Unearned Luck

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever. 1 John 2:15-17 Perspective is important. A perspective from which catechesis could be taught is that of God as our loving Father. The Ten Commandments, for example, are clearly moral proscriptions against specific thoughts, actions, mindsets, and understandings. Applicable to everyone everywhere and at all times, the Ten Commandments are the foundation of the Moral Law. Besides, you don't get much more direct and, arguably, negative than, "Thou shalt not..." And this is exactly how they are taught, too. So negative do catechists deem the Commandments' formulations, many at...

Photo by Yuvy Dhaliah on Unsplash Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. -Joshua 2:1 Perspective is important. Even more important is knowing the others' perspective. I watched Zack Snyder's 2006 film, 300 , in the theatre and loved it, especially the reveal at the end. Everyone else, from critics to friends, lambasted the film for being unhistorical, fantastic, unrealistic,.... I couldn't understand their criticism of the movie, since I was assuming they had seen the same ending I had. It wasn't Clue . It seemed, though, they had missed the significance of the ending. The final scene of the movie provides the perspective for the entire rest of the movie. Nothing we had been watching was an historical reenactment of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae. It was, inste...