This reflection comes out of many texts I read around St Valentine’s Day, when I read some people calling older single Catholics failures, saying such Catholics should have married young. Since they did not, they were told they were too picky, and it was their fault for being single now. Some even suggested such celibate Catholics ending up failing some sort of duty to be married and have children, and they failed because they were too selfish. There was no… Read more
February 21, 2016
Marian Reflections II: Mother of God (Part II)
February 21, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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Some might agree with what I have said in Part I about Jesus, that he is God who came in the flesh to be with us, but deny the logical consequent of that teaching, that is, deny saying Mary is the Mother of God. Why? God, they say, is not created. Therefore, God can have no mother. Since being a mother is tied with giving birth, the confusion here centers on the distinction between being born and being created. While… Read more
February 20, 2016
Marian Reflections II: Mother of God (Part I)
February 20, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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Despite the analysis and explanation which is to follow, it is important to point out from the start that the logical outcome of saying Jesus is God is to say that Mary is the Mother of God. To deny the title, Theotokos or Mater Dei, to Mary either leads a denial of the divinity of Jesus or to deny he was born of Mary, the former indicating a rejection of his divinity, the latter his humanity. Even in Scripture, this… Read more
February 18, 2016
After Aquinas, Palamas
February 18, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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In my previous post, I talked about how good followers of St. Thomas Aquinas should not feel confined to the letter of Aquinas’ writings, but rather, like Aquinas himself, put whatever was imperfect, the straw of conventions, to the fire, and emerge with the spirit that gives life, that is, to seek after the real core meaning of his teachings and not let the convention used to explain it get in the way of the truth[1]. What is true for… Read more
February 16, 2016
Follow Aquinas: Put His Works to the Flame
February 16, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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Near the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas had a mystical experience. He had an encounter with God which literally left him speechless. It shook up to the core of his being. He felt that what he had written, in relation to what he learned from it, was meaningless, useless straw which was worthy of being put to flames. He didn’t want to write any more, and despite the pleas of friends and colleagues, he did not finish his… Read more
February 14, 2016
Marian Reflections I: Mary Our Mother
February 14, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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Jesus, the God-man, looking down from the cross, saw his mother and the beloved apostle, John, standing there beside him. As the perfect follower of the law, Jesus always acted as a good son, honoring and loving his precious mother (cf. Ex. 20:12). Mary was there beside her son, her heart pierced as she watched in sorrow his painful death on the cross.[1] Seeing his mother having no one else there to comfort her, no children to take care of… Read more
February 12, 2016
God Is Nothing To Love
February 12, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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As we seek God, the closer we get to him, the further it seems we are from actually knowing him. This is because the great, transcendental nature of God is such that he is beyond anything which our minds can comprehend – try as we might, we end up following the words of the Psalmist, by saying, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it” (Ps.139:6 RSV). The ways of God, likewise, transcend us…. Read more
February 11, 2016
Give a Word
February 11, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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Tathāgata theology, Having gone, silence. Tathāgata theology, Having come, silence. Hear the word, Beyond silence. Speak the word, Beyond silence. Tathāgata, having come and gone, Speak to God. Tathāgata, having come and gone, Speak about Nothing. Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook: A Little Bit of Nothing Read more
February 10, 2016
To Be Guided by Moon and Flower
February 10, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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This morning, as a part of the ongoing research for a book I am writing, I read a short work on the Japanese aesthetic approach known as Wabi-Sabi before taking up and reading from a collection of poems by the poet Ryōkan Taigu.[1] One of the first poems of the collections struck me almost immediately. Its sensibility was related to a major theme of my work. The world, and all that is in it, is beautiful. The reason why we… Read more
February 9, 2016
Tolkien and Kullervo
February 9, 2016 By Henry Karlson
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It has long been known that the story of Kullervo from the Finnish legendarium, the Kalevala, played an important role in the early development of J. R. R. Tolkien’s own legendarium. The Kullervo cycle in the Kalevala served as a foundation for the tragic character of Túrin Turambar in The Silmarillion. There has been for some time a debate as to the kind of influence Kullervo had on Tolkien. It was not until recently that most Tolkien scholars got a… Read more
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