tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6861434538803067765..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: And God Said, "Let There be Atheists!"Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32431643501827570382008-06-12T23:33:00.000-07:002008-06-12T23:33:00.000-07:00BTW,I'm in Toronto on July 7th for Van Morrison. I...BTW,<BR/><BR/>I'm in Toronto on July 7th for Van Morrison. I bought a block of tickets ($900 per seat -- ouch!) and have distributed them to my various friends and acquaintences who are moved by his music.<BR/><BR/>Listening to "By His Grace", followed by "Carrying a Torch" as I write this.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9182012753337790552008-06-12T23:03:00.000-07:002008-06-12T23:03:00.000-07:00I'd lie to see Bob delve into the concept of Love ...I'd lie to see Bob delve into the concept of Love -- Love of the created by the Creator, but also how we can heal and love our neighbors. I know that sounds corny. But guess what? I learned as much from my better half about love (she is an administator for a program that helps kids in the third world) as I've learned about rational structure here.<BR/><BR/>Love is reflected all around us. We can't just respond to trolls. We have to let the essays sing, which they most certainly do, from Bob.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-26075761352160523852008-06-12T22:54:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:54:00.000-07:00A bit of social observation:Kelis (hip-hop, 2003) ...A bit of social observation:<BR/><BR/>Kelis (hip-hop, 2003) <I>Milkshake</I><BR/><BR/>versus Martha Reeves and the Vandellas from roughly 1976.<BR/><BR/>It isn't just a matter of taste -- I can listen to Kanye West and other rappers who have some of the soul intact from their forebears.<BR/><BR/>It is a matter of gut feeling. Does music serve God, or not?<BR/><BR/>Someone made a remarkably effective observation here the other day: good music is <I>automatically Christian</I><BR/><BR/>Only in the sense that music serves to convey Love we feel for life, which implys love for the Creator.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91315637777102397942008-06-12T22:40:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:40:00.000-07:00I just read what I posted above.It lacks -- fundam...I just read what I posted above.<BR/><BR/>It lacks -- fundamentaally -- <I>humility</I>. Humility is one of those Chirstian concepts which is almost universally misunderstood today. If it arises in thought at all, it is equated with self-abasement.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I have been psychically wounded in this life. In 1988 my beloved brother took his own life. I feel that One Cosmos is allowing me to reconnect with Christian Love. No, I'm not some smiling face at the airport.<BR/><BR/>I do believe however that Love is fundamental -- more real than 100 experiments that show neutrinos have no mass.<BR/><BR/>I am humble -- or at least I understand the concept. I am worth tens of millions of dollars in this world, but I am just a man in the eye of the Lord.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-80544559690403786772008-06-12T22:26:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:26:00.000-07:00So what is Bob's role? For me Bob is a man who div...So what is Bob's role? <BR/><BR/>For me Bob is a man who dives deep into uncharted waters and returns with what I guardedly consider to be Truth. <BR/><BR/>Bob is a facilliator somewhat analogous to those extremely talnented technical virtuosos I am compelled to enlist ($45,000 for 6 billable days for the guy that did Visa-level security for us last week -- 27 years old).<BR/><BR/>Bob is free, though.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51102846698074379392008-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:00I've been reading the Spiritual Ascent as well. I ...I've been reading the Spiritual Ascent as well. I didn't (have not yet anyhow) discern the structure that Bob sees. Instead, my better half and I have been savoring morsels while curled up in bed (sorry, I know, too much information).<BR/><BR/>It is a well-chosen collection of spiritual wisdom for me, at this point. Even if I can't grasp the fuller intent of the author, I've gotten a lot out of it.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48398708954042816212008-06-11T14:46:00.000-07:002008-06-11T14:46:00.000-07:00A man in great passion once said to a crowd of us"...A man in great passion once said to a crowd of us<BR/><BR/>"Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake, but this is NOT (shouting here) God's world...This is the world God permits...BIIIIGG DIFFERENCE!!<BR/><BR/>All this talk of permission reminded me. It is one of the visions that I live by, residing here by permission in a world that exists by permission.<BR/><BR/>I am only passing through no matter how coagulated I feel. Fall or fly, no matter, the journey ends the same way, in the lap of God. I am assured unless I insist on having it some other way.