Given your interests and the themes in your posts, you seem most aligned with the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was a medieval Catholic philosopher and theologian known for his efforts to synthesize Christian theology with the philosophy of Aristotle. His work often deals with ethics, morality, and the nature of God, which resonates with your expressions of faith and moral concerns. Aquinas's emphasis on natural law and the moral implications of human actions could be seen as parallel to your focus on life issues and the integration of faith into daily life.
Now I was a philosophy minor in college, so I have read some Aquinas - though, to be honest, I can't remember precisely what I read of his works and thinking. I have also taught his proofs for God. And I read Chesterton's biography of him, and Louis de Wohl's The Quiet Light.
But still, I saw my knowledge of him as incomplete.
So I went to the library and found Denys Turner's Thomas Aquinas: A Portrait. I am enjoying it.
Turner is exploring Aquinas's ideas, and comparing them with the thinking of some other philosophers and theologians. That is helpful.
Still, I find some of the concepts difficult. I've found myself going back and rereading sections.
I was suddenly reminded of graduate school.
I was accepted in a Ph.D program in literature. I had gone to a small, not-great college for my undergraduate studies, and managed to coast through getting good grades with minimal effort. I was not intellectually prepared for the level of work in the Ph.D program. I got passing grades, but not the kind to which I'd grown used.
My faculty advisor met with me. He said I had the ability to earn the degree. But then he said only shining stars got professorships in a reasonable time, and, alas, I as not a shining star. He said what I would face would be years of adjunct positions, and perhaps lots of moving around. That was not for me; I was married and we wanted to start a family.
What he said was humbling, but I appreciated his honesty. He confirmed what I had been feeling.
The program I was in had a "Ph.D qualifying exam" after the first year. Students had to pass the exam to continue. But there was also an option that if you had enough credits you could be awarded a Master's Degree and stop there.
I passed the exam, and thus qualified to remain in the program. But I opted for the Master's. I found a job teaching in a high school, and a year later we had our first child.
Just as with reading Aquinas, I had some ability, but I was not brilliant. Not a shining star. I was - and am - more of a writer than a scholar. That served me well as a journalist, a poet, and a playwright.
I will continue to read Turner's book. As I said, I am enjoying it.
But I am not an Aquinas!
Pax et bonum
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