Anxiety is from a lack of faith in the Good. I fear that I will perish, that evil will win. That faith seems to be stronger with more insight. How do we get insight into the goodness of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
To answer in a "Platonic" fashion, experience of those things which participate in God is a beginning (though do not worship them):
"It wouldn't be at all easy to tell someone else. But you, I
suppose, will grant me this."
"What?"
"Since fair is the opposite of ugly, they are two."
"Of course."
"Since they are two, isn't each also one?"
"That is so as well."
"The same argument also applies then to justice and injustice,
good and bad, and all the forms; each is itself one, but, by
showing up everywhere in a community with actions, bodies, and
one another, each is an apparational many."
"What you say," he said, "is right" (Republic 475e6-476a8).
What participates in God?
1. Holy Scripture is breathed by God (2 Tim 3:16).
2. The Sacraments, according to Christian Tradition and experience.
3. The Body of Christ as led by the Holy Spirit.
4. Parts of the kosmos under good stewardship.
To the degree things participate in God, the more they seem to
be under His Lordship. This by definition is the Kingdom of
God.
The Kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:14).
-----
The great evils we experience are rooted, supposedly, in the
twisting of great goods. For instance, a giant of incredible
muscular strength can do great physical harm (assuming it is
without good reason).
Is good more powerful than evil? Perhaps it would be good to
look at Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius was a
Christian politician, philosopher, and theologian around 500
AD).
A further line of investigation would be to examine what seem
to be great evils of the past. If Boethius, or Philosophy
persuades us about the power of good over evil then we may have
more faith and hope in God. We should love Him more as the
source of all good.
To answer in a "Platonic" fashion, experience of those things which participate in God is a beginning (though do not worship them):
"It wouldn't be at all easy to tell someone else. But you, I
suppose, will grant me this."
"What?"
"Since fair is the opposite of ugly, they are two."
"Of course."
"Since they are two, isn't each also one?"
"That is so as well."
"The same argument also applies then to justice and injustice,
good and bad, and all the forms; each is itself one, but, by
showing up everywhere in a community with actions, bodies, and
one another, each is an apparational many."
"What you say," he said, "is right" (Republic 475e6-476a8).
What participates in God?
1. Holy Scripture is breathed by God (2 Tim 3:16).
2. The Sacraments, according to Christian Tradition and experience.
3. The Body of Christ as led by the Holy Spirit.
4. Parts of the kosmos under good stewardship.
To the degree things participate in God, the more they seem to
be under His Lordship. This by definition is the Kingdom of
God.
The Kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:14).
-----
The great evils we experience are rooted, supposedly, in the
twisting of great goods. For instance, a giant of incredible
muscular strength can do great physical harm (assuming it is
without good reason).
Is good more powerful than evil? Perhaps it would be good to
look at Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius was a
Christian politician, philosopher, and theologian around 500
AD).
A further line of investigation would be to examine what seem
to be great evils of the past. If Boethius, or Philosophy
persuades us about the power of good over evil then we may have
more faith and hope in God. We should love Him more as the
source of all good.
