MOVING!!!

Good Day to all Readers,

Although I am aware that this blog is only a few weeks old, I am moving to a new location and what I hope will be a better, more interesting and more diverse blog called The Fullness of Truth and located at: radosmiksa.blogspot.com. Please come and join me there and we should have an excellent time. (Please note that many of these posts will be moved to the new blog.)

Thank you,

RD Miksa

Koan #40: Papal Inspiration

It is a simple fact. If God could inspire the writing of words from certain individuals to be true and perfect in their teachings, then He could inspire the speaking of words from certain individuals to be true and perfect in their teachings. Thus the idea of papal inspiration and infallibility should be no great stretch of faith for any Believer. And even more so, it would be arguably desired by God to ensure the doctrinal unity of the Faith and the explication of God-given morals to changing and developing social conditions. Thus the idea of papal infallibility cannot be denied from the fact that it could not be done nor can it be denied from the fact that it would not be done, as its written parallel already has been done. Let no non-Catholic Believer, therefore, deny it for such reasons, and if they do, let them re-evaluate such a position immediately and honestly if they wish to stay true to Christian truth.

Koan #40: Criticizing the Crusades

It is often the case that many Unbelievers and Misunderstanders, in their quest to discredit the Faith in any manner possible, criticize the Crusades as an example of Christian injustice and evil. Yet while it is both possible and true to criticize the actions of individual Crusaders with such a claim—and as all men are fallen sinners, which Catholicism preaches and teaches, such evil individual actions are not only not unexpected, but inevitable—the Unbelievers and Misunderstanders cannot justifiably criticize the Crusades as a whole with such sweeping claims. For it takes only a moment of historical study to realize that the Crusades were waged primarily to defend Christendom, through a strategic counter-attack, from hundreds of years of Islamic military expansion, aggression and murder—which, it might be added, would continue for many hundreds of future years—making the Crusades both just and necessary. And thus, in the same manner as one might criticize the actions of individual Allied soldiers during the Second World War as evil, but cannot justifiably criticize the Second World War as a whole as such—which was also waged primarily to defend the Western World from Axis expansion, aggression and murder—so too can the Crusades, as a strategic defensive action, not be so easily claimed as evil by anyone with a modicum of historical and moral sense.

Koan #39: Ending Every Prayer

For a man’s own soul, what can be more important than prayer? Indeed, the Lord instructs the Faithful to pray and even to ask for those things that they desire from Him. And yet, it is with a certain modicum of disappointment that it must be noted that most Believers possess a unique ability to forget the most important part of any prayer: ...but Lord, Thy Will be Done. Truly, no prayer can be seen as faithful if such an ending—whether uttered in voice or attitude—is not wholly and fully and completely embraced, for from it, all of a Believer’s true desires show forth. And thus it cannot be disputed: a Believer’s prayer is no true prayer without this.

Koan #38: Deceit and the Church

It is a most remarkable phenomenon to listen and read those that are deeply virulent and hateful in their attacks against the Catholic faith and the Church that protects it. Indeed, it is remarkable precisely because the attacks used are so often full of conscious distortions, exaggerations, misunderstandings, distractions, misinformation, half-information, dishonest omissions and at times, out-right and blatant lies; all of which are proven to be verifiably false with just a slight amount of investigative acumen. Yet what this fact raises is an even more fascinating point. For why, if the Catholic faith and its Church are such an easy target to defeat—as its opponents claim—must these distortions, exaggerations and falsehoods be employed? Why, if the Church and its claims and its teachings require no strong effort to crush, cannot the simple, plain and honest truth be employed in the task of doing so? Why is the extra tool of dishonesty used by all, from Unbelievers to Believing Dissenters, if the bare, pure and unadorned truth should suffice to discredit the Church? Perhaps—and an unwilling and unwanted explanation it will be for many—it is because this naked truth does not suffice to defeat the Church and what it teaches. Perhaps it is because if the full truth was actually spoken, it would bring people to the Church rather than push them away from it. And perhaps it is because the truth clings more tightly to the Church, than to any of its opponents. Thus in sum, these facts, if nothing else, show much concerning the “truth” that the opponents of the Church use, but even more, these facts show much concerning the actual Truth surrounding the Church herself.

