I just finished reading Armageddon, by Bart Ehrman, followed by God & Empire, by John Dominic Crossan.
I grew up in a church that pretty much ignored the Revelation of John except for a few of the snippets about hope and faith, so the whole muscular Republican Jesus with an AR-15 is foreign to me. Blasphemy, even. These two books went a long way toward explaining why so many who call themselves Christians have chosen the avenging Jesus of Revelation. Jesus of the Gospels, Acts, and Paul's Letters is ancient history. Avenging Jesus is the future. He is going to lead them in the Final Battle, and so they better have guns, guns, and more guns.
Deprogramming them is not an option. We are going to have to find a way forward without them.
Shake the dust off our sandals and move the hell on. I agree. I grew up in muscular Christianity and even today's version looks foreign to me. Where's the compassion? The love? The forgiveness? The acceptance of others? Gone. Poof!
The rise of the golfing grifter has made me more aware of the problem with cults and how much overlap there is with many of the cults and their followers
Political and religious cults are hard not to notice but also anti vac , flat earth , UFO , moon landing deniers , Bigfoot believers and something that has been picking up steam is the belief that certain animals that haven’t been present in the northeast for many years are now living here like wolves and cougars
Although the last group I can understand a little bit more because it is more plausible
These are animals that do exist in America and there was a cougar that was hit by a car in Connecticut awhile ago
There have been a number of pictures on Facebook and instagram showing cougars and claiming that they were taken in Connecticut but a quick google search shows the same picture being in Maine or Vermont or Ohio
A lot of people on Facebook share those pictures and when it’s pointed out that it’s not true many accept it
But there are the believers that will say okay maybe THAT picture is fake but my brother saw one
I really try not to call them or their family or friends liars because there’s a chance that maybe they really did see one
Actually, I also read Father Richard Rohr every morning. I find my self contemplating how to apply principles to people whose political behavior I consider savage or craven. Hard work. From today: “Christ is the light that allows people to see things in their fullness. The precise and intended effect of such a light is to see Christ everywhere else. In fact, that is my only definition of a true Christian. A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else.”
Hoping the inundation of news about obvious and blatant corruption leads to more militant action on the part of lefties, and in more elected Dems becoming or acting more left. ***This*** is what they want to compromise with?
Depressed by Dems allowing installation of judges to be drastically impeded by the crumbling of Diane Feinstein.
Exhausted by months of fielding interface between my son and his father (and supporting our son, whose sinner is well-taken), and the father (who is my husband) being a maniac about it.
Exhausted this week by a cumulative exploration of automotive issues while trying to complete other functions that whose crown is today when I drive my husband to the airport for a business trip to England.
In a stretch of some months as we get our son finished with high school and ready for out-of-state college, and ourselves and cats prepped for a move of some years to England.
And yesterday as-- information about the car still in suspense-- I picked up non-gluten non-dairy treats for today's C. S. Lewis book club, I got a phone call that went to message. It was from a difficult and interesting associate from seminary. (He is very talented, very solipsistic, very unaware of most others, and has a performance personality who is a full-drag clown nun , in which persona he has climbed all Colorado's 14ers qua performance, with photographer.) He is suddenly homeless in Denver and awaited my ideas. (I just couldn't. I just can't till Saturday. Not having been pastoring for over a decade, and never in the Denver area, I am not well-connected. Our seminary classmate who is priest at the church I'm part of kindly agreed to check in with him and see what she might help with. God bless her.)
That's such a tough situation. I have delayed returning calls for a while like this, because the tank is empty and I really haven't anything to add. Even listening, sometimes, is asking a lot. I don't admire that in myself, but if I can't even bring myself to listen, then what good would I be? I hope your friend finds a home and some peace.
Yeah. I couldn't even deal with doing a phone call, since phone calls with that seminary colleague tend to Long and Involved, and I hadn't time to think.
Today I'll see my friend the priest at CSLBC and ask what she knows and what she said, assuming there was a conversation. And tomorrow I can call our colleague.
On Tuesday, at nearly the seven-hour mark at the Big O of Automative Discovery, where they really don't want to report failure, I was getting on toward screamie and bite-people-y. Not wanting to scream or bite, I made a frustration post on fb. Mostly people kindly sympathized. That helped.
