Appreciating spring

The scenery was beautiful on the last drive to Austin that I took. One could tell that spring was in the air. The countryside teemed with new life. The color green was everywhere. Nowhere was even a hint of the sun scorching the earth. Nothing was brown unless it represented what had not given way from the winter to the verdant green announcing spring. The same drive just a few months ago portrayed a different season of the year.

It's odd that I would notice spring in such a way in the first place since long ago I left the spring of my years in terms of the seasons of life. If I take the average age for mortality, I must be in the fall of my life. Now, if I live as long as my grandmother, I am only half way through life, so I would still be in summer. But, I'll go with the average age for now. Maybe I still notice spring because I have a daughter behind me in the spring of her life. Or a son behind me etched forever in the spring of his life.

But I am not intrigued by spring because I know what is ahead–the burning days of summer, the shed leaves of fall, and the bitter cold of winter. I just know how to enjoy spring. And perhaps there is a message in this musing for me. If I take the seasonal cycle as a microcosm of the life we only get to experience once, then I need to pay attention to the rhythms of the microcosm and know how to enjoy each part of the cycle. So the pressing news for me is to know how to enjoy fall weather. At first there is a moderation of temperature. Leaves don't fall till late in the cycle. Then, comes winter.

Arbitrary words

Words are arbitrarily chosen to represent ideas. But do the words chosen really represent the ideas? Stock phrases like Happy Birthday wouldn't be said any other way, such as Glad Birthday or Happy Day of Birth. But in running speech the ideas we have are not so common as to have only one way to say it. So, Our troops are still in Iraq, and Our boys have yet to return from Iraq, only have a small chance of representing the same idea. Who is making the utterance has everything to do with what the idea may be. If a mother of a soldier were speaking, utterance #2 would probably be chosen. If a reporter was asking Don Rumsfield to comment on the status of the troops, utterance #1 would be chosen over utterance #2. Utterance #1 seems more factual while utterance #2 seems fuller of sentiment.

I had a chance recently to discuss at length some of the principles of translation when translating the New Testament. It's always interesting to see how others react to a discussion of translation principles, but I was talking with a fellow translator. If I had to characterize the discussion with the main idea of the discussion, I think we mentioned time and again how arbitrary words are in representing ideas. Neither of us would be able to answer the question, "What is the best translation?" or "Which translation most accurately reflects the original language?" Judging matters like the attitude of speakers or trying to figure out how much fact or sentiment was involved becomes tricky since it would guide the translator to select a certain set of words to use. For example, are "I am the light of the world," and "I'm the world's light," the same expression? What about "I am the one who lights the world," or "I light up the world?"

Although I am reminded how careful one must be when translating, I am equally reminded that a great degree of liberty exists in translating. And in that I am relieved. That liberty is the very essence of the one who created the ideas in the first place. If the Son of Man set you free, you are really and truly free.

Finding the flash

It is exhiliarating to be a fish in water, to be in an environment that you know you were born to be in. Every circuit in your brain is working flawlessly and efficiently. Energy flows without end. Everything seems interesting. You go for hours on end without flagging. Everything is familiar in one way or another and connections to new ideas are everywhere.

Once every three years or so, this is the case. It's beautiful when it happens. It rejuvenates, refreshes, and retools. It makes you ready to go fight the good fight for the next 3 years. It affirms your previous course of action. It prepares you for likely changes on the horizon. I's sweet to the palate.

Chinks and prices

Words are sobering when they reflect a chink in the ol' armor of our character. A CSI rerun came on, and I watched. It was interesting as most of the episodes are. At the very end of the show the last line was delivered before the credits began to roll. The words were pretty sobering, "Everyone has a price." In the case of CSI, the price was crime. But even if we move into other arenas of life, the saying still holds true.

I hate to think that I have a price. I have had some hard testing, but the thought still lingers—the price just hasn't been raised high enough. I am old enough to know where the chinks in my armor are. If I wonder why the chink is there in the first place, I think that I thwarted some arrow, that an attempt at buying me off has failed. Maybe it just means that on that occasion the price was just not raised high enough. A thought like that raises my eyebrows. I hope the One who Made me does not allow the death blow. Chinks only, please. Or that the enemy doesn't secretly know what my price is.

Words leading home

Expressions can be beautifully worded sometimes. Those expressions can make us feel that we belong, or that we have value, or that we feel gratified. But the other possibility exists. Words can be used to make us feel unworthy, despicable, and unloved. Words themselves really have no value. The attitude of the speaker, the tone of the voice, the physical presence or absence of the one giving the words are taken into account much more than the words. Many times we remember harshness or love, but cannot remember the words themselves. We remember the occasion, the expression on the face, the strength of the tone, the rapidity of the delivery, but seldom the words themselves. So, perhaps, the Giver of words would like us to use the words we utter to leave prints behind, kind prints, caring prints,warm prints, valued prints–the kind that lead the way home to Him.

Ebb and flow

What in life looks more like life than the ebb and flow of the ocean on a coastline? The usual tide in-tide out gets to be expected. The constant dull roar soon is not heard at all if you are on the coastline long. Sometimes the tide is higher than normal, especially when storms come. Some waves in a lifetime are tsunamis, but that is abnormal. Much gets washed ashore given enough time. Undertows are unseen, but strong nevertheless and have been known to cause death for non-swimmers.

Every line above has an equivalent in living life. Sometimes I write a blog when the tide is in and sometimes when the tide is out. Some of my blogs represent the stuff that gets washed up on the shoreline and sometimes it represents the dull roar that people forget to hear. Certainly the storms and tsunamis are recordable events. Hopefully, I won't drown in the undertow, but occasionally I do have to fight against it as it drags against me pulling me somewhat out to sea.

I'd say at the moment I see clouds on the horizon. At least it is just rain that's coming. Maybe it will hit as the tide comes in so that it won't be so dangerous. I'm waiting for the sunshine at high tide to bask in the sunlight and splash along the beach. Life's a beach and then you die.

Long journeys

Some motivational posters contain quotations along the lines of "All long journeys begin with the first step." Well, that helps some. All journeys are taken by putting one step in front of the next. But, then there are these really long journeys. The kind where steps are taken, but they don't necessarily lead to any destination. They are just steps.

Sometimes they are steps of evasion of coming trouble, sometimes steps of curiosity of glimpsing what could be or might have been, sometimes steps full of spring because "things are turning out right." But no matter what kind of steps—troubled steps, grieving steps, contented steps, outrageous steps, unbelivable steps—the journey is just outright long. Really long. Like L-o-o-o-o-n-g long. There aren't any motivational posters for those kinds of journeys. They are just endlessly long journeys. A good dose of Christianity doesn't even help in understanding some of these journeys. They are just long. Such is life.

I guess the proper attitude to have is that we are strangers passing through this world. To the next world I hope. I am really counting on those journeys being a lot different.

No-not in the plan

Quite often I hear that a day's activity in its entirety is planned by God. It comes in the phrase, "God's got a plan for your life," or "Absolutely nothing will happen to you today that God hasn't already planned." As much as I would like to believe that's true, and have at times tried to believe that it's true, in the end I can't really find any truth in it.

Two people aren't supposed to be mad at each other or highly critical. But they are. I don't think it's part of a plan. Children aren't supposed to die young. But they do. Surely, God in his mercy doesn't control death of youth. Children aren't really supposed to learn deceit and loose living from their parents. But it happens. Did God have that planned already? Then there is the age old question that God has never really answered in the sacred book claiming Him as author. Why do the wicked prosper? Is that really what the Father that Jesus represented wants perpetuated in this sordid world?

My prayers really reflect more what Paul asked for others to pray for him about, "In your conversations with God, ask that He rescue us from people's moral morass and base living." Because others' base living is not a part of any plan!

Out of the blue sky

Two geese this morning flew right over my head and landed about 20 yards from me in the park. They came out of nowhere it seemed and they sounded motorized as they landed. I don't know why they chose to come to the park at mid-morning. One was larger; one was smaller. I was there 30 minutes and so were they. I left so I don't really know how long they outlasted me. Usually I take note of things that happen out of the ordinary like this scene. Today was no different. Were they a message to me? What did they represent? If they were a harbinger of things to come, I guess it wasn't today that something happened. But if they were a harbinger of things to come, then I probably need some time to adapt to whatever will occur.

