Ever since I saw the woodcut engravings in Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor", I've loved Fritz Eichenberg's work. Especially the folly pieces, most especially "The Folly of the Popes," which feels especially applicable given that the last four weeks of my Christ, Krishna, Buddha class have been focused on Patristic Christology.

I wonder how many people starved in the streets, or were nailed up while they were debating details on the structure of the body, spirit, nature, and origin of Christ and the Logos. Me, I always thought the function of Christ was the important part, perhaps to the degree that the Christology (what's our savior look like) seems a lot more like soteriology (how are we saved)


lyrics: "I don't care if their teeth are big. I don't care if their legs are big. I don't care if her hair is a wig. Why waste time looking at the waistline? First, I look at the purse." - First I look at the Purse, by Contours

colors: black and white

mood: how about that economy crashing down? i kind of thought it would be 1-3 years further down -- perhaps the u.s. government will be able to fend it off this time.

chant/prayer/mantra: may we look beyond all of our human constructions, and realize the true nature of all our resources.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: art, christology, coursework, Dostoevsky, economics, personal religion, sacred texts, salvation, tattoos, theological sources

Here is something I posted on a slashdot poll the other day, which asked, "Who is to blame for the US financial situation?" I was responding to someone who blamed the American Dream. It's the first thing I've ever posted there that got modded to +5:

What we need is for people to start redefining the American dream.

Here's a start:

1. A modest two-bedroom home (house, apartment, or condo) within walking distance of a municipal train line powered by electricity.

2. A home that is energy efficient, and powered by local power off the grid.

3. A job within half-hour's travel from one's home. (Perhaps by electric car/scooter/motorized skateboard, but preferrably by public transport or bicycle.)

4. A grocery store with good produce, and some good restaurants, all within walking distance.

5. And a 30-hour work week.

6. A cute puppy, if you're into that sort of thing.

7. A modest wardrobe of clothes that you really like, with a classic style that matches you, so you don't need to buy into next year.

8. Three or four pairs of good shoes (dress, sports, knockabout, boots).

9. Well-maintained and funded municipal lending libraries and public workshops for tools, so that not everybody needs to own a reciprocating saw and a compound miter saw for those once-a-year projects, or try to set up and maintain their own home recording studio. (If you're super-serious about that avocation, then yes, you have your own private workshop out back, but often, owning and maintaining your own is more of a hassle and a waste of resources.)

10. A clean and safe park within walking distance.

11. An electric guitar or piano or something of your own to cherish, that reflects an authentic manifestation of your true self and your avocation.

12. An internet connection that is as robust as a phone or electrical connection, and secure, and as simple to access as a (70s-style) television.

13. A community, a job, and a government that supports me more and counts on me, but doesn't exploit me.

14. A partner and friends to enjoy life with.

That, to me, is the American dream. I could care less about impressing you that I'm keeping up with the Joneses. I'd rather impress you by being me, and by allowing you to be you.

While I offer that as a hope and as a new vector for us all to pursue, I recognize a few things:

First, it would require a little bit of reengineering our politics, government, and economy, so that we could establish these "sharing" things. It would also require a little bit of backtracking with respect to the draconian pursuit of individual achievement in the USA.

Second, this is not just a dream for the USA. This is something I'd like to see for everyone alive in the world.

Third, we may need to cut that dream back even more, unless we can get our population down a bit further. My list, while much more modest than the old American dream, may still not be sustainable, especially when we consider the trees, the bees, and the orangutans. Read Sustainability by John Cobb for more info on where I'm coming from.

And fourth, this is just my vision of how things ought to be, and I haven't elaborated on many of the complexities of these goals, so please try not to read in arguments against them or support them without spending a little time thinking of what they might mean to you, and what kind of backstory I would add in support of these goals.

lyrics: "Angel flying too close to the ground." -Willie Nelson

chant/prayer/mantra: "Change is coming. Now is my time." From Forty-six and 2, by Tool.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: heaven on earth, pax hominibus/bright shiny future, renewable energy, slashdot, sustenance, theology, tool, Universalism, USA

First, my sweetie asked what was up with the last post -- x(-1)...x(1.5)...x(3). She said it was nutty and nonsensical. Then again, she hasn't been studying Christology the last few weeks.

