Terrorism

The great terror I experience is not to know, and more, not to be known. Not to be in loving relationship. My hands tremble so, I cannot continue as the computer is so fidgety.

Well, Here We Go....

Another new year! So. Not given to "resolutions," nevertheless, I believe in critical assessment and situational analysis, as did the character Fagen in Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. In the musical rendition he chants, "I am reviewing...the situation." Very worthwhile process, yes, indeed.
"Love your neighbor as yourself," God commands, according to Hebrew authority, including the dude known as Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah, our Saviour, Our Lord, Wholly Man and Wholly God. Heavy-duty battery, there, though is it alkaline?
How many Christians love their neighbor as themselves? It's a tough gig, loving one's neighbor as oneself. Yet, it is no doubt the central task of the Christian, at least for those are Bible centered in their theology.
Growing up in a fundamental Christian Baptist church as I did, I was taught about titheing, and somewhere along my journey I came to believe that authentic titheing was not just ten percent, but was fifteen percent. That is, to tithe was to give back to God fifteen percent of one's income, before taxes. A bit later in my life I included the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Socialist Party, and American Friends Service Committee (among others) on my list of those doing work for God to whom I would give part of my tithe.
It's arguable that I made errors in the matter on several accounts. What God requires, I have decided, is one hundred percent of one's material resources. One hundred percent sharing, that is authentic koinonian distribution of "wealth." Various authorities proclaim the importance of good stewardship, but few explain the details of what "stewardship" should be, that is, service, ministry, helping, giving, in a word loving at every opportunity, all the time, out of consciousness of loving without necessarily being "conscious" of it.
Read an evangelistic book. Invariably the writer seeks to lead sinners to Christ and much information is given about ramifications in the life of a person who throws himself in faith into Jesus' wheelbarrow. Theology. Ethics. Morality. Eschatology. Christology. Lots of stuff an evanelist has to tell you about how you should live as a Christian.
But where do most such evangelists place God's command, "Love your neighbor as yourself" in their scheme. Certainly not central. If I loved my neighbor as myself, how would I go about conducting my life? It seems to me that the contractual paragraphs regarding the matter need to be moved up from the small print.

Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch

I have just concluded reading Iris Murdoch's The Time of the Angels, a wonderful novel about spiritual grappling and metaphysical contemplation. I was disappointed at the end of the novel to lose a sense regarding the identities, the realities of being of Muriel and Elizabeth. Perhaps in a sequel...? Not certain. Rector Carel Fisher was an extraordinarily troubled person for reasons never clarified, unfortunately. Sometimes one meets a character without understanding altogether the psychological dynamics influencing him...or her. His brother, Marcus, is in many respects the more interesting character, one struggling to know the meaning of his life, to understand, perhaps, that which motivates him to write a philosophical work on what constitutes the good of life, the love of life...perhaps. What does a writer seek in the authoring of a book, that is to contribute to the advancement of humaneness?
In Murdoch's short novel (230 pages), principally she tells a story, one limited to a small world of characters, almost all of them living in two residences. How sad their existences in the rectory: the rector, his mistress/servant, his daughter, his niece who actually is his daughter with whom he has an incestuous relation, and a Russian and his son. What a diverse cast of dysfunctional actors!
Missionaries to this familial group are three people who seek to bring redemption to the rector and his entourage. Redemption does not occur, at least not for the rector. Regarding most of the others we must speculate. Are we hopeful? Yes, somewhat, in the same way that we always reserve some amount of hope in the midst of the human condition.
To my list of women authors with whom I find myself much in love are Iris Murdoch and Rebeccah Goldstein, both philosophical writers. O, thank you, Iris and Rebeccah!

Winebibbing

I pour my burgundy from the Vella box onto two rocks in the stemware glass (fabrique en France, comme mon Waterman) not to chill the wine but to dilute it, water it with ice cubes.
One normally drinks burgundy as room temperature (indeed according to the norm), a standard about which I learned many years at a Magic Pan Restaurant off north Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Nevertheless chilled burgundy is flavorful, refreshing, and I am hopeful that it extends the duration of the mild buzz. Recipe: two ice cubes, six ounces of burgunday, one crystal wine glass. God blesses us.
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Identifying Terrorists

The time has come, rather late we regret, to cease identifying terrorists by their alleged religious affiliations. Terrorists should not be designated "Islamic extremists" or "Christian nutcases" or "Buddhist militants." Some terrorists claim religious affiliation, but we should not dignify their claims, and mass media should not serve their propaganda. Ku Klux Klan claimed to be a Christian organization with all its insidious trappings, but actually it was (and continues to be) an ignorant, bigoted, terrorist group. Certain so-called "skinheads" claim to be Christian, as do certain racist militias, but they actually are antichrist and anti-God in their hate-filled hearts.
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Wilde, Spinoza

I fell in love with the philosopher Spinoza today, and with Oscar Wilde as well. The latter was a gay guy, flaming, wrote funny plays, and he was a great writer. Spinoza may not have had any time for sex, gay or otherwise. His was a gloriously beautiful mind, and his ethics was superlative in its conception. I recommend both of these writers' work for joy and edification. I am glad for the lives of both these men, despite whatever flaws some have attributed to one or the other.