Podcast appearances and mentions of Josef Pieper

How is leisure part of being human? The Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann, Waldemar A. and June Schuette Professor of Systematic Theology and author of Day 7: For Work, Rest, or Play from Concordia Publishing House, joins Andy and Sarah for a series on what Sabbath means for us. In this episode on chapter 4, they discuss how we normally consider "leisure" and how Josef Pieper gives us a deeper explanation. They also consider several questions: Does it matter if we have time to think deep thoughts about the world? How does our Western culture make true leisure difficult? How are leisure and worship connected? What is acedia, and what about it is dangerous? Shouldn't leisure be equated with laziness?  Find Day 7: For Work, Rest, or Play at cph.org/day-7-for-work-rest-or-play. As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let's be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

This episode is a recording of the lecture delivered on February 20th by Dr. R.J. Snell at the University Catholic Center of UT Austin. While the term acedia may be unfamiliar, the vice, usually translated as sloth, is all too common. Sloth is not mere laziness, however, but a disgust with reality, a loathing of our call to be friends with God, and a spiteful, bored hatred of place and life itself. As described by Josef Pieper, the slothful person does not “want to be as God wants him to be, and that ultimately means he does not wish to be what he really, fundamentally is.” Sloth is a hellish despair. Our own culture is deeply infected, choosing a destructive freedom rather than the good work for which God created us. But we can resist despair and can reconfigure our imaginations and practices in deep love of the life and work given by God. By feasting, keeping sabbath, and working well, we learn to see the world as enchanting, beautiful, and good—just as God sees it. R.J. Snell is Director of Academic Programs. Prior to his appointment at the Witherspoon Institute, he was for many years Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College, where he founded and directed the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good.

February 24, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 11:25-30Daily Lectionary: Job 19:1-12, 21-27; John 8:1-20“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. On this day, the Church remembers Matthias, the thirteenth of the Twelve Apostles. As the book of Acts starts, the Eleven figure that they need a replacement for Judas, who betrayed Jesus and died a horrible death. But doesn't it feel like the Gospel reading assigned for this festival doesn't quite fit? Does replacing Judas sound like an easy yoke for Matthias? Does facing death by confessing Christ sound like a light burden? We might ask the same question. This world inflicts heavy burdens on us. We face rejection for confessing Christ. We face addiction, depression, loneliness, and fear. Where's this rest that Jesus promises? When will all these things end? At our death? But what about now? What does rest look like now?However, we first must know what rest is. Rest isn't simply the cessation of work. Rest isn't simply the end of doing something difficult. Rest isn't turning off your brain or simply sleeping. Our world defines rest that way. But how do you feel after doom-scrolling for hours? How do you feel after binge-watching shows all evening? Or when you've done nothing at all. How do you feel after enduring work all day and waking up the next day, only to do it all over again? It's not rest you receive, no matter what our world calls it. Josef Pieper, in his book Leisure, the Basis of Culture, explains it this way: The highest form of rest comes from the festival. And at the heart of every festival is worship. You don't turn off your brain, or sleep, or do nothing when there's a festival. Instead, they are often very busy. But the doing is in service to the joy, rather than because it is necessary.Today is a festival. We celebrate St. Matthias, the apostle whom Jesus chose, that His Word would be proclaimed. There's a feast at the festival, a feast at the center of our worship, and the feast is Christ Himself. Facing the world? Christ says, “Take and Eat; this is My body.” Facing addiction, depression, loneliness, and fear? Christ says, “Take and drink, My blood shed for your forgiveness.” Doing nothing doesn't prepare us for fighting these battles. Christ putting Himself in us does. Because rest doesn't come from inaction. Rest comes from the feast in worship, which brings the strength to endure the world.Jesus Himself is who eases the yokes of this world and lightens the struggles we face. And Jesus gives you His Body and Blood in His feast for that purpose. This is why the Church has so many feasts, including the weekly feast celebrating Christ's resurrection from the dead every Sunday. We need the festival. We need the joy it brings. We need the rest it provides. We need Jesus. And here He is.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.At the Lamb's high feast we sing Praise to our victorious King, Who has washed us in the tideFlowing from His pierced side. Alleluia! (LSB 633:1)-Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

On today's episode of Restless, Fr. Joseph, Joe, and Matt sit down to discuss Josef Pieper's "Leisure, the basis of culture". In doing so they draw the distinction between leisure and entertainment and discuss why leisure's greatest form is worship. They also cover the connection between leisure & friendship, the transcendentals (truth, beauty and goodness) and work. 

For the rest of Ordinary Time we will consider how the gospel speaks to our many varied days. We are using a book of prayers by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie called The Lives We Actually Have as our structure and a source of inspiration. Today's sermon is about tired days. Addressing the great exhaustion of our culture, burnout, and quiet-quitting, we consider how a gospel understanding of leisure (thanks you Josef Pieper) might change our lives.

In this homily, Fr. Sam French reflects on the Gospel during the 16th Week of Ordinary Time. He addresses a profound cultural shift: our society's loss of true rest and leisure. Fr. Sam explores how modern life, with its relentless focus on productivity and utility, has distanced us from the beauty and purpose that define our humanity. He contrasts the sublime achievements of past cultures with today's emphasis on functionality and economy, questioning the impact on our spiritual well-being. Drawing from the teachings of Josef Pieper and St. Augustine, Fr. Sam delves into the concept of leisure as an essential aspect of human life. He underscores that true rest is a divine gift, not a self-made achievement. Fr. Sam emphasizes the importance of silence and stillness, urging us to disconnect from the noise and distractions of contemporary life to truly connect with God. Fr. Sam's personal experiences as a priest add depth to his message, illustrating the physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion that comes from dedicated service. He invites us to embrace 'wasting time with God,' advocating for regular visits to the Church for Eucharistic Adoration and personal prayer. This episode is a powerful reminder to find rest in God's presence and rediscover the art of true leisure. Join Fr. Sam French for more content, insights, and homilies on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: linktr.ee/frsamfrench

University of Cambridge philosopher, Professor Douglas Hedley, delves into the concept of play and its vital role in understanding the human condition. Drawing on Johann Huizinga, Hermann Hesse, and Josef Pieper's ideas, Hedley links play to the divine act of creation, asserting it as an essential element of our existence associated with freedom, creativity, and spirituality. He considers various viewpoints from Christian and Eastern traditions, addressing criticisms and underscoring play's civilizing role. Through Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game," Hedley probes into play's societal function, its ties to leisure and festivals, and its life-enriching effects. The lecture's Q&A session offers additional insights, marking it as a significant resource for those intrigued by play's profound meanings. Douglas Hedley is a distinguished philosopher at the University of Cambridge, celebrated for his extensive research in the philosophy of religion and Platonism. He is the author of multiple influential works on imagination and religious experience. Glossary of Terms Sophia: Greek word for wisdom, used in the context of the lecture series to signify the exploration of wisdom through philosophy. The Delphic Oracle: The ancient Greek oracle at Delphi, famous for its cryptic predictions and guidance, including the maxim 'know thyself.' Resources Website:  https://www.ralston.ac/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RalstonCollegeSavannah X: https://twitter.com/RalstonCollege Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ralstoncollege/ Douglas Hedley https://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/directory/douglas-hedley https://www.ralston.ac/people/douglas-hedley Living Forms of the Imagination -Douglas Hedley Sacrifice Imagined: Violence, Atonement, and the Sacred - Douglas Hedley The Iconic Imagination - Douglas Hedley The History of Religious Imagination in Christian Platonism,  Exploring the Philosophy of Douglas Hedley - Christian Hengstermann Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture - Johan Huizinga  In the Shadow of Tomorrow: A Diagnosis of the Modern Distemper - Johan Huizinga  Leisure: The Basis of Culture - Josef Pieper  The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) -  Hermann Hesse  The Journey to the East - Hermann Hesse Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse  Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age - Robert N. Bellah  Tertullian. (n.d.). De Spectaculis. De Ludo Globi: The Game of Spheres - Nicholas de Cusa   Plato. (n.d.). Symposium.  https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html Plato. (n.d.). Phaedo. https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html Plato. (n.d.). Laws.  https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.1.i.html Quotes "Platonic games and jokes are much more serious than the serious things of the Stoics." - Marsilio Ficino [00:09:20] "Play may well be a key to understanding something about ourselves." - Douglas Hedley [00:09:00] Chapters  [00:00:00] - Introduction [00:01:00] - Welcome and introduction of Sophia lectures series  [00:06:40] - Topic introduction: The Spirit of Play [00:08:13] - Guest speaker introduction: Professor Douglas Hedley [00:09:40] - Distinguishing play and game [00:15:00] - Play as an intimation of the sacred [00:20:40] - The link between play and freedom [00:26:40] - Essentialism and play as an essential part of human condition [00:31:20] - Critique of play within the Christian tradition [00:36:50] - The glass bead game by Hermann Hesse [00:45:00] - Critique of Mandarin culture in the glass bead game [00:51:00] - Religious aspect of play [01:02:00] - Suspicion of leisure in Anglo-American culture [01:04:00] - Q&A session [01:37:19] - Conclusion of Q&A session and end of the lecture

