Down the path

Great. Another day done. Another step closer on the road home. Another evening to reflect on the day's happenings. Another night to gather energy to work with what the Producer of Events puts in the flow of the next day's events. Somewhere down the path there is no such thing as another anything. One reunites with those who have left the world before him. That's not leaving the world with a whimper. It's sheer bliss.

God showed up

The Old Testament has a story about Elijah in a conflict with the prophets of Ba'al. Elijah was tired of the other prophets' moaning and groaning about his god, so he challenged them to a duel of the gods. Whichever god showed his presence at the duel would win. The prophets of Ba'al were not able to get their god to show up. So if Elijah's god showed up at all, not even with great demonstrations of power, he was the winner. But, Elijah's god showed up with power of the first class. He burned the meat on the altar that was offered to him into complete obliteration. He burned the rocks into ashen gravel that made up the altar, and he made the fire so hot that the flames evaporated the water in the moat that had been dug around the altar.

I got to see that very scene played out in a different arena today. Some very evil people had a chance to put all their moaning and groaning against a Godly man into action. People had been praying for God to show up for this Godly man on the day of battle. Which he did with power of the first class. It was unexpected in the way God showed up. And really, all God had to do was show up just a little bit and the battle would have been won. But, God's trademark is to show up so that there is no doubt who showed up. So, today the battle was won and there was no doubt that an all-consuming flame left nothing behind. What a memory I will have of the day God showed up.

A waste

When it comes to attending a class, session at a conference, or a lecture, a person has a choice to attend or not. If presenters at these places knew that people choose to be in their sessions, then I think the preparation level would be higher. As it is, I am not sure they do. Today I put myself in a position to enjoy a stimulating class. Instead, I received bad preparation from the teacher. Disappointing, yes. A waste of time, yes. I think the one who made time in the first place would like us to use our time by choosing places to be that don't waste it. So, I must apologize to Him. And converse with Him about the teacher who wasted my time.

Conversation

Conversations happen for a variety of reasons. Some are pleasant and some are not. Usually in conversations a certain amount of character judgment is going on. But not always. I have a friend who many times disagrees with what I say, but does not judge me or my character. He just arrives at different conclusions about life.

When it comes to the translation of the idea of prayer in the New Testament, I have nearly always, even from age 20, translated the word as conversation. The trouble that some have with that idea is that it diminishes God and places Him more on a peer level. Another argument against conversation is that when the Greeks asked their Gods for protection or guidance, it was nearly always an appeal or request. It was not a conversation. Since the Greeks' language is the vehicle used for expressing NT ideas, perhaps it is wise to see how they used the word.

But a person can converse with God as easily as with anyone else. Certainly requests are made, or appeals. Certainly we talk casually, intensely as with peers. But, no one that I know of really looks on God as a peer. And conversing includes the whole gamut of conversation, not only requests and appeals. Even if the Greeks' idea of request or appeal excluded conversation, I think God allows Christianity to grow and evolve from its infancy 2000 years ago to now. That would allow growth for the idea of prayer to become conversation. So, I'm going to stick with conversation. It's what I have when I take my daily walks in the park twice a day, most days.

In the center

I took a course once on conversational analysis. The main textbook for the course began with a comparison of what happens in speech with what happens with vision. It talked about how the eye focused on something in the center of a vision field. Then it addressed what began to fade from the center to the periphera, and finally, what existed outside the field of vision.

The same is true with conversation. There is a focus on a topic. Of course there are peripheral topics that people think of while the topic under discussion is occurring. Some of these are brought to the center. Then there are those topics we associate to the topic under discussion, but we don't discuss them because they are too far afield from the topic under discussion.

That is why I like to hear people talk. It's a chess game. What is being discussed? Are there inuendoes? Will they surface from the periphera by being brought to the center? Will they be dropped? Are they in the center, but you just have to have 3-D glasses on to see them? What is thought that is never said? Training or experience or both help one to be a good judge of character. We need to be since people's talk and their actions are not seen in the same moment or the same context.

Let it go

I heard a teacher say today this would be her last year. She said she is tired of raising other people's kids for them and that her coaching doesn't matter to any of her students anymore anyway. The great American experiment in mass education has failed once again. I don't know if her pessimism is right or not. We could grind down the educational system to a halt. We would certainly find out then. Why waste dollars on kids for naught. They will grow up to be what they want to be with or without the system in place. Almost anything would certainly beat what is going on in the public shcools now.

Sphere of influence

A certain religious group sends out young men door-to-door. One of their 2-person teams came to the door this afternoon. My daughter answered the door, so I let her deal with them, partly because I wanted to see her response to them. She returned laughing because one of them spoke of Noses and Moah.

Although there is something admirable about what they do, I think the harm outweighs the good in such a setting. Which confirms what I think maybe Jesus was saying all along. Act Godly in the sphere of influence available. Outside of that maybe life tends to swing out of balance.

Splendor

The beauty of earthly phenomena can be captured on film so well these days. Often I can search blogs and find a photo-jounrnalist capturing beauty in a thunderstorm or tornado or capturing the ferocity of tsunamis, hurricanes, or explosions. I call it beauty because the Phenomena Maker uses all phenomena for his ends. Yes, the recent earthquake caused at least 35,000 deaths. No, I don't have answers for catastrophes. But, it's still beautiful to see the ferocity, power, grandeur, splendor because it is above the attainment level for humans (super-natural). As John Keats wrote in the 18th century, "Truth is beauty and beauty truth--that is all/ you know on Earth and all you need to know."

