Furthermore…

Man, all beaten and battered, wakes up and,  seeing devils standing around him, says:

“Where in the hell am I?!”

It’s a way of feeling powerful. It’s a good feeling, in the middle of all the indecision. So much of the time it seems like other people call the tune. At least with this no one else has a say.  They all think they know all the answers. There is no clear answer. It doesn’t have to be all spelled out or explained. At least it is simpler. It really is no one else’s business. Who really knows the full extent of it? It could be that really nothing much is harmed. It’s a defensible choice a lot of people agree with. And if there are any consequences, so be it. It has to be taken care of! 

Adam and Eve looking at each other, as thought balloons over their heads show they are thinking about each others’ DNA.

I heard a radio program about the holy oils mentioned in the Bible. There is a firm which markets them. I was fascinated, and when I heard they have one made out of roses, I had to have it for my sister, who is totally devoted to her roses. Also, I bought a sampler of little vials of each oil, just so I could experience them and have a better idea of their fragrances. I love the Rose of Sharon, very heady, and Oil of Pomegranate which is fruity and such a trip - I LOVE it!!!!!  

So I bought some of the gift packages,  one of each oil, for Christmas presents. I sent Pomegranate to my cousin Mary, who has been having some hard times. They come in little roll-on dispensers in gold foil finish boxes that knock your eyes out.

There is a lot of information and lore, both biblical and extra-biblical, connected with these oils, even some health benefits associated with them. All-in-all (block that pun) finding out about them has been quite an enriching education for me. 

Pastor to group of volunteers having a grand old time:

“Let me remind you this meeting is about fund raising, not fun raising!”

A Catholic radio host devoted a segment to discussion of the out of control pornography problem today. What was not covered was the way it is only an exacerbation of the sex-drenched state of the culture at large.

 Surely Venus in all her eroticism burst out of bedroom privacy long ago, and about the only thing that distinguishes unmistakable pornography from most of the rest of the media output is that it is noticibly more explicit,  focused and concentrated as it is on intimate anatomical contact. Analogous to how a developing fetus in the womb  is fully human from conception to birth,  there being no definable line that is crossed separating mere biology from genuine humanity, the fun-cute-fashionable-glamorous-exciting-hot-sinful continuum crosses no clearly marked foul  lines, but just advances along a continually increasing shading of grey.

 It is, if you will, a Slippery Slope.

I used to pray, certainly not often enough, to the Holy Spirit to help me remember stuff on exams, understand difficult school material such as mathematics, or to “enlighten” other people who seemed to be trapped in darkness (because they didn’t seem to see things the way I thought they should).  Some of this might be reasonable and laudable, but I sense that there is also an admisture of wrongheadedness: the Holy Spirit has better things to do! Maybe we should be more inclined to handle those  worldly matters ourselves.

More specifically, I now prefer to think of the Holy Spirit as being concerned almost exclusively with pointing out and reminding us of the place of God in our lives, the need to stop ignoring and brushing Him off, and to, shall I say,  ’get our holiness on,’ becoming conscious of and appreciating  spiritual and moral aspects of  the people, surroundings and developments making up our chaotic lives. 

 So when we pray “Come Holy Spirit” it shouldn’t be out of frustration with a banal problem, as one might call a room clerk, but rather a call for that holy enlightenment which helps us to see the matter in the perspective of eternity. 

Adam, to frowning Eve:

“How many times do I have to tell you? There is no other woman!”

Many people, sometime in their lives, are convinced by in a discussion that one or another article of faith is flawed.  The argument might go something like “What! You believe such-and such?  Don’t your realize that actually…  ” and then some materialistic explanation is adduced for what was formerly ascribed to supernatural or faith-based origins. 

This is bad enough, but a worse effect is that the abandoned understanding is no longer given place on a level playing field with all other ways of seeing things.  It is as though it is confined to a musty closet of thoughts no longer worth thinking because, after all, it has been ‘disproven.’

Thus, even a skilled apologist will have to come up with double the arguments to get the person to reconsider what he had previously set aside. And the person, left to himself, will probably never reconsider the matter, which is seen as permanently settled, and himself as auspiciously enlightened. 

Pastor to congregation:

“Those who say I talk too much about money should realize that the more they give, the less I will talk about it!”