Untwisting Hell

 I don't really believe in coincidences.

That is why when my daughter sent me this book about twisted doctrines of Hell and I heard a podcast from one of my instructors in a similar vein... well, hell-oh! 

The book  by Brian Recker is called 'Hell Bent'. It has some really valid points that my daughter just knew I'd agree with. She sent it to me because she wanted to talk about it with me and I'm super geeked to do just that when the opportunity comes.

Growing up in a similar environment as Mr. Recker, I was comforted and releived to find out (years ago now) that most Christians down through the centuries did not have the severe doctrine of a punishing God who was just waiting for us to step out of line and send us to hell. Who the hell would want to love and serve a God like that anyway?

Brian makes many excellent points, drawing on the more ancient strains of Christian teaching, fleshing out a vision of a God who would endure hell for us rather than inflict it upon us. I couldn't agree more with these aspects of his book.

So, was it a coincidence that I just happened to listen to the podcast below by Christopher and Wendy West while in the middle of this book? 

I think not.

This particular podcast's Q&A at first seems to have nothing to do with our common (and unfortunately errant) notions about hell. Most people aren't that familiar with the idea of God as a loving bridegroom with humanity as his bride. In fact the notion is unnerving to some people. But further study reveals this spousal theme throughout Christian scripture.

This woman's question touches precisely upon what could be unnerving about the notion. An excellent question that elicits some of the most tender explanations of God's sacrificial love I've ever heard. In the process it untwists some of our notions of hell, albeit from a different angle than Brian Recker's work.

One of the many free Visio Divina Cards on the farm.

Toward the end of the podcast segment, Wendy sums it up best in one phrase as she reflects on this icon hanging in Christopher's office (and coincidentally available here on the farm for free):

"The image of Christ the Bridegroom is not of God punishing us, but of God taking the punishment."

I'm sharing the transcript below but you can listen to it by clicking here - it is the second Q&A on this episode which starts at the 25 minute mark.

I'm praying it blesses you as much as it did me.

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When Bridegroom Language Feels Abusive

Wendy: Okay, from the anonymous listener:

“Thank you for what you do. Your podcast has blessed me so much. 

My question is about where the marriage imagery of Christ and the church can fall short. Sometimes I find it hard to love God, when I know that if I don't, He has the power and authority to cast me into hell. If He weren't the Almighty God, and this were a relationship between two sinners, I feel like we might call it abusive for one spouse to punish the other for their lack of loyalty.

Ezekiel chapter 16 portrays God doing this in a spousal context, and this deeply troubles me. When I struggle with this, I tend to shy away from thinking about Christ as the bridegroom and turn to other analogies such as Him as the vine, apart from whom we can do nothing. Can you please shed some TOB light on this?”

Christopher: My dear sister, I hear the human struggle in your heart. This is the struggle with God. It's not just a struggle with God.

It is the fundamental struggle with God. John Paul II says in his book, 'Crossing the Threshold of Hope', that the goal of original sin is to change our understanding of God. This is the serpent's goal.

This is the enemy's goal. This is what he has done to all of us with original sin. He has changed our understanding of God from loving father, from loving bridegroom, to tyrant, to one who wants to dominate us and control us and throw us into hell, cast us into hell.

He's changed the relationship from father-son or father-daughter or spouse, bridegroom and bride. He's changed it into master-slave. "If you don't do what I tell you, you will be punished."

And this paradigm, this concept of God comes from hell. It comes from the deceiver.

There is language in the Old Testament that can reinforce that scary understanding of God. And the passage you're referring to in Ezekiel, I'll just summarize, it's a very long passage. I'm familiar with it.

The passage in Ezekiel is where God confesses his spousal love, the love of a bridegroom for humanity as bride. He takes pity on our humanity. He sees us as destitute, as cast aside, as rejected, as yearning for love.

But we're in a desperate situation that we can't save ourselves from. So he comes and he bathes us. He cleanses us.

He clothes us. And he awaits the maturing of our humanity. The analogy here with the bridegroom and the bride, it's like a lover who's fallen in love with a young girl, and he's waiting patiently for her to grow into a woman who's ready for love.

It says in Ezekiel that the bridegroom here, which is the Lord, waits and sees that the woman he loves, the bride he loves has now developed. Her breasts have grown. Her hair has grown.

This is very explicit imagery of puberty, of what happens to a young girl as she's transformed into a woman, and the bridegroom here is taking delight in her. And he showers her with tenderness, with love, with gifts. He clothes her in splendor.

