Kev's Musings and Shared Journal

'That which is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist, from the planting of the human race until Christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion which already existed came to be called Christianity.'

-Saint Augustine

Where are you going, in such a hurry?

Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're bobbing up and down on your skinny legs as if you want to jump through the sky...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're crawling across the floor away from daddy and mommy, to who knows where...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're standing on tippy toes and walking across the room, smiling and laughing as you go..
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're getting on the the school bus, your first day to carry a backpack and your first day at the elementary...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're bringing home pictures of yourself and daddy wearing red hair, because you want to be just like him...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're bringing home love notes for mommy on mother's day...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're carrrying out your skateboard to ride with your friends...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're riding your bike over ramps and within the boundaries we've set in the neighborhood...
Where are you going, in such a hurry?
You're starting the fifth grade, the senior of your grade school class now...

W h e r e___A r e___Y o u___G o i n g___I n___S u c h___A___H u r r y ?

R a d i c a l l y_____P r o t e s t a n t
and real magic


That I can experience the Father through the Son and the Spirit, directly with no intermediaries.

The Mystery of the Crucifixion, where He took on my sin and put on me his righteousness, that He may become me, and I may become Him.

That prayer, simple and pure, issuing from a contrite heart can be a direct access to the Transcendent and Immanent in All Things.

That 'All things work together for the Good of those who love Him.'

This is Christian Magic at it's finest.

Esoteric Christianity

The path has led me here. Not being able to relinquish the Christianity I was raised with, I have settled into the esoteric Path.

The basic tenets of Esoteric Christianity are the same as those of outer Christianity, it's just that it obviously looks inward and does not believe the Scriptures have to be 100% historically accurate in order for them to be true. The Scriptures, whether they be concretely factually true or not, contain a wealth of spiritual truths.

One is the explanation of the tripartite soul of man.
He has a Spirit, which is the inner 'I' that experiences and just 'is'.
He has a Soul, which is the house of the emotions and thoughts.
He has a Body, which is the Flesh, tempted by the 'carnal' sins of the world.

The Soul is the receptacle of the emotions and thoughts.
Thoughts and emotions are not the Soul.
They are considered to be part of the world.

So the main demarcation is between the 'Inner I', the true me or my Spirit, and the world.

God is the Father, who is transcendent.
God is the Son, without Whom nothing was created and is immanent.
God is the Spirit, the glue that binds the Son to the Father.
And there is also Sophia, Wisdom, who is personified as 'She' and has been coexistent with the Son.

Though God is transcendent of sex, He has been understood by man in both masculine terms and feminine terms.

In esoteric Christianity, all men, all women, are Adam and Eve, the primordial man and woman God originally created.

Adam and Eve, and we along with them, chose to know the difference between good and evil over complete union with God, and as a result we fell, and Nature with us.

This could only be remedied by the sacrifice of the Son so that Nature, the Earth, and us as Adam could be in union with the Father once again.

In esoteric Christianity, the planets affect men, though not to an obsessive degree. In early Christianity, there were seven planets...Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets were described as having both beneficient and detrimental influences on Man.

In addition, the Universe, in esoteric Christianity, is alive, and for those who have accepted Christ, is redeemed and blessed by Him.

One exercise esoteric Christians participate in is the prayer of the heart which goes as follows and is prayed throughout the day: 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner.'

Esotericists believe through Christ living in us, we have a divine spark that will survive death. Some esotericists believe that Spirits, upon death, will be able to chose whether they want union with God at this juncture, or want to return, re-incarnated to fulfill a mission or take care of unfinished business. I am not going to touch this one yet, though I am more open minded about the possibilities of an afterlife compared to stricter, more 'conservative' Christians.

Those who burn in hell, which is separation from God, will do so because that's where they're most comfortable, and it will be of their own choosing.

The experience of heaven for those who have accepted Christ will provide men with that level which they have been prepared for in their life.

Heaven will be the Pleroma, that fullness, where we will once again enjoy union with God...as we did before the Fall.

A p o c a l y p s e_____N o w

Somewhere in the world, perhaps next door to you, someone is experiencing a personal apocalypse.
Everything they hold dear is vanishing before their eyes.
All rationality is splintering into shards, transmuting into the irrational.
This is making them question their sanity, their ability to reason, and even their perception of the world.
If you lack something for which to pray, pray for those who are suffering.
They need it.

Freud, the Great Atheist, would diagnose you as being infantile.

The World, in all it's Rush to Get Things Done, would call you immature.

But the Great Eastern Sages looked at the Child, and saw it's intelligence.

