And they presented unto him gifts…
… gold, frankincense, and a $3,000 nativity set..
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Posts from the ‘commentary’ Category
Oct 17
it is the road
“This life…is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not finished but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road… — Martin Luther
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on hypocrites
Hypocrisy is the highest form of flattery. If someone willing to abandon their own identity in order to impress you, then you must be pretty awesome.
How Kindles could fire up newspaper sales
It’s old news that newspapers and other print periodicals are struggling to compete with digital media. Individuals in my demographic are giving newspaper execs grey hairs because I — and my fellow 20-somethings — just don’t find the daily rags all that appealing. But, the London Review of Books recently offered an interesting path for print purveyors to go from rags…to riches. It involves Amazon’s kindle….Like this:
Bono on Karma and Grace
Bono talks about Karma and Grace:
You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
We have a thing or two to learn from Bono about how to interact with a doubting world. He doesn’t call secular and pagan ideas “stupid” — he merely says they are in incomplete picture of the whole story. He doesn’t attack the notion of karma as foolish. Instead, Bono just describes it as another term for the laws of nature. Laws of nature suspended by the miracle of grace.
To me, that’s how we make friends with — and make sense to — our friends and neighbors. Don’t call names, offer a wider perspective. Give our world a way to make sense of the fractured pieces sin has left in its path of devastation across history.
More from his fascinating conversation about Christ and religion right here. It’s well worth reading.
Thanks to seancom for posting this article.
The downside of tolerance
French President Sarkozy says the nations’ efforts to respect everyone’s culturally heritage equally has been a miserable failure:
Of course we must all respect differences, but we do not want… a society where communities coexist side by side. If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France.
The ideal society is not one where every nationality or race or language is cordoned off into their own city blocks. The resent rash of social unrest in France shows that if the contents of the cultural pot doesn’t melt, it will boil over.
Why? Because tolerance doesn’t foster harmony. Tolerance breeds contempt. And contempt smolders into hatred. When you tolerate someone, you merely put up with them.
It’s like sharing the back seat of the family car with your brother on a long road trip. You can divide the seat into half and agree not to cross that imaginary line, but he can still make faces at you and you can flick boogers at him. Despite efforts to ignore — tolerate — your annoying sibling, it’s not long before open conflict erupts.
Tolerance is humankind’s most fashionable way to seek unity. It’s only our most recent failure. Tolerance isn’t the answer.
What we need is the opposite of tolerance.
We need Love.
Apr 1
How do I Judge Thee?
Let me count the ways. One. That’s all. Just one.
I do not judge a person based on race. I do not judge a person based on economic status, gender, nationality, or religion. I judge a person based on one factor and one factor only: Interestingness.
If you’re not unique, engaging, original, experienced, reflective, charming, or witty — if you’re not interesting — I have no time for you. It’s that simple.
Lest you think it is cruel to pass such judgement, I must remind you that lack of interestingness is a choice. Read more
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