And yes, something like this has happened to me before. Sometimes the scene means that something good will happen. More often than not, though, the sign is a portent of difficult circumstances. In that light, I don't look forward to future events. On the other hand, it's nice to be forewarned because in some circumstances, forewarned is forearmed. We warily eyed each other during the 30 minutes I was at the park. But, I can't for the life of me see the symbolism—yet. I guess that will be a topic for a future blog. In the meantime, I live each moment as it comes with peace and contentment as much as that may depend on my actions.

Constant reminding

This has been one of those days that felt like nothing was accomplished. However, as I was recounting to someone what I had done in the day, the list sounded quite productive. I get to thinking like that about my life, too. When I do take the trek down memory lane, it's not so bad and there is more productivity than I was remembering at first. I have to remember periodically that long trips start with taking the first step.

I don't know why I have to remind myself frequently that I am not a failure, that I have productive moments in life. It's certainly not attached to a poor self-esteem. It could be just a self-defense mechanism against becoming idle or lazy. Or it could come from a habit of monitoring and adjusting. It doesn't matter, I guess. I just offer to the Maker of all humanity the hours he has given me. It is He then that gives opportunities to be productive and to compound that productivity into some work of art. So be it.

A reflection on smoothing out

Spring break is a good time to reflect on many matters. One such matter is the reflection on whether one's walk through this life is decent or not. I have a lot of times looked back, usually by decades. There is regret, for sure. But there have been times when I think the direction was correct. But, there's always that gray category. Probably the actions were correct, but the attitudes were not or the clear receptions of others were not. A person would think that by making time for reflections from time to time, like the one here at spring break, one's life would smooth out over time or be more even-keeled than it is.

I think one can only see smoothness if some of the same events happen a number of times in each decade. Then, maybe one could see a smoothing out. A couple of events come immediately to mind. One of those events was a week ago. And looking at it this time, I finally see that growth can be charted. That's rewarding in a way and nerve-wracking in another way. It's nice to see that events can be reacted to differently. It's nice to see that as human beings we have the ability to monitor and adjust during the course of our whole lives. But, one growth event does not a smoothing out make. What will happen the next time or the next? Maybe 10 events with a certain reaction would reflect a smoothing out. Whatever. The first of ten is now in the record books. I'm really not looking forward to the other nine, but I know they will inevitably come. I hear the words of a book I recently translated, "So many do not have faith. But God is faithful." And so I trust that the other nine will be in line with decent living.

Thumbs up or down?

Academic types and business types don't get to be together too much. When the two worlds come together, it's many times awkward. Business types are very pragmatic. Academic types are pretty ethereal. Business types are focused on the goal or bottom line. Academic types are focused on the exploration of paths to get to a bottom line, if one exists at all. So, if the two types should ever meet, there is either a true appreciation of the other because neither could exist easily in the other one's world. Or there is World War III because they look at matters so differently that they can't agree on what is important.

I have two acquaintances that are one of each. With one I have World War III every time, with the other annual bonding trips to some entertaining region of the state. One is a true friend, the other a wolf in sheep's clothing. Both profess Christianity. One accepts me as I am. The other rejects me as a heretic. When the Maker looks down and sees such a threesome, I wonder what goes on in his mind? Does he see worth and dignity? Or does he see uselessness and disgust? I guess I'll just have to ask him tonight when I walk in the park. I'm anticipating a clear answer to this one.

Not by sight

The wind is blowing a gale outside at the moment. I feel safe on the inside hearing it pummel the house. Safety is something we all count on from one day to the next. But I also know that in the case of the wind, I am safe from something I cannot see, only hear. If I were out in it, I could feel it also. Two of my senses tell me that it is windy. Most of the time I think we depend almost wholly on what we can see. In that way we can know something is happening. But there are only two other ways available to know it is windy. Sight is excluded.

Perhaps, in the other dimension, our sight is excluded. We can only know by other ways of knowing. Whether I am in tune with the other dimension might only come through a sensitivity to reading the actions of those around us or to seeing abstract ideas like kindness being given an opportunity in our own actions. The Son of Man made a comparison to the wind once. He also noted that we couldn't see it, but we could see evidence of it, which is parallel to matters of the spirit. Touche.

The other cheek

I have never understood why one person might attack another for an opinion expressed. I guess I have spent too much time in the academic world where debate is expected. Usually sides of a linguistic issue are debated, then people see evidence of both examples/counter-examples. At the end of the discussion, no one is expected to change sides. Anyone listening can weigh for themselves what the evidence is and choose to remain neutral, bring up further examples or counter-examples, side with one view or another, or be indifferent to the whole discussion. Rarely have I encountered vehemence, passion for one's view yes, but rarely vehemence with a fair amount of venom spit my way in such debates.

So, when the spit venom happens, it usually takes me off-guard. Also, usually when it happens it is rarely about the topic under discussion because I am prepared to argue the case for a position and concede the evidence given in the counter-examples or account for the counter-examples within the scope of the linguistic theory being offered. What takes me off-guard, then, is the resulting personal attack or the judgmental condescension of a person on the other side when the evidence stage of discussion is ended. What takes me completely off-guard is when a person does not engage in the debate at all, but takes the judgmental condescension/personal attack route first, without engaging in theoretical discourse at all.

Such an experience I offer to the one who can make all things work together for good. I follow the route the Master Teacher suggested, "If someone strikes your right cheek, turn the other to him also." The debate takes second chair. The lesson the Master Teacher wants seen is primary. More lives are touched by memory of a scene than by tenets in a debate. Actions over words any day of the week. Especially actions recommended by the Son of God. It is my offering. So be it.

An ancient phrase

This is the last post for the class studying 2nd Thessalonians. Previous posts have covered several aspects of the book and nearly the whole gamut for the first 11 verses of chapter 2. I wish any who have read these posts well on their spiritual journey. I end with a post on the end of the Christian's trip on the earth—Jesus' coming.

2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12 begin and end with Jesus' coming. The verses in between can be understood from a futuristic point of view, a historical view, a continuous-historical view, an event-specific view, or simply the view of good versus evil. But, no matter what came between the first and the last parts of the passage, the outside of the sandwich is consistent. The end hasn't happened. But when it does, heads will roll. Vengence will be taken. The first of the passage is a plea not to be troubled in spirit. The meaning is for the Thessalonian Christians not to give up on the Christian life or give in to the pagan lifestyle. The end of the passage means that if they would hang on, something would be done about their persecution.

Perhaps, a word that doesn't get uttered in the New Testament but once applies. Marana tha. 1 Corinthians 16.22 contains it. The expression holds both the idea that Jesus has come and will come again. That is the important part of this 2nd Thessalonian passage as well. One other Christian document contained the utterance as well, the Didache. It is mentioned there in the context of the Lord's supper. A model prayer is given giving thanks for the church and Jesus. At the end of that prayer it asks for God to gather the church from the 4 winds. Then is uttered Marana tha. So, I utter those words at the end of this study.

MARANA THA. Lord come again as you have once. MARANA THA.

The end of those against us

8 blogs have been used to try to fathom the words contained in 2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12. I suppose that all the different angles have contributed to having an informed opinion regardless of the place where one's opinion may have landed. So, I am hoping that Alexander Pope's words have been fulfilled when he wrote (found in Essay on Criticism, Part II, lines 215-218):

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring.
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

Since I think "drinking largely" has occurred, I offer the following translation from Greek as a reflection of "drinking deep."

2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12

Brothers and sisters, we ask you, in light of Jesus Christ’s coming and our gathering to meet him, to resist being so quickly disturbed in thought or troubled in spirit. Don’t be thrown off track just because someone has been telling you that the Day of the Lord has come or has been reporting that we wrote a letter saying that. Enough time must first pass for people to abandon our teaching and show themselves for what they are–reckless and lost. They will oppose God, become arrogant and God-like, and accept people’s accolades as if they are God. I did tell you this when I was still with you, remember?

