Why I don’t post often

As you can tell, I have many many thoughts. Hopefully you do to. Otherwise we need to talk.

Most of these thoughts are simple or functional, but once in a while I think something that I feel needs to be written down.

When this happens, I either journal or blog. I have two books for writing in, and this blog. Since I have those books with me most of the time, I write all my thoughts in them. Occasionally I decide to blog about a topic I haven’t previously written about, but usually not.

And so, I could blog a lot more, but that would mean copying things I have written. I guess I am lazy, or efficient, or have good/bad priorities.

Since almost no one reads this blog anyway, I think I am making the right choice in not blogging more. If you actually read my blog and disagree, feel free to comment and tell me so.

Now go, and think some thoughts that only you can and will ever have. Then, realize how brilliantly unique they are. Your thoughts are good, worthy, and significant. Never think them silly, trivial, or cliche. And finally, write them down, often, in a journal or blog, so that you can track the trails of your mind and gain introspective knowledge of who you are. You may even end up with a few delightful vignettes, some laughs, and a book or two full of yummy ink.

What is Prayer? (Back and Forth: 4)

As Calanon (Why that pseudonym, and should I address you by your actual name, and will anyone else even read this?) said in his post “God: The Third Person”, our concept of prayer is woefully lacking.

I encourage you all to read “The practice of the presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. Here is a quote from it:

It is a “serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayer unites us with Him in our quiet time.”

Another quote, this time from http://www.christinyou.net

“In this restoration of the Spirit of God to the spirits of men (cf. Gen. 2:7), so that men might function as God intended in His creative design, there is effected a spiritual union whereby we become “one spirit” with Christ (I Cor. 6:17). This is not a psychological union whereby we keep Jesus in our thoughts and consciousness, nor is it a moral union whereby we are obliged to seek to conform to Jesus’ example. Rather, it is a spiritual union whereby deity dwells and functions in man; Christ in the Christian. Jesus illustrated this spiritual condition to Nicodemus in the analogy of a “new birth,” a spiritual regeneration whereby one is “born of the Spirit” (John 3:1-6).”

And from Scripture, we must “pray without ceasing”.

But what of the Lord’s Prayer? It seems very specific, cultural, and template-like. Is it a ritual prayer, almost, or should we bend it to absorb other prayers, as a model? This Prayer is the center of the Sermon on the Mount, the largest collection of Jesus teachings in terms of one session. It must be important. My Bible teacher from last year is doing a thesis or doctorate or something on the Lord’s Prayer. I should ask him more about it.

How do all of these come together to form one common idea? At its core, prayer is communication. We can all agree, I assume. How much can we say “Prayer works”, in that when we pray miracles happen. If so, it is all about helping others and we should be praying a lot for the whole world. But if prayer is mainly to transform us – God knows, but we need to hear our own prayers – then we should focus on the spiritual experience of God and confessing and praising and thanking. But, if it is broader, it can encompass both. So this isn’t a dichotomy.

But if Prayer is simple communication, why would Jesus say “This is how you should pray”? Is he giving us guidelines for what to talk about, or is it how to talk to God? Are these topics and the order of them an important formality?

Why are Prayer and Meditation similar? They both are lowering self, slowing self, broadening perspective. But I think that they are different. Now some quotes from “Be Here Now”, by Ram Dass:

“When the mind perceives an object it is transformed into the shape of that object. So the mind which thinks of the Divinity which it worships (Ista-devata) is at length, through continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that Devata.” ~ Woodroffe

“The one thing I wish for is to be alone, and all by myself to pray, to pray without ceasing: and doing this I am filled with joy.” ~ Way of a Pilgrim

“After no great lapse of time I had the feeling that the Prayer had, so to speak, by its own action passed from my lips to my heart. Further, there came into my heart a gracious warmth.” ~ Way of a Pilgrim

“If the enemy cannot turn us from prayer by means of vain thoughts and sinful ideas, then he brings back into our minds good things we have been taught, and fills us with beautiful ideas, so that one way or another he may lure us away from prayer, which is a thing he cannot bear. It is called ‘a theft from the right hand side.’ He taught me therefore not to admit during times of prayer even the most lofty of spiritual thoughts. And if I saw that in the course of the day time had been spent more in improving thought and talk than in actual prayer of the heart then I was to think of it as a loss of the sense of proportion or a sign of spiritual greed.” ~ Way of a Pilgrim

“Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer…” ~ Way of a Pilgrim

That was prayer, now a quote on meditation by Ram Dass himself: “The term meditation is used in such a variety of ways that it may mean anything from daydreaming or musing, to deliberating about a topic, to a specific discipline of working with the mind that can be so exact that every act of body and thought is prescribed. The way in which the term meditation is used in yoga is in the more formal and disciplined sense. As such it is distinguished from reflection or contemplation. It includes two processes: making the mind concentrated or one-pointed, and bringing to total cessation the turning of the mind.”

