by Brian Allred Certain things are really hard to do. Try saying “eleven benevolent elephants” five times fast. I imagine riding a unicycle is pretty hard. Personally, I find it extremely difficult to hit a golf ball – at least long and straight. Some other things are virtually impossible for us to do like tying … Continue reading Loving Our Enemies
Tag: love
By Brian Allred It’s easy to get sucked into the drama of an epic showdown. You can think old school like Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader in Star Wars, or Rocky Balboa squaring off against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (or perhaps you prefer his bout against Clubber Lang in Rocky III). More recently, there’s … Continue reading The Pain of Nain and the Hope of Easter
by Brian Allred Broken cities, broken schools, broken laws, broken bodies, broken bones, broken vows, broken marriages, broken homes, broken dreams, broken spirits, broken hearts. To quote the title of a 1989 Bob Dylan song: everything is broken [1]. Does that capture how you feel sometimes? Even if you’re a bit more of an optimist … Continue reading Fixing What’s Broken: Insights from Isaiah 59
or...When Our Own Sin Startles Us Sin doesn't always have the effect that it should. Sometimes our callous hearts are oblivious to our transgressions and we go on with our day, impenitent. This is especially true in our sins of omission versus our sins of commission—that is, when we don't do what we should rather … Continue reading To the Delta Fan in Front of Me at the Delaware County Boys Basketball Tourney
My wife and I are a bit behind when it comes to TV. We have recently become enamored with Madame Secretary. We are on season three of six, and we just finished episode 18, entitled "Good Bones." It gets its name from a poem that Jay reads at the end of the episode. I loved … Continue reading Good Bones
"If I hate you it is because you have hated goodness. And if I like you...it is because you are good." –Evan MacIan, character in The Ball & the Cross by G. K. Chesterton
"Adoption...is the highest priviledge that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.... Adoption is higher, because of the richer relationship with God that it involves...Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law and viewing God as judge. In justification, God declares of penitent believers that they are not, and never will be, liable … Continue reading Adoption: The Highest Privilege
"A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth—that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of … Continue reading The Contemplation of Love in Suffering
From Reading Augustine On Education Formation, Citizenship, and the Lost Purpose of Learning by Joseph Clair "Ordered love within the context of liberal arts education moves in three directions. First is the inward ordering of the soul that happens as one acquires the moral and intellectual virtues necessary for disciplined study. Second is the upward … Continue reading Education and the Order of Love