, and a summons to tenderness toward the hopelessly and culpably weak. But, most of all, it is evocative of the grace so desperately needed by any human being who wants to live at peace with himself.

Christopher Dawson: A Guide to Restating the Obvious

Christopher Dawson, in Christianity and the New Age, insightfully notes: “For centuries a civilization will follow the same path, worshipping the same gods, cherishing the same ideals, acknowledging the same moral and intellectual standards. And then all at once a change will come, the springs of the old life run dry, and men suddenly awake to a new world, in which the ruling principles of the former age seem to lose their validity and to become inapplicable or meaningless.”

Dawson observed that this occurred during the time of the Roman Empire, “when the ancient world, which had lived for centuries on the inherited capital of the Hellenistic culture, seemed suddenly to come to the end of its resources and to realize its need of something entirely new.”

It happened most recently when the old capital of the modern era was exhausted in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but, unfortunately, when the modern age ended, there was nothing waiting to take its place. Referred to by cultural observers as the postmodern period, our current age is rooted in skepticism and void of any unifying principles, except, perhaps, an unquestioned faith in man. Gene E. Veith, Jr. has remarked, “Postmodernism assumes that there is no objective truth, that moral values are relative, and that reality is socially constructed by a host of diverse communities.”

 

In the absence of unifying first principles, one is at a loss to effectively communicate with those who embrace the reigning plausibility structures. Perhaps, as George Orwell observed, “We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”  

 

I have found the the works of Christopher Dawson to be among the most helpful in the formation or clarification of the obvious. Not long ago, I read a very fine intellectual biography on Dawson by Bradley J. Birzer, titled, Sanctifying the World: The Augustinian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson. It is a great place to begin an appreciation for the work produced by this extraordinary mind. 

Christianity and the Classical Tradition

If there had been no Judeo-Christian worldview, the barbarians would still have invaded the classical world and sacked the City of Rome. Everything that world achieved could have been swept away by the barbarian hordes—but it was not. The fact that it was not—that, instead, many of its greatest achievements were preserved for later generations—was because the great Christian thinkers of the first four centuries had developed a way of thinking that could safeguard what was priceless in the classical tradition.

 

Read Charles N. Cochrane's Christianity and Classical Culture: A Study of Thought and Action from Augustus to Augustine.

What it Means to be an Educated Human Being

After a great Father's Day luncheon, I spent the afternoon with Richard M. Gamble's The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What it Means to be an Educated Human Being, and I recommend it for anyone interested in the intellectual life and the right ordering of the human soul.

Gamble, a Professor of History and Political Science at Hillsdale College, is the editor of this anthology of readings about the goals, conditions, and ultimate value of true education. The entries are short, insightful, and written by many of the greatest thinkers on education for thousands of years (Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Hugh of St. Victor, John Henry Newman, T.S. Eliot, et al.). If one is interested in the subject matter, but doesn't have a classical education and countless hours to read original sources, this book is an excellent aid to deeper thinking about true education.

A Requiem for Honest Liars

I awoke this morning thinking about yesterday--a day I spent in court. And, the images evoked by my memory were more akin to the famous Star Wars bar scene than they were to any hallowed halls of justice. When I go to court these days, the planets often do not seem to align for me for days thereafter. And, since I am in court every week, one might reasonably argue that I appear confused most of my waking hours.

Fortunately, many of the people I deal with in court are just liars. Nothing fancy, no hiding behind philosophical pretense, no epistemological angst. They're not self-deceived; they don't believe what they say; they know the truth; they just don't want to tell it. At least a man can respect that kind of prevarication.

But, unfortunately, the day of the honest liar is fading. He is being replaced by the person who distorts the nature of truth and then proceeds to believe his own distortion. Believing, for example, that truth is what one wants it to be, it then is only logical to think that when one wants to believe something, it must be the truth.

Notwithstanding Pilate's seeming confusion, the question of "what is truth" is not a difficult question to answer. When we know something, what we know is the truth about it. As Aristotle pointed out, we have truth in our mind if we think that that which is, actually is; or that which is not, is not. We have falsity in our mind if we think that that which is, is not; or that which is not, actually is. Consequently, to say "is" when one thinks "is not", or to say "is not" when one thinks "is"--is to tell a lie. Simply put, truth is the correspondence between the mind and reality.

