MISCELLANEOUS

​14.9.16

– Morning – breathe in the sky, the trees & the birds!

Traffic – sometimes, expiration is more important than inspiration…

– Onam – off-white & gold!

– Using time to make money

Vs.

Using money to make (more) money

Vs.

Using money to make time

Vs.

Using time to make (more) time!

– Restart one-to-one meetings with SFG members – at least once a month

– Consider starting (alternate) Sunday morning church services, for SFG members, etc. (whoever is unhappy with their respective churches)!

– I don’t feel depressed the past one month or so… 🙂

The drug (Escitalopram) is working!

– The hardships of the easy life (Why……?)

Vs.

The easiness of the hard life (How……?)

– Instead of having a Paralympics, why not scrap it, and raise funds from the Olympics for the uplift of handicapped people instead?

– “HEAVY” – the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD!

What in the hell is GOD doing in Babylon??

– Sexual immorality become evil/sin only when it also involves social injustice.

Hmmm… okay. But isn’t all impurity also one form of violence or another?

I don’t think so.

– Physical sermons!

– The unfortunate privilege of being Called to teach people who don’t want to learn!

– Animated videos that graphically depict the prophetic visions in the Bible!

– Vision –> task –> suffering –> vindication!

– “Ichabod”

– Jerusalem –> Israel –> Samaria –> the nations –> all creation!

– Fasting, watching & adrenaline!

– Rebellion –> idolatry –> immorality/injustice

– Exile ~ refugee ~ captive

– How does the overall biblical pattern of judgment/punishment followed by restoration/reconciliation, affect our view of Hell?

Punishment is never complete & final……

– Social reformation through transformative leadership that becomes a renewing spirit among the people!

– “New hearts” – again, it is vital to distinguish ‘miracle’ from ‘magic’!

Hmmm… is this promise (‘New Israel’) fulfilled in/by the church today? Doesn’t seem like it!

– Magog (‘from Gog’)

Evil can never be fully explained, or accounted for, by human sin… a supernatural/mysterious/spiritual element always remains!

– vaudeville

– The Temple expands to include those outside (New)

Or

Everyone outside comes into the Temple (Old)?

The New Jerusalem is not (this) Jerusalem!

– Holiness –> love –> justice –> peace –> prosperity!

– Universalism – unitarian & trinitarian

– I should increase my night sleep (from 6 to 7 hours) & reduce my day sleep (from 2 to 1 hour)

– Radical Monotheism (Reinhold Niebuhr) + Generous Orthodoxy (Brian Maclaren) = Generous Monotheism (Immanuel Joseph)!

– Hand-shake, face-to-face conversation & walking side-by-side

– Try going anti-clockwise!

– From sight to insight:

Sensation –> perception –> discernment –> revelation!

The trained eye

15.9.16

– Dont hesitate to pay for high quality software.

– ingenuous

priggish

– I guess, being poor is integral to seeking the Kingdom…

Makes me question myself.

Nah… not really!?

– From now onwards, just choose good films to watch, instead of looking for action, horror, thriller or drama movies!

16.9.16

– Dream:

I am trying to fix a door broken off the car. I am annoyed, & scold others around me.

Praveen Livingstone (Christian Fellowship church) comes, and I let him sit inside the car & switch the AC on…

– I remember Sam Siddharth telling me that (some) movies influence him too much, so he tries to avoid watching them.

This I recently experienced, when I went into a megalomaniacal rage on the road, while watching “Steve Jobs”!

I am not as mature as I need to be. But I don’t think his strategy is good…

– Reasons why someone might leave the spiritual formation group:

1. This is not helping me grow.

2. It is too demanding.

3. I found another better option.

4. Spiritual growth is no longer a priority for me.

5. I have a personal problem with the leader or other members.

6. I am going through a crisis, so would like to take a temporary break.

– I have still not figured out how to spend my off-days well. Must keep wrestling……

I need to find a new way of inward entertainment to counter this obsession with outward recreation!

– Could it be that Jesus was as different from the Apostles (Gospel-writers, & especially Paul), as was Socrates from Plato?!

Who was the real founder of Christianity (religion) & the Church (institution)?

– I must confess, this contemporary brand of pietism disgusts me… Nauseating!

17.9.16

– Distinguish:

The beautiful

&

The sublime

Reason + imagination = understanding

Pure & practical reason

The unconditional/absolute/unpresentable presence/suprasensible perception/abyss/incommensurate/infinity/sublime/unnameable

Aesthetic & religious experience

Avant gardé/abstract art

The desire for the unknown – Enjoyment Vs. Dread

The after-event

The instant

Pre-cognitive

Negative presentation

Passibility

Invention Vs. Prescription

The sensible/corporeal transcendental

Non-conceptual communication

Virtual direct access

Differend

Textual mysticism

Libidinal economy

A new incarnation

The semiotic body

Texture/tissue

– Can there be prostitution without (human) trafficking?

