Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: reality

Delusion must be refused

In proportion as he becomes authentically aware of his own plight, man confronts the absurd — and finds it not in himself or in the objective world, but “in their presence together.” Whereas he seeks to understand himself and his world by reason, he finds that the “only bond” between himself and the world is… Read More ›

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The city itself lives on its own myth

The city itself lives on its own myth. Instead of waking up and silently existing, the city people prefer a stubborn and fabricated dream; they do not care to be a part of the night, or to be merely of the world. They have constructed a world outside the world, against the world, a world… Read More ›

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Will we manifest

(written several years ago) When I was young, many years ago, though it seems like yesterday; I thought I was in control, centered, strong and together. I don’t know how I thought this, it seems amazing that I could have been so callow, yet I was young after all. As the years pile up, so… Read More ›

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Keep your head clear of static

Clearly, the “powers” and “elements” which in Paul’s day dominated men’s minds through pagan religion or through religious legalism, today dominate us in the confusion and the ambiguity of the Babel of tongues that we call mass-society. Certainly I do not condemn everything in the mass media. But how does one stop to separate the… Read More ›

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Technology was made for man, not man for technology

It is precisely this illusion, that mechanical progress means human improvement, that alienates us from our own being and our own reality. It is precisely because we are convinced that our life, as such, is better if we have a better car, a better TV set, better toothpaste, etc., that we condemn and destroy our… Read More ›

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The way we become irresponsible

That to start with one’s ego-identity and to try to bring that identity to terms with external reality by thinking, and then, having worked out practical principles, to act on reality from one privileged autonomous position in order to bring it into line with an absolute good we have arrived at by thought: this is… Read More ›

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Outcast

At times I get weary about who and what I am, what we are as a species, how we need to struggle to just be rational, yet often controlled by our deep sub-conscious, lip surface to a path chosen, yet in reality often possibly forced by inner forces to act otherwise, yet the will remains… Read More ›

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Americans More Comfortable With Profanity Than Christ

A cartoon has circulated depicting three children sitting outside their school principal’s office. The first child says, “I said the ‘S-H’ word.” The second, “I said the ‘F’ word.” And then the third, “I said ‘Christmas.’” While some may sigh and shake their heads at this cartoon, the reality is even worse, says religion and… Read More ›

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What is God?

(Read this as Lectio — it cannot be read quickly without reflection.) What is God? That without which nothing exists. Just as nothing can exist without him, so he cannot exist without himself: he exists for himself, he exists for all, and consequently in some way he alone exists who is his own existence and… Read More ›

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True prayer is not at all foreign to reality

True prayer is not at all foreign to reality. If prayer should alienate you, remove you from your real life, be on your guard it would not be true prayer! On the contrary, dialogue with God is a guarantee of truth, of truth with ourselves and with others and hence of freedom. Being with God,… Read More ›

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