Category: Journal

RANTINGS

14.11.16
– mince
Cloud of suspicion
Whistle speech
chapiter
anteroom
wherefore
lentic x lotic
15.11.16
–  The Garden of Eden:
“You will be like God” ~ “You will not die”
(Gen. 3:3 – but there were two trees in ‘the middle of the orchard” (Gen. 2:9)… Was there a confusion between the two during the temptation??)
Nakedness ~ mortality
Compare with the movie “Tree of Life” & “The Fountain”
Gen. 3:22 – why should man not know good & evil, and live forever?? Why should man not be like GOD?!
So, they were both created mortal…!?
Tree of life –> fruit of knowledge. NOT the other way around!
– Pride ~ selfishness ~ greed ~ arrogance ~ violence
Sin –> destruction –> repentance/humility –> restoration
– Was Jonah a ‘false prophet’?
The prophet who is also the villain!
– Are you glad that GOD loves your enemies?
Archetypal stories
Overturned –> turned over!
Accusations & warnings
Politics + lies
Religion + money
Market + violence
Blame the leaders
Land reforms are coming!
The rich better beware
Confront & judge –> forgive & redeem
“He will trample evil (our sins!)”
GOD – abounding in mercy; slow to anger; great in power; won’t leave evil unpunished
Celebrating the fall of the tyrant
GOD is grieved and angered by the oppression and death of the innocent
Lament ~ complaint
Design & content; structure & purpose; nature & message
Torah-negligence
Spiritual frontier/theological vanguard
The righteous are sustained by the vision of GOD’s future
Vows & woes. What about wows?!
Physical pleasure, economic growth and national security as idols
The cycle of revenge (used by GOD!)
“Renew your work in our days” – OMG!
Pharaoh ~ Caesar ~ POTUS?
Justice for all = judgment of the powerful + vindication of the innocent
– No matter how far I wander from the Bible, I still want to keep in touch with (the character/nature of) this GOD!
– What if there is no faithful remnant??
– Facts as metaphors, with far greater significance and implications, than just their immediate relevance.
– Are sexual promiscuity and violent crime related?
– The only way to be freed from self-obsession is the worship of GOD…?
– Is GOD really good?
Is GOD all-powerful?
Is GOD perfectly wise?
– Yes, the Bible does sound a lot like today’s Evangelicals, but I somehow have a deep suspicion that there is a crucial/vital difference between the two. Defining this will be the key to confronting them & exposing their mistake…
– Is it possible to become wealthy & powerful without corruption & oppression?
– bullion
quiddity
Supermoon
– “If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong [or sin boldly], but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.” – Martin Luther
16.11.16
– For most people, their work interferes with leisure time, for me it seems to be the opposite!
I must be aware of, and compensate for, this.
– Who said you need a paid subscription for a high quality anti-virus?!
Move over McAfee. Welcome Avast!
– Compensation – I have found a way to reverse the (effects of the) past!
E.g. Follow feasting by fasting
– “Make America Great Again”
Vs.
“Stronger Together”
Vs.
“A Future to Believe In”
– Is there a significant/substantial part of your life apart from the relational & professional aspects?
Who I am > my relationships + what I do + how much I have
– Isn’t the US army/government to be held responsible for the killings (by the Taliban) of its Afghan/Iraqi translators?
17.11.16
– Virus definitions
Snack-meals
– Dialogue ~ truth-seeking
Rhetoric/writing
Vs.
Philosophy/speech
Personal conversation & truth-speaking
Truth/duty & courage/freedom
Self-criticism & confronting power
Debate & democracy
Athenian constitution
Citizen ~ witness
Governance & culture
Free speech
Agora & the king’s court – the relationship between the king & his advisors is crucial for the welfare of the people.
The parrhesiastic game
The silent majority
Do you desire (to know) the truth about yourself?
Spiritual education ~ soul technology
Self-care, the pursuit of enlightenment and the ideal society
Flattery & coercion
Positive & negative asceticism
demos ~ demon
Distinguish:
Witnessing
&
Preaching
What is the difference between conceptual & discursive?
The people’s desire
Vs.
The city’s best interest
Unscrupulous orators ~ Indian politicians
Comedic poets ~ Kollywood
Your leaders are only as good/bad as you deserve!
The tyranny of the stupid majority
Pejorative parrhesia
Distinguish:
Freedom/happiness/liberty
&
Incontinence/selfishness/lawlessness
Distinguish:
Diligence/faithfulness/discipline
&
Submission/obedience/legalism
lampoon
Logos & bios
“techne tou biou”
– Presence ~ patience
– Non-events
Non-persons
Non-words
– The 2016 US presidential election and Foucault’s “Discourse and Truth”
18.11.16
– Do you know how to use (single and double) quotation marks correctly?