In this week's episode, Fr. Kerry and interim host Clay Furleigh talk about proper leisure, how we are made to contemplate and meditate, and the lost art of seeing true beauty. Resource: “Leisure The Basis of Culture” by Josef Pieper

Lessons from "Leisure: The Basis of Culture" by Josef Pieper. This book challenges our contemporary work-centric culture and the idea of “total work,” where every aspect of life is dominated by the ethos of work and productivity. Pieper argues that this shift has led to a loss of meaning and a neglect of the liberal arts, which traditionally has been a space for leisure and the cultivation of individual freedom. Josef Pieper was a professor of philosophy at University of Munster. He was schooled specifically the Greek philosophy and Thomas Aquinas, law and sociology. - Social & Website Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ijmakan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ijmakan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://becomingantifragile.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ijmakan.substack.com - 00:00 - Excerpt and background 04:30 - Our work-centric culture vs. leisure 07:10 - Individual freedom comes leisure 13:30 - When work becomes a religion, leisure makes no sense 16:00 - Hyper-productive state is at odds with enlightenment 19:15 - Servile arts vs. liberal arts 24:30 - Leisure is only possible when you know yourself 33:00 - Crave out a time for leisure 38:00 - Virtues perfect you so that you can act effortlessly 40:10 - Challenge

How could such a strange thing as contemplation be the core meaning of happiness? Tune in and find out! Also, see where I've been for the last few weeks.

Pozorujeme zásadný posun medzi našim súčasným a antickým chápaním voľného času a vzdelania, a je potrebné si položiť zásadnú otázku: Je dnes voľný čas niečo, čo si vieme ako jednotlivci a tiež ako spoločnosť rozumne obhájiť? Nemali by sme voľný čas zrušiť a úplne ho nahradiť kreatívnou a efektívnou prácou?    Našťastie, pri hľadaní odpovede na túto otázku sme v dobrej spoločnosti a pozývam vás k spoločnému rozmýšľaniu spolu s významným mysliteľom 20. storočia, nemeckým filozofom Josefom Pieperom - a okrem otázky voľného času s ním znovuobjavíme potrebu kontemplácie.    Súvisiace dávky: PD#301: Ako nevyhorieť vo vyhorenej spoločnosti, http://bit.ly/davka301   PD#299: Žijeme v dobe konzumného narcizmu, http://bit.ly/davka299     Použitá alebo odporúčaná literatúra:  Pieper, Voľný čas a kult (Minor, 2017) Pieper, O vzdelaní, otvorenosti celku a zneužívaní jazyka (Minor, 2021) Pieper, Co znamená filozofovat? (Karmelitánské nakladatelství, 2007) Pieper, Štěstí a kontemplace (Krystal OP, 2021) Pieper, Scholastika (Vyšehrad, 1994) *** Baví ťa s nami rozmýšľať? Podpor našu tvorbu priamo na SK1283605207004206791985 alebo cez Patreon (https://bit.ly/PDtreon), kde Ťa odmeníme aj my.

Explore the profound insights of Josef Pieper's 'Leisure: The Basis of Culture' in this thought-provoking podcast episode. Delve into the essence of leisure as a foundation for human flourishing and a cultivation an attitude of gratitude and receptivity. Join us for an enriching discussion on the timeless relevance of Pieper's work as an antidote to today's fast-paced, nihilistic, cynical world. In a word, walk with us as we an explore a new vision of reality from the one all too familiar to us.Logos Website: www.logos-podcast.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCPWBvNcAbptX17PzlC2x?si=BkEHS4vGSf-xmMlDFcpZ2QApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/logos-podcast/id1560191231TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@logospodcast YouTube: https://youtu.be/lfn_0SXVZj8?si=pxDVHAF6TRALdXbjInstagram: https://instagram.com/logos.pod?igshid=YWJhMjlhZTc=----------------------------------Consider supporting us financially at [ logos-podcast/patreon.com ] and become a monthly or one time giver!Timecode:0:00 - Intro7:30 - Why Leisure?13:00 - The Foundation of Culture15:00 - Does Your Work Define You?21:00 - Is Knowledge Earned or Given?28:30 - A Culture Without God33:30 - Servile Arts Vs. Liberal Arts36:30 - The Definition of Leisure43:00 - Leisure Is An End48:30- What is Your Highest Value?53:15- Worship and Being58:15 - The Enemy of Leisure Support the show

Can we expect people to live up to a certain set of moral standards, and if so, what are those standards? In continuation of our series on Catholic ethos, Justin Hibbard addresses the cardinal virtues - the longstanding teaching of philosophers and Catholics regarding what it means to be a good person. Subscribe to Why Catholic? wherever you get your podcasts.Check out the Why Catholic Etsy shop (all proceeds support this podcast).Become a free subscriber or a patron of Why Catholic? and get the next episode and a discount code to the Why Catholic Etsy shop in your email inbox.Follow Why Catholic on Instagram.Subscribe to Why Catholic on YouTubeSHOW NOTES:* The Four Cardinal Virtues by Josef Pieper (free e-book from Notre Dame Press)* What is Virtue, and What are the Four Cardinal Virtues (Catholic Straight Answers)* Catholic Ideas at a Protestant Seminary - Dr. Jason Reed (The Coming Home Network) Get full access to Why Catholic? at whycatholic.substack.com/subscribe

Boredom is an enduring problem. In response, schools often do one or both of the following: first, they endorse what novelist Walker Percy describes as a 'boredom avoidance scheme,' adopting new initiative after new initiative in the hope that boredom can be outrun altogether, or second, they compel students to accept boring situations as an inevitable part of life. Both strategies avoid serious reflection on this universal and troubling state of mind.  In Why Boredom Matters (Cambridge UP, 2022)k, Gary argues that schools should educate students on how to engage with boredom productively. Rather than being conditioned to avoid or blame boredom on something or someone else, students need to be given tools for dealing with their boredom. These tools provide them with internal resources that equip them to find worthwhile activities and practices to transform boredom into a more productive state of mind. This book addresses the ways students might gain these skills. From reviews:  ‘Kevin Gary's important and insightful book challenges readers to consider the moral and practical dimensions of boredom so that we might educate for lives of meaning. He gathers a range of sources from across time, traditions, and disciplines, and he puts these in conversation with our everyday experiences of boredom in the modern world, while also exploring ways that boredom has been written about and experienced in the past. It is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.'--Jeff Frank  ‘Why Boredom Matters is one of those delightful books in which the author seamlessly draws from thinkers from across multiple disciplines such as education, theology, philosophy, literature, and pop culture. Søren Kierkegaard, Walker Percy, David Wallace Foster, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Dewey, Albert Bormann, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, St. Benedict, Groundhog Day, and The Karate Kid all contribute to a richer understanding of boredom.'-- Elizabeth Amato Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Boredom is an enduring problem. In response, schools often do one or both of the following: first, they endorse what novelist Walker Percy describes as a 'boredom avoidance scheme,' adopting new initiative after new initiative in the hope that boredom can be outrun altogether, or second, they compel students to accept boring situations as an inevitable part of life. Both strategies avoid serious reflection on this universal and troubling state of mind.  In Why Boredom Matters (Cambridge UP, 2022)k, Gary argues that schools should educate students on how to engage with boredom productively. Rather than being conditioned to avoid or blame boredom on something or someone else, students need to be given tools for dealing with their boredom. These tools provide them with internal resources that equip them to find worthwhile activities and practices to transform boredom into a more productive state of mind. This book addresses the ways students might gain these skills. From reviews:  ‘Kevin Gary's important and insightful book challenges readers to consider the moral and practical dimensions of boredom so that we might educate for lives of meaning. He gathers a range of sources from across time, traditions, and disciplines, and he puts these in conversation with our everyday experiences of boredom in the modern world, while also exploring ways that boredom has been written about and experienced in the past. It is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.'--Jeff Frank  ‘Why Boredom Matters is one of those delightful books in which the author seamlessly draws from thinkers from across multiple disciplines such as education, theology, philosophy, literature, and pop culture. Søren Kierkegaard, Walker Percy, David Wallace Foster, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Dewey, Albert Bormann, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, St. Benedict, Groundhog Day, and The Karate Kid all contribute to a richer understanding of boredom.'-- Elizabeth Amato Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Boredom is an enduring problem. In response, schools often do one or both of the following: first, they endorse what novelist Walker Percy describes as a 'boredom avoidance scheme,' adopting new initiative after new initiative in the hope that boredom can be outrun altogether, or second, they compel students to accept boring situations as an inevitable part of life. Both strategies avoid serious reflection on this universal and troubling state of mind.  In Why Boredom Matters (Cambridge UP, 2022)k, Gary argues that schools should educate students on how to engage with boredom productively. Rather than being conditioned to avoid or blame boredom on something or someone else, students need to be given tools for dealing with their boredom. These tools provide them with internal resources that equip them to find worthwhile activities and practices to transform boredom into a more productive state of mind. This book addresses the ways students might gain these skills. From reviews:  ‘Kevin Gary's important and insightful book challenges readers to consider the moral and practical dimensions of boredom so that we might educate for lives of meaning. He gathers a range of sources from across time, traditions, and disciplines, and he puts these in conversation with our everyday experiences of boredom in the modern world, while also exploring ways that boredom has been written about and experienced in the past. It is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.'--Jeff Frank  ‘Why Boredom Matters is one of those delightful books in which the author seamlessly draws from thinkers from across multiple disciplines such as education, theology, philosophy, literature, and pop culture. Søren Kierkegaard, Walker Percy, David Wallace Foster, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Dewey, Albert Bormann, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, St. Benedict, Groundhog Day, and The Karate Kid all contribute to a richer understanding of boredom.'-- Elizabeth Amato Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education

