I presently suppose that the most important comment I can make at the end of the year is that a blog is not a prayer. At best it is self-expression; but the raw self, or inner adulterer if you will, while commonly trumpeted loudly about, here and in a myriad of elsewheres, is neither of any intrinsic value nor of any external significance.
It is of eternal significance only if totally subsumable. Unto the Real Living GOD, that is; and to no one else. As I said in a long-ago post, Walker Percy called the Jews, "unsubsumable." They defy categorization, rationalization, and oblivion. They are special to God and hence hated by all people--but even more so is their Messiah, "rejected of men," even in His Name!
Such is our ability to live lies...
Not that this author never prays. But he blogs and opines more than he prays. God is not impressed with mere variations of the English language, nor with the "entertainment value" or even "family values" of our expressions.
When I was still in high school, my first band was a so-called "greaser band" badly imitating The Kingsmen, led by a grocer's son from Rock Falls, who penned our first name, "The Expressions." We expressed ourselves by imitating others. Have I really gotten very far from that, today? Is not the same dead-end non-creative impulse at work in me today? Does it not hang to me, as the Edomites clung to the Israelites, culminating in the Herod family, whom Rome put in power to doubly humiliate the Chosen People?
In a word, "Sarx"?
The very stuff that falls apart more quickly than mere rocks or trees?
In the AM our son Mark will, as most of you know, be married to Alison Ryan. Most of today will be spent in final preparations. Here's my prayer, hoping that most of u-few will agree.
I pray for a reversal of the entropy found in me; that there would be, unlike in the book of Judges, an ongoing and growing love for Christ, His Father, and His Holy Spirit in Mark's new and emerging family, to the "Nth" generation--I will not specify for even Christ on this earth did not know, nor could tell, the day and the hour of His Return--only that it would come when people "least expect it." Or as Henry Morris said, "Perhaps today!!!" Because "God is not willing that any should perish," i.e. that all should have at least enough God-given sense to come home on His terms, not on the ones that we invent, and humanly foist on others as the Scribes and Lawyers did, then, and even more so now.
And that the growing of God-given faith in the Creator should not wane, as it will if done by human effort and without more prayer than I, the negligent one, have prayed to date; would increase as I decrease. Does Herod have me en gaol? Heaven forbid. But as for blogs, they will cease. He will show us--has shown us-- the "MORE EXCELLENT WAY."
AMEN.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Post Hook/Hoc Levi-athan
It was not my intention to review The Hobbit Part the First here; and I won't--but the general impression is much the same as the impressions I got from the previews--a constant stream of violent monsters. This is a far cry from the grotesque of O'Connor, which altho seeming alien to us, is all too possible and all too real.
What is common is the triumph of the common. In that sense, it may be more realistic, for only the common do the work that sustains empires and civilizations. Unwittingly or unwilingly makes no difference.
We acquired a children's book from a Japanese author, yesterday, called, The Mighty Prince. Very simple, like The Emperor's New Clothes, with a happy ending. This describes the transformation of a perpetually angry prince who conquered many nations and who many feared, esp. his own people. But he became a 'prince of peace' when a young girl gives him a packet of seeds and he tries planting them in his neglected garden. "And for the first time, he loved his people."
Unlike this prince, God is traduced no matter whether He does what we like, or does the opposite. We dislike Him, no matter what! Even the most devout don't like to be messed with; we replace one agenda with another, one law with an opposite law; and hence cancel out whatever we have done, in a burgeoning horde of contra-dictions. We are, in fact, the "contras" who, like the Unitarians, remain defined by what they are against (Trinity); because to us destruction comes far more naturally, as does reaction to what IS, no matter what the blessing IS, is!!! We use our energies to not just neutralize our enemies but to attempt to obliterate them from the earth (but they keep on coming--and there are more now than "there was awhile ago." No more redcoats, but...
There is, in fact, not a one of us on earth, who is not simultaneously and continuously both Reactionary and Rebel at the same time. (Liberals react to what is and has gone before; and Conservatives react to the attacks on stasis, i.e. life in the past lane!) The only thing we are really called upon is to embrace IS--but instead of reification, we seek entertainment value, which we also call politics, or existentialism, which is rather like Lucy Van Pelt's petition: "Here, sign this. It absolves me of all blame." Charlie Brown said, "It must be nice to have a document like that." (Try Christ as Signatory? He is not bound! Or tied! Like us or/as the tramps of Godot.)
Not so fast! Not so past, either. The key to the present is the past, not vice versa as evolutionaries contend! Yet there is more...than we, or any army, can contend with. C.f. Ezekiel 12 and Pharoah's grave.
