Lenten Babble, #1.

BODY

• I like the lead into Lent. The "porch" as they call it.



• It has been beautiful here. For the first time this winter (at the end of winter), a wet snow has fallen, and has not melted. Brooklyn is pretty with snow. I wish I got to see more of it.



• During Lisa's visit this past weekend, she was interested in talking about religion. She went to Mass at the oratory with me on Sunday, then we talked over pizza in the Fulton Ferry District. We discussed the intent and import of liturgical seasons, the difficulties and possibilities in translating religious texts, and ultimately fundamental similarities and differences between religions.



• During Hallie's visit yesterday, she was also interested in talking about religion. We talked (again, over pizza) about canonical beliefs and who listens to them, and how one might raise a family within or about a particular faith.



• I enjoy these conversations. I don't get to have them often because I never want to be tedious in my underestimation of somone's faith. That is, it is an issue we resolve in ourselves, and to broadly evangelize is to assume someone has not resolved the issue. It's a prejudicial assumption. So I try to step into conversations only when the opportunity is conspicuous...



• ... which debatably makes me of dubious use as an evangelizer (even if I were more inclined). On the one hand, I believe that the sharing of ideas is extremely important, and I have to be a supporter of the ideas to which I've committed. On the other hand, I have the occasionally awkward view that religious arguments most often articulate similar truths through different vocabularies. These truths can be superimposed on each other.



• It's becomes a headache, sorting it all out, sometimes.

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