"... And At Christmas You Tell The Truth ..."

Broker turned monk offers home truths on crisis

TSURNOGORSKI MONASTERY, Bulgaria - Brother Nikanor, a Nasdaq broker turned monk, advises former colleagues to put a jar with soil on their desks to remind them where we are all heading and what matters in life

cross reference : 1 Timothy 6:7-10

H/T Mizah Haber:

The war in Georgia is raising the question again:

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Crossing the Bosphorus

This Is How I Feel Right Now - Thanks Otis.

- written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
- lyrics as recorded by Otis Redding December 7, 1967, just three
days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin
- #1 for 4 weeks in 1968

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I've had nothing to live for
And look like nothin's gonna come my way

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

(whistle)

Quote of the Day

Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of PhysicsAstronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene ("buckyballs") (with Robert Curl, also a professor of chemistry at Rice, and Harold Kroto, a professor at the University of Sussex).

• "The burden of proof is on those who don't believe that "Genesis" was right, and there was a creation, and that Creator is still involved."
  • October 2004 address at the Tuskegee University's 79th Annual Scholarship Convocation.

• "Evolution has just been dealt its death blow. After reading Origins of Life with my background in chemistry and physics, it is clear that [biological] evolution could not have occurred."
  • May 2005 comment on Fuzale Rana and Hugh Ross' book Origins of Life [1]

• "Recently I have gone back to church regularly with a new focus to understand as best I can what it is that makes Christianity so vital and powerful in the lives of billions of people today, even though almost 2000 years have passed since the death and resurrection of Christ. Although I suspect I will never fully understand, I now think the answer is very simple: it's true. God did create the universe about 13.7 billion years ago, and of necessity has involved Himself with His creation ever since. The purpose of this universe is something that only God knows for sure, but it is increasingly clear to modern science that the universe was exquisitely fine-tuned to enable human life. We are somehow critically involved in His purpose. Our job is to sense that purpose as best we can, love one another, and help Him get that job done."
  • May 2005, letter sent to the Hope College 2005 Alumni Banquet where he was awarded a distinguished alumni award; his illness prevented him from attending in person

Turkey's Unsafe Christians

"Don't You Care That We Are Perishing?!"

Read it HERE.



From Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible :

"1. Christ ordered his disciples to put to sea, that he might show his glory upon the water, in stilling the waves, and might do an act of kindness to a poor possessed man on the other side the water: He went into a ship with his disciples, v. 22.

They that observe Christ's orders may assure themselves of his presence. If Christ sends his disciples, he goes with them. And those may safely and boldly venture any where that have Christ accompanying them. He said, Let us go over unto the other side; for he had a piece of good work to do there. He might have gone by land, a little way about; but he chose to go by water, that he might show his wonders in the deep.

2. Those that put to sea in a calm, yea, and at Christ's word, must yet prepare for a storm, and for the utmost peril in that storm; There came down a storm of wind on the lake (v. 23), as if it were there, and no where else; and presently their ship was so tossed that it was filled with water, and they were in jeopardy of their lives.

Perhaps the devil, who is the prince of the power of the air, and who raiseth winds by the permission of God, had some suspicion, from some words which Christ might let fall, that he was coming over the lake now on purpose to cast that legion of devils out of the poor man on the other side, and therefore poured this storm upon the ship he was in, designing, if possible, to have sunk him and prevented that victory.

3. Christ was asleep in the storm, v. 23. Some bodily refreshment he must have, and he chose to take it when it would be least a hindrance to him in his work. The disciples of Christ may really have his gracious presence with them at sea, and in a storm, and yet he may seem as if he were asleep; he may not immediately appear for their relief, no, not when things seem to be brought even to the last extremity. Thus he will try their faith and patience, and quicken them by prayer to awake, and make their deliverance the more welcome when it comes at last.

4. A complaint to Christ of our danger, and the distress his church is in, is enough to engage him to awake, and appear for us, [v. 24]. They cried, Master, master, we perish! The way to have our fears silenced is to bring them to Christ, and lay them before him. Those that in sincerity call Christ Master, and with faith and fervency call upon him as their Master, may be sure that he will not let them perish. There is no relief for poor souls that are under a sense of guilt, and a fear of wrath, like this, to go to Christ, and call him Master, and say, "I am undone, if thou do not help me."

5. Christ's business is to lay storms, as it is Satan's business to raise them. He can do it; he has done it; he delights to do it: for he came to proclaim peace on earth. He rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and immediately they ceased (v. 24); not, as at other times, by degrees, but all of a sudden, there was a great calm. Thus Christ showed that, though the devil pretends to be the prince of the power of the air, yet even there he has him in a chain.

6. When our dangers are over, it becomes us to take to ourselves the shame of our own fears and to give to Christ the glory of his power. When Christ had turned the storm into a calm, then were they glad because they were quiet, Ps. cvii. 30. And then, (1.) Christ gives them a rebuke for their inordinate fear: Where is your faith? v. 25. Note, Many that have true faith have it to seek when they have occasion to use it. They tremble, and are discouraged, if second causes frown upon them. A little thing disheartens them; and where is their faith then? (2.) They give him the glory of his power: They, being afraid, wondered. Those that had feared the storm, now that the danger was over with good reason feared him that had stilled it, and said one to another, What manner of man is this! They might as well have said, Who is a God like unto thee? For it is God's prerogative to still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, Ps. lxv. 7.

