Hello world! — And Please Help Me Get Drunk!

Hello, and welcome!

I am so thrilled to be blogging here on Patheos. I guess the first thing to talk about is the name of this blog: “Inebriate Me.”

The line comes from the Anima Christi, a very popular prayer that I feel strongly about.

It starts like this:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ’s side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Do not let me be separated from Thee

I like the Anima Christi because it’s such a Christological, vivid prayer. “Within Thy wounds hide me/Do not let me be separated from Thee” It is a prayer to the Man-God Jesus. It is about touching, tasting, hugging Jesus, unto the Cross.

It’s also a prayer that’s closely associated to the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises which have been a big source of spiritual life for me.

I chose this line, specifically, because it’s perhaps the effect of Christ’s grace that’s most overlooked, and perhaps most important: Christ, make me drunk on your grace.

To get drunk is to get happy. It’s also to get a little reckless. It’s also to be–and it’s not good with earthly wine, but with spiritual wine…–addicted. Blood of Christ, inebriate me! I want to get drunk on God’s grace.

And the image I used for the logo of the blog is from Salvador Dali’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross, which might be my favorite Crucifixion painting. This is what I want to get drunk on. A Cross that transcends space and time and opens up new vistas.