The stars keep their courses. They do not keep our lives. Augustine will let a man chart a birthday and still refuse to sell him to Mars. Jacob’s hand was on Esau’s heel. The chart could not tell them apart. The Scriptures could. The Confessions then names what time does to a soul: life is a distraction (distentio), scattered among many things, until the Mediator gathers it toward the One—not to what will pass, but to what does not come and go. Aquinas sets Martha beside Mary without making Martha a mistake. Contemplation is simply higher. Action may still be the duty of the hour. Charity in the serving can outrun a colder leisure.
Today’s Readings:
Augustine of Hippo — On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, Chapters 21–22 (Sections 32–34)
Augustine of Hippo — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 29 (Section 39)
Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 181–182 (The Active Life and Its Comparison with Contemplation)
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