And Jesus in the New Covenant, said you must become One to enter His Kingdom.

Child.

Flexible.

Rational.

Rightly Full of Wonder.

Remember and Recover that you may forget the World and Remember the Divine.

The wolf doesn't care how many sheep there are, but you can safely become a little lamb.

Again.

T h o u g h t___f o r___t h e___D a y

This comes from my cool, existentialist, Husserl-quoting Sunday School Teacher.

'Freedom is the Reality, Control is an Illusion.'

N a t i o n a l___I m p a t i e n c e___D a y

I hereby call for a National Impatience Day.

If while waiting in traffic at a stoplight, when the light turns green, and the person in front of you hasn't gone within 5 seconds, you may, with all good feeling, lay on the horn and yell at the driver to Go!

If, while in a restaraunt, your waitperson does not take your drink order right away, you may complain to the manager. Let alone if they don't take your food order in a timely manner. If the food isn't forthcoming, you may leave your table, make your way to the kitchen, and dress down the cooks.

All the high maintenance people in your life. While they are being difficult, you may raise your hand and tell them to talk to it. You may reflect their difficultness (complain about your coworkers, the boss, the working conditions) and even give them the finger behind their back.

If you're studying for a test, and the knowledge is not exactly forthcoming, you may drop the manual or textbook you're reading, or you may cease writing the paper you're preparing, and then you may completely drop the ball and not keep pressing on. Feel free to drink heavily instead and invite friends over for an impromptu party.

Make up your own National Impatience Day instances. Be a freestyler! It may involve your spouse, your siblings, your children, your boss, your pastor, your dry cleaner.

The key is to live in the moment and the moment only. If the moment isn't happening the way it should, feel free to intervene and make a scene about it.

T h e_____L a d y_____i n_______t h e_____W a t e r

Do not listen to the detractors.

Bryce Dallas Howard is just the right girl to play the sea nymph from the Blue World.

The storyline is impeccable.

The storyline is unpredictable.

The rest of the actors are excellent.

The Mythical is alive in this movie.

The shots are nebulous....even mysterious.

The threats are manifest...you know what you're up against.

Very Good Movie!

See it at the theatre!

A l l I s G r a c e

But what is all this pondering, counter-pondering and pontificating?

All is Grace anyway!

Cheers!

War.

It is fought over land which erodes, a kingdom which passes away, ideas which change over time, religions which become less certain and more peaceful, class structure which becomes subverted, and on and on.

Republicans are perceived to be warmongers, but in all honesty they are pragmatists who realize the necessity of the martial aspect of society that contributes to it's well being and future health.

Democrats are perceived to be diplomacists who would allow the entire Republic to be engulfed in flames while wringing their hands bartering with Tyrants; where in all honesty, they seek a rational principle in dealing with people to solve problems.

All else is politics.

V o l i t i o n a n d P h y s i c s

If you ever feel like you're being pulled in all directions, it's because you are being pulled in all directions.

Next realize that through your own volition, you can pull the entire universe in your train just by walking across the room.

The former lets you identify a problem. The latter helps you solve the problem wisely.

'Rock'

We change things by observing them.

What was simply 'Rock' now is white. Bumpy. Oval. Dusty. Clean on the underside. Coarse to the touch. Salty to the taste. Silent to the ear. Possessing no smell, where it may have smelled before.

This is one way we participate in changing the Universe. Oftentimes for the better.

Divine Providence inviting us mortals into her realm and allowing us to offer what we have to contribute.

Discovery

I read a quote from the Discovery space shuttle crew I felt was timely.

They reported flying over the Middle East, which as we all know, the Israelis and Arabs are at odds, and said that it looked peaceful from their vantage point.

This is one example where science, rooted in Rationality and Empiricism, can provide us with an emotional Truth.

We just have the one planet for the foreseeable future.

Looking at the Earth from space's perspective, there's plenty of room for all of us.

I, as they said, hope we can soon find some Peace.

To Be a Man

In the Old Testament, He presents as a loud, Warrior King Who has chosen a nation for His own.

In the New Testament, except for a very few instances, He is the peaceful Lily Poet Who choses individuals to work in His peacable Kingdom.

This is not unprecedented.

Apollo, the Warrior God of Homer in the Iliad becomes the Harmonious God of the Lyre in Pindar's verses.

Are we not cast in this same way?

As youths, we are irrational, bombastic and willing to take on all comers.

With the onset of just a little bit of age, we become quieter, more contemplative and agreeable.

