tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post461920650279177684..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Happy Hour is NowGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-14302315426446183862010-07-08T07:19:54.452-07:002010-07-08T07:19:54.452-07:00I believe the early fathers were trying to disting...I believe the early fathers were trying to distinguish their meyaphysics from the Greek idea of a mere demiurge who fashions pre-existing matter.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20756495063962401842010-07-08T06:45:40.531-07:002010-07-08T06:45:40.531-07:00Then again, it's all we talk about :-)Then again, it's all we talk about :-)Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21901444844795833652010-07-08T06:44:38.355-07:002010-07-08T06:44:38.355-07:00"I can't accept creation from nothing.&qu..."I can't accept creation from nothing."<br /><br />I'm not crazy about the idea either.<br />But it wasn't my idea.<br /><br />In other words, one can recognize such a truth without understanding how it is possible. I find this issue very interesting and hope you spend some time on it Bob -- and it may be somewhat if not precisely central to the discussion lately: the edge of logic's capability. Where the horizontal ends and vertical takes off. Or where they meet.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77609032025306365472010-07-07T21:28:37.870-07:002010-07-07T21:28:37.870-07:00Also, the fact that we have a spark of divinity se...Also, the fact that we have a spark of divinity seems to me irrelevant to the issue, so you'll have to explain the connection.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25416360283339214292010-07-07T21:16:00.331-07:002010-07-07T21:16:00.331-07:00Not sure what you're referring to. Perhaps yo...Not sure what you're referring to. Perhaps you could you be more specific. Also, it would also help if you could explain your understanding of the principle of <i>creatio ex nihilo</i>, so we can know exactly what it is you are rejecting. But if you are suggesting that God fashions the universe out of a pre-existing and eternal substance, that's pretty much of a non-starter in these parts.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-52233073780126400272010-07-07T20:36:55.052-07:002010-07-07T20:36:55.052-07:00I can't accept creation from nothing. God crea...I can't accept creation from nothing. God creates out of divine substance. We have a spark of divinity. See Keys of Gnosis by Robert Bolton.Aloysiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858618410784962169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17905124182721083222010-07-07T14:14:25.349-07:002010-07-07T14:14:25.349-07:00(Nothing to add, but wv now says "bless."...(Nothing to add, but wv now says "bless.")juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27590631328270037742010-07-07T13:09:21.604-07:002010-07-07T13:09:21.604-07:00Dear Bob,
I was delighted to see you reference th...Dear Bob,<br /><br />I was delighted to see you reference the principles behind the work of A.A. Although I do not have any personal experience with this group, I have known fine people who were re-fined by this practice. I have for a long time wanted to work through the process, but I am not sure if it can be done alone. I think A.A. represents a practical, powerful spiritual method or discipline in the highest sense.<br /><br />You know I like to quibble with you, though, so let me refine your introductory point.<br /><br />Alcoholics Anonymous is NOT able to save hopeless drunks when nothing else works . . . but Who can, and does, is indicated in those first 3 pellucid statements you quote.<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Gandalin<br /><br />I think iGandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30949426392542175242010-07-07T12:02:26.282-07:002010-07-07T12:02:26.282-07:00Grant, you're not too far off this time. In f...Grant, you're not too far off this time. In fact, what Bob said about "spirits" is so true. What hubby says is that it's a substitute for the presence of God. Once you've tasted of that presence, you realize it's the "real thing."<br /><br />wv is cracking me up lately: twayall<br /><br />(The South assimilates the Scotsman)Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64948571035838797752010-07-07T11:56:32.538-07:002010-07-07T11:56:32.538-07:00I meant to say that this is another brilliant titl...I meant to say that this is another brilliant title.Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43045244110183448012010-07-07T11:55:26.210-07:002010-07-07T11:55:26.210-07:00"spielcheck"
Love it.
