Francis Berger's Blog, page 44
August 20, 2023
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August 19, 2023
The Feast Day Of St. Stephen of Hungary
August 20 is the feast day of Saint Stephen of Hungary. It is also marks Hungary's biggest national holiday because without Stephen I, Hungary may not have emerged as a Christian nation over a thousand years ago.
Stephen came into the world as a pagan named Vajk, but he eventually embraced Christ, unified at least some of the pagan tribes of the Carpathian Basin, and founded Hungary as a nation under the banner of Christianity.
Quite a legacy -- one that continues to endure in Hungary today. For example, the street I live on is called Saint Stephen Street. The local church in my village is also dedicated to Hungary's founder. His image also appears on the 10,000 forint bank note, and every August 20 the nation puts on a spectacular fireworks show in Budapest in his honor.
As I said, quite a legacy . . . though I remain ambiguous about what that legacy or the revered king-saint really means to the average Hungarian today.
Saint Stephen - Béla Klimkovics - 1854
Stephen came into the world as a pagan named Vajk, but he eventually embraced Christ, unified at least some of the pagan tribes of the Carpathian Basin, and founded Hungary as a nation under the banner of Christianity.
Quite a legacy -- one that continues to endure in Hungary today. For example, the street I live on is called Saint Stephen Street. The local church in my village is also dedicated to Hungary's founder. His image also appears on the 10,000 forint bank note, and every August 20 the nation puts on a spectacular fireworks show in Budapest in his honor.
As I said, quite a legacy . . . though I remain ambiguous about what that legacy or the revered king-saint really means to the average Hungarian today.
Saint Stephen - Béla Klimkovics - 1854
August 18, 2023
Hugo Simbert - 1897
What Will You Do in Heaven?
The other day I wrote a post exploring what God wants us to do in Heaven. I believe this to be a valuable and valid line of inquiry, as is what we would like to do during everlasting life.
I assume that the self we will be in Heaven is our most authentic and best self – call it the true self. This true self will be void of all sin, free of death and entropy, fully aligned with God and Creation, and capable of intense and immense creativity.
With this in mind, examining what our true self would do and want to do in Heaven may be a useful and revealing thought experiment that may open many conduits of potential learning.
At first, the thought experiment will likely be far more successful at uncovering false selves than honing in on what the true self would do, but this widdling away process can teach us much about our false selves and, perhaps, bring to light some false selves of which we may have been unaware.
Since our true self will be sinless, immortal, fully aligned and in harmony with God and Creation, and motivated to engage in creative acts, anything we think we want to do in Heaven that strays from these essentials is likely to emanate from one of our lesser or false selves rather than from our true self.
I assume that the self we will be in Heaven is our most authentic and best self – call it the true self. This true self will be void of all sin, free of death and entropy, fully aligned with God and Creation, and capable of intense and immense creativity.
With this in mind, examining what our true self would do and want to do in Heaven may be a useful and revealing thought experiment that may open many conduits of potential learning.
At first, the thought experiment will likely be far more successful at uncovering false selves than honing in on what the true self would do, but this widdling away process can teach us much about our false selves and, perhaps, bring to light some false selves of which we may have been unaware.
Since our true self will be sinless, immortal, fully aligned and in harmony with God and Creation, and motivated to engage in creative acts, anything we think we want to do in Heaven that strays from these essentials is likely to emanate from one of our lesser or false selves rather than from our true self.
August 17, 2023
Freedom is Knowing, Not Free Will Choosing
Discussions concerning the nature of freedom tend to focus on the doctrine of free will – on the free choice between good and evil. This capability to choose between good and evil is often presented as one of the great gifts God has bestowed upon humanity because it grants people the freedom to accept or reject God, Creation, and the Good in favor of embracing Satan, captivity, and evil. Defenders of the free will doctrine point to humanity’s unconstrained and voluntary ability to choose between good and evil as proof of God’s infinite love via his refusal to coerce or force.
The problem with the doctrine of free will is simple – it is not about freedom at all. To begin with, if God grants man free will, then whatever freedom resides within it emanates from God, not man. Secondly, God determines the scope and range of choice to which free will may be applied. On the one side is the good choice to abide by God’s law and commands; on the other side, rejecting this law and embracing evil. Thus, the free will choice essentially boils down to obeying God’s law and commands . . . or else.
The free will doctrine makes man accountable for his choices between good and evil within the context of God’s laws and commands. It places the onus of such choices on man while simultaneously exempting God from all accountability. The doctrine of free will provides man the “freedom” to be the offender while simultaneously relieving God of all responsibility for evil choices. Man’s free will choice to be a transgressor of divine law also justifies God’s role as a punisher of divine law transgressions.
