special announcement and day -14

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that for November (and perhaps the beginning of December) I will only be posting on Sundays. I just have a lot going on right now with school and NaNoWrimo, so I'm going to stick with once a week for a while.

Now... about Scheler....
From what I understand, JP2 liked him in some aspects. He was different than Kant. But there are two problems with Scheler's philosophy:
1. It says that religious acts are done because they make you feel good.
2. It objectifies humans.
Hopefully, you all reading this see the problems without me going into them.

Objectifying humans if one of the basic "no no's" of theology of the body. We were made in the image and likeness of God himself. That means all of our bodies are beautiful and deserve respect. That's one of the biggest issues with pornography. It makes the human body just a sex object. It does not make that woman (or man) beautiful and respected. It does not glorify the human body.

The glory of the human body is actually seen through the Sistine Chapel. For anyone who does not know, that's where Michelangelo painted the famous Creation. And Adam and Eve were naked. For years they covered the private parts with fig leaves, but JP2 actually said not to. He said that it brings out the beauty and glorifies the human body. We'll all see that later in this blog, whenever I get to the part where he talks about "naked without shame".

As for the happiness, that reminds me of a retreat I went on my freshman year of high school. It was called "More Than a Feeling". I don't remember much, but I do remember the basic message was that a relationship with God is based on more than feelings. And how true it is! Think about it: how many people would be Christian if it was just based on how happy you were? I mean, in the first few centuries I could get capital punishment for being Christian. Even now, Christians (especially Catholics) seemed to be mocked by the media. It's hard! But we know we can do it because Jesus warned us. He told us that we need to learn to pick up our cross. Yes, sometimes it feels amazing to go to mass. Sometimes you're happiest when serving the poor. But not all the time. There are definitely days that I don't want to act like a Christian. But I choose to, even if it doesn't feel good.

Dear Jesus, please bless us all! Please give us all the strength to respect each others' bodies as well as our own. And teach us that the path to Heaven is the same path you took: the path to the cross.