And then, yeah, where it goes from there, there's a warning. And keep in mind, this is a prophetic warning of what human beings are capable of in their fallen humanity. I'll just speak for myself here.

I know God has given me many, many gifts. Many, many gifts to teach the gospel. Many, many gifts to share the riches of Christ and His Church with the world.

And there are times in my own fallen humanity where I have used my gifts which God gave me to glorify Him and to bless others. And I've taken those gifts because I'm a prideful SOB as a fallen human being. And I've used my gifts that God has given me, bestowed on me, to glorify myself.

This is the proper application of this imagery. Because what happens in Ezekiel here is that the bride who's been made beautiful, she was destitute. And through God's tenderness, she was made beautiful.

The bride then uses her beauty for her own vain gain. She uses her beauty to seduce men. She becomes a prostitute.

And she doesn't even become a prostitute out of destitution to get payment for it because she's in some terrible situation. She uses it for her own vanity. She doesn't even accept payment.

She just wants to revel in her own beauty and vanity. And what God is saying, if you do that, there will be a natural consequence that you... not that God is going to throw us into hell out of some vengeance.

"You didn't follow my rules. I'm casting you into hell." That's the paradigm from hell of who God is.

A proper interpretation of the Old Testament story here, which we must view always in light of what Christ definitively reveals about who God is. I'll get to more of that in a minute. We must interpret this in light of what Christ reveals about who God is.

And what we must conclude is that God casts no one into hell out of vengeance. The warning here is do not let your pride and vanity get the best of you with the gifts that I bestow upon you. Because if you go down that road, the consequence of that road, the natural consequence of that road is that you will break covenant with me.

Let me put it to you this way. If marriage is an image of heaven, which it is, and if heaven is going to be a marriage, which it is, it's not going to be a shotgun wedding. What do I mean by that?

God forces no one to marry him. Why? Because if he forced us to marry him, it wouldn't be love.

So often people will say, well, if God is love, there couldn't possibly be hell. And if we're thinking soundly, we must conclude precisely the opposite. It is because God is love.

It is because God loves us that hell must be a possibility. Why? Because love respects freedom.

That's what love.. if God forced us to say yes to his marriage proposal, if the eternal marriage of heaven were a shotgun wedding, we were forced into it, it couldn't possibly be love. The possibility of hell exists, and that's the way we have to phrase it. The possibility of hell exists precisely because God respects our freedom.

And God respects our freedom precisely because God is love. Satan wants us to think that God is not a loving bridegroom, but I hate this word, I'm going to spell it. But he wants us to think God is a R-A-P-I-S-T.

The fact that hell is a possibility demonstrates beyond any shadow of a doubt that God is not an R-A-P-I-S-T, but that He is a true, loving bridegroom who honors our freedom even to say no to Him. Christ has revealed the full truth about who God is, and the full truth of who God is? God is love.

He is a loving father. He is a loving bridegroom. 

Christ's entire life is declaring:

"You think God is a tyrant who wants to dominate and control you?

And if you break the rules, cast you into hell? You think that's who God is? 

I will let you dominate me.

I will let you nail me to a tree. 

I will descend into hell myself to demonstrate to you that God has no desire to dominate, control, harm you, or throw you into hell.

You think God is an R-A-P-I-S-T?

This is my body given up for you in love. 

 

I will let you R-A-P-E me in the sense of wreaking utter, utter, violating havoc to my body.

To demonstrate to you that God has no desire whatsoever to wreak utter havoc and violate your body.

You think God would whip your back if you gave him the chance? 

I will let you whip my back to demonstrate to you that I have no desire whatsoever to whip yours... stop persisting in this lie from hell, that God is a tyrant who wants to dominate and control you and violate you. Stop persisting in that unbelief.

Repent and believe, believe, I am love, I am love, I am love. This is my body given for you. This is my body given for you."

We must let the paradigm of the love revealed on the marriage bed of the cross cleanse us of any such notion of God as some vengeful God who wants to throw us into hell. That is a long journey, my dear sister, and you're already on it. How do I know you're already on it?

Because you never would have asked this question if you're not already on that journey. Keep going, keep going, keep going. That lie has very deep tentacles in all of us.

And it can take a lifetime to uproot that tenacious lie. But this is why Christ came into the world, to undo the work of the enemy. And that work is already being done in you, my dear sister.

It's happening. It's underway. Glory be to God.

I want to address one more thing here. Before I, I, I, I'm so excited to hear whatever you might say here, Wendy. Um, the one more thing I wanted to say was, can you, she asked, can you explain where the analogy doesn't work, where the analogy of the bridegroom and the bride isn't, isn't adequate?

