Chestertonism #1

Now that SKH has introduced all of One28 to the brilliance that is G.K. Chesterton, I thought that I would - every now and again - throw out some Chesterton quotes. As a man Chesterton was fascinating. He was a brilliant atheist who fought to construct his own world view - only to find it matched up perfectly with Roman Catholicism. He defended an 'orthodox' faith against the rampant skepticism, atheism, and disillusionment of the early 1900s. Now, I'm not a fan of much about the Roman Catholic Church, but it has produced some amazing thinkers and even a few awesome believers (Augustine and Luther, to name two. Okay, God produced Luther and Augustine - never mind...). I don't agree with all of Chesterton's theology, but he has an exceptional way of phrasing things and flipping your view to make you critically evaluate what you've long taken for granted (a bit like "Seinfield" could make you laugh at nothing - or at least mundane things like puffy shirts, soup, and doughnuts). Warning: in the world of marinating thoughts, if there be "twenty minute" marinades and "refrigerate overnight for up to three days" marinades, Chesterton is definitely the latter. Here's one of my favorite quotes (taken from the chapter: The Suicide of Thought from "Orthodoxy"):

"A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert - himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason.

It is vain for bishops and pious bigwigs to discuss what dreadful things will happen if wild scepticism runs its course. It has run its course. It is vain for eloquent atheists to talk of the great truths that will be revealed if once we see free thought begin. We have seen its end. It has no more questions to ask; it has questioned itself. You cannot call up any wilder vision than a city in which men ask themselves if they have any selves...we have found all the questions that can be found. It's time we gave up looking for questions and began looking for answers.

Thinking in isolation and with pride ends in being an idiot. Every man who will not have softening of the heart must at last have softening of the brain." (My personal favorite).

I hope you enjoy this quote! There will be (God willing) many more to come. May it encourage you to turn your thoughts from self to "Divine Reason." Spend at least five minutes contemplating why God makes every rain drop, child, daisy, and sea urchin different. Then, contemplate why He made sea urchins to begin with. Then, move on to gooeyducks and the platapus. (Note: Job shows us the answer is: "because I AM"). Finally, be thankful He made you and keeps raising the sun! (And, if you're slightly silly like me, as you see the sun rise each morning, say, "do it again Dad!").