Top Reads of 2024; Et Incarnatus est; 2024: My Boethian Year; Du Bois, Defender of the Tradition; "The Stoning of St. Stephen" and "The Vision of St. Stephen"; "Goodbye Evergreen"
It sounds like it has been a difficult year for your family and that lingering effects are following you into the new year. Words feel inadequate in the face of suffering, but truly, I am sorry to hear of it. Please know that you, Caroline, and the boys are in our prayers, especially as you head into this move on the back of such a trying year. It is no easy thing. I pray that you will soon be able to rest and find refreshment in the fellowship of good friends and loved ones.
I have never heard of the differentiation between martyrs in word and deed before, but found it very insightful.
You speak of humility. I think I grew up believing that to be humble was to erase self, and then this past year I heard the idea that humility is to see ourselves - virtues and vices - as they are, not to elevate ourselves, but also not to debase ourselves outside that which is honest in reference to our lives. How would you define or consider humility?
I think that, for myself, reading the classics has helped me to recognize my own resistance to the difficulties of growth. The desire to sit in that in which I am already ‘proficient’, rather than committing myself to stretching outside of what skills I already possess - namely, in learning how to be an engaged reader, not just being able to consume what I read. I’m looking forward (read: dragging my heels but knowing it will be worth it) to continuing to grow in this area in 2025.
It has been, but God has been good through it all. We are still recovering and very much look forward to a new year!
I do remember us having a conversation about humility a while back. I think that's exactly right: seeing ourselves rightly is a huge part of humility. The thing I might add is that there should be a preferential treatment of others that characterizes humility, but that doesn't have to be done through undue self-abasement. If God has gifted you or wired you a particular way, it's not humble to deny or reject that gifting. But at the same time, a humble person should consider other people's giftings and look for ways to elevate those others rather than themselves.
I love that lesson that you took away from the classics! Is there a particular book that you got that from or is that a conclusion drawn from sustained engagement?
Definitely a conclusion from attempting sustained engagement. I've been very grateful for The Classical Mind for this very reason - it's a continued, external source of accountability. The structure is loose enough that I have to want to commit to the readings, but the desire to be able to join in conversation is enough to force me to sit and read (and reread) things that don't make sense. Which means I'm slow as molasses and miss most of the readings, but y'all have been here for me to keep returning to :)
I posted asking for your thoughts on humility only to open my journal and see a quote from the notes you sent, just last week, on this very topic. *proceeds to smack palm to forehead* please excuse my rather unattentive mind. . .
It sounds like it has been a difficult year for your family and that lingering effects are following you into the new year. Words feel inadequate in the face of suffering, but truly, I am sorry to hear of it. Please know that you, Caroline, and the boys are in our prayers, especially as you head into this move on the back of such a trying year. It is no easy thing. I pray that you will soon be able to rest and find refreshment in the fellowship of good friends and loved ones.
I have never heard of the differentiation between martyrs in word and deed before, but found it very insightful.
You speak of humility. I think I grew up believing that to be humble was to erase self, and then this past year I heard the idea that humility is to see ourselves - virtues and vices - as they are, not to elevate ourselves, but also not to debase ourselves outside that which is honest in reference to our lives. How would you define or consider humility?
I think that, for myself, reading the classics has helped me to recognize my own resistance to the difficulties of growth. The desire to sit in that in which I am already ‘proficient’, rather than committing myself to stretching outside of what skills I already possess - namely, in learning how to be an engaged reader, not just being able to consume what I read. I’m looking forward (read: dragging my heels but knowing it will be worth it) to continuing to grow in this area in 2025.
It has been, but God has been good through it all. We are still recovering and very much look forward to a new year!
I do remember us having a conversation about humility a while back. I think that's exactly right: seeing ourselves rightly is a huge part of humility. The thing I might add is that there should be a preferential treatment of others that characterizes humility, but that doesn't have to be done through undue self-abasement. If God has gifted you or wired you a particular way, it's not humble to deny or reject that gifting. But at the same time, a humble person should consider other people's giftings and look for ways to elevate those others rather than themselves.
I love that lesson that you took away from the classics! Is there a particular book that you got that from or is that a conclusion drawn from sustained engagement?
Definitely a conclusion from attempting sustained engagement. I've been very grateful for The Classical Mind for this very reason - it's a continued, external source of accountability. The structure is loose enough that I have to want to commit to the readings, but the desire to be able to join in conversation is enough to force me to sit and read (and reread) things that don't make sense. Which means I'm slow as molasses and miss most of the readings, but y'all have been here for me to keep returning to :)
I posted asking for your thoughts on humility only to open my journal and see a quote from the notes you sent, just last week, on this very topic. *proceeds to smack palm to forehead* please excuse my rather unattentive mind. . .