Feeling, Faith and Fact

Three men were walking on a wall,
Feeling, Faith, and Fact.
When Feeling took an awful fall
and Faith was taken back.
So close was Faith to Feeling
that he stumbled and fell too.
But Fact remained and pulled up Faith,
and Faith brought Feeling too.

Arrogance - I am sometimes accused of being arrogant. I understand the charge but I think it reflects a misunderstanding of the word arrogance. Having very strong opinions based on reasonable thought is not arrogance, just conviction. Arrogance is the assertion of believing that a person could not possibly be wrong. To make that assertion a person is saying that their mind works so well that it could not possibly make a mistake, which is just plain dumb. 

Kipling - IF..... IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE PERSONAL TESTIMONIES - THEY WORK BOTH WAYS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xxMd6graopw&feature=fvwp WHO HAS THE BEST TESTIMONY? WE MUST TIE OUR FAITH TO HISTORICAL EVENTS AND NOT TO SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES DOB

three cheers for inequality

This whole bit of the equality of men and women is nonsense - We are different and not equal. ON EQUALITY - Have as much equality as you please-the more the better-in our marriage laws: but at some lever consent to inequality, nay, delight in equality, is an erotic necessity. Mrs. Mitchison* speaks of women so fostered on an defiant idea of equality that the mere sensation of the male embrace arouses an undercurrent of resentment. Marriages are thus shipwrecked. This is the tragi-comedy of the modern woman; taught by Freud to consider the act of love the most important think in life, and then inhibited by feminism by that internal surrender which alone can make it a complete emotional success. Merely for the sake of her own erotic pleasure, to go no further, some degree of obedience and humility seems to be (normally) necessary on the woman's part. (C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns, p 109) *Naomi Mitchison, The Home and a Changing Civilization, pp. 49-50

For what it is worth

A few months ago I was in an argument with some folks about the place of emotions in deciding what is true - Wrote the following in response (Making some progress on my book on apologetics) - - Religions Experience and Truth - It is my contention that our subjective experiences should play little or no part in helping us to determine what we think is true. It is the mind that God has ordained as the tool for understanding. It would be hard to exaggerate how much feelings and emotions add to the richness of our lives. We experience the beauty of the world with our emotions, not with our minds. But it is a misuse of them to try to make them the organ of understanding. It is to be expected that anyone who holds any kind of a religion will interpret their experiences in light of their world view. This would be true of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. These experiences are not any kind of evidence for the truth of a particular world view. A persons convictions should be based on external evidence that can be evaluated and not on personal experience. It is not reasonable for a Christian or anyone else to think that their personal experience are some kind of evidence for the truth of their convictions. Any one who thinks that their personal experiences are a kind of evidence for their beliefs is building their faith on a foundation of sand. It is a kind of idolatry to assume our experiences are the voice of God. Mother Teresa apparently lost a good deal of her faith when she quit having the kind of experiences she had before going to Calcutta. This probably would not have happened if her faith was founded on her belief in the essential accuracy of the New Testament writers. This is why is it critical that we teach apologetics. What we have to offer the world is information about the God who became man, and that this man died for our sins, rose from the dead and has promised to never leave us or forsake us and to some day take us Home. This is a message of unspeakable comfort, joy and hope. Note on Mother Teresa Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who has been put on the “fast track” to sainthood, was so tormented by doubts about her faith that she felt “a hypocrite,” it has emerged from a book of her letters to friends and confessors. Shortly after beginning her work in the slums of Calcutta, she wrote: “Where is my faith? Even deep down there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. If there be a God — please forgive me.”In letters eight years later she was still expressing “such deep longing for God,” adding that she felt “repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal.” Her smile to the world from her familiar weather-beaten face was a “mask” or a “cloak,” she said. “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.” Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and was beatified in record time only six years later, felt abandoned by God from the very start of the work that made her a global figure, in her sandals and blue and white sari. The doubts persisted until her death. “I am told God lives in me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul,” she wrote at one point. “I want God with all the power of my soul — and yet between us there is terrible separation.” On another occasion she wrote: “I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.” Shortly before she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she wrote that: “Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear. The tongue moves but does not speak.” (I confess that even in my darkest moments laying practically unmovable for two months in the hospital, concerned about the future for my wife and I, overflowing with confusion and sadness about the future, I never had any experiences remotely like the ones expressed by Mother Teresa. I never got the lease bit angry at God or questioned why this happened to me. I never felt Christ's presence any nearer or farther than at any other time in my life. It is not that I have a great faith but that I had a strong conviction built on Christ and His promises so clearly stated in the N.T.)

