15. From this his conversation turned to the companies in the monasteries, and their manners so fragrant unto Thee, and of the fruitful deserts of the wilderness, of which we knew nothing. And there was a monastery at Milan full of good brethren, without the walls of the city, under the fostering care of Ambrose, and we were ignorant of it. He went on with his relation, and we listened intently and in silence. He then related to us how on a certain afternoon, at Triers, when the emperor was taken up with seeing the Circensian games, he and three others, his comrades, went out for a walk in the gardens close to the city walls, and there, as they chanced to walk two and two, one strolled away with him, while the other two went by themselves; and these, in their rambling, came upon a certain cottage inhabited by some of Thy servants, "poor in spirit," of whom "is the kingdom of heaven," where they found a book in which was written the life of Antony. This one of them began to read, marvel at, and be inflamed by it; and in the reading, to meditate on embracing such a life, and giving up his worldly employments to serve Thee. And these were of the body called "Agents for Public Affairs." Then, suddenly being overwhelmed with a holy love and a sober sense of shame, in anger with himself, he cast his eyes upon his friend, exclaiming, "Tell me, I entreat thee, what end we are striving for by all these labours of ours. What is our aim? What is our motive in doing service? Can our hopes in court rise higher than to be ministers of the emperor? And in such a position, what is there not brittle, and fraught with danger, and by how many dangers arrive we at greater danger? And when arrive we thither? But if I desire to become a friend of God, behold, I am even now made it." Thus spake he, and in the pangs of the travail of the new life, he turned his eyes again upon the page and continued reading, and was inwardly changed where Thou sawest, and his mind was divested of the world, as soon became evident; for as he read, and the surging of his heart rolled along, he raged awhile, discerned and resolved on a better course, and now, having become Thine, he said to his friend, "Now have I broken loose from those hopes of ours, and am determined to serve God; and this, from this hour, in this place, I enter upon. If thou art reluctant to imitate me, hinder me not." The other replied that he would cleave to him, to share in so great a reward and so great a service. Thus both of them, being now Thine, were building a tower at the necessary cost, -- of forsaking all that they had and following Thee. Then Pontitianus, and he that had walked with him through other parts of the garden, came in search of them to the same place, and having found them, reminded them to return as the day had declined. But they, making known to him their resolution and purpose, and how such a resolve had sprung up and become confirmed in them, entreated them not to molest them, if they refused to join themselves unto them. But the others, no whit changed from their former selves, did yet (as he said) bewail themselves, and piously congratulated them, recommending themselves to their prayers; and with their hearts inclining towards earthly things, returned to the palace. But the other two, setting their affections upon heavenly things, remained in the cottage. And both of them had affianced brides, who, when they heard of this, dedicated also their virginity unto God.
Draft copy of my nephew's (home)school essay on the meeting between Augustine and Pontitianus, a soldier and Christian who came, like Augustine himself, from Roman North Africa. Not a whole lot is known about Pontitianus- mostly just that he was born in Africa, was a soldier (perhaps a Praetorian) and a Christian convert. From Constantine's writings, we know that the man had an influence on his own conversion to Christianity: "Such was the story of Pontitianus; but Thou, O Lord, while he was speaking, didst turn me round towards myself, taking me from behind my back where I had placed me, unwilling to observe myself; and setting me before my face, that I might see how foul I was, how crooked and defiled, bespotted and ulcerous. And I beheld and stood aghast; and whither to flee from myself I found not. And if I sought to turn mine eye from off myself, he went on with his relation, and Thou again didst set me over against myself, and thrustedst me before my eyes, that I might find out mine iniquity, and hate it. I had known it, but made as though I saw it not, winked at it, and forgot it." - Confessions, Augustine of Hippo This meeting between the two men which had such a profound impact on Augustine took place in Milan, where at the time Augustine was employed as a professor of rhetoric. This is the account- again from Confessions, of their conversation: 14. Upon a certain day, then, Nebridius being away (why, I do not remember), lo, there came to the house to see Alypius