As Martin Luther said, it doesn't matter which side of the horse you fall off of, the effect is the same.
Too much sin? Can't do anything right?
Haven't sinned much? No real problems?
We've got a problem and there's one solution. But there's no need to wallow in it, compare it to others or dismiss it away.
Today Mr. McGee said one of my favorite sayings, speaking about church people. He said a person could be as "busy as a termite and having the same effect." I really hate busyness. Only recently have I realized how much I hate it. I've been sitting around not doing much, which I don't like either, but that has gotten me to a place where I abhor, or can now see how much I hate, busy frantic nothingness.
I can go from inaction to doing half of everything instantly. And neither one is peaceful or intentional (enough) or effective, or helpful to me or the people around me. Today I want to stay in that place of peace, where I'm working, but not reacting.
J. Vernon also laid out another huge problem in a homely example. He said that jealousy is hurting us more than anything else, and that it is a secret sin. I think it's so secret that people do it all the time and don't even consider it a problem. It's not even one of those sins people keep a secret, but rather practice it all the time without thinking, and let it eat away at our selves and our relationships, our society and our world but we don't recognize it as being wrong.
Why do we compare, and judge? Why does an image of an ugly guy make me happy and an image of a tall guy make me feel short? This constant comparison is not helpful at all, and it's not new. The first man born on earth killed his brother for this very reason.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sunday Sermon - J. Vernon McGee - The Hands of Jesus
Sunday Sermon - J. Vernon McGee - The Hands of Jesus
You can tell a lot about a person from looking at their hands.
We once had a chocolate praying hands at work; an Easter confection, and some people found it strange to eat it. I realized at the time that I was very familiar with the image of praying hands from my youth, although I haven't seen it much recently, and I had never seen it portrayed in chocolate before. Chocolate makes everything look a little better, I think. But I also had never thought of it as the hands of Jesus, which my co-workers assumed it to be. In the seventies, when I was little, I just took it as a reminder to pray- here's a representation of somebody's hands- here's a reminder to pray. Because it was the seventies, I remember white praying hands and black praying hands and tan praying hands. Maybe you see them as the hands of Jesus in Gethsemane. I don't know.
Today I'm listening to the Sunday Sermon from the series entitled:
Jesus the Man -
Near the conclusion of the gospel of John, Pilate said to the people "Behold the man" while Jesus was wearing a purple robe and crown of thorns given to him in mockery. No one could have guessed that this trial in front of a mad crowd, in the back of beyond somewhere in a big city but on the Roman frontier- could mean much to anyone who wasn't already there and in the crowd for the holiday. But the city wasn't just any city. And this holiday wasn't just any celebration by some little minority sect. The scene took place in the center of the world, where God chose to come to Earth, on more than one occasion. Pilate's actions, designed to calm down the crowd so that life could go back to normal and he could get some peace and quiet, set in motion the events by which all time and eternity has now become divided. It's either A.D. or C.E; B.C. or B.C.E, heaven or hell, only because of what happened next.
"Behold the man" is what Pilate says at the end of John, and we do in representations everywhere. This statement is contrasted with John the Baptist's statement "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" that is spoken near the beginning of the gospel. Today, we see more than Pilate saw but maybe less than the Baptist, even if you are, too. If you don't want to admit his centrality, you don't have to, but the dates you use when you cite a tear are testimony of his importance.
The hands of Jesus in John 20:27 are touchable, effable, and changed the world, not because they were a myth or a legend, but because they were real, present and are reaching out to us now even with the holes in them. It's because of the holes that we're even aware of who Jesus is.
We work with our hands and are defined by what we do with them, and we get in trouble with our hands too. Are we grasping, or giving, blessing someone or killing them?
"A laboring man will someday settle all the disputes of this world," which is held in those nail scarred hands.
You can tell a lot about a person from looking at their hands.
We once had a chocolate praying hands at work; an Easter confection, and some people found it strange to eat it. I realized at the time that I was very familiar with the image of praying hands from my youth, although I haven't seen it much recently, and I had never seen it portrayed in chocolate before. Chocolate makes everything look a little better, I think. But I also had never thought of it as the hands of Jesus, which my co-workers assumed it to be. In the seventies, when I was little, I just took it as a reminder to pray- here's a representation of somebody's hands- here's a reminder to pray. Because it was the seventies, I remember white praying hands and black praying hands and tan praying hands. Maybe you see them as the hands of Jesus in Gethsemane. I don't know.
