Monthly Archives: October 2016

Not mathematics, but identity.

history, quotes, , , , ,

christ-pasa-pnoi-angels“…for modern students of religion—generally speaking—monotheism involves a fundamentally mathematical thesis, ‘There is one God,’ as distinct from ‘more or fewer’ than one God; start counting gods, and when you get to one, stop counting. Consequently, all those who believe in one God must logically believe in the same God.

“This approach to monotheism is what allows our contemporaries to speak of ‘the monotheistic religions.’ Their thesis is simple: ‘Since there is only one God, all those who believe in one God believe in the same God. Their differences are those of development and/or expression.’

“This thesis is not only simple; it is simply absurd. Biblical monotheism is not about mathematics; it is about God’s identity: Who is this one God? Who he is, is the essential question.”

Read the whole (short) article here: “The Only Lord We Know: On the Confession of the One True God” by James M. Kushiner and Patrick Henry Reardon, in Touchstone Magazine.

They look at the sea all day.

poetry,

Many critics have analyzed this poem by Robert Frost. I found it helpful to read some of their ideas gathered on this page. Though I love to look at the sea, never have I done it (even metaphorically) for even one whole day; an hour now and then is healthful to the soul. This poem flows like the waves washing up on a beach and receding again…

NEITHER OUT FAR Nor IN DEEP

The people along the sand
All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.

As long as it takes to pass
A ship keeps raising its hull;
The wetter ground like glass
Reflects a standing gull.

The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be-
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.

They cannot look out far.
They cannot look in deep.
But when was that ever a bar
To any watch they keep?

-Robert Frost

GL 10 P1020097 sandpipers

All nature stretches…

housework, my garden, nature, quotes, , ,

We have rain, thank the Lord. My newly planted kale starts (sprouted and nurtured igl-kale-p1050630n the greenhouse!) are very happy with the weather. I’ve been busy battening down the hatches, which includes battling with mice and rats who found my garage a cozy place to set up housekeeping for the winter. I’m thankful for them at this point, because they have forced me to clean the garage from top to bottom. Dear little things – and I’m trying not to be sarcastic – I know they are doing what is normal and right for them.

As the earthly light dims, here in the Northern Hemisphere, I feel the reality of God’s never-waning Light. Wherever you live, may you be nurtured by His gifts this moment and every day.

Every creature has in it the instinct to be as true as possible to what God created it to be. Even plants have this directive in them. All nature stretches toward the nurture it requires for its fulfillment – the “daily bread,” so-to-speak, that it needs for its survival… We have, every one of us, been planted facing the earthly darkness of sin and death. This business of making our way upward and into the daylight, to blossom forth as the individuals God made us to be – this is the enlightened life to which our inborn instinct calls us… The Lord Jesus Christ is always reaching even into the darkest places on earth and inside our souls to draw us into a blessed life. As the Apostle Peter wrote, “He has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Likewise the Prophet Isaiah said, “Upon those who sat in the dark region and shadow of death, the light has shined.” (Matthew 4:16, Isaiah 9:2)

~Dee Pennock, God’s Path to Sanity