My Own Pearls Of Wisdom

There is no great difficulty in asking a question; rather what is difficult is finding the passion required to answer it.

Kenny S. R. Costa

Background

This is one of the earliest quotes I have ever written, and upon reflection, I might have reworded it. I’m finding that asking the right question is often the most difficult part of intellectual endeavours.

The purpose of this quote, when I wrote it was a reaction to the lethargy I found in many of my peers and university students, who seemed to have no intellectual curiosity. Five minutes after asking one question, they were asking another, unrelated to the first, and leaving the first forgotten and unfulfilled. This is not to say they were not smart or intelligent, but they just didn’t seem to care about answering the questions they would often bring up.

I guess the quote above is just a call to find the zeal that is required to answer the questions each of us already have.

The Plight of Joseph on Christmas

St. Joseph is a person we know very little about. His presence in the bible would by text alone seems to be a minimal one, yet we know from these sources he did have a major role to play in the life of both Mary and Jesus. It is because of him that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is because of him that the family was led to Egypt soon afterward. And it was because of him that the family was led to Nazareth. Two years ago, Time magazine wrote up an article about how various Christians traditions, from Early Christians to modern day Evangelicals have dealt with the figure of Joseph. And many artists have attempted to portray the man in his various stages in life. The fact that so little is know of the man has led many of us, myself included to speculate about the life of Joseph.

This man has always been a mysterious figure. We have a good idea of how old Mary was at the time of the birth of Jesus, but we have nothing but wild speculation  on the part of the age of Joseph. Within the Catholic Tradition itself it varies greatly from 36 to 91! This can be seen in a variety of art where is portrayed as a young man fully in charge of his family to an older man who constantly fall asleep. (In some circles, to say that you will do a St. Joseph’s Meditation is code for taking a nap).  Some Christian traditions, such as the Egyptian Coptic Church have always held him in high regard. In other traditions, such as the Western Catholic church, reverence for him did not truly pick up until the middle ages. Yet today, and for many Christians through the ages, he is recognized as an important figure. After all not only does my church, Immaculate Conception in Winnipeg have a statue of him, but he is the Patron Saint of Canada itself.

But the story I look back on, and the story I find myself wondering about constantly is the story of Joseph on Christmas. Like many ideas about Joseph, this is a wild speculation, imposing what could be true, precisely because so little is know of him. However I have always believed that the story of Christmas to Joseph was a time of both great despair, and great hope.

Five Tips for Law School I learned from my Exams

Throughout the exam process, I kept on thinking about certain things I needed to do better, things I had done well, and ideas that might help be become a better law student. I thought to ensure that such principles were taken to heart, I should write them down. Here are the five things I learned about from my exams.

1. Go Electronic: All of my notes up until this point have been in the  traditional paper-pen style, the preferred method of schoolwork in my undergraduate studies. I love the simplicity of bringing a scribbler and pen to class, which weigh only a few grams and cost no more than a dollar, as opposed a kilo or more of computer, load-up time, power cords, etc, with the cost of only a few hundred dollars. I like having open space in front of me, no hiding behind a screen. If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t think I would be disciplined enough to stay on task with a computer right in front of me as well. But while my hand written notes were good, they were scattered and hard to keep track of at times, but more particularly, they were not very conducive to writing out an outline. Instead of copy-paste and simplification, I had to retype out my notes a lot of the time. It is a minor note, but I’m going to have to go electronic in the New Year. Hopefully, I will only have Word open when I have my notebook on in class.

My Own Pearls Of Wisdom

A dispute with others can be more than a moment of conflict, it can also be an opportunity for enlightenment.

Kenny S. R. Costa

Background

This is something I’ve had to tell myself over and over again. I will often get into a conflict with others over some philosophical, religious, political, or other point. And often I will attempt to argue the validity of my own personal view, much to my regret latter on. After all, I know what I believe, and most will not be turned in one conversation by an opposing belief. However, here is a golden opportunity to learn about the views of others, about someone who thinks differently than me. And sometimes I remember this quote and I ask them questions and ask for explanation, not to defeat them, but an attempt to understand.

In the grand scheme, we have to make sure we are open to the truth, where ever we find it, and the quote above is my way of trying to remind myself to remain to the Truth.

A Pox on all their Houses: A Reaction to the Canadian Federal Coalition v. Conservative

Anger and delight would probably best describe the first two emotions that came to mind when news of the Coalition first struck. Anger that a mere two weeks after Parliament was in session, and after an election in October, the government again faces manipulation or collapse. Delight because like it or not, these are interesting times, and a welcome distraction from the Legal studying I should be doing for my exams next week. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post on this, but after some discussion with my classmates, who seem either indifferent (I mean there are exams to worry about) or actually supportive of the Coalition, and the very reactive and emotional attitudes come out of all sides of parliament, I thought it might be nice to say why it is that I believe this is all crap.

The argument against the formation of the coalition will be formed into two main points:

1. That while common in other parliamentary democracies, coalition formed to defeat a government is rare here in Canada, and due to that fact should be used only in extreme circumstances.
2. That the extreme circumstances that should be present to warrant the overthrow of this government are not currently present, and that the actions of the oppositions are unjustified.