In conflict with this correspondence view of the nature of truth is the idea that truth depends on the views of persons or cultures, not upon whether what one believes corresponds to objective reality. All that is necessary for something to be true in this view is that a person or culture believe it so. Also in conflict with the correspondence view is the idea that something is true if it "works" for a particular person or group of persons. Thus, something can be true for me if it benefits me, but false for another person, for whom it is without benefit.  

I admit to being somewhat gloomy at the prospect that there will one day soon be no more honest liars. Only the self-deceived will be left--those for whom the nature of truth is not the correspondence of the mind with reality, but only the function of individual preferences. I understand the former--they lie because they are human and weaker than they ought to be, and want to be. The latter, however, hold their human nature in contempt and do not speak the truth because they have lost touch with what is.

Books That Clear Fog From the Soul

There is a great deal of discussion about cognitive dysfunction (also known as "brain fog") these days--experiences of mental confusion or lack of mental clarity. It is called "fog" because it feels like a cloud that reduces visibility or clarity.

The result of any number of factors, one underrated possibility is the condition of one's soul. Plato said, "A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways--by a change from light to darkness, or from darkness to light; and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul."

When confusion exists in the soul, the following books can help to clear the fog:

The Everlasting Man (by G.K. Chesterton) The soul must be touched, provoked, engaged before fog begins to lift. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man remains a great platform from which to provoke thought about the uniqueness of humans and to challenge those who embrace a materialist worldview (most moderns). This is the book C.S. Lewis credited with "baptising" his intellect, and the book he called the "best popular apologetic I know". Avoid the recent Wilder Publications edition (pictured in this link). It is poorly edited.

Orthodoxy (by G.K. Chesterton) Written by "The Apostle of Common Sense", this book is an excellent place to start to address the questions of modernity and faith. This entertaining and enchanting book is for anyone who has, or has ever had, an ounce of foggy skepticism in them.

On the Incarnation: De Incarnatione Verbi De (by St. Athanasius) This fourth century masterpiece (make sure to acquire the translation with C.S. Lewis' Introduction) cogently addresses the foundational and stunning truth that God came to earth in human flesh. Many foggy ideas about God and man can be made clear from this starting point.

Mere Christianity (by C.S. Lewis) A simple and popular defense of traditional theism (in Christian form), logically presented and beautifully expressed. Lewis, a Protestant (Anglican), and one of the great modern thinkers and communicators, succeeded in presenting a clear exposition of revealed truth common to, and profitable for, all faithful Christians. This book is not a technical and exhaustive treatment of any subject, but it is a popularly written book that has proven an effective fog-lifter for scores of confused people for decades.

Theology for Beginners (by F.J. Sheed) This is perhaps the best introductory book on Catholic theology in print. Simply and clearly written by a Catholic street evangelist familiar with every question and challenge to Catholic teaching, it is a clarifying delight to read. It is valuable, and perhaps enlightening, for Protestants and other people of good will to read as well. 

Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment (by Fr. Thomas Dubay) A deeply insightful look at very practical subjects--prayer and discernment, and the danger of self-deception.

This Tremendous Lover (by M. Eugene Boylan) A spiritual classic that will deepen faith and provide practical guidance on living a devout Christian life. Written by a Trappist monk and dealing specifically with life in the Catholic Church, this book will best be appreciated by Catholics, but profitable for all ecumenically-minded Christians. 

The Art of Living

Some books that will make life more meaningful because they help to make it more reasonable and more artfully lived.

Guide for the Perplexed (by E.F. Schumacher) A stimulating look at man, the world, and the meaning of living.

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (by E.F. Schumacher) Economics for humans that actually makes sense. Read Guide for the Perplexed first.

Leisure: The Basis of Culture (by Josef Pieper) This elegantly written book will make you want to take a meaningful vacation, and actually know the reason why you should.

In Tune With the World: A Theory of Festivity (by Josef Pieper) A call to the celebration of existence under various symbols.

Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation (by Josef Pieper) Art, love, aesthetics, and spirituality cannot be separated.

Nicomachean Ethics (by Aristotle) A classic on living the good life--for thoughtful people.