And we do have to acknowledge this. Every analogy limps. All analogies are inadequate.

The spousal analogy is the least inadequate, but it's inadequate. Uh, and, and here's an inadequacy. She touched on this idea of the, the equality of spouses, right?

That's, that's a very important point. You and I, Wendy, are equal in nature and dignity. I am your husband, you are my wife.

Wendy: Yeah.

Christopher: We are equal in nature and dignity as human persons. In the analogy of the bridegroom and the bride, where God is the bridegroom, this is where it breaks down because we are not equal to God in nature and dignity. He is an infinite divine Christ here.

I'm speaking of Christ. He's an infinite divine person. He is not a human person.

And if there's something going wrong in the marriage between Christ and his church, we know with absolute certainty the problem is always with the bride. Right? It is not possible to extrapolate from that, that the problem in our marriage, you and me, Wendy, is always with you.

Although my pride sure would like to think that sometimes. That ain't the truth because I am a fallen, imperfect bridegroom. Jesus is not a fallen, imperfect bridegroom.

He's a divine bridegroom. So yeah, the analogy breaks down. That would be one example.

I could point to many others, but I just wanted to acknowledge she's on to something very important there. And I just, I'll throw this out to, if the vine and the branches helps you, praise God, stay there. Stay there, but you can't look at any of these images in scripture and think one corrects the other.

What it corrects, what this vine branch thing might correct, is your faulty notion of the bridegroom and bride image. So let that vine and branch image correct any faulty notion you have of the bridegroom, bride image, but don't think it's, the image itself needs to be corrected. Our faulty understanding needs to be corrected.

And, of course, in the bridegroom, bride image, let's never forget the curse. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will dominate you. This is a curse.

This is not God's plan. And when we're in the mode of the bridegroom dominating the bride, and we project that on to God, we are in trouble, right? The correction for all of that is St. Paul saying husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.

Wendy: One of the things that was coming to me in this just reflection on Christ as bridegroom, I'm looking around in your office where we're recording, and you have several different Eastern icons on the walls. And icons are not something that everyone is familiar with. They are beautiful, traditional, prayerfully painted images that depict important scenes and realities of the faith.

And there is a particular icon that is called Christ, the bridegroom, and it's an image of Christ carrying his cross. Right? So there is the beautiful, just, I don't know, confirmation.

You may want to look up that image, Christ, the bridegroom, as an icon, to recognize. It just kind of confirms a lot of what you were saying, that here is our bridegroom. So, not punishing, but taking the punishment.

Right? It's the opposite.

Christopher: Yes, that's right. That's exactly right. Not, oh, thank you, Wendy.

That summarizes everything I wanted to say in one sentence. Thank you, Wendy. That is the Holy Spirit.

This is what Christ reveals. This is what Christ reveals. Say it again, Wendy.

It's so powerful. This is loaded with the full glory of the reversal that Christ came to give us of our image of God. Go ahead, say that again.

Wendy: The image of Christ the Bridegroom is not of God punishing us, but of God taking the punishment.

Christopher: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Makes me want to dance. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to leap for joy.

That, I never heard it said so well. It's beautiful, Wendy. Flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, Wendy, but your Father in heaven has revealed that to you.

That is so powerful.

Whoo!

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

You came not to punish us, but you came to take upon yourself our punishment. And by that, I don't even mean that we were supposed to be punished by God, and Christ took it on. Rather, I'm saying Christ took on the punishment that we dished out.

God didn't kill his son, we did.

The Unity of the Trinity

We crucified Jesus, not God the Father. It's not some vengeful God casting on his son the punishment that he wanted to cast on us. This is fallen humanity rejecting God in the extreme, and God's saying, go ahead, go ahead, get it out, get it out, I came to absorb it.

It's not that Christ comes to punish us, it's that he comes and says, go ahead, punish me. Punish me, get it all out, get all your hatred aimed at God, get it out at me, I'm God, I will absorb it, and I will show you in the midst of it how much I love you. I've come not to punish you.

I've come not to condemn you. I've come to save you. Astonishing.

Utterly astonishing.


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The above transcript was lifted from the 'Ask Christopher West Show', ACW369, Jan 26, 2026
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-christopher-west/id1448699486?i=1000746662743&r=2674
(Start at the 25:00 minute mark.)

This material may be protected by copyright.

 _____________

One last thought before I wrap up this post.