We are formed by culture but are still able to choose against it, and choose Christ, Who IS "no respecter of persons," and even less so of mere cultures which exist only as a matter of taste--usually for the Thanatos/Eros nexus/ Demi god's Urges. Formed by culture which we did not choose; but far before our culture, we were formed, prochoice and prolife, in our mother's womb, limited by our decaying genome but unlimited by the multifaceted gifts of choice, faith, love, and God Himself, who requires of us the one thing we can provide, which is surrender. We will surrender, have no doubt!
"Who will be Master, that's all."
postscripting--If it were only a matter of one angry, earthy prince! Yet the Past also indelibly says, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry." Re-read, please, Isaiah 53, I can only hint at the Who (vs The Who and their Doctor--" My Dad's a doctor, but not the kind that can do you any good...")
To Whom is Concerned Like No Other. And to WHOM we owe all we could ever think or imagine. It's all on loan from His Collection...
,
What is common is the triumph of the common. In that sense, it may be more realistic, for only the common do the work that sustains empires and civilizations. Unwittingly or unwilingly makes no difference.
We acquired a children's book from a Japanese author, yesterday, called, The Mighty Prince. Very simple, like The Emperor's New Clothes, with a happy ending. This describes the transformation of a perpetually angry prince who conquered many nations and who many feared, esp. his own people. But he became a 'prince of peace' when a young girl gives him a packet of seeds and he tries planting them in his neglected garden. "And for the first time, he loved his people."
Unlike this prince, God is traduced no matter whether He does what we like, or does the opposite. We dislike Him, no matter what! Even the most devout don't like to be messed with; we replace one agenda with another, one law with an opposite law; and hence cancel out whatever we have done, in a burgeoning horde of contra-dictions. We are, in fact, the "contras" who, like the Unitarians, remain defined by what they are against (Trinity); because to us destruction comes far more naturally, as does reaction to what IS, no matter what the blessing IS, is!!! We use our energies to not just neutralize our enemies but to attempt to obliterate them from the earth (but they keep on coming--and there are more now than "there was awhile ago." No more redcoats, but...
There is, in fact, not a one of us on earth, who is not simultaneously and continuously both Reactionary and Rebel at the same time. (Liberals react to what is and has gone before; and Conservatives react to the attacks on stasis, i.e. life in the past lane!) The only thing we are really called upon is to embrace IS--but instead of reification, we seek entertainment value, which we also call politics, or existentialism, which is rather like Lucy Van Pelt's petition: "Here, sign this. It absolves me of all blame." Charlie Brown said, "It must be nice to have a document like that." (Try Christ as Signatory? He is not bound! Or tied! Like us or/as the tramps of Godot.)
Not so fast! Not so past, either. The key to the present is the past, not vice versa as evolutionaries contend! Yet there is more...than we, or any army, can contend with. C.f. Ezekiel 12 and Pharoah's grave.
We are formed by culture but are still able to choose against it, and choose Christ, Who IS "no respecter of persons," and even less so of mere cultures which exist only as a matter of taste--usually for the Thanatos/Eros nexus/ Demi god's Urges. Formed by culture which we did not choose; but far before our culture, we were formed, prochoice and prolife, in our mother's womb, limited by our decaying genome but unlimited by the multifaceted gifts of choice, faith, love, and God Himself, who requires of us the one thing we can provide, which is surrender. We will surrender, have no doubt!
"Who will be Master, that's all."
postscripting--If it were only a matter of one angry, earthy prince! Yet the Past also indelibly says, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry." Re-read, please, Isaiah 53, I can only hint at the Who (vs The Who and their Doctor--" My Dad's a doctor, but not the kind that can do you any good...")
To Whom is Concerned Like No Other. And to WHOM we owe all we could ever think or imagine. It's all on loan from His Collection...
,
Saturday, December 29, 2012
...worthy of mention in any blog, anytime:
CALVIN: "I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them.
I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure
poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity."
"With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!
Want to see my book report?"
HOBBES: " 'The Dynamics of Interbeing and Monological Imperatives in Dick and Jane;
A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes.' "
CALVIN: "Academia here I come!"
A timely reminder to us obscurantic inscrutables!
I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure
poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity."
"With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!
Want to see my book report?"
HOBBES: " 'The Dynamics of Interbeing and Monological Imperatives in Dick and Jane;
A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes.' "
CALVIN: "Academia here I come!"
A timely reminder to us obscurantic inscrutables!
I am hard pressed at this time to express the many thoughts I have, many of them of interest to few but myself. It is also that I have 3 grandaughters and a grandson and 4 brothers and one wedding to attend to. The chance of a lifetime, you may say. So the Real must supercede mere ideation.