Manliness then implies the ability to leave the everyday practical existence we knew as youths to ponder the special, sublime and abstract philosophy.

As men, we must cast aside any attacks on our manhood in appreciating Virtue, Beauty and Love.

We must be unafraid in tackling the 'Big Picture' with the weapons we have gained in our arsenal.

For we have learned by experience and reading books. Studying to show ourselves approved.

And as men, we should remember the Nature of our youth.

The threat of hornets, the beauty of the hornets' nests.

We must remember that Need and Danger are often bound up into One.

And that our job is to peacefully remember the Beauty in Nature our Hearts most desire.

In the Victorian era, men knew that Nature was the Shadow of Heaven, and that Art was the Shadow of Nature.

As men, we must once again grasp the Truth and make it our own.

Casting aside all fear of being considered effete, we must be unafraid to appreciate the delicate.

And More, protect the Delicate in ourselves.

One definition of Mysticism

Evelyn Underhill in her book 'Mysticism' says that Mysticism is Union with the Divine.

But I would counter that Mysticism is the recognition that Evil must exist to serve the Good. And perhaps even vice-versa.

In the Book of Job, Satan freely enters into the host of Yahweh, already the implication being he has terms with the Almighty, and then actually freely converses with Him on friendly terms.

'You've got this servant Job...

let me at 'im and let us see how he does...'

A friendly wager among Old Friends that involves the Fate of a wretched human.

This brings to mind the concept of the Tao...the Way that existed before Divinity, setting a pattern that works like this:

Where you find Good, Evil is close on it's heels.

Or actually, bound up in it.

What's good for the goose may be good for the gander, but not for the other goose, so to speak.

For every Good Thing that arises, there is an Evil Thing that counter-arises, so that even Goodnes can entail Evilness.

The Reason for all this Rising and Counter-Arising?

Balance.

Nothing would be in Balance, and All would be out of Balance, if this Order of Good and Evil did note exist.

So that when the Creator formed the world, this Tao, or this Way, was necessarily distributed throughout the entire Universe...Nominal and Phenomenal.

This can be one explanation of Evil in the world that does not entail an incompetent, malevolent Creator.

The Universe was created by an All-Good God...but He had limitations...due to the Way that preceded Him.

Otherwise, the question is put:

How can anything Evil spring from something All-Good?

If God were perfect, how did he create the most beautiful Angel, who fell, and then the most beautiful creature, Man, who also fell?

Perfection implies that nothing imperfect can come from it.

If you have a perfect jewel, no matter how you cut it, it's components will then be perfect.

Which brings us back to our answer.

That perfection is the Proper Balance of Good and Evil.

Which leads lastly to my definition of Mysticism:

The realization that Good and Evil are on good terms with each other.

I M a y B e W r o n g

There is, I believe, a vast amount of American people who have no concept of Husbandry.

The idea, the proper way to raise cattle, sow fields, reap harvests, and prepare the ground for future harvests.

This is all supposed to be done by the sweat of our brows.

This lack of respect for the idea of Husbandry, and lack of sweating at the brow to bring in a harvest will be the reason Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' will not fly with the majority of Americans.

As long as we bring in a superabundance from the fields, and folks go hungry, we will have environmental problems, in my view.

We are not suppposed to be charging our poor interest for their loans.

And we're supposed to allow our neighbor to pluck an ear or two of our corn if he's hungry...without him taking the full sickle to it.

This is certainly not meant to be an indictment of our Farmers, but rather the gross ignorance of Americans in believing that surplusses will continue without fighting poverty.

I believe the first step in solving environmental problems is to feed the poor.

And then get the proper mindset...which is spiritual...concerning tending the planet.

But currently, we have no great Myth to move us to put down the arms we've raised against Nature...trying to beat Her into submission...rather than appreciating Her for All She provides.

We need more Provincial thinking here...not Urban and Logical.

We need to Feel ourselves through this one.

D e s p o s y n i

'And upon this Rock, I will build this church'.

The Desposyni, or those blood relatives of Christ, took this Rock to be Jesus.

James the Just, either Christ's brother or cousin, became the head of the early Jerusalem Church.

In order to be a Minister in this early Jerusalem Church, one had to show his bloodline ran back through Christ's, Solomon's and King David's.

But the Romans took the 'Rock' to mean Peter.

Councils were held in which the Desposyni Church, which proclaimed it's Authority, was overthrown in lieu of the Apostolic Line of Peter and the twelve disciples.

It is rumored that the Desposyni then fled Jerusalem and landed in France, where the Royal Bloodline was mingled with that of Monarchs, who in turn bred with the future Monarchs of Europe.