Boredom is an enduring problem. In response, schools often do one or both of the following: first, they endorse what novelist Walker Percy describes as a 'boredom avoidance scheme,' adopting new initiative after new initiative in the hope that boredom can be outrun altogether, or second, they compel students to accept boring situations as an inevitable part of life. Both strategies avoid serious reflection on this universal and troubling state of mind.  In Why Boredom Matters (Cambridge UP, 2022)k, Gary argues that schools should educate students on how to engage with boredom productively. Rather than being conditioned to avoid or blame boredom on something or someone else, students need to be given tools for dealing with their boredom. These tools provide them with internal resources that equip them to find worthwhile activities and practices to transform boredom into a more productive state of mind. This book addresses the ways students might gain these skills. From reviews:  ‘Kevin Gary's important and insightful book challenges readers to consider the moral and practical dimensions of boredom so that we might educate for lives of meaning. He gathers a range of sources from across time, traditions, and disciplines, and he puts these in conversation with our everyday experiences of boredom in the modern world, while also exploring ways that boredom has been written about and experienced in the past. It is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.'--Jeff Frank  ‘Why Boredom Matters is one of those delightful books in which the author seamlessly draws from thinkers from across multiple disciplines such as education, theology, philosophy, literature, and pop culture. Søren Kierkegaard, Walker Percy, David Wallace Foster, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Dewey, Albert Bormann, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, St. Benedict, Groundhog Day, and The Karate Kid all contribute to a richer understanding of boredom.'-- Elizabeth Amato Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago.

Boredom is an enduring problem. In response, schools often do one or both of the following: first, they endorse what novelist Walker Percy describes as a 'boredom avoidance scheme,' adopting new initiative after new initiative in the hope that boredom can be outrun altogether, or second, they compel students to accept boring situations as an inevitable part of life. Both strategies avoid serious reflection on this universal and troubling state of mind.  In Why Boredom Matters (Cambridge UP, 2022)k, Gary argues that schools should educate students on how to engage with boredom productively. Rather than being conditioned to avoid or blame boredom on something or someone else, students need to be given tools for dealing with their boredom. These tools provide them with internal resources that equip them to find worthwhile activities and practices to transform boredom into a more productive state of mind. This book addresses the ways students might gain these skills. From reviews:  ‘Kevin Gary's important and insightful book challenges readers to consider the moral and practical dimensions of boredom so that we might educate for lives of meaning. He gathers a range of sources from across time, traditions, and disciplines, and he puts these in conversation with our everyday experiences of boredom in the modern world, while also exploring ways that boredom has been written about and experienced in the past. It is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.'--Jeff Frank  ‘Why Boredom Matters is one of those delightful books in which the author seamlessly draws from thinkers from across multiple disciplines such as education, theology, philosophy, literature, and pop culture. Søren Kierkegaard, Walker Percy, David Wallace Foster, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Dewey, Albert Bormann, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, St. Benedict, Groundhog Day, and The Karate Kid all contribute to a richer understanding of boredom.'-- Elizabeth Amato Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

A rarely stated but widely assumed myth of our “information age” is that access to information is the same thing as knowledge or, even worse, wisdom. Another is that time not spent accessing information is wasted, perhaps even immorally so.   This explains, at least in part, the extent to which people go in order to avoid boredom today. Even brief 30-second intervals at a red light have us grasping for our phones. Most of us are uncomfortable with having “nothing to do,” even for a moment. However, the endless pursuit of feeling “productive,” or at least “informed” is not satisfying. In a new book called Why Boredom Matters, Professor Kevin Hood Gary proposes a  solution to this problem, which he summarizes in the subtitle: “Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life.”   Today, “leisure” carries connotations of wealth and laziness, which makes it difficult for Christians to defend. However, since the early modern era, “leisure” has referred to the pursuit of curiosity for curiosity's sake. German philosopher Josef Pieper called leisure the “basis of culture,” defining it as “everything that lies beyond the utilitarian world.” In other words, to engage in leisure is to have the energy and the will to learn about the world, even when that learning isn't necessary for survival or wealth.  Leisure, when understood in this sense, pushes us further into what it means to be human. No other creature engages in leisure like humans do. Animals build dams and burrows to stay warm and survive. Humans need shelter, too, but we decorate them. Not to mention, we also build cathedrals, theme parks, museums, and restaurants. We write sonnets, compose operas, and make eight-course meals. This is the behavior of creatures made in the image of God, a Creator who loves beauty for beauty's sake.  Strictly utilitarian societies can be productive and efficient but are, in the end, unsustainable. The Communist experiment of the Soviet Union is an example of what happens when a society is built upon a wrong understanding of the human person. When creativity and imagination are suppressed and individuality rejected, the result is widespread dehumanization. (I'm not just talking about the architecture, although there's a reason it's called “brutalist”).  Still, throughout human history and even under brutal regimes, humans have always found the will and the means to engage in leisure. One of my favorite paintings, by Russian artist Nikolai Yaroshenko, is called Life Is Everywhere. Three men, a woman, and a baby are crammed into a prison car but, through the bars of their window, they watch, amused, the fevered activity of a group of birds on the ground outside. The child is smiling.   Even in war-torn countries and in the poorest slums, there are people making beautiful things, inventing games and stories, and imagining a world different than what they know. This is because leisure is an insuppressible part of being human, made in God's image.   In most of the Western world, people have all the means and opportunity to pursue classical leisure but choose distraction instead. Lacking in motivation to go deeper, Kevin Hood Gary suggests the only solution is education.  He doesn't mean institutional higher education as it is currently, unfortunately built around a utilitarian approach. Highly specified academic programs teach students what they need to pass a test, obtain a license, or make money. A truly meaningful education instead capitalizes on the God-given capacity for leisure incorporating a broad survey of subjects–including those that seem to have nothing to do with “getting a job.”   Often, those subjects assumed to be irrelevant to a job are the most consequential. Do we want geneticists capable of splicing genes and rewriting DNA who have never taken an ethics class? Do we want elementary teachers versed in all social-emotional learning theories of second graders, but who do not know even the basics of the history of Western civilization?  Education should be an antidote to boredom because it should teach us how to wrestle with the questions boredom brings up, such as: Who am I? Why am I here? What is life for? Am I living well? What should I love?   Philosophers call these the “ultimate” questions. Christians know that the source of these questions is God Himself, and that bearing God's image makes life inherently meaningful. To learn about God's world, through history, art, philosophy, mathematics, science, and literature, is to learn about Him. Thus, it is always beneficial, even if it accomplishes nothing more than giving us a wider glimpse of His glorious creativity.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Maria Baer. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

In this episode we are joined by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne, who is priest-in-charge at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, to talk about his new book, Josef Pieper on the Spiritual Life: Creation, Contemplation, and Human Flourishing (published by Notre Dame University Press). Rev. Dr. Warne explains that he came to the work of Pieper, a scholar of Thomas Aquinas, by way of his own research on eudaimonia in Thomistic thought. In the process of gleaning from Pieper for his work on Thomas, he became deeply influenced by Pieper's reflections on the spiritual life and his approach to spiritual practices as rooted in quite mundane activities. In this book Rev. Dr. Warne draws together various threads in Pieper's writings into a systematic articulation of his views on spirituality as it pertains to his theology of creation, contemplation, and what it looks like to have a thriving human existence. Team members from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Madison Pierce. If you are interested in purchasing Rev. Dr. Warne's book, there is a special code from the publisher for 40% off:  14CTSA23