VIGNETTES

31.10.16
– True perversions
E.g. Sadomasochism. . . ?
– Glory ~ great ~ big
1.11.16
– If GOD had to choose between the survival of the planet earth and the human race, what would he do?
I think he would choose the latter!
After all, the former was created for the sake of the latter, right?
But for now, the latter depends on the former……
– riposte
parry
rigmarole
hoopla
The Maasai
Anti-trust
rueful
venial
stolid
extortionate
– ‘This action cannot be undone’
‘Talk to the hand’
– BBC Horizons:
Solaroad
Skully helmet
Augmented reality & situational awareness
3-D metal printing in car-manufacturing
Serious science
Robotic garbage collectors
– ballsy
gutsy
– Humane and heroic are antonyms!
– Movies:
“Star Trek: Beyond”
One of the worst movies I have ever seen…!?
– Comparative study of ancient cultures
Literary elite
Henotheism/monolatry
Ascribing reality to…
Pure religion
Biblical archeology
Parallelomania
Evolution
Vs.
Revolution
Adopt the form and transform the essence
Overstated
Engage and critique
Metadivine (impersonal/primordial/amoral) realm
Legendary tales/theogony
Sexuate gods
Apotheosis
Magic/divination as the manipulation of material power
Life force
Decrees/laws
The divine, human and natural
Israelite cult
Reenactments of folklore
Seasonal festivals
Rites essential to the preservation of the world order
Demons as evil gods/unclean spirits
Capricious deities
Sovereign fate
Cosmic struggle – great (but not absolute) wills in conflict
The metaphysical precedes the moral
Distinguish:
Ungodly
&
Godless
The eternal person!
Pagan ~ polytheistic
There is no Devil in the Hebrew Bible!
Personifying evil
Zoomorphism
Anthropomorphizing the ultimate/perfect being
Complete transcendence, therefore unlimited freedom!
Divergent intuitions
Israelite religion
Vs.
Biblical world-view
Ethical monotheism
Heterogeneous ~ difficult
Monotheizing other/neighboring motifs
– A philosophy of the social sciences
– Gen. 4:7 – the best/only way to attain victory over sin is to just keep doing what one knows is right and avoid what one knows is wrong, to the utmost of one’s understanding & ability (with prayer for more wisdom and power from GOD).
– Yoga – the spiritual axis is perpendicular to the physical posture!
2.11.16
– Do you know there are English words that have originated from Hindi & Urdu?
– Dream:
I am leading a group of people, climbing up a ladder through racks of books. Then I reach a roof which seems like a dead end. So, I try to open another door on the side which has a complicated lock. After using my witty mind & skillful hands, I am able to open it! I am so glad & proud of my heroism. . . . . .
– Even the SwiftKey autocorrect is so prudish!!
– “What’s the difference between to Live and to be Alive in the Spiritual Sense” – X
– “Good question!
The same difference between existing/surviving and flourishing/thriving…
It is possible to be dead in one area of life, & be growing in another. The challenge is to prosper in every way! But not every aspect is equally important…
Spiritual is more important than material.
The same difference between those who try to save themselves and those who seek the Kingdom
The same difference between those who have stopped working on themselves and those who never cease improving, until they have breath!
The same difference between those for whom their entire sense of meaning is derived from their job/family and those for whom there is a greater purpose (something MORE)
The same difference between those who are wholly supported by externalities and those who live inside-out!
I guess we are all a mixture of both. But only few are moving in the right direction……
One might be ahead, but if he/she is moving in the wrong direction, then things are not as good as they seem!” – Y
– querulous
diffidence
encyclopaedist
Innuendo & insinuation
3.11.16
– Evolution as gradual micro-revolution & revolution as sudden macro-evolution
– Faith as the confident knowledge of true belief
– Love – the mutual overlap & interplay of GOD, self and others, in the Body and through the Spirit!
– Hate as imperfect love
– Eternal punishment
– Knowing GOD ~ speaking the truth ~ loving others
– The opposite of fear is not courage/boldness, but trust/assurance!
– Brothers & sisters – learning from Jesus together >> love for one another
– When two things go together, the absence of the one implies the absence of the other too, and the presence of the one implies the presence of the other too.
But then, how does one understand the instances of the apparent presence of one and the absence of the other??
When one does not love his/her friends, then he/she cannot love GOD.
But when one loves people, they also love GOD.
GOD is actually a qualifier of the nature of our love for people. It is not another love distinct from it, but that which makes one’s love for others true!
4.11.16
– If most of our greatest learnings are accidental or experiential, then what’s the use of systematic study?
– Repression >> subconscious >> dream/fantasy
– “I’m not the droid you’re looking for!”
