Dear Ann,

Thank you for another well laid-out article today.  When I was deployed in Afghanistan, I read Robert Reilly’s book “The Closing of the Muslim Mind,” in which he lays out what happened in the internal philosophical battle of Islam between the 9th and 11th centuries.  Reason was jettisoned, rejected as a heretical limit upon God, who, being all powerful, is now understood, as you mentioned, as pure will, changeable from one moment to the next.  This is why the phrase “en sha’Allah,” is so very popular, and a complete cop-out to planning and personal responsibility.

I see this same perspective creeping up in various sectors of the Church, and it troubles me greatly, as it should trouble all of us.

Spending so many years in the military, I know quite a few of us who had been protected, sheltered within the subcultural bubble.  I remember my first week in the D.C. metro area, going to a simple little fast food place to get a meal while in the midst of trying to move into the place I was renting while stationed in the city.  That’s the first time that I really saw, with my own eyes, that “ghira” that you are referring to.  I had a hard time believing it, and it made all of those prejudices that I’d hear people walk around with come to life.

I am thankful now to be on the outskirts of [redacted].  It may be a large metro area, but I can escape back to the edge, where city meets country and people actually think.

Thank you for all you do.  I continue to offer an EARLY Monday morning TLM (about 0430 or 0500) for you and your benefactors.

Pax et Bonum,

Fr.