An Effort So Religious

Today’s Gospel reading is the “Render unto Caesar” one, a blog post from Father Stephen Freeman makes a distinction between the active life and the contemplative life, and the passage I turn to in one of my reading journals is from The Bostonians by Henry James:

This idea of their triumph, a triumph as yet ultimate and remote, but preceded by the solemn vista of an effort so religious as never to be wanting in ecstasy, became tremendously familiar to the two friends, but especially to Olive, during the winter of 187–, a season which ushered in the most momentous period of Miss Chancellor’s life.

These all seem so timely. My thoughts of late have been turned towards ideas about individuals and institutions, religion and the public square, participation and isolation. Oh, and on top of all that, I’m nearly 100 pages into The Godfather by Mario Puzo. I still don’t have answers—or, maybe more accurately, when I think I have answers, it turns out that I don’t. The questions, on the other hand, keep coming and continue to get more interesting and nuanced.