Where does boredom come from? Have humans always experienced boredom, or has it only come on in the entertainment age, having more time than we know what to do with? Kevin Gary (Valparaiso University) is author of Why Boredom Matters: Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life. He joins Drew Collins & Evan Rosa to reflect on the discontent and disconnection that boredom constantly threatens. They discuss the phenomena of boredom, the childhood experience of it, whether its good or bad, the definition of boredom, its connection to entertainment and education, and finally the role of attention and leisure in cultivating a healthy understanding and response to being totally bored out of our minds.This episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.About Kevin GaryKevin Gary is a Professor of Education at Valparaiso University. He has a Ph.D. in cultural and educational policy studies from Loyola University Chicago with a focus in the philosophy of education and an M.A. in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame. His teaching experience includes 10 years of teaching theology at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, Illinois.; seven years as a professor of education and philosophy at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana; 8 years as a professor of education at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana; and one year as faculty director of Goshen College's international studies program in Lima, Perú.Dr. Gary's research is primarily in philosophy of education. He recently published, Why Boredom Matters: Education and the Quest for a Meaningful Life with Cambridge University Press in 2022. K-12 educators (and parents) face bored students every day. Drawing on multiple disciplines Dr. Gary makes a case for teachers guiding students to engage with boredom constructively, steering clear of restless boredom avoidance on the one hand, or passive submission to boredom on the other.Dr. Gary has published in multiple journals, including Educational Theory, the Journal of Philosophy of Education, and Studies in Philosophy and Education.Dr. Gary is one of the founding executives of the North American Association for Philosophy and Education (NAAPE), launched in 2018. NAAPE provides an international forum for scholars working at the intersection of philosophy and educational thought, where disciplines such as ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophical anthropology, history, and others meet the practical challenges of teaching and learning.Dr. Gary is passionate about liberal education, especially within the context of a Christian liberal arts university, which aims to cultivate practical wisdom, compassion, and a Renaissance spirit.Show NotesKevin Gary's Why Boredom Matters: Education and the Quest for a Meaningful LifeA quick and incomplete history of boredomThe Preacher of Ecclesiastes laments over human toil, “everything is vanity and chasing after wind” around 250 BC. “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.”Stoic Roman philosopher Seneca noticed a nauseating tedium in his famous letter “On Tranquility,” describing a familiar quote “vacillation of a mind that nowhere finds rest, and the sad and languid endurance of one's leisure. Thence comes mourning and melancholy and the thousand waverings of an unsettled mind, which its aspirations hold in suspense, and then disappointment renders melancholy. Thence comes that feeling which makes men loathe their own leisure and complain that they themselves have nothing to be busy with.”The ancient Christian monks of the desert struggled with the noonday demon of acedia, a spiritual boredom with their vocation of prayer and faithfulness.Aquinas and other scholastics disciplined the “roving mind.”Variants of the English “boredom”—including being bored to death!—show up in Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, and Herman Melville in the mid 19th century.Kierkegaard calls it the root of all evil.Heidegger sees it in a positive light, saying that philosophy begins in the nothingness of boredom.C.S. Lewis's Uncle Screwtape advises that “anything or nothing is sufficient to attract the wandering attention” of Jr. Demon Wormwood's human patient.The French bourgeoisie nailed it with ennui that many a suburban latchkey kid can relate to.In the King-Kubrick masterpiece, The Shining, boredom goes very dark when “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”Boredom for children: How to respond to the boredom children feelIs boredom bad or good?What's the definition of boredom?Tolstoy on boredomKierkegaard on living life to avoid boredomKierkegaard as a form of existential despair; boredom as an indicator that we're not comfortable with ourselves.Chasing novelty, looking for the new; or giving up and resigning our agencyHeidegger was influenced by Kierkegaard; and thought you must push through it to find your true, authentic self.Kierkegaard's view of the “authentic self” is the self resting in God.“Schola” (Latin): attentively receptive.Simone Weil on tedium, boredom, and attentionLiving in an “attention economy” and controlling or stewarding others' attentionAttention as an antidote to boredomSimone Weil's experience working in a car factory and losing her sense of agency and selfPhilosopher Albert Borgmann on “focal practices” and guardrails.Go chop wood for an hour, and simply do it.Go for a walk for an hour without your smartphone.Boredom and entertainment in a perverse binary orbitSimone Weil “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God” in Waiting for God (link to PDF)Entertainment is, therefore, not the problem.“The entertainment-boredom cycle just becomes more boring.”Leisure as antidote to boredomSabbath as oasis from work filling up our lives.Thomas Aquinas's “roving mind”Let's go birding!Liturgy as the guardrails of attentionBe an apprentice and learn to experience and perceive in a new way.Mindful in the mundaneGordon Wood's History of the American Revolution: politicians as “disinterested men of leisure”Fighting against instrumentalization.Intrinsic goods of doing the dishes.“The bored mind is missing an opportunity for leisure.”“I like to fish… and any fishing guide will tell you they call it fishing, not catching, for a reason.”“Having resources does not guarantee the experience of leisure.”Josef Pieper and Abraham Heschel and the tradition of Intellectus and WonderHow leisure as both active and contemplative, and its role in a flourishing lifeProduction NotesThis podcast featured Kevin Gary and Drew CollinsEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge and Logan LedmanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveSpecial thanks to the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

JonMarc and Teresa Grodi discuss Mother Teresa, Theology of the Body, Josef Pieper, and the ultimate cleaning motivation for the Christian. Welcome to Elevate Ordinary podcast!! Check out all of our podcasts and support the show at ElevateOrdinary.com. Episode 66 Show Hosts: JonMarc and Teresa Grodi Show Notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/elevate-ordinary/cleaning-and-theology-of-the-body-cleaning-motiviation This episode is Sponsored by ROB HOHLER with KEY REALTY Looking for a NEW HOME in Northwest OH? Check out his website and listings: https://robhohler.ikeyrealty.com Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Bring the AWAKEN MISSION to your parish! https://www.awakencatholic.church/mission

Are we taking time to be leisurely? Are we free to study the true, good, and beautiful? Are we liberated enough to spend time on the liberal arts? Or are we stuck in a consumer culture that pushes a sterile curiosity? All this and more on this episode! Joseph referenced a book by Paul Griffiths, called Intellectual Appetite. We recommend it!  https://www.cuapress.org/9780813216867/intellectual-appetite/And we referenced Josef Pieper's Leisure: The Basis of Culture-- also highly recommended! https://ignatius.com/leisure-lbcp/

#politics #catholic #love #freedom #happiness #theology #truth #liberal #conservative Political landscapes, social lives, and cultural influences all shape our view of reality. Many of us live under the impression that humanity is limited to pleasure, utility, autonomy, and power. Yet, there exists a witness that challenges these popularly held views. This witness lives in a silent, ordered, and "useless" life that reminds man of his eternal destiny. This witness is a cloistered nun.  Guys, on this episode, Logos dives into an article we found interesting where the author writes about the conception of a Nun within a "liberal society." Who is a nun? Does she do anything? Does she live up the liberal model of happiness? Questions like these mentioned and more are covered in this episode. Link's to audio platforms and support:Website: logos-podcast.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCPWBvNcAbptX17PzlC2x?si=BkEHS4vGSf-xmMlDFcpZ2QApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/logos-podcast/id1560191231TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@logospodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqauK7TPfOwe80B-ckOeelQInstagram: https://instagram.com/logos.pod?igshid=YWJhMjlhZTc=Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/logospodcastArticle and sources used:- https://newpolity.com/blog/sign-of-uselessness- https://www.amazon.com/stores/Josef-Pieper/author/B000AQ4VR2?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true- https://theimaginativeconservative.org/author/joseph-pieper- https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300064056/the-idea-of-a-university/- https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-America-Alexis-Tocqueville/dp/1539113396/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1679512827&sr=8-5- https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2T72PUVKZKLCG&keywords=tyranny&qid=1679512906&sprefix=tyranny%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1- https://www.amazon.com/Tradition-Concept-Author-Pieper-published/dp/B00XWQVJMC/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1679512972&sr=8-2- https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Individualism/dp/1433556332/ref=sr_1_2?crid=16B3JIBNZJQUL&keywords=the+rise+and+triumph+of+modern+self&qid=1679513025&sprefix=The+Rise+and+Triump%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-2- https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/consecrated-life/forms-of-consecrated-life#:~:text=Religious%20Life&text=926.,to%20be%20the%20Savior's%20bride.- https://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McCullough/dp/0743226720/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1679513134&sr=8-3- https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651028_perfectae-caritatis_en.htmlTimecode:0:00 - Intro2:13 - Como Estas?4:15 - Why topic?6:40 - Thought Experiment8:35 - Thesis of Discussion8:50 - What Is Liberalism?10:00 - Principles of Liberal Society16:27 - What is Freedom?17:16 - What is a Nun?25:00 - Nun As Social Worker28:10 - Being Over Doing29:33 - Nun and Sister34:00 - Nun As Model37:40 - Creation As Gift42:54 - Leisure50:26 - Goodness Flows From Goodness54:53 - Work Is Important56:45 - Final RemarksSupport the show

What does it mean to have a calling? How do we find it? What do we do if it changes? This week's guest Bethany Fernandes is no stranger to these questions in her practical life as an academic mentor or in her philosophical life as a former Cranes Scholar at Baylor University. Today, she and Callie are unpacking these questions and more with references to their Cranes conversations and reading in an effort to point us all back towards doing the thing we were put on this earth to do. Bethany's recommendations for further reading include A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart by Josef Pieper, Living Vocationally by Paul Wadell and Charles Pinches, The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee, How to Burn A Goat by Scott H. Moore, and Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard. Callie's additional recommendations for further reading include "Christian Apologetics" (from God in the Dock) by C.S. Lewis, The Road to Character by David Brooks, Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, and Where There is Love, There is God by Mother Teresa (compiled by Brian Kolodiejchuk). For new episode updates, follow Second Rodeo on Instagram @second_rodeo_podcast and like the Facebook page. Not your first rodeo? Email Second Rodeo at secondrodeopodcast@gmail.com with your topic ideas. Happy listening, and more importantly, happy trails!

