Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002 Hold on! Nihil Obstat got me. The proofreader of the Catholic blogs takes me to task for my apostrophe in the use of the plural for pro as in a pro musician. I actually did stop to think about how to make it plural. Now that I think about it, I suppose I have always seen it written as the pros. Looks wrong, but it's what it is. Point taken. Second point made is that my link goes to the Independant and not the Telegraph. My mistake again. Corrections made. posted by Mark Butterworth | 11:39 PM | At-one-ment Kairos (link on the right) has two interesting blogs on the concept (or reality) of atonement and Jesus. One of these days I will have to explain why atonement was not the purpose of Jesus even though the need to restore at-one-ment with God is an essential human desire and trait. (And the desire for revenge is so persistent so as to seek to blame and punish.) Atonement in the ancient world, for one thing, is sacrificial. Something must be destroyed or killed or offered to others in order to restore one to another or to God. At-one-ment is a breakdown of some barrier that stands between people or between one with God. Atonement requires something external to sacrifice - a goat, a Messiah. At-one-ment requires something internal to be altered or opened to grace which is always present - tears, acknowledgement of guilt, acceptance of responsibility, sorrow, shame. A rebirth into life and away from death. The difference between mercy and sacrifice - and the knowledge of God - which is ultimately humbling. posted by Mark Butterworth | 10:52 PM | Down to the sea in Pick-ups Going to the coast with the Fam for a few days so I won't be posting until I return. posted by Mark Butterworth | 10:13 PM | The Great Brain (Anybody remember the book series? It was nice.) Anyway, don't mess with me. I've got a bigger and better brain than you. This just in from the UK Independant: By Lorna Duckworth, Health Correspondent Musicians have bigger and more sensitive brains than people who do not play instruments, scientists revealed yesterday. The auditory cortex, which is the part of the brain concerned with hearing, contains 130 per cent more "grey matter" in professional musicians than in non-musicians. I am not exactly a pro musician, but I have been playing more and composing more than amateurs do for the most part for over 30 years. I have also played with pros and they don't complain about my chops. And not rock and roll, but all kinds of music. I can rock the Bach almost as good as Johann the Man when it comes to throwing down the dots. The article doesn't say what's so good about having more auditory cortex working for you. Lots of great musicians are idiots in many respects. What exactly are we more sensitive to other than music? But hey, hooray for me! I got bragging rights. posted by Mark Butterworth | 2:15 AM | The Problem of Prayer Many fellow Christians often suggest the remedy to any problem is prayer. In particular, we keep hearing calls to prayer about the RCC and the bishops and the situation. But when has prayer directed in this manner ever shown to be efficacious in the least. It's like the No-Nukes, Peace Now, Share the Wealth people. They keep asking but they aren't getting the Disney world they desire. Why not? Why doesn't prayer seem to work in this way? And how many prayers do we have to make? If I petition God once to see that my daughter arrives home safely from a trip, is it even more effective if I say the rosary until she actually arrives? The ancient Jews (maybe modern ones, too, for all I know) believed that if every Jew kept the Sabbath as he ought, then the Day of the Lord would arrive and carry them all away into the new heavens and earth in a flash. The reason the world was so screwed up was because of slackers letting down the team. Maybe this is true. If all the people became Christians and followed the Lord perfectly, all our big prayers might be answered. But today, we know that they aren't. We can't pray our way into essential social reforms because the hearts of men are not to be tampered with by God. We can't really ask God to soften others' hearts as I so often hear some asking. Asking God to change other people is nearly always a doomed request. (Note - I wrote nearly not absolutely.) It is our task to change, and not God's job to change others. God is rather an impassive being despite his great love for us. (Or maybe because of his great love for us.) The kind of childish and magical thinking is touching because we are rather helpless in so many ways - this "if only I wish hard enough, God will have to give it to me" kind of thinking. It's heartbreaking, indeed, to see this spirit crushed - but that's what God does. He crushes our hearts and our spirits and he does this on purpose: to build us up in faith, understanding, compassion, and love. It is through our broken hearts that we learn the depth of our emotional and spiritual resources, and the strength and persistence of our delusions. If we are to learn to think like God, we have to be stripped of ordinary perceptions and understandings. We are the Hell that must be harrowed and scoured. It is misery indeed. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a living God. posted by Mark Butterworth | 12:49 AM | Sullied Sully Andrew Sullivan wrote this: "The vast majority of gay men abhor pedophilia, and the vast majority of non-bigoted straight people know this." (Y'all have his link by now). If you don't know this, it makes you a bigot, of course; but I have to say that I have no scientific proof for what I am about to say. It relies on anecdotal evidence from millions of sources. The fact is that homosexual men, particularly young and middle aged men, spend a great deal of time cruising for boys - teenage boys. Back in the 60's my friends and I were usually picked up by homosexuals when we hitchhiked who then propositioned us. One friend of mine was quite the beautiful blond and cars came to a screeching halt if he stuck out his thumb. The testimony from homosexual men attests to the lengths they have gone to seduce teenage boys. Perhaps as homosexual men get older they are less likely to do so, but