LIFE
by Jeffrey P. Johnson

One of the most obvious and yet overlooked realities of life is that we only live once. And the years of that one shot at life are short. Once this reality becomes fixed in our consciousness life becomes very precious. Every person we meet, every experience, and every moment marks a path that will never be treaded again. Things like heaven, hell, and afterlife become irrelevant because we realize that what is truly important is to live now, to savor completely every relationship, experience, and moment. The self-centered obsession with gaining eternal salvation is replaced by the desire and drive to live truthfully in the Here and Now for, as Jesus said, "tomorrow will take care of itself."

Part of seeing ourselves in this way consists in seeing everyone in the same way. Our capacity to understand, tolerate, and love others is enhanced because we see ourselves as sharing a common condition and destiny. Life also becomes more joyful as we treasure and taste everything about it. We never get old; we just get older and grow. We grow as we actualize the potential of our existence. And when we reach that moment when we cross from time into eternity, we will have no regrets and others will be able to celebrate the miracle of a life well lived.

THE PHILOSOPHER'S LOT

One of the essential elements of a philosopher's life is to have the courage to endure a permanent state of dissatisfaction with the world and its certainties. Pain, suffering, and struggle are the philosopher's lot because just as there is no such thing as "cheap grace," there is no easy way to live in truth.

THE CAPTIVE MIND

It makes no difference whether a party-line comes from the Kremlin or the Vatican; from a commissar or a priest; from a Central Committee or a Holy Office. The result is ever the same - captive minds.
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Dogmatism is one of the greatest enemies of attentive, intelligent, reasonable, and responsible - authentic - life and discourse. In the name of "Catholic Truth" or "Socialist Realism" captive minds distort and destroy truth and reality by equating them with dogma. Thus, truth is whatever is proclaimed by a pope or some other ecclesiastical authority; reality is whatever is decreed by some commissar, or even Führer or Caudillo. When this happens we have entered the Orwellian world of 1984 where "2+2=5" and "Peace is War" because Big Brother has thus decreed. While one camp proclaims "Catholic Truth," and another "Socialist Realism," both camps are doing the same thing because they have the same mentality. They are merely two rival camps, armed with their dogmas, seeking to impose their model of totalitarianism on the world. If we wish to authentically serve and promote Truth and Reality, we must liberate ourselves from all forms of dogmatism, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, atheist, communist, fascist, secularist, feminist, liberal, conservative, gay, straight. . . .

TRUTH

No one can claim to have the truth. Such a claim is a rank blasphemy and the worst of lies. But, just because no one can claim to have the truth, that does not mean that there is no such thing as truth. Indeed, there is truth, in spite of the fact that no one can possess it. Yet we can strive to be truthful. And part of being truthful is always being aware that we are imperfect and fallible and also being willing to challenge and doubt ourselves. We always need to be unsure of our certainty, for doubt, not certainty, is one of the greatest friends of truth.

THE UNIVERSITY

By its very nature a university must be revolutionary if it is to be of any real benefit to society. By protecting academic freedom and granting tenure a university creates an arena that is open to the sort of dissent and creativity that critically challenges the assumptions and structures of society. However, when a university seeks to crush dissent and creativity and merely seeks to reproduce the assumptions and structures of society, it ceases to be a university and becomes an indoctrination center.