Aphorism of the Day, December 31, 2021
A person's life might be characterized as living and moving and having being in language. One begins as a potential language user totally coded by the culture of one's upbringing and one begins to move from passive recipient of being others' linguistic object to being a linguistic subject using and being used by language and having the ability to make the inner and outer worlds linguistic objects. Finally, one can arrive to the state of knowing that one lives in the state of being a perpetual synonym maker for even the synonym of existence itself.
Aphorism of the Day, December 30, 2021
It would seem that persons have to decide the degree that they adopt the probability of theory of the scientific method to make the telling decisions of life. Not that one can choose to follow the scientific method, since gravity happens consistently according to the rules whether you think levitation happens or not. Commonsense reality can seem so boring that embellishments are preferred and that is where entertainment art enters. How does the entertainment of Superman co-exists with people who cannot but behave according to the laws of gravity, especially those who say and believe that in the unique case of Superman, gravity is defied? The truth of art and aesthetics and faith story is that aspiration need not comply with gravity on its own terms since the internal logic of the story is different than the logic of science, even though the logic of the story depends upon consciously defying science. A Dali painting co-exists with what we actually see and we contrast surreality with reality. Faith stories are surreality which influence how we live in reality. The distraction of mis-aimed religion is to be concerned more about the "surreality" of levitation of one's "hero" than about what the practice of love and justice for all means.
Aphorism of the Day, December 29, 2021
The Feast of the Holy Innocents is a day to remember the terrible collateral damage to infants and children caused by adult greed, selfish power, and outright human cruelty. The primary adult task in life is to make the world safe for children.
Aphorism of the Day, December 28, 2028
The twelve year old Jesus wanted to live in his "Father's house," the Temple, but he became obedient and went to live in his "step-father's" home in Nazareth. He wanted to be where the intellectual action was and Mary was always pondering the life of her young prodigy.
Aphorism of the Day, December 27, 2021
The "home alone" theme of the Gospel is when the parents of Jesus left for their Galilean home from a trip to Jerusalem and forgot to make sure that Jesus, age 12 was in the caravan. The frustrated parents returned to retrieve the child prodigy discussing theology with the "doctors" in the Temple. This is the last glimpse of Jesus provided before he begins his "adult" ministry.
Aphorism of the Day, December 26, 2021
We mourn the passing of Archbishop Tutu. He helped in the truth and reconciliation which helped to dismantle apartheid and put South Africa on a different course toward the dignity of people of color. His voice will be missed in this world and may his prayers for us continue in his afterlife in the continuity which God has given him.
Aphorism of the Day, December 25, 2021
Christmas Haiku
Unwrap the Presence
Of the Divine Holy Life
Born deep within you
Of the Divine Holy Life
Born deep within you
Aphorism of the Day, December 24, 2021
The rising of the feast of Christmas was a motivated by the evangelistic impulse of Christians to present Jesus as the "interior" light of the world at the time of the winter solstice when the darkness controls a greater portion of time because of the amount of time the sun spends above the horizon. The lack of "sun time" as it seems to wane and "die" in times of little artificial lighting was the right time for a festival of light. Jesus as the Light of the world, might also be metaphorically called, the Sun of the world.
Aphorism of the Day, December 23, 2021
The irony of corporations and governments is that if they are committed to equity in helping all people, more can actually get done on a wide scale and it is too often the case that charity is the "band aid" efforts of specialized non-profit groups which do more intermittent and scattered work because of lack of resources. It is important to convert businesses and governments to the truth of it being in their self interests to take good care of as many people as possible. The problem is the greed of the very few in business and government.
Aphorism of the Day, December 22, 2021
The mystical experience of Christ Identity is called a new birth, and it is given narratives in Matthew and Luke's parables of the birth of Jesus. The narratives get become made into empirical events and the mystagogy gets lost.
Aphorism of the Day, December 21, 2021
What did the famous doubting Thomas doubt? In a sense, he was doubting the chain of the witnesses. He did not believe that his close friends and companions had an appearance of the Risen Christ. He was doubting his friends' testimony; he was doubting them. That is purpose of the story; to highlight the diminishing of the modes of witnessing of the appearances of the Risen Christ. The disciples and friends told Thomas; the Gospel of John writer wrote and believed what he wrote about the appearances of the Risen Christ were valid enough for people to come to faith in their own experiences of the Risen Christ.