Today I'm listening to the Sunday Sermon from the series entitled:
Jesus the Man -
Near the conclusion of the gospel of John, Pilate said to the people "Behold the man" while Jesus was wearing a purple robe and crown of thorns given to him in mockery. No one could have guessed that this trial in front of a mad crowd, in the back of beyond somewhere in a big city but on the Roman frontier- could mean much to anyone who wasn't already there and in the crowd for the holiday. But the city wasn't just any city. And this holiday wasn't just any celebration by some little minority sect. The scene took place in the center of the world, where God chose to come to Earth, on more than one occasion. Pilate's actions, designed to calm down the crowd so that life could go back to normal and he could get some peace and quiet, set in motion the events by which all time and eternity has now become divided. It's either A.D. or C.E; B.C. or B.C.E, heaven or hell, only because of what happened next.
"Behold the man" is what Pilate says at the end of John, and we do in representations everywhere. This statement is contrasted with John the Baptist's statement "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" that is spoken near the beginning of the gospel. Today, we see more than Pilate saw but maybe less than the Baptist, even if you are, too. If you don't want to admit his centrality, you don't have to, but the dates you use when you cite a tear are testimony of his importance.
The hands of Jesus in John 20:27 are touchable, effable, and changed the world, not because they were a myth or a legend, but because they were real, present and are reaching out to us now even with the holes in them. It's because of the holes that we're even aware of who Jesus is.
We work with our hands and are defined by what we do with them, and we get in trouble with our hands too. Are we grasping, or giving, blessing someone or killing them?
"A laboring man will someday settle all the disputes of this world," which is held in those nail scarred hands.
J. Vernon McGee - Book Summaries
J. Vernon McGee - Book Summaries
I have rediscovered Mr. J. Vernon, and have not, as I've done with other celebrities, googled his name very much. I did go online to see if I could find a few pictures of him, and then to see if I could find a picture of he and his wife. I found someone with the same name as she, and watched a little interview she gave, which was very interesting, but I don't think I found a picture of J.'s Mrs. McGee.
I'm trying to be less superficial, and less distracted. Of course I'm going to google things, and I'm going to use Google to do it, but why do I look up so many things that I really don't care about, like a dog chasing every car that comes down the road? I get to decide what things I look at, so I'm going to try to do that.
I was listening to J. Vernon - and I'm proud of myself that I don't even know what the J. stands for- (Justinian, Justin Martyr, Jethro, Jedidiah; something a Duggar would name their child?) and he gave a nice summary of a few books of the Bible.
He said that Romans is all about coming out of the house of bondage. That's beautiful, and gotta be true I'm sure. But I think of Romans 8 and how we cannot be separated from God. We've arrived in another house where we're safe. It's all about the assurance that apart from where it seem that I am, I am with and in God.
Mr. McGee said that Ephesians invites us to enter the banquet. I prefer buffets, where I can get up thirty times and get a little of this and a little of that, and sit with about three other people, who aren't waiting for me to finish my meal, which is really more of an event, and not waiting for me to get up and let them out of the booth. I want to be talking and eating and taking food off of each others' plates, not sitting in a roomful of people. But that's probably the type of banquet Ephesians would describe, not a stuffy room where I'm stuck between one person I don't know and one person I don't like and sitting across from someone who is too far away; blocked by the table decorations- a big bouquet comprised of tall honeycombs on brown stalks with fake blue glass marbles shining out from a tall glass vase. If I have to be in a room with people, I want to at least move around from seat to seat. I think if I'm ever in charge of a banquet, I'll have a point at which people will be encouraged to go sit somewhere else and mingle and some will want to, and some won't and then everybody will have the chance to talk to other people, and see which of the food they liked.
Hebrews describes how to approach the throne of grace and 1 John describes approaching the Divine Presence- (apart from capitalization, what's the difference?- I'll have to study it.) Also 1 John is describing salvation as a love affair with God as three things- love, light and life. He speaks to three stages of people, children, parents and young people. In Christ, all the listeners have been little children or still are, and know their Father. But parents who are still God's children, know more. They know their Father more and young people have been strong, able to overcome the wicked one. Presumably the Fathers have done that too?
