Life and Faith

Wow , Sounds really interesting.

2012-01-06T12:02:16.231-08:00

Wow , Sounds really interesting.

And oh the guilt as you hang up knowing that telem...

2011-11-18T11:48:06.932-08:00

And oh the guilt as you hang up knowing that telemarketers are just trying to put food on the table too.

Powerful and beautiful post. God may not give us ...

2011-08-13T13:43:17.656-07:00

Powerful and beautiful post. God may not give us what we want, but will take care of us through what God allows.

Beautiful post that reminds us of what truly matte...

2011-08-08T12:35:05.225-07:00

Beautiful post that reminds us of what truly matters in the day-to-day grind of being alive for God and for each other. -Lace

oriongps: "Love moves beyond nostalgia."...

2011-06-15T20:51:57.019-07:00

oriongps:

"Love moves beyond nostalgia."

Siempre he temido que la sombra de mi padre se reproduzca en mi. Yo veia en él su aislamiento de la familia y de una esposa que lo volvia loco. Yo, nacido en el 63, un hijo no deseado que lo habia obligado, en la cultura latina, a casarse con ella. Nunca conoceré mas sobre él pues guardo su silencio hasta la tumba. El mito que me funda nunca se explicara.

Vivo entre dos culturas, francesa y colombiana pero no hallo mi lugar en ninguna. "No soy de aqui ni soy de alla" como dice la cancion de Facundo Cabral. El contexto y proceso historico donde naci y he crecido ya no me aclara nada. Histoira, filosofia, psicologia, teologia, ayuda social. He buscado tanto y las respuestas son aun ausentes. Solo confirmo que soy hijo de Cain : sin tierra, sin raices, todos los frutos obtenidos se han perdido. Comenzar de nuevo, de cero, con que fuerzas ?

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

"Even though I didn’t mean to, I hurt her and she still saw me as her little boy" (The Downtown Transfer). Retornar a la casa materna, al pais de mis origenes terrenales ? Añoro ver a mi madre despues de casi 10 años de distancia. Mi esposa e hijas lo haran pronto.

Pero yo me siento tentado a desaparecer de mi familia. Empiezo a retroceder. Lucho por agarrarme a los bellos recuerdos de la época en que me parecia ver al padre celeste manifestandose en mi vida.

La fé en una historia, en un futuro mejor gracias a una promesa dada en el pasado, se va apagando.

Psa 77
I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

Admiro esa tenacidad de David de continuar a perseverar en ver un futuro mejor al agarrarse a una nostalgia de lo providencial a pesar de vivir un presente catastrofico. Pero mis ojos comienzan a fatigarse de solo ver el desierto en que vivo. El peor de los handicaps no es fisico sino la ceguera del corazon.

Only celestial nostalgia supports desert life. But how long ?

cisco

oriongps: Es curioso, pero asi como su post "...

2011-06-11T22:37:31.152-07:00

oriongps:
Es curioso, pero asi como su post "Prayer and the Kingdom of the Worried Parent" me produjo una reaccion conflictiva (no por ud, pues respeto su preocupacion como padre), cosa contraria me ha occurido con este post. Cela m'a totalement bouleversé (it totally made me upset). Cuando ud escribe como en "The Downtown Transfer" su contenido me captura y sumerje en un mundo aparte.

Mi reaccion me causa curiosidad. Como explicarme esto a mi mismo? En "Prayer and the Kingdom of the Worried Parent" se habla de un esfuerzo paterno frustrante, impotente, dolido ; en "The Downtown Transfer" de una madre que perdona efectivamente las locuras de su hijo.

De pronto esta reaccion mia tiene que ver con unos recuerdos negativos de mi padre y positivos de mi madre. No sera esto precisamente un cierto determinismo? Acaso, el problema no sera el determinismo sino el no caer en cuenta de que estamos inmersos en recuerdos que influencian nuestras decisiones?

Es curioso, pero asi como su post "Prayer and...

2011-06-11T22:36:58.191-07:00

Es curioso, pero asi como su post "Prayer and the Kingdom of the Worried Parent" me produjo una reaccion conflictiva (no por ud, pues respeto su preocupacion como padre), cosa contraria me ha occurido con este post. Cela m'a totalement bouleversé (it totally made me upset). Cuando ud escribe como en "The Downtown Transfer" su contenido me captura y sumerje en un mundo aparte.

Mi reaccion me causa curiosidad. Como explicarme esto a mi mismo? En "Prayer and the Kingdom of the Worried Parent" se habla de un esfuerzo paterno frustrante, impotente, dolido ; en "The Downtown Transfer" de una madre que perdona efectivamente las locuras de su hijo.

De pronto esta reaccion mia tiene que ver con unos recuerdos negativos de mi padre y positivos de mi madre. No sera esto precisamente un cierto determinismo? Acaso, el problema no sera el determinismo sino el no caer en cuenta de que estamos inmersos en recuerdos que influencian nuestras decisiones?

oriongps : gracias por compartir sobre sus esfuerz...