Aphorism of the Day, December 20, 2021
If the Christmas magic is about the appeal of the infant, Christmas love and just should be mainly about helping the vulnerable people of the world, and not just through the "Christmas charity" drives; taking care of the vulnerable should be systemic in government and in a truly creative capitalism.
Aphorism of the Day, December 19, 2021
Reification is called the fallacy of making abstract things concrete which in the religious world might correspond to "idolatry" or the making of something completely concrete into something omni-abstract or conceptual. It also might be the declaration that different things are the same. Anselm used "that which none greater can be conceived," as his definition of God. How would such a "God as greatest concept" be reified? By over-identifying the divine with anyone or anything with the pretension that such a thing could be separated from all omni-differences within the universe.
Aphorism of the Day, December 18, 2021
The Magnificat is like the Bible a Book of Hope, and that means there is much that is not yet finished. Has the Lord cast the mighty from their thrones, has the Lord lifted up the lowly, has the Lord fed the hungry? The recurrence of continuing ills in our world would mean that God is not a coercive interventionist except that Time and Ending does point to sustenance in Time which is perpetually ending the lives of tyrants (eventually) and some lowly get lifted up and some hungry get fed, and it could mean a deferral to completeness occuring the the afterlife. The continued co-existence of lowly and hungry with the proud, greedy and powerful certainly means that God's work and our work is not yet done in becoming a better world of people.
Aphorism of the Day, December 17, 2021
Does endless time mean that we will finally be persuaded about living together well or in failure to live together well, will language users become extinct? What is time if language users aren't in it to be its clock?
Aphorism of the Day, December 16, 2021
We should be thankful for the continuous before and after experience of events in Time. Time is the cosmic plot to give humanity the continuous opportunity to clean up our act. The Bible and modern apocalyptic dystopia present us with images of milestone events which paint bleak pictures of outcomes for negative trending in our behaviors. Thank God for another day to try to be better.
Aphorism of the Day, December 15, 2021
Can our "empire" be further converted to "lift up the lowly," feed the hungry, and bring health, well-being to all people with equal opportunity? Can American ideals be made actual? Are our leaders actually interested in trying to instantiate our ideals? We should pray that Christ-like orthopraxy come to American life in a fuller way. Orthopraxy does not need religious credit. A child who gets food or health care does not care if an Episcopalian or Baptist is delivering it.
Aphorism of the Day, December 14, 2021
We cannot avoid the anti-empire message of the Magnificat: scattering the proud and casting the mighty from their thrones? A very subversive song against a Caesar? And now that Christianity has had long favor with the power brokers of the governments of the world, how do we assess Christian Empires in light of the Magnificat? If power is not used to lift up the lowly, it has nothing to do with Blessed Mary.
Aphorism of the Day, December 13, 2021
Can empires even theocratic empires be beneficial for the common good of all of the people on earth? There is a romanticized notion of heaven on earth with a perfect ruling messiah, probably based upon outdated notions of monarchies being ideal forms of government. One might see the notion of the Messiah being the unattainable because of time and the future. The Messiah is the always already hope for a better surpassable future which always will deconstruct the present which is imperfect because it yet needs the future to describe what its role and purpose will yet be in the continuity of humanity knowing itself through having language.
Aphorism of the Day, December 12, 2021
Spirituality is compensatory when the situations in the external world are not good. The Jesus Movement was compensatory for people living under the oppression of Roman Caesars. When people of faith "become" the empire in attaining social acceptance, too often they don't use their "spirituality" to equalize and lift up the lowly on a wide scale. The Jesus Movement today seems to be content with doing small acts of charity among the vast numbers who do not get caught in the safety net of rescue.
Aphorism of the Day, December 11, 2021
The virtues means that we are called to completely versatile because the conditions of life confront us with so many situations which require a multiplicity of responses, some of which might seem contradictory. Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday invites us to rejoice because of and in spite of what might be happening to us and our world now.