I have rediscovered Mr. J. Vernon, and have not, as I've done with other celebrities, googled his name very much. I did go online to see if I could find a few pictures of him, and then to see if I could find a picture of he and his wife. I found someone with the same name as she, and watched a little interview she gave, which was very interesting, but I don't think I found a picture of J.'s Mrs. McGee.
I'm trying to be less superficial, and less distracted. Of course I'm going to google things, and I'm going to use Google to do it, but why do I look up so many things that I really don't care about, like a dog chasing every car that comes down the road? I get to decide what things I look at, so I'm going to try to do that.
I was listening to J. Vernon - and I'm proud of myself that I don't even know what the J. stands for- (Justinian, Justin Martyr, Jethro, Jedidiah; something a Duggar would name their child?) and he gave a nice summary of a few books of the Bible.
He said that Romans is all about coming out of the house of bondage. That's beautiful, and gotta be true I'm sure. But I think of Romans 8 and how we cannot be separated from God. We've arrived in another house where we're safe. It's all about the assurance that apart from where it seem that I am, I am with and in God.
Mr. McGee said that Ephesians invites us to enter the banquet. I prefer buffets, where I can get up thirty times and get a little of this and a little of that, and sit with about three other people, who aren't waiting for me to finish my meal, which is really more of an event, and not waiting for me to get up and let them out of the booth. I want to be talking and eating and taking food off of each others' plates, not sitting in a roomful of people. But that's probably the type of banquet Ephesians would describe, not a stuffy room where I'm stuck between one person I don't know and one person I don't like and sitting across from someone who is too far away; blocked by the table decorations- a big bouquet comprised of tall honeycombs on brown stalks with fake blue glass marbles shining out from a tall glass vase. If I have to be in a room with people, I want to at least move around from seat to seat. I think if I'm ever in charge of a banquet, I'll have a point at which people will be encouraged to go sit somewhere else and mingle and some will want to, and some won't and then everybody will have the chance to talk to other people, and see which of the food they liked.
Hebrews describes how to approach the throne of grace and 1 John describes approaching the Divine Presence- (apart from capitalization, what's the difference?- I'll have to study it.) Also 1 John is describing salvation as a love affair with God as three things- love, light and life. He speaks to three stages of people, children, parents and young people. In Christ, all the listeners have been little children or still are, and know their Father. But parents who are still God's children, know more. They know their Father more and young people have been strong, able to overcome the wicked one. Presumably the Fathers have done that too?
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
1 John 2:23-29 - Thru The Bible.Org
Thru the Bible - 1 John 2:23 - J. Vernon McGee
In this lesson, great men were mentioned who lived right because they lived with God. I don't like the term abide, or sanctification, or any other word that no longer means anything unless you've studied theology. If we used the phrase "live with" instead of abide, the teaching would be clear. It's a simple concept and amazingly difficult to do. We're told to live with Christ.
It seems hard to live with someone you can't see. And it's impossible to live with someone you haven't met. But I want to do it. I do it more and more.
One great quote about a man living with God was "At breakfast, he taught me the book of Mark." - Could I be a man like that, rather than someone who gets up to give "little sermonettes to Christianettes?"
Is there any reason to study and study but never apply anything or grow? The word sanctification should be replaced with the phrase "getting better" or growing. If I'm going to change, that won't come from learning about God, but from living with God.
Living with someone is completely different than studying them.
The only thing; the main thing is knowing Jesus, which is completely different than knowing about Him.
In this lesson, great men were mentioned who lived right because they lived with God. I don't like the term abide, or sanctification, or any other word that no longer means anything unless you've studied theology. If we used the phrase "live with" instead of abide, the teaching would be clear. It's a simple concept and amazingly difficult to do. We're told to live with Christ.
It seems hard to live with someone you can't see. And it's impossible to live with someone you haven't met. But I want to do it. I do it more and more.
One great quote about a man living with God was "At breakfast, he taught me the book of Mark." - Could I be a man like that, rather than someone who gets up to give "little sermonettes to Christianettes?"