Now you can see the kind of people behind the resistance being put up against us. They have made themselves apparent. Of course, you couldn’t see this at first. But, their reckless actions won’t last forever. Now that you see them for who they are, know that these reckless people will be destroyed when Jesus comes again to show how truly flimsy their actions are. They only seem strong because Satan has enabled them to create illusions of power and sordid visions of grandeur. They are being destroyed because they won’t love the truth in order to rescue themselves. God makes available this activity of deception as a choice for those who want to believe a lie. But He punishes them for this choice and for considering wickedness good.

A translation by David Singleton
from Greek for use by Liftwords.com

The coming

2nd Thessalonians 2.1,2,8 all talk about the coming of Jesus in one way or another. At the end of first Thessalonians 4 and at the beginning of chapter 5, Paul speaks of Jesus' coming and the Day of the Lord. Perhaps, from this portion of the letter, some people in the Christian group got the idea that Jesus had already come. No one knows exactly how that could have occurred, but one scenario is that the group of Christians, known as the gnostic Christians, took the part about being children of light to mean something spiritual in nature. If one achieved mental spirituality, then something like a physical day on which Jesus would return with vengence would be out of the question. As long as one remained a child of light, then the day of the Lord would not overtake him. Only if he became a child of the dark would the day of the Lord come as a thief in the night.

So, the writer of 2nd Thessalonians takes on the gnostic Christians. He says they are deceived, reckless, very arrogant, and claim to be God actually (that would be achieved spiritually and mentally). However, since they claim to be God in such an abstract state, then Jesus could use something transparent and abstract, His breath, to annihilate them. Gnosticism was pretty much wiped out during the 2nd century AD, so Jesus' breath was all it took. Noteworthy, also is that similar beliefs were expressed in Judaism by the Essene sect. It has even been hypothesized that both Jesus and Paul had contact with this group at Qumran and espoused some of their teachings. The Essenes too disappear during the 2nd century AD.

The only drawback to the above being true is that Jesus has not come again. True, not in a final event for the world. However, at every person's single final event, his or her death, perhaps Jesus comes. At least He comes individually. So the Day of the Lord is personal rather than a cataclysmic end time. If this could be true, then the gnostic threat to Christianity was destroyed just as the author said it would be. These Christians who seemed to think of themselves outside of the law or written code were only enabled by Satan for a short time. Jesus blew his breath against this vapor of time, and the gnostics dried up and blew away.

Revealing what is hidden

2nd Thessalonians, verses 6 and 7 present somewhat an enigma with the introduction of either something or someone who hinders. Phillips' translation renders the word "the restraining power." Verse 6 states that the Thessalonians would know upon reading the letter the thing or person hindering, preventing, holding back or holding up the message Paul was trying to present. Who exactly or what exactly is this restraining power according to Phillips?

Is it God who was holding back on revealing the nature of resistance to Paul? Is it God who didn't want the Thessalonians to see what kind of evil was behind the resistance until they matured somewhat? Is it Satan who is being prevented from coming against the new Christians with full force? Is it merely the human mind rationalizing the message of Paul as absurd that made people resist accepting his message?

Whatever was restraining or being restrained was made obvious through Paul's letter. And the key is that God would act decisively against it. In answer to the question, "Has the day of the Lord come?" Paul says evidently not because you have not been able to see, for whatever reason, the kind of power that is really against you. Now you do. But not to worry. God will act to destroy it. End of story. Satan loses. God wins. During Paul's time. During our own time.

Rebellion

Usually at the heart of any controversy over the interpretation of a passage of scripture is the amount of attention the interpreter pays to the cultural aspects surrounding the writer of the passage. It is no different with 2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12. If one pays no attention to the cultural aspects of the Macedonian people in the middle of the 1st century AD, then one feels free to view various portions of the Bible that read similarly as parts of a consistent whole. On the other end of the spectrum is the one who feels that different regions and different time periods make different portions of the Bible dysjunct from each other.

One of the terms used in this 12-verse stretch of the New Testament is "a rebellion." If the Bible is seen as a seamless whole, then one could say that "a rebellion" is mentioned in Daniel 7, Matthew 24, and Revelation 13. The 3 references must be speaking about the same event. If the Bible is seen as having different parts that might or might not relate to each other, then one could say that Macedonia is not Judea and that 42 AD is not 500 BC (or 180 BC depending on when Daniel might have been written) so the rebellions refer to different events and different groups of people.

One aspect of Paul's message that seems to stand out in both Acts and the two Thessalonian letters is the persecution that Paul receives at the hands of the Jews during his "2nd missionary journey." They were relentless in opposing his message. Easily, one could see that Paul could have included that treatment in the "rebellion" that happened to him. Also, the Roman authorities didn't do much to stop the Jewish rough treatment. In fact, they added to it. They had him in prison in Philippi, made Jason put up bond money in Thessalonica, and did nothing to quell animosity in Berea. They also thought Christianity was an atheistic superstition. One could call that "a rebellion" against the message of Jesus.

Whatever Paul meant by it, he had known to expect it because he reminds the Thessalonian people that he had mentioned this rebellion during his 3-week stay with them. And whatever Paul meant by it, talk of the Day of the Lord started the discussion of it. It almost seems like Paul is saying that God wouldn't have people to punish on the Day of the Lord unless enough time had passed for people to have a chance to reject the teaching of Jesus. Given enough time, people would have that opportunity. Truly, within 10 years of Paul's entering Thessalonica both Jews and Romans had had plenty of opportunity to hear the message of Jesus and make a decision about it.

As the Roman world circa 50 AD, so America—plenty of opportunity to make a decision about the message of Jesus.

There is no lawless person

One of the great principles of translation and interpretation of the New Testament is to make sure that all the manuscripts say the same thing about a passage. The New Testament has come down through so many years that manuscript families and traditions are traceable. In the case of this man of lawlessness, perhaps it is worth checking the manuscript families to make sure that they all say the same thing. In fact, they don't. The top 4 manuscript traditions are split 50/50 on what words actually existed for the translation that so many render lawlessness. Two of the big 4 say man of sin.

Some may say that there is not a lot of difference between being without law and sin. But one of the easiest ways to look at the difference is to say that the man of sin means the opposite of the expression man of God or man of righteousness. Therefore, all the writer is saying is that the man of sin is a pagan or non-believer, nothing more.

If this idea is plugged into the passage, the interpretation goes somethig like this. There would be resistence to the message of Jesus. Pagans, who have sold out to the devil anyway, would become gods unto themselves. God would bring to light the contrast between those who want to destroy themselves and those who want to rescue themselves as the message spread through the Roman world (The writer's current time period would then fit the phrase at just the right time [vs. 6]) and encountered various kinds of resistence. Jesus would win the battle of resistence as people began to show faithfulness to the new message. Satan would begin losing his tight grip on the world because God would begin punishing those who would not believe or those who would persecute believers.

The above paragraph is merely a flowery way of describing the war between good and evil that has always existed except it is given a Christian wrapping since goodness is equated with believing the story of Jesus. Good and evil happens in every generation. So when a modern reader reads about the man of sin, he or she reads it as a synonym for non-christian, not as a person in a particular time period, simply a pagan in need of a lifestyle change.

Who is this lawless person? (4)

Anytime a document from antiquity is read by someone in the modern world, certain oddities stand out. It is true with any ancient document. Peculiarities about Beowulf stand out from the Old English language; strangeness is noticed in Ulysses in Latin; some unique features surface in the Greek of the Odyssey. The further back one goes in time, usually the stranger certain features appear to the modern eye. So, when features of a passage from 2nd Thessalonians 2 suddenly appear to have some odd features to the modern reader, then understanding the historical, literary, and linguistic context goes a long way in clearing up the oddity. In particular, a term appears that seems to carry a little more weight than other words in the passage–the lawless man.

The connotation of the word "law" was well understood by every Jew. The word used for lawlessness could have the connotation of whatever is exactly opposite from what every Jew understood because the word is the letter "a" in front of the word law. English follows the old Greek pattern for this in words like moral and amoral, typical and atypical. Very literally then, the phrase is not man of lawlessness, but man of no law or man without law. The word "man" should also be pretty clear to every Jew. Isaiah 53.3 refers to "man of sorrows." I Timothy 6.11 refers to "man of God." People usually know to substitute "person" for "man." So, when "man of no law" shows up in the text, people don't have any qualms against translating it "a person without law." Even if the more general law of nature is meant (Romans 1) rather than the Mosaic law that every Jew would understand, the meaning is still "a person above the law" or a person who doesn't abide by laws."

