Friday, November 26, 2004

Books...

So it's getting close to Christmas.. and I want to fill my 7 year old daughter's book list for a couple of days, LOL. So far she's enjoyed Naria, Tolkein, Brothers Grimm, Stevenson, Nancy Drew.. looking for (LONG) enjoyable books that will cultivate, any ideas? I say long because she tends to read a couple of hundred pages an hour.

I'm looking at maybe:
The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
A Child's Christmas in Wales, Dylan Thomas

Any ideas here? I read science journals for fun.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Speed Nihilists

Absolutely more blabbering for You, oh dearest of readers.


Reading more of the late Ivan Illich today. My Grandmother and Uncle both introduced him to his work.

Apparently the fixation with speed is apparently quite modern. I have had countless arguments with people over time, and the history of timeliness. That's for the next blog though... ( Thank you Bishop of Carthage )

Back to Falcons, Cranes, and Parmesians... and ohh yeah, belly dancers Here's the link. [PDF]

SPEEEEED!

What intrigues me is that people knew that speed was not a successful tactic. The advent of the machine changed that. Now, modern culture desires to imitate the machine! Just look at the movies of late.. The Matrix (In the machine), AI (Kuberik) (Perfected Machine), Bourne Supremacy(Perfected Mankind), and the list goes on. It's like humanity is falling on a sword for a "highly styled and engineered" lump of metal and silicone.

My favorite quote:
"The suggestion of speed meant up-to-date, and high speed seemed as alluring as the latest body fashions. What you now propose goes much furthur: you can assume that everything is drenched in speed, the speed you want to control. This cannot but confirm the omnipresence and omnipotence of an addictive fix."


Admit it.. we are not immune either. I buy speed.. or perhaps speedy enough. Who wouldn't want to "save time!" Heavens, we must add that between the horned freckly frog and whales. So it goes...



Just a last note.. biologically, our brains are not speedy. They're actually very slow. What makes us seem fast is the specialization and parallelization of the brain. One would think ( speaking of fractals ) that humans would be more productive in parallel, rather than through individual speed. Just a thought.

Convivial Dingo

Monday, November 08, 2004

Dark night of the Soul

These souls whom God is beginning to lead through these solitary places of the wilderness are like to the children of Israel, to whom in the wilderness God began to give food from Heaven, containing within itself all sweetness, and, as is there said, it turned to the savour which each one of them desired. But withal the children of Israel felt the lack of the pleasures and delights of the flesh and the onions which they had eaten aforetime in Egypt, the more so because their palate was accustomed to these and took delight in them, rather than in the delicate sweetness of the angelic manna; and they wept and sighed for the fleshpots even in the midst of the food of Heaven. To such depths does the vileness of our desires descend that it makes us to long for our own wretched food and to be nauseated by the indescribable blessings of Heaven.

[...] God is now taking this soul from its swaddling clothes, setting it down from His arms, making it to walk upon its feet, and likewise taking from it the milk of the breast and the soft and sweet food proper to children, and making it to eat bread with crust, and to begin to enjoy the food of robust persons.

-Saint John of the Cross

Please take some time and read his work. Lacking and unprepared. Pathetic and abysmal. Don't be like me!


Sunday, November 07, 2004

What about.. Schism?

I've been reading much about schism. The big schism of after the Counsil of Chalcedon, to be exact.

Funny thing about this schism was it all centered on one man, Eutyches. Eutyches had said the Jesus was of "one nature", but only after the Incarnation (If I'm reading this correctly). Of course, this contradicted Cyril and all heck broke loose.

Pope Leo wrote to Flavian, then Bishop of Constantinople:

When you cross-examined Eutyches and he replied, "I confess that our Lord was of two natures before the union, but I confess one nature after the union", I am amazed that such an absurd and corrupt declaration of faith was not very severely censured by the judges; and that an extremely foolish statement was disregarded, as if nothing whatever offensive had been heard. It is just as wicked to say that the only-begotten Son of God was of two natures before the incarnation as it is abominable to claim that there was a single nature in him after the Word was made flesh. Eutyches must not suppose that what he said was either correct or tolerable just because no clear statement of yours refuted it. So we remind you, dearest brother, of your charity's responsibility to see to it that if through God's merciful inspiration the case is ever settled, the rash and ignorant fellow is also purged of what is blighting his mind.

I'm actually startled at the amount of charity given to this one guy. The pope sounds genuinely angry. The proceedings of the council, seemed to only expand the Eutyches stupidity which ultimately led to the schism of the current oriental orthodox churches.

