Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

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Reading Chesterton has been surprisingly difficult. I’m not merely talking about the differences in past writing styles to today’s writing styles or the references to people and things of Chesterton’s time that I keep having to research like a term paper. I rather enjoy reading Chesterton in the ‘original Klingon’ as my husband would say about such writings, and I also have enjoyed looking up the things and people he mentions. I can almost feel my brain cells expanding. No, none of that is really what is weighing heavily upon my heart.

What troubles me the most, is that, we are not learning from our mistakes. We are repeating history, to our detriment. It is not surprising so much as it is disheartening. Christians know who the god of this earth is. His reign is limited as is the time he has left. Those who do not know this, continue living as if their lives have no eternity, no consequence. They believe they are, ‘lining large’ in their sin and that those who follow Christ are small. Small minded, small hearted, tiny in their understanding of worldly things. Oh, they could not be further from the truth.

Insights to chapter three.

1. Enjoy the small things. They really are what make life worth living. Assignment? Romanticize something that you would normally view as mundane. Read chapter three and figure it out for yourself.

2. I cannot say it better than he, so here is a quote from Chesterton from chapter three,‘The evil of militarism is not that it shows certain men to be fierce and haughty and excessively warlike. The evil of militarism is that it shows most men to be tame and timid and excessively peaceable. The professional soldier gains more and more power as the general courage of a community declines. Thus the Pretorian guard became more and more important in Rome as Rome became more and more luxurious and feeble. The military man gains the civil power in proportion as the civilian loses the military virtues. And as it was in ancient Rome so it is in contemporary Europe. There never was a time when nations were more militarist. There never was a time when men were less brave. All ages and all epics have sung of arms and the man; but we have effected simultaneously the deterioration of the man and the fantastic perfection of the arms. Militarism demonstrated the decadence of Rome, and it demonstrates the decadence of Prussia.’

The word, America, could very easily replace some of the other references to countries.

3. How large, or small, is your world?