I loved the movie "Where the Heart Is" and it has one of my most quoted lines. In fact, whenever I'm trying to explain the notion of hell to anyone, it bumbles unbidden out of my mouth. This is because it captures the stark and dreadful truth that we humans create our own hell in one simple line:

"Harry, we're alcoholics, we're generally satisfied to hurt ourselves."

This is Thelma replying to Harry's apology for supposedly hurting her somehow. It is that crystalline and rare honesty that one finds almost exclusively in the rooms of twelve step programs. 

In essence, we can blame God for hell and all the evil in the world all we want. But if God had wanted to create beings that would only carry out some carefully coded program of goodness, he'd have done so. Of course, there'd be no room for love in such a creation.

No.

He created us instead. 

Creatures that actually had the freedom to refuse his love and despise his goodness. Creatures that could bring great harm to themselves and others thus creating their own hell. Creatures for whom he would lay down his life to rescue them from their self-inflicted misery.

But also creatures that could truly chose to love and receive his love willingly. Creatures that could reject the overwhelmingly popular lies sown by the enemy of humankind and instead trust in God's goodness.

I'd suggest that perhaps we are all a mix of such evil and good 'wolves' as the ancient Cherokee proverb puts it. 

Which wolf wins?

The one you feed.

 

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If You Run, He Will Chase You

Three themes haunt my mind this morning. All deal with God who relentlessly pursues us with his life giving love. I for one am grateful for that.

Sufjan Stevens' song 'Seven Swans' is the first haunting. The title of this post comes from that song. Maybe you'll see why it is one of my most persistent hauntings when you listen to it.

The second haunting is a poignant retelling of Francis Thompson's poem 'The Hound of Heaven'. Here is the original poem. Below is a recent retelling in beautifully composed graphic art.

My final haunting and perhaps the oldest in my life is T-bone Burnett's song 'Relentless'. You can listen to it below.

May all of these bless you as ponder God's persistent love for you, now and always.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

Threads Upon the Loom

I believe this tender song by Bruce Cockburn captures the essence of spiritual direction. As I finish my training in that ancient vocation and embark upon the art of accompanying people in their journey towards God, I am moved to share it with you all. May it bless you as it did me.

Lyrics:

Manhatten or Dakar
Makes no difference where you are
It doesn't matter, what you think
Or if you smoke or if you drink
You're a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

You could be naked, could be armed
Could be charming, could be charmed
You could be open, could be closed
Be one of us or one of those
You're a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

On the march or on the run
it matters not what you have done
Nor what you'll do, nor what you'll say
We play the role we're made to play
We're but threads upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

It can appear at any hour
When it comes, it comes in power
You may not walk, you may not see
But you'll become what you can be
You're a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

We're but threads upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

Icons and the Theology of Our Bodies

Venerating icons with the body | ACW357, Nov 3, 2025

[Many of you are aware that, as a student at the Theology of the Body Institute, I listen to the the institute's founder and his wife as they field questions on human sexuality, anthropology and theology every week in their podcast. It has been a true source of healing in my life. This episode sheds light on why we grow Visio Divina cards and give them away freely on the farm. This is a wonderful explanation of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic piety with a true tenderness toward Protestant sensibilities.]

Wendy: Our next question is from an anonymous listener. "Hi Christopher and Wendy, your podcast has been so helpful in my discerning of Catholicism. So, thank you so much."

Christopher: You are welcome so much.

Wendy: "I come from a Protestant background, and now that I am more open to icons and statues than I was before, I was wondering if you could please explain why Catholics venerate them bodily. I get that the honor is for the one the image represents and not the image itself, but that still troubles me because I wrestle with scriptures like Revelation 19:10, where an angel does not want to be bowed down to, even in his immediate presence. I love looking at images, but still struggle with the idea of kissing or bowing to them. I was wondering if you could explain how Theology of the Body illuminates this."

Christ Pantocrator
(Ruler of the Universe)

Christopher: Sure, sure, sure. Thank you, first of all, for the question and for your honest seeking. Keep going, keep going. You're on an amazing journey and it ends in glory, so keep going. 

I'm reminded of a story that I just heard from a friend of ours yesterday, and I'm gonna use it to answer this question.

A friend of ours, our age, mid-50s, loved Sean Cassidy in the 70s. If you don't know who Sean Cassidy is, I'm not gonna get into that, but he was like a teen idol in the 70s and a musician. You can look him up.

But if you're our age, everybody in the 70s, when we were kids, knew Sean Cassidy. And he is touring now. And all these people in their 50s and 60s are going out to see him.