Is there any reason to study and study but never apply anything or grow? The word sanctification should be replaced with the phrase "getting better" or growing. If I'm going to change, that won't come from learning about God, but from living with God.
Living with someone is completely different than studying them.
The only thing; the main thing is knowing Jesus, which is completely different than knowing about Him.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
A Movie about Nixon - Tom Hanks
I caught a few minutes of an interview with an author who wrote about Nixon and I was impressed with his ability to see several sides of his subject and to acknowledge weaknesses and strengths, which are present in all people, rather than reducing his thoughts to one perspective.
A life is by definition, complicated and varied.
In listening to how much Nixon wanted to be good, and how there is much evidence of the internal struggle he undertook while navigating the temptations of power, I thought that if another movie was made about him, Tom Hanks could handle the complexity of a role in which it would be great to see an actor who is so likable, yet buffeted by forces within and without to appear somewhat villainous.
As the author stated, Presidents of the United States leave a great paper trail to follow, and I would like to read the book perhaps, but I don't remember the title or the author, or even if they were mentioned in the portion of the interview I heard.
I'm putting it out in the blogosphere: Tom Hanks, and Mr. Author, whoever you are - I think this would make a great movie!
A life is by definition, complicated and varied.
In listening to how much Nixon wanted to be good, and how there is much evidence of the internal struggle he undertook while navigating the temptations of power, I thought that if another movie was made about him, Tom Hanks could handle the complexity of a role in which it would be great to see an actor who is so likable, yet buffeted by forces within and without to appear somewhat villainous.
As the author stated, Presidents of the United States leave a great paper trail to follow, and I would like to read the book perhaps, but I don't remember the title or the author, or even if they were mentioned in the portion of the interview I heard.
I'm putting it out in the blogosphere: Tom Hanks, and Mr. Author, whoever you are - I think this would make a great movie!
McD's
I really enjoy McDonald's and Taco Bell and Popeyes and any other place that has fried chicken. I don't think the quality of the food is as good at fast food restaurants compared with other places, but I think the differences are rather slight and the prices are quite different, considering that at a fast food place I can buy one item, sit there for hours, and don't need to leave a tip.
It feels really good to sit in air conditioning this time of year, and today I had an excuse to go to McD's, having gone to a survey place, which is another fascinating story.
Today at McD's there were three gentleman dressed in business attire who own or manage the store, but you can tell they're not there usually. The workers were nervous, and I think that made them slower than usual. One was friendly and one wasn't, and I wonder what they act like when the guys in suits aren't there.
I heard one of the guys in suits talking to a customer about McD's financial woes. He said that the corporate stores are suffering, but privately owned stores pay the employees more and when the employees are happy, everything works better. I have to agree, and I wanted to listen in on the whole conversation but didn't find the opportunity.
There are a lot of ways to help people do a better job, and money is one of them. I believe if we find the good, and tell people everything they are doing well, they will naturally do those things more and other people will follow and there will be less negative things going on, even if they are never addressed.
I hope McD's does well, and I hope they continue to offer some healthier choices. They could lead the way in using only whole grains if they chose. I think that would be great.
It feels really good to sit in air conditioning this time of year, and today I had an excuse to go to McD's, having gone to a survey place, which is another fascinating story.
Today at McD's there were three gentleman dressed in business attire who own or manage the store, but you can tell they're not there usually. The workers were nervous, and I think that made them slower than usual. One was friendly and one wasn't, and I wonder what they act like when the guys in suits aren't there.
I heard one of the guys in suits talking to a customer about McD's financial woes. He said that the corporate stores are suffering, but privately owned stores pay the employees more and when the employees are happy, everything works better. I have to agree, and I wanted to listen in on the whole conversation but didn't find the opportunity.
There are a lot of ways to help people do a better job, and money is one of them. I believe if we find the good, and tell people everything they are doing well, they will naturally do those things more and other people will follow and there will be less negative things going on, even if they are never addressed.
I hope McD's does well, and I hope they continue to offer some healthier choices. They could lead the way in using only whole grains if they chose. I think that would be great.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Buddy Freddy's for Father's Day
Buddy Freddy's is the best buffet ever, and it's not that close by but it is worth a trip. I would probably drive much further if only I had another excuse- like the drive is pretty or if there was a store nearby that sold something you can't just find anywhere, or if it's a good day for driving....