<BR/><BR/>Even then, I suspect it only postpones things because my energy for resistance is limited within the limitless expanse of God's welcome. But hey, this is just me wondering along minding the business infrontofme. It's better than a lobotomy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22782416693654415842008-06-11T08:46:00.000-07:002008-06-11T08:46:00.000-07:00Smoov said "I feel that I no longer speak the same...Smoov said "I feel that I no longer speak the same language known to the majority. "<BR/><BR/>Yeah... seems like one of the interesting effects (and benefits) of learning a new spiritualized language, is that you lose the meaning of the original lingo. Things no longer have the same meaning. Think of former friends who never grew up, and they want to go out doing X, which no longer seems even interesting to you. They're all excited to go do it, trying to entice you into going, explaining in detail how you're all going to do x, and x and of course X! and you no longer have any interest in doing it, it doesn't sound interesting, it doesn't sound fun, you don't want to go do it and can't picture forcing yourself to go do it - it literaly has no meaning for you anymore. Your understanding of fun, exciting, enjoyable, worthwhile no longer attaches to the same references - you <I>are</I> speaking a different language.<BR/><BR/>(of course... by 'do it' , I didn't mean <I>that</I> 'do it'... at least not in that way... I mean... the xX... that was just a randomly chosen variable, having no relatio... [somewhere Freud is laughing. Hard. eh... I didn't mean anything by <I> that</I>... I... sheesh. shutting up now])Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38136528207795670002008-06-11T06:44:00.000-07:002008-06-11T06:44:00.000-07:00Well, not everyone can enlist the help of a garden...Well, not everyone can enlist the help of a garden-of-Eden gnome for their blog.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76553581419052013832008-06-11T05:32:00.000-07:002008-06-11T05:32:00.000-07:00RE Deepak and the Dennis Miller show, with all due...RE Deepak and the Dennis Miller show, with all due respect to Dennis (love ya, Babe, cha-cha) this caller should have made it by the screener:<BR/><BR/>“Mister Deecaf, that’s a lot of bummer stickers, when does your sacred art show up?”<BR/><BR/>Fido, please set the wayback machine to 2 weeks ago…don’t know how long this Deecaf for Veep World Tour will last. Print up a mess of these, will ya? We’ll make a bundle:<BR/><BR/>Obama Deecaf 2008<BR/><BR/>So many bummer stinkers, so little rear end. Funny isn’t it how the left has so much to re-beat but so small a car to stick it to. Once again, they didn’t think this through.<BR/><BR/>Deepak really let the cat out of the bag with this blurt:<BR/><BR/>“Obstructing stem cell research was born in an equally blind faith in fundamentalist Christian ideology, and a programmed dismissal of all progressive ideas.”<BR/><BR/>Hey man, you called it a “progressive idea”. Maybe you should stop doing that. You won’t get a foot in the door anymore with that pitch.<BR/><BR/>GB, have you noticed how sometimes they just can’t hold it in?<BR/><BR/>Deepak, while you’re out there, don’t forget the “Halliburton!”<BR/><BR/>Fido, for our car:<BR/><BR/>“Halliburton 08”Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21505914096823075262008-06-10T23:32:00.000-07:002008-06-10T23:32:00.000-07:00gagdad bob:I am -- relatively speaking -- a frivol...gagdad bob:<BR/><BR/>I am -- relatively speaking -- a frivolous person. Far better men than me (at half my age) have repositioned history in Mesopotamia. <BR/><BR/>This I stipulate, for it is obvious. <BR/><BR/><I>I feel that I no longer speak the same language known to the majority. </I>Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88766484790019238852008-06-10T22:18:00.000-07:002008-06-10T22:18:00.000-07:00"...the smiling vacuousness of a Ronald Reagan..."..."...the smiling vacuousness of a Ronald Reagan..."<BR/><BR/>Ronald Reagan, along with the Founders = America Incarnate. The Ultimate Progressives.<BR/><BR/>I heard the tail end of the Dennis Miller interview with Deeprock Chakra. His stuff is beginning to sound soooooo last century.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66781920355978793032008-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:002008-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:00Sorry. Jakob Boehme.Sorry. Jakob Boehme.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19860841416821813232008-06-10T20:50:00.000-07:002008-06-10T20:50:00.000-07:00If you keep this up, Bob, before long there will b...If you keep this up, Bob, before long there will be no walls, only windows.<BR/><BR/>And - who is Jake?NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20047194044580833692008-06-10T20:10:00.000-07:002008-06-10T20:10:00.000-07:00Credit where credit is due: Pak-it-deep has done ...Credit where credit is due: Pak-it-deep has done something I doubted was possible. He has managed to make me feel good about voting for Captain Queeg. <BR/><BR/>Anyone who characterizes Reagan as "vacuous" is definitely projecting.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41721928249944198512008-06-10T19:56:00.001-07:002008-06-10T19:56:00.001-07:00Based on his childlike blogging, I am quite sure t...Based on his childlike blogging, I am quite sure that Deepak doesn't write his own books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-126417856253213222008-06-10T18:07:00.000-07:002008-06-10T18:07:00.000-07:00"To reverse the paradox God could permit himself w..."To reverse the paradox God could permit himself without bounds, so then has God defeated himself by removing the proof of his own existence?" <BR/><BR/>It requires double-think to hold two ideas at the same time which are contradictory, i.e.: an oxymoron. <BR/><BR/>God, Creator of the universe, cannot defeat Himself; but rather He made us capable of defeating ourselves by rejecting Him. Alas, we are free to do so.