In simplest terms, the free will doctrine is God adopting a “my way or the highway” framework of freedom. Use the free will I provided to do what I command, and all will be well. Use the free will I provided to reject My commands, and all will be lost.
Seen this way, the free will choice to obey God’s law and command becomes a matter of necessity. Man needs to choose the good option God has provided or else face the consequences. This need to choose the Good – this necessity inherent within the free will choice – does not emanate from within man but is externally imposed by God. As such, it does little more than ask a man to adhere to or fulfill a given law or command, leaving no space for creativity or a creative act.
The free will doctrine reduces man to a mere instrument in the fulfillment of God’s law. It lacks all spiritual dynamism and ultimately relegates freedom to the level of submission.
True spiritual freedom does not reside within the framework of the free will doctrine. True spiritual freedom is not about choosing between good and evil but knowing what constitutes authentic creative alignment and harmony with God and Creation.
True spiritual freedom liberates from the necessity of having to choose. Spiritual freedom is not about agonizing over externally imposed, given good and evil choices; it is about internally knowing what good is and doing/thinking that. The need to choose never enters the picture.
Freedom is not and cannot be reduced to the free will doctrine of merely choosing between external, given choices. If it is, it becomes a burden that diminishes man to alevel of “submitting to Good.”
Man is free when he doesn’t have to choose; when he knows that what he is thinking and doing is aligned with God and Creation. How does he know that what he is thinking and doing is good? When he applies his freedom to loving God, and it brings forth creativity.
The problem with the doctrine of free will is simple – it is not about freedom at all. To begin with, if God grants man free will, then whatever freedom resides within it emanates from God, not man. Secondly, God determines the scope and range of choice to which free will may be applied. On the one side is the good choice to abide by God’s law and commands; on the other side, rejecting this law and embracing evil. Thus, the free will choice essentially boils down to obeying God’s law and commands . . . or else.
The free will doctrine makes man accountable for his choices between good and evil within the context of God’s laws and commands. It places the onus of such choices on man while simultaneously exempting God from all accountability. The doctrine of free will provides man the “freedom” to be the offender while simultaneously relieving God of all responsibility for evil choices. Man’s free will choice to be a transgressor of divine law also justifies God’s role as a punisher of divine law transgressions.
In simplest terms, the free will doctrine is God adopting a “my way or the highway” framework of freedom. Use the free will I provided to do what I command, and all will be well. Use the free will I provided to reject My commands, and all will be lost.
Seen this way, the free will choice to obey God’s law and command becomes a matter of necessity. Man needs to choose the good option God has provided or else face the consequences. This need to choose the Good – this necessity inherent within the free will choice – does not emanate from within man but is externally imposed by God. As such, it does little more than ask a man to adhere to or fulfill a given law or command, leaving no space for creativity or a creative act.
The free will doctrine reduces man to a mere instrument in the fulfillment of God’s law. It lacks all spiritual dynamism and ultimately relegates freedom to the level of submission.
True spiritual freedom does not reside within the framework of the free will doctrine. True spiritual freedom is not about choosing between good and evil but knowing what constitutes authentic creative alignment and harmony with God and Creation.
True spiritual freedom liberates from the necessity of having to choose. Spiritual freedom is not about agonizing over externally imposed, given good and evil choices; it is about internally knowing what good is and doing/thinking that. The need to choose never enters the picture.
Freedom is not and cannot be reduced to the free will doctrine of merely choosing between external, given choices. If it is, it becomes a burden that diminishes man to alevel of “submitting to Good.”
Man is free when he doesn’t have to choose; when he knows that what he is thinking and doing is aligned with God and Creation. How does he know that what he is thinking and doing is good? When he applies his freedom to loving God, and it brings forth creativity.
August 16, 2023
What Does God Want You to Do in Heaven?
Christians supposedly spend their mortal lives doing things they hope will secure them eternal life in heaven and avoiding things they consider detrimental to that aim.
The things Christians do include but are not limited to attending church, reading the Bible, praying, pursuing “good works”, avoiding sin, repenting sin, studying theology, obeying doctrine, and so forth. The things Christians try to avoid comprise the full spectrum of known and declared sins.
Thus, mortal life for most Christians is readily reducible to living by some invisible balance sheet, with all hopes pinned on being in the black on the day mortal life ends.
For the sake of argument, let’s suppose Johnny Q. Christian’s balance sheet is totally in the black the day he chokes to death on the chimichanga he happens to be eating at his local Taco Bell. Congratulations, Johnny! You made it to the Big Time! Now, wipe that guacamole from your chin and . . .