– Compare & contrast:

Saving

&

Investment

– The keyboard auto-correct function doesn’t work if the first letter of the word is wrong! Why??

18.9.16

– ‘Ars moriendi’

Die-ing

Traditional believers & heterodox practitioners

Joyous despair

surd

A stone’s throw

Panoply

propaedeutic

Techno-economic web

Integral vision of the cosmos as a kaleidoscopic constellation of signs

The temptation of meaninglessness

koine

lodestar

pronoia & paideusis

The Cappadocian Fathers

expatiate

– Distinguish:

Cosmology

&

Cosmogony

– The spiritual value of the emotions

Moral feelings

Control through repression & domination

Vs.

Mastery through understanding & acceptance

– Compare & contrast:

Monalisa

&

Anomalisa

19.9.16

– Distinguish:

Freedom

&

Selfishness

Responsibility

&

Duty

– “For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.”

Hebrews 10:1 NET

http://bible.com/107/heb.10.1.NET

Hmmm… This could very well apply to the Sunday church services here. What a waste!

– “The Metaphysics of Morals”

20.9.16

– God’s miracle – baby without sex

Man’s miracle – sex without baby!  😉

– Waking & bedtime ritual – essential!

– Fidayeen

Mujahideen

Distinguish:

Arab

&

Muslim

– Turkey – can a country with an overwhelming Muslim majority population have a secular government?

– If there is an animal element in man, and man is made in the image of GOD, then there is an animal element in GOD too……!?

– “Don’t Breathe” & “It Follows”

I have no clue why these two movies got such rave reviews!

– I think Pneumatology (not Christology) is the most important of all the doctrines in Christian theology!

21.9.16

– Tanakh

Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Prophets – Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Writings – Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah

I can understand why the historical books are part of the Prophets, but I don’t see how Ruth, Esther, Daniel & Ezra-Nehemiah fit into the Writings…

(Historical books – Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther)

– Sustaining hope in the land of exile

Daniel, Torah and vegetarianism!

– Prophetic ~ poetic ~ symbolic

– First Covenant/Old Testament ~ Closed marriage –> Second Covenant/New Testament ~ Open marriage!

– Neo-orthodox ~ Post-liberal

– In spiritual matters (unlike Physics), it is very easy to confuse causes and effects!

– Pseudo-theology ~ idolatry

– Aren’t today’s church worship services (Monday-Saturday slave-consumers and Sunday morning devotees) similar to the hypocritical worship of Israel (social injustice and temple sacrifices)?

– Distinguish:

Beliefs,

Values &

Desires

– Distinguish:

Rending one’s heart

&

Shedding tears

– Bible Project – the overall structure of the book –> how the sections fit together –> let’s dive in!

– Salvation – human heart –> social institutions –> all creation!

– Rebellion against GOD –> arrogant selfishness –> violence against others

– Producing value > creating wealth

– Can capitalism ever be ethical?

How can businesses and government be delivered from their bondage to the drive for money and power?

– Past writings with deep relevance for today and pointers to the future

– Vision –> sermons

– Employees of all companies (large and small) must form their own unions, which are in turn fully connected with other unions.

Then they should fight for the rights of all employees to gradually become stakeholders and partners in the business, along with the founder/investor!

Authority-delegation and profit(&-loss)-sharing model – collective ownership. 

The board (highest decision-making body) of the company (private or public) must have equal representation from every level of labor (along with a specialist administrator & the founders), & must include at least one woman. 

The entrepreneur cannot, & should not, be the sole owner forever!

He/she can be paid around double of what the highest paid employee makes. 

– I think GOD’s word & human tradition CANNOT be separated!
Jesus replaces the Law with himself, NOT a new/better/different law.
What is the divine worldview or frame of reference? And how do we access it?

There is no such thing! And the only way forward for us is to acknowledge that, & continue to work together with the resources available, to keep learning & growing through critical inquiry, passionate commitment & open dialogue.

– Loving kindness

Friendly affection 

Warm regard

Unconditional positivity

– GOD-man-nature

Vs. 

Machines-institutions-rules

22.9.16

– Sinai –> Zion –> Calvary 

– Ideology – that is why left to ourselves alone, we will become a victim of our cultural programming! The only way out is through a community of critical & creative commitment…

– The trinity of GOD-Man-world – inseparable yet distinct!

This is true whether we talk of Scripture, Jesus or Church…

– Eat-rave repeat to exercise-socialize repeat

Can sleep be a (healthy) form of entertainment? 

A contemplative in this age would appear like a sloth……! 

23.9.16

– Instead of seeing GOD as someone who gives protection, nurture & guidance for individuals/group, we need to see him as providing all these for the vision-mission of the future Kingdom/Utopia (a just, peaceful & prosperous world for all).  

– The faster you go, the smaller your zone of attention. 

E.g. When driving on the road, you must be aware of a 10 m radius only. 

