Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
Over the past five days I’ve been working through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. The exercises ask you to read and pray on a passage from the Bible, and then reflect on a few specific questions. What does this look like when I do it? The night before I am supposed to conduct a specific exercise,
During Mass last night, I tried really hard to focus all my attention on the priest, the liturgical readings, and the homily. My concentration was interrupted, however, by the smell of someone’s flatulence. Yes, someone farted at Mass. At it wasn’t one of those farts that dissipates after a minute; this fart lingered for the
Mass I went to my first evening Mass last night at 10 PM. On a weeknight, I’m usually in bed by then so I hope God gives me extra points for my good deed. I’m glad I did. It was energizing, and a nice way to cap off the night. This particular Mass is held
I went to my second Mass today. Well, I tried to, but it was canceled due to President’s Day. The four of us who were at the chapel felt we should get credit for trying. Because Mass was canceled today, I did the next best thing, I read the liturgical reading for today and Googled
Today, I attended my first Mass. Well, that’s not actually true. I’ve been to Mass before with a friend, but this is the first time I went alone. One of the reasons I want to attend Mass every day is because it’s full of rituals that are hard to make sense of. As I expected,
My experience with Christianity is limited. I attended an International Christian School (this one, actually) as a child, and as a child, I was certainly a Christian because, well, that was the only religion I knew about. I also had a childish idea of what it meant to have faith and “be saved”. I remember
I took my final ice bath and completed my Stoicism month yesterday. There were no balloons or anything, but I celebrated the occasion quietly in my mind. I think Seneca would approve. Did my month of ice baths and negative visualization help me achieve tranquility and greater appreciation for the present? It’s hard to say.
As of yesterday, I am down to one remaining ice bath I need to take before my Stoicism month is over. Once again, the ice bath itself was uneventful. Let’s talk about that term “uneventful.” It implies that you have an expectation of something happening, something out of the ordinary. If you go to your
I wrapped up my final, full week of ice baths yesterday. The ice baths have a strong calming effect. I was in a bit of a rush yesterday because I had a bunch of things to do and not much time to do it (including my ice bath). Once I got in, I didn’t worry
I had the apartment to myself this weekend, which means after my ice bath on Saturday I decided to party it up. And by party it up, I mean watch Netflix movies and eat Buffalo wings by myself. Yes, I am an old man at the age of 25. I watched a few movies, The