Besides all that:
It has been very difficult to make the move to Paw Paw. It is possible that I have upset more people in the past month than at any other point in my life. It was much easier to go to IN. There was an outpouring of appreciation 15 years ago that I still recall vividly. However at present I feel like the message is that I am imposing on everyone by trying slow down so I can stay in pratice longer; the longer I live, the more I see that people make plans but their lives are lived by the imperatives of the moment; few can or choose to see ahead, or look to see what would happen to our call schedule if I pulled out altogether, costing the hospital far more than it can afford to hire a team of hospitalists.
But these are more logistical problems borne out of my being different hence continually a grievance.
Perhaps far more important is a limited but significant outpouring of comfort in regards to our fallen pilot and crew who crashed coming to get my patient. I will not mention names, but I would have a lot more of a guilt burden and survivor syndrome than I have at this point, had not the right people (3) intervened. Of course Flo also gave me the message that this was not my fault but an error in judgement in the air; but it helped to hear it from "seasoned" professionals.
Well, breakfast is served by Stephen the Bold (his chess name, I think) so I will make bold to sally upstairs. Dennis I see your article and will read it when I can. And no doubt respond.
I might add that we boys will be seeing a pretend "Hobbit" later today. I will let you know how the "Of Being" fared . ("Wow! How existential can your get!?"--Hobbes; on life without entertainment....)
.
Besides all that:
It has been very difficult to make the move to Paw Paw. It is possible that I have upset more people in the past month than at any other point in my life. It was much easier to go to IN. There was an outpouring of appreciation 15 years ago that I still recall vividly. However at present I feel like the message is that I am imposing on everyone by trying slow down so I can stay in pratice longer; the longer I live, the more I see that people make plans but their lives are lived by the imperatives of the moment; few can or choose to see ahead, or look to see what would happen to our call schedule if I pulled out altogether, costing the hospital far more than it can afford to hire a team of hospitalists.
But these are more logistical problems borne out of my being different hence continually a grievance.
Perhaps far more important is a limited but significant outpouring of comfort in regards to our fallen pilot and crew who crashed coming to get my patient. I will not mention names, but I would have a lot more of a guilt burden and survivor syndrome than I have at this point, had not the right people (3) intervened. Of course Flo also gave me the message that this was not my fault but an error in judgement in the air; but it helped to hear it from "seasoned" professionals.
Well, breakfast is served by Stephen the Bold (his chess name, I think) so I will make bold to sally upstairs. Dennis I see your article and will read it when I can. And no doubt respond.
I might add that we boys will be seeing a pretend "Hobbit" later today. I will let you know how the "Of Being" fared . ("Wow! How existential can your get!?"--Hobbes; on life without entertainment....)
.
Monday, December 24, 2012
"Specialty: The Bleeding Obvious!"
One of my sons, at the inception of this blog, said, "Keep those pop culture references coming, Dad!" As my father recently said to me on Facebook, "I try, son."
It is no surprise then that, esp. right now with merchants languishing, that Eph. 4:29 -- 5:21 would bring to mind and heart, many sore subjects now subject to exposure, and overexposure.
The oft-repeated ad for Spiriva is interesting--and mainly true--the drug doesn't need advertising--but "The Elephant has Left the Building" comes to mind. As does the name "Ichabod" which is not just the name of the narrator in Moby Dick but originally meant, "The Lord has departed." A royal baby was named this as his mother was dying in childbirth and the Ark was captured by the Philistines.
(The Philistines seem to have gotten a reputation for being a party people and party poopers at the same time. The Palestinians, who are named after Israel's nemesis, are more the latter--tho they did party on 9/11/2001)
But it also brings up the "coarse jesting," of, "Elvis has left the building." That Elvis was the King--of idolatry--there can be no doubt--at least for that generation, which, as our grandmothers warned us, was merely the begining of coarser beasts to come. Everything however can become an idol, so it is still basically Creator Unacknowledged vs the mere created, the human element predominant and misusing our mandates to rule in a totally unruly fashion.
"For you were once darkness..." Notice that it does not say, as it says or implies, that we were IN darkness--no, it says that we were actual darkness. Without so much as a reflected moonbeam to show for it. I think of the Stone's album, "Let it Bleed." So what do Stones bleed--if you are content to be "that darkness" one can only bleed darkness." (c.f. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" with Mister Dark the carnival master of souls--by Ray Bradbury, my favorite author as a teen).
But Paul does go on to say," but now you ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD--yes in the Light as He Is the Light--but Paul the Bold says--yes as Christ said and prophesied-- you ARE the Light, and as such we are not merely light-bearers but so much of our indwelling nature, with the entrance of the Holy Spirit in Christ, is Light in Whom There is no Darkness at all, that we are literally to be "Bleeding Light." This too is a great mystery, as are all things which the Spirit touches, and beyond our ken.
There is also the Fruit of the Light. (without light there is no fruit--ask any tree or bush) --the same as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit--the list is infinite, not merely the few basics mentioned in Scripture.