And our friend went out to see him. And this little 12-year-old came out of her when she was describing, with such glee, how delighted she was to go to see this Sean Cassidy concert. And she told the story of when she was a little girl, she had the Sean Cassidy picture on her, a poster on her wall.

And she would kiss it every night before she went to bed. All right. Why did she do that? Why would she kiss a poster?

It's not a real person. It's what's going on. But it's a genuine human gesture of wanting to express, think of that word express or expression.

Something inside us at an interior spiritual level wants to get pressed out, express. I once heard it said, and it's a great little insight into the, just the way our humanity works. Impression without expression leads to depression.

When we have something inside that wants to come out, and we don't let it come out, now, you know, that could be taken in the wrong way. I'm speaking of genuine human things that we feel inside. I'm not saying I have the sexual desire, if I don't express it, I'm going to be depressed.

I'm talking about a genuine human reality, right? So there's something beautiful in this little girl's heart, our friend, who's now in her 50s, that she wanted to kiss the Sean Cassidy poster, right? Something had been impressed on her heart. She wanted to express it. And she even told the story of how her babysitter caught her doing it, and that she said she looked stupid and she shouldn't do that. 

And I said, you know, have you ever prayed about that? Have you ever forgiven that babysitter for doing that? And she immediately teared up, because that's how deep this stuff goes. Like, this stuff is really in there. 

It goes deep in our hearts, and we need to pay attention to those inner workings. It is entirely human to want to show, like, I have a deep love, deep, deep love for Mary, the mother of God, who's also my mother in the Order of Grace. She's my mama, she's my mama.

Henry Ossawa Turner's painting "Annunciation"

Now, she's also ascended bodily into heaven. So I don't get to hang out with her in the same way I get to hang out with my earthly mom, or my wife, or my sister. But man, wouldn't that be, I want to express, when I'm with you, my love, I get to express my love for you.

I get to press it out. I get to have a bodily expression of it by hugging you, holding you, kissing you, reaching out to touch your hand, and in the full beauty of our marital union. That's how we're made.

It has to do with the integrity of body and soul, that spiritual realities get expressed physically. And when I'm in the presence of, say, an icon of the Blessed Mother, that becomes an opportunity for me to express my love for that woman. And I know it's a piece of wood with paint on it, but it's a representation of that person.

And it's entirely in keeping with our humanity, with the way God made us, that we would express some genuine affection for our mother in the order of grace by kissing, by reverently, you know, like when I proposed to you, Wendy, I got down on one knee. I wasn't worshiping you as if you were God, but I was showing proper reverence for the sacredness of what was occurring. When somebody properly bows to an icon or a statue properly, you know, it could be disordered too, but it can be properly expressed, they're not worshiping the paint and the wood. They're showing a certain veneration for the person represented there. And if that representation is Christ, we worship Christ.

We never worship Mary. We never worship a saint, but we do worship Christ because he's God, right? So that bowing to the icon of Christ can be a show of worship to Christ himself.

Bowing to an icon of Mary or a saint can be a show of proper veneration or honor given to the person. You know, in cultures of the East, when people greet one another, they'll bow to each other. There's something beautiful about that showing reverence to the person.

I often do that. When I'm interacting with somebody and they're sharing certain aspects of their suffering or sacred aspects of their life, I'll bow out of reverence for the image of God in this person. Don't be afraid to express what is impressed on your heart.

So in answer to your question about what light does Theology of the Body have to shine on this, one of the brightest lights of the Theology of the Body is the utter insistence on the unity and integrity of body and soul, on the unity and integrity of our interior and exterior selves. And that veneration, honoring and worship itself demands bodily expression. Impression in this sense without expression leads to depression.

Wendy: Something I was reminded of in looking at this question is I once listened to a talk given by a Catholic apologist named Steve Ray, who also was from a Protestant background and became Catholic. And he was talking to Catholics to try to give us an understanding of how shocking some things about Catholicism are to Protestants. And he was talking about the fact of coming into a Catholic church and seeing all these paintings and statues and things that just feel so foreign.

And just to have some compassion for, like, the difficulty of entering into that world when that's not your world, when that's not how you've been raised, or just experienced faith before. And I just was grateful for his way, and I'm not doing it justice, but he really did give me, like, just a heart for, like, this is challenging. This is not easy to kind of make this journey here and to feel comfortable and at ease in something that seems so different.

So, you know, I am grateful to him for just shining that light for me on that experience. And I feel like there's just an honest, you know, I come from a Protestant background here, and I'm growing, but this is a thing that I'm still questioning. And I think all that you said, Christopher, was just shining like a light on just a Catholic understanding of our expressions of faith.