The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods (by A.G. Sertillanges) One of the most influential books I have ever read. Simple and yet profound. This book introduced me to the idea that the intellectual life does not consist in the perfection of rare powers of mind and expression, but in a constant and disciplined preference of higher thoughts over lower thoughts.

Books and Ideas That Helped Shape the Way I View the World

Modern man, finding himself inundated with information and experiences, but sorely lacking unifying principles by which to assimilate these data, often stands stunned in the face of rapid cultural changes around him. He can't even understand the world, much less safely navigate its soul-destroying dangers. He desperately needs a way of making sense of things, a metanarrative, a set of first principles he holds about things that tend to form a framework or pattern by which he evaluates data and reaches sound conclusions.

 

Below are just a few of the books and other writings that have shaped and formed the way I view and respond to the world:

 

Veritatis Splendor (Latin for "The Splendor of Truth") "No one can escape from the fundamental questions: What must I do? How do I distinguish good from evil?" An encyclical by John Paul II that provides a framework to grasp authentic teaching on moral issues.

 

City of God (by St. Augustine) The first and magisterial comprehensive philosophy of history. According to Augustine, the world is to be viewed as the arena of a great conflict, or a confrontation between two intensely opposed forces--two cities (City of God and City of Man). The two cities cannot be found in concrete things and are actually metaphysical entities; which is to say that they have a spiritual existence. This book is the earliest influence on my thought. 

 

Fides et Ratio (Latin for "Faith and Reason") Faith and reason are not only compatible, but both are essential to the fullness of thought. An encyclical by John Paul II.

 

Theology of the Body (by John Paul II) An integrated vision of the human person presented in 129 reflections (lectures) in regular Wednesday audiences between the years 1979 and 1984. If this teaching could be understood and embraced by a generation, it could restore moral order to the universe.

 

The End of the Modern World (by Romano Guardini) As a reviewer has stated, "The wellsprings of the modern world have run dry", and Guardini is a master of analyzing our circumstances. He calls for a different set of virtues: earnestness, gravity, and asceticism. When was the last time you heard those virtues commended?

 

Ideas Have Consequences (by Richard M. Weaver) Even fifty years after its appearance, this book remains a clear, densely written, analysis of the foundational problems of modern man. Weaver also has recommendations for a remedy.

Blueberry Pancakes in the Oldest Town in Texas

It was a family event on Saturday to attend the 20th Annual Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches, Texas. Founded on the El Camino Real (now state highway 21), one of a series of roads linking the Spanish colonies in the Americas, Nacogdoches' history is intertwined with the founding of the Republic of Texas.

The town is now a delightfully quaint, tree-filled, college town (Stephen F.Austin State University), with brick streets and a thriving regentrified downtown. There are great coffee shops, tea rooms, and live jazz at the Hotel Fredonia each Friday evening, but on the second Saturday of June the focus is always on the blueberry. Streets are blocked off, booths pop up, live music blares, lines form before 8:00 AM for the fresh blueberry pancakes (here is the line when we arrived at 8:10 View this photo), and blueberry-themed entertainment is everywhere (View this photo, View this photo and View this photo).  

There are all sorts of family-friendly activities, free ice water supplied by local churches, and, of course, the Deja Blue Classic Car Show. Certain things you see only in East Texas. For example, the various downtown banks open to the public as venues for shows or activities--Cowboy Max (View this photo), Blueberry Cooking Shows, and the Blueberry Soda Shoppe. But, without a doubt, the most moving reminder that East Texas is not like other regions of the country, is illustrated by the photo at left. The gentleman pictured in the photo wandered among the crowd conducting interviews and asking attendees if they had a favorite song they would like to sing over the public address system. When the woman in the photo volunteered, took the microphone, and proceeded with a rousing rendition of "Jesus Loves Me", the gentleman immediately removed his hat and sang the entire song with her, after which he put his hat back on and the crowd responded with a loud ovation. I witnessed this and immediately recalled why I selected East Texas over Washington, D.C. to finish out my life.

Two Thousand Years of Revelation, History, and Tradition Down the Drain

  I had no idea.