And the 'Divine Right' of Kings was established by tracing one's bloodline back through through these French Monarchs and on to Christ and King David.

And one has to wonder, does the Royal Bloodline, the Sangreal, still exist to this day?

Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy

Man living out his days.

Where they are measurred by the hours and minutes of scientific time.

Where Free Will is exercised, and Karma comes into play.

The Past presents the Present, the Present presents the Future.

Where we are slowly consumed by Kronos.

This is what Boethius called 'Fate'.



Then there is the Transcendant Realm.

Where Past, Present, and Future are experienced simultaneously.

The Realm of the Almighty, Who allows us to experience this Realm
only by Intuition, by Dream, by the Unconscious, by Flights of Fancy
and by Magic.

This is what Boethius called 'Providence'.

To be humble is to know when to confine onesself to his Fate.

To not be overreaching in his humanity.

To realize the fickleness that Fortune displays in the Fate of our Days.

To realize that one never truly possesses, but only borrows for a short while.

And without this limitation, nothing would be sweet, sublime, precious or valuable.

Sometimes there's nothing to feel
Sometimes there's nothing to hold
Sometimes there's no time to run away
Sometimes you just feel so old

The times it hurts when you cry
The times it hurts just to breathe
And then it all seems like there's no-one left
And all you want is to sleep

Fight fight fight
Just push it away
Fight fight fight
Just push until it breaks
Fight fight fight
Don't cry at the pain
Fight fight fight
Or watch yourself burn again
Fight fight fight
Don't howl like a dog
Fight fight fight
Just fill up the sky
Fight fight fight
til you drop
Fight fight fight
And never never
Never stop

So when the hurting starts
And when the nightmares begin
Remember you can fill up the sky
You don't have to give in
You don't have to give in
Never give in

The Cure's 'Fight'

A New Definition of Myth

Science, drawing from what Kant called the synthetical realm of the senses and the analytical realm of mathematics.

But all these cold hard facts leave us cold and hard.

When we were younger, Myth was Natural.

When told stories about God, or Angels, or Satan and the Fallen Ones, or Gingerbread Men and Riding Hoods, you didn't need to verify any of it by use of scientific empiricism.

Unless you were a budding scientist.

Somehow, it all just had the ring of Truth to it, and you knew it was true. Somewhere.

Just like it made sense that the Young Earth was the center of a Young Universe. And that the stars were not so far away.

Then, in our age, one grows up in a world where it has been deemed that knowledge should be cast in scientific terms.

No more room for the Ptolemaic Universe of Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, where the Earth is the center of it all.

No, now we must live on a rocky, miniscule blue dot of a planet that is one of ten in a solar system which in turn is one of millions, inside a galaxy, which in turn is one of millions, inside a cluster which - well you get the picture.

So we go from Significance, as a child, to insignificance as an adult.

And as we get older, and have gone on without practicing intuition, and have traded the Solid Mythical Truths for the Conditional, Empirical Truths, where Rationality has been overthrown for Skepticism, our souls become deserts....lack of water or any other sustenance.

The Answer.

To realize that there is a realm where the Ptolemaic Universe is Real.

Where the Red Sea parts for the Children of Israel.

Where all manner of impossibilities such as floating into the air or rising from the dead, is completely possible.

And to realize this Realm is not accessed by the coldness of intellect, but by the warmness of intuition.

Where to start...

I recommend starting with the painter Marc Chagall, who painted objects that behaved as if they were taken from the Biblical Universe.

In Chagall, Goats and all manner of animals can defy gravity and float around willy nilly.

As can people.

And houses.

This sets the mind to thinking.

And at the bottom of the thinking is the realization that as whimsical as the picture seems, it has the ring of Truth to it on some level.

Thankfully, the Heart remembers it's childhood.

Then try remembering the Nature of your youth.

Turn the air conditioning in the car off, turn the stereo in the car off, and listen to the crickets as you drive through the night.

Remember when you thought the noise from the crickets issued from their throats and not their legs?

Go for a walk through the woods.

Remember feeling like the trees had eyes?

And the wonder of hearing the hoot of an owl.

Or the quiet lilt of the whipporwhill?

The fact it all seems so distant is good, in that it is a diagnosis.

You've just been to the doctor and the doctor has told you you are ill.

So now, you must begin the healing, or the long journey back.

Back to the days when the Sun truly did rise, and the moon truly did change shape, and the Earth didn't move.

I'm not asking you to delude yourself, as the Skeptic will charge.

I'm asking you to shift from scientific to mythical thinking.