Jesus certainly bled much light--that's why we honor and give thanks for His Blood--which has the power to preserve our blood--but if and when it is shed, it should bring light--as our brave helicopter friends recently showed. To quote a friend of the fallen fliers, they look down on us as to say, "I'm spending Christmas/ with Jesus this year." (from their Memorial Service last week)
The Bleeding-once for all- Still Exploding AntiPlasticene
Inevitable.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
TIME BANDITS REDUX
In a well known sequence in this Pythonesque fairy tale/morality play, Shelly Duvall and Michael Palin go through several incarnations, but they always have, "The Problem." This is deliberately left obscure; but in their first appearance in Sherwood Forest, Palin gives us the only clue we'll ever get as to the remedy for said problem, to wit: "FRUIT! I MUST HAVE FRUIT."
The theological themes in this film are much more profound, possibly because the protagonist is a child, than anything I have ever seen from Monty P et. al.
It suddenly came to me that this cry of a desperate rich man beset by wobbers could be profoundly useful in terms of our own lives; that we all have unmentionable problems (emotional/spiritual constipation among them?) that seperate us not from Molech, Baal, or the Corporate God of Commerce as God is depicted in this film; and therefore the Real/Royal Holy God experienced by Moses and Joshua, says:
"Ah it's your "Problem," again, I see. (unlike Calvin's parents, I Always See) Well, then! YOU MUST HAVE FRUIT!!! SO WHERE IS IT ALREADY?
This begs God's most basic question, "What have you done with My Son?"
For Jesus Himself also said: "By their fruits you will know them. A bad tree produces bad fruit. You are called to bear much fruit. But without Me you can do nothing. "
We are not mere useless eaters; or crazed consumers; we are not here to gobble up all the toys we see. (another primary theme of this movie in the first and the last scenes and throughout)
We are to bear much fruit so that others, and God, may be served well. Our branches are to be those of the Giving Tree, Shell Silverstein's refracted tribute to Christ; and we must give our best apples even to that sad child that despitefully uses us,as in Silverstein's parable. But even more so according to Christ The Book; as unto the Body.
We will never work ourselves out of this job! (although I am greatly looking forward to a new assignment.)
Happy Christo Mas` --meaning more of Him--and less of our treasured "selves."
The theological themes in this film are much more profound, possibly because the protagonist is a child, than anything I have ever seen from Monty P et. al.
It suddenly came to me that this cry of a desperate rich man beset by wobbers could be profoundly useful in terms of our own lives; that we all have unmentionable problems (emotional/spiritual constipation among them?) that seperate us not from Molech, Baal, or the Corporate God of Commerce as God is depicted in this film; and therefore the Real/Royal Holy God experienced by Moses and Joshua, says:
"Ah it's your "Problem," again, I see. (unlike Calvin's parents, I Always See) Well, then! YOU MUST HAVE FRUIT!!! SO WHERE IS IT ALREADY?
This begs God's most basic question, "What have you done with My Son?"
For Jesus Himself also said: "By their fruits you will know them. A bad tree produces bad fruit. You are called to bear much fruit. But without Me you can do nothing. "
We are not mere useless eaters; or crazed consumers; we are not here to gobble up all the toys we see. (another primary theme of this movie in the first and the last scenes and throughout)
We are to bear much fruit so that others, and God, may be served well. Our branches are to be those of the Giving Tree, Shell Silverstein's refracted tribute to Christ; and we must give our best apples even to that sad child that despitefully uses us,as in Silverstein's parable. But even more so according to Christ The Book; as unto the Body.
We will never work ourselves out of this job! (although I am greatly looking forward to a new assignment.)
Happy Christo Mas` --meaning more of Him--and less of our treasured "selves."
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Hagah
Last night our group, led by my dear wife, investigated being "double-minded.) (as in James)
This morning, as I began the book of Joshua, and my own "new day" (as all will later understand),
I came across, in Chapter One, this command:
"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;mediate on in day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in It."
The commentator whom I am reading in the "Fire" study Bible, a version used widely in the Third World, is Donald Stamps--not a theologian but an actual practicing missionary while he was alive--gives an interesting general and more specific definition of "meditation."
Hagah: Hebrew for: "means to read quietly or to talk to yourself as you think about something. It implies studying and carefully thinking about God's Word in order to know and understand its principles and deepest meaning. The (teleology of that) is to apply those principles to every area of our lives."