That is, yeah, we maybe as Protestants, there's been for Protestants, there's like a judgment toward it, a, you know, a meaning assigned to it. That that is, you know, like something that you need to avoid, that that's off or it's wrong. And so like, it's just understandable that there's this to wrestle with interiorly.

I think, you know, there, as you talked about the things that are in our hearts that get expressed, like, we can all find those things in our hearts. It's like, you know, what if you're at your, you know, you're somewhere and you encounter a photo of someone who has died, someone that you love, that's died, and you see that photo, and like, you actually want to show some tenderness to the photo because you missed the person, but you know that makes no sense, but you feel it. Like, oh, you know, you're careful with it and you gaze at it with love or, yeah, you hold it to your cheek.

I don't know, but there are things that like just happen in us because of our love. And yet there's also a way that that engaging our bodies can teach our hearts. So it can go the other way.

Like, it's not just that what's in our heart naturally comes out that way, but also the things we do physically are instructive to our hearts. So like, I remember recently seeing a little video of our grandson kissing Jesus' body on the crucifix. And he's learning something through that physical action that he's seen others do.

The Holy Trinity: Jesus felt abandoned... he wasn't.

He's learning to treasure the gift of Jesus on the cross. Like, he's learning that as a tiny little person. And somewhere inside, I think, our hearts, you know, there's still those like little places in us that need those outward things to teach us.

And so when we're together with others, maybe it's, you know, Good Friday, and we have the opportunity to, if we, you know, attend a Good Friday service to kiss a crucifix. Like, how instructive for our hearts, at whatever stage of our faith journey that is, to physically embrace this representation of the Lord. It's like traveling through time to be present at His crucifixion and to, like, console Him with our love and our receiving of His gift.

That's beautiful. Sometimes we see a picture, a representation of a saint that we have been blessed by on our journey. Like, the point of saints is that they bless other people on their journey to the Lord.

Like, if you know them when they're alive or if you know of them after they're not alive, like, that's what they're doing. They're journeying to the Lord and they're helping us on our journey. Like, we could encounter that, and that gratitude we have could cause us to just pause, to pause and be recollected.

And that physical posture is showing our, like, tuning out of other things and being fully present to that profound gift of this person to us. So, yeah, I hope some of that is just speaking to your heart with your question about these things that, yeah, do seem weird and unfamiliar.

Christopher: Yeah, I think to sum up some of the differences here, I think you could see the difference in this light. At the root of Catholic theology and anthropology is a remarkable lack of suspicion towards our humanity, body and soul. And at the root of some, I don't want to make blank a statement here, but at the root of some Protestant approaches in theology is a really tragic suspicion towards our humanity, body and soul, and a blaming of the body.

Matter matters. The incarnation shows this so plainly. And those two starting points will take you out into a very different practice in the way you live out your faith.

So, it's not that the church does not take sin seriously. It does, but it doesn't. Sin is not powerful enough to undo or uproot the original goodness of our bodies and our souls.

That original goodness is retained. We are tragically fallen, but we are not utterly depraved because of sin. And that's a real difference in Catholic and Protestant approaches.

So anyway, I hope that's helpful to you.

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Twelve Steps and the Jesuits

As a student in the Divine Mercy University’s Spiritual Direction Certification program the entire last semester has made it abundantly clear that I need to become very familiar with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Ignatius founded the Jesuit order over 450 years ago, also known as 'The Society of Jesus' (FYI, Pope Francis was a member). 

Not being a priest or in a religious order or having much Catholic education, my response to this requirement of being well versed in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius has largely been:

The what of the who?!

Well, I’m not the only recovering addict to say that about the Spiritual Exercises. I found out that Bill W. (co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous) said pretty much the same thing to Fr. Ed Dowling in about 1942 when AA was just getting off the ground.

Ok, back up... how do I know this?

Part of my course requirements have been to attend a 5 day Ignatian retreat. I was able to fulfill that requirement this past summer. I showed up at the Bellarmine Retreat Center for my required five day retreat very much looking forward to it.

Three hours into it at the end of dinner time, they say what everyone but me knows.. "This is a silent retreat from here on. Enjoy!" (Read more about my Bellarmine Retreat adventure here.)

What?!

That must have been in the fine print somewhere... hmmm... this is going to be interesting.

Silent, that is, except for going to Mass and meeting with my spiritual director. Her job was to lead me through some of the Spiritual Exercises.

Well alrighty then!

But I needn’t have been worried, God knows what he is doing.