Mike Del Ponte is a serial entrepreneur and CEO coach who has empowered founders to rapidly scale their start-ups to over $3 billion in total valuations. In this conversation, Mike discusses the ways he helps leaders level up and improve both their businesses and their lives. Mentioned in this Episode:mikedelponte.co - https://www.mikedelponte.co/Mike Delponte on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedelponte/Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper - https://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Basis-Culture-Josef-Pieper/dp/1586172565“Stutz” A Film by Jonah Hill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKCmefQdplITime Codes:(1:56) - What exactly is your job and how did you get into this line of work?(4:56) - What was your process for changing identity from being in the priesthood to becoming an entrepreneur?(7:34) - What is the difference between a calling and a desire?(9:41) - When you are coaching someone, what are they paying attention to inside themselves?(15:36) - What does the process look like when starting with a CEO?(18:34) - Do you have an example of what that might be?(21:13) -  How do you think about the balance between telling your client the answer vs making the client come up with it?(31:06) -  Do you see a lot of new startup CEOs needing coaching or is it just a stereotype?(32:43) - How do you get people comfortable enough to know they need help?(36:25) - How do you help diagnose lynchpin issues in clients?(41:02) - How do you help someone through the stages of making new habits and mindsets stick?(53:40) - What do you think people are getting wrong?(54:52) - What are you most excited about in your work?(55:43) - What is the purpose of business?(56:36) - Where can people engage with you online?

This week we talk about gluttony and what the saints say about it. What is gluttony? What does St. John Cassian, St. Benedict, St. John Chrysostom, Dante, Socrates, and Josef Pieper say about gluttony? What does St. Thomas Aquinas say about the daughters of gluttony? Can we be a glutton of time? We discuss this and more in this week's episode. DRINK: Oban Little Bay Small Cask GEAR: N/A TOPIC: Daughters of gluttony The Daughters of Gluttony Download our prayer guide we put together with Exodus 9o. Support Us on Patreon Become a Patron! Over 40 interviews, a course with Karlo Broussard, a 10 part series on the domestic church, a course on fitness and virtue by Pat Flynn, and free thank you gifts for supporting the show! Click here to join Join Our 2024 Pilgrimage Select International Tours in the best in the business. We are planning on a 2024 pilgrimage. Click here so you won't miss it. Living Beyond Sunday: Making Your Home a Holy Place Our new book is available for pre-order from Ascension Press! “I love this book. It provides wise counsel with beautiful simplicity. So, if you are looking to safeguard your family life from the wiles of the enemy and encourage your spouse and children to become the saints God is calling them to be, this is a book for you.” – Fr Gregory Pine Home life can be difficult and busy, and it's easy to get distracted from the point of it all: raising a family of saints. In Living Beyond Sunday: Making Your Home a Holy Place, two married couples share what has helped them make their homes a place of encounter with God–a place where saints are being made. Want to help The Catholic Man Show? By giving us a rating on iTunes, it helps others find the show. Want to say up with The Catholic Man Show? Sign up for our mailing list: Click Here Looking for a prayer to pray with your wife? Check this blog out. Are you getting our emails? Sign up for our newsletter where we give you all bacon content – never spam.  SIGN UP HERE:

“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.” ― Aristotle Chris Kyle was murdered by a man who he knew was insane. Joe Rogan wants to talk about cat-identifying students receiving litter boxes. If it's true, this is the kind of story that bores me. Why? It lets a lot of people off the hook. “It is in these silent and receptive moments that the soul of man is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together.” –Josef Pieper

In this episode, Joshua Nichols and Dan Asia unpack some of the foundational concepts of Leisure by examining chapter 1 of Josef Pieper's Leisure: the Basis of Culture.   You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Basis-Culture-Josef-Pieper/dp/1586172565/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TNL0N74CWRZJ&keywords=leisure+the+basis+of+culture&qid=1660617316&sprefix=leisure+the+basis+of+cultur%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-1

Joshua Hren, author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, editor-in-chief of Wiseblood Books, and co-founder of a new Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, returns to the podcast to discuss his recent essay, Contemplative Realism: A Theological-Aesthetical Manifesto: As ever, but especially in our present age of raging post-truth unreality, we ought to heed Pope Benedict XVI's summons to “ask rather more carefully what ‘the real' actually is.” So-called “realism,” when relegated to material tangibilities, can blind us—instead of binding us—to things as they are. “Are we not interested in the cosmos anymore?” Benedict asks. “Are we today really hopelessly huddled in our own little circle? Is it not important, precisely today, to pray with the whole of creation?” If this preeminent mind of our time is not wrong, and “the man who puts to one side the reality of God is a realist only in appearance,” then we ought to ask with unflinching intensity and openness: what is real? Like liturgy, literature asks this question with a range of forms that answer it very differently. At times, both art and worship seem to devolve into the manners and mood of self-referential and inconsequential play, gestures without meaning, or “bank notes” (says Benedict) “without funds to cover them.” These too-closed circles of communication wall off transcendence. In living cruciform liturgy—on the contrary—“the congregation does not offer its own thoughts or poetry but is taken out of itself and given the privilege of sharing in the cosmic song of praise of the cherubim and seraphim.” In living contemplative literature something analogous happens: we suffer and praise with the whole of creation; the prose cultivates a grateful disposition, prompting us to yearn for a vision of the whole. But this manifesto on behalf of a “contemplative realism” makes no claims to create, ex nihilo, a new aesthetical species. Nor does it advance this rough school of literary fish as some preeminent or sole “way forward” for fiction in our time. Rather, it seeks to articulate a literary approach that exists already in diffuse books as well as in the potencies of living artists. It seeks to gather and galvanize those souls. More than anything, it yearns to quicken a contemplative realist disposition among as many comers as possible—literary chops or no. For, in a very bad way (to borrow from Josef Pieper), “man's ability to see is in decline.” (Publisher's description) Links Read a short version of the manifesto https://benedictinstitute.org/manifesto/ Buy the full version of Contemplative Realism https://www.amazon.com/Contemplative-Realism-Theological-Aesthetical-Joshua-Hren/dp/1951319567 Wiseblood Books https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/ MFA program in creative writing at UST https://www.stthom.edu/Academics/School-of-Arts-and-Sciences/Division-of-Liberal-Studies/Graduate/Master-of-Fine-Arts-in-Creative-Writing/Index.aqf?Aquifer_Source_URL=%2FMFA&PNF_Check=1 This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

In this episode, Joshua Nichols and Dan Asia unpack some of the foundational concepts of Leisure by examining chapter 1 of Josef Pieper's Leisure: the Basis of Culture.   You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Basis-Culture-Josef-Pieper/dp/1586172565/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TNL0N74CWRZJ&keywords=leisure+the+basis+of+culture&qid=1660617316&sprefix=leisure+the+basis+of+cultur%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-1  

In this conversation with Rachel Fulton Brown, we begin with Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, as a medieval symbol of liberal learning at the University of Paris, and all that she can teach those who desire to become wise. From there we consider how a Marian thread unites things as disparate as iambic pentameter, rose windows, and the highest—albeit unexpected—gifts of contemplative grace. Along the way the works of St. Augustine, John of Garland, Richard of Saint-Laurent, Tolkien, and Josef Pieper illuminate our path. Links of Potential Interest Brown's U. Chicago Website Rachel Fulton Brown, From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800-1200 Rachel Fulton Brown, History in the Comic Mode: Medieval Communities and the Matter of Person Rachel Fulton Brown, Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought Rachel Fulton Brown at First Things Fencing Bear at Prayer and here "The Forge of Tolkein" (Lectures) St. Augustine, De musica Tolkien, Mythopoeia Ecclesiasticus 24 (Mary as Wisdom) John of Garland, Epithalamium beatae Mariae Virginis Josef Pieper, Happiness and Contemplation