Koan #37: Inane Trivialities

It is truly a strange and distressing phenomenon, that Man will spend an inordinate amount of time—his most precious resource—discussing the most inane trivialities, but not even grant a moment of reflection for that which may affect Him eternally. Pray that one is not such a man!

Koan #36: Changing the World

It is the sign of a well-intentioned, but naive and unreflective mind, of those that state that they wish to “change the world.” For truly, “changing” the world is by no means a difficult thing, nor is it necessarily desired, as many evil men have indeed changed it. What is difficult, by contrast, is to change one‘s self—with God’s grace—both consciously and specifically from a proclivity towards evil to an intense revulsion towards it, thus striving for a moral perfection and holiness not often seen. And in doing this simple, yet certainly not easy thing, the world would be immeasurably changed in a manner both worthy and deserving of change.

Koan #35: The Self-Described Sceptic

A major problem with many self-claimed sceptics is that they tend only to be sceptical about the things that they wish to be sceptical about, which rarely includes themselves or their own beliefs, and which means, quite simply, that as opposed to actually being sceptical, they are just biased. Let no Believer therefore, be awed nor cower in the face of any man that calls himself a sceptic. For this trait of unconscious bias rather than real scepticism is more prevalent than not in any self-described sceptic, and until it is determined otherwise, such a suspicion should be the de facto position of the Believer towards any such sceptic. And let the sceptic who labels himself as such truly ask himself how far his scepticism reaches and whether it actually touches those things that he holds as desirable and wishful to him, for if not, then he bathes in an undeniable intellectual hypocrisy.

Koan #34: Christ is Not Nice

Let it always be noted and remembered, for it is often strategically denied by some Believers while simultaneously being tactically abused by certain Unbelievers, that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed not a friendly, refined, polite, mannerly, agreeable, nice, accommodating, tolerant or pleasing individual! He is a loving individual, and this is a distinction and difference of the highest order, changing the entire manner to how He should and must be understood. For truly, a loving man may still rage against the injustice caused by others, while the polite and mannerly and nice may not wish to show such raw emotion, no matter what the circumstances. And a loving man may bloodily sacrifice himself for others, while the refined and friendly and tolerant may not consider such a thing as necessary. And indeed, a loving man may accept, however painfully, that there are those that want nothing to do with him nor do they wish to be in his presence no matter what he does, and thus, respecting their desires, the loving man keeps himself separate from them, whereas the accommodating, agreeable and pleasing man may not do so, no matter how much tension and bitterness and eventual hatred such an accommodation would bring festering forth. Let no Believer, therefore, ascribe to Christ any feeble attributes that he does not hold, but let them proclaim the radical love that he is, and practice it faithfully.

Koan #33: Different Saints Different

Even though those prone to moral equivocation will certainly and erroneously disagree—although they have only to read the very primary source materials that they claim they have read to see their error—the most interesting, clear, profound and plain difference between Christian fanaticism and Islamic fanaticism is that the Christian fanatic is called a saint while the Islamic fanatic is called a suicide bomber. Undeniably, in man’s most recent times, the Christian fanatic is a Mother Theresa while the Islamic equivalent is an Osama Bin Laden. With this in mind, the Faithful must never allow such equivocators any quarter, lest the equivocators spread their fallacies to further unwary minds.

Koan #32: The Seed of Wisdom

The first seed of wisdom is to realize that full wisdom does not, and cannot, truly rest in any wholly human man.

Koan #31: The Truth of Abstinence

It is often touted by Her detractors, that when speaking of the Holy Church’s teaching on sexual control through abstinence, that this approach “simply does not work.” Yet it takes no great thought to know that abstinence does, of course, work completely and fully; it is, indeed, totally effective. But of course what such critics mean—in their twisting of words—is that abstinence is simply too difficult to do, thus clearly demonstrating that its “failure” is a failure of the individual’s will, not of the technique itself. And thus only the fool can claim that a failure of will is the same as a failure of technique, which simply reinforces the Church’s teaching on the most effective technique of sexual control. Truly, let one thus be frank with such opponents: abstinence has not been tried and determined defective, but rather, it has been found taxing and thus not tried.

