Little Downpour

I lack a certain pointless discipline (1)
I'm planning on moving away from reading Dostoevsky's long novels and experiencing a lot of shorter novels by a variety of authors. But this weekend at a bookstore I couldn't resist picking up Dostoevksy's The Eternal Husband and Other Stories because 1) I hadn't read any of the stories before, and 2) they are translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky. I just can't stay away from the master.

I lack a certain pointless discipline (2)
The last time I went vegan, I started five days earlier than my planned date because I was too excited. This time I was planning for April 1st as a firm date to remember, but I got too excited and began March 30th. I'm always too excited to reform my life. It feels good.

Christian Humanism and Pacifism
It strikes me that if Christian pacifism focuses solely on the eschatological meaning of peace, it misses out on the more concrete command of Christ: nonresistance as a show of love for one's neighbor. Christ's command to love one's neighbor, to love one's enemy, to put others above oneself, is to me a recognition of the dignity of all human beings. Christian pacifism is also a practical ethic, and Christian pacifists should join with others in the work of peace.

Deus Absconditus
For some reason Fowler in The Quite American reminds me of John Fowles' oeuvre. Fowles was a committed atheist that apparently felt the need to come back to the idea of God continuously in his art. Fowles focuses so much on the God who absconded: it is the absent God, not the nonexistence of God, that Fowles writes about.