I Recommend...

I recommend the following website to learn the Church's ancient practice of prayer called lectio divina

http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html

Pax et securitas,

David

Some Quotes That Have Sustained Me...

The following are some quotes I came across this week. As is often the case, the words of those who have gone before me have greatly comforted me. May their legacy live on in their words until the Resurrection. Amen! (O... BTW - Kreeft is still alive!)

"Sin is the only Christian dogma you can prove simply by reading the daily newspaper" - G. K. Chesterton

Commenting on the Gospels, Tolkien says, "There is no tale that [good] men would rather believe is true"

"He also providentially prepares the world for the spread of the gospel by unifying it as never before or since under a single Roman law, language, communications, transportation, and peace: the pax Romana was God's providential preparation for the pax Christi" - Peter J. Kreeft in Catholic Christianity

David

My Wardrobe...

So a former student of mine--and an Iraq war vet, who's ironically going back again (go figure)--just sent me an e-mail and told me that he's jealous... and I quote... "of my wardrobe!" Now I'm flattered by this but it all came after telling him that I'd recently ventured to Richardson's Tartan Shop to purchase a Tartan black-watch vest with matching tie. I also explained to this former student of mine that people in the academic world can get away with wearing things that would be considered ostentatious or... well... gay... in any other profession...

But this well-built, very masculine, William Wallace of a former student of mine said, "No... I'm jealous of your wardrobe, gay or not..."

Maybe this is what is wrong with the US military! Maybe it needs kilts in all sorts of Tartan patterns... then and only then could it win the war on terrorism, because the Tartan patterns would inspire William Wallace-like courage among our military personnel. (Uh... I'm kidding in case you couldn't tell)

But... this is my new theory... and it's the key to Iraq... kilts in Tartan patterns...

Sorry Daniel... but the story had to be told...

Then again, we should all remember Carlyle's poems... clothes do make a man, and instead of covering up deficiencies, they actually tell us a lot about the mental state of a person. Thus, when it comes to academia, based on all the shabby clothing of so many prof's, academia is in a poor psychological state!

David

Encouragement?

So... I received this weird sort of encouragement today...

I was--as is sometimes very usual for me--gracing the rows of books at Crux bookstore, located at Wycliffe College, U of Toronto and Hart House. While there I bumped into a colleague of mine that I've not seen in months. We began to chat, and as is often the case with PhD students at the end of their comp stage, we complained about the program, talked about the program's debilitating psychological effects, and generally complained about anything and everything we could think of. Then we talked about beer and contemplated how nice it would be to be able to go on anti-depressants (don't ask! If you're curious... read the Chronicle of Higher Education. It will give you the background for this one...)

Not too long into this conversation my colleague asked me, "Is it true that you thought of quitting a month ago?" Sheepishly, I replied, "Yes! I really thought about it... but decided against it, mainly because I couldn't bare the thought of starting over in some other career." Then, my colleague asserted, "Don't feel bad about it! I've thought of quitting at least four times!" (Ah! That's three more than me... Really... this may sound trivial, but being able to add and subtract at this level is good for me, for I fear that I don't exactly excel at math... I mean in an undergrad math class at U of Cincinnati, I was even given a calculator and could barely pull a B on my math exams! It's sad I know... anyway...)

What happened next, however, shocked me! My long lost colleague said, "I'm glad you've decided to finish." When I asked why, he said, "Because a bunch of us got together and said, 'If Reed can't finish this thing, then we're all screwed!'" (What I don't think my colleague realized is that I'd just thought, 'Wow! If he wanted to quit three times, then I'm pretty much up you know what type of creek and without you know what type of a paddle!). Now... lest I digress... I was somewhat flattered, because apparently I'd become some sort of "canon" for whether or not other PhD students could finish the program. But, what I couldn't quite figure out was why? Why had I become a "canon" for whether or not other PhD students could finish their programs?

I suppose I've fooled someone along the way. I'm not sure exactly what I've done, but all I can think of is that it must have something to do with my wardrobe. I'm beginning to believe this more and more. Yes, the wardrobe principal! People trust a guy who can wear a tweed blazer paired with a tie and a vest. Yet, what many people don't get is that I'm wearing these clothes to compensate for my own academic deficiencies... It's that old banking principle: If you want to be a CEO then for God's sake, dress like one! However, in my case it's: If you've got some academic deficiencies, then for God's sake cover them up by dressing like a serious academic! And, in N. America that means looking as British as you possibly can! (I don't know why, but that's what it means...)

Ah well... I think it has something to do with my sometimes George Costanza approach to life. Really! I'm not kidding!

I actually told the Chair of the Religion Dept. at Wright State that until he gives me a full-time tenured job I'm going to follow the Costanza principle and just act as if I'm tenured and work at Wright State full-time. What surprised me is that the Chair of the Religion Dept. laughed and said, "Hey... that's a pretty good idea... Maybe I should try that!" Hmm...

But... seriously... it's all about the wardrobe...

Word to all male readers out there... buy a used copy of Color for Men and read it...

David

My Hatred of New England

It's a strange thing really... 5 years ago, before I met my wife, I could've cared-less about a man named Tom Brady and a team called the New England Patriots. However, my wife has taught me not just to loathe the Patriots, but to really hate them!!!

As the Colts pounded the Patriots tonight, I sat there, uncharacteristically, calling Brady all sorts of names. I made fun of Belichik's baggy clothes--I really don't understand them at all--I conjured up magnanimously fictious stories about how Belichik might be a racist, especially if he beats up on Indianopolis' African American coach. The reality is, none of it makes any sense--but I owe it all to my Pittsburgh Steeler loving wife, who I've also got to thank for restoring my faith in football after Ken Anderson an the Bungles crushed it when I was but a wee little child sitting in the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI with my dad!!! Then again, Boomer did it to me a few years later... and that was that!!! (Why I don't blame Montana I'll never know... O that's right... he went to Notre Dame an I'm a Catholic! Now that makes sense...)

Then again... as a Red Sox fan I've this unnatural--and unexplainable--hatred of the Yankees! And, yes, it's rubbed off on my wife!

FYI - I'll never forgive the Yankees for taking Johnny D! That was still one of the worst days in my life...

David

New House

Here's a picture of the new house we're going to be living in starting in April...

New Blog Up and Running

Well... finally I got around to fixing the new blog... please enjoy (more posts to follow)...

David