My first thought on reading this is rather self-centered, to witless: Finally! Someone is recommending talking to myself! I talk to myself a lot--not usually out loud--in fact, I think I mostly talk to myself:(
It does suggest however that the self- our basic bundle of body, soul, mind, and spirit as in the Shamah, is pretty important to God; only that our self-talk be based on God-talk. Stamps says earlier of the Joshua-era Hebrews, "They could not depend on human ideas, traditions, or religions." And that the Promised Land could only be reached by faith. Their carnal weaponry would never be enough, nor would it even provide any impetus as Far as what God desired. They were specifically directed to occupy Hittite territory and the Hittites were among the first to forge large volumes of iron for weaponry and were well known for their "iron chariots" and fierce horses; whereas the weapons of the Hebrews did not include horses or chariots at all. In other places, God actually forbids the kings of Israel to ride on, or import, or accumulate horses. In fact, they were not to fear those with chariots, and the Red Sea certainly demonstrated both how and why. They were the Ultimate Footsoldiers who had to march by faith into the teeth of multiple technologically advanced societies actually stronger--but doomed anyway. As we see constantly; from WW2 to the fast-moving marginalization of USA today.
I would recommend, as an aside, Dr. John Patrick's talk, "Why There Are No Hittites on The Streets of New York." (but lots and lots of Jews!) I have it on tape if anyone is interested. It may be on the net in published form also. Dr. Patrick is a distant friend who introduced me to Robert Spitzer, and helps to run Augustine College, a prep school, in Canada.
I actually wrote this in the fall...so before it gets too stale...
This morning, as I began the book of Joshua, and my own "new day" (as all will later understand),
I came across, in Chapter One, this command:
"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;mediate on in day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in It."
The commentator whom I am reading in the "Fire" study Bible, a version used widely in the Third World, is Donald Stamps--not a theologian but an actual practicing missionary while he was alive--gives an interesting general and more specific definition of "meditation."
Hagah: Hebrew for: "means to read quietly or to talk to yourself as you think about something. It implies studying and carefully thinking about God's Word in order to know and understand its principles and deepest meaning. The (teleology of that) is to apply those principles to every area of our lives."
My first thought on reading this is rather self-centered, to witless: Finally! Someone is recommending talking to myself! I talk to myself a lot--not usually out loud--in fact, I think I mostly talk to myself:(
It does suggest however that the self- our basic bundle of body, soul, mind, and spirit as in the Shamah, is pretty important to God; only that our self-talk be based on God-talk. Stamps says earlier of the Joshua-era Hebrews, "They could not depend on human ideas, traditions, or religions." And that the Promised Land could only be reached by faith. Their carnal weaponry would never be enough, nor would it even provide any impetus as Far as what God desired. They were specifically directed to occupy Hittite territory and the Hittites were among the first to forge large volumes of iron for weaponry and were well known for their "iron chariots" and fierce horses; whereas the weapons of the Hebrews did not include horses or chariots at all. In other places, God actually forbids the kings of Israel to ride on, or import, or accumulate horses. In fact, they were not to fear those with chariots, and the Red Sea certainly demonstrated both how and why. They were the Ultimate Footsoldiers who had to march by faith into the teeth of multiple technologically advanced societies actually stronger--but doomed anyway. As we see constantly; from WW2 to the fast-moving marginalization of USA today.
I would recommend, as an aside, Dr. John Patrick's talk, "Why There Are No Hittites on The Streets of New York." (but lots and lots of Jews!) I have it on tape if anyone is interested. It may be on the net in published form also. Dr. Patrick is a distant friend who introduced me to Robert Spitzer, and helps to run Augustine College, a prep school, in Canada.
I actually wrote this in the fall...so before it gets too stale...
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Kultur Kampf
Our culture, at least in the USA but probable all of the West included, has been called a "culture of death," and we are fast accumulating more reasons to think it so. This whole week has been filled to the brim with lethal accidents and rampages. In future I will continue to try to make sense of this, realizing that the twin answers are "sin" and "Jesus Christ not-a-swear-word-thank-you-very-much."
No Country for Old Men...Amen and Amen.
Just a brief view of Hollywood output should, for one unaccustomed to carnage, put any relatively innocent minds into "culture shock." As much so as visiting the original Auca tribe, or a tribe of cannibals, thanks to the Hannibal Lectures. And we are known worldwide for this, just as Chicago was once known only for its gangsters which are still gist for the media mills to this day. Now Chicago has superseded even D.C. as murder capital of the world; anybody for "death rap?" (Death Metal is dead)
Death has certainly penetrated to my heart this week. Death is always an increasing reality for those of us who strive to survive to a "ripe old age." There was a time, so I hear, when grey hair was a badge of honor and a right to some added respect...but I have heard many even of my generation who wonder if getting old is even worth the candle. I often hear, "Getting old is hell, Doc." and I have no way to refute them. This does tend to put a different light on, "only the good die young."