– Ethics:

Universal, liberation, ecclesial 

We need all 3. No one can choose just one. But the question is one of order/hierarchy. 

My arrangement-

1. Ecclesial/narrative 

2. Liberation/marginal

3. Universal/liberal 

– I need to study the basics of all the important fields. I must be a reflective learner. And I can prepare specific materials for SFG meeting, seminar & retreat. 

Rhythm:

3-day cycle – specific study (depth) & busy, random learning (breadth) & contemplative, relaxation & entertainment. 

– Lesson from playing TT:

Don’t try to perform at a level higher than your current capacity. Be aware of your limitations, & make the most of what you (already) have by working smart. But all the while, keep stretching & pushing yourself, to improve your capabilities! 

– Material, financial & digital consumerism

Distinguish:

Customer

&

Consumer

– hendyadis

– Ah! A call to reclaim the Gospel by the redemption of education. Glorious…
A NEW definition of prosperity, in a world that is NOT ready for the future!
To me, the New Creation looks more & more like a Utopia where a democratic politics & a socialist economics come together!

I always like to say, GOD is a spiritual capitalist (for individual freedom & creativity) and a material socialist (for equality in the meeting of basic needs)…

– I must read the Tamil Bible at least on alternate days. 

Everyone should try to maintain a good working knowledge of at least 2 languages (including their mother tongue) 

– Daily Manna – 1John 5:1-5:

Worshipping/obeying (the only true living) GOD –> overcoming the world & caring/serving people.

Without both these outward signs, how will we know our real spiritual state? 

True faith ~ radical monotheism! 

So, will I definitely/naturally develop love for the child (future), if I love my wife (present)? 

Loving others, by cultivating my inner life. 

So, can we also say that everyone who overcomes the world & loves people, is also a Christian?! (E.g. Karl Marx) 

– Anthropocene – 1950 onwards!

Geological time

– Occupational expertise 

Productive services

Price system/market mechanism 

Investment, production & employment 

Public policy & economic development 

The Marshall Plan

Tariffs/customs/duty

Protectionism

Economic nationalism or mercantilism 

Mother country & colonies

Political economy 

“An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations” – Adam Smith

Classical economics

Free trade

The invisible hand of competition 

Theory of value 

Malthusian Principle – law of diminishing returns

Strategic variables

Capital goods

Flow of labor & capital 

David Ricardo – principle of comparative advantage 

Domestic market & international trade

Marxian (not Martian! 😉)

Business cycles/fluctuations 

Private enterprise system

– britannica.com is free!  😃

– How private virtues become public vices (in a world of simulacra)…!?

– tome

– When using the dictionary, always check pronunciation, etymology, usage, related words, etc. along with the semantics.

– “Marx had relatively little effect on the development of economics as a social science” – Encyclopedia Britannica

WOW!

24.9.16

– “A real reader is (also) a writer.”

Instant/event/miracle/surprise 

De-selfing

Reading/writing – reading as writing & writing as reading

Gift – the economy of love

Transcending all constructed identities & creating a new subject.

Material/carnal/sexual truth

The false theatre of phallocentric representationalism  

“We need to lose the world, to lose a world, and to discover that there is more than one world and that the world isn’t what we think it is. Without that, we know nothing about the mortality and immortality we carry”

GOD as the other, that is both within, & beyond us!

ineluctable

Mimesis

Distinguish:

Art

&

The Arts

Arrest/police the irruption of speech

“the continuous network of sentences and ideas which masks the plurality of operations or ‘irreducible differences.”

Analyzing the cultural order to move towards a utopic site.

Interminable re-citations

Simulacra & objectless credibility – culture of deferral & credit

The aesthetic of absence

25.9.16

– “Diversity/variety of persons, & therefore theologies is a wonderful & complex fact! 😇✨
Let us just enjoy being exposed to the Great Other, through encounters & communication with all these others 🍷
Have a super Sabbath, folks! 😌
I would request everyone to just relax & speak their minds without any fear!

It can be difficult, frightening & painful to interact with radically different persons/views, but that is what helps us grow! We are forced to stretch. Otherwise what’s the point in any conversation?? We are NOT here to just rub each other’s backs……”

– Life + loss = joy! 

What if I chose to choose neither life nor death, but love (or lust)?? 

– Distinguish:

Nurture, 

Pamper & 

Indulge

26.9.16
– Distinguish:

Embezzlement, 

Tax evasion

&

Money laundering 
– Transparency International 

‘Perceived corruption’
– Can one make a decent living & also be ‘non-profit’? 

Life –> living 

Or

Living –> life? 
– Arun Gadre & Abhay Shukla 
– untrammelled
– Reintegrating industry & service
– SATHI 
– Whistleblowers as traitors
– recoup

compensation
– Irrational ~ unethical 
– Parliamentary Committee Report

Planning Commission Recommendations 

Anybody listening??