Reconquest Episode 335: The Figure of Antichrist and His Context Episode 335 debuts on July 13, at 8:00 PM Eastern. Rebroadcasts will take place according to the Crusade Channel programming schedule (note: all times listed are Central time). The topic is The Figure of Antichrist and His Context. The End of Time — book by Josef Pieper, for sale at store.catholicism.org The False Prophets — by Brother Thomas Mary, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org Cardinal Biffi and Soloviev's Antichrist — by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org What Happened to the Tribe of Dan Absent from the List of 12 in the Apocalypse? — by Brian Kelly at catholicism.org The Jewish Nation will Enter the Church — by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser and Others on a Future Great Ecumenical Council — by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org  “Reconquest” is a militant, engaging, and informative Catholic radio program featuring interviews with interesting guests as well as commentary by your host. It is a radio-journalistic extension of the Crusade of Saint Benedict Center. Each weekly, one-hour episode of Reconquest will debut RIGHT HERE on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM Eastern (7:00 PM Central). It will then be rebroadcast according to the Crusade Channel programming schedule (note: all times listed are Central time). Our Readers And Listeners Keep Us In Print & On The Air! Click here to subscribe to The CRUSADE Channel's Founders Pass Member Service & Gain 24/7 Access to Our Premium, New Talk Radio Service. www.crusadechannel.com/go What Is The Crusade Channel? The CRUSADE Channel, The Last LIVE! Radio Station Standing begins our LIVE programming day with our all original CRUSADE Channel News hosted by award winning,  25 year news veteran Janet Huxley. Followed by LIVE! From London, “The Early Show with Fiorella Nash & Friends. With the morning drive time beginning we bring out the heavy artillery The Mike Church Show! The longest running, continual, long form radio talk show in the world at the tender age of 30 years young! Our broadcast day progresses into lunch, hang out with The Barrett Brief Show hosted by Rick Barrett “giving you the news of the day and the narrative that will follow”. Then Kennedy Hall and The Kennedy Profession drives your afternoon by “applying Natural Law to an unnatural world”!    The CRUSADE Channel also features Reconquest with Brother André Marie, The Fiorella Files Book Review Show, The Frontlines With Joe & Joe and your favorite radio classics like Suspense! and CBS Radio Mystery Theater. We've interviewed hundreds of guests, seen Brother Andre Marie notch his 200th broadcast of Reconquest; The Mike Church Show over 1500 episodes; launched an original LIVE! News Service; written and produced 4 Feature Length original dramas including The Last Confession of Sherlock Holmes and set sail on the coolest radio product ever, the 5 Minute Mysteries series! Combined with our best in the business LIVE! Coverage of every major political/cultural event of the last 6 years including Brexit, Trump's Election, Administration events, shampeachment, the CoronaDoom™, the 2020 Election and resulting Biden Regime's Coup d;'tat, January 6th Psy-op and now the attempt to make Russia and Vladimir Putin out as the new Hitler and his Germany. "When News Breaks Out, We Break In!" because we truly are:   The Last, Live, Radio Station, Standing.

Reconquest Episode 334: What's Wrong with 'Glass Half-Full, Glass Half-Empty'? Episode 334 debuts on July 6, at 8:00 PM Eastern. Rebroadcasts will take place according to the Crusade Channel programming schedule (note: all times listed are Central time). The topic is What's Wrong with 'Glass Half-Full, Glass Half-Empty'? Optimism and Pessimism as Inadequate Categories — (to be published by air time) by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org The Bad News — by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org Christian Hope in Contrast — by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., at catholicism.org Divine Alchemy — poem by Brother Francis (from the book of the same name) at catholicism.org The End of Time — book by Josef Pieper, for sale at store.catholicism.org “Reconquest” is a militant, engaging, and informative Catholic radio program featuring interviews with interesting guests as well as commentary by your host. It is a radio-journalistic extension of the Crusade of Saint Benedict Center. Each weekly, one-hour episode of Reconquest will debut RIGHT HERE on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM Eastern (7:00 PM Central). It will then be rebroadcast according to the Crusade Channel programming schedule (note: all times listed are Central time). Our Readers And Listeners Keep Us In Print & On The Air! Click here to subscribe to The CRUSADE Channel's Founders Pass Member Service & Gain 24/7 Access to Our Premium, New Talk Radio Service. www.crusadechannel.com/go What Is The Crusade Channel? The CRUSADE Channel, The Last LIVE! Radio Station Standing begins our LIVE programming day with our all original CRUSADE Channel News hosted by award winning,  25 year news veteran Janet Huxley. Followed by LIVE! From London, “The Early Show with Fiorella Nash & Friends. With the morning drive time beginning we bring out the heavy artillery The Mike Church Show! The longest running, continual, long form radio talk show in the world at the tender age of 30 years young! Our broadcast day progresses into lunch, hang out with The Barrett Brief Show hosted by Rick Barrett “giving you the news of the day and the narrative that will follow”. Then Kennedy Hall and The Kennedy Profession drives your afternoon by “applying Natural Law to an unnatural world”!    The CRUSADE Channel also features Reconquest with Brother André Marie, The Fiorella Files Book Review Show, The Frontlines With Joe & Joe and your favorite radio classics like Suspense! and CBS Radio Mystery Theater. We've interviewed hundreds of guests, seen Brother Andre Marie notch his 200th broadcast of Reconquest; The Mike Church Show over 1500 episodes; launched an original LIVE! News Service; written and produced 4 Feature Length original dramas including The Last Confession of Sherlock Holmes and set sail on the coolest radio product ever, the 5 Minute Mysteries series! Combined with our best in the business LIVE! Coverage of every major political/cultural event of the last 6 years including Brexit, Trump's Election, Administration events, shampeachment, the CoronaDoom™, the 2020 Election and resulting Biden Regime's Coup d;'tat, January 6th Psy-op and now the attempt to make Russia and Vladimir Putin out as the new Hitler and his Germany. "When News Breaks Out, We Break In!" because we truly are:   The Last, Live, Radio Station, Standing.

Paola questions Father's ability to bless things, discussion of the evilness of cats ensues, followed by the best reaction Fr. Sam has ever gotten from Paola on the podcast. And that's all in the first five minutes! All this to get us into the idea that God comes looking for us, wants to walk with us, and what a joy it is to step forward and allow God to find us and accompany us on the way. Helping us dive into this...yet another RLTL "Leisure the Basis of Culture" reference! Also...stay tuned for a HUGE personal sharing from Paola. --- SHOW NOTES --- Pray for Shannon! https://nunsforpriests.org/ “When we really let our minds rest contemplatively on a rose in bud, on a child at play, on a divine mystery, we are rested and quickened as though by a dreamless sleep. Or as the Book of Job says, “God giveth songs in the night” (Job 35:10). Moreover, it has always been a pious belief that God sends his good gifts and his blessings in sleep. And in the same way his great, imperishable intuitions visit a man in his moments of leisure. It is in these silent and receptive moments that the soul of man is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together:” ― Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture And if you want to WATCH Paola's reaction to Shannon's picture, check it out here: https://youtu.be/Tck8fKrGcHI

"The Lord's memorial is the central mystery of our Christian life. It has taken the form of a meal at which He offers Himself as the food. We were taught this in the Communion instruction of our childhood; we hear it repeated again and again in sermons and retreats; we read it in religious books. Yet are we really aware of the stupendousness of the thought?" Romano Guardini (1885-1968) was a German priest and academic, regarded to be one of the most important Catholic intellectual figures of the 20th century. He authored numerous books and was a major influence on such Catholic thinkers as Josef Pieper, Luigi Giussani and Joseph Ratzinger, among others. He declined a cardinalship offered by Pope Paul VI in 1965, and his cause for canonization was opened in December 2017 by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Guardini was particularly influential in the area of liturgy. The work from which this reflection comes, Meditations Before Mass, originated as a series of discourses offered in preparation for the celebration of Mass. "Their purpose," Guardini writes, "was simply to reveal what the Mass demands of us and how those demands may be properly met." This particular meditation can serve as a helpful preparation for the coming Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Links Christ's Offering of Self full text: https://guardini.wordpress.com/meditations-before-mass/ Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes. Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

This week Mother Gabriella joins us to talk to us about leisure. She uses the book Leisure by Josef Pieper as her jumping off point, and talks about what leisure is and what it is not. We learn how to rest and how that's different than vegging out. It's a thoughtful conversation that will stick with you!References:Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef PieperInto Great SilenceBridegroom's Banquet - the monastery's annual fundraiser is Saturday, September 10th. All details can be found here, including a link to register to attend in-person, and a link for donations if you can't attend in-person. Thank you for your generosity!Follow and Contact Us!Follow us on Instagram and FacebookWe're on YouTube!Join our Goodreads GroupFr. Michael's TwitterChrist the Bridegroom MonasteryOur WebsiteOur NonprofitSupport the show

This lecture was given on March 16, 2022 at Duke University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Fr. Jonah Teller, O.P., is the Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute. He is a friar of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph. He attended the University of Dallas, where he studied English. Prior to entering the Order of Preachers, he was employed as an oil field worker, a short-order cook and barback, and as a teacher of literature and composition. He was ordained a priest in 2020. He holds an S.T.L. from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.

