He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. If you see the Light, you are never confused about being the Light yourself. “That is not this,” is one of the first things an illumined person can say. “That is not me.” is the very first! This ability to distinguish the true from the false is a good start,  even with simple ideas, concepts, or things. Imagine never seeing an actual home computer or a... Read more

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. Plato warned John the Baptist (or at least people like he was) that John was in trouble, but John the Baptist was too illumined, too just, too alive to bother with warnings from the dead. He spoke the truth beautifully. John had seen the True Light and any darkness made him angry. He hated tyrants, sin, and the devil, but mostly... Read more

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. Starting on Christmas Eve, we have seen cosmic things, dazzling things. The Word that creates the world becomes a man. True Light comes to a cave and Light from Light is found in a manger. Angels proclaim and wisemen are coming. This is a lot. In the midst of his own proclamation of the Incarnation, Saint John seems to pause. Saint John begins to talk about John, not himself,... Read more

And the light shone through in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Christmas is just starting, though the sales people have moved on.  Visit your Costco today and you cannot refresh your decorations, because they have snuffed out Christmas in their store. Scrooges always try this: Perhaps, Scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the Spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered.... Read more

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. Life and light are one. If there were not light, there would be no life. Light is energy. That is true of physical light, but also of metaphysical light. Physical things make other physical things, but Mind cannot come from matter. We have consciousness to grasp the stuff and do something with it. We need reason, love, passions in order to be creative agents. We are animals, but not... Read more

All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. If you are a Christian, then everything is created. This is much different than everything being an accident. A Mind stood at the start, created, looked, and said: “Good.” That’s different than my looking at chaos that produced law-like regularity and finding goodness in it. The goodness I find is real, but not basic to the cosmos. If this is the way things... Read more

The same was in the beginning with God. God is born a man today in Bethlehem and no pagan or atheist or any other religion has managed a feast so glorious and Christmas is just a warmup to Easter if you are a Christian! Advent (with a dispensation for Americans on Thanksgiving) had us fasting, but now the feast is commanded. We need a little Christmas and so we are about to get twelve days of feasting. The Church is gloriously... Read more

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This was unexpected to pagans, anticipated by philosophers, but still abstract. Whatever Hesiod and Homer meant by “chaos” (and scholars debate), they did not think the universe had a plan or purpose. We exist, but that is an accident. We live, our fate controlled by forces far outside our control. If we are happy at death, we are lucky. If our souls continue... Read more