A short post. For a change.
Unless and until the dictionary folk decide to redefine the term in keeping with the dictates of the left, abide can be a transitive verb meaning
1: a: to bear patiently: TOLERATE
b: to endure without yielding: WITHSTAND
2: to wait for: AWAIT
or an intransitive verb meaning
1: to remain stable or fixed in a state
2: to continue in a place: SOJOURN
Now, it is axiomatic that the Dude abides, but in various ways and in diverse circumstances throughout history -- and, in the archetypal sense, throughout metahistory.
Genuine abiding is always in the context of a sojourn, which is to say, a spiritual journey, and this journey is ultimately the return to God, i.e., to the ultimate principle that ties the cosmos together.
In the Hebrew Bible, the most extreme case of patience in the face of unchecked aggression is in the book of Job. Despite being a blameless and upright dude, he enters a world of pain, only for things to work out pretty good in the end.
There is a great deal of abiding in the New Testament as well, especially in John:
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Because some of the apostles were out of their element, Jesus explained further:
I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John writes that although "the world is passing away," "he who does the will of God abides forever." Likewise, Peter says pretty much the same thing, that the word of God "lives and abides forever." This implies that abiding is the nexus of time and eternity.
Now, one of the four cardinal virtues is fortitude. However, there is the active fortitude required to, say, check the aggression of worthy adversaries in a war without rules, but there is also a passive form of fortitude that is not to be confused with pacifism, the latter being just a nihilistic pose for fragile people with emotional problems to hide behind. Am I wrong?
As it pertains to the interior sojourn, Fr. Reginald explains that the virtue of patience
is the most frequent form under which fortitude of the soul is exercised in the vexations of life.
In the tournament of life, there are the inevitable ups and downs, strikes and gutters, but both forms of fortitude helps us to "to bear the evils of life with equanimity of soul" and "ascend toward the same summit."
Conversely, "the impatient man, no matter how violent he may be, is a weak man." Though he may claim to be perfectly calm -- even calmer than you are -- "when he raises his voice and murmurs, he really succumbs from the moral point of view."
Now, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is Holy Saturday, which Pope Benedict called a “'no man’s land' between the Death and the Resurrection." It seems that between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection is the abiding.
13 comments:
A blessed Resurrection Sunday to all the Raccoon family.
A blessed Resurrection Sunday to you too, Mushroom! And to everyone else, as well :)
there is also a passive form of fortitude that is not to be confused with pacifism, the latter being just a nihilistic pose for fragile people with emotional problems to hide behind.
Funny; very few people seem able to tell the difference between the two, from the outside. That is, they may assume that one who abides is precisely the kind of pacifistic personality that would make an easy target for mischief. Then when it blows up in their faces, they can't understand what just happened.
What happened on the day before the Resurrection? Anybody know? What was Jesus doing inside the tomb on that day?
This is a good post, I enjoyed an explication of "abide." It is a useful term.
Coincidentally one of my names is Abidenophilus; "one who loves to abide."
The sobriquet was on me bestowed because I notoriously settle in any given environment and when it comes time to depart, I do not want to leave. I wish to abide. I have failed to show up for flights.
"But sir, the project is over. We will need to leave Baku. Our next assignment has been scheduled."
"You go on ahead to the airport, I'll meet you there. Got some calls to make." Heh heh.
Oh well they keep paying because I do what I do what I do so well.....and I get to flaneur some more on their dime. There is so much "stuff" in any given place. I want to just know it all. Is that a crime?
President Biden has elements of the word embedded in his name. The way his name is pronounced incorporates a rhyming phonetic component. Buy-Den. Abiding. Not too much of a difference there.
Now does the President abide? He has been abiding in the White House, has he not?
Meanwhile another abides in exile. August is coming. Will it be a hot one?
Cordially, Abidenophilus Rex.
Happy Easter everyone🐰 Happy Easter Jesus.
