Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Untitled

I'm too lazy to think of a title for this post. In fact, I'm thinking that's what's wrong with me these days (and I wonder whether it may be grief-related): I'm feeling intellectually lazy! I am not interested in thinking much. I've delayed and resisted answering theological questions one or two people have asked me, and politics is another thing I'd rather not think about.

And if I find "words" such as cocytus (as an adjective) or geryonic, I am not going to read the rest of that entry. Even if you use too many words I do vaguely know, like "peroration," I'm not going to haul out a dictionary just to read your blog. Instead, I am going to lose patience quickly.

Ditto if I see strung together three metaphors in a single, short paragraph. I'm not in a mood to try sort it all out. That's too much work from my poor brain.

If a blog entry is longer than a thousand words, it has lost me. And if I'm not going to read a thousand words at a time (unless of humor), much less am I going to write that much! Lazy. Not interested.

But I do have some recommendations for you, things others have written.

If you are more in a thinking mood than I am, Fr. Stephen, as usual, writes excellent stuff, particularly his recent entries on The Meaning of Scripture, The Meaning of Meaning, and his latest on catholicity. I labored to give these a cursory reading, no more; but I can see that a careful reading is what they deserve.

Pr. Hall has a pointed and amusing dialogue between fetal twins which he got from Fr. Milovan Katanic. Question: Do you believe in life after birth? This is provocative without being any strain on the brain.

Matthew Gallatin's latest three podcasts (Parts 20, 21, and 22) are about how to experience true intimacy with God -- and why some approaches common in the West (such as contemplation, imagination, charismatic experience) fall short. Gallatin is easy to understand. He spoon-feeds you, one small bite at a time. (Thank you!) In fact, he divides things into such small chunks that you sometimes want to listen to two or three podcasts in succession, the better to get the larger picture. The podcasts lend themselves to that.

4 comments:

Dixie said...

We have much in common in this regard...only I have been struggling with a brain malaise for a longer period. There are blogs out there which are most demanding in terms of comprehension. It's not that I don't have the capability to understand...I just don't have the energy for it all after working all day and satisfying my family and parish obligations.

I have been listening to some lectures lately (in the car) on history, historical figures, etc., and I am quite surprised how I gravitate to some speakers because of their use of language.

Matthew Gallatin has become my favorite AFR podcast. If I listen to anyone, I listen to him. I love the others but I gravitate first to his...and I don't always agree with the inevitable dicotomies he sets up between East and West. But he has a marvelous way of explaining his point of view. The explanation of Old Testament vs. New Testament as Parent to little child vs. Parent to older child was quite striking.

I haven't discussed politics on my blog either. I have never seen such a disppointing slate of candidates. It's depressing to think about it so I try not to. Seems like a great time to consider an ex-pat position with the company I work for...but then I would have to learn another language and I fear I don't have the energy for that either!

DebD said...

You had such a busy weekend last week and I'm sure there was a lot of build up for it. I venture to guess that you've been on the go since your Dad died.

I dont' have all those things going and *I'm* not interesting in following some of the more header bloggers.

And like Dixie - I don't want to think about politics.

Christopher D. Hall said...

Thanks for the bump! I must confess that Fr. Stephen's blog has 18 unread posts in my blogreader. For the last couple of weeks I've been thinking that I need to go back and read them when I have more time to concentrate. It hasn't happened so far.

Adam Roe said...

I'm pretty certain it's battle fatigue. Because blogging is so back-and-forth, it lends itself to burnout. It's stressful enough when you're blogging exclusively about theological matters. Throw politics into the mix and it really starts to become a grind.

Like you, I've been listening to podcasts. Gallatin is always great. Another of my favorites is Jeannie Constantinou's Search The Scriptures. Her Introduction To The Bible series is excellent. She killed off pretty much all the remaining vestiges of my sola scriptura paradigm.