If you haven't yet, listen to S11 E34 Loggerheads (Part 1) In this episode, the dogs pick up where they left off last time (0:25). Mike clarifies when he thinks control is appropriate in a leadership position (2:50) and Rob proposes that control, when it's properly used, can be a training in the virtues (12:53). Rob shares an “anointed moment”, which was ultimately born out of being fully prepared (15:25). Connor makes a distinction between controlling others and self-control (17:35) and Mike admits that his parents' use of control ultimately helped him choose the “good” (20:30). Rob closes out the episode with a question: “How do you foster freedom?” (36:00). Quotes: “Leaders do have to control their people, but it's not a manipulation of free will because those people have freely consented to being commanded by someone else.” (Mike, 3:50) “When I walk outside, I'm taking your heart with me because we've built this relationship together.” (Connor on ideal relationships between parents and children, 9:00) “Ultimately, I revere the fact that you are a free individual and are not to be controlled.” (Connor, 10:48) "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." (Michael Scott, 27:36) "I put my pants on one leg at a time." (Rob, 27:46) "I jump into my pants." (Mike, 27:50) “A father provides an abundance for his children to enjoy” (Mike, 28:10) "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours." (Luke 15:31) “Mary will be at the cross in order to spiritually and physically offer her son to the world.” (Connor, 32:10) Media Mentions: Athos (2016)Babette's FeastThe Office (2005- 2013)Josef Pieper's Leisure: The Basis of CultureThe Parable of the Lost SonNewton's law of universal gravitationThree Dogs North S11 E34The Wedding at Cana References: St. Thomas AquinasLife360Harrison StreetChicago, ILClassical VirtuesPaschal TriduumSt. John's Catholic Newman Centers (SIUE) Follow us on instagram @threedogsnorth Contact us at threedogsnorth@gmail.com

In this episode, the dogs talk in-person at Rob's house in Maryville, IL (1:50). They share highlights from the 2022 Three North Hangout which include, but are not limited to: a steak dinner (2:35), the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis (2:10), the Gateway to the West (10:40), a concelebrated funeral Mass (15:51), and Connor's inaugural viewing of Babette's Feast (2:38). Mike and Connor gush over Rob's hospitality (23:00) and they all discuss the importance of hierarchies (25:45) and order (36:40). Quotes: “Things are always greater than we can initially perceive.” (Mike, 12:35) "Oh, how you will enchant the angels!" (from Babette's Feast, 14:55) “In the end, what's most essential about this guy is that he is a soul loved by Christ. That he believes in Him. That he will go with Him when he gets called.” (Connor, 17:50) "If sins are like garbage, then the priest is like God's garbage-man." (Fr. Mike Schmitz, 27:00)  “All is grace. Everything is possible. Reality is actually more wonderful than what is apparently true.” (Connor, 33:30) “Christ reveals a hierarchy of Love.” (Mike, 38:18) “The priesthood is really meant to give your life away for the good of everyone else.” (Mike, 38:40) “There is an orderedness to the table, the fact that they are there in their places. They are disposed to receive reality and its goodness.” (Connor, 42:15) "But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude. Grace, brothers, makes no conditions and singles out none of us in particular; grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty." (from Blixen's Babette's Feast, 54:40) "At some point in our lives we have no choice but to ask for Him and He will give Himself to us.” (Connor, 53:50) Media Mentions: Babette's Feast (1987)3DN S10 E23- Open InvitationC.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of NarniaJordan B. Peterson's 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Rule #1)Josef Pieper's Leisure: the Basis of CultureThe Golden CalfKaren Blixen's Babette's FeastDietrich von Hildebrand's Liturgy and PersonalityFamily Matters (1987- 1997)Bishop Robert Barron's Eucharist References: Bishop Robert BarronCathedral Basilica in St. LouisSanta Barbara, CABlue Island, ILGeneral Lorens LöwenhielmThe Gateway ArchSt. Louis, MOThe Eiffel TowerFerris WheelEmpire State BuildingThe Great Pyramid of GizaGerald "Jerry" Lanahan Sr. Knights of ColumbusW.L. Weller's Wheated BourbonJordan B. PetersonMarxismPew Research Center surveyKaty DornbosSteve Urkel Glossary: episcopacy: government of the churchIn persona christi capitis: in the person of Christ the head Bromides: "Let go and let God.""Attitude of gratitude." Follow us on instagram @threedogsnorth Contact us at threedogsnorth@gmail.com

This week on HeightsCast, we bring to you a lecture from the 2022 Teaching Vocation Conference.  In this lecture, Head of Lower School, Mr. Colin Gleason, offers advice on how to prepare for the teaching profession.  Although the ultimate preparation for teaching is teaching itself, he nevertheless offers us six verbs—actions—that great teachers do well and that aspiring teachers would do well to work on.   A great teacher speaks Teachers communicate their ideas primarily through words.  In order to do this well, the ability to speak publicly is a sine qua non.   and to draw out from students ideas of their own  Teaching is more than the delivery of information.  A teacher must first win over his students.  Speaking well—holding a student's attention like a preacher does his congregation or a singer her audience—is necessary to this end.  Concrete suggestion: tell stories.  Even in the maths and sciences, good teaching is animated by good storytelling.  Practice with friends and family.  A great teacher listens  Teaching does not consist in simply signaling what is on a page.  It is a two way street.  A teacher is like an orchestral conductor, who moves between score and sound, adjusting as needed. A common bad habit of teachers is over-taching, that is: talking too much.  In order to gauge students' reception, a teacher must be attentive to them in real time.  Teaching is personal, so the teacher should seek to listen not only to the group as a whole, but also to each student as an individual.  Teaching is, at root, assisting parents.  A great teacher listen also to parents, who are the primary educators.  Concrete suggestion: find a good mentor.  In order to listen well, we need personal guidance and someone, who listens to us.  A great teacher sees  Seeing is paramount to the personal approach.  A crippling bad habit: prejudice, that is to judge too soon, before one sees the actual reality of the student before him.  Judging quickly blinds a teacher.  One of the beauties of the teaching profession is seeing the growth of a student.  Concrete suggestion: we need to be artists, which, in the first place, means seeing.  Teachers mold souls and to do this, they must have the intention of seeing as an artist.  In our daily lives, now, in our families and at work, are we attentive to the people around us?  A great teacher laughs A teacher ought to enjoy being with his students, to be caught up in the sense of awe and wonder at the student he serves.  Teachers need to have a sense of humor.  Taking oneself too seriously could be a death nail as a teacher. Although we are grown up, we need not have grown old.   Concrete suggestion: remember the art of play.  A teacher should remember that he is still part boy; his job is a joyful one.  A great teacher studies  A teacher must be continually learning.  Study fuels the teacher, keeping his mind fresh.   A teacher models study for his students; they see his actions and draw lessons therefrom. Concrete suggestion: read and study, even apart from any degree programs.  What a teacher needs is two-fold: to know his subject well and to love his students even more. A great teacher explores Education is an adventure, which means that a teacher should be in the trenches alongside his students.  Teaching comes from the person; it is an overflow of his own sense of adventure.  Adventure does not mean haphazard.  It takes work to be creative.  Spontaneity in the moment is often the fruit of diligent planning before.  Concrete suggestion: exercise prudence in choosing what school you work at. Three aspects to consider in a school: Cohesive spirit and identity; imagine yourself living that spirit. Content of the curriculum (especially books taught).  Freedom There are many mediocre teachers in the world, so if you are going to be a teacher, become a great one.  This, of course, does not mean perfection, but rather continual improvement.  To be a great teacher is not to have made it, but to be continually on the way.  In Mr. Gleason's words, a teacher is like the guide on a white water rafting expedition.  Indeed, we are all in the same boat and, not only are we learning, we are laughing.  Also on The Forum  Guidance for Aspiring Teachers with Alvaro de Vicente Seneca on the Teacher's Job by Tom Cox The Teacher as Liberal Artist with Dr. Matthew Mehan and Mr. Tom Longano  Cultivating Friendship in the Classroom by Austin Hatch Aristotle on the Student's Job by Tom Cox Further Reading  The Art of Teaching by Gilbert Highet   Only the Lover Sings by Josef Pieper  Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf by Ben Hogan

This episode is for ALL YOU philosophy lovers…We have a philosopher Peter Burleigh on…we walk through Josef Pieper's book Leisure the Basis of Culture and how people in our society today live to work, instead of work to live.In this episode you will find: How Ancient Greeks Saw life as primarily about being leisure, not work He asks the question: What is work? Whats the point of work?What is culture? What is authentic leisure? How can we synthesize it into a way of life? Peiper's Idea of , "the Intellectual worker” The more difficult = does not necessarily mean more good Difference between the intellectus + the ratio The Power of Silence How can we use this to be better students??? How can we let information go into our mind and our soul? Learning how to cook Peter says if we don't watch out, we will become like people in the Disney Pixar film, “Walle” How do you convince a person of what, “the good life” is?