"And the la..."spielcheck"<br /><br />Love it.<br /><br />"And the latter speaks to us specifically because we are creatures, and therefore 'receive' our being from elsewhere and elsewhom." <br /><br />This is the *only* perspective that allows for human freedom. <br /><br />"cause and effect needn't be linear"<br /><br />Which is why God can do in a moment what years of experience cannot effect (often because the "mind parasites" mitigate against the breaking in of reality). It's amazing how encountering "O" can simply unplug them.<br /><br />My hubby's only quibble with AA is the identity crisis part, but naturally that can only change in Christ. I prefer Neil Anderson's "Who I Am in Christ" approach, appropriating our "O"-given identity, which means we have victory over sin, rather than identifying perpetually with our "old man." However, those first three steps are the right path to it.<br /><br />Re: Hitchens, it's rare to meet a lefty who's at least up-front about being double-minded. Not that it sanctifies his deliberate moral obtuseness in any way. An honest scoundrel is still a scoundrel. Yet, I adopt the same approach as NB...not just to wish, but pray for total healing of his person.Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-39008915688142577462010-07-07T11:55:26.211-07:002010-07-07T11:55:26.211-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-26010898297365170692010-07-07T10:59:06.152-07:002010-07-07T10:59:06.152-07:00Don't apologize, Magnus. I am always enlighte...Don't apologize, Magnus. I am always enlightened by your comments.<br /><br />I was only familiar with Madame Guyon in a historical sense until I ran onto Fénelon a few years back and more or less worked by way backward. Whether she is right about the end result, I do not know, but there is truth in the method.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-945359628322085872010-07-07T10:49:40.379-07:002010-07-07T10:49:40.379-07:00Marxist talk of the "internal contradictions&...Marxist talk of the "internal contradictions" of capitalism. Hitchens is living proof that this is yet another example of projection on a grandiose scale.<br /><br />Who is more internally conflicted than the leftist, who simultaneously claims staunch feminism and tolerance for "female genital cutting", homophilia and tacit support for the gay-butchering Islamists of Gaza?<br /><br />"Two sets of books"? Try two hundred. The cacophony and arbitrariness of the purely horizontal life... no wonder they're always depressed and whining. Or drinking.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76499383430286121192010-07-07T10:45:09.085-07:002010-07-07T10:45:09.085-07:00"Not all causes are prior in time. While they..."Not all causes are prior in time. While they are in time, their source is in the timeless.'<br /><br />Seems as if often they are simply of the form of things... thev shape f things to come. It may take you time to get to the bottom of the bottle, but it was already there even before you opened it.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50613481404973055622010-07-07T10:25:44.839-07:002010-07-07T10:25:44.839-07:00Self mood-regulation with subtances is an attempt ...Self mood-regulation with subtances is an attempt to "storm the gates of heaven" and become whole.<br /><br />It is futile. In fact, any form of resistance to life is futile.<br /><br />Surrender is the way, and a human being will be forced to submit sooner or later. Sooner is better.Open Trenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354412002318534131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-74813393700857789032010-07-07T10:09:07.405-07:002010-07-07T10:09:07.405-07:00Hitchens described himself as "drawn to the J...Hitchens described himself as "drawn to the Janus-faced way of life". He is an archetypal alcoholic, not so much in the mundane details of how much he drinks or how drunk he gets, etc., but rather in the flamboyance of his many, many highly obvious mind parasites. Like virtually all drunks, the parasites are in the cockpit and hailing on all frequencies. Of course the other side of the coin is that drunks very often manage not only to recover, but to become spiritually reborn in a manner which can *only* be effected through Grace. No honest therapist I've ever met would claim that there isn't something going on in AA (and similar programs) which is far beyond mere clinical treatment.<br /><br />Despite his arrogance and spiritual idiocy, I've always had a soft spot for Hitchens and generally hope and pray that he not only has the best possible outcome from the cancer, but that he somehow manages to have that initial glint of the presence of God, as I did some years back while living a life not entirely different from his in many respects.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25832870431872273552010-07-07T10:07:34.877-07:002010-07-07T10:07:34.877-07:00Sorry mushroom, I did not mean to answer your ques...Sorry mushroom, I did not mean to answer your question. I just tried to comment on today's feast, and it just happened.<br /><br />Incidentally, I have Madame Guyon to thank for most of the good things in my life, indirectly. Regardless her own status, she was a major inspiration for Johan Oscar Smith, who established the small group of Christian mystics here in Norway who taught me to love God and not hate people as I used to. The Light moves in mysterious ways.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57859273367267141102010-07-07T10:06:36.677-07:002010-07-07T10:06:36.677-07:00I read Horowitz's article yesterday. I rememb...I read Horowitz's article yesterday. I remember well that alcohol is very handy for bringing the horns of a dilemma to a single point.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27828092604643910382010-07-07T10:01:41.103-07:002010-07-07T10:01:41.103-07:00This is the problem with and for atheists: That th...This is the problem with and for atheists: That they are right. Watching along the fourth dimension of time, linear causality is all there is. Turtles all the way down.<br /><br />Spirituality is the "fifth dimension" and can be entered by the most minimal and simplistic self-reflection imaginable. It is a completely different axis from the time time axis.<br /><br />This means that by simply turning around, you can stare straight into eternity! Without even a telescope. The only limitation being that the Light grows ever more blinding the further you look, unless you get used to it by becoming brighter inside.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41618505596662808762010-07-07T09:40:50.640-07:002010-07-07T09:40:50.640-07:00Thus, in reality, "revelation" is occurr...<i>Thus, in reality, "revelation" is occurring all the time, nor could it ever not occur.</i><br /><br />I was reading something by Madame Guyon the other day that made me ask: How can a person ever NOT be in the presence of God?mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.com