I just finished reading Matthew Perry's autobiography. You may know him as Chandler, from the cast of Friends. I was initially excited to read the book, as a long time fan of the show (I've seen every episode at least 3 times). But when I found out that the book was going to be more about his struggle with addiction than about the show and the other cast members, I had decided not to buy it. Then I got it as a birthday gift from one of my sons. So I read it.
It's very good, though if I were going to review it I would say that it's a little confusing the way he writes it, which is not necessarily in linear or chronological sequence. But it was a page-turner, and I found out things I never knew, like Matthew Perry dated Julia Roberts (and he broke up with her, in a totally Chandler move of being paranoid about not being good enough for her and thinking it was only a matter of time before she broke up with him). Anyway, I thought I would share one line from the book that kind of summarizes it all. It won't come as a surprise to you all, but here it is (somewhat paraphrased):
Sometimes it takes having all your dreams come true to realize that you had all the wrong dreams.
There's some great stuff in the book about Perry's relationship with God - and he does have one, though it's not what we would call mature - but good for him for not blaming God for his troubles or walking away from God out of anger (he had the anger, he just didn't walk away from God). If you're like me, and you feel like you know these characters, you might be interested in the book. But it's definitely his Confessions and he pulls no punches. So it's not a light read, but I think, and I hope, it will provide inspiration for other people who struggle with addiction. I don't know, but maybe. When I finished reading it, I found myself praying for him - for this guy I thought I knew, but of course all I knew was his character that he played on TV for 10 years. As it turns out, though, if you know Chandler, you do kind of know Matthew Perry. I guess the real Matthew Perry is the three dimensional version of Chandler, with that added dimension of suffering that you never saw on the show. But it was there in the subtext. It was always there in Chandler's insecurity, and the way he covers all discomfort with jokes and sarcasm.
I guess the lesson learned - and hopefully most people don't have to suffer this much to learn the lesson - is not to default to the kinds of dreams (read: goals, ambitions) that the world, the media, hollywood, celebrity culture, etc. tell you that you should have. On a related note, many of us are just now hearing - in the wake of hollywood scandals and conversations around the film The Sound of Freedom - just how corrupt hollywood is, and how corrupting it is. But that's a conversation for another day...
Here's a short (about a minute) video I took going around the Holy Column in the church of Santa Prassede. This is the column that Jesus was tied to when he was scourged by Pontius Pilate. They don't always have the barrier down, so you usually don't get to see it from all the way around. I wanted to get video of the whole thing all the way around because I ran across a note in an ancient document that said that those who made a pilgrimage (at that time to the Holy Land, since it was still in Jerusalem) could visit the Holy Column, and could see marks left from the hands of Jesus where he gripped it as he was being whipped. I assume that this is pious legend, but I figured since the column has that dark & light marble, maybe there's a place where the dark parts look like hands. I did not see it, but if you do, let me know!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
My voice was still recovering from a bad cold, so not sounding my best, but this was a great conversation about pilgrimage, for the Jubilee year - more of this coming in other interviews! (FYI, I think I was the third of three guests that day, so you will have to fast forward to find me)
It seems that one way or another we need to talk about different kinds, or different levels of heresy. What I have been calling heresy vs. heterodoxy, others call heresy on fundamental doctrines vs. heresy on less fundamental doctrines. In other words, Heresy with a capital H (over fundamental doctrines like the Trinity and christology) are the kinds of heresies that move one outside the boundaries of what Christianity is, and that's because the very definition of Christianity is defined according to these fundamental doctrines. To refuse to sign the Creed at the Council of Nicaea in 325, or the Council of Constantinople in 381 - and indeed to reject any of the contents of the Creed today - means that a person is NOT a Christian.
So are the non-chalcedonians, such as the miaphysites (including St. Gregory of Narek, and today's Coptic Christians) - are they heretics? Well, like it is with a lot of things, that depends on your definition of heresy. If you include in your definition of ...
As promised, I thought that this would be a good discussion starter here in the community - this is from a conversation I had with my producer at Catholic Culture, around the podcast episodes on St. Gregory of Narek. If you've listened to the first episode on St. Gregory, you know that he is the first and only Doctor of the Church who was not Catholic! What are we to make of this? How do we explain it? Well, it was within the context of me trying to explain it that two really fundamental questions came up, and had to be hashed out between me and my producer. The first question - and this was surprising, given that we had a whole series on The Heresies - the first question is: What is a heresy? And how you answer that has serious implications for the second question, which is: What is the Universal Church? And that has serious implications for ecumenical dialogue, not to mention how we think about our fellow Christians who are not Catholic. So let's take the first question first (and here's ...
