tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post7311052270995523990..comments2023-03-30T06:09:00.211-07:00Comments on a whole nother blog: deja vu and something about the naked Godjollybeggarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-29067584542395827542008-06-12T12:59:00.000-07:002008-06-12T12:59:00.000-07:00the last time i viewed that film in its entirety w...the last time i viewed that film in its entirety was probably new years 2001. y2k was an already distant memory and it was fun to monitor not only how unlike our world was from the arthur c clarke/ stanley kubrick vision of the future (circa 1968?) but also how much slower moving films used to be. by the 2/3 point, everyone in the room was asleep but me.<BR/><BR/>happy new yearjollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-50827835956175309582008-06-12T08:16:00.000-07:002008-06-12T08:16:00.000-07:00I haven't been here in a while and I like the brai...I haven't been here in a while and I like the brain stretching I get.<BR/><BR/>By the way... my boys and I watched 2001 yesterday. They, of course, had never seen it.Curious Servanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564580536911743558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-20589999737692638972008-05-27T07:33:00.000-07:002008-05-27T07:33:00.000-07:00thanks for that, sVs...i was feeling like perhaps ...thanks for that, sVs...<BR/>i was feeling like perhaps i was just in a rut!jollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-4621006262483157632008-05-26T13:52:00.000-07:002008-05-26T13:52:00.000-07:00Haven't seen the flick - not a huge fan of Indiana...Haven't seen the flick - not a huge fan of Indiana Jones - so this one can wait until dvd for me (I think). <BR/><BR/>That's the great thing about blogging - we do return to central theme of our lives (our theological focus) but in new situations - where it tested afresh to see if it stands the test...and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-47905541446238328512008-05-23T12:28:00.000-07:002008-05-23T12:28:00.000-07:00ha ha- the bit about the horse.hey, here's an idea...ha ha- the bit about the horse.<BR/><BR/>hey, here's an idea: let's talk about something none of us ever talk about. so no 'questions are faith and freedom' from jollybeggar, no 'faith without works is dead' from sVs, and no 'God should be held responsible' from hineini...<BR/><BR/>hmmm...<BR/>what will we talk about now?<BR/><BR/>er...<BR/>anybody see the new indiana jones movie?jollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-77670927916948091892008-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:002008-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:00It's probably no surprise that I have some fundame...It's probably no surprise that I have some fundamental disagreements with Ms. Hirschfield but I appreciate the thoughts societyvs.<BR/><BR/>I'm really quite baffled how she can read "Here I am" as "You must be there for me". Maybe she is seeing it as a dialogue, like Martin Buber's "I-Thou" relationship where there is some reciprocity, but it is still a ways further to start making demands on the other, not to mention the impossibility of translating my needs or desires into their language.<BR/><BR/>Oh well, back onto the ferris wheel I guess. I think we all get it by now and before someone points out to me that my horse isn't getting up I'll leave it there. But thanks again man.hineinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086065540681098283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-25419950398333457562008-05-22T17:02:00.000-07:002008-05-22T17:02:00.000-07:00Speaking of gems - I was reading Hirshfields book ...Speaking of gems - I was reading Hirshfields book and he mentions the term 'hineini':<BR/><BR/>“When God calls out to Abraham, Abraham responds with the Hebrew word hineini - ‘Here I am”. This is mitzvah…We need to feel able to be there for the people we love and the things in which we deeply believe, which we hold sacred.” (Hirschfield, pg 58 )<BR/><BR/>“We always need to be in both positions, demanding the hineini response from ourselves and demanding for ourselves that other say it to us. When it’s either one or the other, we get into ruts. If you’re always giving it, you get burned out and resentful. When you’re always demanding it without giving it, you’re selfish and immature.” (Hirschfield, pg 58 )<BR/><BR/>Just thought I'd throw that out there - cause when I read that term I thought about Hineini on here.SocietyVshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10892870801259282254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-44959250907701509792008-05-22T10:21:00.000-07:002008-05-22T10:21:00.000-07:00"Most of the time I read the posts with a grin, se..."Most of the time I read the posts with a grin, seeing the same themes re-emerge as you've mentioned." (hineini)<BR/><BR/>oh great- i've been made: i am an unpardonably simple man with about three different ideas that i restate again and again in different words. oh well.<BR/><BR/>but speaking of words and gems:<BR/><BR/>"I try and read the sacred texts from the perspective of those who lose everything when God shows up."<BR/>(hineini)<BR/><BR/>i think i need to go have a good cry.jollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-57813942423186395172008-05-21T19:16:00.000-07:002008-05-21T19:16:00.000-07:00Most of the time I read the posts with a grin, see...Most of the time I read the posts with a grin, seeing the same themes re-emerge as you've mentioned. But I also want to say that your not the only one jollybegger that is aware of the distance you've traveled in the past while. Which got me thinking, where have I gotten to(come from?)?<BR/><BR/>The problem then becomes trying to figure out where I am, and it seems that I am nowhere, at least in a way. It's not that I am no where but that where I am is always undermined and unsettled. In order to put one's foot down, to take a stand, we need something under us but if that foundation is imaginary, or, optomistically, ever shifting, then it's impossible to stand one's ground, or further, to travel without always ending up where we began.