Koan #30: God will Ask How

Let the personally and professionally down-trodden, discouraged and disappointed always remember: when one must account for one’s self before God, He will, without doubt, ask how one did the things he did in his life before he asks what one did in his life. Therefore stand firm to the understanding that how one does what one does is most certainly of greatest importance than the what itself, for God is happier with a compassionate kitchen-hand than a conceited king. Truly, it is no accident that the Lord chose to be born into a family of labourers! Thus again, remember this the next time despair and disappointment are felt about one’s position and place in this life, for even if one cannot change what he does, he can change how he does it.

Koan #29: Desiring is the Key

The question of what is the most important ingredient in one’s faith is too often misunderstood by the unfaithful. For what the key to faith is, is hope (Hebrews 11:1). And what is hope but a desire for a thing? And this is indeed the key to faith, for it is the desiring aspect of one’s faith which is what God’s deeply wishes to receive from his creatures, not mere belief in Him nor simple knowledge of Him--for even the demons know and believe in the Lord (James 2:19). For it is only with a desire for God that one can wish to reach out in obedience to Him, for obedience is both the path to Him (John 15:10) and the requirement for God to make Himself known to the one desiring Him (John 14:21-23). Thus let any Unbeliever, or any wavering Believer who desires God but fears the loss of his psychological grasp of the faith, obey that which God desires and the truth shall remain with him.

Koan #28: A Simple Choice

If one wishes to determine whether he desires heaven or hell, he has but to answer a simple question. What is more important to one’s self: freedom or suffering? For no freedom and no suffering is the state that is heaven, while freedom and suffering is the state that is hell. And truly, the decision is as straightforward as this. Yet as straightforward as it is, there can be no more important one.

Koan #27: How to Preach the Good News

A Believer should preach the Gospel with his feet first, his hands second, his mouth third and his mind last. Let the Believer muse over this. And when he understands what it seeks to convey, he will see its truth reflected in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Koan #26: The Argument from Atheist Converts

It is often said by the most fervent of Unbelievers that there exist no good arguments for why they should believe and follow the Faith, with all that the Faith entails and espouses. In the spirit of discourse and charity, it is, therefore, desirable to present such arguments, as has been done for millennia, to these most fervently unbelieving of Unbelievers in the hopes of achieving at least some reflection on both sides. And this is just such an attempt, although please note that it is an argument that is both audience specific and done with one’s tongue firmly in his cheek. Yet one must not digress. Thus, this particular argument for the Faith is known as the “Argument from Atheist Converts.” It carries forth as follows: 1. In recent years, and in western culture particularly, a rash of particularly vehement, ardent and evangelically vocal atheists have arisen. 2. These specific Unbelievers often claim that those that hold religious beliefs, and in particular Christianity, are the embodiment of a being that is irrational, emotive, unintelligent, non-“bright”, biased, unscientific, unreasonable, ridiculous, illogical and so forth (a further number of terms could be added, but the point is made). By contrast, the true Unbelievers of this age and culture are the embodiment of a being that is rational, un-emotive, intelligent, “bright”, objective, scientific, reasonable, serious, logical and so forth (again, a further number of terms could be added, but the point is made). 3. With this in mind, it follows that if anyone converts from unbelief to the Faith, then this conversion has great weight, value and assistive/authoritative proof for the strength, validity and worth of arguments made for the Faith, for how could an epitome of rationality, un-emotiveness, intelligence, “brightness”, objectivity, scientific literacy, reasonableness, seriousness and logicalness by converted by anything but the most powerful of arguments and evidence. By contrast, the conversion of a Believer to unbelief is nothing special, powerful or significant, for how could the conversion of an epitome of irrationality, emotiveness, unintelligence, non-“brightness”, bias, scientific illiteracy, unreasonableness, ridiculousness and illogicalness be significant or weight in favour of that particular view. It may, in fact, weaken it as it has been adopted by one with such weak mental facilities. 4. This means, therefore, that either the vehemently arrogant Unbeliever must concede the exponentially greater importance of the conversion of an Unbeliever to belief in contrast to the opposite, and thus the strength of the arguments, facts and evidence that converted such a Unbeliever, or the vehemently arrogant Unbeliever must concede that Unbelievers are not the hyper-rational, totally objective, extremely logical, etc. individuals that the latter so often claimed they are, but are rather subject to the same mental and psychological biases and issues that affect all persons. 5. This then naturally leads to the concession that the Unbelievers claimed objectivity and bias-free-truth-seeking focus in assessing the arguments for the Faith and its entailments are fallacious and unwarranted; they therefore hold no more weight than the Believer’s assessment of the same arguments. 6. Nor can this argument simply be dismissed by the Unbeliever through the claim that the converted Unbeliever simply became irrational and illogical instantly upon conversion, for how can one change so suddenly and momentarily from being the epitome of rationality and reason to its exact and extreme opposite. Such a claim is absurd and just demonstrates the emotional and mental protective barriers that such Unbelievers create for themselves to protect their psyches from the possibility that they are in error. Nor can the Unbeliever claim that the converting Unbeliever was never a “real” Unbeliever—entailing all the traits mentioned above—to begin with, for doing so commits the so-called “No True Scotsman” fallacy, a fallacy with Unbeliever so often use against those of the Faith. Let it therefore be realized, even though it must be granted that many already do, that the Unbeliever in no more rational or objective or logical than the Believer, nor do his assessments of the arguments for the Faith hold any more weight than the Believer’s.