This is a start.

John Ruskin called it 'The Plow, the Fetter, and the Sword'.
Or 'Labor, Law and Courage'.
The three lights of civilization.
Auguste Comte's two were Regulation and Sustenance...or Law and Work.
The common one between Comte and Ruskin....Law...or Restraint.
Though we live in a free society, the truly civilized show restraint.
Temperance.
The Good Measure in all things.
Unchecked passion does not encourage teamwork.
Or foster kindsmen.

The celestial North Pole Star comes to us first as Polaris, and then Vega.

Though the two stars are distinct, they can be idealized as the 'North Star'.

So it is with philosophy.

The subjects change, but the idealization can still take place.

Throughout life, you may need to change the lesser lights to adjust to new circumstances.

People change and new ones come into view.

The Aristotelian Accidents they carry...skin color...hair color...height...weight...etc. etc. etc.
are varied and manifold.

But idealize them as 'Person' and treat this person with respect.

Though the personalities are manifold, there is some common 'North Starness' they share with each other and yourself.

And then realize that this Nature is Change and can be harmonious or abrupt.

And that not all Change is bad.

And that without Change, Love could not endure.

And most importantly perhaps, without Change, the preciousness of Life would be lost and all would be absolutely common and even inhuman.

So change your attitude with those you encounter.

Orient yourself to the North-Starness of the various people you encounter.

Be flexible in dealing with others.

But don't lose the Ideal.

Some things must never change, in order that some things always remain Universal.

Things I knew I as a child

The Earth was in the center of the Universe.

The Earth did not move or rotate.

The Sun, the Moon, and the visible Planets all revolved around the Earth.

The Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, the Background Stars, all were enclosed within a crystal sphere.

Heaven was just beyond the Background Stars, which in turn were fairly close to the Earth.

The Seasons were appointed their Time, and their manifestation had nothing to do with the Earth revolving, or moving closer to, and then further away, from the Sun.

The best way to spend the day involved sweating in the summer and staying warm indoors during the winter.

A monopoly game played while eating our next door neighbor Valada's homemade peanut butter cookies, played at the family kitchen table was one wonderful way to pass the time.

The worst words I could hear were, just wait till your dad gets home from work!

The best words I could hear were, you're dad's going to be home early tonight!

Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, Three Dog Night and the remaining Pantheon of Rock Bands playing on A.M. radio were wonderful to listen to while doing homework.

'Acid Rock' was to be eschewed in favor of the Osmonds and Jackson Five.

Or Ferrante and Teicher. Or any one of many Gospel recordings.

Mahalia Jackson could bring down the Fire.

Johnny Cash was the Man in Black, but was the goodest guy you could watch on the Rabbit-Eared T.V.

Lucille Ball was hilarious.

If you buried a pet rabbit with a grave marker, and then went back and dug the rabbit up several months later, all that would be left were a little skin and a lot of bones.

Vietnam was a war fought a long, long long way away.

I learned from my next door Indian neighbor Mom Ary that all war is bad, and that though she attended a different church than I, God is a Spirit...the Same for all of us.

Riding a bike with a banana seat, spoke covers and playing cards placed in the rear wheel to make a sound like a motorcycle while riding, was one of the coolest ways to get around the neighborhood.

Sissy bars were for girls.

Lite Brites - cool.

Ouja Boards fond in the attic - uncannily true - and cool.

Army jackets were cool.

Elephant Legs were definitely cool.

If the neighbors down the hill threw a party, you might see some longhairs walking down the dead-of-winter iced over streets. Barefoot.

Playing marracas with a college band (again the neighbors down the hill) was a great way to learn rhythm, and again to appreciate the strains of Three Dog Night.

Watching Rosie lay out in the sun on top of her house (the neighbors down the hill) raised strange urges in me.

Neil Diamond was uncool. Except for 'Hot August Night', in which case he was cool.

Rust Never Sleeps.

Double Albums with a Gatefold were the coolest.

Yellow Smiley Faces on Rust Colored Sweatshirts were 'right on'.

The Peace Sign was cool. At least up until Nixon.

My dad, when we camped, could beat the socks off any takers at the ping-pong table.

Being in the Ozarks, during a crisp fall night while camping, and taking a walk in the nighttime with my dad, using a flashlight he had given me, made me feel completely alive. Without my knowing it.

A chopper motorcycle.....Cool.

Evil Knieval - the bravest man on earth.

Bruce Lee - the baddest dude on earth.

Country songs with lyrics about C.B.'s, listened to while delivering papers with my dad in the early mornings berfore the sun came up in the car with fogged up windows.....were cool.

