Daily pages of reflection...for knowledge, understanding, to wisdom
Section of The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci Section of The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci

Motives

April 5, 2019
Year 4, Day 95 | No Comments
Section of The Infant Jesus and St. John the Baptist, Guido Reni, n.d.

Every person ought to have a mental motive sheet guiding private and public thought and action.  That motive sheet ought to be open information to anyone interested in it.  It ought to be guided by some verifiable documentation and/or idealism to give it force, and relate to cause related to: who we are and how we will function – or be expected to function.  Even for the most sincere person there will occur, on some occasions, violations of the self-agreed-upon motivations.  This may appear from fear (like that of Peter at the fire in his temporary denial of Jesus); from dysfunction related perhaps to illness or decrepitude or suffering (perceived even in Jesus on the cross crying out that he… Read more

Godding

April 4, 2019
Year 4, Day 94 | No Comments
Section of Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger

This text is one of many texts that help Christians understand the refinements of Christian belief context joined with conduct practice.  Does my conduct affect my conscience negatively or positively?  We answer in self-evaluation.  Does God’s judgment (evaluation) of me include my conscience?  Personal context ultimately does relate to God’s evaluation of me – so to determine hypocrisy or virtue in a context that might include arguable behaviors.  The text offers relief for those entertaining certain conducts they do not feel to be wrong (sin/ignorance), but also demands consistency between the conduct and the conscience.  To openly deny that something is sin, and to privately believe that it isn’t becomes personal hypocrisy, and is not treated favorably by God.  We… Read more

Time

April 3, 2019
Year 4, Day 93 | No Comments
Section of Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo, 1508-1512

American life is somewhat frenetic.  There would be no complaint about time energy if it accomplished personal constructive purpose.  That is to say, that if an advanced pace speed contributed to better persons and relationships, one would find ways to advance the practice of speed.  There is a safe speed to drive, but we must go faster.  There is a good schedule to follow, but we must jam it to the point of cancellation of one for another.  There is a humaneness of time in the consuming of a meal, but we may choose fast food.  The sermon must be short, the music must be fast, and the events of the day seem important by their number related to timing. … Read more

Persecution

April 2, 2019
Year 4, Day 92 | No Comments
Section of Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger

I have met a number of Christians who suffer paranoia, which is to say they are persons who feel persecuted but are not, or may not be to the degree they believe.  Many persons generalize their prejudices, distortions, misrepresentations which ought to be treated as something unrelated to paranoia.  For example, a person may have a negative feeling about Christians generally, but they might say, I don’t mean that this applies to you.  This is a common response among prejudicial persons, to offer exemptions for their general beliefs and feelings.  This general context related to ignorance and distortion, of give and take, ought to be a part of parenting to bring freedom and proper relationships to the lives of children. … Read more

Thinking Differently

April 1, 2019
Year 4, Day 91 | No Comments
Section of Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger

During the writing of these Pages, one of my daughters-in-law sent the following to me during several days when I was contemplating human thought processes, patterns and conclusions – especially related to the mass of contradiction/paradox factors in our lives.  The following is almost entirely related to that small document sent to her by her brother.  I have made a few slight edits so as to emphasize my purpose. With a raised glass of water a conference leader walked through a room illustrating a point in stress management to an audience.  Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question: Is it half empty of half full? She surprised them with: How heavy is this glass of water? Answers… Read more

Guideline

March 31, 2019
Year 4, Day 90 | No Comments

In Volume 3 of these Pages we reviewed some of the teaching method of the peripatetic philosopher, Socrates – teaching while walking around.  Jesus held some parallels with Socrates.  We know Jesus could read – skilled to find what he wanted to recite in an age before chapters and verses were formed.  He did not write except for a few words or signs, perhaps doodles, in the sand, as prehistoric persons did on stones.  His teachings were taught to his students, called disciples and later Apostles, and church Fathers after, accounting for introduction of variants and emphases of the Jesus message of mankind and theology.  The history of Socratic teachings (humanistic) and Jesus teachings (theistic) becomes something of a light… Read more

Self

March 30, 2019
Year 4, Day 89 | No Comments
Section of The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1435

Self is highly important to both God and mankind.  Self (conscious life-being) seems to be all we have that ultimately makes any difference.  It has, in its nature, a factor of freedom that is compelling, but muffled in various ways.  It requires management, and is partly given up usually for the purpose of others and for personal gain needed for sustenance.  Some of those ways are perceived as good, as in the instance of serving others.  If we are wise we accept the limitations for practical, even sacrificial, conduct.  While doing so we continue, rightly, to affirm our freedom.  We live in a number of such paradoxes and contradictions.  God wants all free persons choosing a righteous kingdom to know… Read more

Parable

March 29, 2019
Year 4, Day 88 | No Comments
Section of The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1435

Christians need to be clear and convinced that both the necessary and unnecessary changes in society are not commonly understood, sometimes not perceived, and are often contradictory.  Christian values separated from personal faith are applicable in any situation, spiritual or secular, but the attitudes of government and education may move away from openly supporting the corporation of values found in the Christian context.  Moses discovered and taught that divine faith and practical humanism were friends.  The New Testament authors followed accordingly.  Modern society seems to assume that religion is not a friend so much as a pleasant dream or fantasy so to aid the weak of society to function in reality.  Religion that is personal in faith, rather than appeal… Read more

Light Heart-Minded

March 28, 2019
Year 4, Day 87 | No Comments
Section of The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio, 1602

According to L. K. Hanson, Ernest Hemingway wrote: They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure.  We do not have an explanation of Hemingway’s meaning so we are left to interpret his statement as we choose, but we are also hindered in that Hemingway seems to have been unable to ferret out and live by his own logic.  We are left (as we often are) in adding to, or taking from, the teachings and observations of those who gain our attention.  Apparently Hemingway believed that the… Read more

Holistic

March 26, 2019
Year 4, Day 85 | No Comments
Section of Christ and the Woman of Samaria, Benedetto Luti, 1715-20

A part of self-discovery is found in understanding the invisible capsule that envelopes every person.  I have never heard the matter addressed in sermons or lessons in church, but it is a well-known factor in various studies: oral rhetoric, psychology, and philosophy in particular, carrying into every-day understanding by the wise persons among us.  A person stands in one place, and feels (rightly) that where he or she is standing at the moment is self-independent.  The person has a right to that point for the moment, even if the physical property is owned by someone else.  The person ought to feel safe, even if for some legitimate reason (like legal ownership) the space needs to be vacated.  However, personal space… Read more

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