<BR/>Maybe I've always been afraid of arrivals, like that of the Israelites to the promised land or the colonizers to the shore. It must be because I try and read the sacred texts from the perspective of those who lose everything when God shows up.<BR/><BR/>So I love this bit, "to explore with trembling hands the face of the maybe God"(jollybegger). That's one of the nicest gems I've heard in a long time. Re-reading St. Paul's imploring prayer pleading we work out our (no one else's) salvation (arguably the most valuable thing we could ever have) with fear and trembling (whatever that means)hineinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086065540681098283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-35149680506730806142008-05-21T10:32:00.000-07:002008-05-21T10:32:00.000-07:00nicenicejollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-55086329801782724662008-05-21T10:30:00.000-07:002008-05-21T10:30:00.000-07:00I just thought of a weird thought:'some people use...I just thought of a weird thought:<BR/><BR/>'some people use the bible as an answer key for God'. <BR/><BR/>Similar to your idea 'the case is closed, the transcript is available for a small tax deductible donation.'<BR/><BR/>Although we learn about God - via the teachings - we are still in the midst of the present - where we need to live them to see their fullest meanings. They are just words on a page as far as I am concerned until they break into our existence via our 'following'.<BR/><BR/>I think we grow closer to God that way - by our enacting the ideas of love, mercy, justice, equality, peace, etc. We also grow closer to our neighbors - which seems like God's intention from the beginning - harmony of humanity. It's my conclusion (and here we are discussing not making solid conclusions) - but it will likely change over time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-47124508733233998012008-05-21T09:54:00.000-07:002008-05-21T09:54:00.000-07:00"This is the problem with faith in the monotheisti..."This is the problem with faith in the monotheistic religions - they think they have figured out the mysterious and now there is no room for openness on the issue." (sVs)<BR/><BR/>a friend that i enjoyed a coffee with a couple weeks ago also used words like 'open' and 'closed' when attempting to articulate his picture of the maybe God. he spoke of an understanding of God that was ever-opening, ever revealing, ever inviting, as opposed to one that says 'the case is closed, the transcript is available for a small tax deductible donation.'<BR/><BR/>i love the notion of the inclusivity rather than exclusivity of God.<BR/><BR/>i also embrace (lest i be seen as some wild-eyed heretic or something) the comment made above concerning biblical scriptural teachings:<BR/><BR/>"What actually does help me are the teahcings and the direction provided within them - they guide, they rebuke, and they comfort. I see in them the teahcings of God - the path to living life - to finding more life - to path to wholeness." (sVs)<BR/><BR/>the path to wholeness...<BR/><BR/>our wholeness has to do in great measure with our involvement in all that needs to be done by God on fallen planet earth, and, in my view, we are most useful when we are in constant dialogue with God and others, asking questions together.jollybeggarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795539157694277977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11124017.post-47156253805614695582008-05-21T08:08:00.000-07:002008-05-21T08:08:00.000-07:00"it seems as though the dissatisfaction with the i..."it seems as though the dissatisfaction with the inconclusive answer to the tiresome question is based on exactly this: wanting some leader to state emphatically how things are." (JB)<BR/><BR/>I have come to a different conclusion - finding the answer myself and also being content with the 'mystery of God'. <BR/><BR/>I don't need all the answers to the tough questions - since they might not satisfy me anyways - and if I knew - would I really be all that better a person? (referring to questions like 'did God kill all those people?). <BR/><BR/>It's not wanting to know about God - but about knowing the mystery about God does exist and He still is rather 'unknowable' (in the sense of a name or a figure). That's good enough for me - maybe I can be blamed for not seeking hard enough - but I found all I needed (the teachings). <BR/><BR/>What actually does help me are the teahcings and the direction provided within them - they guide, they rebuke, and they comfort. I see in them the teahcings of God - the path to living life - to finding more life - to path to wholeness. From one with holes all over his soul. <BR/><BR/>I enjoy the mystery and I figure this is something God has to be - name one place in biblical lit where God is actually seen? If Moses didn't see him - I am guessing this is not possible then. Even Jesus does not see God - nor show God - since this was not a possibility...maybe God is so much bigger than we realize?<BR/><BR/>God is not meant to be seen (imaged) - that's the whole point...if we make an image we define God - and once we do that - God starts looking like us, defending us, and speaking like us. This is the problem with faith in the monotheistic religions - they think they have figured out the mysterious and now there is no room for openness on the issue. Decades and deacdes of writings make many feel the door is closed - and we know all we can...that's like a blip on the radar screen saying it's seen the whole universe. <BR/><BR/>The default position is 'to be sure' - similar to the garden experience - being 'too sure' makes one stop seeking life and start seeking only the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is handy - it's helps us build beautiful decorations for what we study - but if it becomes a 'head game' and not 'living reality' - then we truly are cursed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com