Plato on a rainy afternoon.

We're a little more than halfway through Fordham's fall semester, so many of the men of Ciszek Hall are the midst of midterms. I don't have any midterm exams, but three of my classes require equivalent papers - I turned in one of these last Tuesday, I'm writing the second right now, and I hope to begin the third tomorrow. The paper I'm currently working on deals with Plato's Crito, a relatively short dialogue between Socrates and a friend (the Crito of the title) who visits him in prison shortly before his death. Crito tries to persuade Socrates to escape and offers to help him do so. Socrates refuses to follow Crito's advice, suggesting that it would be unjust for him to try to evade the fate assigned him by the city of Athens. Even though he himself has been the victim of an apparent injustice at the hands of an Athenian court, Socrates argues that as a citizen he is bound to obey the laws of the state. This argument, by which Socrates provides something akin to a social contract (though he never calls it that), is the subject of the paper I'm writing right now. Given today's cold, rainy weather, I don't expect to face the temptation to leave the house and do something other than write my paper. However, I know that I can find more than enough ways to procrastinate without even leaving my room - checking e-mail, reading books, listening to music, even updating this blog. I pray that I may be gifted with the discipline to overcome ever-present distractions and remain focused on my work. If you're so inclined, please join me in praying for this intention - but as you do so, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before you go to bed, even if you live in Indiana. AMDG.