My basic response is: A) the nomenclature may actually be better as x-sub-n (with the n running from -1 to 3 and being a subscript, rather than expressed within the parens. B) the numbers -1 through 3 are mostly just to convey the general order of the expressions of the christos/logos, beginning with an initial kiss upon wisdom, and at x(0) being that wisdom incarnate in an unfriendly environment, and all positive numbers seeking to retrain the environment and grow in it such that the entire environmental context becomes the logos itself.
If that didn't make sense, perhaps we're going to have a bit of a longer sit-down to discuss this, because my model does make certain assumptions that take the original ideas of Arius and Origen into a more Universalist vector.... Stages x(2) and especially x(3) are represented by these words from US forefather James Madison:

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."

I'm not sure why he leaves out women. Perhaps they are already angels? Um, probably not across the board.


The second thing she asked about was "What does the Mary Tyler Moore theme (referred to in the title bar of this page) have to do with anything?" It's basically a message of hope that me and you and Mary are going to make it. Well, here's the lyrics:

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

How will you make it on your own?
This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone
But it's time you started living
It's time you let someone else do some giving

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

lyrics: see above.

colors: a flashing rainbow .gif (I just drew a new tattoo design yesterday, based on the mathematical proof element "And then a miracle occurs!" (I have no idea what's going on with that second link, but found it interesting that there was a seven-pointed star there.) When I get the chance, I'll upload my pic, hopefully.

mood: eh.

chant/prayer/mantra: a little prayer for positive communication.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: Christianity, christology, pastoral care, tattoos, technology, theological sources, Universalism

x=logos=christ

x(-1) is the one who learns to taste the creator's wisdom for the first time (adam and eve, the first person to make a wheel, or matches, the first person to sell land, or split the atom)*
x(0) is th one who knows and speaks the understood nature of the creator's wisdom/logos (zoroaster, moses, some OT prophets, mohammad)
x(1) is th one who learns to incarnate it and manifests it (krishna, buddha, socrates, jesus, hypatia, joan-of-arc, mlk, saoshyant?)
x(1.5) is th one who basks in the afterglow of the incarnate (gospel writers, disciples, paul, saints, promise-keepers)
x(2) is th one who can speak and manifest it without punishment or remonstrance
(saoshyant)
x(3) is th one who can live it freely and naturally (saoshyant, along with a not-too distant future generation) (post Glory of Romans 8.)

*th enumerations within parens are not meant to be exhaustive, only examples

chant/prayer/mantra: may we enter the unravelment of the Zoroastrian eschaton, and all be of one ousia with the saoshyant.

i know that may all sound nutty and high-falutin', but really its just fancy theological talk, for "let's get past this, and get along, and get it on to happening, eh?"

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: Book of Romans, Christianity, christology, heaven on earth, parousia, pax hominibus/bright shiny future, theology, Universalism

.
...

...is acceptable to me.

Makes reference to
"There is [now no distinction] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male [a]and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." from Galatians 3:28. That and Romans 8:18-25 are about all the Paul I can take, however. Too toxic. Paul gets two points for two good pericope samples. Although this one kind of has a yonic invasive quality to it, it might be difficult to deal with for some folks who've been through certain Christian damage events, or who simply don't appreciate the violation of being hoovered into a giant wicker basket.

lyrics: Eddie Izzard, talking about the Stoics, on "Circle".

colors: blue, orange, and yellow, for an angel education picture i drew earlier today.

mood: metatronic, bionic, embryonic

chant/prayer/mantra: be. do. have (only a little). enjoy.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: anti-oppression, Book of Romans, classism, coursework, equal rights, freedom versus freedom, heaven on earth, Multitheticalism, parousia, racism, theological sources, Universalism, Women's Rights

 My friend Henry made this audio documentary of kids' views on war and peace. Check it out!