and me, Pontitianus, a countryman of ours, in so far as he was an African, who held high office in the emperor's court. What he wanted with us I know not, but we sat down to talk together, and it fell out that upon a table before us, used for games, he noticed a book; he took it up, opened it, and, contrary to his expectation, found it to be the Apostle Paul, -- for he imagined it to be one of those books which I was wearing myself out in teaching. At this he looked up at me smilingly, and expressed his delight and wonder that he had so unexpectedly found this book, and this only, before my eyes. For he was both a Christian and baptized, and often prostrated himself before Thee our God in the church, in constant and daily prayers. When, then, I had told him that I bestowed much pains upon these writings, a conversation ensued on his speaking of Antony, the Egyptian monk, whose name was in high repute among Thy servants, though up to that time not familiar to us. When he came to know this, he lingered on that topic, imparting to us a knowledge of this man so eminent, and marvelling at our ignorance. But we were amazed, hearing Thy wonderful works most fully manifested in times so recent, and almost in our own, wrought in the true faith and the Catholic Church. We all wondered -- we, that they were so great, and he, that we had never heard of them. 15. From this his conversation turned to the companies in the monasteries, and their manners so fragrant unto Thee, and of the fruitful deserts of the wilderness, of which we knew nothing. And there was a monastery at Milan full of good brethren, without the walls of the city, under the fostering care of Ambrose, and we were ignorant of it. He went on with his relation, and we listened intently and in silence. He then related to us how on a certain afternoon, at Triers, when the emperor was taken up with seeing the Circensian games, he and three others, his comrades, went out for a walk in the gardens close to the city walls, and there, as they chanced to walk two and two, one strolled away with him, while the other two went by themselves; and these, in their rambling, came upon a certain cottage inhabited by some of Thy servants, "poor in spirit," of whom "is the kingdom of heaven," where they found a book in which was written the life of Antony. This one of them began to read, marvel at, and be inflamed by it; and in the reading, to meditate on embracing such a life, and giving up his worldly employments to serve Thee. And these were of the body called "Agents for Public Affairs." Then, suddenly being overwhelmed with a holy love and a sober sense of shame, in anger with himself, he cast his eyes upon his friend, exclaiming, "Tell me, I entreat thee, what end we are striving for by all these labours of ours. What is our aim? What is our motive in doing service? Can our hopes in court rise higher than to be ministers of the emperor? And in such a position, what is there not brittle, and fraught with danger, and by how many dangers arrive we at greater danger? And when arrive we thither? But if I desire to become a friend of God, behold, I am even now made it." Thus spake he, and in the pangs of the travail of the new life, he turned his eyes again upon the page and continued reading, and was inwardly changed where Thou sawest, and his mind was divested of the world, as soon became evident; for as he read, and the surging of his heart rolled along, he raged awhile, discerned and resolved on a better course, and now, having become Thine, he said to his friend, "Now have I broken loose from those hopes of ours, and am determined to serve God; and this, from this hour, in this place, I enter upon. If thou art reluctant to imitate me, hinder me not." The other replied that he would cleave to him, to share in so great a reward and so great a service. Thus both of them, being now Thine, were building a tower at the necessary cost, -- of forsaking all that they had and following Thee. Then Pontitianus, and he that had walked with him through other parts of the garden, came in search of them to the same place, and having found them, reminded them to return as the day had declined. But they, making known to him their resolution and purpose, and how such a resolve had sprung up and become confirmed in them, entreated them not to molest them, if they refused to join themselves unto them. But the others, no whit changed from their former selves, did yet (as he said) bewail themselves, and piously congratulated them, recommending themselves to their prayers; and with their hearts inclining towards earthly things, returned to the palace. But the other two, setting their affections upon heavenly things, remained in the cottage. And both of them had affianced brides, who, when they heard of this, dedicated also their virginity unto God. Frankly, I didn't know about Pontitianus at all; sometimes looking over my nephews' schoolwork is good for my own edification.
