asymptotes

Last year, I watched an anime that left a deep impression on me. It's called  蛍火の杜へ   (Sorry, I'm practicing Kanji: In Romaji it's Hotarubi no mori e , translated as "Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light" in English.) In one scene, this anime was able to mix the feelings of shock, happiness, and anguish all at the same moment. It left such a strong impact on me that I was left thinking about it for several days. To those of you who already saw the anime, I think you know what scene I am referring to. To the others who have not yet seen the anime, please watch it first (or read the plot summar y here), then come back and read the rest of this post.  I won't tell you how it happened so as not to give a spoiler. Alright, are you sure you've seen the anime or read its plot? Well then, read on. Hotarubi no mori e told about how love developed between a young girl named Hotaru (which means firefly in Japanese), and Gin, a  human who was raised ...

Christmas is commonly abbreviated as X-mas, X being a symbol of Christ. This X actually comes from the  Greek letter  chi , the first letter of  Χριστός   —    Christós  or “Christ”.  This abbreviation makes a lot of sense. Nowadays, however, I have a growing feeling that for many people, this representation has been somewhat lost. The symbol X  now means "to cross out" or "leave out" or, in recent jargon, "to cancel".    Amidst the whirlwind of Christmas activities  there is a tendency to leave out Christ in Christmas . Crazy as it may sound, it is even crazier that some people do not even know that it is actually happening.   We concern ourselves so much with Christmas preparations  —    decorations, reunions, gifts, and the  noche buena    —     that we forget about the real reasons why we are doing them.  Obviously, the solution is not to do away w...

This is Part 1 of a series of 4 talk outlines on the cardinal virtues. Photo credit: justice_SRB 2 by SRBichara in freeimages.com   I. WHAT IS PRUDENCE Review of Human Virtues Man has body and soul Body has faculties of senses and passions. They are blind to what is true and good. Soul has faculties of intellect and will. These are able to know what is true and good. Human virtues enable a man to train the faculties of his soul to govern the faculties of the body so that man can direct himself freely (i.e., without obstacles) towards his ultimate goal, which is Infinite Truth, Good and Beauty, that many people identify with a Supreme Being or God. The Cardinal Virtues There is a group of virtues, that, due to their significance, are called cardinal virtues. "Cardinal" comes from  cardo , which is Latin for hinge.  The belief is that, the perfect man lives his life around these cardinal virtues. There are 4 cardinal virtues: prudence...

This is meant to be a talk outline instead of a developed article. Read part 1 here: Character and Competence . Photo credit: "Light through the forest" by honti at freeimages.com 3rd C: Creed The 3 rd C of Leadership is Creed (belief or faith) Man is body and soul Not just body Sex is not just a biological action (for animals, yes, but not for men) Man has a soul Everything that we talked about so far concerns the philosophical perfection of a  man, i.e., man from a natural point of view But man has a soul, and thus have a spiritual aspect We saw this when we discussed the asymptotes: infinite longing for Truth, Beauty and Goodness Nothing this world has to offer could fully satisfy us Why? Answer comes from St.Teresa “Nada te turbe, nada te espante; Quien a Dios tiene nada la falta: solo Dios basta.” “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frigh...