Israeli Opinion Poll about JESUS

HERE

The Servant Songs

David Field has a superp post on the third servant song HERE

Prayer

"Lord, take as your right, and receive as my gift,all my freedom, my memory,my understanding and my will.Whatever I am and whatever I possess,you have given to me;I restore it all to you again,to be at your disposal,according to your will.Give me only a love for you, and the gift of your grace; then I am rich enough,and ask for nothing more."

-- Ignatius of Loyola (1491 - 1556)

Blessed Be The Name of The Lord

(views : 143,081)

Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
album: Where Angels Fear To Tread (2002)

Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
- - -
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Quote of the Day

The ultimate value of life is based on awareness
and the power of contemplation
rather than mere survival

- Aristotle.

Front Seat, Back Seat

I was running from my master, and I tried out every new thing I could find
But my life turned into one disaster, without the Lord I almost blew my mind

I was sitting in the front seat, trying really hard to be the driver
Thinking I was making real good time,
but always winding up the late arriver

But now I've been riding in the back seat,
and I see it is a very great relief
Now I'm trying out the back seat,
and I'm leaving all the driving to the chief

I went barrelling out full speed ahead,
I went a-running every stop sign that I'd see
Thinking I'd give the Lord a short cut, yeah,
but I found out he don't need no help from me

Front Seat, Back Seat
Words and Music by Chuck Girard and Tom Coomes
on Love Song
Copyright 1971

Quote of the Day

"Death will never be pretty--its sights and smells too close and crude. And it will never come under our control: it gallops where we tiptoe, rips up our routines, burns our very breath with its heat and sting.

And yet while sorrow is certain, fear is not. "She had a very good death," a friend says of her mother, and I have an idea of what she means and don't hear it as a shrug of denial or contradiction.

I asked a doctor friend what makes the difference, once the battle is out of her hands.

"Fear," she said, "and regret. Take those away, and what's left is peace."

Source : "The Light of Death" by Nancy Gibbs

More Again on Emotional Intelligence

I googled the phrase "listening to your emotions" and the top ranked page was:

"Emotions - How To Understand, Identify Release Your Emotions".

Now as far as I can make out, that article has quite a lot of valuable information on the subject. It really does.

But it does suffer from a few drawbacks which are common in circles that deal with psychology or pop psychology. Let me touch on a few such examples using this article as my jumping board.

First, when you read about the author you learn that she is a "vibrational consultant" who can perform a "vibrational assessment" on you. Wow! Whatever is that and whatever does it mean ?

Do you see already where I'm going with this ? For me, if I were approaching this subject cold the image put out by this article would immediately lead me to write it all off as 'cranky' and 'weird' and boy I sure don't have any time for that sort of thing, thank you very much. It might be a mistake but you do "consider the source" and if the source smells fishy well out it goes with the rest of the garbage.

Secondly, while the article does have a lot useful and insightful information it all sits in a sea of subjectivity and is presented in such a way that what is subjectively real is ultimate. Nothing wrong with subjectivity since the topic we are considering demands it but if it leads to navel gazing then it's too much. And this article as probably 90-95% of all psychological literature does just that-- navel gaze.

This is why my appreciation of the subject of emotional intelligence had it's impetus from what i read about it on Brett Starbarger's blog called Trader Feed. It's an interesting trading blog where Brett quite often has a pastoral take on things. In the context of rational intelligence and analysis which is what all good stock market traders do plenty of he manages to bring in emotional intelligence in a grounded way that also makes a lot of sense.

For instance, consider that once all the hard analysis has been done, the trader must take a decision to buy or sell. From that point on he has skin in the game. He is emotionally engaged which means he's now existentially heightened. That is where Brett comes in and he says "listen to your emotions" because your emotions are giving you important information about this trade. What is that information ? Well it has to be drawn out and that takes 'emotional intelligence'.

Jesus - (Ben Hur)

Charlton Heston (1923-2008)

(views:26,237) - an obituary HERE
and HERE.

Richard Widmark (1914-2008)

views :347

Good Friday Meditations

Jesus Smells! : a Good Friday Reflection from Euangelion


Mother Kirk: the agony : poetry about the crucifixion.

Linkestan on Mathematics

Indispensability Arguments in the Philosophy of Mathematics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Golden ratio : coolio !

Tipler_PeerReview_070103.pdf :

Symmetric Groups and Group Actions : very good and easy to understand explanations

My Son Is Playing The Guitar

Views :42

The Grand Mufti of Canterbury Has Spoken

UPDATE :
There is a superb philosophical/theological treatment of our dear 'Grand Mufti' 's speech HERE. Very much worth reading;but, really, the final verdict on the state of this man's silly and depraved mind must remain as depicted in this pic at the left.

Some Notes on Emotional Intelligence

I have been thinking about the subject of 'emotional intelligence' and think that maybe it might shed some light of self-knowledge.

I realise this term 'emotional intelligence' itself is poorly defined but i approach it as that internal ability to *listen* to what our feelings are telling us and then the ability to bring those feelings under rational analysis without suppressing them or judging ourselves for them.

At the extreme where there is perhaps little or very limited emotional intelligence perhaps the expression "bitter and twisted" comes to mind. I don't like to go there because it assigns a value judgement to a person's inability to listen to his or her emotions in a healthy and liberating kind of way.

I hope to think through some of these aspects and hopefully reach some helpful conclusions in which case i may post some of my thoughts on this later, God willing.

UPDATE : Kansas Bob has a series of posts HERE which speak around the subject of "emotional intelligence" from a Christian perspective.