Throw off your mortuary wrappings and come forth, literally and/or figuratively.
-Deep State Deputy
Lately I've been doing a deep dive into the so-called alt-right in order to find out what it's actually all about, apart from the usual prog libel and hysteria. I agree with and embrace a lot of their ideas, except they tend to be indifferent or hostile to Christianity. To the extent that a of Christians are useful idiots, one can hardly blame them.
Also, their biological reductionism seems metaphysically naive, despite obvious differences between the races. More generally, the rejection of universalism seems to me a non-starter. It just means endless conflict between races, with no way out.
Here was a website that attempted a fusion of Christianity and the alt right. Ono inawa shyo.
Having said that, someone needs to reconcile the two. Perhaps I'll try to tackle it.
More generally, I'm looking for a somewhat new direction for the blog. I've decided to retire from my day gig, so now I'll have leisure to rethink things from the ground up and the top down.
What is the point of this blog?
missed a word there: to the extent that a lot of Christians...
Re. alt right, I tend to agree but it also depends on who you consider alt right. Kind of interesting are some of the guys who started off as game theory/ pickup artist types who over time came to completely reject the lifestyle they were advocating after discovering (surprise!) that living a life of complete hedonism where all you do is manipulate people to get what you want from them is a shockingly empty and ultimately hellish way to live. They tend to have gone from complete hedonism to complete Christian traditionalism; to the extent they disagree with Christians, it's because they view churches as being overtaken by Leftism. Considering the levels of SJW-ism that can be seen at many churches these days, it's hard to disagree.
Thy do tend to hit the HBD Kool-aid pretty hard. Yes, there are variations within and between races, and yes, of course those do matter and have an effect on the cultures that result. Even so, up through the pre-Obama years, racism in America was pretty much dead, at least as much as it's ever been anywhere. Things weren't perfect, but they weren't bad. All the divisions brought about since then have been fomented not from within Americans, but from those who want to see us destroyed. Sadly, it seems to be working.
As to the point of the blog, does there have to be one?
There are a few things I don't get. The alt-right seem to agree with the Critical Race Theory lunatics that race is THE most important thing about a person. As a former liberal, I used to believe race was completely unimportant, whereas now I believe otherwise. It's certainly important for large populations, but the best policy is for the government to get out of the race business and to treat people as individuals. I couldn't care less is every single eminent mathematician is Asian, any more than I care if every NBA player is black. Nor do I care if my brain surgeon "looks like me," only he's the best brain surgeon.
Also, our greatest enemies are still white progs. To the extent that vibrant progs have any power, it is only because goodwhites have granted it to them in order to morally elevate themselves.
Exactly.
I'm reminded once again of our Unknown Friend; presented with two antinomies which in opposition both fail to adequately reflect reality, the truth must be somewhere supported by each.
Christian pacifism is a tough call, requiring more than a fair amount of wisdom. While still it it’s infancy, pacifistic Christians were easily scapegoated by Nero. Yet they then observed the courageous Judeans being slaughtered, enslaved and looted after rightfully trying to defend themselves against Roman domination. Myself, I seek out inspirational anecdotes where ones own faith, and of course faith inspired wisdom, overcame malicious adversity against the odds.
Christian martyrdom and pacifism are by no means synonymous.
As to the blog having a point, it might be an interesting change of pace after 15 years of applied pointlessness. Or, if not a point, at least a coherent perspective, so that if someone asks what the point is, one could answer in a sentence or two: "Christian Dudeism," or "Alt Light," or "Commonsense Esoterism," or "Metaphysical Normalcy," or something.
Fair enough. I kind of like "Christian Dudeism," it says a lot in two words. "Alt Light" seems too vague and implies... well, something kind of wishy washy. Like "Light rock," but with politics.
I like "metaphysical normalcy", as well. Maybe better than Dudeism, It sounds more grounded in something real.
But that's just, like, my opinion.
Completely unrelated, is Ace's page working today? I can't get it to load.
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