If this meaning were to be plugged into verses 3-11, the meaning would be as follows. Paul told the Thessalonians that he had told them ahead of time about people out to destroy themselves (sons of perdition). They are people who act as if there is no law. They put themselves in God's place, that is, they are self-sufficient and demand the respect for this self-sufficiency from others. "Something" (a mystery) has hindered this group of people from seeing themselves as headed for destruction, but Jesus has appeared and his teaching indicts their behavior. That is apparent to both those who come to follow Jesus and those who, after being exposed to Jesus' teaching, reject it for themselves. Jesus will destroy this group at his coming because they were enabled by and deluded by Satan's illusions of "signs and wonders."

All of this seems to have been motivated by the writer's frustration with why it had been so hard to get people to accept the fabulous story of Jesus for what it was worth. That's why chapter3, verse 1&2 begin with a request. "In your conversations with God, ask for the message of the Lord to spread and for people to honestly weigh its worth as you have done. And ask for us to be rescued from most people's moral morass and base living because so many people do not have faith."

Who is this lawless person? (3)

Anytime a document from antiquity is read by someone in the modern world, certain oddities stand out. It is true with any ancient document. Peculiarities about Beowulf stand out from the Old English language; strangeness is noticed in Ulysses in Latin; some unique features surface in the Greek of the Odyssey. The further back one goes in time, usually the stranger certain features appear to the modern eye. So, when features of a passage from 2nd Thessalonians 2 suddenly appear to have some odd features to the modern reader, then understanding the historical, literary, and linguistic context goes a long way in clearing up the oddity. In particular, a term appears that seems to carry a little more weight than other words in the passage–the lawless man.

A third possibility is what many an ancient piece of literature contains–the use of figurative language, in this case personification. Personification is giving human traits to inanimate objects. Sometimes, the inanimate object is merely an idea. Personification then becomes humanizing an idea. The idea is that wickedness exists. If given a human face, people could visualize it better. Paul had told the Thessalonian christians when he was with them that people would be protesting the story of Jesus (a rebellion). Paul was even railroaded out of town because people protested the message so much. These lawless people would be given a collective face, the lawless man. They would not accept God and, in fact, they would know no God but themselves. These people were reckless Romans who hindered Paul at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. They were deluded by Satan, exposed by the message of Jesus as accepting wickedness as goodness and would be destroyed when Jesus comes. The idea that Jesus had already come is what triggered the discussion about lawless people in the first place. But the christians are assured that God would sentence these lawless Romans. The christians are reminded that they have, in contrast, been selected by God as the first fruits of this revolutionary message about Jesus.

Other intepretations for this important term will appear later this week.

Who is this lawless person? (2)

Anytime a document from antiquity is read by someone in the modern world, certain oddities stand out. It is true with any ancient document. Peculiarities about Beowulf stand out from the Old English language; strangeness is noticed in Ulysses in Latin; some unique features surface in the Greek of the Odyssey. The further back one goes in time, usually the stranger certain features appear to the modern eye. So, when features of a passage from 2nd Thessalonians 2 suddenly appear to have some odd features to the modern reader, then understanding the historical, literary, and linguistic context goes a long way in clearing up the oddity. In particular, a term appears that seems to carry a little more weight than other words in the passage–the lawless man.

Some see this term as a common noun rather than a proper noun. Truly, in Greek, only context determines whether a noun is general or specific (common or proper). So if the term is a common noun, then the lawless man is any person who sets himself up as important enough to displace God. This would be many an American here. Americans are so affluent that they don't depend on anyone for sustenance. They are competitive and knowledgeable. So, they know as much as anyone else in the world or in their sphere of influence. They even accept the praise of those who might not know as much as they do. In other words, they set themselves up as rulers of their own lives and displace God. Ask any non-American about how arrogant the American people are.

The Romans were every bit as arrogant as Americans are. So when the writer of 2nd Thessalonians talks about a lawless man, many Romans would fit the description. Plus, Romans thought Christians were atheists for not believing the Roman pantheon of gods. So, many a Roman did put someone else or themselves in the place of God. Of course, the writer says he warned them ahead of time that lawless man would rebel against the truth about God and believe that wickedness was goodness.

Other intepretations for this important term appear later this week.

Who is this lawless person?

Anytime a document from antiquity is read by someone in the modern world, certain oddities stand out. It is true with any ancient document. Peculiarities about Beowulf stand out from the Old English language; strangeness is noticed in Ulysses in Latin; some unique features surface in the Greek of the Odyssey. The further back one goes in time, usually the stranger certain features appear to the modern eye.

So, when features of a passage from 2nd Thessalonians 2 suddenly appear to have some odd features to the modern reader, then understanding the historical, literary, and linguistic context goes a long way in clearing up the oddity. In particular, a term appears that seems to carry a little more weight than other words in the passage–the lawless man. Some say that the religious and historical context demand that the term be seen as a proper noun. Jews had been interpreting Daniel's visions for quite some time as being a predictor of an end of the age scenario in which someone would blaspheme the Most High so horrendously that it would trigger the sequence of events for the end of time. If that's the case, then the term becomes The Man of Lawlessness. Once the term takes on proper noun status, then one can start to see connections between it and other proper noun references in other parts of the Bible. Daniel's 4th beast (ch.7) and Revelation's ten-horned beast (ch.13) seem to line up with a Man of Lawlessness because all 3 proper nouns blaspheme the name of the Almighty.

Other intepretations for this important term appear later this week.

Using natural human behavior

Accountability is a word the business and educational fields know a considerable amount. It is also found among the Christians that lived in Thessalonica. In chapter 3, the writer remarks, "If someone doesn't want to abide by what I have highlighted in this letter, then the rest of you should ostracize him so that he should feel ashamed. You shouldn't hate this person like you would an enemy, but you should send a message of clear warning like you would for a brother or sister" (verses 14,15).

In business and education people get chastised by having their pay docked, or by being suspended for a while, or by having a certification or license revoked, or by being fired. When people deal with a brother or sister whose life has spun out of control, that is, he or she shows blatant disregard for sound Biblical principles, then they have to find a way to send a clear message of warning to that person. That method may not be in the same way as this writer outlines, but some way needs to exist. Since business and educational principles and customs were different in Roman times from today, then probably showing distance from a brother or sister will not be shown in the same way as in this letter from Roman times. Even so, people use ostracism all the time—from elementary grades up to send messages to others.

Perhaps, the clear point of the passage is to shun someone with the intent to warn or advise rather than the intent to hate or "write off completely."

Image making

Image is everything so society says. Perception, right or wrong, is reality. Some could argue that such a world would be hard to live in. But, really, such a world has been around a very long time. In 2nd Thessalonians 3, the writer chastises a group of people who leach off of others. He calls them irresponsible and undisciplined. He even calls for the other Christians in Thessalonica not to associate with the undiscipined group in order to shame them (verse 14).

Why? Because he knew that the Thessalonians were God's "firstfruits" in Macedonia (2.13). It was important for the non-Christians in Thessalonica to see the splendor of God in people who were "not tired of doing good" (3.13). Image and right perception were important. Christians should show their understanding of the spiritual dimension and their great trust in a message they considered "the truth" (2.13). Thus, bad press from Christians within the group could not be tolerated.

Getting off my duff

Doing nothing feels good on occasion. But I have had those stretches of days when I tried to sit around, not doing any physical labor, getting so bored with TV that I couldn't take another second of the small screen. I couldn't sleep because I wasn't tired and I just wanted to have the life of Riley. But the reason doing nothing feels good is that I am resting from my labor.

This concept is at the heart of a play on words by Paul. In two back to back verses (11 and 12) of 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3, the writer shows an attitude toward those who are living "undisciplined" lives among the Christians. In verse 11 he says that these undisciplined people are not working, yet they are working hard at doing absolutely nothing. The writer's disdain is easily discernible. In verse 12, he "urges and encourages such irresponsible people... to eat their own bread, but only after they rest from working." Sarcasm characterizes the writer's attitude here.

