The Burden Of Faith

Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all.
—  Catherine Marshall
We cannot bear to regard ourselves simply as playthings of blind chance; we cannot admit to feeling ourselves abandoned.
—  Ugo Betti
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On This Day In:
2019	Are Your Dogs Barking?
	Dangerous Waistcoats
2018	And 40+ Years Later?
2017	He Is Alone
2016	Compensation
2015	Charlie Redux
2014	The Crux
2013	Erosion And Rechannelling
	Alliance, n.
2012	How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
	Choices And Decisions
2011	Speed Spoils
	Simply Intended
2010	A Second 4 Hour Jog

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Word Up

‘In the beginning was the Word’.  I have taken as my text this evening the almighty Word itself.  Now get this: ‘There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.’  Amen, brothers and sisters, Amen.  And the riddle of the Word, ‘In the beginning was the Word….’  Now what do you suppose old John meant by that?  That cat was a preacher, and, well, you know how it is with preachers; he had something big on his mind.  Oh my, it was big; it was the Truth, and it was heavy, and old John hurried to set it down.  And in his hurry he said too much.  ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’  It was the Truth, all right, but it was more than the Truth.  The Truth was overgrown with fat, and the fat was God.  The fat was John’s God, and God stood between John and the Truth.  Old John, see, he got up one morning and caught sight of the Truth.  It must have been like a bolt of lightning, and the sight of it made him blind.  And for a moment the vision burned on the back of his eyes, and he knew what it was. In that instant he saw something he had never seen before and would never see again.  That was the instant of revelation, inspiration, Truth.  And old John, he must have fallen down on his knees.  Man, he must have been shaking and laughing and crying and yelling and praying – all at the same time – and he must have been drunk and delirious with the Truth.  You see, he had lived all his life waiting for that one moment, and it came, and it took him by surprise, and it was gone.  And he said, ‘In the beginning was the Word….’  And man, right then and there he should have stopped.  There was nothing more to say, but he went on.  He had said all there was to say, everything, but he went on.  ‘In the beginning was the Word….’  Brothers and sisters, that was the Truth, the whole of it, the essential and eternal Truth, the bone and blood and muscle of the Truth.  But he went on, old John, because he was a preacher.  The perfect vision faded from his mind, and he went on.  The instant passed, and then he had nothing but a memory.  He was desperate and confused, and in his confusion he stumbled and went on.  ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’  He went on to talk about Jews and Jerusalem, Levites and Pharisees, Moses and Philip and Andrew and Peter.  Don’t you see?  Old John had to go on.  That cat had a whole lot at stake.  He couldn’t let the Truth alone.  He couldn’t see that he had come to the end of the Truth, and he went on.  He tried to make it bigger and better than it was, but instead he only demeaned and encumbered it.  He made it soft and big with fat.  He was a preacher, and he made a complex sentence of the Truth, two sentences, three, a paragraph.  He made a sermon and theology of the Truth.  He imposed his idea of God upon the everlasting Truth.  ‘In the beginning was the Word….’  And that is all there was, and it was enough.
—  Navarre Scott Momaday
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On This Day In:
2018	But Much Is Worth Learning
2017	Mr. President, About Global Warming
2016	Starting To Stumble
2015	Begin Combat
	I Am A Runner
2014	Just Dig ‘N It, Why?
2013	Additions
	The Object Of Instruction
2012	Telling Her
2011	On Torture

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Yet We Should Keep Trying

The author of this poem [the book of Job] is a profound philosopher with a superb command of language and an exquisite sense of natural beauty.  But the astonishing thing about the book of Job is that everyone who reads it comes to a somewhat different conclusion.   Job makes us vividly aware of the paradoxes in one of life’s ultimate questions —  why do we suffer pain?  —  but he doesn’t solve the problem.  He merely demonstrates that there are no easy answers.
This is similar to one of the principal discoveries of computer science, namely that some problems are inherently so complex that they can’t possibly be solved in a finite number of steps.  We must learn to face the fact that an intellectual approach will not lead to an understanding of the cosmos; we can’t transcend our limitations.  Yet we should keep trying.  We should question authority and be aware that the traditional wisdom of religious orthodoxy might be mistaken.  This book says that after an honest search, like job’s, we’ll learn to trust God’s fairness  —  even though some good men suffer, even though some wicked men prosper, even though religion itself remains a mystery.
—  Donald E. Knuth
From his book:  “3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated“
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On This Day In:
2018	Let Us Dare
2017	Two Good To Be Real
	Secrets
2016	Learning Subtle Differences
2015	Dog Eat Dog World?
2014	And Sometimes Blogs About It
2013	Outside-In
2012	They Are All Perfect
2011	Delegation – The “How-To’s”
2009	Diet Update and Other Bits & Bobs…

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Transfiguration

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
—  Mahatma Gandhi
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On This Day In:
2018	2018 Mid-Terms
	Praying For A Blue Tsunami Election
2017	Islam Is Not The Enemy
2016	A Checkered Past, A Checkered Future
2015	Preferences
2014	Have You Taken The Pledge?
2013	Nurture Tolerance
2012	Election Day – Please Hear What I’m Not Saying
2011	Mostly Strange, Always Blue
	What Is It You Want?
2010	MSNBC, Bring Back Keith !!!
	Value..
	Worse Still…
	Afraid So…
	Making It
	Don’t Jump Small
	Time
	Push!!
	I’m Still Here… (A Message To Keith Olbermann)
	Choose
	Not Yet…
	Mean Too
	Still Building (and Planning)
	Hangin’ High
	Always…

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Sometimes I Still Have Trouble Sleeping

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones.  And when you have finished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.  God is awake.
—  Victor Hugo
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On This Day In:
2018	And Flights Of Fancy
	Dodgers Lose 2nd Consecutive World Series!!
2017	By Their Acts Thy Shall Know Them
2016	Remembering
2015	One
2014	Sure Experiments And Demonstrated Arguments
2013	Irrational Complacency
2012	Why Criticize?
	Giants Sweep 2012 World Series With Game 4 Win (4 To 3)!!!
2011	Saying Just Enough
2010	Giants Win Game 2 Shutout of Rangers – 9 to 0!!!

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Can I Get A Witness?

To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda or even stirring people up, but in being a living mystery;  It means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.
—  Dorothy Day
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On This Day In:
2018	I’d Still Like To Try It Out
2017	In Every Thing
2016	Future Halo
2015	The Hard Way Every Time
2014	Indispensable Wits
2013	I’d Like To
2012	2012 National League Champions – San Francisco Giants!!
	2nd Viewing – No Change
	Light Shining Out of Darkness
2011	Just Kickin It
	Are These The “Real” Protectors Of America’s Constitution?
2010	Giants Advance To 2010 World Series!!!

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Courage And Patience

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones.  And when you have finished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.  God is awake.
—  Victor Hugo
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On This Day In:
2018	Push The Envelope
2017	Ents
2016	Are You Sure?
2015	Distracted
2014	What It Takes
2013	We Are
2012	Utopian
2011	Seen Any Black Swans Lately?

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