Taking a walk down to the corner gas station, buying a zero bar with my dad, and shooting the breeze with the guys was a great way to start a Saturday.

Seeing a movie at the Ross theater...usually Disney....definitely cool. Not cool....magical!

You really can take a cross country trip to California in a beat up station wagon with four kids and two parents - and still survive. And sweetest, still remember.

T h r e e N o b l e W i s h e s

The Doric Column - Strength

The Ionic Column - Wisdom

The Corinthian Column - Beauty.

That life could be a House built with the proper arrangement of these three pillars.

E v e r y d a y L i f e

The miracle of waking up in the most free country in the world.
Rushing my way to a job I do not have to work.
Performing tasks on a voluntary basis.
Eating lunch at a place of my choosing.
Rushing home to a family I love.
Sleeping in a happy home.

Greeting and farewelling the Sun in it's rising and falling,
Greeting the Moon in it's rising and falling,
Freely choosing how to spend my time,
With Mary and Dylan,

This is where most Philosophy fails,
in first recogninzing the infinities all around,
and then what to do with them!

Philosophy tends to fail in explaining how
the best part of one's day can be a word
with his son.
A shared smile with his wife.
A phone conversation with his dad.
An unexpected meeting with his brother.
News from his sister.

Wonder, never leave me.
Let me take as little as allowable for granted!

The Great Seneca

'Philosophy is not an occupation of a popular nature, nor is it pursued for the sake of self-advertisement. It's concern is not with words, but with facts. It is not carried on with the object of passing the day in an entertaining sort of way and taking the boredom out of leisure. It moulds and builds the personality, orders one's life, regulates one's conduct, shows one what one should do and what one should leave undone, sits at the helm and keeps one on the correct course as one is tossed about in perilous seas. Without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry. Every hour of the day countless situations arise that call for advice, and for that advice we have to look to philosophy.'

'Someone may say: What help can philosophy be to me if there is such a thing as fate? What help can philosophy be if there is a deity controlling all? What help can it be if all is governed by chance? For it is impossible either to change what is already determined or to make perparations to meet what is undetermined; either, in the first case, my planning is forestalled by a God who decrees how I am to act, or, in the second case, it is fortune that allows me no freedom to plan.

Whichever of these alternatives, Lucilius, is true - even if all of them are true - we still need to practise philosopy.

Whether we are caught in the grasp of an inexorable law of fate, whether it is God who as lord of the universe has ordered all things, or whether the affairs of mankind are tossed and buffeted haphazardly by chance, it is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us.

She will encourage us to submit to God with cheerfulness and to fortune with defiance; she will show you how to follow God and bear what chance may send you.'

L e s t W e H a d F o r g o t t e n

Some things just go out of style over time.

Other ideas are too dangerous to keep.

Some experiences get thrown out.

But

There's the saying the Old Gods never died.

Moving from the Victorian age, when Darwin had explained the mystery of life by calling it the survival of the fittest, and including Pasteurization as a means to stay healthy (as opposed to Faith and Prayer), and then on through the industrial revolution, when sustenance could be manufactured in vast quantities, without issuing out of that Great Bounty of our Lord, some things were beginning to be lost and forgotten.

The City, synthetic and removed from Nature and the Pastoral, thrived.

The Country, beautiful as it was, became a holiday haven for the well to do.

With the loss of Natural Precedence, certain aspects of Life began to disappear.

Magic and Superstition, the explanation of Natural phenomena by means of Spirit or Animism rapidly was thrown out as being provincial and uneducated.

And as Society moved into it's positivistic, or scientific mode of representing Nature, the Gnomes, the Faeries, the Salamanders and the Nimbus and Sylphs went the way of the Unicorns and Dragons.

But, just because these aspects of Nature disappeared from the synthetic realm of the senses, only means they took root in that more nebulous realm of Intuition...in Dream...in the Unconscious.

And let's not be discriminating in a bad way in our explanation of Realms.

For a stick bends when it's put in the water, and the road ahead comes to an infinitesmally small point.

And a dream of a loved one...

Just as real as the waking apparition.

Plato enshrined Imagination as the base for Belief, Knowledge and Intelligence.

Perhaps this is why Einstein proclaimed Imagination is more important than Intelligence...realizing that with out a Base, a Capstone could not be put.

So while Eliphas Levi counselled that Religion is Magic approved by the Authorities,

That Magic could never bid us farewell with the onset of Dogma.

