“Where self-indulgence has ruined both the body and mind, nothing seems bearable, not because the task is hard but because the one doing it is soft.” (p.53)   The things that send us into a rage are often not as monumental as we think they are. It’s just that our threshold for what we... Continue Reading →

  “A punishment that’s delayed can still be imposed, but once imposed, it can’t be withdrawn.” (p.49)   As the parent of a three-year old  and a one-year old, I have a hard time connecting with Seneca here. If my kids do something wrong and I wait to punish them later, they won’t be able... Continue Reading →

  “Whenever they win and do something worthy of praise, let’s allow them to hold their heads high but not to become boastful, for exultation follows rejoicing, and after exaltation comes inflated ego and too great a sense of self-worth.” (p.39)   There’s a fine line between confident and proud. I want my kids to... Continue Reading →

  “To someone doling out punishment, nothing is less suitable than anger. A penalty is more useful for correction when the judgement imposing it is more sound.”    This one hits me as a parent of a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. My kids are currently unregenerate little sinners in need of a savior. There’s nothing... Continue Reading →

  “The good man will carry out his duties, without fear or turmoil; he’ll act in a manner worthy of a good man, such that he’ll do nothing unworthy of a man. My father is being killed; I’ll defend him, He has been killed; I’ll avenge him--but because it’s right, not because I’m grieved...To get... Continue Reading →

  “Once shaken and overthrown, the mind becomes a slave to that which drives it.”    We like to think of mind as a safe home base that we can rely on. The only thing that’s truly ours. An unbiased starting point from which we experience the world. But Seneca doesn’t think so. The mind... Continue Reading →

  “There it is! The feast of Christian Hedonism. How shall we honor God in worship? By saying, ‘It’s my duty’ Or by saying, ‘It’s my joy’? Worship is a way of reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth. Now we see that the mirror that catches the rays of His radiance and... Continue Reading →

  “Minimizing the importance of transformed feelings makes Christian conversions less supernatural and less radical. It is humanly manageable to make decisions of the will for Christ. No supernatural power is required to pray prayers, sign cards, walk aisles, or even stop sleeping around. Those are good. They just don’t prove that anything spiritual has... Continue Reading →

“Hell is one way to settle accounts with sinners and uphold His justice. But there is another way. The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God.  And what is this wisdom? The death of the Son... Continue Reading →

  “Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, He must be for Himself if he is to be for us. The rules of humility that belong to the creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator. If God should turn away from Himself as the Source of infinite joy, He... Continue Reading →