November 14,2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society
Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,
A key to understanding G.K.Chesterton is understanding something he calls "faith in receptiveness" and "respect for things outside oneself".
In his book A Little History of England, G.K.Chesterton states,
"I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man gets his best moral food by sucking his soul, and denying its dependence on God or other good things. I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness double by wonder. But this faith in receptiveness, and in respect for things outside oneself, need here do no more than help me in explaining what any version of this epoch ought in any case to explain."
It can be said that the virtue of Gratitude is the cornerstone upon which rested Chesterton's whole philosophy of life. From the foundation of gratitude flowed his humility and sense of wonder. I can think of no better time to explore what Chesterton had to say about Gratitude, than at our next meeting on Friday, Nov. 14.
In order to prepare for the meeting, spend a little time digging in your personal Chesterton library or on the internet to find the gems Chesterton wrote about Gratitude.
(See this link http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html).
They may be in the form of a one-liner (there are some really good ones), or it may be a few paragraphs, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find them because this theme is woven through so much of what he had to say about everything else. Please bring your favorite findings to the meeting and share them with the rest of us.
To conclude the evening, we will read and discuss the last chapter of Chesterton's Autobiography, ' The God with the Golden Key'. (Please bring a copy of this chapter.) If you haven't yet read GKC's Autobiography, I hope you will not have any scruples about reading the end of the book first. The chapter can stand alone, and is a wonderful and entertaining synthesis of his thought on a wide range of very Chestertonian topics, including Gratitude. You can find it linked here:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/GKC-Autobiography.html
As usual...
Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.
Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table...
...and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.
...and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.
