Understanding is the basis of care. What you would take care of you must first understand, whether it be a petunia or a nation.

As Augustine say clearly, God being God offends human pride. If God is running the universe and has first claim on our lives, guess who isn't running the universe and does not get to have things as they please.

In Spiritual formation we are aiming at a character and life that is so shaped that the deeds of Christ routinely and easily come from what is inside.

We know we can't be spiritually transformed by just focusing on the will.

I would say the soul would be more than the engine. The soul would be like the computer system that coordinates everything, from the smog device to the fuel injection system to the brakes.

Discipline, strictly speaking, is activity carried on to prepare us indirectly for some activity other than itself. We do not practice the piano to practice the piano well, but to play it well.

What is thinking? It is the activity of searching out what must be true, or cannot be true, in the light of the given facts or assumptions.