I read this line the other day: “If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross daily, and follow me,” and was struck by the thought that, as Our Lord said this before His crucifixion, His hearers could not have interpreted it, as we do, with an image of the Crucified Lord in their minds. So how did it sound to them? Did they take it to mean only that daily life was a kind of execution, and understand that this religion was not going to be about getting rich? Or did any of His hearers think it through to its furthest conclusion, and catch the prophecy in it?

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Here’s a even bigger question for you. (I didn’t think of it; a friend did). A good story always involves conflict between a protagonist and his antagonist, whether that antagonist is a situation or another person or both. In some stories, the conflict is resolved (comedy) and in others, it isn’t (tragedy.) Right? Right. However…if there had never been a Fall, there would never have been any conflict…so what would our novels have been about? Or would we not have had any fiction at all?

I suppose there might have been exploration-themed novels. There’d not have been much danger in them, but there could have been discovery – and this could have extended to sci-fi-style tales of discovery. But what else?

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If I’m ever in charge of a vocations programme, remind me to include something about the man in Luke 8:38-39: ‘The man from whom the devils had been driven out asked leave to accompany him; but Jesus sent him away; Go back home, he said, and make known all God’s dealings with thee.'”

In other words, when hopes of the consecrated life aren’t fulfilled, it can feel oddly like rejection or failure, but it isn’t necessarily either. Our Lord can actually say, “Go back home,” and it’s because He has a mission for you there. It’s not that He doesn’t want you; it’s that He wants you somewhere else.

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The trailer for ‘The Hobbit, 2: The Desolation of Smaug’ features not only Legolas, but some kind of female warrior elf who may or may not be a love-interest for him, and who never existed in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. I have hopes of enjoying this movie, then, given that it’s so far removed from the book! And it’s pretty hard to say no to archery and dragons.