– The already-&-not-yet Kingdom – only those who live in the eternal present are on track with the imminent future.
Apocalyptic eschatology!
– Marriage must be egalitarian, irrespective of the difference in maturity of the partners.
– “Satan drives a pick-up”
So, what’s his line?
– “And the one who lives in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
– Jesus (John 11:26)
Hmmm. . . don’t I need to understand it, before I can believe?? What does it mean to ‘live in Christ’? What does ‘never die’ mean? What is it to ‘believe this’?
– I use the Google translate web page to type in Tamil on my laptop.
Is there a better way?
– The cheapest products are usually not of good quality. I must change my approach.
– Mayfly
– Becoming a leader
From authoritarian to empowering
– Distinguish:
Good leader
&
Effective leadership
– How do psychology and ethics relate to each other?
– Becoming a better person –> making a positive difference in your world
– The Great Commandments:
Worship truth (GOD) and love persons (self & others)
These 2 define & qualify each other!
– Life/being = believe + love + know + change + fight + suffer + play + work + seek
Anything left?
– Leadership scholars
Illustrating illustriousness
From information to ideation
Spirituality – self-awareness, values & community
Motivational communication – empowerment and innovation
Student-leader
Self-reliance and responsibility
Quiet leaders
Studying great individuals
Shaping the face of the future
Being a role-model
Spiritual parenting
Crisis ~ crucible
Action-learning
On-the-job reflection
Working knowledge
Concepts and skills
Negative models
Imitation & feedback
Recollecting the experiential details of reality
Response papers
Leadership projects
Meta-research
– Self – is there a difference between improvement and development?
– Victor Frankl  – “Meaning is seeing possibilities against the backdrop of reality.”
– Surfacing material
– Synonym discussion (M-W)
– invidious
intransitive
– “Sometimes, truth knocks at our door, but we say to it, ‘Go away, I’m looking for the Truth!’ “
– Do you really get white when all the 3 primary colours are mixed?!
– dicker
– Alternative ~ complementary
7.11.16
– Being cool about getting upset…
– Jn. 11:26 – my short answer is, No I don’t believe this (literally). But I do trust (believe in) him.
– Why do I hate this brand of Charismatic piety so much?
1. It keeps people in perpetual spiritual infancy.
2. It severely dilutes & distorts the rich & deep revelation of GOD.
3. It promotes anti-intellectualism in, and privatization of, faith.
Does it have any virtues at all??
– “Peace of mind or happiness is not an end. It is a means to an end. You need to be joyful or happy in the moment or every moment to work or serve or engage with family or others  – sadhguru” – X
“We should think of peace of mind and personal happiness as by-products – not means or ends.” – Y
“That is very true” – Z
“Somewhat like John Piper’s Christian Hedonism…
But psychological well-being cannot be the source or basis of service/mission!
The distinction between joy (spiritual) and happiness (emotional) is crucial
We must actively seek psychological well-being, through practices like meditation, etc. It cannot be a mere by-product…
I think ‘complementary’ is a better word” – Q
– Watched:
“True Detective” pilot
“Shameless” pilot
“House of Cards” pilot
– Missionary ~ entrepreneur
– If ideology & critical theory are opposites, then how can Marxism be both?
– Choose the worship songs that qualify according to your stringent requirements.
– Brain functions (gaming)  – speed, attention, logic, multi-tasking, memory, planning, etc.
– A species of dolphin, the long-finned pilot whale, has more neocortical neurons than any mammal studied to date including humans.
What?! So, are they more intelligent than us??
– Hysteria & histrionics
– Faithfulness ~ forgiveness
Can there be authentic reconciliation without the dialog that leads to mutual understanding, confession and repentance?
What if one or both the parties justify their respective actions/choices??
Humility before GOD –> generosity with people
– Battle of the sexes:
Insecurity/possessiveness/jealousy
Are men or women more prone to these tendencies?
– Develop a thick skin and a soft heart, in place of your present delicate skin and hard heart…
Do you know HOW to do that??
I can show you!
– auriferous
8.11.16
– The beginning also has the ending embedded within itself!
– Creation accounts:
Gen.1:1 – 2:3; 2:4-25; 5:1-2
– ‘Eden’ – garden/delight/park/paradise/pleasure
Hebrew pronunciation?
– No story without genealogy!
Vertical & horizontal genealogy
Speed-reading –> overall pattern
Unfazed by minor discrepancies
‘Pun intended’
Distinguish:
Chaos
&
Nothingness
Voice precedes word…?
roiling; gerund
Is creation ex-nihilo a biblical/Jewish doctrine?
The visible has its origin in the invisible.
Call – create, name & bless
– Underdetermine, overdetermine
– Metametaphysics
Metaontology
‘Enamored, repulsed and mystified’ at the same time!
Movers & shakers
The skeptic-enthusiast spectrum
– Distinguish:
Coax
&
Coerce
– Even stars are mortal!
What is the battery life of our sun?