William Wordworth "THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US; LATE AND SOON" THE world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 10 So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. 1806.

The Renter

The Renter A young man moved into a house full of guys. The first thing he asked the others was “What are the rules of the house?”. They proceeded to give him a printed list of about thirty things covering duties, other visitors, rent due date, etc, etc. They told him it was not an exhaustive list but it was to reflect the principle “be considerate of others as you would wish them to be considerate to you”. He thought this sounded reasonable but found some things on the list to be very irritating – like no parakeets, and no eating pickles in the living room. He began questioning the reasonableness of some of these and other rules. He asked if the landlord had make the rules and they all answered “What landlord, there is no landlord”. He then wondered who the rent money goes to but he didn't ask. He was surprised to find out there was no landlord. Then he asked them if there was no landlord, who made the rules and they said “We did along with the previous folks who had lived there before”. He then asked how did they come to agree on the rules and they said they voted and the majority rules. He asked “ what if the minority decides to rebel against the majority” and they said they fight. He asked further “what if the minority wins the fight?” And they said that the rules change. He decided to move out, he had no desire to live in such a chaotic climate. No landlord? Ridiculous!

Spiritual Without Being Religious?

Spiritual w/o being Religious - Many people today describe themselves as being 'spiritual' without being 'religious'. We ask “do they have any idea of what they mean”? We think that they would be hard pressed to give a meaningful response to the question. We conjecture that what they mean is that they believe in right and wrong and also believe that they think themselves to be better than others in their effort to be good. Maybe they mean that they think they can be good without God. But why would a person want just to be good? Do they want to be able to think of themselves as being good or do they want others to think of themselves as being good or do they really want to be good? How good to they want to be – moderately good or really good? Or just better than others. We ask “why bother”? Trying to be good is a real nuisance. It means having to say 'no' to yourself, being honest when you would like to lie to cover your tracks. It means trying to avoid every selfish act. It will impinge on our life almost hourly to not do what we would like to do or to do thinks we don't want to do. Can they succeed in being good? Well to a degree, Yes. If they work hard they make themselves a bit better than others. But if they want to be their best self, they will need God in their lives to help get rid of their pride, envy, self importance, etc. etc. If there is a God we think He will help us make progress but only if we give ourselves over to Him. He can make us truly good, but we can never make it on our own. C.S. Lewis describes this kind of religion as “all the thrills of religion with none of the costs. Holmesdb@gmail.com

Reflections on the Bible - More stuff to come later

Reflections on the Bible We don't think that most evangelical Christians have any idea of the complexity of believing that the Bible is inspired, infallible and inerrant. We know the the Bible was written by humans, we don't know if, and to what degree, God was involved in writing the Bible. We think the Bible is a pretty much a human book containing some myth, legends, exaggerations, inexactitudes, errors, and LOTS of reliable reportage. We don't know the precise meaning of the word 'inspired' as used by Paul in the book of Timothy nor are we clear on what the word 'scripture' means. Whose scripture, Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox – the three major branches of Christendom who don't agree on what books belong in the Bible. Paul was referring to the Septuagint (The Greek Bible that was translated from the Hebrew) when he wrote Timothy. The Septuagint has books in it that ours does not have. We have very few of the words of Christ in His language. We have His words in the Aramaic translated into Greek, then translated in English. i.e. Aramaic to Greek to English. We have none of the original writing of any of the Bible. What we have is copies of copies of copies, etc. For a VERY informative, interesting and somewhat humerus lecture on the complication of the writing and the transmission of the Bible, go to: “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFs-llHmxNc.” Or go to youtube – “Bart Ehrman” and pic “Misquoting Jesus'. Dr. Ehrman was once an evangelical Christian, went to Moody Bible Instutute and Wheaton College and is now an agnostic. We think he should be a lot more skeptical about his skepticism but his material is very worth knowing about. He is a first class scholar on ancient tests and teaches in the department at Religions Studies at North Carolina University. Some thoughts on the idea of Inspiration: We think that all good acts are inspired by God, that all real beauty is inspired by God and that all truth is inspired by God. He is the author of all Truth, Goodness and Beauty and none of these things exist apart from Him being somehow uniquely and mysteriously present. Where truth, beauty and goodness are present, God's inspiration is at work. The Bible is inspired like anything else on earth is inspired – by being true, beautiful or good. There parts of the Bible that are difficult to include under the headings of Truth, Beauty or Good which we find nearly impossible to believe – like the command to slaughter all all the men, women and children in some cities in Canaan or the drowning of the Egyptian solders in the Red Sea, etc. etc. These things seems to violate God's own nature and God can not be a contradiction to Himself. How do we know what to believe? We believe all that we are capable of believing. But we are compelled to disbelieve what our good sense and reason will not let us believe. There is no use in trying to pretend to believe what we don't believe. We think that God honors our attempt to be honest and reasonable. He is the ultimate reasoner, He gave us to be reasonable creatures. He is the Logos – the Word. Jesus is the Word, the one that is truly Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. The above 'we' represents other like minded persons. Don

