When was the last time you received an awkward compliment? How did you respond? How would you respond to this one? “Father’s homilies are really distinctive—they have a beginning, a middle, and an end!” What do you think the speaker was getting at? Perhaps he was referring to a kind of public speaking (I wouldn’t call it “preaching”) that is illustrated by “The Three C’s—Commence, Continue, Cease.” The speaking starts and eventually stops, but it doesn’t go anywhere. It doesn’t constitute a whole, and it is not a vehicle to greater understanding. I imagine that many times, after witnessing yet another such display … Continue reading A Brief History of Our Annihilation