2011-06-11T21:38:47.216-07:00

oriongps : gracias por compartir sobre sus esfuerzos por empatizar con padres vulnerables debido a hijos en situacion de grave enfermedad.

Es precisamente ahi que tengo mi lucha con lo divino. Aunque teologicamente puede demostrarse muy loable que el Padre celeste haya dejado sacrificar su unico hijo para redimir la humanidad entera ... me es dificil poder sentirme comprendido (como padre) por alguien que teniendo todo el poder del mundo no hizo ningun esfuerzo por proteger su unigenito.

Si yo tuviera un poder sobrenatural para sanar y proteger a mi hijo debil, pero que en lugar de cuidar de mi hijo yo lo dejara en manos de malvados con tal de salvar a otra persona (que no necesariamente aceptara ese don) ... francamente, yo seria despreciable.

oriongps: Poema 15 - Pablo Neruda http://www.yout...

2011-06-08T00:25:36.179-07:00

oriongps:
Poema 15 - Pablo Neruda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVUEXx9WYe4

Thanks, I read you blog as well; it was good but i...

2011-06-07T14:34:55.025-07:00

Thanks, I read you blog as well; it was good but it looks like it was last posted on 2008. Do you have any other newer writing?

I love reading the expressive way you write. I ju...

2011-06-02T20:50:14.322-07:00

I love reading the expressive way you write. I just realized I can "like" you on facebook! So, I shall :)

Thank you for sharing your thoughts-----found your...

2011-05-31T12:07:12.534-07:00

Thank you for sharing your thoughts-----found your blog through Sojurners and its really great----thank you!

Thanks for your response. First the question is to...

2011-05-25T09:16:59.104-07:00

Thanks for your response. First the question is too big to answer. God's sovereignty and human responsibility is found somewhere in our relationship to god and each other.

On the comment on the 4th I am assuming that you mean honor thy mother and father... (there is disagreement on the 4th some say it the commandment about sabbath and others say honor parents) ... Truth always honors another.

Finally, we are not God. We are called to love God and love neighbor and live to where we live, and not to fix the world. Many times fixing a problem leads to more problems. Witness to the reality of our lives as believers.

I hope you caught the irony of the story, violence reigns with constricted silence. Yet, I am telling the story, breaking the silence.

Very well written! How does the idea of personal ...

2011-05-25T08:47:36.680-07:00

Very well written! How does the idea of personal responsibility for violence square with God's sovereignty? How does your story square with the 4th commandment? There is violence and pain around us every day. We don't have enough human resources to fix everything that is broken. How do we as individuals, churches, and nations decide what evils should be fixed? How do we do it without breaking the bank?

Good post!

2011-05-23T08:18:32.731-07:00

Good post!

Thank you so much for this great piece and for dra...

2011-05-11T14:26:54.339-07:00

Thank you so much for this great piece and for drawing people's attention to Rand's philosophy. This is a really important issue. I came across your blog while doing my own research on Rand for the non-profit, the American Values Network (AVN). My apologies for reaching out through the comments section, but I couldn't find another way to reach you. In case you might do further writing on Rand, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of this resource that AVN put together that might be useful to you - http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/aynrandvsjesus/. It's a pretty exhaustive collection of her quotes, broken down by topic, specifically focused on what she said the goal of her books and teachings were. Specifically, we focus on how she stands in complete opposition to Judeo-Christian morality and her condemnation of Christ’s teachings and those who follow them. And for her quotes, we supply specific Biblical passages on what the Bible teaches on these subjects. Thank you again for raising these issues. Please feel free to use AVN's memo however you would like if you find it useful.

I agree with pretty much everything you say about ...

2011-04-29T16:31:55.193-07:00

I agree with pretty much everything you say about Ayn Rand's philosophy and writing, but what I found most offensive about it when I was first reading it, decades ago, was her insistence (as you say, through John Galt, her main character) that everyone must believe in her worldview. She was anti-Communist, but in that respect very like Stalin. Of course it didn't help that I didn't find her worldview very attractive in the first place.

Ed Roger : It's quite strange but I feel livi...

2011-04-16T10:10:24.714-07:00

Ed Roger :

It's quite strange but I feel living this kind of contradiction : if you're not yet save then one smiling beliver say to you that Jesus loves you unconditionally (the only thing you need to be save is to choix G_D's grace). But if you take away from church then your're an reprehensible, ungrateful, self-sufficient person that can lost easily his salvation. All that sounds like a trap.

Maybe this contradition is due to misintrepretation of apostol Paul unity concept of Jesus-head with church-body. The mixture of both of them only has leaded to historical mistakes. For examples (from the middle age), a catholic inquisition church who persecuted to death in Albi (France) all the Cathars (a branch of manichaeans) because church's head decisions were (is) delegated on the Pope. Or a protestant church that destroyed many catholic cities (with all his inhabitants) in Switzerland because God's head was delegated on calvinist governors.