And what? Well, that depends on the kind of Christian Johnny happens to be. If he’s a certain kind of Christian, he may be lucky enough to experience the beatific vision. If he’s another kind of Christian, he won’t get to heaven immediately but will have to wait for the Last Judgment. If he’s another kind of Christian, his in-the-black balance sheet doesn’t mean anything because God determined Johnny was destined for heaven well before He created Johnny. And so on.
But what will Johnny do for eternity? Well, he’ll be in bliss, that’s for sure. And he’ll live in a special community in heaven; a community that no longer experiences death or suffering and rejoices in its love for God who is within the community. And he won’t have to worry about sinning anymore, which means he won’t have to worry about “doing the right thing” because he will be free to do the right thing all the time.
Okay, but what will Johnny do? What is the right thing in which he will invest his eternal energy and effort? I mean here he is – sin-free, eternal, beyond death, on God’s VIP team. What will Johnny do? More significantly, what does God expect Johnny to do for eternity?
Well, I hope God expects Johnny to do something creative. After all, eternity is a long time.
But why wait for eternity? Perhaps God would have liked Johnny to be creative in mortal life – and we are not speaking about writing poems or painting pictures; we are talking about spiritual creativity -- creativity based on aligning with God through freedom and love and generating something new and original into Creation that God could not have generated on His own.
That new and original creation could be a thought, an unconventional approach to a conventional challenge, or an unexpected non-reaction or counter-reaction to an incident begging reaction. Something, anything that adds newness to Creation and expands it.
And in heaven, I would hope that God would be open to working with Johnny because He knows there are things Johnny can add to Creation that He alone cannot add and that Johnny would be motivated to work with God knowing that God wants nothing more than the continued expansion of Creation.
Putting the woefully playful tone and Johnny aside, Christians must think about what they will do in heaven and what God wants them to do in heaven.
After all, they supposedly dedicate their mortal lives to getting there.
August 14, 2023
Getting Back to the Land Must Be Spiritually Motivated; Otherwise, It's Just an External Lifestyle Choice
As an addendum to yesterday's post on the pursuit of self-sufficiency/homesteading, it is vital to stress that any motivation to return to the land must be spiritually motivated; otherwise, it amounts to little more than an external lifestyle choice.
Having said that, the spiritual motivation must be positive. Getting back to the land to get away from Clownworld will not suffice. More is needed.
What the “more” is depends on the individual, but I suspect it will have to involve confirming or challenging one’s deepest metaphysical assumptions.
Those holding traditional/conventional Christian metaphysical assumptions will inevitably work to reconstruct some earlier Christian feudal/agrarian society centered around a church. All I can say to Christians who are thus motivated is this: Good luck with that! Drop me a postcard in a few years to let me know how it is going.
Those holding more unconventional/adventurous/creative Christian metaphysical assumptions will – hopefully – find themselves in an undiscovered country where their deepest metaphysical assumptions will be confirmed – provided their motivations to confirm such assumptions remain sincere.
Of course, confirming such assumptions does not require self-sufficiency or getting back to the land. The undiscovered country is accessible everywhere, including mundane subdivisions, dreary apartment blocks, or elegant gated community manors – provided the motivations remain sincere.
Having said that, the spiritual motivation must be positive. Getting back to the land to get away from Clownworld will not suffice. More is needed.
What the “more” is depends on the individual, but I suspect it will have to involve confirming or challenging one’s deepest metaphysical assumptions.
Those holding traditional/conventional Christian metaphysical assumptions will inevitably work to reconstruct some earlier Christian feudal/agrarian society centered around a church. All I can say to Christians who are thus motivated is this: Good luck with that! Drop me a postcard in a few years to let me know how it is going.
Those holding more unconventional/adventurous/creative Christian metaphysical assumptions will – hopefully – find themselves in an undiscovered country where their deepest metaphysical assumptions will be confirmed – provided their motivations to confirm such assumptions remain sincere.
Of course, confirming such assumptions does not require self-sufficiency or getting back to the land. The undiscovered country is accessible everywhere, including mundane subdivisions, dreary apartment blocks, or elegant gated community manors – provided the motivations remain sincere.
August 13, 2023
Far More Challenging and Time-Consuming Than Would-Be Homesteaders Assume
Perhaps I have always thought about owning a piece of land somewhere and living off of it. The yearning was most acute when I lived in small apartments in big cities, but it lingered even when I lived in suburbs where at least a modicum of nature remains, albeit detached and subdivided. When I settled in Hungary seven years ago, I made a point of purchasing a home with a relatively large yard in a small village in a rural setting and entertained notions of buying a nearby agricultural plot.
