In this episode, I continue my discussion of common characteristics in direct experiences with God through examining the account of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, and a letter the philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote referencing an experience he had.

This is the second half of the discussion, you can find the first half by looking in the podcast history.

This show contains an impassioned reflection at the beginning of it about the importance of independent, critical thinking in the context of the current geopolitical situation today.

Here is the text of the note Pascal wrote to himself:

The year of grace 1654,

Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.

Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.

From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,

FIRE.

GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob

not of the philosophers and of the learned.

Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.

GOD of Jesus Christ.

My God and your God.

Your GOD will be my God.

Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.

He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.

Grandeur of the human soul.

Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

I have departed from him:

They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.

My God, will you leave me?

Let me not be separated from him forever.

This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.

Let me never be separated from him.

He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:

Renunciation, total and sweet.

Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.

Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.

May I not forget your words. Amen.

Support the show

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I discuss common characteristics in direct experiences with God through examining the account of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, and a letter the philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote referencing an experience he had.

This is only Part I of the discussion, more will be released in the future.

Here is the text of the note Pascal wrote to himself:

The year of grace 1654,

Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.

Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.

From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,

FIRE.

GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob

not of the philosophers and of the learned.

Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.

GOD of Jesus Christ.

My God and your God.

Your GOD will be my God.

Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.

He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.

Grandeur of the human soul.

Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

I have departed from him:

They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.

My God, will you leave me?

Let me not be separated from him forever.

This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.

Let me never be separated from him.

He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:

Renunciation, total and sweet.

Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.

Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.

May I not forget your words. Amen.

Support the show

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I examine Isaiah, Chapter 11: 6-9 and compare it's depiction of a future paradise to the depiction the Greek philosopher Plato gives in Republic.

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Support the show

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I focus my own reflections today on a portion of this well-known passage from Isaiah which often doesn’t get much attention. This is the portion at the beginning of the passage, from verses 2-3, where we learn that this messianic figure, who turns out to be Jesus was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain,a man whom people hide their faces from, who was despised and held in low esteem.

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I look at the account of what is sometimes referred to as "Jacob's Ladder". I argue that this is a depiction of an opposite way of life to what we examined last show, with the tower of Babel.

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The passage I’ll look at for the next show will be Isaiah's account of a messianic figure in Isaiah 53: "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain."

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I look at the story of the tower of Babel found in the Bible's book of Genesis. I argue that the picture of "building monuments" represents an existential act we human beings take to try to try to make meaning for our own lives. I also argue that this is a clear depiction of the nature of sin.

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If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

The passage I’ll look at for the next show will be the account of the Tower of Babel, found in Genesis 11.

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode I look at Jesus's response to the Pharisees and Herodians question about paying taxes to Rome. Jesus replies, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

I argue that Jesus is urging us to shift our point of view entirely about worldly authority, and recognize instead the authority of a loving God.

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If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

The passage I’ll look at for the next show will be the account of the Tower of Babel, found in Genesis 11.

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, I look at Jesus's arrest and his words to Peter, "all who draw the sword will die by the sword," in the context of a culture which increasingly condones the use of force, and sometimes violence to attain one's ends.

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If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com

The passage I’ll look at for the next show will be Jesus’s confrontation with the Pharisees about paying taxes to Caesar, found in Matthew 22.

If you have questions or comments about content from this episode, please send feedback to theheartandtheheadpodcast@gmail.com