Chapter 1: Chapel, not Babel

Much love & peace to y'all!

I've been busy with working as a 7th Grade English Teacher and I've also been taking 2 online Classical Studies MA classes through Villanova University, so I haven't had as much time as I would like to craft & upload new videos-- but, thanks to some inspiration from Catlin Walton (a new friend), I'm starting this new series!

( https://www.strava.com/athletes/66960209 and https://www.strava.com/activities/9841825332 )

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Some more Post-Scripts:

#1 = I am constantly striving to become (e.g.) a more coherent thinker and (e.g.) a more peaceful person. I can empathize with doubting just about everything, and I am striving to go from the chaos of my internal Babel/Babble to the cosmos of Chapel (i.e. to rest in order). Setting aside addressing fascinating debates about Biblical inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy, and interpretation (etc), I want to say that I have found some forms of Universal Reconciliation to be super helpful for coping with the problems of evil, pain, suffering, etc. For more info, see my P.P.P.S. in https://deopatriaelitteris.wordpress.com/2023/01/27/hymn-huh-ep-1-universal-music-duck-dynasty-mr-paul-vander-klay-mr-c-michael-patton-mr-boethius/ . Please note that Universal Reconciliation doesn't automatically mean a moral relativism that promises 'get out of Hell-Jail free cards'; and it doesn't automatically mean religious pluralism either.

#2 = For every Narrative, it's helpful to remember that there's usually a Meta-Narrative happening; for every Context, it's helpful to recall that there's usually a Sub-Text happening. As a haunting rule of thumb, I suspect that even definitions and pictures fall very short-- that anything and anyone is grander than we may imagine. Yes, including you!

* St. Arnobius: "Syllogisms, enthymemes, definitions, and all those ornaments by which men seek to establish their statements, aid those groping for the truth, but do not clearly mark its great features. But he who really knows the subject under discussion, neither defines, nor deduces, nor seeks the other tricks of words by which an audience is wont to be taken in, and to be beguiled into a forced assent to a proposition. [...] A comparison of persons must be decided, not by vigour of eloquence, but by the excellence of the works which they have done." (See https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/06311.htm and https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/06312.htm )

* St. Anselm: "O Lord, thou art [...] a being greater than can be conceived" (See https://ccel.org/ccel/anselm/basic_works/basic_works.iii.xvi.html )

* Mr. G.K. Chesterton: "There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. [...] We might, no doubt, find it a nuisance to count all the blades of grass or all the leaves of the trees; but this would not be because of our boldness or gaiety, but because of our lack of boldness and gaiety. [...] The sense that everything is poetical is a thing solid and absolute; it is not a mere matter of phraseology or persuasion. It is not merely true, it is ascertainable." (See https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/470/pg470-images.html#chap03 )

#3 = According to BrainyQuote ( https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/martin_luther_140721?src=t_gospel ), the following quote is attributed to Dr. Martin Luther: "God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars." While I am aware that it seems he did not actually say those words ( https://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2020/02/transcendental-luther-god-writes-gospel.html ), don't you think that's still a lovely quote?

* Cue St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (See https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2015/06/04/canticle-of-brother-sun-and-sister-moon-of-st-francis-of-assisi/ ) & Gungor's "Brother Moon" tune (See https://youtu.be/X9hmrIXP3OE?si=tXgdJ5OSuioeVpVi )

#4 = Midland Classical Academy boldly says that "No grading system is perfect." ( https://www.mcaknights.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=389797&type=d&pREC_ID=883036 ) Also, Mr. Ryan Klein once wrote: "Grades do not seem like part of education, strictly speaking: they do not help students become better people. I only hope I minimize the presence of these distractions enough for students to focus on their real education." ( https://circeinstitute.org/blog/my-grading-does-not-teach-my-students/ ) Years ago, I was reading Mr. David Backer's piece on 'Socialist Grading' and I empathized with this sentiment: "As an educator, I feel most complicit with our exploitative economy in the moment when I assign my students a grade." ( https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:20210/datastreams/CONTENT/content ) I must assign grades for my job, and I am committed to being a gracious grader who encourages my students to improve, but it's hard for me to allow myself to rest in grace too.

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Thank y’all for being y’all!
♾😎🖖🏻🙏🏻♾