We went there on Father's Day and it occurred to me that both my Father and Grandfather went by the name Bud, although that wasn't the real name of either one.
There's a Bud's chicken in South Florida I love also and I think about that name and my progenitors every time we go there also.
We drove along to Buddy Freddy's and sang songs we thought our Fathers would have liked, but we didn't talk about dads too much. There were innumerable items available, but I remember I had strawberry shortcake (with yellow cake, macerated strawberries and whipped cream), greens, brussels sprouts, carrot souffle, fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried chicken, meatloaf, some other beef dish, corn pudding, cherry cobbler, peach cobbler. I only had a little of each thing and probably more that I can't remember.
The food was great.
We went there on Father's Day and it occurred to me that both my Father and Grandfather went by the name Bud, although that wasn't the real name of either one.
There's a Bud's chicken in South Florida I love also and I think about that name and my progenitors every time we go there also.
We drove along to Buddy Freddy's and sang songs we thought our Fathers would have liked, but we didn't talk about dads too much. There were innumerable items available, but I remember I had strawberry shortcake (with yellow cake, macerated strawberries and whipped cream), greens, brussels sprouts, carrot souffle, fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried chicken, meatloaf, some other beef dish, corn pudding, cherry cobbler, peach cobbler. I only had a little of each thing and probably more that I can't remember.
The food was great.
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1101 Goldfinch Dr
Plant City, FL 33563
TTB - 1 John Chapter 2
1 John 2 - J. Vernon McGee
Through the Bible - June 22, 2015
Salvation vs. sanctification - His work for us vs. His work in us.
Staying in the right place so that God lives through us when we yield. "McGee has really nothing to say, and nothing to give; sort of an average human being."
Three things in the world that are good, but we need to avoid because they are temptations.
Lust of the flesh - Eve knows fruit was good for food. Jesus tempted to turn stones into bread. People tempted with gluttony and over-indulgence.
Lust of the eyes - Eve sees a tree that is good to look at. Jesus tempted with the beautiful kingdoms of the world. We see an attractive world.
Pride of life - Eve tempted to become wise. Jesus tempted to prove who He is to demonstrate his superiority and we're tempted to believe that we have arrived.
Why is the world not our focus?
The world and the lusts of it pass away. Example: Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London that held great power in magnificent ways.
I'm really glad that I heard Mr. J. Vernon years ago and that I've rediscovered his Thru the Bible series, despite the spelling of through. I enjoyed reading a little bit about him from the man's grandson in a blog I found with Google and I believe, like Marilyn Monroe, the person was someone I may not have liked very much, but the impact, image or legacy can be very profound.
Today he spoke about three temptations, and how food and sex can be temptations- yet both are necessary, and fine; even good. Where do we draw the lines? Our world is so focused on food. The only people I like sit around and talk about food with me- my family, and all the friends I can think of, except for one. Sex is everywhere implied. These are mainly expressed through the eyes- the whole world is about image; very few mediums combine food and sex, but every show on tv is about one of them; except maybe sports, which is a substitute arena of life for men to show their emotions- so it must have something to do with sex. And we are bombarded with knowledge- maybe not wisdom. We're looking around for more and more to be better and better and enmeshed in all three of the temptations of the world spoken of in Genesis and in the gospels.
Through the Bible - June 22, 2015
Salvation vs. sanctification - His work for us vs. His work in us.
Staying in the right place so that God lives through us when we yield. "McGee has really nothing to say, and nothing to give; sort of an average human being."
Three things in the world that are good, but we need to avoid because they are temptations.
Lust of the flesh - Eve knows fruit was good for food. Jesus tempted to turn stones into bread. People tempted with gluttony and over-indulgence.
Lust of the eyes - Eve sees a tree that is good to look at. Jesus tempted with the beautiful kingdoms of the world. We see an attractive world.
Pride of life - Eve tempted to become wise. Jesus tempted to prove who He is to demonstrate his superiority and we're tempted to believe that we have arrived.
Why is the world not our focus?
The world and the lusts of it pass away. Example: Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London that held great power in magnificent ways.
