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cactusflinthead

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cactusflinthead last won the day on November 12 2022

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  1. Darkness and Doubt Above all, there was a sense of distance from God, what the sixteenth century Spanish monk John of the Cross called the “dark night of the soul” or the sense that the “heavens were like brass” bouncing back any prayer sent heavenward. Lewis says, But go to Him when your need is desperable, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double-bolting on the inside. After that, silence. Worse than that, there were doubts about the goodness of God. It wasn’t that Lewis was in any danger of becoming an atheist: “The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not, ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but, ‘So this is what God’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.’” ---I can't just leave it there This smashing even applies to some of our questions. Some of our questions are unanswerable, at least in the way we ask them. Lewis says: When I lay these questions before God, I get no answer. But rather, a special kind of ‘no answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.’ . . . Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask—half our great theological and metaphysical problems—are like that. --- It is hoped that these insights might be helpful, although I am aware of the dilemma Lewis described in The Problem of Pain: All arguments in justification of suffering provoke bitter resentment against the author. You would like to know how I behave when I am experiencing pain, not writing books about it. When we all experience pain, a little courage helps more (Lewis observes) than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all. https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/c-s-lewis-on-grief/
  2. Fire it up. I've got thoughts about other religions that have to deal with the random ass bullshit of existence just like the rest of us over here in Christian land. And I'm saying that as someone that just reaffirmed his beliefs to join the Presbyterians because the Baptists don't recognize anyone else as having it right so there's no saying to them, "Hey, he's going over here now." Fwiw the same thing applies to the Catholic guy that was sitting next to me at the session. I got thoughts about old Abraham Heschel and Lao Tzu that probably belong in a different thread. But, while I'm here. The OT has more than a few souls that wrestled with the idea of a just and loving God when confronted with the people around them. There's a reason why the Cistercian Father had us read No Exit in our last year. We had already made the journey with Dante through all nine circles of Hell, might as well take a look at Sartre's version too. Zechariah got up there to get ready for the questions back. Job got it out of a tornado. George Washington Carver wanted to know everything there is to know about plants. It's too much little man, but I will tell you about the peanut. That's how big it all is. I don't know much of anything. But, I do know to help other people and don't brag about it.
  3. That's fucked up. Glad you survived to tell the tale. "I've got a lighter! I want us to die!" is the most masthead worthy quote ever
  4. I'm pretty sure he was guilty of breaking more than two laws. Unless he was rolling down the road with a fat ass jay hanging out of his mouth, he probably did something to get the attention of the cops and the other laws were found to be in violation and the first offense was disregarded.
  5. Don't. Just don't
  6. I don't get it. This is how many names? You're not the first person to point out that it's Rex again but I'm going to consider this confirmation of it. I usually wait until he shows up in the Oil Baron's thread before I'm completely convinced but, two or three unrelated posters saying the same thing and him whining about it is enough this time.
  7. It's also how they can say that out loud. Gonna be a lot of finger pointing
  8. Oh it must be because someone is injecting chemicals in the atmosphere Just not the ones that we know about. Those are fine You don't need that data. We're saving money!
  9. Yeah, from what I can find on the lake level and release they are catching it all and letting next to nothing out. Plenty of room for a bunch of water. https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/lake/status.htm
  10. Yeah, I'm up here in Denton and I don't know what to say except this is horrible.
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