The first, from Evelyn Underhill, “The Spiritual Life”:
“So many Christians are like deaf people at a concert. They study the program carefully, believe every statement made in it, speak respectfully of the quality of the music, but only really hear a phrase now and again. So they have no notion at all of the mighty symphony which fills the universe, to which our lives are destined to make their tiny contribution, and which is the self-expression of the eternal God.”
The second is from Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation”:
“Interior solitude is impossible for them. They fear it. They do everything they can to escape it. What is worse, they try to draw everyone else into activities as senseless and as devouring as their own. They are great promoters of useless work. They love to organize meetings and banquets and conferences and lectures. They print circulars, write letters, talk for hours on the telephone in order that they may gather a hundred people together in a large room where they will all fill the air with smoke and make a great deal of noise and roar at one another and clap their hands and stagger home at last patting one another on the back with the assurance that they have all done great things to spread the Kingdom of God.”
There are lots more ways to get it wrong, of course, (more…)
Susan Pitchford
Fioretti ("little flowers")
A "florilegium" is a collection, or bouquet, of writings. It comes from the Latin "flora" (flower)+ "legere" (to gather). It has the same meaning as the Greek word "anthology."
In the Middle Ages and beyond, when books were rare and expensive, people copied their favorite excerpts from books into a booklet they carried with them, a florilegium. In a similar vein, the "fioretti" or "little flowers" of Francis of Assisi are a series of stories about the saint that were gathered into a single volume. In this florilegium (nicer than "blog," isn't it?), I'd like to gather some of my favorite bits of writing by various authors, adding a little commentary but mostly letting the quotations speak for themselves. I hope it will grow into a garden that will be a pleasant place to linger for a bit. Enjoy! Archives
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FlorilegiumWho Is the One Left Out?August 17, 2009
“A single misery suffices to condemn a society. It suffices that a single man be kept or knowingly left in need for the entire civil contract to be null and void. As long as there is one man outside, the door which is closed in his face encloses a city of injustice and hatred.”
Charles Péguy (1873-1914), French socialist, nationalist and Christian, quoted in Louis Evely’s classic “Suffering” (1967) I remember the first time I realized the injustice of the U.S. health care system. (more…) |
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