Faith

Category

The way things are

THE WAY THINGS ARE

This is a post on the human condition (conditio humana), something that philosophers and theologians such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and (in our time) Hannah Arendt among others have wondered about and wrestled with themselves. By “others” I mean author John Steinbeck who likewise wondered about the way things are. And, once again, I’d like to anchor this essay to a passage in author John Steinbeck’s book “The Log From the Sea of Cortez.” This is an...

Approaching advent

APPROACHING ADVENT

We are privileged to live on a planet such as our Earth.  Of the several thousands of planets discovered over the past thirty years, most are gaseous and those few that have discernable hard surfaces appear to be rocky and barren, inhospitable for any one of a number of reasons.  Some scientists remain optimistic that there are still planets capable of sustaining life as we know it “out there” somewhere (to paraphrase Fox Mulder) but others wonder where they are if this...

S Little Time

SO LITTLE TIME

The holiday season is almost upon us.  Millions of Americans will be converging on airports around the country to fly home or to reach some other destination in time for Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or New Years (plus returning to their points of origin in time to resume work or classes the first week of January.)  Often, they are in a hurry, either to make a connecting flight or beat the rapidly approaching winter storm before the airport is socked in, or just to...

WONDERFULLY MADE

I was reading an interesting question on a discussion board the other night.  The board was a place where medical students and residents pose questions to each other. The question had to do with whether supplemental oxygen can address shortness of breath in cases when a patient has pump failure or COPD (assuming at the same time), the patient has adequate O2 arterial saturation.  In the event that some readers have wondered about this themselves, providing O2 per mask or cannula can not...

The Connecticut Shore

THE CONNECTICUT SHORE

Deena and I had an opportunity this past weekend to spend time on the Connecticut shore.  We stayed on the ocean’s edge in the Mercy by the Sea retreat center run by the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic charity.  Deena and I are Protestants, but no one was checking ID’s.  It was a wonderful interlude where we could enjoy the peace of nature with the silent ambience of an organization that branched off centuries ago from the Carmelites.  This post is an account of our stay. THE...

The MAGA evangelican and the dog-eating Haitian

THE MAGA EVANGELICAL AND THE DOG-EATING HAITIAN

Those of you who have read the New Testament even casually have likely heard the parable Jesus mentioned between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisees (and the Sadducees) were the two main religious groups in Judea back then. Of the two, the Pharisees were the more conservative, taking the Law of Moses literally and representing the more rural parts of Israel. These are the ones who gave Jesus grief. The Sadducees were more liberal, because they tended to...

If

IF

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswomen Nancy Mace and Anna Luna are reported to have announced recently that committees in both house of Congress will again take up the topic of unidentified aerial phenomena (particularly reported in the vicinity of Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.) House hearings are tentatively scheduled for November 13th. Barring unforeseen developments, the Senate committee will meet before the Holiday recess as well. The topic of unidentified flying objects (aka unidentified anomalous phenomena) is getting more attention...

Dust in the Wind

DUST IN THE WIND

We all reach a point where we wonder “What is this all for?”  The word “this” can mean any one of a number of things.  “This” can mean trying to buy your first home and being priced out of the market. “This” can mean trying to keep your kids off the street with mixed success.  It can mean finishing your college degree and not finding a job.  Or, “this” can mean trying to save your marriage, or staying sober, or working your entire life just to...

God is my refuge

GOD IS MY REFUGE

The word “refuge” is a very interesting word.  It is basically a hiding place. Most people have their own informal refuge or secret place they go to when they are super stressed or need to think through a problem.  For a teenager, it might be their room or a friend’s house where they can just chill. To others, a favorite place that serves comfort food.  Some adults might go to a vista where they feel a communion with nature.  Others a movie. Still...

Are we making God in our own image?

ARE WE MAKING GOD IN OUR OWN IMAGE?

  • September 1, 2024
  • /
  • Faith

I have revised this post I published three years ago to include a recent interview that Mr Trump sat for on the Mark Levin show. Tump said a number of things, including: “I’d like to think that God thinks that I’m going to straighten out our country.” Trump thinks this is why he was spared six weeks ago from assassination. I agree with him that God likely intervened to spare his life, but I disagree with him over God’s motivation....

Verified by MonsterInsights