Wow is all I can say.

One really great thing to come out of this, however, is the preservation of Tradition (yes, THE tradition) of these churches. Wheras the Latin church seems to have evolved/progressed (not in a bad way) the Oriental churches have largely remained true to their traditions and rites. The Liturgy (called Badarak in Armenian) is very beautiful. The most startling difference, especially for us Roman Catholics, is the complete lack of the Rosary. Check out Catechism 2678 for the reason.

The Armenian church in particular is of interest, as they were the first country to convert to Christianity (before the Romans) in the year 301.

More recently, an interesting event happened at the Vatican in 1996, something along the lines of
"Ohh jeez, you mean it was the dictionary he was using?"


Anyway, it would be interesting to visit.

Monday, November 01, 2004

What about.. Gay Marriage?

And now for something completely different... (bad spelling aside)

We, Americans, are given in to a delima. Suddenly, with little warning(in terms of history), the nation is asked.. What about Gay Marriage?

From a conservative vantige, the first reaction is...why? What about "marriage" would a gay couple desire? Most gays I have known have not expressed a desire for children. Relationships, yes. Long term, some of them. But marriage, children, rent, debt... I don't know.

I have known many gay people, who are friends, school pals, etc. I grew up around some famous Ballet Dancers and beatniks.. maybe I just never asked? Most I knew were not so different you or me. Some where looking to buck the system, others simply had affections for someone they couldn't live without.

I admit, I can understand the desire to have gay marriage. Many gays I have known have suffered, both in society and in their personal lives. But such is life and love, really. Is marriage going to be a magic bullet for change? Will acceptance of gay marriage mean that suddenly life is without challenge?

I may be an odd duck, but I have never understood the disdain people hold for gays. Yes, I believe it is a sin. So are many things. But, in all things, I believe we are to at the very least try to live without sin. Even in the act of failure, God still loves us. All of us. So it goes for drinking, gossiping, bad sex, hatred of the good, and all sorts of sins. I won't get on the high horse, but God seems to have demanded goodness from us all. Not all can be saints, though.

What really concerns me, though, is not whether gay marriage is good. But, whether it is engineered, not to bring justice or equality, but to divide people. Simply put, is humanity working towards a harmony or discord. Why, in the last century has humanity spiraled toward division?

I believe it is the division of humanity, infuriated to hatred, which is the greatest sin of them all. Forget about your petty sins, because once the world is full of hatred, you can bet Cain and Able that it will be nasty.

A formula

It's an old Roman formula.. divide and conquer. Once people realize how little they have in common with each other, they will fight. All that is required is:
  1. Ignorance of Good
  2. Some form of -ism (commun, femin, rational, conservat, liberal, national, etc). We all seek to identify and belong to something
  3. Injustice
Add money, tanks, planes, and guns and you've got a sweet war. But what does this have to do with Gay Marriage? Nothing. Nevertheless, it will divide people eventually.

No matter what your opinion on something, if you have a strong opinion then there are ten others waiting to sublime you with rhetoric. A human, natural instinct is all it is.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident
that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Our nation was created on the premise of unalienable Rights.

"The concept of Man's rights being unalienable is based solely upon the belief in their Divine origin. Lacking this belief, there is no moral basis for any claim that they are unalienable or for any claim to the great benefits flowing from this concept." (The American Ideal of 1776)

Back to the Truths again
We, as Americans, are in for a rough ride. We stray ever further from the roots of our Nation, our Creator, and our true identities. We are manipulated and swindled of our Rights, by our own ignorance.

We are educated in trivialities, philosphers of television imagery. True discourse is supplanted with division and one line rhetoric.

We have lost the most important battle of our lives, which is our own Liberty. Like the lotus eaters, we forgot everything we inherited for a dropping of fruit. Mere intellectual arguments will not sway those who have eaten of the fruit.

In short...

I'm not equivicating gay marriage to our loss of liberty, but merely trying to open your eyes to the engineered division of humanity as a precursor to a new form of feudalism. This continued path of division will end in suffering, pain, and serfdom.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Argument

It's interresting to watch people argue. Especially when there is no common ground. Which brings us into what is commonly called "reality" but is anything but for most.

When speaking of reality, we are really speaking in terms of our reality. Lawyers are actually trained to attune the reality to so called facts. I'm not spiraling into relativism here, but merely bringing to light something that most people in the world accept.

differences of opinion
I actually am getting to hate the word reality. Most people sling it about like a hammer looking for nails. To the untrained, hitting the nail properly can be difficult. Some have a gift for it.