<BR/><BR/>When God reveals Himself in power it will be the end of faith and the beginning of the world to come; for now there is faith.Storm-Riderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11131489587771186846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33667855408734628932008-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:002008-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:00Anon"To reverse the paradox God could permit himse...Anon<BR/>"To reverse the paradox God could permit himself without bounds, so then has God defeated himself by removing the proof of his own existence?" <BR/><BR/>He's been resting.<BR/>Maybe even nodded off for a time.<BR/>That'll change soon enough I feel.<BR/><BR/>Just my opinion.Dougmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08468871451814828157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54644494541944557042008-06-10T17:43:00.000-07:002008-06-10T17:43:00.000-07:00Wow. Is he more stupid or evil?Wow. Is he more stupid or evil?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86985659512563868312008-06-10T17:41:00.000-07:002008-06-10T17:41:00.000-07:00The latest from this supercilious ignoramus:"By an...The latest from this supercilious ignoramus:<BR/><BR/>"By any serious measure, Barack Obama holds an enormous advantage over John McCain. His poise, intelligence, and charisma are undeniable, as is the utter ruin of the right-wing agenda with which McCain has many ties.<BR/><BR/>"Republicans turned... the smiling vacuousness of a Ronald Reagan into a prime key for electoral success.<BR/><BR/>"McCain's "No surrender" approach to the Iraq war appeals to the cherished illusion that America can never be anything but a winner. This attitude covers over the disastrous reality of how the U.S. destroyed another country without provocation<BR/><BR/>"The atmosphere would have been far different if America had led the way in dealing with global warming, among other positive issues, and letting the UN lead a united front against Saddam.<BR/><BR/>"The second reason for today's bad news is an addiction to unreality. This includes more than the administration's blind faith in the free market and its denial of climate change. Obstructing stem cell research was born in an equally blind faith in fundamentalist Christian ideology, and a programmed dismissal of all progressive ideas.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32808893380218478152008-06-10T17:31:00.000-07:002008-06-10T17:31:00.000-07:00Wicked man.Wicked man.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-11616561683206113112008-06-10T16:48:00.000-07:002008-06-10T16:48:00.000-07:00Deepak Chopra yinged and yanged his way onto Denni...Deepak Chopra yinged and yanged his way onto Dennis Miller's radio show yesterday to sell his latest book. This one asserts that God is laughing at us. Dennis kept trying to engage him in honest conversation, but Deepak kept trying to hypnotize Dennis and divert him into new age mumbo jumbo. What a complete fraud.Bob's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11971565970366294930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64611784214331318202008-06-10T15:47:00.000-07:002008-06-10T15:47:00.000-07:00anonymous said "“If God does not exist, then every...anonymous said "“If God does not exist, then everything is permitted” Fyodor Dostoyevsky<BR/>Is that true? If not then any premise based off it would be without actual conclusion. Technically permission doesn't need to even go as far as God. If I give no permissions to oth..."<BR/><BR/>For the poetically challenged and those prone to the jesuswillies, without Truth, there is no standard of Right and Wrong, and all behavior would technically be permissible and possible, as long as you go 'reasonably' slow enough to get the natives acquainted with each more gradually outlandish step. See hollywood for examples... and tattoos’... and metal modern art sculptures thrust through various body parts as decoration (perhaps also in hopes that such sparklies will fool others into thinking that, what they know to be worthless and barren, will somehow seem attractive).<BR/><BR/>Of course if there really was <I>no Truth</I>, then there'd not only be no standards of any kind, no Right, no Wrong, but also no things at all and no way to discuss it - but being that that requires more than two or three conceptual steps into the pool, that usually takes thinkers of such thoughts too close to the Vertical deep end, and then they start panicking and dog paddling and splashing about... kind of annoying to the adults lounging, floating and swimming peacefully in the waters. <BR/><BR/>Kids. <BR/><BR/>Sheesh.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20631725837201515132008-06-10T15:42:00.000-07:002008-06-10T15:42:00.000-07:00Will said "Hiya Van - been dodging tornadoes and s...Will said "Hiya Van - been dodging tornadoes and stuff."<BR/><BR/>Wise. Very wise.<BR/><BR/>;-)Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82014579066049726572008-06-10T14:42:00.000-07:002008-06-10T14:42:00.000-07:00. . . as the Holy Spirit works through anyone he p.... . . <I>as the Holy Spirit works through anyone he pleases."</I><BR/><BR/>For River.<BR/><A HREF="http://qpsquiptorum.blogspot.com/2008/06/teamwork.html" REL="nofollow">Umptillion Monks</A>QPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15827536245376441948noreply@blogger.com