Learning

I've been attending a friend's Church's Bible study on the book of Revelation.  I've learned a few things:

• Peter considered Paul's writings to be scripture 

• Some contest the authorship of Hebrews 

• My eternal Hell idea may be heresy 

While the Apostles' would have been referencing the Old Testament when speaking about scripture, Peter apparently said that the Jews were treating Paul's writings like they did other scripture.  The key word is other.  2 Peter 3:14-16

Being used to my 39 Articles, I didn't realize that anybody (Lutherans) didn't consider Hebrew canon, which explains why they might contest authorship.  Although, I might be putting the cart first.

Jesus freed the spirits in Hell while He laid entombed.  Hence, I reasoned that Hell was eternal; it was a good explanation in my mind for how one who died in sin and never hearing the Gospel could be saved.  Pastor Matthew said that it presents a theological problem, as it would suggest that you always existed. 

So, I'm learning lots.  Not just about Revelation, I'm learning.

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The Old Apartment

I had an unusual dream last night.  I dreamt that I was on speaking terms again with my estranged brother.  We were in Dad's old apartment.  They hadn't cleaned it out after all. 

Note:  In reality, Dad has been in the hospital/retirement home for over a year.  And, I saw the rented dumpster outside the apartment; they (Dad's other two sons) cleaned it out without letting me know they were doing so, without asking for help or input, and without informing me after the fact.  Aside from the fact that I should have been consulted/informed, they threw out, sold, or stored all my own things there that were at Dad's from my teenage years without saying a peep to me.

So, in the dream, my brother and I were going through the apartment and through Dad's things.  I found my comic books.  I was ecstatic, full of joy, to have been reunited with this little treasure.  I also found my old stereo. 

In reality, my thousands of comic books that were in cardboard McDonald's fry boxes are in a dumpster or listed on Kijiji.  The stereo was never there.

But, Dad also had lots of keepsakes, lots of memories too.  There were countless books.  There were models.  The USS Missouri model that I had put together so many years ago that he hand been hanging on to, even through the ten year period that we were ourselves were estranged.  It would be gone.

So, why now?  Why this dream now?  Well, two things I guess:

• I haven't heard from Dad in days, his phone is not being answered
• An 86 year old close Church friend is being put in a home by her kids

We were at her home on Friday night.  We went to bring her dinner, fish and chips.  It was expensive too, almost $100 for the two piece meals with fries.  But, as I pointed out, it was an investment in Barb, not in the fish. 

Could the connection be fries?  My comic books were in fry boxes.  We had fries on Friday.  Our friend and her daughter even offered us some of our friend's keepsakes.  "Take something that will remind you of her," she had said.  We took a bird feeder.

Both she and Dad are degrading mentally.  I believe our friend has alzheimers.  Dad has never been the same since he fell and hit his head.  Our friend forgot my name when we visited a week ago.  She was better Friday.  It was a hard goodbye.  She's moving up to the Muskoka area, to a home.  Dad, it's hard to have conversations with him.  His short term memory is very bad, and we repeat the same topics over and over again.  Although, I haven't seen him since before the third lockdown started.  We went out for coffee.  He desperately wanted to see the old RCAF base.  It's sad to see somebody who prided himself for so long on the sharpness of his mind have it taken away from him.

Dad was fond of hard teachings.  He would often make harsh statements that he felt were tenets for life.  Like, all true stories end in death, which flies in the face of his faith.  When my paternal grandfather was in a retirement home, Dad said that when one visited, they weren't visiting for grandpa; they were visiting for their own selfish reasons.  As, grandpa didn't know where or when he was or even who the visitor was.  I disagree with with this harsh statement.  But, I can't visit anyway right now with the lockdown.

Sometimes life just sucks.  Have a nice day!

New Again

Psalm 68 actually says Yahweh in the BAS.  I don't recall seeing it before.  Strange...

