Augustine: the evil turning

Thursday, February 19, 2026
Meditation:
    Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
    —Ecclesiastes 10:3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    When the will abandons what is above itself and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil—not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Therefore it is not an inferior thing which has made the will evil, but it is itself which has become so by wickedly and inordinately desiring an inferior thing.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), The City of God, v. I [426], Marcus Dods, ed., as vol. 1 of The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Edinbugh: T & T Clark, 1871, XII.vi, p. 488-489 (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 10:3; Matt. 15:11,17-20; Mark 7:15,18-23; Luke 11:38-41; Tit. 1:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Hide me, Lord, from the evil that my own will would lead me to. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Sayers: the Kingdom of Heaven

Wednesday, February 18, 2026
    Ash Wednesday
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.”
    —Matthew 13:47-48 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “The Kingdom of Heaven,” said the Lord Christ, “is among you.” But what, precisely, is the Kingdom of Heaven? You cannot point to existing specimens, saying, “Lo, here!” or “Lo, there!” You can only experience it. But what is it like, so that when we experience it we may recognize it? Well, it is a change, like being born again and relearning everything from the start. It is secret, living power—like yeast. It is something that grows, like seed. It is precious like buried treasure, like a rich pearl, and you have to pay for it. It is a sharp cleavage through the rich jumble of things which life presents: like fish and rubbish in a draw-net, like wheat and tares; like wisdom and folly; and it carries with it a kind of menacing finality; it is new, yet in a sense it was always there—like turning out a cupboard and finding there your own childhood as well as your present self; it makes demands, it is like an invitation to a royal banquet—gratifying, but not to be disregarded, and you have to live up to it; where it is equal, it seems unjust; where it is just it is clearly not equal—as with the single pound, the diverse talents, the labourers in the vineyard, you have what you bargained for; it knows no compromise between an uncalculating mercy and a terrible justice—like the unmerciful servant, you get what you give; it is helpless in your hands like the King’s Son, but if you slay it, it will judge you; it was from the foundations of the world; it is to come; it is here and now; it is within you. It is recorded that the multitudes sometimes failed to understand.
    ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement, London: Golanz, 1963, p. 281 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 13:47-48,24-30,33,44-46; 20:1-16; 22:1-14; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 13:20-21; 15:8-10; 16:1-9; John 3:3-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I was a spiritual zero, and You have given me the Kingdom. Blessed is Your Name. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: just the pure in heart

Tuesday, February 17, 2026
    Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977
Meditation:
    Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
    —Matthew 5:8 (KJV)
Quotation:
    It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 133 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:8; Ps. 15:2; 18:26; 51:10; Tit. 1:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purify my heart, so that I may see You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Goodspeed: in their own language

Monday, February 16, 2026
Meditation:
    And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
    —Acts 2:5-8 (KJV)
Quotation:
    There are more readers of the English Bible in this country than in any other, and the time seemed to me to have come for a frank and direct translation of the Greek New Testament into our modern spoken American English. We take great pains to provide Asiatica and Africana with special versions, so that they may read the Bible each in his own tongue wherein he was born; and why not do as much for our own young people, and our fellow citizens generally?
    ... Edgar J. Goodspeed (1871-1962), How Came the Bible?, New York: Abingdon, 1940, p. 127-128 (see the book)
    See also Acts 2:5-8; Isa. 52:7; Nah. 1:15; Rom. 10:14-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak to me so that I can understand. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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