Koan #25: The Church is Not a Force for Good in this World

It is an issue often raised by both Unbeliever and Believer alike, though it is primarily the former that uses it as a form of attack against the latter. And the issue itself is whether the Catholic Church has, is and will be a force for good in the world. Upon first glance, such a question may indeed seem interesting and intellectual, if not down-right critical to answer. Yet it only takes a further moment of actual reflection to see just what an inappropriate and twisted—even foolish—question that this is. Why? For the Catholic both knows and has been warned (John 15:18-25) that those that do not believe in the Church or follow her, will view what She teaches as “good for the world” as bad and what She teaches as “bad for the world”, they will see as good. Indeed, the world shall hate the Church, as the Church has been told, for what She holds morally dear. Therefore the Catholic can never convince the Unbeliever of the Church’s goodness in this world until he convinces the same Unbeliever to actually see and agree to the true good that the Church teaches. Till this is achieved, all that the Catholic states as good for the world will be seen as its reverse, or at the very least, it will be seen in a misaligned manner, rendering the Unbeliever’s view of it naturally skewed. And furthermore, as this world is fallen and as the men in it are wounded in conscience, it is no surprise that Catholicism and its teachings and its actions will be viewed as bad rather than good, for it presents a light that pierces through a darkness that does not wish to be penetrated, and even detests the light for its illuminating work. Let the Catholic thus be comforted in the knowledge that when any Unbeliever intones that the Church is not but a force for evil and pain in this world, it is simply confirming what the Catholic should expect, and consequently, it should serve to actually strengthen the Believer’s faith, not deteriorate it.

Koan #24: Why Koans

Why Koans? A Koan is a path to reflection. Reflection is a path to wisdom. Wisdom is a path to truth. And truth is Christ, who is the path to love. This is why Koans.

Koan #23: Love Above Knowing

Remember that to our Loving Lord and Just Judge, there exists a chasm of difference between the man who states “I do not know if God exists, but I would not love Him if He does” and thus disobeys the dictates of his God-given conscience, and the man who states “I do not know if God exists, but I would love Him if He does” and thus obeys the dictates of that very same God-given conscience. For truly, the key is in the love, not in the knowing. Let both Unbelievers and Believers be aware of this fact and make their decision about its truth wisely.

Koan #22: Arguing with Straw

The creation of arguments from little but straw! It is something that every one of the Catholic Faithful must watch for, and must not commit himself, lest he be hypocritical in his quest to bring truth to others. Yet it is also a thing that is often seen in the arguments presented by Unbelievers for their denial of the divine and by non-Catholics for their denial of the Faith. All of these claim to be putting forth arguments of intellectual rigour and strength, but are often, when inspected closely and exactly, simply making arguments of straw. They subtly twist meanings, definitions, words and phrases in the most inconspicuous of manners in order to fallaciously bolster the effectiveness of their argumentation or they argue against the weakest formulation of the Believer’s argument rather than the strongest one. Thus they argue against illusions rather than reality. Let the Believer, then, be both aware and leery of this truth. And let him assess any argument against the Faith or its Lord slowly, methodically and precisely, for fear that if he does not do so, he may be caught unaware of a hidden and fallacious straw, which if missed, would give the argument more weight than it is due.