So, in our postmodeern time, as we have forgotten that everything that we see, that everything that we use, that everything that we consume, that everything we partake, comes from Mother Earth, whereby we have simply modified our synthesis to the point we look upon Her products as unearthly.

And unless She, and those who would inhabit Her realm be forgotten....

We remember Them and Her through Story, thorough Drama, through Film, through Superstition...through Memory...whether conscious or not.

In our present day, sometimes we choose not to walk beneath the ladder.

Or we may throw a pinch of salt over our shoulder.

Or even 'God Bless' someone who has just sneezed.

And all other kind of Apocryphal Acts that have no basis in the Canon.

Hence, the once real objects of the senses are carried forward by our Myth...

And for this, our lives are truly enriched.

Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse...

But we are enriched all the same!

S f u m a t o

Ambiguity.

The clouded glass.

Mystery.

You spend half a lifetime studying by reading and gaining experience to get the big picture. To know God and His plan, to know just Who it is you worship.

And then everything shatters. All the now preconceived notions, what you consider to be apriori knowledge, becomes ephemera....ghosts wafting through the air...and you realize how many rabbit holes you've run down.

And the Almighty tells you in words, in pictures, in experience, in dreams...I Am. But I Am not Who you think I Am.

And the only thing to wake you up to this is the most excruciatingly slow suffering you've ever experienced augmented by the deepest, stillest, maddest Divine Silence you've ever conceived to the point you just have to ask....why?

There are two great, terrible, wonderful, mysterious things that have happened to me.

One...I've been asked what I think....which made a man of me.

Two...I've suffered.....which united me to my fellow man.

I would wish neither on my worst enemy.

H e a r t B e a t


They've been there since I was born.

All these little deaths between pulses.

Preparing me for the day I will suffer that final soft pulse.

Life, Death, Life, Death...

Not counting the times I've skipped a beat,

I've been dead half my life.

John Ruskin's elements of Gothic Beauty
as found in 'On Art and Life' by Ruskin
put out in the Penguin 'Great Ideas' books.

'You can either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him....you cannot make both'.
Ruskin explains Beauty is a process in which man participates.

Rudeness is introduced at the beginning, where originality is brought to bear by allowing the workman to add what he thinks is good, as opposed to striving for a perfect polished finish.

Next comes Changefulness....
The art of providing a good measure of Monotany and Change. Here we must imitate Nature's two-fold mode of change. One harmonious, the other abrupt.

Following comes Naturalness.....
In Gothic Cathedrals, the arches rise and meet each other...much like the branches of tall trees in a wood. When the craftsmen chose ornamentation, they often chose foliage, greenery and flowers....all carved into stone with a most circumspect attitude.

Where then comes Grotesqueness
I haven't studied this one yet.

Then Rigidity....
Power is transferred from one member to another in a simple, efficient manner.

Lastly, Redundancy...
Liberal allowance for Beauty. Bountiful.

So to wind up, the six elements of Gothic Beauty are Rudeness, Changefulness, Naturalness, Grotesqueness, Rigidity and finally Redundancy.

I believe these elements of Gothic Beauty can be generalized to much of Beauty, where I see in Nature all of these elements all the time.

Thought for the day:

The threat of things getting worse is the price paid for the hope of things getting better.

Keep pressing on!

'On Art and Life'....
from the 'great ideas' series recently put out by penguin books.

Beauty is the proper combination of monotany and change.

change comes by an adding of harmony to a monotonous tone,
or by the introduction of an entirely new element after a repetitious series.

nature deals in both sets of change.

the ocean and it's waves is an example of harmonious change...whereby waves are manifestly the same, yet different in angle and curvature.

a field of grass being interrupted by a standing stone is an example of the second type of change.

beauty includes rudeness....the introduction of originality at the expense of a polished finished product.

this nineteenth century thinker was prophetic in his vision of the effects mass production and division of labor would have on man.

And of course I like the man's Platonism...

wikipedia's john ruskin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin

Why I am a Christian who has a healthy appreciation for Paganism


I had three nervous breakdowns.

I had mystical experiences that had no Biblical basis.

I realized that though I attended church at least once a week, I did not respect my family, both immediate and extended, or treat strangers kindly.

I did not want to have friends.

It was all about numero uno.

In addition, I wondered about what world Christianity was born into.

Who were these Greeks and Romans Paul preached to?

What did they believe?

I wanted to get to the first principles of things.

And our educational system.

Where are the studies of mathematics, grammar, science and so on found in the Bible?

I realized there was a large gulf in the Judeo-Christian ethos and postmodern life.

I had questions about suffering and the nature of evil.

