While sitting at the breakfast table this morning, before going to Mass/Divine Liturgy, I was finishing the post below (writing, not eating, because of the different fasting rule), and was listening to the Lecture recording on Eliot. My husband was eating his cereal, and caught the last 10 minutes of White's speaking about Little Gidding, the last quartet. He is describing how Eliot uses the falling of B-1 rockets raining down on London in WWII as an analogy for the descending fire of the Holy Spirit and that we are all destined to perish in fire, which, by our choice, can be a fire that purifies and leads to life, or a fire that consumes, and ends in eternal death. Not really fare for an early morning empty stomach.
Then he starts to giggle and I say "it's poetry, it's supposed to be dramatic......" He replies he is not laughing at the lecture. He hands me this: and says "this is more my kind of theology:
;-)
Balance.
The key to any good team.
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Disclaimer: The Lecturer, Dr. David Allen White, an is an excellent Roman Catholic Literature Prof, and I found it at the Catholic site Keep The Faith. Lest you think the Orthodox are always serious and have no sense of humor, check here and here. Or just keep hanging around HERE.
And the reason there is no post about the Feast Day of Saint Vladamir, is because I couldn't keep a straight face (and neither could Saint Vladamir, I'm sure) after reading 3 versions of his life and conversion:
Orthodox:Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of the Russian Land;
Roman Catholic: But it must not be forgotten that when St. Vladimir had his people baptized, although of Greek rite, they were in union with the pope...this sort of “command baptism” is certainly not the ideal approach;
Evangelical: The Russian prince, a cruel and lustful playboy... Vladimir's conversion seems to have been real. He took a genuine interest in Christianity and gave evidence that his heart had changed. And he himself prayed over baptismal candidates.
I decided I wouldn't touch this one with a 10 foot pole (no pun intended).
God can laugh, we should tremble
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And with that: What you have all been wondering about:
Report Card on household Ecumenical Relations : Serious miscalculations in anticipated Learning Curve (Def2 the relationship between the rate at which knowledge or a skill is learned and the time spent acquiring it).
Not surprised; but somewhat surprised at being surprised at how typically human we both are. We always overestimate how merciful and forgiving we will be, forgetting that onl God's mercy and forgiveness can be quantified in advance, and it is infinite.
The only human mercy and forgiveness that can be quantified is what has been accomplished so far.
Back to Bea's old favorite Maxim: God is God and we are not
Dissonance between expectations of the everyday realities of our respective Faith Traditions: Not much. Any surprised here would have been a surprise.
Regrets or Second thoughts: Not a single one.