Koan #21: Too Little Suffering

It is always interesting to note that, in countless cases, those that use the so-called “Problem of Evil and Suffering” as their prime reason for unbelief in the Lord, are, by and large, the very same that live in regions of the greatest comfort, leisure and ease on earth, where their tangible suffering and pain is vastly minimized, sanitized and removed from the public eye. By contrast, those that are actually suffering in ways unfelt and likely even unimagined by the latter group have no uncertainties about the Divine Creator’s existence. Perhaps then, those that have such a problem with the Problem of Evil should, in fact, experience some truly hard evil to see just what their exact and full view on the question of God might be after such a practical and honest trial.

Koan #20: Science or Scientists

Is the Faith at war with science? Should the Faith fear science? Does the Faith contradict science? Of course not. Is the truth at war with truth? Should the truth fear truth? Does the truth contradict truth? How absurd! Yet wait, for the Faith is at war with some scientists. And the Faith should fear some scientists. And the Faith indeed contradicts some scientists. This cannot be denied. Let the Faithful therefore, be wary of the scientist himself, not the tool he uses, just as the Faithful should be wary of all men in this fallen world. For the scientist is not immune from the biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, follies, faulty interpretations, partialities, preconceived notions, foregone conclusions, presuppositions, wilful blindness, emotional manipulations, unconscious predispositions, and evidentiary favouritisms that influences all men. And thus let the Faithful remain vigilant against any man and his words, whether he be one of science or not.

Koan #19: All Must Change

What is often scorned as too difficult and unnecessary by many an Unbeliever, ignored by many a hypocritical Believer, and imperfectly attempted by the true Faithful, is the understanding, knowledge and acceptance of this fact: when one chooses to pick up his Catholic Cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then this changes everything. And it is not merely enough to say this one word, for its use is often employed but rarely fully elucidated. So what does “changing everything” mean in practical and direct terms? It means that the Believer must change: what he thinks about the Divine; what he listens to; how he listens to what he listens to; what he believes about his future life; what he watches; how he watches that which he has chosen to watch; what he reads; how he reads it; what he speaks about; how he articulates his words; what he debates; how he debates; how he deals with the political sphere; what he studies; how he studies it; what he thinks; how he thinks about it; what he questions; how he brings forth those questions; the morals that he holds dear; how he socializes with the world; who he socializes with in this world; where he socializes; what he socializes about when he does socialize; where he goes; how he uses his time; how he spends his money; how he treats the poor; the virtues that he develops; how he deals with strangers; the vices that he rejects; how he views suffering; how he interacts with his spouse; how he treats his children; how he sees the world; how he cares for himself; how he creates and arranges his personal priorities; the ethics that he applies; what he thinks about the human person; what he believes about his very existence; how he views the supernatural; how charitable he is; how materialistic he is; the philosophies he subscribes to; the work that he chooses; how he conducts himself in public; how he completes the work that he has chosen; how he feels; if he fasts; how he sees himself alone in the dark; how he thinks of human nature; how he thinks of good and evil; if he even believes in good and evil; how he controls and directs his emotions; how he views the environment; what he drinks; what he teaches his children; what he wears; what he eats; if he prays; how he walks and a further list of endless things. Now it was no doubt tedious to read such a list—incomplete though it is—as it may have been believed that such things were already known, and perhaps they were, but it is necessary to see them written forth, so that a full realization of the extent of the change required is plainly seen. Let the future Believer be ready for this. Let the current Believer practice it. And let the one who fears it or finds it foolish turn his back and walk away.