I'm really glad that I heard Mr. J. Vernon years ago and that I've rediscovered his Thru the Bible series, despite the spelling of through. I enjoyed reading a little bit about him from the man's grandson in a blog I found with Google and I believe, like Marilyn Monroe, the person was someone I may not have liked very much, but the impact, image or legacy can be very profound.
Today he spoke about three temptations, and how food and sex can be temptations- yet both are necessary, and fine; even good. Where do we draw the lines? Our world is so focused on food. The only people I like sit around and talk about food with me- my family, and all the friends I can think of, except for one. Sex is everywhere implied. These are mainly expressed through the eyes- the whole world is about image; very few mediums combine food and sex, but every show on tv is about one of them; except maybe sports, which is a substitute arena of life for men to show their emotions- so it must have something to do with sex. And we are bombarded with knowledge- maybe not wisdom. We're looking around for more and more to be better and better and enmeshed in all three of the temptations of the world spoken of in Genesis and in the gospels.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Dis-incarnation
I heard someone talking about dis-incarnation on Christian radio, which is a term that I had not heard but a concept I am very familiar with.
My Dad used to help me with this issue by screaming "WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" This was very effective because it stuck in my head at least through today, which is at least 40some years, and will probably continue living there.
He once told me that he couldn't do anything right when his Father was watching. But he seemed to not realize that he had the same effect on me.
Dis-incarnation was described as a state of being somewhere else, which people are doing to themselves in movies and tv and "phones" that they carry around with them for a quick hit every five minutes or so.
My Dad used to help me with this issue by screaming "WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" This was very effective because it stuck in my head at least through today, which is at least 40some years, and will probably continue living there.
He once told me that he couldn't do anything right when his Father was watching. But he seemed to not realize that he had the same effect on me.
Dis-incarnation was described as a state of being somewhere else, which people are doing to themselves in movies and tv and "phones" that they carry around with them for a quick hit every five minutes or so.
Cletha's Short Story
I've been wanting to write about my neighbor for the longest. And I have written a paragraph or two somewhere- maybe an email to Maria?
I was driving along and saw a license plate saying CLETHA and decided that would be a great name for Nancy.
I was driving along and saw a license plate saying CLETHA and decided that would be a great name for Nancy.
IKEA short story.
Today I went to breakfast at IKEA, and thought again to write a short story about it.
I'm in the process of deciding what to name it. I don't want to put the name of the store in the story, but refer to it constantly through phrases where the first letter of each word spells the name and in which words that sound like it are used throughout.
Example: I keep everything always...
I like the awkwardness of this phrase and I want the entire story to seem a little quirky and then when the reader realizes the many allusions to the name IKEA they'll hopefully have a different opinion.
I believe I'll feature a before and after; parking in 4B at first and then after an epiphany or change of some sort, having the protagonist park in 2B.
The best part about the store is the smell of cinnamon, and it's free. I saved up a buck to buy a roll one time and it wasn't even good so I went back to just smelling them.
I'm in the process of deciding what to name it. I don't want to put the name of the store in the story, but refer to it constantly through phrases where the first letter of each word spells the name and in which words that sound like it are used throughout.
Example: I keep everything always...
I like the awkwardness of this phrase and I want the entire story to seem a little quirky and then when the reader realizes the many allusions to the name IKEA they'll hopefully have a different opinion.
I believe I'll feature a before and after; parking in 4B at first and then after an epiphany or change of some sort, having the protagonist park in 2B.
The best part about the store is the smell of cinnamon, and it's free. I saved up a buck to buy a roll one time and it wasn't even good so I went back to just smelling them.
Preaching
The pastor who mentioned that the only Bible we have is the one we know; the information we keep in our heads- also mentioned that each group of believers that has thrived under persecution has had their own music, developed from their own culture.
I've written some "new songs" in pieces, and want to develop them and the knack for finishing things.