There is a learning and experience option to getting older unless dementia steps in. But younger people do not ask, they would rather work it out themselves. The thing we learn from history is_____. Yet even if wisdom and better judgement accompanies age--which may be the minority of cases now--there is no denying the life of hormones, including both rages and relenting types. There is, even or esp. for the hypothetical pure materialist, the trap door of entropy hidden under the straw of the loft/y, ready to let us down with a bang, and a whimper from a brittle bag of bones at the end of the descent. Well, there's always the nursing home; until they too become way stations for "useless eaters."
Civilizations only progress for a little while, until a more sanguine cultures, such as Islam, replace them. True Christianity, on a personal basis, does not encourage gnawing on the bones of dead cultures; It is intellectuals, as a whole, that bring forth their new/old pantheons of idols, as they did in the Renaissance; necessitating a Reformation. But Reformation eventually also comes to unbelief and what Schaffer called, "The Great Evangelical Disaster." (Good reading for those who also like Jeremiah...")
If there is a point to this--a big maybe--I think it would be that we as individuals "can do nothing" without the Messiah, whose birthday we already missed--Christmas is only a winter solstice celebration borrowed from paganism. How convenient--and compromised from Xmas' inception if not its conception, so to say... and the beat goes on...
I could apologize for the darker tone of this blog; but as some may realize, I am in a pretty bleak corner just now. There have been a few in the hospital staff, mainly Lynn Klein CEO and Stacey Belski, our social worker, who have reached out--it is part of their job, of course but they could have just let it pass, as most are doing--well, most don't even realize I was involved yet and I hope it stays that way. My great thanks to them whatever may happen.
But I also long for the days in Warsaw where the hospital employed a chaplain. I was very good friends with the last one, and he would have been perfect "for such a time as this." I wonder if he is still there...
No Country for Old Men...Amen and Amen.
Just a brief view of Hollywood output should, for one unaccustomed to carnage, put any relatively innocent minds into "culture shock." As much so as visiting the original Auca tribe, or a tribe of cannibals, thanks to the Hannibal Lectures. And we are known worldwide for this, just as Chicago was once known only for its gangsters which are still gist for the media mills to this day. Now Chicago has superseded even D.C. as murder capital of the world; anybody for "death rap?" (Death Metal is dead)
Death has certainly penetrated to my heart this week. Death is always an increasing reality for those of us who strive to survive to a "ripe old age." There was a time, so I hear, when grey hair was a badge of honor and a right to some added respect...but I have heard many even of my generation who wonder if getting old is even worth the candle. I often hear, "Getting old is hell, Doc." and I have no way to refute them. This does tend to put a different light on, "only the good die young."
There is a learning and experience option to getting older unless dementia steps in. But younger people do not ask, they would rather work it out themselves. The thing we learn from history is_____. Yet even if wisdom and better judgement accompanies age--which may be the minority of cases now--there is no denying the life of hormones, including both rages and relenting types. There is, even or esp. for the hypothetical pure materialist, the trap door of entropy hidden under the straw of the loft/y, ready to let us down with a bang, and a whimper from a brittle bag of bones at the end of the descent. Well, there's always the nursing home; until they too become way stations for "useless eaters."
Civilizations only progress for a little while, until a more sanguine cultures, such as Islam, replace them. True Christianity, on a personal basis, does not encourage gnawing on the bones of dead cultures; It is intellectuals, as a whole, that bring forth their new/old pantheons of idols, as they did in the Renaissance; necessitating a Reformation. But Reformation eventually also comes to unbelief and what Schaffer called, "The Great Evangelical Disaster." (Good reading for those who also like Jeremiah...")
If there is a point to this--a big maybe--I think it would be that we as individuals "can do nothing" without the Messiah, whose birthday we already missed--Christmas is only a winter solstice celebration borrowed from paganism. How convenient--and compromised from Xmas' inception if not its conception, so to say... and the beat goes on...
I could apologize for the darker tone of this blog; but as some may realize, I am in a pretty bleak corner just now. There have been a few in the hospital staff, mainly Lynn Klein CEO and Stacey Belski, our social worker, who have reached out--it is part of their job, of course but they could have just let it pass, as most are doing--well, most don't even realize I was involved yet and I hope it stays that way. My great thanks to them whatever may happen.
But I also long for the days in Warsaw where the hospital employed a chaplain. I was very good friends with the last one, and he would have been perfect "for such a time as this." I wonder if he is still there...
Thursday, December 13, 2012
"Our hearts are heavy" --React helicopter response team of Rockford IL
In case you have not heard--I am sure my Mom and Dad have not--2 nurses and one pilot perished in a weather-related helicopter crash near Compton. They were coming to Mendota. They tried to turn back because they were icing up. They crashed in a cornfield instead.
And they were coming to get my patient.
You will have to fill in the blanks, I can't.
"It is such a secret place, this land of tears."
And they were coming to get my patient.
You will have to fill in the blanks, I can't.
"It is such a secret place, this land of tears."