But I am hating it, because once you realize the power of reality, you understand what is broken in the world. You see, in the dictionary reality is:

That which is real; an actual existence; that which is not imagination, fiction, or pretense; that which has objective existence, and is not merely an idea.

But it IS actually an idea. Because whether people know it or now, our conscious is made up of ideas. That's why people sit around and soak up the TV for hours on end. We tell ourselves that we're merely watching a show, but our physical neurological brain doesn't know the difference. And you are training your brain and tuning the visual memory into ideas. And, depending on what you watch, it's a dangerous, reckless activity. You're just rewarding your brain.

I hear it all the time
How many times has this happened to you. You Mom or Dad calls you up about some issue or event, which you have intimate knowledge of, and says something untrue or skewed. Be it the election, or something in your field of knowledge, you tend to blow it off or sometimes simmer a bit over it.

My point exactly. What you depend on for "news" is simply a caricature of reality. Merely the shadow of the flame, so to speak. Not to say that news or papers or books CAN'T inform you of reality, but what is lacking, ultimately, is the scarriest, biggest, most dangerous and powerful idea ever concieved by mankind.

Truth

We organize Courts of Justce, Criminal and Civil law, and spend billions of dollars a year searching for it. And in this day and age, we are farther from it than in the history of mankind, because we yearn so despirately for it.

What has changed?

Socrates and Plato, indeed most of the early philosophers were in search of the Truth. And they found it in some ways. The Church is centered on the "universal truth." We all want to know it. So what has changed?

Manipulating the truth can be advantageous. We all know that. That's why the stock market is so heavily regulated. That's why "truth in advertising" is regulated by the FCC. That's why Clinton got skewered, and probably by Bush will loose the election or only win narrowly.

What has changed is that people of this day and age believe that reality is truth. And our vision of reality as Adults is largely based on the media, who claim the truth while manipulating us to buy a product in the same sentence. Our children may grow up imitating our behaviours and thought patterns, only to find something missing.

hermits unite!
When reality becomes truth for the majority, then eventually two or more factions will form over disagreements. When neither group can grasp the truth, then suffering is inevitible. Should we all crawl into caves and:

giving over his books, and forsaking his father's house and wealth, with a mind only to serve God, he sought for some place where he might attain to the desire of his holy purpose; and in this sort he departed [from Rome], instructed with learned ignorance and furnished with unlearned wisdom" like St Benedict?

pragmatic methods for living

Lots of people believe the world is going to end.. real soon now. Any time. Bring it on. COME ON!!!!

But it's not what we should do.

I read a story about the bears at Yosamity park. During a period of the last century, people were encouraged to feed the bears from their cars and interact with nature. What happened next will shock you though! The bears forgot how to fish, how to forage for food, how to be fierce... in other words they forgot what being a bear was all about. It took 10 years for the bears to relearn these skills. Ten painful years, actually.

By and large, the first world countries of the world have forgotten what it means to be human. And I can guarantee it will take longer than 10 years to rectify. Western Society has been structured around replacing economic models with more and more abstraction. The market doesn't control the lever of prices anymore, and we are straying from the truth of the environment, our families, and indeed our entire society.

There's a reason the ancients are ancient. Every time, over and over again. The damn reality suddenly didn't fit the truth, and the house/temple/kingdom/empire came tumbling down. That's what made the middle ages so dangerous for "outside the norm" thought! People still remembered the fall of Rome.

We, by and large, don't. And the lessons or a harsh reality are happily washed away with this replacment that places reality outside of our existance, namely mass media.

Civilization, the game
Still my all time favorite game. I used to always get stuck in the part about revolution and keeping my people happy. You see, if you don't keep the majority of them happy, they revolt. No big deal, till you notice they arn't producing anything. In civilization, you can "send in the elvises" which means drowning out the sorrow with entertainment. Or you can build temples, wonders, coloseiums. Using elvises is a global solution but expensive overall. Building worthwhile institutions which society organizes around is local solution, and provides a better solution.

If you think about it, mass communication, even the internet itself, is merely the elvis solution. Sure, there is some organization into institutions, but by and large the populous is merely consuming entertainment.

Blogging is interesting, but in the end ineffective to conveying the truth. I'm not even sure you understand my words, much less care for them.. Perhaps it is even more dangerous than the media, as people come to trust in bloggers.

How to find the truth
Unwrap package and remove plastic. Microwave on high for 8 minutes, or until dish is hot. If you're microwave is puny it might take 10 minutes. Or if it's a radar base station, it may only take a second or two. Alternatively, rub two sticks together and blow the hot particles onto a flamable material.