"Bite me" is a great phrase and I've used it myself, publicly and otherwise. When we have colleagues who are so busy policing our actions, that always makes me wonder if they're noticing the mote in their own eye. Jaysus.
Not that I think my minor irritations are in this class, but would she want to assure people in concentration camps, Second World War and later, that everything is for their good and the world's? Jesus Flippin' Tables Christ.
The fact that I was explicitly posting so as not to scream or bite? Unaddressed.
These people honestly just want to minimize difficulties others have. And feel holy about it.
Did you really need to ask? I am up really early, like 4 am or so. I get bored with all the news about you-know-who and all the repetitive nonsense. I know we can’t do the turning away thing (ref. Pink Floyd song) and there seems to me much more to turn our attention away from and towards what whatever the hell we collectively are called to do save y’all’s Jesus and the divinity I think resides in all of us, call it whatever you will. I do not like guns, but I can shoot a squirrel in the eye with a rifle and I do not mean a pussy automatic either. What’s more, I don’t even need THAT; give a nugget of iron and a sling shot. But I believe the gun issue and our failing mental health system (yup, even Connecticut, despite it ranking of #4 in the country. Cool beans opening with this query! Hi ho sword ⚔️ and, no, I don’t have a gun or swords!
It's been a week, month, year and more. I have little energy for much of anything now and the news is background noise. However, I am recharging and will be back at fighting once again for what's right and just in my JAC-like way. If I see something good for discussion, I'll pass it on. Thanks for educating us and offering a place for discussion.
I start each day reading your blog followed by Professor Richardson - therapeutic and informative. Thank you.
Likewise!
Wow. Honored.
She's really wonderful and so insightful. Me? I'm mostly just on a tear.
I just finished reading Armageddon, by Bart Ehrman, followed by God & Empire, by John Dominic Crossan.
I grew up in a church that pretty much ignored the Revelation of John except for a few of the snippets about hope and faith, so the whole muscular Republican Jesus with an AR-15 is foreign to me. Blasphemy, even. These two books went a long way toward explaining why so many who call themselves Christians have chosen the avenging Jesus of Revelation. Jesus of the Gospels, Acts, and Paul's Letters is ancient history. Avenging Jesus is the future. He is going to lead them in the Final Battle, and so they better have guns, guns, and more guns.
Deprogramming them is not an option. We are going to have to find a way forward without them.
Shake the dust off our sandals and move the hell on. I agree. I grew up in muscular Christianity and even today's version looks foreign to me. Where's the compassion? The love? The forgiveness? The acceptance of others? Gone. Poof!
The rise of the golfing grifter has made me more aware of the problem with cults and how much overlap there is with many of the cults and their followers
Political and religious cults are hard not to notice but also anti vac , flat earth , UFO , moon landing deniers , Bigfoot believers and something that has been picking up steam is the belief that certain animals that haven’t been present in the northeast for many years are now living here like wolves and cougars
Although the last group I can understand a little bit more because it is more plausible
These are animals that do exist in America and there was a cougar that was hit by a car in Connecticut awhile ago
There have been a number of pictures on Facebook and instagram showing cougars and claiming that they were taken in Connecticut but a quick google search shows the same picture being in Maine or Vermont or Ohio
A lot of people on Facebook share those pictures and when it’s pointed out that it’s not true many accept it
But there are the believers that will say okay maybe THAT picture is fake but my brother saw one
I really try not to call them or their family or friends liars because there’s a chance that maybe they really did see one
Actually, I also read Father Richard Rohr every morning. I find my self contemplating how to apply principles to people whose political behavior I consider savage or craven. Hard work. From today: “Christ is the light that allows people to see things in their fullness. The precise and intended effect of such a light is to see Christ everywhere else. In fact, that is my only definition of a true Christian. A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else.”
That's a beautiful sentiment and most days I'm so far from there I couldn't find that point with a map.
😅😅😅
Well my brain’s got nothin’ this morning, but I do look forward to your rants. Keep writing! (No idea about the monkey wash…)
I am figuring "monkey" was something else (fat thumbs) but what that something else was, I haven't a clue.
Hoping the inundation of news about obvious and blatant corruption leads to more militant action on the part of lefties, and in more elected Dems becoming or acting more left. ***This*** is what they want to compromise with?