Perhaps the distaste that the writer expresses here is something we should take note of. I think most people do work for a living without trying to leach off of someone else. However, I think all people have areas in which they are negligent. Maybe one should hear this passage say, "Get up off your duff and accomplish something in the area in which we know we are remiss." If one hears disdain and sarcasm for doing nothing in an area he knows that he should be productive in due to a gift from God or in an area in which he has been given an opportunity, then maybe one should not have peace in his spirit, but turmoil as a sign that he should get off his duff.

Fortuantely, the chapter closes with an appeal to Jesus or God, "May the Lord of peace himself grant you peace all the time in every way." I personally take this to heart. If I find myself not able to enjoy this wish, then I try to figure out a reason why I don't have peace. Usually I can restore my peace by getting off my duff and doing what God has set before me to do.

Pricetags

Every adult knows that sometimes in life a law from thermodynamics is seen—for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. In other words, there is a price to pay for the action. To whatever degree I acted, the reaction is equal. Kindness could actually be mistrusted to the degree it was given, or evil could be counter-acted to the degree it was experienced.

The writer's experience must have been the same when he penned 2nd Thessalonians 1.6-9, which records the opposite but equal reaction of God for those who lifted a hand against Christians innocently living out their decent, everyday lives. These words were recorded, "After all, God is being just when he repays your oppressors with His oppression. You will gain relief from being oppressed, as will we, when the Lord Jesus appears from Heaven with his powerful angels against a backdrop of flaming fire. He will take his vengence on those who are completely ignoring the fabulous story of our Lord Jesus. Eternal destruction is the price they pay because they cannot be in the Lord's presence nor enjoy the awe of His splendor."

Now, that's a steep price to pay—absent from the Lord's presence and trading splendor for destruction. Fortunately for the believers in Thessalonica, the vengence God took was on behalf of those who suffered for the Kingdom of God. It was evidence that God considered them worthy (verse 5). With about 30 years left in this life, I know it is high time for me to consider pricetags whenever I act. If I find myself as an oppressor in any shape, form or fashion against a fellow believer, I bend my knees and ask for forgiveness.

"Much virtue in grandfathers"

Once I saw mountains angry,
And ranged in battle-front.
Against them stood a little man;
Aye, he was no bigger than my finger.
I laughed, and spoke to one near me,
"Will he prevail?"
"Surely," replied this other;
"His grandfathers beat them many times."
Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers,—
At least, for the little man
Who stood against the mountains.

Stephen Crane

There have been a number of occasions when a circumstance arose that I have thought of my father and how he would have handled a situation or would have commented on how I handled a situation. I was blessed to have him around 77 years. His comments and vivid images still invade my conscious awareness on important occasions. Just such an occasion is leading a class on Sunday mornings. Dad approached leading a class with the idea that everyone would benefit and we would feel unified in spirit as believers. In the past leading a class meant something different to me. I'm sure people spoke to each other saying, "Do you think he will ever conquer never including the spirit of unity in his leadings?" And I hope that God spoke to their hearts saying, "He'll come around. His father was all about unity in Christ." I thank God for his sticking with me through the years allowing me time to see much virtue in (grand)fathers, at least for me, a little man who stood against the mountain of detachment from family.

Blown away

2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 is plain or enigmatic depending on what experience one has had with people who are reckless and absolutely indifferent toward anyone but themselves. Verses 3 & 4 bring to mind a number of people I have been acquainted with over the years. I have seen the type that have "sold their souls" to the one who is lost and destroyed (son of perdition). I have seen the type that think they are supreme, accepting others' accolades for self-made success. I have seen the type that are so full of themselves that they have taken over God's place in their lives (and possibly in the lives of others) with their own success. I have even seen people that accept people's reverence, meaning that they accept regard from people who consider them to be connected to God in such a superior way that other humans are not.

The writer is clear—Christians should not be deceived by these kind of people. Their end is clear because they belong to the one whose end has been decided already. If Christians should give credence to such people, they would be supporting an idea as bad as claiming that Christ's era is already over (verses 1&2). We are assured, however, that the era of Christ is alive and well and that Christ will come and destroy these weak, reckless people as if they were made from sand. Breathing on them will blow them away (verse 8).

Although so many times it looks as if arrogant or prestigious people have everything the world has to offer, I will take the advice of verse 2 and be encouraged in keeping faith, which is really hard at times. I will not rearrange my thinking or trouble my spirit. Christ will come and those who appear so successful as self-made successes will be simply blown away.

Who gets our trust?

People are drawn to good word plays. Who's on First was a classic word play. It was hilarious when it was first done and it still entertains whenever we hear it. Biblically speaking, the passage containing the word play between Jesus and Peter in the last chapter of John is a classic. Not all the translations show the word play, but Jesus asks Peter if he cared for him more than anything else, then toned the question down to, "Do you care for me," and finally to "Are we friends Peter?"

Tucked away in chapter 3 of 2nd Thesssalonians are a couple of verses that contain a word play that shows the difference between what the world gives and what God gives. In verse 1, the writer asks his brothers and sisters to pray for him. His reason is split between the rest of verse 1 and verse 2. The verse 2 reason is "so that we can be rescued from people's moral morass and base living." Then comes the word play.

The writer wants to be rescued from people's (probably the Jews' and the Romans') ruthless treatment of him because (literally) "faith is not in all." The very next statement contrasts nicely, in fact so nicely that it automatically registers the reaction, "Now that's a no-brainer." Verse 3 reads, "But faithful is the Lord who grounds you and guards you from base living." Therein lies the word play. Who wouldn't want to take the high road? Faith is not in those who live base lives, but faith is fully in the one who helps us from stooping to base living.

Christians, like the writer, know they need to be rescued, but base living is so much fun and has a certain amount of prestige attached to it. So, we read the first 3 verses as a way of "sounding right" in front of other Christians, when we know how very difficult it is to allow ourselves to be rescued from the world's moral morass.

So, instead of letting verses 2 and 3 become a mere platitude, maybe we should make them into a plaque to place somewhere our eyes often see. Then the words don't become a platitude, but a no-brainer way of living.

Thanks for what?

I think from time to time of the ending to Oedipus the King. The chorus begins chanting, after all the characters have left the stage, the Greek wisdom of the ages. The last line of two paragraphs of chanting says that a person should consider himself really fortunate if he or she can get to the end of life and look back on it without any regrets.

I am instantly indicted because I have more than a few regrets along Life's way. I can remember loose words spoken against others along Life's way, even some two days ago that were so, so foolish to have spoken on my part. I can remember being a part of meetings with people that I didn't think should be taking place. But there I was in the middle of them nonetheless. I can remember times when I forgot some amazingly important events to other people, and my attempts to rectify were feeble. My list is long, and my confession to God has already taken place. But I am guilty of not being able to look back on life without regrets.

I can, however, look to others around me and say, "Thank you, God, for them." They are people who have gone through very similar events in life and still hang in there. They may have just as many regrets as I do, but they haven't thrown in the towel. And then there's Oediupus the King. I think, "If Sophocles wrote such a play to let people know not to drop to such depths of depression as Oedipus did about events in life he could not control, then people have been dealing with misery, pain, regret, shame, and guilt a very long time. [The play was written almost 450 years before Christ].

Thank you
Weaver of Life's events
for showing me
through the people around me
and the spirit inside me
that Life's story of me
doesn't incriminate me
It characterizes You in me
And speaks the word "worthy" to me

How fitting

Both letters to the Thessalonians begin with a thanksgiving statement. 2nd Thessalonians' beginning is a little different in its wording, however, from its corollary in 1st Thessalonians. In the first letter, Paul says we do thank God for you. In the second letter, the text says we ought to or must thank God for you because it is fitting. I guess these 2 reasons are the ones anyone would want to pray for someone else. We told someone we would pray, so we do. Perhaps, we just pray for someone on our own accord. But sometimes we pray for someone because we are compelled to pray for them, not because they force us to, but out of sheer admiration for the power of their lives' testimony. Praying is sometimes a nebulous idea. But, if we bring others up in our own conversations with God, then we have a reason to. Sometimes, it is to ask God something for that person, sometimes it is to stand with someone in God's presence, sometimes it is merely to say thanks for the person's life and his or her willingness to be such a grand example.

