Even more important than proclaiming "God is Love,"
is the manifestation of love in service.
Often, humans fortify The Mystical Body of Universe
even when they oppose the structures of religion.
Even when they curse them.
Like it or not, we are embedded in "Creation"
in the Magnum Mysterium,
in the great "I Am Who Am."
Anyone who gives love in service
is a believer.
Tertullian epitomizes our human condition:
"Anima naturaliter Christiana"
"The soul is by nature Christian."
In love we are obedient to the better angels of our nature.
When we do not love... well... we do not love.
Either reality is its own "reward."
***
Dear Fred,
Thanks for your email.
I agree that "ranking" is a dangerous (and often silly) practice.
"Ranking" is kin to "grading" students - treating kids as if they were a conveyor belt commodity. Like "candling" eggs... even though the B's are as nutritious as the A's.
I happened to be "Grade A Fancy" so it took decades to realize the downside-damage of "graded children."
With "right attitude" however, "ranking" can also be fun.
Often (but far from always) "ranking" is a good preliminary determinant of "where to look" and "how to focus."
Recently, the New York City Public Library, published a list of "100 Great Children's Books" without giving numeric ranking. Of course, this laudable effort won't attrract as much attention or "sell as many papers" as specified enumeration... http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/12/100-great-childrens-books-chosen-by-new.html
***
Later today, I will mass-mail the link to a TED Talk given by University of Toronto neurosurgeon, Andres Lozano.
It blew me away. I trust it will do the same for you. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/12/can-hacking-brain-make-you-healthier.html
My takeaway from Lozano's talk is that "Christian Science" -- not the sect, but the reality -- is "lifting off."
In the Gospel of John, Yeshua says:
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these..." John 14:12-14 New International Version (NIV)
Human healing has entered "hyperspace."
Recall that 100 years ago, there were no antibiotics, one vaccination and a very limited number of surgericall procedures, most of them reminiscent of trepanning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning (A hundred years ago, the only "specific cures" in the doctor's "black bag" were a few heavy metals for the treatment of sexually transmitted disease.)
Recall that 100 years ago, there were no antibiotics, one vaccination and a very limited number of surgericall procedures, most of them reminiscent of trepanning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning (A hundred years ago, the only "specific cures" in the doctor's "black bag" were a few heavy metals for the treatment of sexually transmitted disease.)
One significant outcome of Yeshua's mission was modeling "The Way" to "Truth and Light."
By extension, "believers" in Truth and Light manifest these qualities in service, providence and healing.
The work of "incarnation" is primary... even in the absence of orthodox Christian faith.
The work of "incarnation" is primary... even in the absence of orthodox Christian faith.
Whether or not people consider themselves Christian, it is, to a significant extent, Christian culture -- with its focus on Love, Truth and Service -- that has laid the groundwork on which Christian mission advances regardless one's participation in sectarian adoration and reverence.
I encourage you to read "Research is Adoration - Teilhard de Chardin, S.J." http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/09/scientific-research-as-adoration-pierre.html
If Pope Francis is successful in his "take-it-to-the-streets" mission of "getting down, getting dirty" service, atheists, agnostics and non-believers will see that their own work intersects with - and participates in - the work of Yeshua and the development of humankind's "Mystical Body." (Ever wonder what Yeshua and the apostles smelled like? No soap. No deodorant. Scarce water. Living on the road. Sleeping in fields. "Pope Francis: Priests Should Be Shepherds Living With The Smell Of Their Sheep" http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/07/pope-francis-priests-should-be.html)
Ironically, atheists, agnostics and non-believers are free to badmouth Christianity... even as they go about the work of realizing their Tertullian nature.
It is not now -- nor has it ever been -- what one" says," but what one "does." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_fide
"Yeshua Excoriates His Fellow Pharisees" http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/08/yeshua-excoriates-fellow-pharisees-woe.html
Ironically, atheists, agnostics and non-believers are free to badmouth Christianity... even as they go about the work of realizing their Tertullian nature.
It is not now -- nor has it ever been -- what one" says," but what one "does." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_fide
"Yeshua Excoriates His Fellow Pharisees" http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/08/yeshua-excoriates-fellow-pharisees-woe.html
Pax tecum
Alan
(Here is the draft of my intended mass mailing...)
Dear F,
Your prediction was right. The cure for mental disease - or at least much of it - is electrical, a matter of frequency modulation and electrical stimulation.
Love
Alan
PS Dr. Lozano probably operates at Toronto General Hospital. "Toronto General Has The Most Sophisticated Operating Room On Earth" - http://paxonbothhouses.
***
"Just Thinking About Science Triggers Moral Behavior"
Scientific American
***
"Shock and Awe: Cosmetic Neurology"
On Mon, Dec 9, 2013 at 11:00 AM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't give a flying f___ about ranks.Righties cry out we're Number One, we're Number one because we are Exceptional.Lefties cry out we're no. 20 on this chart and only 17 on this chart. We are Falling Behind!
I want us to be better than we are
--
My writing blog is Frog Hospital
send mail to:
Fred Owens
35 West Main St Suite B #391
Ventura CA 93001
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Fr. Thomas Merton
More Merton Quotes:
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