Depressed by Dems allowing installation of judges to be drastically impeded by the crumbling of Diane Feinstein.
Exhausted by months of fielding interface between my son and his father (and supporting our son, whose sinner is well-taken), and the father (who is my husband) being a maniac about it.
Exhausted this week by a cumulative exploration of automotive issues while trying to complete other functions that whose crown is today when I drive my husband to the airport for a business trip to England.
In a stretch of some months as we get our son finished with high school and ready for out-of-state college, and ourselves and cats prepped for a move of some years to England.
And yesterday as-- information about the car still in suspense-- I picked up non-gluten non-dairy treats for today's C. S. Lewis book club, I got a phone call that went to message. It was from a difficult and interesting associate from seminary. (He is very talented, very solipsistic, very unaware of most others, and has a performance personality who is a full-drag clown nun , in which persona he has climbed all Colorado's 14ers qua performance, with photographer.) He is suddenly homeless in Denver and awaited my ideas. (I just couldn't. I just can't till Saturday. Not having been pastoring for over a decade, and never in the Denver area, I am not well-connected. Our seminary classmate who is priest at the church I'm part of kindly agreed to check in with him and see what she might help with. God bless her.)
That's such a tough situation. I have delayed returning calls for a while like this, because the tank is empty and I really haven't anything to add. Even listening, sometimes, is asking a lot. I don't admire that in myself, but if I can't even bring myself to listen, then what good would I be? I hope your friend finds a home and some peace.
Yeah. I couldn't even deal with doing a phone call, since phone calls with that seminary colleague tend to Long and Involved, and I hadn't time to think.
Today I'll see my friend the priest at CSLBC and ask what she knows and what she said, assuming there was a conversation. And tomorrow I can call our colleague.
Ah, let me complain a little more.
On Tuesday, at nearly the seven-hour mark at the Big O of Automative Discovery, where they really don't want to report failure, I was getting on toward screamie and bite-people-y. Not wanting to scream or bite, I made a frustration post on fb. Mostly people kindly sympathized. That helped.
When I woke in the night I found that still another seminary colleague has posted the text of this thing: https://oppeace.org/blog/2017/09/27/its-all-about-the-biscuits/#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20prayer%20given%20by%20a%20farmer,‘em%20up%2C%20I%20do%20love%20those%20fresh%20biscuits%21 . I replied succinctly, "Bite me." The next morning she had deleted that and posted: "Everything will be okay. Remember, He works everything together for your good ✝️🙏" I replied, "Romans 12:15." Yesterday she fb-messaged me that she apologized: she hadn't meant to anger me. I know, she meant me to say "You have Uplifted me! Praise the Lord!" The glibness and the bad theology get me down.
"Bite me" is a great phrase and I've used it myself, publicly and otherwise. When we have colleagues who are so busy policing our actions, that always makes me wonder if they're noticing the mote in their own eye. Jaysus.
Not that I think my minor irritations are in this class, but would she want to assure people in concentration camps, Second World War and later, that everything is for their good and the world's? Jesus Flippin' Tables Christ.
The fact that I was explicitly posting so as not to scream or bite? Unaddressed.
These people honestly just want to minimize difficulties others have. And feel holy about it.
Did you really need to ask? I am up really early, like 4 am or so. I get bored with all the news about you-know-who and all the repetitive nonsense. I know we can’t do the turning away thing (ref. Pink Floyd song) and there seems to me much more to turn our attention away from and towards what whatever the hell we collectively are called to do save y’all’s Jesus and the divinity I think resides in all of us, call it whatever you will. I do not like guns, but I can shoot a squirrel in the eye with a rifle and I do not mean a pussy automatic either. What’s more, I don’t even need THAT; give a nugget of iron and a sling shot. But I believe the gun issue and our failing mental health system (yup, even Connecticut, despite it ranking of #4 in the country. Cool beans opening with this query! Hi ho sword ⚔️ and, no, I don’t have a gun or swords!
I have both, guns and a sword. I use the sword almost exclusively.
Lol
Pret!
It's been a week, month, year and more. I have little energy for much of anything now and the news is background noise. However, I am recharging and will be back at fighting once again for what's right and just in my JAC-like way. If I see something good for discussion, I'll pass it on. Thanks for educating us and offering a place for discussion.