Aphorism of the Day, December 10, 2021
Perhaps the most basic message of Jesus was about their being a kingdom, a realm, of God to which people could have access even while living in the seemingly omni-present "world" kingdom of the Caesar. Jesus said that one had to have "faith eyes" to see the greatness of God's kingdom while living in the situation of control and oppression of the Caesar.
Aphorism of the Day, December 9, 2021
In the presentation of John the Baptist, he was one who confronted religious hypocrisy, was practical about the application of perfectability to each person, and he "knew himself." John was extremely hard on religious people who were commented to "good ritual living," but not good loving living. John presented repentance in very practical ways to each person, almost obvious platitudes, like, do better and do the right thing. Finally, he knew himself, and humbly deferred to the Messiah, refusing a false identity for himself.
Aphorism of the Day, December 8, 2021
One can wish that we would learn empathy from history? New Testament discourse in writing derived from the conditions of being a persecuted minority. Such a situation meant that the winsome behavior of living the beatitudes was the "ideology." But when the winsome behaviors of the beatitude morphed into "Christians" becoming the empire, they lost the practice of beatitudes. When Christians became the empire they too often became the subjugators themselves, having forgot the history of their ancestors who lived as the subjugated.
Aphorism of the Day, December 7, 2021
Gaudete, Rejoice Sunday, Rose Sunday, is a liturgical reminder to rejoice always. That command is not easy but it is a reminder to focus upon the spirit of joy which is always accessible even in the midst of lots of trial and losses, and for many people in oppression. The Christmas story is a counter-culture story of how to resist the oppressive empire and find new birth of one who is greater than Caesar and can be the King Risen Christ within each person, no matter their situation.
Aphorism of the Day, December 6, 2021
The audiences for John the Baptist received different messages. Some were accused of being offspring of the serpent (you brood of vipers) and others were given good news. And isn't that nature of messages? Sometimes we need rebukes and sometimes we need affirmation.
Aphorism of the Day, December 5, 2021
The sociology of the electorate is sometimes divided by urban or rural perspective. In first century Palestine one can note that city dwellers had to live in closer proximity with Roman occupying functionaries whereas the rural and countryside folk could feel embolden in their political views expressed to the trees, the birds and the bees without fear of consequences. Jesus and John the Baptist brought perhaps, a more far out tradition to both countryside and city, the desert traditions of perhaps the semi-monastic Essenes who were even more isolated than villagers. John the Baptist had a spartan no-compromise presentation, whereas Jesus who was accused of eating with sinners and drunkards, made the "desert" tradition more accessible to the townies, villagers, and the city-folk.
Aphorism of the Day, December 4, 2021
Imagine Jesus and John the Baptist with the Essene "monastics" and opining: "How can we keep our desert knowledge locked up with the few who live in the desert? Shouldn't we take it to people of village and city and countryside?" John got it started and Jesus finished taking a different kind of message to the people in accessible ways.
Aphorism of the Day, December 3, 2021
It could be that Jesus realized his colleague John the Baptist was too much of an "either/or" person to live in close proximity with people faced with very messy issues. It could be that Christic movement to the Gentiles came about as a strategy to spread the insights which began in the Torah to the wider audience in the more "messy" Roman societal dynamic.
Aphorism of the Day, December 2, 2021
One might associate John the Baptist with the pre-Higher Power steps in the 12 step program meaning one has to see and desire repentance and reform from enslaving behaviors even as one grapples with habits which seem to have control of one's life. John the Baptist was the water and repentance man and Jesus was the Higher Power, Holy Spirit baptizer.
Aphorism of the Day, December 1, 2021
What perhaps is lost in our understanding of the times of Jesus is a full appreciation of the scope of Judaism especially the desert tradition Essenes who may have been an ascetic and rural revolt against the compromises which religious leaders had to live in Roman controlled Jerusalem. The ascetic tradition was seen in John the Baptist who lived closer to the simplistic binary of right and wrong with no gray areas in between. Living apart from communities allows one either/or simplicity because living in communities requires compromising gray strategies. Jesus may be seen as a hybrid from the desert traditions and making "compromising" appeals to the poorer class of people in Palestine, or those who could not live in complete adherence to the ritual purity traditions of Judaism. This made his message more accessible to more people in the eventual Gentile mission.