I need church fellowship to find mutual help but I'm only save throught individual link with God.

Panda if you want argument against Harris look no ...

2011-02-14T10:45:04.244-08:00

Panda if you want argument against Harris look no further than Hume. Simply put: Hume made a strong distinction between what is and what we want to be. Harris seems to be aware of this and NO WHERE DOES HE OFFER any credible critique of HUME past he saying he disagree with it. (Opinion is not reason and if he offers no way to bridge it other "I don't like it" is the height of irrationality. He could have at least offered John Searle's attempt. But to offer nothing but opinion makes his book less an argument and more (irony meter going on overload) a statement of faith. I pointed this out and I guess you missed that one.

I am looking for articles that make credible antit...

2011-02-13T01:21:16.191-08:00

I am looking for articles that make credible antitheses to Harris' arguments. After reading this article I have found none so far. It is clear you disagree with the general ideas of Harris but you don't offer specific examples of how his specific arguments are wrong. All of your critiques are already brought to the readers of Harris's books followed by his defense and explanation. If you believe he is wrong you have a poor practice of debating his opinions.

I worked in the Philadelphia School system for 2 a...

2011-02-09T09:48:04.493-08:00

I worked in the Philadelphia School system for 2 and a half years, teaching character development education. A large conclusion I drew from my work with urban young people echoes your blog... that young people, especially those influenced by urban culture, do not know how to use their imaginations. I would often talk with students about the goals they had for their future, and while many had specific goals, they most often could not tell me how they would reach these goals. In part, I attributed this to the students inability to imagine the process and the goal actually being completed. Without this ability, how can young people succeed?!

The example I would give my students to demonstrate the importance of imagination involved an architect. When an architect puts together blue prints for a building, what is the first thing they have to do? They must work with the client listening to the client's ideas. At the same time, the architect must imagine/envision what this building will look like. After he has imagined, he can then put in on paper.

Thanks for discussing this topic... and thanks for pointing me towards how this impacts spiritual growth!

Whitney Monn- Program Recruiter, Urban Studies Department at Eastern University

what about us, as fathers, if we imagine our child...

2011-02-08T22:40:34.165-08:00

what about us, as fathers, if we imagine our children living a blessing life despite all obstacles in this world?

A book that can show us a little about how impossible dreams can be donne :

Translation from french book : La Vie rêvée de Jérémy, The Dreamed life of Jerémy [http://www.presses-renaissance.fr/livre.php?ean13=9782750903473] :

This book takes us to the discovery of an extraordinary child.
From the beginning, everything was done to make Jérémy Gabriel's life a calvary, that he bent double by fate's blows. Now this little man, supported by exceptional parents, bravely confronts his disease and, especially, makes posible his dreams : to meet Celine Dion, to sing for the Pope, and more ...
It is this life, his faith, his will, that he shares here (in this book) to give hope to all children who are suffering and to give strength to their loved ones.
In this heart to heart with Alain Noël (author), this is a wonderful story that is emerging, that of a gifted boy to live.
Jérémy Gabriel will be 11 on December 10, 2007. He lives in a Quebec's suburb with his parents and his two younger sisters.

When I read this I thought of a book by Mary Elsbe...

2011-02-08T13:20:37.275-08:00

When I read this I thought of a book by Mary Elsbernd and Reimund Bieringer called The Normativity of the Future that speaks of imagination and the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you Paul for your comment. On your post, I ...

2011-02-08T11:12:31.407-08:00

Thank you Paul for your comment.

On your post, I would agree with you that "Fundamentalism" atheism does not define all atheism. Your definition of Atheism would hold for most atheists, but the "Gnu" atheism does not hold to your definitions. As proof see PZ Myer's rage against what he calls dicionary atheists. The reality is the Gnu Atheist see themselves as in a crusade of sorts, and that they see the world from older modernistic categories. They see they world as if Wittgenstein, Godel, and modern physics never occurred.

I don't follow how you get to Fundamental Athe...

2011-02-08T07:18:03.338-08:00

I don't follow how you get to Fundamental Atheism from where you started. Specifically, you define Fundamentalism and Modernism and then you go on to say that someone who is fundamentally modernist is a Fundamental Atheist. At most that would be a Fundamental Modernist so I'm not sure how you got to Fundamental Atheist from those beginnings.

It seems to stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what atheism is and what the motives of the so-called "New Atheists" are. Their actions, whether you want to call them fundamentalist or not, do not stem from their atheism. Atheism is the absence of belief in god. Their actions stem from their antitheism.

They believe that religion causes harm. This belief is what has led them to undertake the actions you described as a "call to return to modernity". This belief is rightly categorized as antitheism, not atheism.

I'll end with this, atheism is descriptive not prescriptive. Atheism has no tenants, it has no beliefs, it has no dogma to which to cling. It is the absence of belief in god. Any actions taken by a self-professed atheist cannot be a result of their atheism, their atheism is just another result of whatever beliefs led them to the actions they undertake.