As the Sun, Air, Earth, and All the Rest

Someone's got World Cup Fever!

And who can blame him? So many great games in this Cup!

Meanwhile, I should get to bed, since tomorrow is day six of the intensive 8-day faculty study group I'm participating in, "Economy, Violence and Justice: Catholic Social Thought and Contemporary Issues." Sponsored by the Seattle University Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture. Pretty good discussions so far, and some great readings. (And on a personal note, I am quite grateful for the welcome they've given this atheist.)

Anyway, our first reading was about some historic background in early Catholic views on poverty and justice, and there were some awesome ideas and excellent quotes. From many, here's my very favorite:

“Do not say ‘I am using what belongs to me.’ You are using what belongs to others. All the wealth of the world belongs to you and to the others in common, as the sun, air, earth, and all the rest.”

Now that's John Chrysostom, in his tenth Homily on First Corinthians. First of all, why have I never read him before? And second of all, what does the rest of the book say? I haven't read it all, and I've had trouble tracking down the exact translation, etc., but here's a stretch from the original and a (slightly altered) standard translation:

Μὴ τοίνυν λέγε, ὅτι Τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ ἀναλίσκω, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ τρυφῶ. Οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν σεαυτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων· ἀλλοτρίων δὲ λέγω, ἐπειδὴ σὺ βούλει· ἐπεὶ σὰ βούλεται εἶναι ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐγχειρισθέντα σοι. Γίνεται δὲ σὰ τὰ ἀλλότρια, ἂν εἰς ἑτέρους ἀναλώσῃς· ἂν δὲ εἰς σαυτὸν ἀναλώσῃς ἀφειδῶς, ἀλλότρια γέγονε τὰ σά. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὠμῶς αὐτοῖς κέχρησαι, καὶ λέγεις, ὅτι Τὰ ἐμὰ εἰς ἐμὴν ἀπόλαυσιν μόνον ἀναλωθῆναι δίκαιον, διὰ τοῦτο ἀλλότρια αὐτὰ λέγω. Κοινὰ γάρ ἐστι σὰ καὶ τοῦ συνδούλου, ὥσπερ ἥλιος κοινὸς καὶ ἀὴρ καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα

Say not then, I am but spending my own, and of my own I live luxuriously. It is not of your own, but of other men's. Other men's, I say, because such is your own choice: for God’s will is that those things should be yours, which have been entrusted unto you on behalf of your brothers. Now the things which are not your own become yours, if you spend them upon others: but if you spend on yourself unsparingly, your own things become no longer yours. For since you use them cruelly, and sayest, That my own things should be altogether spent on my own enjoyment is fair: therefore I call them not your own. For they are common to you and your fellow-servants; just as the sun is common, the air, the earth, and all the rest.

I mean, as far as I'm concerned that is just a profoundly wonderful way to think.

Not bad for the top of the blog, in fact, don't you think?

Where that leaves me and my wealth, well... Actually, it's pretty amusing to note that tomorrow's reading, on the day of the next US match in the World Cup, uses excessive salaries for soccer players and excessive distraction caused by worldwide soccer championships as examples of the problems we face today...

But oh man, did you see the James Rodríguez goal from the other day??

Beautiful!

And how do you say his name? Let's ask Franklin:


This is maybe too much for one post, but in an attempt to bridge the gap between social justice and spectator sports, we took Franklin to the United Way of King County's softball game recently. Let's just say he loved it, and especially his new ball and glove that we (consumers until the bitter end) bought at the gift shop :)




Getting good use on Alki Beach:


Yes, I admit, there are some perks that come with the move to West Seattle:


Also not bad is that Water Taxi:


And just a quick bus ride to downtown for Pride:



(Thanks for the picture and the invite, Bria, Michael, and Emmett!)

Until next time, fellow-servants!