probably not because they are less depraved, but simply know how repulsive they are - which helps explain why they might pick on more captive children and teens in schools and churches. Sullivan is always trying to legitimize his depravity and claim a circumspection and rectitude (no, let's try probity, no let's try decency) which begs many questions. The promiscuity of homosexual men is legendary (and factual); along with a hunger for "chickens". Who is Sully trying to kid? I'd love to see a study asking homosexual men if their first encounters as teenagers were with older men or not. And asking how many of them ever propositioned or tried to seduce a teenage boy of whatever inclination. I would bet we'd see some very high numbers to both questions as "yes, I went after teenage boys just as I was went after." posted by Mark Butterworth | 12:30 AM | Monday, June 17, 2002 Time to Vote! I got this e-mail from Bryan Preston at JunkYardBlog (lin on the right). Go there. You'll know what to do. Fellow Bloggers, There's a web poll on the top of the Taliban's site that deserves a CAIR-ful treatment. Here's the link: http://www.talibanonline.net/index.asp. Let's go get 'em... Bryan posted by Mark Butterworth | 12:11 AM | Sunday, June 16, 2002 Kudos to a Wunderkind My daughter ( a junior) completed her final assignment in her drama class. The teacher (knocking them dead as Sweeney Todd in Davis just now) told her that her monologue was not only one of the best ever selected (it was an obscure piece from an old library book), but that her performance was without doubt one of (if not) the best he'd ever witnessed in his years teaching drama at the high school. She was thrilled, of course, with his assessment. She has developed her abilities in this area to a degree which stands head and shoulders above others. Which is what causes me so much grief as I contemplate her in New York trying to make a living in the theater. I dread hearing her tell me years hence that it just isn't happening for her. And she comes home with her head down and her heart broken. Life is not the same after one's dreams are crushed. There are still many great joys ahead and to be found in the present, but never being able to realize the expression of what you excell at is a pain that never entirely dies. I know first hand. Even so, the delight I get from watching her study, strive, and succeed is immense; and her own sense of accomplishment and confidence brings her great joy and purpose. We are all capable of so much good when we have the chance to thrive. posted by Mark Butterworth | 3:45 AM | The Church as we know it Well, the fiasco in Dallas went about as I expected. The bishops agreed to look remorseful while a few were given the privilege to chastise them. They said they were sorry. Some may even have shed a few crocodile tears. Once that was taken care of, business as usual - a cover up and abdication of responsibility. Let's look at their great new policy. One strike and you're in. They haven't bothered to explain to the laity what this actually means, but we know they want to be merciful and forgiving (how sweet of them). Yet, these one-strikers will be supported for the rest of their lives by who? The laity. Molest a child - get a pension. What a curious consequence. The bishops proved they they truly do believe themselves (and the priesthood) to be holier than thou. I mean that literally. They believe that ordination confers upon them a status which raises them above ordinary laws, consequences for bad behavior, and grants a right to be financially supported for their entire lives. It is blasphemy that they consider themselves greater than the merely baptized, but that doesn't really matter when you own a Church. All the other issues of importance were ignored, swept away, and any accountability among bishops and cardinals was marvelously ignored. Folks, the foxes own the hen-house - what did you expect? Also, these supposed monasteries that such aberrant priests are intended for - what did they do to deserve someone who doesn't belong among them? Monastic life is for volunteers, and presents a need for honesty, integrity, prayer, diligence, and such in very constricted quarters. Chapter meetings are intended to be community building like AA meetings where folks can examine themselves openly and honestly, where vulnerabilities are exposed and tenderly handled. It is not the place for a criminal who may simply be serving time. Plus, they will have to be paid for by someone. Or they are going to end up where? In the bishop's chancery, or some treatment facility for life? It makes no sense for the Church to assume responsibility for such men. But it makes perfect sense if you are certain that you were called by God and raised to an office which is holier than others and given to a promise which you can't break and which God won't. If you get through some seminary - that's it - you're set because, well, that's doctrine. (I wonder what priests in Hell have to say about that unbreakable covenant and promise?) Jesus did not call anyone to become a mixture of good and bad. He calls us to be perfect as our father in heaven is perfect. No one expects us to never fail in that process of sanctification, though; yet, it does not excuse responsibility ever. What we saw in Dallas was a collective washing of bishops' and priests' hands. It was an abject surrender to expediency and clericalism. All feelings of sorrow were temporary breast beatings followed by self-absolutions. The bishops and priests in general are exceptionally good at the pretended sincerity and unctuous gesture and lip service. If any man were truly sincere and able to recognize the horror inflicted upon a child by the rape of a man, a priest - and that that man knew he had helped to make that horror happen - why such a man would be close to suicidal despair over his culpability. Have we seen any such depth of shame among any of the bishops and cardinals? Heard any convincing expressions of remorse and guilt? Weakland, for all his faults, at least had the soul and courage to admit his guilt and shame, and to act accordingly. posted by Mark Butterworth | 2:20 AM | |
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