C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 73: “I take this [Psalm 19] to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” Joseph Addison (1672-1719), “The Spacious Firmament on High” (1712)1– 4 While all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. 5 What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial ball; What though no real voice nor sound Amidst their radiant orbs be found: 6 In reason’s ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, Forever singing as they shine: “The hand that made us is divine!”  Read More

2 Timothy 4 (NJB): As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to depart. I have fought the goodfight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come for me now is the crown of uprightness which the Lord, the upright judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his appearing.  Read More

The Oxford English Dictionary at the noun “independence” –1.a.–1606–The conditionor quality of being independent; freedom from external control or influence; lack of reliance on external support; spec. self-sufficiency. Also, with a prepositional phrase introduced by of, from, †on, or †upon, indicating the person or thing not exercising control or exerting influence, being depended upon, etc. And further: 1.c. – 1678 – Lack of deference to authority, insubordination. Chiefly with pejorative connotations.  Read More

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is one of the most fascinating women of the medieval period. Not only was she the most significant woman author and musical composer of the Middle Ages; she was also an abbess, the founder of a monastery, a religious reformer, a natural scientist, a seer, and a great mystic. Her prophetic and visionary mysticism profoundly marked her age and earned her the epithets ...  Read More

What is Truth? Christ and Pilate (1890) by Nikolai Ge (1831-1894), held in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia.   Read More

The Raising of Lazarus (1890) by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), held in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Painted in May 1880, while in the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence [from 8 May 1889 to 16 May 1890].   Read More

Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind (John 9), a fresco in the west narthex of the Hagia Sophia Church in Trabzon, Turkey.  Read More

Christ and the Woman of Samaria (1619-20) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, aka “Guercino” (i.e., the “squinter”) (1591-1666), held in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas  Read More

The Transfiguration of Christ (1487) by Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516) held in the Museo di Capodimante, Naples, Italy  Read More

The Temptation of Christ (1600) by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625)   Read More

St. John Chrysostom (347-407 CE), Homilies on Genesis - When the devil, as you remember, evil spirit and enemy of our nature as he is, saw the first human being living in the garden, how his life was carefree and how he lived on earth in bodily form yet like an angel, (23d) he wanted to trip him up and dislodge him with the hope of greater promises, and so he cheated him of the possession of what he had. This is the extent of the evil of not keeping within proper limits but aspiring to greater heights.  Read More

The Baptism of Christ (late 1440s) by Piero della Francesca (1415-1492), at the center of an altarpiece in Sansepolcro Cathedral, the painting now held in the National Gallery, London  Read More