this is where I came in

There will come a time eventually, if one is lucky enough, when they will realize they are arriving at a point where they came in. As Shaking Billy put it so concisely, once a man twice a child. Growing old is essentially weakening down and becoming feebilized. First the stamina becomes a problem you never dealt with before. Then that turns into a full blown question of strength. Then a certain unsteadiness creeps in, and forgetfulness slides up to you in full view of everyone else. Soon after a pain shows up unexpectedly, followed eventually by an outright orchestra of suffering. If this is not your experience, you might be one of the lucky ones. Eventually the wait alone will descend upon you with the alone in a sea of children asking you about a secret. This will be the time when the little known secrets, unknown secrets, and well known secrets will do a nice soft shoe for everybody. No one will have any idea what to make of it. Congratulations will patronizingly rain from the sky. You will not be able to consider any less.

greater works than Jesus

Jesus said that we would do greater works than He has done. Does ayone believe that? He said He would send a friend, the Holy Spirit, and we would do greater works than He Himself did. But, do you think anyone buys into that? This is another one of those silent subjects seldom, if ever, visited. Then there is that Holy Spirit thing again, like talking in tongues. There are those who are pressed to point out why we cannot do these things.....that is...today. Looking into this in Pulpit Rock.

many in the night

I knew so many people, and as they randomly come before me in the night's memories I wonder  now whether they are still alive, what they are doing, and whatever happened to them.
We remember different things. Some have no rationale. Many however were complete mysteries to me that with the passage of too many years begin to suddenly become clear. Insignificant things, like why did my fifth grade teacher's voice so mock a man while calling him a rugged individualist? I later would find out but how I would have loved to understood it at the time. Building in the...Memoirist

smoke signals in the sky

No matter how many gather around, each die alone. Alone, with nothing to communicate with but words as imperfect symbols, not much better  than smoke signals in the sky. 

hung in our hearts

How is it that certain things have been hung in our hearts? Somewhere in Psalms is mentioned that God hung heavenly bodies in the empty spaces. Why also do we have knowledge of right and wrong? How did these things happen? So now what do we do about it?

If we know right and wrong so how is it that we can rationalize around it to gain a certain advantage, even be blinded to murder? Individually we must deal with these questions, but the group can provide permission to do anything any consensus wants to achieve without any individual forced to take responsibility. 

God cannot negate Himself

Trouble, very deep trouble, with the "God is in control" argument is that He is not. Just simply because God as Existence brought everything into being, doea not mean He is reponsible for freewill beings going off track. He may know what is going to happen, what decisions will be made, but we make the decision. He only knows what we will do. 

There are established rules of order. Laws of God, commandments which result in favor or disfavor. There would be no need for laws or commandments if they would have no consequences. If we want to be in harmony with God then we have to be in harmony with His laws, the way He set everything up. (God is personified in this text to follow through with His connection to us as we were established.)

stumbling blocks to faith

I am dealing lately with several chestnuts that occupy those who cannot bridge their gap to a belief in God. Chestnuts like the problem with suffering, the problem with stupidity and many other similar arenas where atheists stumble and cannot believe in God. The reason, in my view, is that they define God, this most commonly undefined in virtually every case, as being a God totally in charge, as being totally in control and therefore being responsible as the creator of evil in all of evil's manifestations.

I am taking a different tack in my approach to the definition of God. For instance, as I read Genesis it never occurred to me that it differed with views on evolution. In fact. I thought it merely the same view couched in more beautiful very poetical language. Later it occurred to me that the untechnical approach of the time was spiritual in that it did not follow the letter of the story but rather the spirit of the story.

Now we all, mostly all I think, know that we cannot express an opinion about someone or anything else, without revealing a great deal about ourselves in the exercise. Expressing process cannot help but do reveal as much or even more about ourselves than about the subject we are talking about. The same is true as well about myself.

My approach is from an individualist view and I recognize an entirely different approach from opposing views, all from a group orientation to existence, therefore to God, and almost entirely a collectivist approach to the entire issue.

All my life, from a very early age, I saw this over and over again. I would say something to the effect that the differing person did not understand or address the basic premise of what I was talking about. 'Oh no' they would argue, I understand perfectly. But if I then asked the most simple of questions they would bungle the subject up into such a ball of various strings all tied together that I gave up.
And so I return in my final all too brief years to leave my view for a final consideration for those who can handle it not so intuitively and emotionally.  Thread will be edited and expanded in the Memorist.

misplaced authority

Everything of interest is divided in two before one can define and/or begin understand it. If we can't understand it we at least can define it no matter how inadequately. Politics and other group efforts, such as capitalist endeavors, economics in other words, can be divided in two by the labels of either process or result. If it all confuses or provides negative connotones, then they can call it PR, and if in a sacred setting then participants are inspired toward witnessing and conversion. 

Process involves a lot of gossip, particularly in politics and churches. Although politics turn a lot of people off, churches can often provide a highway to atheism.
Virtually every single person who represents himself as an atheist quoted church attendees as the bedrock for their lack of faith in God.

This belief channel is a fallacy in logic I generally call misplaced authority. 

does faith oppose fear

 Is apprehensiveness opposisng faith?

trusting my memorykk

clean time of night

Why are the wee small hours the "clean time" of night? Many think these hours are the creative times of night, when each of us are left alone with ourselves and no static intruding on our thoughts. It may also mean one has an unceremonious bladder problem. Eventually you will come across with everything, he said wearily. That is, you will only if you are lucky enough. Remnant left behind from a cluttered time of night. 

Is God In Control?

Only evil spirits seek control. There is no love in control. One who could control all things does not control all things. If He did, He would have to negate Himself. God cannot deny Himself, nor change His mind. There are those who blame God for doing terrible things of nature, and for not answering His promises. I have talked personally with pastors who reason out in their own minds why they did not get answered prayer by believing such things which come solely from their own doctrine.  Developing.....