So, I say thanks to God for a number of people's testimony through their lives. The beauty and power of the statement they make for God each day amidst and after life's hard circumstances stirs my soul to uttering thanks and inspires my steps to remaining on the path that leads home. So, thanks to God is fitting.

See-through values

I think the older a person gets, the less (s)he likes facades. It's a type of game playing to create different faces to hide behind. Who needs the game playing! Yet, we all know people who are two-faced or who speak with a forked tongue or who try to hide their real agendas. Transparency, on the other hand, is both trustworthy and appreciated. Transparency denotes a genuine, straightforward person.

Over and over in just a short letter, Paul emphasizes how transparent he was when he lived and worked with the Thessalonians. Paul appealed to not hiding anything from them, so that they could truly believe God's authentic message. It's refreshing to see people who are transparent. They can be trusted. They're straight, not crooked people. I hope I am transparent to others.

Good news

Koine Greek had a term - euanggelein. It is translated variously as many terms are. As it came into English hundreds of years ago the "u" was changed to a "v" and the word appeared as evangelize. But if one leaves the term in Greek and tries to translate it, it has to be translated on its own terms. I suppose one could break the word up into its two component parts—eu=good and aggelein=to announce. The noun form for the verb means messenger. So, an angel is a messenger. In the 1970s, with the advent of the Today's English Version, the term "good news" became popularized. It is a term that has stuck for the last 35 years. The term before that was "gospel," which the King James Version made to stick. Glad tidings was an intermediate term that came and went between 1611 and1971.

The word does mean that whatever message is announced is good. But, today I think people are a little weary of news whether good or not. Over the years I have translated the term as both "good news" and "welcome chain of events." In Philemon, the context seemed to call for the "message of happiness." But, in 1st Thessalonians, I think Paul used it like we might need it today. He wrote a group of people that were used to hearing news of all sorts from all around the Roman empire. So, he seems to put it in a context that is somewhat sensationalized. Americans ought to recognize the strategy since our news media sensationalizes most everything before presenting it. I think telling the story of Jesus shook up the lives of the hearers of Jesus' story. Paul seems to be telling the euaggelion, that is His fabulous story. So, everywhere I found the Greek term, I replaced it with the English phrase, "His fabulous story." The more I get familiar with Jesus' effect in people's lives, the more I agree with the term of His fabulous story.

Walking by moonlight

The other night I was walking in the park. It had been dark for about an hour and a half. I noticed right away there were two types of brilliances lighting my way. One was the light at the top of the lightpost that had that yellow luminescence. It lighted my way quite well, but it played out after about a 30 yard radius from the light pole. Then, I was in darkness again. The other light was the moon. It was paricularly bright that night. Its luminescence was slivery blue against the darkness, but it pervaded the darkness. It was not limited to a radius tha it had to stay within. I could easily see the park's trail and trees and playground equipment, but just their shapes, not their colors or finer details. Yet precisely because of the lack of detail I could see, my meditation was enhanced. The objects under the man-made light could be seen in much more detail, but that enhancement caused me to focus on the details of the objects or their color or their juxtaposition to each other, or some other distraction. I couldn't see the park as a whole nor could I concentrate as easily.

It is rare in the winter that I walk in the day. But, then I am grateful for that because my mental conversations with the one who made us and gives us our paths to walk home on are livelier, more extended, filled more with frolic and contentment. I have a fuller understanding of life and people which the Creator-made light makes possible more than the limited, distracted understanding allowed by the man-made light. The temperature during the winter is secondary. Lighting is primary, at least if it is the light of the moon.

Perception rules

I wish for _________ (the list is long). What I get is _________ (the list is short). This is what life feels like most of the time. Thinking that is a sure way to depression. What helps one cope with life according to the psychologists goes more like this: What I really need to survive in life is ____________ (the list is short); What I actually have in life is (the list is long). All this shows that it is a matter of perspective when it comes to being content to some degree or another. Sometimes I think that if my behavior in life depends on my perspective, then it ought to be easy to make the necessary adjustments and live life royally. However, perspective doesn't have to be reality; it is simply a frame of mind. If this is true, then a person is bordering on spirituality. And if spirituality depends on frame of mind, then is the Creator real or not? Well, that is the subject of a whole other blog sometime. For the moment I must remember that perception is a guiding light to whatever reality I construct for myself. That's good because then I can have the energy most of the time to live in an optimistically constructed world that rotates on the axis of what I want in order to be happy.

Natural productivity

The day began with waking up naturally, albeit later than I had wanted to wake. Waking up naturally is what I really like to do on weekends since it takes the alarm clock on weekdays to get out of bed. The day goes better and is more balanced somehow. Although there were appointments to keep, they seemed easier to make because I woke up without any help. I don't know how ancient people used to get up, but I can see how they would have experienced more balanced days than the ones I face since during the week I have to be forced out of bed. I'm thinking that once we know how to find balance in our spiritual lives, we ought to stick with it. Productivity in the spiritual realm may be related to our natural energy. Of course, the Creator knows what is "natural" to us because he made the possible set of personalities that individuals can have. And He does want our productivity.

Working through the mystery

I have been enamored of late by a group of writings found at Nag Hammadi. They are referred to as pseudipigraphia sometimes, the gnostic gospels sometimes, the New Testament apocrypha sometimes. I had previously written about my doubts of the Pauline authorship of 2nd Thessalonians. It's one thing to prove that someone didn't write something, but it is entirely different to say who did write the book or to what time period and group of people a writing belongs. So if Paul didn't write it, who did? That question can't be answered because the time period that apparently the book belongs to is a time period that produced the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Gospel of Phillip, the Gospel of Truth, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the books of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, the Secret Book of John, and on the list goes on. Of course, none of the people used in the titles of these books wrote the books. So, it would be impossible to know who wrote a book purported to have come from Paul.

The books mentioned above were produced by those in the gnostic camp of Christians. 2nd Thessalonians seems to have been written to combat the philosophies represented by these books. Thus, the writer refers to a "man of recklessness" (usually translated "lawlessness") and a "rebellion" which must happen before Christ establishes himself firmly in Chritstians' minds and hearts. The book also refers to "handed down instruction" so as to offset the gnostic teachings of seeing the mysteries of Christ as revealed to each believer. The book could have come from Rome since that was the seat of "handed down instruction" and been aimed against any number of teachers, like Valentinus, who might have come from Alexandria, the seat of gnosticism.

A year's difference

At the end of every year I find myself reflecting on what has transpired. What a difference a year makes is what I usually find myself saying. This year is no different. However, today I found that the day brought some unusually reflective moments.

My son left to see his Maker's face 2 1/2 years ago. But, today my thoughts were filled with memories of him. I think of him often, but today his aura was almost with me again. I don't know how that happens, nor do I know how to explain it. There was no sadness from his aura, just a feeling of subtle pleasure. Most days, I miss him so much that I ache in my soul. But that was not today's feeling. In his case I guess I am getting better by the year in getting along without his being present in life's events.

Of course , there was the relief that my daughter had only dysplasia rather than cancer. A year ago, I wasn't as thankful as I am now that I have my daughter with me. Guaranteed that that feeling has changed.

The job I go to every day was a hope within my chest last year at this time. Now, I enjoy the palace intrigue on a daily basis. It gave me a sense of accomplishment that otherwise would not have been felt.

So the difference in this year and last has been a good one. And so, I thank the creator of those differences.

Till I catch up

His glasses many times sat on the table next to his chair or on his lap in the evening hours as he relaxed. He slouched in his later years while he sat in his chair, but that was probably from so many years of long hours of work. He spoke encouragingly usually. And he always thanked me for coming to see him after I was grown and married. I admired his people skills and his slow pace of getting things done, but done right. This is year number 3 without dad. I miss his encouragement and kindness, his patience and wisdom about people. But, I thank my other dad for his safekeeping until I catch up to hm.