Descartes and the Redirection

During 2005-06 I was privileged to be invited to join a small seminar of 8-10 people from around the country, meeting quarterly in Washington, D.C., to study and discuss Descartes' fundamental contribution to the way modern man experiences the world and his existence in it. The seminar was led by a Jewish intellectual and professor and it was always a stimulating experience. I had little to contribute to the discussions and, as I recall, I was the only one present who was not a former student of the seminar leader. My invitation to participate came as the result of a good friend's recommendation.

I often think of the relevance of those seminars when I observe current events and other modern cultural indicators. I am convinced that the Cartesian shift (redirection) away from man's fundamental being to an attribute of man has resulted in profoundly negative effects on the human race.

The seminar and destructive contribution of Descartes came to mind early this morning as I read an article by Donald DeMarco titled, "I Am ... Therefore I Think". DeMarco writes: "John Paul II, in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, refers to 'the great anthropocentric shift in philosophy,' in which Descartes redefines the human being in terms of consciousness [Descartes alleged, "I think, therefore I am"]. Referring to St. Thomas Aquinas, John Paul reiterates that 'it is not thought which determines existence, but existence, 'esse', which determines thought!' In other words, it is man who thinks, not thinking that is man." 

It is difficult to overstate the rationalistic and practical effects of the Cartesian redirection on everything from philosophy to science to human rights. Since consciousness is now necessary to be a human being, no one is safe.

Great Literature Redux

Some books are so profoundly meaningful and well written, they deserve to be read and re-read. Such books normally create an emotional and intellectual attachment to their characters and themes. My reading of good fiction has picked up over the last year and, perhaps as a result, I have a renewed interest in picking up again some of the great classics. Below is my list of six (because it is all time will allow) of the top books that should be read again and again.

Les Miserables (by Victor Hugo) Victor Hugo's masterpiece is at the top of my list. In fact, I pulled it down from my shelf a few days ago after enjoying a brief conversation last weekend with friends who shared my opinion about the book. Avoid all unabridged versions and make certain you get the Lee Fahnestock/Charles MacAfee translation (the Signet Classics paperback). This marvelous book about redemption and forgiveness is potentially life altering and well worth the effort it takes to read almost 1500 pages.

Where the Red Fern Grows (by Wilson Rawls) I don't remember at what age I first read this beautiful, moving, and ultimately sad story of a boy and his dog. But, I was quite young and thoroughly captivated. It is very difficult to properly form the moral imagination of children in our current culture. This book, and ones like it, will help with that critical task. It is important that a child be touched and moved at his or her inner core of being while young--and then, touched again and again throughout life. This book will help (as will C.S. Lewis' Narnia series).

The Brothers Karamazov (by Fyodor Dostoevsky) A powerful human drama about faith, doubt, and guilt, with rich character development. I recommend the Richard Pevear/Larissa Volokhonsky translation as the best. This book is likely Dostoevsky's finest work.

Crime and Punishment (by Fyodor Dostoevsky) Another great novel by Dostoevsky--for the character development of Raskolnikov. It is a philosophical novel about conscience and suffering for sin and crime. A book that provokes serious and deep reflection long after reading.

To Kill a Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) On my list for reasons similar to Where the Red Fern Grows--for what it contributes to the moral imagination. A Pulitzer Prize winning look at the character of a real lawyer(Atticus Finch).

Quo Vadis (by Henryk Sienkiewicz) The title means "where are you going?", and alludes to the John 13:36 New Testament passage. Set in the first century Roman Empire, this Nobel Prize winning novel is an epic treatment of love, courage, and devotion. Recognized as one of the greatest novels in the history of literature. 

Humaneness is Only a Habit

Thinking again of the importance of good moral training, I am reminded of the words of Dostoevsky: "humaneness is only a habit, a product of civilization. It may completely disappear."

The barbarities of modern history provide grim attestations to civilization's vulnerability to the collapse of moral order: the Holocaust, the Killing Fields, the Gulag, the remorseless destruction of our species while still in the womb.

The modern age, which counts nothing above self fulfillment of the individual as sacred, is in decay. Curiously, and in contrast, the vital tradition and common sense of the past is healthy and enriching. In the words of Samuel Johnson, "men more frequently require to be reminded than informed," and, as C.S. Lewis noted, what they need to be reminded of is the "old, platitudinous, universal moral law."