"The noble and the peasant, then, grudgingly take law and politics as a sometimes necessary labor like weeding a garden so the flowers will bloom."
Beautifully said. I wrote a lot about the Custom Prior to Law at my other space, and that was more in the context of comparing rural society to urban society. Rural society uses politeness/custom/courtesy to maintain peace, while active law enforcement is more necessary in cities due to population density alone.
The challenges come when there are different ideas of custom/courtesy/politeness. How can law be crafted that addresses all customs?
The problem also works in reverse. If you change the law to something that isn't supported by common public practice, then the law won't stick and will cause tension and unease.
So the number one thing to do is work on ourselves. Eventually we might rub off on our neighbors and they will come to adopt your principles, and stability will happen before anyone even needs to get to the point of crafting a law.
"The key is simple: live differently. Live life according to truth. People will notice, people will ask you what about your life makes your life different. You can say the difference is truth—God’s truth, the Church’s truth—and that abiding by truth has never led you wrong."
The entire essay is wonderful and just another reminder, for me, that we and others here on Substack are participating in something beautiful. Something above all of us. How wonderful is it that we have the opportunity to share a life in Christ and discuss how to move in that life on a platform like this.
The quote above strikes a nerve with me. The notion of living differently has been the driving force in my life, explicitly, for three years now. It's why I sought a new career. It's why my wife and I moved back to our rural hometown, closer to family. It's truly why I started writing over at "Seeking" in the first place.
Scoot, thank you for this reminder of the practical things to keep in mind was we continue to strive for a simple gospel-led life. Indeed, it is slow work but I'd have it no other way. No grand battles for me to win. For Christ has already defeated death. All that's left of us to do is live in him.
Can I get an AMEN! 😂 Thanks Derek, I am glad this resonated with you. Living in Christ is indeed simple, slow, and oftentimes challenging. But it's rewarding in all the ways that count. Thank you for this comment!
The Jesus prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy of me a sinner," is one of my go to prayers and I'm glad you reference the publican toward the end of your essay. I share your point of view that the change begins with us. You cannot give what you don't have. I need grace to fill my cup so it overflows onto my family, my parish, my community, the Church.
Chesterton once posed the question, "What's wrong with the world?" I would say the answer is, me. I'm what's wrong with the world. So if I want to change the world, I'm going to do what Michael did and start with the man in the mirror.
Lastly, I want to affirm you because you are not only talking the talk but walking the walk when it comes to courtesy. I have seen how you engage in civil dialogue with people who have an opposing point of view than yours and you're better than me at that. I'm working on it.
Can't thank you enough, Walther, for your kind words. I assure you I have struggled with this my whole life and Hambone would be the first to tell you the number of times my mouth has led me wrong. It definitely costs deeply in patience but luckily patience is something everyone can grow.
I love the Jesus Prayer--I don't lean on it as often as I'd like but I like to think it comes to mind when it counts. "You cannot give what you don't have" is such a key idea. If you want to give joy, make sure you have joy. If you want to give health, make sure you are healthy! It works in everything.
It's almost like "What's wrong with the world" is an incomplete question. "What is wrong with the world--that I can fix?" And for most people except for real movers and shakers, the answer is "me". And even for the movers and shakers, if they viewed themselves as part of the problem, the world would move and shake a lot less.
On top of this issue being a great read , I now have “Change The World” by Eric Clapton in my head. So thanks for that. But in all seriousness, this is a great post. Love the concept of needing to change ourselves if we aim to see change in the world and doing so with biblical truth as our foundation. This was encouraging to me and will help me stay focused on being someone who can change myself and hopefully help others.
Your point on starting with yourself made me think about our sermon yesterday was about this quote:
"How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? First, take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
"The noble and the peasant, then, grudgingly take law and politics as a sometimes necessary labor like weeding a garden so the flowers will bloom."