Koan #18: Can Protestantism Even Be True

It is incumbent on the Protestant, who claims to hold to Christian truth, to wonder if there truly is truth in Protestantism. For if there can only be one truth of Christian, doctrine, dogma and theology, and with approximately 140 different Protestant denominations in existence, the question of course becomes: which one holds the truth? Are more than one true? Are some partially true? Are any true? And how does the Protestant, ultimately basing his choice on his own interpretation of scripture, in the end know that his choice is true? Even more importantly, how does he ultimately know that his very interpretation is true, especially in light of so many others of the Protestant vein that sincerely believe the opposite? And if Protestants can be so confused about what Christian truth actually is, then how do they square this with the Christian’s knowledge that God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33)? And if the Church is the bulwark and pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:15), then how can such truth be contained in the contradictions and doctrinal differences of all the various Protestant denominations? Catholics, by contrast, are one in doctrine and teaching, and such problems of division do not exist there. And certainly the Catholic Church, being of one doctrine, is not the author of confusion. And certainly the Catholic Church, being one body, is not divided. And certainly the Catholic Church, being the teacher of one faith, can hold the Christian truth. And thus perhaps the Catholic Church, being as it is of one body, one doctrine, one faith and one truth, is indeed the very Church that Christ founded on earth. It is truly something the every Protestant should contemplate deeply.

Koan #17: Standing Tall in the Public Square

It is often told to Believers that their views deserve neither attention nor consideration within the public square, as such views and opinions stem only from subjective religious sentiments that do not deserve deliberation in the realm of “reason” and “rationality”. Yet the Christian, and more specifically the Catholic faith, is no less objective, respectable and valuable than any secular perspective, for is not the Catholic worldview based on historical facts, philosophical arguments, logical formulations, legitimate ethical outlooks, deep traditions, civilizational importance, cultural clout and social significance? Indeed it is, making it as worthy of discourse and consideration—if not more so—than any other social, cultural, political or secular worldview. Let those of the Faith, therefore, remember this fact, and never permit themselves to be pushed from secular discourse or from the public square by such a disingenuous, thoughtless and carelessly developed argument as this one, which may indeed be met when interacting with the world at large.

Koan #16: Modern Man's Moral Merit

It is a sick truism of modern man’s current culture, that he has more qualms about boiling such a thing as a lobster than tearing apart the body of an unborn human being, which indicates much of his moral stature and cultural worth. Yet the hope is that he shall soon correct his ways, lest nature and God do so for him.

Koan #15: Too "Wise" to See God

All too often, it is only the “wise” intellectual who can confuse himself enough, and then rationalize this confusion, not to see the hand of God in this world.

Koan #14: Destroying One's Self Slowly

One of the Devil’s and his demons’ greatest and most cunning tricks is to convince men to occupy their time with banalities, stupidities and trivialities—a task that men, it must be admitted, also do quite well on their own and without any additional assistance. In doing so, the Great Deceiver and his legions ensure that even though such men are not using their time to reflect upon him, at the same time such men are also not using their time to reflect on Him: the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, through sheer facileness, personal indifference and self-imposed sloth, another soul is lost. One should not, therefore, engage in continuous banalities, lest it destroy one slowly, albeit as effectively as any sudden transgression.

Koan #13: Mere Christianity Meagre

It is often commendable and indeed necessary to approach an argumentation for the Christian faith using a tactic and method that employs the idea of “mere” Christianity, as it is often called, and which means the use of common doctrines and theologies that are generally accepted and acceptable by all Christian denominations, rather than denomination specific ones. Yet though as necessary as this may be at times, the Catholic Believer must be wary of employing this strategy too often, for being in possession of the fullness of Christian truth, the Catholic can avoid many of the pitfalls that arise for the theologies, doctrines and beliefs that plaque other Christian denominations but leave Catholicism untouched. Let the Catholic be guarded against this therefore, for mere Christianity is but a shadow compared to the full light of truth, which is what is truly needed to illuminate the dark corners of men’s souls.

Koan #12: Time and the Divine

What is most obvious to the wise, and thus still elusive to most men until it is too late for them, is that Man’s most precious resource is time, for from it all other things flow. Let one not, therefore, waste it on the trivial and the banal; the Believer especially must heed this, for not only is the Believer’s time accountable to the Almighty, it is also for the Almighty. Every moment can be used fruitfully and faithfully for Him in some manner. Thus the Believer’s time is doubly prized, for he knows both that it is precious and that it is for God, a combination of utmost importance. But by the same token, the Believer’s waste of this precious resource is doubly sinful, and he will be held accountable for any waste of it twofold. Let the Believer remember this and act on its truth.