In the Biblical Scriptures, I could find no real justification for Yahweh to be on friendly terms with Satan, to the point He allowed Satan to torture His servant, Job.

Because I suffered too, and God was silent.

And I realized I was not the only one suffering, but that this suffering was manifold throughout the world, and that misery in many cases was the rule and not the exception.

In order for me to be able to get through the day, and night, I needed to look elsewhere to make any rhyme or reason of the world I was living in.

Because if there was one thing I needed, it was a reason to carry on.

So I would say my Faith was tested, and I was found wanting.

My answers to my suffering couldn't come from the Canon alone.

I had to search, and supplement.

I still read the Bible and am comforted by Scriptures.

the 23rd Psalm, the Beattitudes, the Gospel of John and so forth.

But when I was really being put to the fire, my suffering was not alleviated by church and Scripture alone.

I took refuge, as did Boethius, in the consolation of philosophy.

In Pythagoras's time, a man's life was mapped out as follows:

0 - 20 Years - Childhood
21 - 40 Years - Adolescence
41 - 60 Years - Young Man
61 - 80 Years - Old Man

I wish I would have known this when I was younger! When I was twenty-five and getting married, I considered myself to be entering into the Young Man phase.

I was just an Adolescent!

Now, that I'm turning forty-one...this September...I definitely feel my age.

I feel like I'm leaving adolescence behind and moving into being a Youn Man.

And really, I just now have enough experience and prudence to consider myself to be a Young Man.

Also, it takes off some of the pressure that I'm not a millionaire yet.

I'm just now coming off being an adolsecent.

What did I know about making money?

Plus, having gained a little smidgeon of wisdom, I think I may not go for the big bucks anyway.

Having reached the age of forty, I've seen firsthand that money doesn't buy happiness.

It definitely doesn't buy Freedom. Or Virtue. Or a Soul. Or intelligence. Or Salvation.

I mean, judging by the process of elimination, I think I might stick to enjoying sunrises and sunsets. A friendly gesture from a stranger. The warm significance of family. The true gift of friendship.

In other words, sometimes the best things in life really are free.

Not bad wisdom, coming from just a young man.

Sweet Liberty

We took the Old Highway
Through the working ghost town,
On the way to the Garden of the Gods
And watched the storms
Come in from the west
To which we were travelling.

We passed through Old Laredo,
Old Egypt, sleepy little town,
And passed the funeral home
Where Aunt Fanny was shown,
When after, a double rainbow
Filled the sky and our minds with wonder.

In the Gods' Garden, the rain broke
Just long enough to eat our lunch
And walk beneath the Old Oaks,
Planted on the Ancient Sea Bed,
Their arms outstretched to give us rest
Beneath the threatening sky.

We walked the New Path,
Carved through the Old Mud,
And we climbed the bluffs that overlooked
The Sea of bluff-ringed Oaks and Maples,
Walking in the Rain, the Wind,
The Thunder, the Lightning.

And we almost turned back,
To reach our Happy Home,
Stayed in the cool dry air-conditioning
And spent the day reading
And whiling away our Hours,
Beneath a Day-Mooned Sky.

But we didn't.

To Young Love...

You to me
Are sweet as roses in the morning
And you to me
Are soft as summer rain at dawn,
in love we share
That something rare
The sidewalks in the street
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Because we'll see the mountains tumble
Before we say goodbye
My love and I will be
In love eternally
That's the way
Mmm, that's the way it's meant to be

All around
I see the purple shades of evening
And on the ground
The shadows fall and once again you're in my arms
So tenderly
The sidewalks in the street
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Because we'll see the mountains tumble
Before we say goodbye
My love and I will be
In love eternally
That's the way
Mmm, that's the way it's meant to be
The sidewalks in the street
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Because we'll see the mountains tumble
Before we say goodbye
My love and I will be
In love eternally
That's the way
Mmm, that's the way it's meant to be
And that's the way
That's the way it's meant to be
That's the way(that's the way it's meant to be)
Whoa, that's the way
That's the way it's meant to be [Fade]

UNIT 4+2 - "Concrete And Clay" lyrics

Delphic Maxims
Ancient rules for postmodern day life...

1. Nothing too much
2. Know thyself
3. Aid friends
4. Control anger
5. Shun unjust acts
6. Acknowledge sacred things
7. Hold on to learning
8. Praise virtue
9. Avoid enemies
10. Cultivate kindsmen
11. Pity supplicants
12. Accomplish your limit
13. When you err, repent
14. Consider the time
15. Worship the divine
16. Accept old age