Beautifully said. I wrote a lot about the Custom Prior to Law at my other space, and that was more in the context of comparing rural society to urban society. Rural society uses politeness/custom/courtesy to maintain peace, while active law enforcement is more necessary in cities due to population density alone.
The challenges come when there are different ideas of custom/courtesy/politeness. How can law be crafted that addresses all customs?
The problem also works in reverse. If you change the law to something that isn't supported by common public practice, then the law won't stick and will cause tension and unease.
So the number one thing to do is work on ourselves. Eventually we might rub off on our neighbors and they will come to adopt your principles, and stability will happen before anyone even needs to get to the point of crafting a law.
"The key is simple: live differently. Live life according to truth. People will notice, people will ask you what about your life makes your life different. You can say the difference is truth—God’s truth, the Church’s truth—and that abiding by truth has never led you wrong."
The entire essay is wonderful and just another reminder, for me, that we and others here on Substack are participating in something beautiful. Something above all of us. How wonderful is it that we have the opportunity to share a life in Christ and discuss how to move in that life on a platform like this.
The quote above strikes a nerve with me. The notion of living differently has been the driving force in my life, explicitly, for three years now. It's why I sought a new career. It's why my wife and I moved back to our rural hometown, closer to family. It's truly why I started writing over at "Seeking" in the first place.
Scoot, thank you for this reminder of the practical things to keep in mind was we continue to strive for a simple gospel-led life. Indeed, it is slow work but I'd have it no other way. No grand battles for me to win. For Christ has already defeated death. All that's left of us to do is live in him.
Can I get an AMEN! 😂 Thanks Derek, I am glad this resonated with you. Living in Christ is indeed simple, slow, and oftentimes challenging. But it's rewarding in all the ways that count. Thank you for this comment!
This came at the right time for me, as I take on some personal battles. Excellent essay. Thank you for this.
Fight the good fight! I will pray for you my friend. Glad you enjoyed it!
The Jesus prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy of me a sinner," is one of my go to prayers and I'm glad you reference the publican toward the end of your essay. I share your point of view that the change begins with us. You cannot give what you don't have. I need grace to fill my cup so it overflows onto my family, my parish, my community, the Church.
Chesterton once posed the question, "What's wrong with the world?" I would say the answer is, me. I'm what's wrong with the world. So if I want to change the world, I'm going to do what Michael did and start with the man in the mirror.
Lastly, I want to affirm you because you are not only talking the talk but walking the walk when it comes to courtesy. I have seen how you engage in civil dialogue with people who have an opposing point of view than yours and you're better than me at that. I'm working on it.
Good to have the Peasant Times Dispatch back!
Can't thank you enough, Walther, for your kind words. I assure you I have struggled with this my whole life and Hambone would be the first to tell you the number of times my mouth has led me wrong. It definitely costs deeply in patience but luckily patience is something everyone can grow.
I love the Jesus Prayer--I don't lean on it as often as I'd like but I like to think it comes to mind when it counts. "You cannot give what you don't have" is such a key idea. If you want to give joy, make sure you have joy. If you want to give health, make sure you are healthy! It works in everything.
It's almost like "What's wrong with the world" is an incomplete question. "What is wrong with the world--that I can fix?" And for most people except for real movers and shakers, the answer is "me". And even for the movers and shakers, if they viewed themselves as part of the problem, the world would move and shake a lot less.
Thanks for reading Walther and God bless you! 🙏
On top of this issue being a great read , I now have “Change The World” by Eric Clapton in my head. So thanks for that. But in all seriousness, this is a great post. Love the concept of needing to change ourselves if we aim to see change in the world and doing so with biblical truth as our foundation. This was encouraging to me and will help me stay focused on being someone who can change myself and hopefully help others.
Very kind words, Daniel, thank you. I am glad you found it encouraging and helpful--that's the goal with everything I do here! God bless you 🙏
Be different!!!
Your point on starting with yourself made me think about our sermon yesterday was about this quote:
"How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? First, take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."