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Pew

Last night I had a strange dream that I was in a fire fight, pinned down behind a car.  It wasn't a military action.  I was with an agency or contractors.  I was trying to line up a shot to "no scope" a target that had us pinned.  When, a combatant walked around the car to parley.  I saw him as a threat even so, and tried to (did?) assassinate him.

Hmm... 

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Primitive

I wonder if far distant students of the humanities will scoff at us for allowing socialism to impede human development as many now ridicule the Church for holding back science for centuries. 

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Cherry Picking Hypocrisy

Tattoos, they're not for me.  I feel very strongly that I should never put a mark on my body.  This is partly because of Leviticus, a little of Revelation. 

Sometimes, I hear the argument, "You do all these other things you're not to do.  You eat shell fish and pork and work on the Sabbath.  You can't just pick and choose what rules you follow you know.  You're being a little hypocritical."  But, isn't that like saying that if you break one rule, you should break them all?

Truth is, most of the rules I break, I also think I shouldn't be doing.  The difference?  Sometimes I can't help myself and I'm too weak to do the right thing.  With tattoos, I can do the right thing; I have no desire to get one.  Not wanting one, and believing it is wrong, I'd be pretty stupid to go out and get one anyway.

Are you going to Hell if you get a tattoo on your body?  No, probably not.  Besides the fact that you can always repent, you can always take advantage of the fact that we are freed from the law, according to St. Paul.  Why would we choose to re-submit to the law?  The law gives sin it's power over us and finds us guilty.  But, if I can resist something that I feel is wrong and have no desire to do it, why would I do it just to spite God? 

I also won't force my views on others.  Aside from my 11th Commandment--thou shalt leave thy neighbour the fuck alone--addition, I'm not their master or judge; I have no idea of the workings of the relationship between them and The Master.

Libertarian leanings aside, I think one of the greatest evils of history is mankind's uncanny drive to subjugate our fellow humans to our way of thought.  We're so good at forcing people to live the way that we think they should.

So, tattoo if you want to.  I choose not to do so.  If you have no problem eating meat, go ahead and eat it.

Strange Dreaming

Last night, I dreamt that somebody got a lengthy sentence for contravention of section 217 of the criminal code.  I thought maybe murder?  I looked it up, and it is obligatory duty failure.

Also, I dreamed that I could see a map of the Great Lakes and traditional Chippewa territory was outlined in yellow, which extended farther to the West and South in my dream from the lakes.  We decided to visit the Grand Canyon, which was in the state of Nebraska--pretty close to where it is in real life, the state not the caynon--and just outside Chippewa territory.  Actually, the Grand Canyon is in Arizona in real life.  I punched the GC into the GPS, and we started packing the new truck.

It was a big black truck.  I was playing with/having trouble with the four wheel drive.  And, while being packed, I accidentally let the truck roll forward.  It rolled while in gear with the parking break on, which was not enough to hold it in gear.

When I awoke, I looked up all this stuff to see if my subconscious was close:

👎s.217 of the Criminal Code of Canada

👍Traditional Chippewa Territory 

👍Nebraska 

👎The Grand Canyon 

👎The truck shouldn't roll with the parking break set

For once, I didn't start out by trying to figure it out.  I wanted to know if it was accurate.  🤣

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Diversity of Opinion

Everybody needs to have at least one friend whom they disagree with on major philosophical points without hard feelings rising up from discussion, that challenges us to broaden our intellectual horizons...or at the very least allows to understand the other side, without "unfriending".  We need to learn to live with and love those who are different, to be tolerant of diversity of thought and of belief. 

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Dog

When a dog is walking down the street on a leash with with it's master, watching strange metal cages on round rubber feet move toward and away from them, do they stress about understanding?  Do they need to understand?  How did the hard black ground get there that the cages run on?  Does that consume their capacity for thought?  Or, are they simply happy in the knowledge that they love their master and vice versa, simply excited at being out for a walk with new smells to sniff?

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