In late October, the study center hosted an event for local clergy and ministry leaders. The theme of the event was Rest: What It Is and How to Find It. Even before the pandemic, it was clear that burnout was a widely distributed symptom of a restless culture. After the experience of the past year and a half, it was the all the more clear that we needed to rethink how we are ordering our lives. It was important, too, to think of rest not only as something we do on occasion to renew bodies, but rather as a way of being that we carried into all the facets of our lives. Dr. Horner and Mike Sacasas both contributed to the teaching and discussion, which sought to unpack the various sources of our exhaustion, physical and otherwise. In the audio included with this installment, you can listen to a 40-minute clip from the morning session during which Mike explored the assumptions embedded in our economic and technological structures undermining our pursuit of rest and satisfaction. We hope you find the discussion edifying. Below you can read a few of the sources that focused our discussion. “‘Branding' is a fitting word for this work, as it underlines what the millennial self becomes:  a product. And as in childhood, the work of optimizing that brand blurs whatever boundaries remained between work and play. There is no ‘off the clock' when at all hours you could be documenting your on-brand experiences or tweeting your on-brand observations. The rise of smartphones makes these behaviors frictionless and thus more pervasive, more standardized. In the early days of Facebook, you had to take pictures with your digital camera, upload them to your computer, and post them in albums. Now, your phone is a sophisticated camera, always ready to document every component of your life — in easily manipulated photos, in short video bursts, in constant updates to Instagram Stories — and to facilitate the labor of performing the self for public consumption.”  — Anne Helen Petersen, “How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation” “The demands made by tools on people become increasingly costly. This rising cost of fitting man to the service of his tools is reflected in the ongoing shift from goods to services in over-all production. Increasing manipulation of man becomes necessary to overcome the resistance of his vital equilibrium to the dynamic of growing industries; it takes the form of educational, medical, and administrative therapies. Education turns out competitive consumers; medicine keeps them alive in the engineered environment they have come to require; bureaucracy reflects the necessity of exercising social control over people to do meaningless work. The parallel increase in the cost of the defense of new levels of privilege through military, police, and insurance measures reflects the fact that in a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.” — Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality “Leisure, it must be clearly understood, is a mental and spiritual attitude — it is not simply the result of external factors, it is not the inevitable result of spare time, a holiday, a weekend or a vacation. It is, in the first place, an attitude of mind, a condition of the soul.” — Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture “There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.” — Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christianstudycenter.substack.com

Chris Motz gives a news round-up (SD education policy, federal "Women's Health Protection Act," and call to prayer on the Dobbs case) and shares "Doing the Truth," an excerpt on the virtue of prudence from the Josef Pieper book being read by the SDCC study group.

On this episode, we have a talk given by Max to an audience on the art of leisure as illustrate by Josef Pieper, a german philosopher of the early 20th century. It may seem irrelevant; however, it is not only a lost art, but densely related to a lot of the current issues we see today, namely a lack of reverence for the goodness of the present existence. This talk also is a complimentary talk to his Acedia talk on episode 21 so if you want to get the latus contra ("flip side") of the coin, refer back to that presentation! Do not forget to follow us on instagram @ logos.pod, email us at logospod1@gmail.com, or follow us on our website at logos-pod.com! God bless!

Phronesis Episode Notes In this episode, Will and Brad discuss Josef Pieper's "Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power." If you liked this episode, please leave us a review! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to us on our website. Or, if you would like to read and listen to more of our work, go to www.athwart.org. Image by Thom Milkovic via Unsplash Music courtesy of yn00001 via Musopen

We need hobbies, we need recreation. But how often do we really find that restorative time that rebuilds us? In carrying out ministry, we need to keep time for prayer and the Lord as a priority. Leisure time needs to be true leisure. Take advantage of summer and examine your own life - this is a perfect time to recognize where we're weak, where we're strong, and how God can work in our hearts to call us to something greater. Leisure the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper is a classic examination of how leisure is best used and it's theological/philosophical purpose. Check us out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Hih9p3IlnPU

We're back with a text-based episode, this time with a translation of Josef Pieper's classic 1948 essay, "Leisure: The Basis of Culture." At the center of our conversation are several important questions: How is our understanding of the human being correspond with our understanding of work and leisure? Where do we locate the completion (or perfection) of work itself? And when all is said and done, is there any hope of escaping the state of "total work" in which so many of us find ourselves? This episode also contains good coffee. "Spirit": El Eden Pacamara (Black & White) | 03:58Main Segment: "Leisure: The Basis of Culture " (Pieper, 1948) | 11:40https://www.blackwhiteroasters.com/https://www.ignatius.com/Leisure-P1445.aspx

In his classic book Leisure: The Basis of Culture, philosopher Josef Pieper observed that “the original meaning of the concept of ‘leisure' has practically been forgotten in today's leisure-less culture of ‘total work.'” For many of us, work is the primary task, and leisure is what we do to recuperate so we can work some more. Therefore, leisure usually means relaxation, refreshment, killing time, or binging on Netflix shows. But for Pieper, this is not leisure as it was meant to be. Leisure is not a secondary activity, but a main one. And it's not a passive “doing nothing,” but an active participation in practices that generate calm, silence, and contemplation, activities that are pursued for their own sakes and not as means to some higher goal. In this episode, Fr. Blake and Brandon discuss how different cultures have understood leisure, how our modern culture has prioritized work over leisure, and some specific ways we can practice authentic leisure.

A sobering article entitled Death by Loneliness documented that people are committing suicide and mass murders at an alarming rate because people are missing four essential ingredients to happiness: Family, friends, relationship with God that also gives meaning and purpose to suffering and finally, meaningful work. Meaningful work and a sense of achievement are vital to happiness. But production and achievement alone are insufficient. We also need joy, we need to delight in, rest in the work we have done. I love an arduous hike through the woods and up the mountain. But I am frustrated if I can't get above tree-line, reach the summit and delight or rest in the 360-degree view that makes me realize, life is bigger than my projects or problems – life is really good. To be happy we need both the arduous work and the rest or the delight in the accomplishment of the work. In todays meditation we focus on joy and delight.  The power of the soul called the Passions are the good God-given emotions or desires designed to propel us toward good and away from evil. There are 11 fundamental passions: Love, Desire, Joy, Hate, Aversion, Sorrow, Hope, Despair, Fear, Courage, Anger. All the passions except one, prompt us to move. The single exception is joy. Joy may motivate action by its absence – when once you've tasted joy, you'll do an awful lot to get it back again – but when joy is present its only demand is that you rest. Joy is the response to something experienced as good, and it invites repose in that good. We are missing out if we do not learn to delight or rest in a job well-done. We were made for joy, not for sorrow. We have the capacity for delight so that we can rest in the good, and perfect rest in the perfect good – perfect delight – is the ultimate purpose of human existence. Heaven, the ultimate joy, is also described by the fourth chapter of Hebrews as simply entering into God's rest. So if you can't rest, how are you going to enter heaven?   The Discipline of Rest. What makes joy distinctive is that it prompts us to rest in the good. If we refuse to rest, or if we're incapable of it, delight will be frustrated. Rest and joy go together. The first condition for delight is rest. St. Paul VI, in his exhortation on Christian Joy, worries that for many, “The burden of their charges, in a fast-moving world, too often prevents them from enjoying daily joys.” When there's so much to do, so much to get done, people run the risk of failing in the core responsibility of delight. Rest and joy are an obligation, specified in the third commandment. Apparently rest is so foreign, so unlikely for human beings to pursue on their own, that God needs to give us a direct order to take some time every week and prepare for heaven by resting with Him. If left to themselves, people will prefer the merciless yoke of productivity to the joy of the Lord.  The Sabbath frees us from that yoke, it reminds us that we were made for God's delight and not for work's anxiety. “Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). The Catechism beautifully describes the Sabbath as “a day of protest against the servility of work.”  Isn't that beautiful? If you can't say no to work, then you are a slave. Resting on Sunday is a revolution, it's a weekly overthrow of the usurping tyrant of getting stuff done. Like sorrow, work is good in itself, and part of the human condition. But in the long run, our final purpose isn't for sorrow, and it isn't for work. We were made for rest and delight. In the book, Leisure, the Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper says, we should treat rest and joy, not work, as the goal of life. Many people treat Sunday just as a “recharging the batteries,” or getting “reenergized.” As though spending time with God, thinking about Him and delighting in all He has done, were just a kind of fueling up so that we could get back to the “real business” of life!