poem

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tide lifts and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift or firm remain? "I never leave you or forsake you"

I DON'T KNOW - Why Jesus had to die for our sins or what the connection is between our sins and His death. I don't know how accurate the history is in the Old Testament. I don't know for sure what is literal and what is figurative in the Old Testament. I don't know if Jesus did all the miracles that the New Testament reports He did. I don't know what the term 'inspired' means in II Timothy 3:16 I don't have any idea of how to understand the book of Revelation in the New Testament. I don't know the connections of the story of the Fall and our sinful natures. I don't have any idea how to explain the disconnect between the goodness of God and the pain, suffering and death in the world. I am baffled at the teaching that apparently billions of the 'lost' will be tortured in hell for ever and ever. I don't know how to deal with the clear cut distinction between the righteous and the wicked in the Old Testament. But I do think I know, at His right hand stands one who is the Savior and who said “What is that to thee, follow thou me?”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olwr9FdJUjI&list=LPs5xMxy0fHDE Spend 18 minutes watching this It is by a Jewish Rabbi speaking to a group of Persian Jews. VERY helpful to anyone of any faith. Don

SUGGESTION

Just saw Les Miserables - IT IS JUST WONDERFUL - YOU MUST SEE IT. IT IS THE STORY OF FORGIVENESS AND RESTORATION. PLEASE GO. DON

Update - As some may you may know, I have been mulling over, for a long time, the idea of writing a book on apologetics. I have finally begun I think in earnest. I have been struggling to find the right structure which I have, I think, found. The book will be aimed at two kinds of related audiences: 1) Thoughtful skeptics and 2) People who would have once considered themselves to be Christians and who have either drifted away or who have made a decision that they no longer think it is true. It will hopefully be easier to read than "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I know a lot of people who just can't follow Lewis. I will try to avoid the use of theological words but still deal with theological ideas. If all goes well, I may be done in a month of so but more likely will take six months. I am not going to argue from 'experience' or from the conclusion that the Bible is divinely inspired and that we are therefore obligated to believe it but from the 'facts' of history. Is the report in the Gospels of the life of Christ essentially good history? Christianity stands or falls on the answer to this question. Pray for me as I am very serious about this project. My plea is to follow the evidence. I will self publish and probably put it on the Kindle for free or for very little. I am more interested in finding readers than I am in the possible money. We are doing fine. Have had a great summer with really wonderful weather. Lots of folks over along with our kids and grand kids including two mama dogs and eight puppies. Have been able to sit out on my ramp in the nice warm sun a lot. Am now reading a long bio on Lynden Johnson. Also intend to look into a recommended book called "Bad Religion". I hope you will recover from the shock of actually finding a new post on my blog site. I don't write more because I have nothing unusual to report. Someone has said that nothing is news worthy except the unusual. True? Don

Delayed Hawaii trip report - Everything went well. Went with my wife, my caregiver, Our daughter and her two kids. The kids loved snorkeling, and swimming every day. I sat by and completely enjoyed the time watching the kids, sitting beside the ocean, reading and watching the waves. Thing going along here as normal with nothing special to report. Don

TRIP

WE ARE OFF TO HAWAII FOR A WEEK WITH OUR ELDEST DAUGHTER AND HER TWO KIDS ALONG WITH MY CARE GIVER. WE THINK WE HAVE TRANSPORTATION WORKED OUT BUT WE WON'T KNOW HOW EVERYTHING WILL GO TIL WEE GET THERE.
NO OTHER NEWS EXCEPT THAT OUR ELDEST GRAND DAUGHTER IS GETTING MARRIED NEXT OCT IN NEW YORK. WE HOPE TO GO.
DON

recession???????

