Jason E. Royle's Blog, page 15

Religious Affection

A person who has a knowledge of doctrine and theology only—without religious affection—has never engaged in true religion. Nothing is more apparent than this: our religion takes root within us only as deep as our affections attract it. There are thousands who hear the Word of God, who hear great and exceedingly important truths about themselves and their lives, and yet all they hear has no effect upon them, makes no change in the way they live.
 
The reason is this: they are not affected with what they hear. There are many who hear about the power, the holiness, and the wisdom of God; about Christ and the great things that he has done for them and his gracious invitation to them; and yet they remain exactly as they are in life and in practice.
 
I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine by hearing the Word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. No one ever seeks salvation, no one ever cries for wisdom, no one ever wrestles with God, no one ever kneels in prayer or flees from sin, with a heart that remains unaffected. In a word, there is never any great achievement by the things of religion without a heart filled with deep affection for those things.
 
~ Jonathan Edwards

Thoughts in Solitude

Words stand between silence and silence: between the silence of things and the silence of our own being. Between the silence of the world and the silence of God. When we have really met and known the world in silence, words do not separate us from the world nor from other men, nor from God, nor from ourselves, because we no longer trust entirely in language to contain reality.
 
Truth rises from the silence of being to the quiet, tremendous presence of the Word. Then, sinking again into silence, the truth of words bears us down into the silence of God. Or rather God rises our of the sea like a treasure in the waves, and when language recedes his brightness remains on the shores of our own being.
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~Thomas Merton

Greek View of Virtue

The Greek word which we translate as 'virtue' or 'excellence' meant primarily 'efficiency at a task'. It was the philosopher Aristotle, Plato's greatest pupil, who defined it as 'the right condition of the soul'.

Human beings have bodies, minds, and characters. Each of these is capable of what the Greeks call 'virtue'. The virtue or excellence of the body is health and fitness and strength, the firm and sensitive hand, the clear eye; the excellence of the mind is to know and to understand and to think, to have some idea of what the world is and of what the human has done and has been and can be; the excellence of the character lies in the great virtues.

This trinity of body, mind and character is our humanity: the human's aim, besides earning a living, is to make the most of all three, to have as good a mind, body and character as possible; and a liberating education, a person's education, is to help them to this; not because a sound body, mind and character help promote success, or even because they help promote happiness, but because they are good things in themselves, and because what is good is worthwhile, simply because it is good.  

~Sir Richard Livingstone, The Future in Education 

Power In The Blood

Blood has a strange power. First, it cleanses the body of impurities, draws away the pus from injured tissues and restores them. Second, it even has the power of rebuilding tissues that have been destroyed. It builds not only skin and flesh, but, as in the case of the fingernail, it has the mysterious power of reproducing structure and form and well. Third, the blood has the power of controlling the development of any part of the body, a power which reaches into the future.
 
And so it is with...

morals and faith

If the moral standards of our society today are not what they ought to be, perhaps it is because we have neglected faith. We have chosen to follow our own assessment, our own reasoning, chosen at times to follow even what is not right reasoning. We have ignored God's call for us to rise up by faith and try to live on the exalted plane of Christ-like conduct.
 
Perhaps this indicates that we are egocentric and selfish. We resist humility. We refuse to be willing to be taught. We have grown fat o...

lent reality check

As a reality check, lent is a season to remember the facts. There is the fact that I am made from love and from dust, and to love and to dust shall I return. This first fact is recalled by literally imprinting dust on the forehead on Ash Wednesday in the form of a cross. Made from the burn palms of last year's Palm Sunday, the blessed ashes are worn all that day, until washed away with the day's grime. With the ashes the celebration of Mardi Gras falls silent.
 
Lent is not about giving up. It...

flight of the now

Tucked away in our whimsical minds is a tranquil vision in which we see ourselves on a long flight that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by magic carpet and, from the sky, we take in the passing scenes of children waving, of sheep grazing in distant pastures, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of rivers and valleys, of city skylines and church steeples.
 
But uppermost in our minds is our final destination, for at a certain hour and on a given day, our magic carpet ride will finally l...

ways to improve relationships

Whether or not you would term your relationship as happy, distressed, or just too much work, these suggestions from professionals counselors can help.
 
Pay closer attention to a loved one to genuinely understand his or her desires. Act on that knowledge. Happy couples are active participants in their quest for lasting love.
 
Realize that love will survive a disagreement and be as sweet as before. Don't withdraw, but let your love override the negative feelings of the moment. We need our partner...

Put away all political bitterness

"Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with malice, and be kind to one another..." (see Ephesians 4:29-32).
 
As people of faith participating in political discussions, we are called to a higher standard of engagement and interactions with our neighbors—even and perhaps especially with whom we may not see eye to eye. The example given to us by Jesus Christ provides us with the love we need to take the conversation to a different level. We can c...

DO YOU PRAY EVERY Night?

To the question, "Do you pray every night?" a little boy replied, "No, some nights I don't need anything." This attitude is not limited to children; adults have it, too. Of all the things Christians need, a regular prayer life must be at the top of the list.

A Christian is shaped from constant contact with God. There is no other process. A follower of Christ, therefore, who does not make prayer the love of his/her life will be hindered in their spiritual progress. The perfect example of the im...