If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
- Mere Christianity (Chap. 10, Para. 5, Page 120)
"Then those people are right when they say that Heaven and Hell are only states of mind?"
"Hush," said he sternly. "Do not blaspheme. Hell is a state of mind - ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind - is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is Reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakable remains."
- The Great Divorce (Chap. 9, Pages 68-69)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Prayer...
Prayer...very deep and contemplative, very spiritual if we allow it be so, by removing the unreal us, so that the one who needs changing can be. Yet, very simple; so much so that it is almost inconceivable that something so simple could be so perplexing to figure out how to do "properly". Many times we are like actors on the stage of our lives, presenting something so "not" as if it very much "were". I am as guilty as the next, and perhaps we are all guilty at some point of this trespass. But like actors, we must also learn to be in character, and by that, I mean in our humanity, to let our true character exist, not to cover it over, which is a bit counter intuitive, for if we were actors, we would call it being out of character. An analogy:
The dramatic person could not tread the stage unless he concealed a real person; unless the real and unknown I existed, I would not even make mistakes about the imagined me. And in prayer this real I struggles to speak, for once, from its real being, and to address for once, not the other actors, but - what shall I call Him? The Author, for He invented us all? The Producer, for He controls all? Or the Audience, for He watches, and will judge, the performance?
The attempt is not to escape from space and time and from my creaturely situation as a subject facing objects. It is more modest: to re-awake the awareness of that situation. If that can be done, there is no need to go anywhere else. This situation itself, at the moment, a possible theophany. Here is the holy ground: the Bush is now burning.
The prayer preceding all my prayers is "May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real You that I speak to." Infinitely various are the levels from which we pray. Emotional intensity is in itself no proof of spiritual depth. If we pray in terror or happiness we pray earnestly; it only proves that terror and happiness are earnest emotions. Only God Himself can let down the bucket down to the depths in us. And on the other side, He must constantly work as the iconoclast. Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter. The most blessed eresult of prayer would be to rise thinking "But I never knew before, I never dreamed..." I suppose it was at such a moment that Thomas Aquinas said of all his own theology "It reminds me of straw."
Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly concrete Person. Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and milk. In it God shows Himself to us. That He answers prayers is a corollary - not necessarily the most important one - from that revelation. What He does is learned from what He is. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.
The dramatic person could not tread the stage unless he concealed a real person; unless the real and unknown I existed, I would not even make mistakes about the imagined me. And in prayer this real I struggles to speak, for once, from its real being, and to address for once, not the other actors, but - what shall I call Him? The Author, for He invented us all? The Producer, for He controls all? Or the Audience, for He watches, and will judge, the performance?
The attempt is not to escape from space and time and from my creaturely situation as a subject facing objects. It is more modest: to re-awake the awareness of that situation. If that can be done, there is no need to go anywhere else. This situation itself, at the moment, a possible theophany. Here is the holy ground: the Bush is now burning.
The prayer preceding all my prayers is "May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real You that I speak to." Infinitely various are the levels from which we pray. Emotional intensity is in itself no proof of spiritual depth. If we pray in terror or happiness we pray earnestly; it only proves that terror and happiness are earnest emotions. Only God Himself can let down the bucket down to the depths in us. And on the other side, He must constantly work as the iconoclast. Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter. The most blessed eresult of prayer would be to rise thinking "But I never knew before, I never dreamed..." I suppose it was at such a moment that Thomas Aquinas said of all his own theology "It reminds me of straw."
Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly concrete Person. Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and milk. In it God shows Himself to us. That He answers prayers is a corollary - not necessarily the most important one - from that revelation. What He does is learned from what He is. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Bulverism...
The modern method of argument is to assume without discussion that your opponent is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became so silly. In the course of the last 80 years, I have found this vice so common that I have had to invent a name for it. I call it Bulverism.... Bulver assures us..."that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume that your opponent is wrong, and then explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong, and then explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall."
...Bulverism is a truly democratic game in the sense that all can play it all day long, and that it gives no unfair privilege to the small and offensive who reason.
- Adapted from C.S. Lewis (only modernised)
...Bulverism is a truly democratic game in the sense that all can play it all day long, and that it gives no unfair privilege to the small and offensive who reason.
- Adapted from C.S. Lewis (only modernised)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A Month, 3 Weeks, and a Watchman...
It's been a full month since my last post...wow. I've been reading and studying, and mostly getting ready for Origins. I'll also begin re-reading Watchman Nee books in a few days, so I thought I would go over some of my favourite quotes of his. Let 'em sink in and encourage you.
"It is important to receive God's arrangement in the circumstances. This arrangement is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. To escape God's arrangement just one time is to lose an opportunity to have our capacity enlarged. A believer can never be the same after passing through suffering."
"He can only keep those who have handed themselves over to Him."
"The breaking of the alabaster box and the anointing of the Lord filled the house with the odour, with the sweetest odour. Everyone could smell it. Whenever you meet someone who has really suffered; been limited, gone through things for the Lord, willing to be imprisoned by the Lord, just being satisfied with Him and nothing else, immediately you scent the fragrance. There is a savour of the Lord. Something has been crushed, something has been broken, and there is a resulting odour. of sweetness."
"A person who wholly follows the Lord is one who believes that the promises of God are trustworthy, that He is with His people, and that they are well able to overcome."
"The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin...."
"Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious. How meaningful are the words, "in Christ."
"Our prayers lay the track down on which God's power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails."
"What is meant by "follow"? To follow signifies that the way I tread and the place where I go are all decided by someone else. We are following the Lord; therefore we have no authority to decide our own path. The body in its relation to the Head can only obey and follow. If we wish to live out the life of the body of Christ we must cover our own head; that is to say, we must not have our personal opinion, egoistic will or selfish thought. We can only obey the Lord and let Him be the Head."
- Watchman Nee
"It is important to receive God's arrangement in the circumstances. This arrangement is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. To escape God's arrangement just one time is to lose an opportunity to have our capacity enlarged. A believer can never be the same after passing through suffering."
"He can only keep those who have handed themselves over to Him."
"The breaking of the alabaster box and the anointing of the Lord filled the house with the odour, with the sweetest odour. Everyone could smell it. Whenever you meet someone who has really suffered; been limited, gone through things for the Lord, willing to be imprisoned by the Lord, just being satisfied with Him and nothing else, immediately you scent the fragrance. There is a savour of the Lord. Something has been crushed, something has been broken, and there is a resulting odour. of sweetness."
"A person who wholly follows the Lord is one who believes that the promises of God are trustworthy, that He is with His people, and that they are well able to overcome."
"The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin...."
"Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious. How meaningful are the words, "in Christ."
"Our prayers lay the track down on which God's power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails."
"What is meant by "follow"? To follow signifies that the way I tread and the place where I go are all decided by someone else. We are following the Lord; therefore we have no authority to decide our own path. The body in its relation to the Head can only obey and follow. If we wish to live out the life of the body of Christ we must cover our own head; that is to say, we must not have our personal opinion, egoistic will or selfish thought. We can only obey the Lord and let Him be the Head."
- Watchman Nee
Words for America...
When you come back again
would you bring me something from the fridge?
Heard a rumour that the end is near
but I just got comfortable here.
sigh.
Let's be blunt.
I'm a little distracted.
What do you want?
Headaches and bad faith
are all that I've got.
First I misplaced the ending
then I lost the plot.
Out among the free-range sheep
while the big birds sharpen their claws.
For a time we stuck with the shepherd
but you wouldn't play Santa Claus.
sigh.
Let's be blunt.
We're a little distracted.
What do you want?
Once we could follow,
now we cannot.
You would not fit our image,
so we lost the plot.
Once we could hear you,
now our senses are shot.
We've forgotten our first love.
We have lost the plot.
When I saw you for the first time
you were hanging with a thief
And I knew my hands were dirty,
and I dropped my gaze.
Then you said I was forgiven
and you welcomed me with laughter.
I was happy ever after.
I was counting the days
when you'd come back again.
we'll be waiting for you
When you comin' back again?
we'll be ready for you
Maybe we'll wake up when...
maybe we'll wake up when
you come back again.
lies.
Let's be blunt.
We're a little unfaithful.
What do you want?
Are you still listening?
`Cause we're obviously not
We've forgotten our first love
We have lost the plot.
And why are you still calling?
You forgave, we forgot.
We're such experts at stalling
that we've lost the plot.
lost the plot
When you come back again
would you bring me something from the fridge?
Heard a rumour that the end is near
but I just got comfortable here.
This song was so prophetic when it was written, and even more so now I think. It's pretty
amazing, so thanks to Peter Furler and Steve Taylor.
would you bring me something from the fridge?
Heard a rumour that the end is near
but I just got comfortable here.
sigh.
Let's be blunt.
I'm a little distracted.
What do you want?
Headaches and bad faith
are all that I've got.
First I misplaced the ending
then I lost the plot.
Out among the free-range sheep
while the big birds sharpen their claws.
For a time we stuck with the shepherd
but you wouldn't play Santa Claus.
sigh.
Let's be blunt.
We're a little distracted.
What do you want?
Once we could follow,
now we cannot.
You would not fit our image,
so we lost the plot.
Once we could hear you,
now our senses are shot.
We've forgotten our first love.
We have lost the plot.
When I saw you for the first time
you were hanging with a thief
And I knew my hands were dirty,
and I dropped my gaze.
Then you said I was forgiven
and you welcomed me with laughter.
I was happy ever after.
I was counting the days
when you'd come back again.
we'll be waiting for you
When you comin' back again?
we'll be ready for you
Maybe we'll wake up when...
maybe we'll wake up when
you come back again.
lies.
Let's be blunt.
We're a little unfaithful.
What do you want?
Are you still listening?
`Cause we're obviously not
We've forgotten our first love
We have lost the plot.
And why are you still calling?
You forgave, we forgot.
We're such experts at stalling
that we've lost the plot.
lost the plot
When you come back again
would you bring me something from the fridge?
Heard a rumour that the end is near
but I just got comfortable here.
This song was so prophetic when it was written, and even more so now I think. It's pretty
amazing, so thanks to Peter Furler and Steve Taylor.
Sarah "Cougar" Palin
John and I went to the Sarah Palin rally in Richmond, Va about a week ago. Here's the pictures of Sarah "Cougar" Palin, we were about 15-20ft back, and I was shooting with my Canon 40D and 28-135 IS Lens. Hope they look okay, this isn't all of them, but just a few, I took about 1,500 or so that day. Oh yeah, you can click on them too and see the hi-res versions.
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