Pendulum swing

I heard on the radio today that a book had been written about why church is for women. Men have quit coming by the droves because the services are modeled on what attracts women. I couldn't agree more. But I can see that it is a reaction to the very male modeled church service of most of the 1800s and 1900s. Because it represents a cycle, then, I don't get alarmed. It reminds me of ice age cycles every 10,000-25,000 years. I just happen to be living in an age when the polar caps have retreated. I don't think I'll see the day return for a more male modeled church service. So, in the meantime, I'll read more of the heart of Christianity, and enjoy the company of people who really act like they embody the Creator's message for humanity when I come across them.

It's what's inside

Translation is merely an exercise in transferring ideas behind words. However, translations bring more than mere ideas. For example, when a child uses the word candy, one thinks of cheap candy, nickle candy, and sees a smile that so easily comes to a child's lips over simple things. When an adult uses the word candy, one might think of a holiday like Valentine's, boxed candy, or a gift, as in Lady Godiva candy, or lack of discipline because candy contains so many calories, almost anything except something simple. But translating candy into Tibetan probably loses the difference conjured by an American between adult and children's candy. It probably loses the smile from the child's lips, the calories from the undisciplined adult, the thoughtfulness conveyed by the box at Valentine's.

So it makes me wonder why the Maker of the universe depended so much on getting some ideas in a book that might lose so much by transferring ideas since words rarely conjure the same picture from one culture to another, much less from one era to another over two milennia. Then again, I think humans may have become misguided over the ages. The Son of Man said he would send another to stand beside us, to live within us. In the modern era, the book has trumped the one living within. But, the words passed on reveal that the message might spark a belief, but that the belief takes on a life of its own, the spirit within. The Maker of words also knew about ideas getting lost. So, the words passed on, pass the torch to the spirit within. A modern follower of the Son of Man doesn't have to depend on letter accuracy of a book, but on decency of living in the eyes of his peers. Goodness takes on many shapes and doesn't lose meaning like words changing languages or cultures or eras.

Simplicity

I remember an incident in the New Testament that gets little press coverage in a church setting. Jesus and the 12 had just finished their experience of transfiguration. When they climbed down from the hill, people were casting out demons in the name of Jesus. This was a major obstacle for the 12. When they asked Jesus if he planned to set them straight, he had the answer that has prompted me in theory to act like his reply over the last30 years. But, in practicality, I have mostly actively incorporated his response over the last 3 years, at the time I needed Jesus' healing touch the most, and since. The response? "If a person is not against me, (s)he is with me." It may not be a good church stance, but it is having the mind of Christ.

Less bibliolatry

Once up on a time... These words at once bring to mind everything about childhood because that is when that phrase was stamped on our minds. Later we passed through puberty and learned that reality was different from the stories that followed this childish phrase.

I wonder, some days, whether or not the Christianity that was learned as a child should inhabit our older lives. When we pass through puberty, the stories so indelibly imprinted from younger days stay put without a further comment. In fact, the sermons heard in our twenties only corroborate what we heard as youngsters. Since we have hired mercenaries as ministers, that never really work in the marketplace, they corroborate only further the stories heard from our youths.

Perhaps, I am wondering, we learn the stories of the New Testament so that when we see people hurting around us we think of the story. That misses the point, of course. Older adults know it does. But, I am thinking that teenage activities and groups on up until mature adulthood is reached need not to think of stories, childish stuff. They need to be under the active tutelage of life. If so, maybe maturity levels would begin earlier, authentic Christianity would be practiced sooner. Stories would be authentic, not contrived. The story wouldn't start, "A certain man went on a journey from Jericho to Jerusalem." Instead, the story would begin, "James was at school on Monday when..."

I think we need more active duty for young people, less bibliolatry.

No universals

Universals in language are very hard to come by. There are too many languages, so very rarely does anything fit all languages. For example, every good English speaker knows that adjectives come in front of their nouns. Unless you're speaking in a romance language like Spanish. Everyone knows that a pronoun like I is a separate word from the verb that shows what I is doing. Unless you're speaking in most other languages in the world besides English, in which case the pronoun is built into the verb as a suffix or an infix and occasionally a prefix.

So, it is highly likely that other behaviors besides language behavior also won't have universals. That's why the Creator looks on the heart, the intentions. Not only is behavior deceptive sometimes, but an action called good here may be called bad somewhere else in the world. But the Creator knows good intentions when he comes across them. So, tonight I repeat an age-old recitation. "May the words of my lips and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, the one who makes me acceptable."

Filters

Today I put in a CD that I was listening to for 25th time and kicked back just to listen. I listened to it for about 20 minutes until a song came on that I had heard 24 other times and not been astonished by it. The song caught my attention abruptly from one of the bass sounds in it. I had never heard that before. That's because just before that song came on I had adjusted the bass knob on the player, which I guess I had adjusted to lower bass a few months ago. The rest of the song was just beautiful with all the new bass notes I could hear and I arrived at a new appreciation of the song.

I guess the application to life is obvious. We make our adjustments in life. Sometimes we filter out things that otherwise would be beautiful. I hope that the adjustments in the future will enhance the beauty of life, the goodness of life. No telling how long I have been filtering out beauty and goodness. No telling how much I've been filtering. So, here's to less filtering.