Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
This weekend I went camping with a few friends at the Shenandoah National Park. I considered attempting a number of pseudo-spiritual exercises like fasting the entire weekend, reading religious texts and reflecting, meditating, taking solo walks, etc. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of those things. Most of the time, I was doing something with the
Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned. – Qur’an 21:35 I’m beginning to think that all religions have elements of Stoicism in their teachings. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam teaches that God is all-knowing, and knows past present and
I’m finding that one of the toughest things about Epicureanism is that it doesn’t seem to offer any solution to what I believe is my fundamental problem: a lack of meaning in my day-to-day life. Epicurean philosophy is very smart about what brings us pain and what brings us pleasure. It provides a solid analytical
Over the past year I’ve become a fan of the Mr. Money Mustache blog. Mr. Money Mustache (not his real name) is a former engineer who retired at age 30. He didn’t win the lottery or sell a company for billions of dollars. He simple lived far below his means, invested in index funds, and
One of the readings at Mass yesterday told the story of “The Temptation of Jesus.” Jesus fasts in the desert for 40 days and the devil makes him three offers. He asks Jesus to use his powers to turn stone into bread. Jesus refuses. The devil asks Jesus to jump off the roof a temple
Though I’m sure I will get a strong reaction from some of you, I have to admit something: I like country music. I used to hate it, but then a friend of mine would constantly play it on his radio and over time, the genre grew on me. I was listening to the radio the
I only have eight ice baths to take for my month of Stoicism. They have not gotten easier or harder after the first week. There are some minor variations in water temperature, but overall I’ve gotten used to them. I know what to expect, and I could probably continue them indefinitely. Though there are probably
My first week of Catholicism was fascinating. I really enjoy the combination of going to Mass everyday and performing the Ignatian Spiritual exercises. The former offers a communal setting where I can have an expert (the priest) interpret key Christian moral lessons, and the latter offers opportunities for deep reflection. Some thoughts when I look
I recently finished the outstanding book, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life by former Yale English Professor, William Deresiewicz. The book is his manifesto against the culture of (over)achievement that elite schools have developed over the past several decades. He rails against the production of future
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