Definitely spurious

I was doing a little translating work today in 2nd Thessalonians. I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now. The first week I was translating chapter 1. When I finished, I thought, "This content and tone are so different from 1st Thessalonians that it doesn't seem to be Paul writing this. It is too radically different." After translating chapter 2, I told my wife, "I don't think Paul wrote this letter. The content seems to match a slightly different time period." I told the same thing to a Bible class teacher. His comment was that he never had heard of Paul not writing that book.

Then I found the smoking gun in chapter 3. What I thought from the beginning came clear. It has to be a spurious letter addressed to groups of "orthodox" Christians warning them against the teachings of the gnostic groups. The same word meaning "we instruct you" appeared 4 times within a few running verses. Paul never did that. He was educated enough to vary his wording even when he felt strongly about a matter as he did in Galatians and in the two Timothy letters. But the crowning blow came when unique words started popping up. What are the chances in a small, 3-chapter letter that in the last chapter a word would surface that was unique in all 27 books of the New Testament (and all 66 books of the Old Testament [Septuagint])? What are the chances that a second word, unrelated in form, would surface? I was ready to declare spurious authorship at this point. But what are the chances that a third word would pop up...? 3 unique words in a matter of a few verses. One of the words was used as a variant in a Leviticus passage. And guess what manuscript tradition supported that variant? Right, Syrian and Alexandrian. The two gnostic capitals of the world. That was my smoking gun.

When at the end I had to translate, "I, Paul write this greeting with my own hand," it sounded too bogus. Sure enough, Paul did say the same in Colossians at the end, which some scholars are quick to point out that Paul did not write and in 1st Corinthians. As if someone was trying too hard to make 2nd Thessalonians authentic, he added, "which is my distinguishing mark in all my letters." Of course, that phrase doesn't appear in any of Paul's letters either.

So, "another one bites the dust" in the words of an old rock and roll song. This would be earth shattering to me if I had not already dealt with spurious books a long time ago in trying to figure out something about God's inspiration of writers of the Bible. But, now it just goes right along with God using people as they are, customs as they are, and time lapse as it is. But, I am glad to be able to classify 2nd Thessalonians in the spurious category.

The 2-day Xmas

What is the meaning of Christmas? Now that answer has been distilled into common wisdom of society because it's been around so long. But, now what is the meaning of the day after Christmas. Back to work for some, but not many. Out to more shops to spend Xmas cash. That works for about half of the US. Consumer-oriented culture we are as a nation. I am surprised that we don't have a 2-day Xmas—1 for giving, 1 for buying. It's almost that way already. When about 3/4 of the nation hits the stores after Xmas, the people will have spoken, and we will have a de facto 2-day Xmas. Such are the days of the American people.

I don't know. It will probably be a good thing. People deserve to go shop with those they love if they are with them, and those who are not with their families or friends deserve to go buy something to remind themselves that somebody loves them. And I don't think there's any question about a gift representing love. So, I say go for it America. Get the 2-day Christmas you want and are working hard to get.

Yes, go and die

Ahab had a dilemma. His 400 prophets told him to go fight. Micaiah, a lone prophet, told him he would get killed if he did fight. Micaiah told Ahab that he had seen a scene in heaven in which God had asked his heavenly host if any of them would go tell Ahab to go fight. One of the spirits said he would do it through having false prophets tell Ahab to do so. Of course, Micaiah was disliked and detained until his prophecy came true, which wasn't for long. Ahab died in battle soon after.

A school board member said he wanted to take on atheists in battle. He listened to many voices that said, "Yes, go fight and we'll back you with a book purporting to have truth in it." Some lone voices warned against that move and charted a different track. Alas, the lone voices were ignored and the battle is about to be fought, and the board member will probably meet Ahab's fate.

Learning to listen to voices who have a record for spiritual discernment is the better part of wisdom even if the voices are the minority. It's a sad refrain of history that people don't learn from written examples that stare them in the face. (Second Chronicles 18)

God have mercy

I have cried out tonight. Why would my daughter of 17 years have to have a biopsy after having seen it done to her brother only 3 1/2 years earlier?! I shout "NO!" to the heavens hoping that the Maker or life hears and acts. And I sadly question, "How could a body of Christians miss a clear and evident sign that God delivered the enemy into their hands?" Both events come within 24 hours of each other. Both leave me emotionally drained. Both leave me shaking my head. Both leave me bowing once again in the face of forces unseen, in the face of forces I don't control, in the face of forces that drive me to a blind trust. God have mercy.

Fog is temporary

Roads were foggy tonight. Sometimes my vision in life is too. I can navigate, don't get me wrong. But, details of landscape illude me. The thing about the Maker of the fog is that he lifts the fog. It doesn't linger forever. Of course, that's what I need in my vision in life, too, a lifting of the fog. If it happens, I know who did it.

Trusting an inkling

Life is so fickle. I was reminded by that because this morning I left for work in heavy snow. It was an inch deep when I left. By late afternoon, about 30 minutes before the sun was to set, streets were completely clear. There was no sign of snow on buildings or on the landscape. The weather changed completely in 8 hours. Life smiles on us one minute and frowns the next. We are exhilirated by life for a weekend and trounced by it the next weekend. Events seem favorable for a season and difficult to navigate the next. There's not really a trajectory line for predicting life.

Why is that way? I take it that the Creator of the universe knows. It is not apparent to earth's mortals. I hope with my being that the little inkling we mortals have of the supernatural as found in our sacred books is true. A creator exists and has patchworked our lives into a bigger picture. I trust that small hint given us in our records from old. I have to say that I trust it. Otherwise, life is abyssmal. The roller coaster ride makes no sense - it merely is what it is. I cry from my innermost being if there is no creator. I have to believe the words that were left by one purported to have come from the other side of our mortal existence, "I am going to prepare a place for you... if it were not true, I would have told you."

Soul soothing

A note to the Pobble: Thank you for your thoughtful words. I have been to the park and mentioned you by name in my walks. I'll continue till I hear from you again.

Tonight I was about to lose my evening energy when my daughter's boyfriend took up the guitar to play. It soothed my soul. Then my daughter played my son's recorded music. That was special because he has changed residences and cannot play on this earth any more. That soothed my soul. Both of those incidents reminded me of a dream I had last Saturday morning that was about what happens between the time a person gives up his life on earth and begins the journey to the next world. That thought soothed my soul again. And then I sat to type the blog for the evening and to thank the Pobble for being kind with her comments. How soothing. I think I will rest easy tonight, engulfed with twilight thoughts of peaceful reflection.

Thanks

Once in a while events just turn out right. It seems to me that for every event that does turn out right, there were at least 10 events before it that didn't. By the time the event that turns out right happens, it feels as though I deserve it. Perhaps, appreciation is the response I should have. The 11th event didn't have to turn out right, after all. On rare occasions, I experience 2 right events in a row. Wow! That really deserves double appreciation. Instead, I tend to start thinking I can control my destiny.

Well, now that I have seen my tendency as I have reflected on it, maybe I will be appreciative in the future instead of arrogant. Maybe I will say, "Thank you," instead of saying, "Well it's about time."

Far from the truth

I listened to a person tell me today that life had not really worked out like she thought from when she was in her 20s until now (she is in her 50s). She expressed that she had no regrets about how things had turned out, but that her 20s picture of life had been quite different from the way life had actually twisted and turned.

It's probably true for all of us. I know that I had a really, really different picture of what I as a 20-year-old wanted life to be. Plus, a person at 20 thinks that he or she can control one's destiny for the most part. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. I had no idea my wife and mother would never, ever get along well. I did try to control that on two occasions. I didn't know that I would have only 19 years with my son. His disease was genetically controlled and I never had a chance to control the disease. I didn't know that my wife would have a disease that disabled her for at least a decade of her life. She is only now slowly returning to normal. I definitely tried to control her disease without a wit's worth of success. I didn't know my daughter would go into a tail spin after her brother died and end up on depression medicine and with a diagnosis of bipolarism. She is working through this stage of her life rather perilously. I could only watch and react throughout her experimentation and experiences.

