gdp's Comments

Ars Moriendi : The Bandwagon

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 22:19:00 +0000

Well I was referring to me getting back on, but I mean if you want to get on the Mike Bandwagon I won't stop you. It's a popular wagon. B-)

Ars Moriendi : Darkness

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:21:52 +0000

Hey man, sorry for the delay in responding. I don't think there's anything wrong with not having experienced God as "daddy." To be honest I also don't experience it, and I cringe a little at how casual many evangelicals make the relationship sound. I think, like with most aspects of faith, it becomes a "problem" if we make something out of it that it's not meant to be. Yes, Jesus called God the father "Abba." Jesus also walked on water and multiplied bread and fish and did a host of other miracles, and I don't see how it should be any easier for humans to do this one. If some people can do it, great. I think the problem arises when we claim that it's something that everyone can and should easily experience. It just isn't so. It makes me cringe when I see bumper stickers that say "If you're not feeling close to God, guess who moved." That's just not how it works, and I think the Bible is less likely to agree with that bumper sticker. In my opinion, the evangelical emphasis on God as "daddy" also betrays a fixation on certainty and experiential knowledge of God, which I know we've talked about before. I don't think much of the church throughout history would place such a heavy priority on being absolutely certain about one's faith. But in light of the two thousand years between Jesus and us, in light of problematic passages in the Bible that are difficult to parse and difficult to understand in the context of a loving God, in light of many other challenges in professing a Christian faith, evangelical Christianity still emphasizes certainty of belief. And what's the best way to be certain of God's existence and character if his revelation through Scripture doesn't do it for you? Experience him yourself. Maybe that's why such an emphasis is placed on God as "daddy," but again I think it's important to remember that this isn't the way the church has historically operated -- or at least it's not the way the people I've read seem to operate. You would know better than I would. I don't know if those thoughts address yours at all or if I've missed it. I know I've shared this quote with you before but it bears repeating. I think Lewis gets more at what the reality of our relationship with God is like: "Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal... As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change. their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation - the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks. ... Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else... ... For his ignoble idea is to eat the cake and have it; the creatures are to be one with Him, but yet themselves; merely to cancel them, or assimilate them, will not serve. His is prepared to do a little overriding at the beginning. He will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs - to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be ... Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

Ars Moriendi : Stagnation I: On Floating

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:36:02 +0000

Adeline, you're very welcome! I'm so glad if it was helpful. Bless you too!

Ars Moriendi : Rationalization: Enough Already

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:41:33 +0000

Thanks, Alicia. I'm glad if it was helpful.

Ars Moriendi : But You Kind Of Do - Guest Post at The Moxy Project

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:06:12 +0000

Thanks, Linds.

Ars Moriendi : But You Kind Of Do - Guest Post at The Moxy Project

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:26:48 +0000

Too true, and yours are especially appreciated. Glad you could get something out of it :-)

Ars Moriendi : Not Yours To Fix

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:20:08 +0000

Why thank you :-) maybe I should just start transcribing all of my dreams.

Ars Moriendi : The Calm; The Storm

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:56:42 +0000

Thanks, Kelsey. I'm glad you like it!

Ars Moriendi : The Calm; The Storm

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:56:16 +0000

Thanks, Alicia :-) I am doing ultimately well, I think.

Ars Moriendi : Black Holes Redux: Justice! Retribution! Pizza Rolls!

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:52:08 +0000

Basically the message here is each guest should be allowed only a specific quantity of snacks, as determined by the host and/or resident mathematician.

Ars Moriendi : A Poem (PG-13)

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:13:09 +0000

So sayeth the Poet! I'd take your "bad at poetry" any day.

Ars Moriendi : A Poem (PG-13)

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:53:00 +0000

I'm glad you picked up on it :-)

Ars Moriendi : A Poem (PG-13)

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:52:51 +0000

Haha I hadn't really thought about that interpretation, but I guess that's one thing that's cool about poetry. I think I like yours better than I like my own! No title yet; I think I try too hard when it comes to being avant-garde with poetry.

Ars Moriendi : A Poem (PG-13)

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:49:24 +0000

Thanks, Tony :-)

Ars Moriendi : Precision PSA: It's Complicated

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:31:52 +0000

He just wants to be your friend! And, you know, maybe discuss elocution and stuff.

Ars Moriendi : Precision PSA: It's Complicated

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:35:53 +0000

Where does it end, Ben? Replacing all instances of "well" with "good"? "Like such as the Iraq" included as an example of a simile in the manual of style? "Doubleplusungood"? We're killing "well," Ben! WHERE DOES IT END?

Ars Moriendi : No, The OTHER Wizard

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:47:14 +0000

PS I am eagerly anticipating your All Ratatouille All The Time blog.

Ars Moriendi : No, The OTHER Wizard

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:46:27 +0000

Haha, hilarious. Our below-the-topsoil passions have been rudely dug up and displayed in the noonday sun. The Lord of the Rings used to be ours and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books. Brilliant. And, in my defense, I spent about an hour per book on the Harry Potter Wiki. I'd like to think I'm a little more in-depth than I am Sparknote-y!

Ars Moriendi : I Hate Forgiveness

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:59:55 +0000

Thank you :-) I would be lying if I said it was natural for me. Posting these sorts of things are essentially my small attempts to show others (believers and non-believers) that you can be really messed up and still claim to follow Jesus. It's not something I think I would be inclined to do otherwise. I am completely in agreement with you about forgiving and forgetting, too. I can't imagine, for example, that it's possible for mothers of murdered children to forget the past, and I don't think they should, either -- but I think the forgiveness process might eventually lead them to be okay with and even around the killer. Thank you for chiming in!!

Ars Moriendi : I Hate Forgiveness

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:34:48 +0000

I think I see what you're getting at- forgiving others necessarily implies remitting a legitimate claim of justice on those others, and I know that often times I hesitate to take definite stands on the justice or injustice of another's actions. One thing that helps me is thinking about how any wrong against me is also a much greater wrong against God. And even though God is "faithful to forgive," it isn't like he's simply sweeping it under the rug. If he can forgive sinners like Saul or Peter, I feel slightly more empowered to say "no, that did hurt me," which at least gives me a starting place for forgiveness.