Good Morning Digital Neighbors, ADD Irregulars, Refugees, and Phamily! Sort of a reprint from last year on the 17th with some additional comments and observations. It is one of those TL/DR posts, but some of you may find interest in it.

Blessed Sunday to all! In the wilds of Cath-O-land we begin focusing on the coming of Jesus in the flesh on the 25th. I know many of us have been Christmasing it up since Halloween when all you could find were Christmas outfits. 😜 So for those of you tempted to yawn about now at things religious, I hope to use the various Messianic titles of the given days as a springboard for things more conversational for all while still being true to the spirit of the day in my own neck of the spiritual woods.

Wisdom - Different from knowledge. One can know many things and have little to no wisdom. Wisdom doesn't take books, videos, podcasts or even instructors, it takes time and generally a marinating inf silence & stillness. Without silence and stillness, we will usually miss those moments of wisdom that grace us. I suppose one can be busy and still stumble into wisdom. It is a strange reflecting about life and self without being preoccupied with self. Wisdom tends to flow from tested observation that is open to growth, nuance and refinement based on one's own experience as well as that of others. Wisdom may come with age but doesn't necessarily rely upon age as the main determinant factor. Silence, stillness, questions proposed to self, the slow tumbling of things in our thoughts, a willingness not to be preoccupied with our knowledge, training, expertise or prideful accomplishment, its often flows from imagination and a malleable and supple will. All of those habits of the heart allow us to be surprised by wisdom and benefit for her visitations.

Wisdom from on High - I guess that prompts the question for anyone if there is something or someone higher than self? If there is not, is the only option for one to make themselves the only higher power in their world? I don't think so, I have met so many good unbelievers, agnostics and atheists that I assume they have higher aspirations, virtues or life compass orientation apart from belief in my favorite invisible friend. ✝️ 😊

I often wonder if the creation of invisible friends for our children don't contribute in some way to the more widespread disbelief. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny & the Tooth Fairy all lend to some magical workings in life, but this cluster of magical friends who don't exist seem to beg the question if the Mysterium Tremendum & Mysterium Fascinans is not among their ranks. Why isn't God just the primary member of the Santa, Bunny & Fairy cult? Those three childhood friends fall on the Fascinans side of the Divine Mystery. A little note on the Mysterium Fascinans:

In mysterium fascinans we find the numen attractive, alluring, charming, fascinating, and enchanting. Otto phrases it as follows:

“The mystery is for [the person experiencing the numen] not merely something to be wondered at but something that entrances him; and beside that in it which bewilders and confounds, he feels a something that captivates and transports him with a strange ravishment, rising often enough to the pitch of dizzy intoxication...” —Rudolph Otto

So what is so fascinating, alluring, enchanting, and even intoxicating in the numen? It resembles what is fascinating and enchanting in the natural world: love, goodness, beauty, home, and the joy that arises out of them. These qualities are attributed to God in all major religions, and they are attributed to the experience of God in all major mystical traditions. When they are experienced in the numen, they have a purer and more integrated reality than when they are experienced in the natural world.

Divine or no Divine in your life, I pray there is something fascinating, alluring, enchanting and compelling in your life. I hope it is something more than self-interest or personal power. Go find Karl if you believe those are the only two real pursuits in life, the results are widely known. We all know that the next exercise in communism will be different this time. No wisdom to be found there. Well, whatever path you are on my friend, I hope that it affords you a few bits of wisdom along the way and that others are fortunate to share them with you. Happy Sunday Digital Neighbors & Friends!