I have not gotten around to purchasing the agricultural land and probably never will. All the same, I have semi-consciously used my 1500 square meter property to test my long-held and deeply-ingrained dream of living off the land. I planted a 400 square meter vegetable garden, some berry bushes, and several fruit trees to experience what it was like to grow my food. I also acquired chickens for eggs.
Now, 1500 square meters – roughly one-third of an acre -- and two dozen hens is not enough to provide for my family, not even in the summer and fall; however, it is enough to obtain the experience of what it might take to pursue self-sufficiency.
After five years of what essentially amounts to hobby gardening and chicken-keeping, I have come to a sober conclusion. Self-sufficiency is far more challenging and time-consuming than most people imagine or assume.
My 400 square meter garden and 25 chickens take up considerable time daily. For example, I spent three hours pruning tomato plants today, and I only managed to get half of them done. Once I factor in the seemingly endless maintenance, repair, and home-improvement tasks around the house – to say nothing of mundane chores like mowing the lawn – I have little time to do anything else. And I haven't even mentioned things like perserving the food.
Put another way, my self-sufficiency LARPing in the summers consumes virtually all the hours between sunrise and sunset – and all this without even aiming to be self-sufficient. I can’t imagine where I would find the time to do the extra things needed to be a true independent homesteader. Granted, I’m not trying to be a true homesteader, but I know one thing for sure – if I were, I would have my work cut out for me.
I write this not to put a damper on anyone’s dreams of homesteading or self-sufficiency but romantic, adventurous souls pining to move to the countryside and carve out a self-sustainable lifestyle take note: Homesteading, subsistence agriculture, and self-sufficient living are far more challenging, arduous, and time-intensive than you likely presume, especially if you have little practical experience.
I have not gotten around to purchasing the agricultural land and probably never will. All the same, I have semi-consciously used my 1500 square meter property to test my long-held and deeply-ingrained dream of living off the land. I planted a 400 square meter vegetable garden, some berry bushes, and several fruit trees to experience what it was like to grow my food. I also acquired chickens for eggs.
Now, 1500 square meters – roughly one-third of an acre -- and two dozen hens is not enough to provide for my family, not even in the summer and fall; however, it is enough to obtain the experience of what it might take to pursue self-sufficiency.
After five years of what essentially amounts to hobby gardening and chicken-keeping, I have come to a sober conclusion. Self-sufficiency is far more challenging and time-consuming than most people imagine or assume.
My 400 square meter garden and 25 chickens take up considerable time daily. For example, I spent three hours pruning tomato plants today, and I only managed to get half of them done. Once I factor in the seemingly endless maintenance, repair, and home-improvement tasks around the house – to say nothing of mundane chores like mowing the lawn – I have little time to do anything else. And I haven't even mentioned things like perserving the food.
Put another way, my self-sufficiency LARPing in the summers consumes virtually all the hours between sunrise and sunset – and all this without even aiming to be self-sufficient. I can’t imagine where I would find the time to do the extra things needed to be a true independent homesteader. Granted, I’m not trying to be a true homesteader, but I know one thing for sure – if I were, I would have my work cut out for me.
I write this not to put a damper on anyone’s dreams of homesteading or self-sufficiency but romantic, adventurous souls pining to move to the countryside and carve out a self-sustainable lifestyle take note: Homesteading, subsistence agriculture, and self-sufficient living are far more challenging, arduous, and time-intensive than you likely presume, especially if you have little practical experience.
August 12, 2023
Sights That Makes My Eyes Sore
Very few things irritate and repulse me as much as the sight of a tattooed man with his arms crossed. 
And don't even get me started on tattoed women with their arms crossed . . . 
And don't even get me started on tattoed women with their arms crossed . . .
August 10, 2023
Not Submissive to Outside Voices
Personality is bound up with the consciousness of vocation. Every man ought to be conscious of that vocation, which is independent of the extent of his gifts.
It is a vocation in an individually unrepeatable form to give an answer to the call of God and to put one's gifts to creative use.
Personality which is conscious of itself listens to the inward voice and obeys that only. It is not submissive to outside voices.
The greatest among men have always listened exclusively to the inward voice and have refused to conform so far as the world is concerned.
- N. Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom
It is a vocation in an individually unrepeatable form to give an answer to the call of God and to put one's gifts to creative use.
Personality which is conscious of itself listens to the inward voice and obeys that only. It is not submissive to outside voices.
The greatest among men have always listened exclusively to the inward voice and have refused to conform so far as the world is concerned.
- N. Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom
