So instead of reading about my thoughts on my shaved head, Desmond, spring, etc., here's an excerpt from "Orthodoxy," by G. K. Chesterson that is in a Lenten devotional I've enjoyed this week:
"What we need is not the cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it. We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening.
No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world...[But] can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?"
Posts
2 comments:
Your Chesterson quote resonates with me. The temptation to live life just below supernaturally is subtly constant. But, as Chesterson said, ". . we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. . ." I resolve to live my life in Christ with greater fierceness and surround myself with those who share my resolve. In doing so, I hope to unsettle and inspire those who've yet to abandon the ordinariness of life and join us in our struggle. Thanks for the quote!
I meant to comment on this about a million days ago when I first read it. I happened to read this post just after I had had kind of a rough week - and I think this concept about 'loving the world enough to change it' is relevant even in micro-representations - you have to be invested enough in people, projects, relationships, etc to be willing to put in the energy to try to help make them better.
Nothing I have to say is as profound as what you wrote ... but I just wanted to write a little something to say that what you wrote made me stop and think a little bit.
I love reading your posts - I usually keep them 'unread' in my Google Reader and read them a few times. :)
Post a Comment