Once a person becomes an adult, life just takes off with seemingly no direction. All I can do is bow in the face of death, bow in the face of disease, bow in the face of another person's experiences. I have great appreciation for people in their 50s because I know that they have seen life's various facets. They have learned to simply live through tough times. People in their 50s are not so arrogant because of life's roller coaster ride. So, I finally bow in the presence of the Maker of life's events, truting that life's big picture makes sense to him and is somehow keeping me on the path that leads home to him.

Results over time

The park I walk in has been cold to walk in this past week. It took monumental gymnastics of the mind to want to walk there in 10 degree air. But the walk is always worth it. No matter if it is 10 degrees or 100 degrees, I always meet the maker there, and we talk. He listens to rather rambling thoughts at times, but he's there to listen in the cold air. Somehow, those talks are productive. I have never been able to articulate why the Creator would listen to a human's thoughts nor if there are right and wrong prayers. Or even what prayer is exactly. I just know that I see the results of prayer over time. Sometimes, the result is merely the more subdued character of an obnoxious person who has finally uttered "Your will be done," until the obnoxiousness has left the person. Sometimes it is the fulfillment of a request. Sometimes, it is the lifeless spirit of a person that revives after a year of conversations with the Maker of life.

So, I will get up tomorrow morning, no matter what the air temperature is, and walk and converse with the one who made the stars that shine so brightly in the early morning hours because even though I cannot articulate what happens, as a result of that time I have observed what happens over time.

Genetic Mercy

My grandmother turned 99 last Monday. I can only dream of making it that far. I asked her if she had a secret to her longevity. She simply said, "No." I was hoping for more. In reality I know it has everything to do with genes. She hasn't had an easy life. So that can't be it. She has made the journey with God. But, others who have been Godly have not fared so well as she. If I make it to 99, I'll probably not have longevity figured out either and just answer, "No," if asked about my secret. I guess there is not any difference between us and Eve who ate from the tree in the middle of the garden, who also wanted to live forever (if that's what the tree of life stands for). May the one who engineers 99-year-old genes have mercy on my grandmother's soul. May the one who engineers 19-year-old genes be thanked for the safekeeping of my son. And may the one who engineers every set of genes have mercy on all.

Time again

Some days go as planned. Others don't have a plan at all. Plans are needed some days. For some, spontaneity produces the needed rejuvenation for the day's needs. Perhaps, frameworks seem to work best. The day has a plan to get started and to end, but what happens in between can be played by ear.

Into this mix some people throw the idea that everything happens for a reason. I could see how that would be true for spontaneous days or framework days, but not for planned days. Other people like to see everything as random happenings. Still others like to see a blend.

Who knows how it really is. This week is going to be a week full of framework days. Perhaps I can tell you Saturday whether things happen for a reason or not.

Defying time

Some days last forever. Other days seem to go by in a blur. I wonder about the time continuum. I don't know about it. Wormhole travel in space seems to defy time. Traveling the speed of light defies time. Meditation defies time. Death defies time. Defying time seems to be the way to glimpse eternity. I hope to see the Creator of time and eternity someday. I will ask him about being stuck in time, except for those moments that seem to defy time. He might just answer, "Then why did you not spend more moments in eternity?" I don't know exactly how to answer that one. So, I think I'll try practicing moments that defy time more often.

Wearing down

After watching a special on Alexander the Great, I realized that being a soldier in his army required one to be away from home for years at a time. That would be wearing on a person. Fighting constantly in foreign lands on unfamiliar terrain would wear a person down. Being wounded far from home or seeing comrades die on a foreign field would dampen anyone's spirits. I feel like that day after day. It wears one's spirit down. It paralyzes one from doing good. The difference between me and the other guy is that I have a spirit from another world that rejuvenates my mind and bolsters my spirit on a continual basis. I am thankful for that.

Warm

Being warm just feels good. Being warmed also feels good. Warming someone or something also feels good. Being in all three positions on a rotating basis is probably how we ought to operate as human beings.

Night light

My morning walking path is in a park. The park has a cement path that encircles the center of it. On the outside of the park, strategically placed, are street lights. So, it is a safe place to walk. The last 2 days fog descended into the park in the early morning hours. It is a work of beauty. As I circularly walked on those days, the mist gently hit my face, the fog shrouded the far side of the park so that I could see about only 50 yards, and the street lights shone on the ground in a ring of about a 20-yard radius. Simply beautiful.

The ring of light was also intriguing. As I would come up on the light, the light would be surrounded by darkness, but inside the ring of light, no darkness existed. I shared the thought written about the Son of Man by someone close to him. Some of his opening words to a book he wrote contain, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overpowered it." Those are powerful words when you see so beautifully illustrated in the scene around you a light shining in the fog, mist, and darkness, brilliantly and invitingly, with the darkness unable to penetrate a single ray of that 20-yard radius of light. To me the message is plain: the Son of Man's teachings are worth following—they light my path and lead me through darkness from this life into the next.

A spirit assault

Tonight at my place of business The Designer of Events designed an event that caused great joy to his people. I especially enjoyed seeing the event unfold because I had been privy to the evolution of the event from the beginning of the event 10 months ago. Also, tonight my mother is recovering from a major surgery. She had to have the surgery in the first place because a doctor had messed up on a minor surgery 2 weeks ago. Also, tonight my wife read to me some words she found about the spirit that triumphs over cancer even if the body succumbs to it. I have great sadness because I hate cancer so much. So, the words were triumphant and sad simultaneously. Also tonight, my daughter continues her defiance of sound advice from her parents (like we are the only parents that has happened too). Also tonight, I ran into a friend who is absolutely on fire for her God. It shows in every statement she makes.

What a night. And that is only one night in the year. In the flash of an eye.

Redefining community

Try as I may, I can't bring myself to waste my time on speeches that reiterate time and again the points of a story which is itself repeated for the 100th time. I see that the idea of community is one of the recurring themes in Paul's letters of the New Testament. But, I don't see the same in the gospels. Perhaps one could contend that Paul is the next step in the evolution of Christianity. First a Messiah would come; then, a traveling evangelist would take the next leg of the journey to spread the message of the Messiah. Perhaps. If not, then each successive generation to Jesus' has the right to interpret the Messiah's message for itself. The idea of community disappears or at least changes shapes into something useful in the society.

So, I need not be bitter about some lame activity I have convinced myself I should avail myself of. Instead, I need to be ecstatic about a message that enables me to live decently in my work community or my circle of friends after work or my children's friends. Although I have been brainwashed to hear speeches that reiterate time and again the points of a story which is repeated itself for the 100th time, I have hit saturation point. I want to shout, "NO MORE!"

Facets of beauty

5 reasons underlie any learned behavior: opportunity, motivation, personality, incentive, interest. What we learn and to what extent we learn anything depends on the presence or absence and the mixture of these 5 reasons. If I apply this to various aspects of learning a particular value system, then I am not so confused by why the different kinds of people who practice this value system make it look so differently. If I figure the number of combinations (5X4X3X2X1) for these 5 reasons, I get 120. Theoretically, then, 120 people could get together and agree on a value system, but then have different incentives or different motivations or 118 different combinations that cause them to make that value system look different in practice from the others agreeing to the value system.

If each of the 5 reasons also stood for a number, the number increases further. What if there were 10 different ways to express opportunity or opportunity types, 8 personality types, 11 motivation types, 5 incentive types, and 40 types of interest expressed. The number of combinations is then 176,000. That would mean that even if 120 people agreed on a value system, there would be 176,000 expressions of that value system. I have a lot more respect for what the Son of Man tried to establish when I play with the numbers.

And my numbers are probably off, maybe by 2,000,000, because there may be more than 5 underlying reasons and/or more or fewer numbers for each reason. If we as humans ever catch up to the true underlying numbers behind establishing a value system, we would without a doubt understand why the Son of Man began one of his prayers, "Our father in Heaven, may your name be honored." There is honor and beauty in complexity.

Influence

One can gather that the sun is far away, yet it has influence on the earth nonetheless. That's because of its sheer power. One can gather that the moon is close by, but it has influence on the earth's tides and provides light on uncloudy nights. As I think of my own sphere of influence, I have to admit that I have both sun and moon qualities depending on the person I know or have known. There is a Creator for both the sun and moon and the influences they have. So, I have to believe the people in my sphere have been put there for a reason as well.

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.