I don't know what works for you. But all that matters is getting the fire going. First order your life and work. Find quiet time to actually think alone and contemplate. Take a weekend off and help the needy. Offer to watch a family or friends kids so they can get out.

Just eating from the passing cars is going to start you when the cars stop coming. When we're not considered cute enough to feed anymore, or when the roads close from snow. If you don't have the ability to reconcile the truth, then you'll eventually starve yourself of it or become desperate.

But what do I know anyway? Perhaps reality is just a hammer.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Hail Mary... in Latin

Too many events have happened since my last message.. so perhaps it is just time to pray first.

The Original
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Now for something else..
Get to know Maria Esperanza, right now. People have been pretty skeptical, perhaps overly so. What could very well have been a modern day Saint has been, in my mind, disreguarded. Were we so fearful of a fraud, that we refused to seek the Truth? I was. Let us pray for her sainthood and for a miracle in our own lives. Someone out there should write a prayer for her intercession. Nudge nudge.

Prayer makes a huge difference
You know this, as you have at least once said a prayer and gotten an answer. That's how faith is nurtured. But we don't always get what we want.. you know the story. How many people are praying for my wife now I don't know, but I am very grateful. Thank you.

Hey, you graced the "wrong" guy!!!
No one reads my blog, hopefully. I have been graced in a very "wrong" way it appears, but I don't know the future. What I do know is that when I am graced, that prayer is the only response. Grace is a very unexpected gift, and it does not always lead to an easy life. Look at the Apostles, do you have it easy? I know that I do. When I was confirmed, I chose John the Apostle for two reasons: He was there at our Lord's death, next to Mary; and also He was graced with the Revelations. I have learned that standing next to the cross is both beautific and agonizing. Witnessing pain in the one I love is about the most agonizing, heart wrenching, "please just shoot me instead God" moment I have ever had. But the beauty of it, is that our own hearts are changed.

Final thought
Grace comes in many forms, and it is our faith that helps us continue. The "game" on earth isn't about cars ,houses, or whatever... it's simply about getting through the pearly gates. It used to be difficult to understand, for all we see is clouds, birds, universes, atoms... whatever. The refusal to accept mystery is the hands of death for a modern being. Learn to see through others eyes, and be thankful for grace, no matter what your lot is. You can't always change your world, but your soal has no boundaries.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

What's there to blog about?

Declaim

First, my apologies for what I am about to write about. I do not seek to write about myself or promote my self in terms of my fellows. For once, I seek only to promote ideas which will in all probability be unappealing to you. My spelling is lousy, my prose is weak, and the style will probably reek. Turn away now, it will not offend me. You have been warned.

Au Jeus

For eternal history, mankind has sought to express himself. What is puzzling, is the promotion of self that is seen in modern writhing. For instance, we do not see interviews with Zeus, or commentary on the childhood torture of perfection lived by Achilleus. Yet, we know it from the writing itself.

It is not necessary.

Towards a greatness

The Bible is interesting in this respect as well. If you expect an academic answer (Anyone for a game of Medieval Fourfold Method of Exegesis?) you underestimate the ability to skirt what I am not an expert at. But much of it runs within the same river of thought, that the self is a beautiful creation, which is individual and awesome. But the self is created for the love our creator seeks.

The Death of a Salesman

The paradox of greatness. Humankind is progressing towards compartmentalizing greatness. We seek to create Heaven on Earth, for our own greatness.

Immitation or Plagiarism

To immitate is the nature of humans. Our first concious actions are born of immitation. The downfall of humans is not the immitation of heaven on earth, which is our nature. What will kill us all(tm) is Plagiarism of God. Those of us who are weak, and we are weak, will fail to detect the difference. Both seek to create goodness, yet the honor placed upon mankind is the spit in the eye of God. Achilleus is our bedfellow.

Who is that (golden) masked hero?

Achilleus is my hero. He reminds us of our greatness, and the relative ease which with we get knocked down. A single aarow. How is it that heroes dodge that arrow every day, and still dance upon the battlefield? What honor is there for those of us who watch with pedantic gazes, our faces lit by the phosphors?

Excruciating Pain, or shameful blame

It is difficult to tear away from the self. Blogging is supposed to be all dat and mor, baby! Yet only to ponder the ideas and reject the self is difficult. Forgive me, dear reader, as I take my baby steps towards the immitation of goodness, and take my first step onto the battlefield.

Convivial Dingo