It is obvious that some people are experiencing financial problems but we reject the idea
that our country has financial problems. We will believe that our country has serious
financial problems when:

1) Millions of folks quit buying $40,000 cars and men quit paying $80,000 for over sized trucks
2) The parking lots of gambling casinos are not full 24 hours a day.
3) When we no longer can afford to pay athletes, entertainers and movie stars millions of dollars a year.
4) We quit spending fifty billion dollars a year on the luxury of pop, booze, coffee and other drinks when water is
the only liquid humans need. (We are the only creature on earth that drinks any thing beside water)
5) When people quit paying $500,000 for a place to live.
6) When we can no longer afford expensive boats, cruse trips, tourist traveling, secondary condo homes.
7) When we realize that half the stuff we buy at grocery stores is not nourishing and stop buying it.
8) When we quit buying stuff at stores like Kmart that we don't need.
9) When we begin to encourage retired people to continuing using their skills to benefit mankind instead of just entertaining themselves.
10) When we quit spending billions of dollars on political campaigns.
11) When we quit paying for the printing and delivering of tons of daily junk mail to every home in America.
12) When we quit paying thousands of folks to do telephone sales which is VERY annoying.
13) When we figure how to settle our disputes with each other with out the assistance of tens of thousands of lawyers making $200,000 a year. (Count the number of lawyers in the local phone book)
14) When we demand that the advertising business informs people about products rather that spending fortunes on graphics.
15) When millions of women quit expecting to wear expensive rings and jewelry.
17) When most junior high kids quit owning $200 phones in their pickets.
Fancy cloths, perfume, $10,00 movie tickets, millions of folks on netflix @ $18.00/month Etc, Etc,Etc, Etc. Etc.
===================

Are you as annoyed as I am with:
Telephone sales wanting to lower credit card interest rates.
Junk Mail
Things in plastic packaging that is next to impossible to open without bolt cutters or carving knives



Your comment,


Don

Frankenstien

Just finished the book. Remarkable. It is a story of what may happen to a person who is deformed and therefore is unloved. They can become resentful and angry and want revenge. It caused me to try to be more loving to the 'unloveable'.
We are doing o.k.
Snowed a bit last night so the view out my window is better than the bleak winter scene.

Looking forward to our trip to Hawaii in April. Taking my caregiver with us. I would find it very difficult without him.

Drop me a note - holmesdb@gmail.com

still here

Hi -

WE are about the same. Feeling good and enjoying life. See lots of our kids and grand kids. Will all be together at Christmas as our middle grand daughter Kelli, is getting
married on the 18th here in Bellingham. Went out for dinner for our 52nd. The best time in our marriage is now. We are pretty much together 24/7 and mostly at home. Barb reads a lot especially now that she can't get out to her huge flower garden.
I am enjoying college football and reading on my Kindle.

Reading "Killing Lincoln' by O'Riely and an historian friend of his. On best seller list for many weeks. Just reread "the Mayor of Casterbridge" by Hardy. Like the way he has with words. It is interesting to watch the best seller list on "amazon.com'. What a mixed bag of quality writing and junk.

A note about the housing 'crises' There is no crisis. You would think the term means that there are not enough houses. There is a problem for some but 'one persons loss is another persons gain. The houses are not going to sit empty. The banks or whoever owns the houses will simply lower the price to the point that someone will buy it. It will simple be a change of ownership which is not a national crisis though it is a hardship for some who should have never been approved for a loan in the first place. Terrible how the media likes to blow things up. Am I wrong?

We are for Newt. We know about his 'baggage' but he has joined the catholic church and it is reasonable to assume that he has gone through some process of confession and received forgiveness. Any how he is is by far and away the smartest candidate and he knows how Washington works.

We are going to have an adventure this summer - Suzanne and her two kids, Barb, my care giver, and I are going to Hawaii this April for a week. Will be my first big outing since I went back to Nebraska a few summers ago. This Christmas will be the 5th anniversary of my accident. Times flies. The older we get the faster it goes. According to a form I filled out on the computer about, age, habits, etc. I am supposed to live until I am 95 and so is Barb. I don't know if this is good or bad. 17 more years - I can't imagine it.

Our dreary winter weather has begun and has already caused me to long for spring.

Still trying to get serious about writing a book on apologetics for lay people. Would be a bit like 'Mere Christianity' by Lewis but not as complicated. I have a sermon in my head about suffering and am looking for a place to preach it. It has been rumbling around in my head for months if not years. Suffering is not data for thinking as much as it is an opportunity to trust. 'I will never leave you or forsake you" That is the bottom line on the question of suffering.

Would be happy for hear from you so I know that someone actually reads my blogs.
Just click on 'comments' at the bottom of this note.

Best Wishes,
Don