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One of the things that is way up on my irksome scale is Christian literalists. They simply do not understand, or refuse to as I’ve encountered a few times, is that the Bible was not meant to be taken as factual truth. It is a religious document meant to guide the believer in his or her relationship with God.
The Case for God by Karen Armstrong has been on the kitchen table for quite a few weeks as I’ve been gradually led through humanity’s understanding of who or what God is. The book started back in early days of Hindu beliefs and today I finally reached Darwin, which caused me to think about today’s entry.
Darwin’s theory of evolution came at a time when Western Christianity was evolving out of the Deist’s of the Enlightenment and Newtonian scientific proofs of God. American Christianity was already sinking into the literalist hell where many denominations find themselves. The Bible was quite in its presentation of the history of the Earth and its people. Then along comes scientists like Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin with outlandish theories that the Earth is much older than the Bible implies.
What does one do?
The important thing to understand is that theology is not a scientific pursuit like anthropology, biology, geology, zoology, etc. Religion and science stand at opposite ends of human endeavor. You simply cannot scientifically prove the existence of God.
As far as I’m concerned, God is ineffable, beyond the understanding of the human mind. He is not this big dude with a long, flowing white beard sitting on a throne way up in someplace called Heaven. Jesus may have lived, may have executed marvelous miracles, and may have risen out of the grave, but that’s not the point to his story; that’s not the lesson you’re supposed to be learning, you have to take it a step further.
I won’t say anything about the Spirit because, if anything, most people get that part of God correctly.
Anyway, that’s my take on this.
Current Mood:  contemplative
Current Music: Rhapsody in Blue with Leonard Bernstein
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The problem with dreams is that you can't quite be certain who is who or, for that matter, what is what. Anyway I'm pretty certain Quincy Jones was talking about Johnnie Cochran or, at least, someone was talking about him. Whatever the case it was just before I woke up so I didn't find out what the heck was going on and why Johnnie Cochran was in my dream.
Yesterday I called the son to find out if he'd found work, but, no, he's still out there looking. He doesn't need much since he doesn't have to pay rent or a house payment as he owns his free and clear, but he does have expenses, bills, and such.
What he doesn't have is proof of an education, no diploma, no GED. Also, what he can't understand is that this is having a detriment to his finding a job. He's adamant that he doesn't need that little bit of data tacked onto his record. He says he's seen college graduates working down at his level so why should he go out and get an education when, basically, it's worthless.
Plus, there were the years when he was out there on the edge of "normalcy" complaining that he didn't get a proper upbringing. Well, that's just the other side of tough love. The rule in our house was if you weren't going to school, then you had to get a job. Laying around doing nothing was not an option, so out the door he went.
Now, we help as we can, but how do you help someone who won't do anything to alter their life situation at the basic level. Unfortunately for our son, the world runs on people having educations. You gotta have that piece of paper saying you're just like everyone else. If you ain't got it, well then you take what you can get. You have to scrape by, but if you're aware of where you stand in relation to everyone else, then you know where to find work.
Hopefully, he'll get to the point where awareness sets in and he can see that you can't get to the next rung if you don't acknowledge there's a ladder.
Current Mood: contemplative
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Actually, I don't know how to take this because it's more than I expected when I began this journey. Back then, when I took my first step toward the seemingly unreachable goal, I couldn't imagine being at this point in less than one year. Yet, here I am and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to change the evidence as it clears stands before me.
For all intents and purposes, it appears my new baseline weight in now in the high 270's, definitely under 280, which is impossibly good as far as I'm concerned. I know that I will go above 280 for a few days, but then ease back down to 277 to 278 a couple days after that. The downward slide has been steady for the last couple months: 283, 280, and now 278. Each time a new baseline is established I'm encouraged to push the limit and extend the loss further down the scale.
Now, at 278, I'm only three pounds shy of 275, which I haven't seen for a couple years. Oh, to have a 42 inch waist again. I still have jeans in the closet at that size waiting for me to shrink into them, but when will that be? How many more pounds do I have to shed before the forward hanging flab shrinks enough to enable those pants to cover my legs again? Do I have to wait until 260? Do I have to wait that long? I hope not, yet 260 is a goal, too.