Koan #11: How or What

If one places the “What” that one does in life above the “How” that one does it, then what chance is there of avoiding evil and embracing the good? For the individual that places the “How” below the “What” will thus necessarily sacrifice the former in order to achieve the latter. And this way can only lead to damnation.

Koan #10: Hell, Heaven & Earth

What is Hell but a place where one cries because no one is there that can be wholly consoling, yet where one is indeed left free to cry in any manner that one desires? What is Heaven, by contrast, but a place where one does not cry because there is the One who is wholly and completely consoling, yet where one is indeed not free to cry in manner whatsoever? And what is the Earth but a place where—through one’s repentance, faith and obedience—one must choose whether one’s main wish is to be free to cry or not. Thus, think deeply and choose wisely about one’s wish.

Koan #9: Truly Working for the Lord

When a Believer—be he a priest, apologist, theologian, monk, lay-man or other—can be happy and content, rather than spiteful and envious, of another that does the same task for the Lord as he does, yet does it better, then such a Believer can know that what he does, he truly does for the glory of God, rather than for his own. And it is arguably only such a Believer that can call himself faithful.

Koan #8: Was Full Faith Ever There

It is often said by certain previously-faithful Unbelievers that their de-conversion was based on research, argumentation and evidence; that they were committed to the Faith until they, quite simply, could no longer maintain it in the face of what they knew. Now, leaving aside the point that Unbelievers are as subject to the same subjective and emotional biases that they so often accuse Believers of, it is cogent to wonder just how faithful these claimed Believers were to the Faith that they left? Though seemingly insinuating insult, what is actually meant by this latter question is that as the Catholic faith has never claimed that true, firm and preserving belief can be had solely by an exercise of the intellect or through intellectual argumentation, did these individuals actually practice the methods advised by the Faith to develop lasting faith? Indeed, although initial faith can be created solely in the intellect, the Faithful are taught that lasting faith must be cultivated through obedience, good works, prayer, use of the sacraments, charity, an ability to control one’s emotional deviances and so on and so forth. These are things that cannot be done or practiced if one is overwhelmed with pure sensory or philosophical argumentation at the expense such other critical elements. Thus it is a wonder if such things were truly and fully done by the aforementioned Unbelievers’ when they de-converted—and only they and God can know the truth of this—but if they were not, then how can they claim to have had the Faith in the first place? How can they claim to have de-converted when they never truly converted in the first place? For how can one call himself a “convert” or “faithful” when he does not faithfully convert his life in all its elements to the Faith and its prescribed ways? And lest the Unbeliever accuse the Believer of holding an anti-evidentiary stance when he raises the objection articulated here, it must be made clear that this is not the case, for evidence of the sensory and philosophical variety are admittedly necessary for faith, but they are by no means sufficient for it or its maintenance. Indeed, one may think of it in this manner: A man may consciously and intellectually love his wife, but he must also show his love in his actions, respond to her requests, demonstrate his affection in his words to her, sacrifice for her, accept the responsibility and guilt for the errors and faults committed against her, express this love visibly to others, make her a prime priority in his life, practice what he believes about her, spend time and energy on her, love her even when disagreement and disagreeability exists and so on and so forth if his love is to be true, stay strong and actually be love, rather than just a shadowy sentiment of it. A man who does not do such things, but still professes to love his wife in intellect, will soon have a wife who wishes for separation—as God very well might wish of one who “knows” of him, but does not show it or do what He asks—and a mind that wonders if he ever did truly love her to begin with. The Believer, then, can be no different if he is to have a true and lasting love with and for God.

Koan #7: Cross or Crescent or Sickle

Let the choice be clear to all, as history has arguably shown and continues to show, the future will either be one of the Cross or the Crescent or the Sickle. For only the Cross can convert the Crescent or the Sickle; only the Crescent can overwhelm the Sickle and the Cross; and only the Sickle can overtly squash the others. And while the Cross—it cannot be denied—has unjustly crucified some, the Crescent has decapitated many more and the Sickle has exterminated even more than this. Yet it also cannot be denied that the Cross has helped to birth the liberty, freedoms, dignity and strength of the most prosperous nations on earth, which are inseparable from the cultural, philosophical and social influences of that very Cross. Let all, therefore, pick their side carefully and make their choice wisely, for much depends on it and indeed, much will come from it for all men and their children.