What types of meditation can complement the previous exposition of prayer?

There is No Freedom of Worship

They say we have the privilege of freely worshiping God

Unlike the martyred in faraway lands,

False.

They have corrupted our sight so much that we no longer see God,

We are not weak willed because we lack persecution, but because we know not the God worth worshiping.

Living off lies so long has permanently confused our hearts, so that we truly misunderstand the fundamental approach to God.

Unknowingly we have redefined worship, submission, service, and now their original meanings are lost – now loosely based upon historical metaphors that we are unable to translate to the present.

Religion becomes old ,relationship becomes weird, for we have built cathedrals of expectations too beautiful to tear down, when all He wants is honesty and weakness and eagerness.

God is subjectively experienced by each of us, too personal and too mystical, but still we can have intimacy with Him.

Beyond the outer history, I see the inner realm, the “place where it’s just You and me”, and none of the commands and stories and details and histories matter, because I’m experiencing God, higher and highest Truth, and they are either caught up in Him and explained, or eclipsed by His presence and are unimportant or fulfilled.

Personal and Mystical (Back and Forth: 2)

God, Jesus, Christianity, Church…haven’t these labels been through so much over the centuries?

Do we really connect with their powerful meaning each time we hear the words, or have they become old and tired, worn out by repetitive rituals and sluggish devotion?

Sometimes I use “Reality” instead of “God”, but that is just another label. We don’t need more labels, though.

Every thought about God is idolatry to some extent, because we are never thinking of Him as He is. Our perceptions of Him will always be flawed this side of our glorification in Heaven. And thus we should approach Him humble, letting our “words be few”, purposefully choosing a label with the knowledge that it is silly…but it is silly in the way a child’s scribbled drawing is. The child’s parent knows the child’s limitations, and appreciates the enthusiasm and creativity and smile. There is no condescension.

That is the power of the Person-ness of God. But God is so much more “personal” than we are. Our human interactions only imitate vaguely the intense personality of God.

But how do we approach this intense person? Unabashedly running toward Him as a lover, sitting in His presence admiring every little detail of His creation, His lingering smile and laugh over animals and landscapes. But also humbly and slowly, as weak and helpless servants, offering ourselves with the knowledge that we are empty vessels that He must fill every time we are to be used.

But this is only a facet of God, because He is also Mystical. God is Three, a dynamic infinite relationship of power and sacrifice and love. God is not a static individual, but a constantly flowing-but-not-changing community of perfection. As soon as we try to understand, we raise a caricature, an idol, an image. But we are commanded to think about Him. And so we can do nothing but offer our blasphemous thoughts knowing that He accepts our weakness.

How do we become intimately personal with a being so great and so mystical, mysterious?

How do we seek after Him with our lack of strength? Will He empower us first, or do we need to commit first? Did he give us the power to commit even then?

All we can do is embrace our weakness, live slowly, and hold things loosely.

Read those a few times, they are HARD. [How does the effort to do them work? Does God work with us simultaneously?]

And as Robert Pirsig said, our goal is not “external and distant”. All the things around you only matter as much as they help/hinder your inner self, and help/hinder your goal to help the inner selves of others.

~ Say something philosolophical in response, pleeeeeeezzzz ^_^

~ Joshua

Halfway

Hey you, internet person.

Maybe you don’t exist, though. Not in the philosophical sense. But maybe no one will ever read this because I haven’t blogged in fairly close to a year.

Anyway.

I may or may not start blogging semi-frequently again. I’m halfway through the door, the best position for indecision.

I don’t like indecision, but I don’t want to encourage certainty of the future either.

So, if you exist, encourage me one way or the other.

And if you don’t exist, thanks for nothing, for I will decide myself and potentially continue speaking to nobodies.

So there.

oogle boogle picture post

this is to disprove the ability to post pictures on wordpress

it isn’t too convincing…

well…

I’m terse.

dystopianism

For some reason, I immensely enjoy reading dystopian novels. Considering the gloomy and pessimistic theme of dystopias, there is a fair possibility that my mind is somehow twisted.

Not good.

Well, at least I haven’t noticed any vastly negative side effects from obsessively filling my mind with dystopian ideals. Perhaps it is a healthy exercise to accustom oneself to evil, so that one can resist it more effectively…but then again, perhaps not.

Maybe it is just a form of brainwashing that turns one into a dystopian follower, a blind follower, slowly acclimated to evil, eventually accepting it as okay.

Perhaps an addiction to dystopia sheds some (hair?) on my mental disposition…perhaps I am just a twisted child who enjoys reading about imaginary people’s suffering…

[Oh, by the way, the purpose of dystopian writing is to act as a political text for future generations, to show them how to create effective dystopias, to pass on this most perfect society down in history for the good of all mankind.]

missing links

“I’ve found the missing link!” said one evolutionist to another.

