Most everyone has heard of Pascal’s wager: It is better to bet on the existence of God—what have you got to lose?—than to wager against God and be damned. If that approach has lost some of its force, it is due to a relatively novel presumption. We still assume God exists, but we have also come to presume that God does not damn souls.
Yet there is a better reason to make the acquaintance of Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer and Catholic theologian. That is his personal experience of faith. After Pascal’s death, a small note, written in his own hand, was discovered, sewn into the lining of his coat. It was a personal memento. Something had happened to the genius, something that changed everything. Pascal felt compelled to record the moment when the God about whom one might speculate became his God, his living God. Though written to himself, Pascal’s note explains itself. It may be the best imprint of a mystical experience ever recorded in words...
George Matheson, the Scottish hymn writer knew a thing or two about life’s challenges, losing his sight at an early age.
His hymn, ‘O love that wilt not let me go’ finds meaning in God’s rainbow promise and contains the words that you will probably recall..
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be...
There’s a line in the writings of Julian of Norwich, the famous 14th century mystic and perhaps the first theologian to write in English, which is endlessly quoted by preachers, poets, and writers: But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. It’s her signature teaching...
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
Sam wasn't make much headway with his diet. He was one of those
folks who could resist everything but temptation. One day he came
into the office with a whole box of freshly baked Danish.
When his friends questioned him about his diet he explained that
really wouldn't have gotten the Danish if it hadn't been for God.
"What do you mean"? one of his friends asked.
"Well", he said, "as I was about to pass the bakery I prayed that if
it were God's will for me to have these Danish today I would be able
to find a parking place in front of the building. Sure enough I
found a space right in front on the eighth time around the block"...