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
"You don't have to be Jewish...
...to love Levites."
Joshua 12 and 13 reiterate Moses' message from God that the Levites would inherit no land at all--that the Lord Himself was the sum of their inheritance. The Levites were the first diaspora, spreading over all Israel and now over the entire world. The Levites were the keepers of the Law of Moses, even though they themselves could not follow it, to the Lord's good and perfect pleasure, no, not nearly.
But now I would say that there aren't too many Levi's who own no land, or rent from the Gentiles. Meantime they have still been very busy, making bluejeans to bagels, both of which have pleasured people around the world; but have brought neither God nor Messiah nor Their Spirit with their riches and influence, in the majority of cases. But they have also, as have most Gentiles, brought not only their most basic errors, but a modernist antinomianism that transcends and overwhelms what little remains of their tradition.
God never promises us traditions; nowhere has he ever said so. His Son in fact condemned them on numerous occasions. They are a sociological substitute for the Comforter; the Paraclete who bids us be ready for anything but esp. the counterintuitive. Such as love your enemies etc. How many of us, Jew or Gentile, manage that for more than a few feeble "I ought's?" Which of course turn immediately into "noughts." (Then Noughties)
I am no anti-Semite. I have suspected that I have a bit of Jewish blood left over from the mass diaporas of Israel or maybe of Judah herself. There is a German "Frank" family from Europe not too far back in our lineage as gathered by my mother; I have it somewhere. But what need do I have of proof? I am grafted in! Besides, the last genealogies were destroyed by the "bloody Romans" in 70 AD. So it is all by faith, and the particulars won't much matter in Heaven.
The real question is: who is carrying on the job once Levi decided that business is business?; do you need a brand name to be known, respected...and feared? Messiah now leaves us with the original assignment to the Levites; and a whole lot more. We are not to be antinomians but to hew to the Law--but in a better and more universal way. Spirit first, then humility, then gratitude leading to Real Love not just for David's first love ("Oh how I love thy Law." Ps 119)--but for All Of God as He progressively reveals Himself and trains us in Real Righteousness, the opposite of our overweening self-righteousness, or using Law or even Grace to excuse ourselves. Until even our thoughts please Him...but are anathema to McWorld of curse. Only He can do this; if we will at least hold still, not cling to traditions, and see what will come forth at His Touch.
It is said that we have really learned a language when we dream...and pray!!!...in it. What then is our real "idioma del Cielo?" Is it not some Tongue/s other than the one we think wef know now? Justice sayin'.
The Genuine and Hardest Question is not how they are doing; but how I am doing? Will Christ see me as a goat? Will I cling to my McLand and my traditions, yea, and my hobby horses too? Or will I just be available, as were Barnabas, Stephen, and Phillip? Buy their fruits: you will know them." Do I love the Lord as my only possible inheritance, more than I love myself?
Blessed Holy Days--whenever and whatever they may be. See you on 12/13/12 at any rate!
Joshua 12 and 13 reiterate Moses' message from God that the Levites would inherit no land at all--that the Lord Himself was the sum of their inheritance. The Levites were the first diaspora, spreading over all Israel and now over the entire world. The Levites were the keepers of the Law of Moses, even though they themselves could not follow it, to the Lord's good and perfect pleasure, no, not nearly.
But now I would say that there aren't too many Levi's who own no land, or rent from the Gentiles. Meantime they have still been very busy, making bluejeans to bagels, both of which have pleasured people around the world; but have brought neither God nor Messiah nor Their Spirit with their riches and influence, in the majority of cases. But they have also, as have most Gentiles, brought not only their most basic errors, but a modernist antinomianism that transcends and overwhelms what little remains of their tradition.
God never promises us traditions; nowhere has he ever said so. His Son in fact condemned them on numerous occasions. They are a sociological substitute for the Comforter; the Paraclete who bids us be ready for anything but esp. the counterintuitive. Such as love your enemies etc. How many of us, Jew or Gentile, manage that for more than a few feeble "I ought's?" Which of course turn immediately into "noughts." (Then Noughties)
I am no anti-Semite. I have suspected that I have a bit of Jewish blood left over from the mass diaporas of Israel or maybe of Judah herself. There is a German "Frank" family from Europe not too far back in our lineage as gathered by my mother; I have it somewhere. But what need do I have of proof? I am grafted in! Besides, the last genealogies were destroyed by the "bloody Romans" in 70 AD. So it is all by faith, and the particulars won't much matter in Heaven.