“Really?! Is it the real thing?” his friend gaped.

“Yes, I have all the bones and everything!”

“Is it still missing?”

Insert awkward pause.

“Well, no…I guess not.”

“Too bad – I guess it can’t be the missing link then, since it isn’t missing.”

“I suppose you’re right. Bummer.”

[And that is why evolutionists will never find a missing link…not really though…there are much more logical reasons why it is impossible: mainly the absolute lack of in between fossils, of which there should be thousands to millions, and of which NONE have been found. Many fakes have been made…which just goes to show ya…]

 

Tonight I ate a culinary missing link – aside from the contradiction that I raised in the above paragraph. It was chicken covered in the lemony batter that is generally put on fish. Every bite convinced me it was fish for a few seconds…until I realized that it was chicken. Chicken-fish is so nice…

 

Another type of missing link is a cuff link, and of course I have none. Actually, I might – I had old ones in a box full of precious stones that aren’t worth much, and other trinkets. Of course, at the time when I knew I had them, I didn’t know what they were. And now, when I know what they are,  I seem to have lost them. Missing…. But no worry, for I inevitably own no jacket or blazer that can even have cuff links equipped to it.

 

And of course the only non-metaphorical missing link is a chain link! A segment of a chain that, when missing, renders the chainy properties of the chain futile. I seem to have lost all of the chain links…and consequently cannot find my chain. Oh well….

 

If you happen to be a link of some kind, and you also happen to get yourself lost, don’t worry…for a large group of scientists will come looking for you.

feminism is sexism

(When defining the majority of feminists, it is pretty clear that in their case feminism is equal to sexism. Very few stop at equality with men, just as previously persecuted minority races have not stopped with equality with their persecutors, but have demanded and received many special rights. My ranting only applies to feminists who inevitably end up lifting the female gender over the male, and become the very sexists that they abhor.)

Is it not sexist that there is an official term for “feminism” but not “masculinism”?

I mean really.

How are feminists calling males “sexist” when they are fighting a war against no opponent? An organization fighting half of a species, how pathetic, misguided, obnoxious, repugnant…forget save the whales, save the males…save them from twisted idealism and whining tirades of arrogant, spoiled, stuck up women.

How, among sections like “Climate”, “Security”, and “Development” is there a section labelled “Women”? How absurd! Is it not sexist that there isn’t one labelled “Men”?

Are not these protesters against sexism turning into the very monsters they sought to cage?

Just like minority “races” (actually cultures, for there is only the human race…though it could be correct depending on how it is defined), just like when minority races were persecuted, and eventually given equality, and shortly afterwards given MORE rights than “normal” people. As if going to the other extreme will solve the world’s problems…

Great, the sun is melting the earth as we speak…when’s the next ice age?

Obviously you don’t need an ice age to stop the planet from melting…

Obviously you don’t need to throw gifts and special rights to people to make up for prior mistakes…

Obviously you don’t need to give feminists any more thought or mention or favor or pity or anything else than other human beings (like males)…

Humans are capable of much greater good than animals…but also much greater evil, stupidity, hypocrisy…

Requiring businesses to employ a percentage of women, or a minority race, is totally absurd. In each case it is sexism, and racism. If you, as a woman or a part of a minority race, wish to be equal, wouldn’t you want to have an “even playing field” with everyone else. It is basically like asking to be put into a wheelchair and then being required to play quarterback for a football team – asking that no one will tackle you, though, for that would be unfair. It is an admission that you aren’t as good as the other players, and a request for special rights to make up for the imagined difference.

Feminism gives females an EXCUSE to be weaker, slower, worse at academics and sports. Feminism encourages females to be sexist. It creates legal weapons so that females may overcome and defeat males, rather than simply evening everything and leaving it up to them to survive for themselves.

Whenever a person sees a mistake in another and specifically obsesses with that particular mistake, usually they have the exact same problem. Someone very successful will instantly notice other’s pride, and call them out on it. Those prone to bursts of anger will get very upset when others lash out at them.

Those who are sexist will naturally accuse others of being sexist.

Feminism breaks down the walls between females and males, and then when females realize the environment that they are not innately created for, feminism gives them costly biosuits to survive the harsh conditions. The male and female sexes are DIFFERENT, and have different purposes in creating children, raising children, and have totally different emotional, mental, physical, and social capabilities. How on earth is it a bad thing that females don’t have the same power, percentage distribution, authority, ability in some areas, for males do not in other areas where females do?

Males and females are DIFFERENT.

Feminism IS sexism.

(If this post seems a little too violent in criticism for you – it is only because propaganda, brainwashing, and moral degeneration of society have slowly altered your ability to discern. It is up to you to reason through this post and judge what you think, and whether you become an advocate of true equality, or whether you sink deeper into hypocrisy is up to you.)