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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #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.