Comments
Every Easter season I try to review a book or movie which has to do with the actual meaning of the holy day, or with Christianity in general. Last year it was Tom Holland's Dominion: How The Christian Revolution Remade The World though, due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't get the review done until sometime after Easter. Dominion, however, could almost be a companion piece for the book I chose for this year: Andrew Klavan's The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point The Way To A Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus. Both works emphasize the fact that our world- the Western world- has been molded by the Christian religion. From Tom Holland's book: "For a millennium and more, the civilisation into which I was born was Christendom. Assumptions that I had grown up with- about how a society should properly be organised, and the principles that it should uphold- were not bred of classical antiquity, still less of 'human nature', but very distinctly of that civilisation's Christian past." From the introduction to Andrew Klavan's work: " For a Westerner, there is no walking away from the Christian mindset. It is the skin we wear, the air we breathe, a world that travels with us. Even when we reject God it is a rejection of the Christian God specifically." It is here, though, that the two books diverge in purpose. Dominion is an examination of the history of the Christian Church and how it has defined the world we now inhabit. Holland, agnostic at best, argues that actual belief is not necessary to have one's moral principals and world view shaped by Judeo-Christian values. Klavan (a Christian) obviously agrees that Christianity has formed Western culture, but does not hold with Holland's conclusion that it doesn't matter whether or not you actually believe. He would argue that without actual belief in the God who authored our faith, there can be no hard and fast rules for morality and truth. And, as our civilization rejects its Christian heritage, its foundations may very well be set on shifting sands, eventually leading to its downfall. If Dominion is Tom Holland's examination of the lasting effects of Jesus' earthly ministry, The Truth and Beauty is Andrew Klavan's attempt to know the mind of Christ: why He said and did the things He did during that ministry. And he does this rather indirectly, by examining the works of some of England's greatest poets who were living- and writing- at a time which in many ways paralleled our own. These men were children of the Enlightenment, a time of great scientific- and artistic- discovery and upheaval. As scientific advancements seemingly explained away the need for God, there was a great if gradual falling away from faith and this was reflected in the art of the time. Biblically themed paintings and poems fell out of favour in this new age of unbelief; libertinism and licentiousness abounded as many considered themselves free from the fear of eternal consequences. But then, as is so often the case, reality dropped by to administer a kick to their collective backsides in the form of the French Revolution and a seemingly endless series of European wars. So much for their vaunted principles of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité; as they stood looking around at the shambles of their utopian dreams, many writers of the time period put pen to paper in an attempt to contemplate where it all went wrong. And, as they composed some of the greatest poetry ever written in English, some of these men found themselves stumbling back to the God and faith that they thought they'd left behind in the dust of the past. Related Posts: Last night I had some sewing I had to get done and wanted to put something on which I wouldn't have to pay close attention to. So I watched Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary which, obviously, is about the making of, and the impact of, Galaxy Quest, the 1999 science fiction film. Galaxy Quest is the comedic yet strangely heartfelt and endearing send up of the Star Trek franchise starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell. It is, as mentioned, a comedy poking gentle fun at Star Trek, its fans, actors, and conventions, but is oddly more Star Trek in tone and execution than any of the TNG movies or the reboot series. The documentary takes a look at the unlikely success of this film, which had a rather shambolic start to its production and has interviews with the filmmakers and with all the main cast except, of course, the late Alan Rickman. It also interview several rabid fans, who cosplay as various characters in the film at conventions. What comes across in all these interviews is a great affection for the movie, which somehow managed to hit all the right notes: acknowledging the ridiculousness of it all while recognising- and paying homage to- the things which made Star Trek great and inspired such loyalty and devotion from so many fans. The Galaxy Quest documentary Never Surrender is an interesting and fun celebration about this unlikely hit. My one criticism is that it gives Wil Wheaton way too much screen time- more than most of the people actually involved in Galaxy Quest. Frankly, a little of him goes a long way (will refrain from Westley Crusher jokes). I grew up watching Saturday reruns of the syndicated Star Trek: TOS and always loved it, warts and all (hello, The Way To Eden, Spock's Brain... well, most of the third season, if we're being honest). Though not the type to don a costume and head off to a convention, I still retain my nostalgic affection for the show and its characters. Galaxy Quest almost seems like a continuation of TOS, in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. The filmmakers invite you to laugh along with them at the faults and foibles of the cast and their rabid fans, but also make the point that attempting to live up to the values and heroism the show depicted fictionally made them all better people in reality. The makers of the latest incarnations of Star Trek, so called (the reboot films, Discovery & Picard) would have been wise to take a lesson from this film. Instead, they did away with everything which fans loved about Star Trek and when those fans protested, they were sneered at and called names. Of course, companies are free to do whatever they want with their franchises, but shouldn't be surprised when fans, deprived of everything that made them fans in the first place, go back to watching the old shows they loved and stay away from the new ones in droves. The makers of Galaxy Quest 'got' Star Trek in a way the people with their hands on the franchise now never will. it's too bad, really. Related Posts:
|
About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
All
Archives
January 2024
Fun SitesOdds & Ends |