The ultimate goal, the perfect baseline is 225, as near as I think I can comfortably get to my BMI ideal of 205. Fifty pounds, that's a lot of weight to lose. That's almost unimaginable. That's forty years of unhealthy eating, forty years of delicious cinnamon rolls, chocolate cake, and gobs of gooey, sugary delectability. Hopefully, I'll make it.
And, yet, at 60, I can't expect all that many more years. Will I hit my ideal weight before I die? Only time will tell, only time will tell.
Current Mood:  drunk
Current Music: Ol' Man River by William Warfield
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I don't know if you've been following the icebreaker Captain Khlebnikov as it's been struggling to free itself from sea ice around Antarctica this week, but it's finally free. In a week of non-news, this bit of information was as about as non-news as one can get. All week those who know, like the ship's captain and owner, have been saying the passengers were never in danger. This kind of thing happens all the time.
Unfortunately, this time someone in the news business decided the whole world needed to know this icebreaker carrying tourists to Antarctica, as it's been doing for about seven years, unexpectedly got stuck in the ice. According to the captain you can never know what to expect from the spring weather around Antarctica. Supposedly, this kind of thing happens all the time.
I suppose this incident is becoming all too common. More and more we're getting bits of news, stuff that would have appeared on page ten of your local newspaper a week after the incident, broadcast across the internet as if it was important enough to garner our attention. We've got more than enough information bombarding us already to have to worry about an icebreaker stuck in the ice around Antarctica when this kind of thing happens all the time.
Current Mood:  bitchy
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Damn I almost missed it.
Today has been totally wasted since last night was another post-Mexican restaurant episode and I slept most of the day away.
Plus, I couldn’t get much in the way of being creative. I’m still reading Walden and I’ve come to the part where it gets really interesting. That is, it hits a little below the belt. Now I wish I’d read way back when because maybe I might have lived my life a little different.
And, I’m still working my way through Karen Armstrong’s A Case For God which is also hitting a little low. Of course, that’s what happens when you get involved with church stuff, then fall away until you read something like this book that kind of puts a gentle tug on your heart.
I don’t think I’m particularly interested in going back to church since we’ve been to so many different denominations it might be hard choosing which one to fall into. Personally, I enjoyed the liberal Lutherans, even though they were a bit money/status conscious. The church we were attending kind of looked down upon the less fortunate in their community of faith, but I don’t know who else to turn to since both the wife and I are kind of liberal in our feelings toward God, life, and everything else.
Of course, the liberal Lutherans are going through a crisis right now and there is a lot of talk about some of the congregations splitting off from the main body over the ordination of gays. Frankly, I’m all for it since, according to what I’ve read, God is a lot more interested in you totally following him than follow a bunch of misinterpreted rules and regulations.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on today.
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The show ended last night with a whimper. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got. Maybe I was relying too much on the previous version or was it the way it all turned out.
After all, the entire show was about Six trying to figure out where he was, why he was there, and how he could get out, but as it turned out that's not what the story was actually about. As it turned out at the end, Six was the key to the whole story. He was there because all of the people in the Village were brought there by him and their remaining in the Village depended on Six's acceptance of his responsibility to them.
In the end, though, the entire project was brought to a halt because I don't know why. Was it 2's grief over 11-12's death? As simple as that? Or was the ending constructed to fit into the constraints of "x" number of episodes and they needed a quick chop to the story? I don't really care, actually.
Ian McKellan was diabolical throughout the series, right up to the very end when he brought about the demise of the Village.
I don't know, but the entire project seemed to be too constrained, too focused on "we only have "x" number of episodes so we can cut a few corners." Of course, since it was made by a movie channel and a British television program producer, one probably has to expect "x" number of episodes and a quick and tidy conclusion. The story could've gone on a bit longer, the original went 17 episodes and in the original the floating, white balls were a bit stranger and seemed to be able to gather up the escapee and return him/her to the Village, in the new version they're more likely to kill you. I think I prefer the gathering up version better.
Anyway, I suppose when it comes right down this is like comparing two different types of apples. Both are apples, both are reddish on the outside, both are crisp, juicy, and sweet on the inside, both arrive in autumn, but they're not quite the same. There's a difference in their reddishness, one is yellower than the other; while both are crisp, juicy, and sweet, one has a stronger "apple" flavor than the other; and, one is much better eaten fresh, while the other stores better, bakes better, and makes a delicious cider.
I'm biased, but I'll give the new version a couple stars given the strength of the acting.
Current Mood: contemplative
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