During my first meeting with my spiritual director I found out that she is a recovering alcoholic, ten years sober. I’m not sure we ever got through many of the Ignatian Exercises (as much as I needed them to be explained to me), because we were both geeking out about being in recovery and how we work with our sponsees and so on. We spent a lot of time comparing notes on those fronts.

As we were talking she asked me if I’d seen the “Fr. Ed” book in the Bellarmine book store?

I said no and asked her what it was about.

Turns out Fr. Ed Dowling was a great champion of the early AA organization. He also befriended Bill W. and became one his most trusted spiritual advisors.

My spiritual director then explained that the book was written by an excellent research journalist named Dawn Eden Goldstein, a Jewish convert to Catholicism. She said that Dawn takes great pains to meticulously explain how Father Ed helped Bill W. see the connections between Ignatian spirituality and the 12 steps.

So I of course bought the book along with several other of Goldstein’s books (all very good by the way) and I’ve been slowly reading it during my weekly holy hours.

I have to say, this is really helping me get my head around the spiritual exercises now that I understand that this spirituality actually permeates much of AA and all 12 step spirituality. It is starting to make sense to me because of my familiarity with the 12 steps.

I guess if I’d only gone to the Calix Society Store when I first joined a few years back I might have seen the excellent book by Father Jim Harbaugh that explains how the 12 steps are related to the Spiritual exercises. Maybe I’ll read that one next.

But back to Goldstein’s book. She is indeed an excellent researcher and an amazing story teller as well. She knows how to make a biography interesting.

Anyway, if you are at all interested in the roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step spirituality, do yourself a favor and get a copy of “Father Ed: The Story of Bill W’s Spiritual Sponsor” and sip on it. If you’re like me you’ll learn a whole lot about the spiritual formation that Jesuits go through at the very least (that is the first part of the book). Then I guarantee you’ll learn things you never knew about the first decades of AA... Dawn Eden is one of the best research journalists I’ve ever read.

Maybe I'll actually be able to navigate through the rest of my course work now and obtain my certificate because of making this connection. Who knew?

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

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A Bible for the Young and Young at Heart

I wish I'd grown up with this kid's Bible. It is easily the finest one I've seen in print and I've seen quite a few.

Definitely not just for young Catholics!

The only problem is the subtitle which is "A Story Bible for Young Catholics".

Ok, I get the 'marketing to Catholics' thing, but this publication is certainly NOT just for Young Catholics. What a terribly limiting thing to say!

No.

Emily's story telling prowess shines here!

This work of art is for everyone (the young and the young at heart) who wants to know more about the Christian faith in its entire sweep. It wonderfully connects the dots between key elements over the entire arc of salvation history.

Diana Renzina's art work is stunningly beautiful!

It is for kids of all ages. My inner 10 year old has delighted in every page.

And my inner 4 year old LOVED listening to Jonathan Roumie read it to me. I binged the entire 76 short (average 5 minute) chapters in a matter of a few days!

Read by the actor
who plays Jesus
in 'The Chosen'

So Christian or not, Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox or whatever, this one is for you if you want to catch a vision of what Christians have treasured over the past twenty centuries.

Emily Stimpson Chapman's excellent story telling abilities alone make this a winner. Combined with Diana Renzina's stunning artwork it knocks it out of the park! Diana's more accurate depiction of the variety of Middle Eastern skin tones alone is so refreshing and only the tiniest part of her true talent as an illustrator.

I am deeply impressed and binging the audio now for the second time because my inner 4 year old keeps clamoring for it again.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

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Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

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The Vietnamese Mass: A Piercing Joyous Light

As I started going to Mass more in the greater Grand Rapids area I couldn't help noticing the presence of Vietnamese Nuns quite often. I learned that there was a convent for them on the southwest side of town. 

Digging a little deeper I found out a little more history on how people from Vietnam began arriving here in greater numbers with the fall of Saigon in 1975. Many of them were and still are Catholic.

In 2024 we moved towards the southwest side where the closest Parish was Our Lady of La Vang.

Having gone there a few times over the last year, the beauty and kindness of the people there have touched my heart deeply. It shines out profoundly in their worship and devotion during the mass because to me at least, their way of chanting the entire liturgy is piercingly exquisite.

The lovely aesthetic of the chanted Vietnamese language lends a hand in this regard. If I had to compare it to a musical instrument it would be the chimes, the vertical hammered tubular percussion instrument you find in most bands and orchestras.