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

 
Mostly regarding Sarah Palin. Note how she's become a lightning rod to distract attention away from McCain's own issues -- I hope the democrats can get back on track soon, addressing the glaring issues that the McCain campaign is trying to sweep under the rug with her introduction.

Tim Wise, author and racial equity activist, has a great piece regarding how white privilege is coming into obvious play in this election cycle, which can be accessed here, here, here, and many other places. (The comments are an enlightening part of the read, which is why I post the link to this article thrice.) In short, I think he does a great job of exposing white privilege writ large, and I'd love to see a more nuanced follow-up, since there are many other types of privilege coming into play in this election as well.

Long-time women's rights activist Gloria Steinem weighs in.

Minnesota talk show host Garrison Keillor weighs in.

Spiritual guru Deepak Chopra weighs in.

And actor Chevy Chase encourages Tina Fey to go after Ms. Palin with more satire for all she's worth.

Here is a youtube video a few months old that so adroitly exposes that McCain talks out of both sides of his mouth and doesn't even recall what he's said one day to the next, its undeniable. And in a time when the Main Stream Media (MSM) decides not to really get serious about exposing these things, its good to see that this video has over 5 MILLION views. On youtube. 5 MILLION+ viewers.

And finally, McCain gets RickRolled, Obama-style (great editing job, given the likely difficulty of finding footage that fits. For all the problems of the age of photoshop veracities, sometimes, things like this make it almost worth it.


lyrics: Instead of lyrics, here is a brilliant sermon on race by evangelical minister Thabiti Anyabwile. Whether you can deal with, or enjoy, or get past the very strong Christian message, what he has to say about the constructed nature of race is worth your time. "We've organized our identities and our lives based on [a bogus] set of assumptions."

colors: black and white?

mood: need to study, tired of catching up with the "news."

chant/prayer/mantra: together in community -- may it become, and then ever remain so.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: anti-oppression, Christianity, economics, inter-faith, media, oppression, politics, racism

.
as long as i'm mentioning all sorts of wild chariot-y stuff, here's a piece of art i did 10-15 years ago.

it's called "the wheel" and apparently its based off of ezekiel's version somehow.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

by the way, if you like this image and are on facebook, the wheel is available as a piece of flair (kind of a cheesy thing, but hey). just browse for "the wheel"

Labels: art, theology

I often have freaky dreams, and they don't bug me too much. In fact, I find them to be very inspirational sometimes. I had a very freaky dream the other night.

In this dream, I was a private in the military (complete with haircut I'm pretty sure), down on some military base in a hot climate. I was in a large reinforced concrete bathroom, emptying my bladder, when an earthquake happened. It seemed to go on for about 20 seconds, and I had found a less-than-clean place on the floor where I thought I'd be relatively safe. As it was fading and we were worrying about aftershocks, there was another soldier about ten feet away over by the sinks, singing (to reassure himself), "We are chariots. We are chariots. We are bizarre chariots. We're going to make it out of this world."

Wow. I woke up around 4:00am, and using my best drowsy voice got a recording of what he sang. I'm so glad I've got that little voice recorder. Anyway, if you combine the above-linked understanding of chariot with this blog entry from a while ago, and this recent tattoo post (the symbolism and pragmatic semiotics, not the picture itself) on the bmemodblog, I'm not sure exactly what to make of it, but it must mean something...


lyrics: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound...."

colors: burnt,white, and blue

mood: steady, and ready

chant/prayer/mantra: may we all be, and be loosely connected.


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: Christianity, music, parousia, pax hominibus/bright shiny future, personal religion, sacred texts, tattoos, theological sources