day no. 16,039: poetry and piety

“It was the *Catholic poetry and piety that filled common life with something that is lacking in the worthy and virile democracy of the West.” -- G.K. Chesterton

Poetry and piety fill ordinary days with extraordinary purpose. The Christian faith alone can elevate the washing of feet to a work of art. It can translate the wiping of noses and bottoms into the conquest of generations. Christianity is affection for the good, the true, and the beautiful. Thus, a rich culture of poetry and piety is produced and appreciated by it. Democracy pivots upon the personal preferences of its people. Since these are always shifting, their foundations cannot hold. It is built on impotence. You cannot pass along that which cannot last. The virility of the world is mass producing contraception. The intelligence of the West is getting straight A's in ignorance. And that which cannot go on forever... won't; while that which is resurrected can never end.

*while Chesterton most certainly here used the term "Catholic" to refer to the Roman Catholic Church, I am taking it as shorthand for Christendom a la the Apostles' Creed, "I believe in the holy catholic Church." 

day no. 16,038: when the heat is on

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.

The man of God does not shrink back when the heat is on. He does not wither for lack of the world's water. For he is nourished by the rivers of God that flow below the surface. He is anchored in the eternal and carries it with him through his transience. He does not fear being forsaken, but continues to produce fruit. He doesn't shrivel. He keeps shoveling. 

Ephesians 5:15-16

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

day no. 16,037: wisdom is warfare which wins

Proverbs 24:5-6

Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones,

and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;

for by wise guidance you can wage your war,

and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Wisdom is a warfare which wins and victory is the reward of a war well-fought.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

If you decide to fight, you must also decide to win; when you win, you must not be embarrassed or apologize. If you feel bad about winning, you should not have been fighting in the first place. Only fight for that which you would feel good about winning.

day no. 16,036: honestly and earnestly

“No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world: but we demand not strength enough to get on with it, but strength enough to get it on. Can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?" -- G.K. Chesterton

America... can you hate it enough to want to change it and yet love it enough to imagine it worth changing? Can you love your homeland enough to be a patriot, but hate it enough to be a rebel? 

Reformation and repentance require eyes and hearts wide open. If you close your eyes in order to keep your heart, you will tolerate all kinds of wickedness. If you close your heart in order to open your eyes, you will persecute all kinds of goodness. If you close your heart and your eyes, you abandon the whole mess for someone else to clean up when they stumble into aisle six. But if you keep your eyes and heart open, you can see the problems and seek solutions, you can admit the errors while working to correct them, you can examine something honestly and exhort it earnestly, you can confess its sins while sincerely desiring its forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 6:11

We have spoken freely to you; our heart is wide open.

day no. 16,035: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge

Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built,

and by understanding it is established;

by knowledge the rooms are filled

with all precious and pleasant riches.

Wisdom pours the foundation.

Understanding fortifies the structure.

Knowledge fills the home with pleasantness.

Wisdom excavates.

Understanding establishes.

Knowledge elaborates.

Wisdom builds.

Understanding bolsters.

Knowledge beautifies.

A good and godly home is established by firm ground, a fixed focus, and a fruitful atmosphere.

day no. 16,034: mining the minding

"In the hive and the anthill we see fully realized the two things that some of us most dread for our own species -- the dominance of the female and the dominance of the collective" -- C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

Egalitarianism is the bane of all existence. It is at war with what is. It hates the world God has made and seeks to undermine His creative genius at every turn. It labels masculinity "toxic" and liberty "injustice." The hive mind is not, in the end, a mind at all, but rather the artificial metamorphosis of minding one's own beeswax into the minding of everyone else's. Strictly speaking, they would have you know that you have no beeswax to mind. It's our beeswax. Only a society dominated by effeminacy could submit itself to such a blatant rape of personal property and dignity. Only a world bullied by women could be cowed into that kind of collective.

day no. 16,033: dropping strongholds

Proverbs 21:22

A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

The strongholds of the wicked are built on weak foundations and come crashing down once the wise stomp their heels on the heights of their lofty aspirations.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Wisdom is warfare. It demos the long-standing doctrines of the damned and leads every prisoner into pasture whose gate and Shepherd is the Lord, Jesus Christ.

The faithful fists of the meek will knock out the strongholds of the mighty.