I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set
before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life,
that both thou and thy seed may live -- Deuteronomy 30:19
There are those with consumption of the soul: hardly are they born
when
they begin to die and to long for doctrines of weariness and renunciation.
...
They encounter a sick man or an old man or a corpse, and immediately
they
say, "Life is refuted." But only they themselves are refuted, and their
eyes,
which see only this one face of existence.
--Friedrich Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"
It must be clear for those who accept Revelation, and in particular the
Gospel,
that it is better to exist than not to exist. And because of
this, in the realm of the
Gospel, there is no space for any nirvana,
apathy, or resignation. Instead, there
is a great challenge to perfect
creation -- be it oneself, be it the world.
--Pope John Paul II, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope"
The ultimate reality of the world is a Divine Person who sustains the
universe
by a continuous act of creative will. --Amos Bronson Alcott
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him;
male and female created he them. --Genesis 1:27
April 7, 2005