I've written some "new songs" in pieces, and want to develop them and the knack for finishing things.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Fabulous First Paragraph - The Time Before History - Colin Tudge
Fabulous First Paragraph
The Time Before History - 5 Million Years of Human Impact
by Colin Tudge
Prologue: A Proper History of Mankind
How odd it is to suggest, as historians conventionally do, that the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans were "ancient." They had advanced technologies for architecture, engineering, and agriculture; they made war, paid taxes, studied the stars, developed the arts and miscellaneous philosophies, and allowed themselves to be organized by priests, generals, and bureaucrats. If any of us were whisked into their midst we would be struck at first by their quaintness and their foreignness and by the alarming proximity of death, but we would soon feel more or less at home. At least, we would soon be irked by the same day-to-day necessities of housekeeping and social intercourse that beset us now- and stunned, when we found the leisure to look around, by the brilliance of their technologies and the excellence of their arts and crafts.
The truth is, of course, that those people were not "ancient" at all.
p.17 The pharaonic Egyptians had reached the peak that they did only after several thousand years of civilization. This point is made by Plato.
Egyptians had at that time been a culture for millenia, with "correspondingly ancient memories and traditions" of about six thousand years, roughly the same amount of time we look back upon and call "history."
This is a great first paragraph by Colin Tudge.
The Time Before History - 5 Million Years of Human Impact
by Colin Tudge
Prologue: A Proper History of Mankind
How odd it is to suggest, as historians conventionally do, that the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans were "ancient." They had advanced technologies for architecture, engineering, and agriculture; they made war, paid taxes, studied the stars, developed the arts and miscellaneous philosophies, and allowed themselves to be organized by priests, generals, and bureaucrats. If any of us were whisked into their midst we would be struck at first by their quaintness and their foreignness and by the alarming proximity of death, but we would soon feel more or less at home. At least, we would soon be irked by the same day-to-day necessities of housekeeping and social intercourse that beset us now- and stunned, when we found the leisure to look around, by the brilliance of their technologies and the excellence of their arts and crafts.
The truth is, of course, that those people were not "ancient" at all.
p.17 The pharaonic Egyptians had reached the peak that they did only after several thousand years of civilization. This point is made by Plato.
Egyptians had at that time been a culture for millenia, with "correspondingly ancient memories and traditions" of about six thousand years, roughly the same amount of time we look back upon and call "history."
This is a great first paragraph by Colin Tudge.
Finally, I see a belief that has seemed obvious to me, reflected in print and expressed clearly. We have about six thousand years of culture, but currently everything older than modern times is so gauzy it might be called myth. When did modern times start? I say modern times began either with Alexander, who made the world ready for the Hebrew/Greek synthesis that created the West, or with Luther, who gave us a successful attempt at breaking the hegemony of Medieval life. Those are my top two choices: times defined by people. But of course we could divide time the way we already do, around the person of Jesus, into A.D; even if we now call it C.E. In any case, history has revolved around that incarnation, as we define history today.
Never Change - Elizabeth Berg
204 × 301 - publishersweekly.com
I'm just like Myra except I don't have a career and I'm a guy.
The book is written very well. I look forward to others by this author.
I'm just like Myra except I don't have a career and I'm a guy.
The book is written very well. I look forward to others by this author.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
A Book I'd Like To Write - Head, Heart, Hands and Health: How the First of the 3 Hs Ruined the Fourth
A Book I'd Like To Write
Head, Heart, Hands and Health:
or
How the First 3 of the Hs Unintentionally Ruined the Fourth
I was at Sweet Tomatoes. I like all the food at Sweet Tomatoes. But, when I go there, I want to eat a little of all the food at Sweet Tomatoes and that is too much food at one time.
We talked about 4H, and I didn't know what the Hs were. We each took turns thinking that out, and they're all great; the real ones that we confirmed and the potential ones that we thought of. As far as I know, the organization is great too. But later, when I was thinking about how much sugar we eat and how our selves get chopped off in little bits starting from the bottom, I considered that maybe we have focused on the top half and not the bottom half of us.
Finding meaning only in intellect, emotions and doing, Western civilization has ignored a huge part of our health.
Let's see: there's the head, which is understandably emphasized, and the wrestling match between the head and the heart: a lot is made of that.. Then there are the hands. We emphasize doing, not being- and that has affected our health.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Game of Thrones Season One (2011) - Simple Snarky Summary
Game of Thrones Season One (2011) - Simple Snarky Summary
445 × 649 - pleasuresoftheguiltydead.blogspot.com
Well... it's been about ten minutes.
I guess it's time for some blood.
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