Hear it for yourself in this example:

At Our Lady of La Vang everything is in Vietnamese most of the time. With my love of languages this suits me just fine. Add to that, they often have the words of songs and the liturgy projected so I can follow along and sound out the words. Sometimes they have the English alongside the Vietnamese, so I can figure out pretty quickly the often repeated words like God (Thân) or Lord (Chua) or Jesus Christ (Giêsu Kitô).

The point is this, I find it easy to sing and worship with my Vietnamese brothers and sisters and I find their deep reverence extremely attractive. I hope to make this my Sunday Church home now since we live so close and I like to support my neighborhood Parish when I can.

This past Monday was the memorial of St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and I was so very fortunate to have attended mass at the Cathedral downtown with Fr. Kenneth Boyack presiding that morning. His homily was so beautiful I asked if I could have it and share it with others. He handed it to me right away and then sent it to me later in electronic form.

It is very inspiring and informative. I hope it blesses you today!

__________

Homily for the Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs
Father Kenneth Boyack, CSP
Cathedral of Saint Andrew, Grand Rapids, MI

Today the Church invites us to remember a remarkable chapter in the history of the Catholic faith—the witness of St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and the Vietnamese Martyrs. Their story stretches across three centuries and includes more than 100,000 believers—bishops and priests, religious and laypeople, parents and children—most of whose names are known only to God. Yet their courage continues to speak to the whole Church.

When Christianity first entered Vietnam in the late 1500s, it was seen as a foreign threat. Waves of persecution followed, marked by some of the most brutal tortures in recorded history. Believers were burned, dismembered, or suffocated; churches were destroyed; and Christians were ordered to renounce their faith by trampling on a crucifix. And yet, against all human logic, the Gospel did not disappear. It took deeper root. The blood of these martyrs became the seed of a thriving Church.

Among them stands Andrew Dũng-Lạc, a humble parish priest born near Hanoi. As a young man, he encountered a catechist, was baptized, and soon became a catechist himself. His zeal and holiness led to his ordination in 1823. In 1832, when Christianity was outlawed under Emperor Minh-Mang, Andrew was arrested repeatedly. He could have saved his life by denying Christ, but he chose instead to remain faithful. He was beheaded on December 21, 1839.

How do we make sense of such courage? One of his fellow martyrs, St. Paul Le-Bao-Tinh, wrote from prison: “I am full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone—Christ is with me. Our Master bears the whole weight of the cross, leaving me only the tiniest bit.” Their strength was not human stubbornness; it was confidence in the presence of Christ.

This memorial challenges us not necessarily to die for Christ, but to live for Him. Most of our trials are quieter: choosing forgiveness over resentment, fidelity over convenience, truth over comfort, faith over fear. The martyrs remind us that holiness is built on daily decisions to trust Jesus, even when it costs us something.

Their witness also proclaims that the Church is truly universal. The Gospel is not Western or Eastern—it belongs to every people and culture. Today, the Church in Vietnam is vibrant and growing, a living testament that suffering never has the last word. God does.

So we pray in this Mass: Lord, give us the courage of these martyrs. Help us to stand firm in faith, to love without fear, and to follow you with joyful hearts. May their witness inspire us to proclaim Christ—not only with our words, but with our lives. Amen.

Trusting in God who strengthened the martyrs of Vietnam, let us confidently bring our prayers before the Lord.

• For the Church throughout the world, that, inspired by the courage of St. Andrew Dũng-Lac and his companions, Christians may remain steadfast in faith and joyful in witness, even in times of trial. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For all who suffer persecution for their faith today, that God will protect them, give them hope, and bring peace to nations where religious freedom is threatened. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For the people and Church of Vietnam, that the seed planted by the martyrs may continue to bear fruit in holiness, vocations and vibrant missionary discipleship. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For priests, catechists, missionaries, and all who proclaim the Gospel, that, like St. Andrew Dũng-Lac, they may serve with humility, courage and unwavering trust in Christ. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For our Cathedral community, that we may learn to live our faith boldly -- choosing love over fear, forgiveness over resentment and truth over convenience -- so that our lives become a witness to Christ. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For those who carry hidden crosses -- illness, loneliness, grief, or discouragement, that they may know the comforting presence of Christ, who walks with His people in every trial. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For peace among nations and respect among cultures, that the example of the universal Church may help all peoples see one another as brothers and sisters created in God's image. R: Lord hear our prayer.
• For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. R: Lord hear our prayer.

God of strength and mercy, you sustained the martyrs of Vietnam in their hour of trial. Hear our prayers, grant us steadfast hearts and make us faithful witnesses to your love. Through Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

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***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.