– Spirituality is where life & death converge!

– Pristine ~ originary ~ primitive ~infantile

– Cosmology + economics = laughter!
Just because something is not ultimate DOESN’T mean it is futile. It means it is fun.

– Parenting/ministry – why so serious!?

– Humorless mockery
levelling

Mangalyaan
Regional satraps
Strange bedfellows
Vote-buying
– Once 75% of the world’s orphan/homeless children have been adopted, people can start biological reproduction again!

– If you focused more of your energy on making the most of what you have, instead of going after what you don’t, you would be much better off.

9.11.16
– Trump presidency:
This is definitely a huge regression for our world as a whole! 😓
It will have a great negative impact during this critical time, on crucial issues like, multilateralism, ecology, nuclear disarmament, immigration, fair trade, etc., etc.
Maybe it’s time for a new Cold War era!?
– Culture, revelation & reality
Prophet
Vs.
Pollsters
Create ~ order
Recreate ~ reorder
Apostolic ~ prophetic ~ kerygmatic ~ Charismatic
Preach > instruct/encourage/correct/entertain
Announcement ~ proclamation ~ declaration
Interpretations –> implications –> consequences
“Something has happened. It looks normal, but it’s not!”
Unbelief –> inaction
– Swing states

– US election:
1. Are the people so stupid & blind?
2. Why were the experts so wrong?
3. What are the essential differences between a Trump & Clinton presidency?

– Hillary’s concession speech says it all!

– The cashless era – Maranatha!

– Possibilities:
1. Romance/sex/marriage without dialogical love/abundant being
2. Dialogical love/abundant being without romance/sex/marriage
3. Dialogical love/abundant being with romance/sex/marriage

– Psychology is nothing but the interaction of biology & culture…
This is where spirituality can make the all-important difference!

10.11.16
– Christ/Gospel/Kingdom
The agent and the message of the Future (Eternal present)
All 3 always go together!
11.11.16
– whatsit, thingy, doodad
mongrel
mutt
testy
plucky
possé
– “There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”
– Marianne Williamson
Hmmm… Sounds a little like Nietzsche? Civility is over-rated. Spontaneity is not the same as barbarity. If every adult is mature, then more people can freely express themselves, without the fear of infantile retaliation (from the majority)!

– Her relationship with me is based on an overflow of her love for/with my wife.

– Beliefs/desires >> values/attitudes >> choices/behavior

– How can the lowest ranked employee also be made a co-partner/owner of the business? It must be done, but the way to do it is the question.

– Replay in slo-mo

– Carry over & compensate

– Sunday – Sabbath
Monday, Tuesday – working/busy
Wednesday – semi-off/contemplative
Thursday, Friday – working/busy
Saturday – semi-off

– While in the SFG meeting, forget about all family ties with other members!