Koan #6: What Are These Words

The Catholic Faith, in its majesty and scope, can and has filled a multitude of tomes, and thus this is but the best, though self-admittedly poor, attempt of a simple layman to do it justice by adding a few more pages to its truth.

Koan #5: The Ease of Accepting Deism

The fact that certain weak (in terms of the strength of their unbelief) Unbelievers are often willing to admit an ease at accepting a deistic god or divine force as opposed to an active-theistic one—as evidenced by so many that willingly self-identify as believing in the divine but being non-religious—tells one much concerning such Unbelievers’ real reasons for rejecting God as he is traditionally seen in the Faith...and it has little to do with philosophical considerations.

Koan #4: "Christianity" Defeated but Catholicism Untouched

While both understandable due to geographical and cultural considerations, yet still strange when considered, is the fact that numerous Unbelievers claim that they have lost their belief due to deficiencies and contradictions within elements of the “Christian” faith as a whole, while at the same time not realizing that what they have done is only discover deficiencies with the theological ideas and doctrines of certain Christian sects. And thus furthermore, they believe they have achieved this personal argumentative success against the totality of what is understood as Christianity without ever having investigated the doctrines, teachings and philosophies of Catholicism, the largest and oldest and original Christian denomination in the world, and yet they still believe that they have defeated Christianity as a whole. But does the boxing contender believe that he has become the champion after only defeating someone who is fifth or sixth in line to the belt, or does he only become champion after have defeated the champion? Of course the latter is true. Why then, do so many Unbelievers act like the former rather than the latter? It is thus a wonder if such an Unbeliever can truly believe that they have defeated Christianity with their partial and denomination specific arguments, or rather should they realize that they only have a right to think that they have defeated Christianity, when they have done nothing of the sort, as Catholicism still stands firm.

Koan #3: Only Christ as Certain Truth

Man, both Believer and Unbeliever alike, often intone that Man most important quest is his quest for truth; that knowing what is true is indeed of the utmost and critical importance. Yet it is a wonder—though many may be shocked by the forthcoming idea—whether truth can actually be known without Jesus Christ. For if Jesus Christ is the truth, as He claims to be, and this Living Truth told Man that Man could know Him, than Man can indeed know the totality of truth, as Man can know Christ, the full embodiment of truth. Thus, the truth is something that Christianity can offers in full. By contrast, it is a question if any other views can achieve this knowledge of full truth. The practitioners of the Eastern faiths, for example, who hold that the world is but an illusion, can never be truly sure that they have overcome this illusion, nor that their perceived overcoming of this worldly illusion is not simply a further illusion within the illusion. Thus their grasp for truth may be but a constant illusion. Those of Islam, as another example, with a God whose omnipotence surpasses all other traits, can never be sure of the truth, for their God can change that truth at will and whim. And finally, those holding to unbelief, who do not except or believe in Christ as Divine Lord and thus as truth, or in God at all, are left by their worldview not with truth in a full sense, but only with what they believe they perceive as truth. For such, not only does their exist no certainty of truth, but there does not even exist a possibility of certainty of truth, for all things are then simply perceived, reasoned and understood by faulty, frail and easily deceived—both by themselves and others—human beings, which arguably leaves a certainty of truth without Christ beyond reach.

Koan #2: Necessity of God

If God is not, then what is, for is Man’s thoughts are but simply the product of a random collision of atoms, particles and other matters and energies, then how can any man ever trust such a collision of simple chance to know what truly and actually is. And thus, even this thought would be an uncertainty, thus leading to sheer mental absurdity. Perhaps then, God is not only existent, but necessary for existence to even be known with truth and reliability, lest it be left in perpetual uncertainty.

Koan #1: Nothing New

What that is new can be added to the Truth? Nothing! All one can hope is that he utters something already known in a changed way or brings to light that which was already existent but veiled, and thus reaches the man who, though deaf to the old articulation, is, due to a change in word, tone or phrasing, receptive to the new. Let all these words then be this, and let the hope remain that they bring illumination to some that would otherwise remain in darkness.