The real question is: who is carrying on the job once Levi decided that business is business?; do you need a brand name to be known, respected...and feared? Messiah now leaves us with the original assignment to the Levites; and a whole lot more. We are not to be antinomians but to hew to the Law--but in a better and more universal way. Spirit first, then humility, then gratitude leading to Real Love not just for David's first love ("Oh how I love thy Law." Ps 119)--but for All Of God as He progressively reveals Himself and trains us in Real Righteousness, the opposite of our overweening self-righteousness, or using Law or even Grace to excuse ourselves. Until even our thoughts please Him...but are anathema to McWorld of curse. Only He can do this; if we will at least hold still, not cling to traditions, and see what will come forth at His Touch.
It is said that we have really learned a language when we dream...and pray!!!...in it. What then is our real "idioma del Cielo?" Is it not some Tongue/s other than the one we think wef know now? Justice sayin'.
The Genuine and Hardest Question is not how they are doing; but how I am doing? Will Christ see me as a goat? Will I cling to my McLand and my traditions, yea, and my hobby horses too? Or will I just be available, as were Barnabas, Stephen, and Phillip? Buy their fruits: you will know them." Do I love the Lord as my only possible inheritance, more than I love myself?
Blessed Holy Days--whenever and whatever they may be. See you on 12/13/12 at any rate!
Friday, December 7, 2012
ephemera ?
NIHILISM IS THE AIR WE BREATHE -FO'C
It is apparently very dry air. No vapor canopy either.
Rollin' on the River
or Stranded on the Strand?
Eliot should see this; his mighty brown god mightily humbled by a far greater God--Who knows how to hit us right in our "breadbasket." (see News Tribune 11/30/12)
Where did acts of God go?
Can God be erased by lesser creatures?
"It does not yet appear what we shall become--but when He comes, we shall be like Him"--no longer able to be-little Him--we shall all be humbled much more than we are right now; everyone can depend on that.
"Whatever happened to sin?" asked Carl Menninger. "It is the beginning of sorrows" ever says The Master. We come, we go; but unlike the self-willed and self-absorbed Gaugin, "Whence" has already been announced by Moses, the Prophets, the Son, and The Spirit. There is no author attached to the "authority" of science and scientism. On might as well depend on the CTA--or the CPD and Rahm "Emmanuel" (behold he comes).
At the very least these nihilist-driven ephemera will cease all their authority at the moment of our deaths "then it shall appear" whatever king--or "King,eh?"--for whom we have truly voted. As in Screwtape, we shall see what, and whom, we have really served. Is the ministry of trying-to-impress- myself-and-others suggest in the least the "King Of Kings?" Or...
" 'We will not have this man to rule over us.'" ?
Wanna see a real rocky horror picture show? No joke intended? I'll pass.
Final suggestion for now: if you dig biology at all, read "Genetic Entropy" by the Cornell (rtd?) professor and pioneer of genetic engineering, by Dr. J.C. Sanford. Why did I not see this before? The same process that deteriorates your car; and your body; is at work "inferiorating" the entire human genome. More on this in future posts I trust. Extinctions? Cancer? "Fitness"? It's all there and more. (I see I already mentioned this earlier--oh well it won't hurt to do so again...and again...and prn.)
Your fellow mutant,
It is apparently very dry air. No vapor canopy either.
Rollin' on the River
or Stranded on the Strand?
Eliot should see this; his mighty brown god mightily humbled by a far greater God--Who knows how to hit us right in our "breadbasket." (see News Tribune 11/30/12)
Where did acts of God go?
Can God be erased by lesser creatures?
"It does not yet appear what we shall become--but when He comes, we shall be like Him"--no longer able to be-little Him--we shall all be humbled much more than we are right now; everyone can depend on that.
"Whatever happened to sin?" asked Carl Menninger. "It is the beginning of sorrows" ever says The Master. We come, we go; but unlike the self-willed and self-absorbed Gaugin, "Whence" has already been announced by Moses, the Prophets, the Son, and The Spirit. There is no author attached to the "authority" of science and scientism. On might as well depend on the CTA--or the CPD and Rahm "Emmanuel" (behold he comes).
At the very least these nihilist-driven ephemera will cease all their authority at the moment of our deaths "then it shall appear" whatever king--or "King,eh?"--for whom we have truly voted. As in Screwtape, we shall see what, and whom, we have really served. Is the ministry of trying-to-impress- myself-and-others suggest in the least the "King Of Kings?" Or...
" 'We will not have this man to rule over us.'" ?
Wanna see a real rocky horror picture show? No joke intended? I'll pass.
Final suggestion for now: if you dig biology at all, read "Genetic Entropy" by the Cornell (rtd?) professor and pioneer of genetic engineering, by Dr. J.C. Sanford. Why did I not see this before? The same process that deteriorates your car; and your body; is at work "inferiorating" the entire human genome. More on this in future posts I trust. Extinctions? Cancer? "Fitness"? It's all there and more. (I see I already mentioned this earlier--oh well it won't hurt to do so again...and again...and prn.)
Your fellow mutant,
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