December 2012 Archives

» This entry is PART TWO, continued from » Part One. It was split into two pages in order to adhere to principles of web site optimization. Here you go .. the conclusion of » Shooting First Graders? Like Fish in a Barrel? What the Fuck?

» A Curious Connection & the Ability of Man

I'd rather not .. but I must say .. that I find it 'curious' .. that the VERY NEXT section in Matthew [.. in the very same chapter .. right after where Jesus says "Suffer little children" in verses 14+15 ] .. he next talks about » the Rich Young Ruler [ RYR .. in verses 16-26 ] ..

.. who, as you probably know .. "went away sad." Why? Because » "he had great possessions."

To which Jesus comments » HOW HARD IT IS ".. for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

And everybody knows .. that the reason it's hard .. is cuz it's so easy for the Rich Man to trust in his riches (.. and not God).

Now, I can vouch .. that it's more difficult to trust in uncertain riches .. when you don't have any ..

.. when you are forced to go to Plan B. But EVEN THEN .. even then it's a struggle.

It just so happens .. that I've recently been conducting my own little experiments in this area.

And for me .. this trusting-in-riches thing FEELS LIKE .. a ROOT .. out of which I suck something that feels like security (comforting) ..

.. a root that is very difficult to pull up .. and which starts growing (all-by-itself, it seems) .. soon as you let it drop.

I would go so far as to say .. this is the MOST DIFFICULT scriptural thing I've found. [ Uh, seems like I already have. ]

[ For the sake of clarity .. I approach this thing .. with a technical mindset .. rather than a religious one. As the religious one can be clouded by tradition.

I'd had to leave all that behind. As 'IT' did not work for either of my parents .. who both died young. (And not very nicely, either.) ]

So .. I can sorta see why .. the VERY NEXT thing that Jesus says [.. after talking about HOW HARD it is for the Rich Man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven ] ..

.. is » "With men this is impossible." [ Because uh, I have *tried* .. and not necessarily because I wanted to. ]

» Impossible (with Men)

"Impossible," he said. In other words » with men » Mission Impossible. [ And if you fancy the trick a trifle, let me be the first to challenge you .. to sell everything. Give it all to the poor. Let me know how it goes, dawg. ]

Tolstoy tried this, I understand .. tho his wife, it seems, wasnt too keen on the idea. =) "Wealth corrupts us all," he said .. tho I don't know how unapologetically he said it.

Does wealth corrupt? We know that power does.

The love of money. Yes, that is certainly alive-n-well here in the United States.

The problem .. is that THIS PART of our society has captured our government. [ Perhaps that's why they call it 'Political Capture'. ]

And it seems that this love-of-money is the root of all kinds of bad shit.

[ Uh, now I think I know why trusting-in-riches .. feels like a 'root'. Cool light bulb. ]

So the wealth may or may not corrupt .. but the LOVE of it certainly does. Do I have it, right? (Hmmm. I will need to think about that.)

So if I myself am having a struggle in this area .. I don't see how it could possibly be any easier for the rich .. for the wealthy. Do you?

The scriptural implication here .. as I see it (.. correct me if I'm wrong) .. is that .. if we are to 'succeed' in this area (.. big IF) .. then we will need God in order to do it. No?

This is a discussion for another day. But see if this notion resonates with you .. and perhaps we may revisit in the future ..

.. because, it seems to me .. that if the 'root' (.. of all kinds of evil) is coming up (for good) .. then He's gonna have to be the One to do it.

That's MY read anyway .. and I can vouch that it certainly does feel beyond mere human ability.

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» It surprised me yesterday .. when I heard the news of the elementary school shooting there in Newtown .. that I did not identify with the parents, but rather with the kids.

I wasnt trying to, mind you .. to empathize with the kids. (Sympathize with. Feel for. Think of.)

I've had the most horrible dreams .. where I lose the Bug. Nightmares. Downright terrifying ..

.. where I wake covered in sweat. Exhausted. Both physically and emotionally. All day. Merely existing .. until I crawl back into bed at night.

[ And I am simply talking about 'losing' .. as in "can't find" or "can't locate" .. and not as in » dead forever & ever. ]

So that's why I thought (expected) I would identify with with the parents. Because I *are* a parent.

What the Fuck?

Who sets out in the morning on a mission to go kill little kids .. armed to the teeth .. seeking as prey » kindergarteners and first-graders?

"And where does one do such a thing?" you ask? No, not in the Serengeti, but rather right there in the classroom .. while they're all gathered together in one place .. huddled is the word I want ..

.. maybe while their teacher teaches them their ABC's .. See spot run. Run spot run .. or maybe how to add 1 + 1. [ The elementary school there in Sandy Hook is K-thru-4. ]

All of the students, it now seems, that were slaughtered yesterday in Sandy Hook .. were age 6 or 7.

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» This might be my final entry .. seeing that Doomsday arrives in but 9 days .. on the 21st .. coming with the winter solstice (.. which occurs at precisely 3:12 AM .. here on the Left coast). In other words ... we're down to single-digits .. and counting » 8, 7, 6 ...

"Houston, we *have* ignition."

So it seems this would be an appropriate place to post my last entry » on 12-12-12 (.. seeing there will be no 13-13-13).

"Twelve-twelve-twelve" .. has a nice ring, doesnt it? [ specially when you consider that Radified has been online 12 years. "Ding!" ]

Once each century. One-per-lifetime the standard allotment .. for 12-12-12. No mas.

Earlier today .. I was thinking about what to write for my [ twelfth annual ] New Years eve entry .. when it suddenly dawned on me .. that the end of the world could come before that. =)

So I figured I should probably post it now. But what does one write on the eve of Armageddon?

Crafting humor online can be fraught with misunderstanding, seeing the writer is limited to text (.. no body-language clues to play off.

There's no voice-inflection to intuit). In other words .. hopefully you know I am just joking.

But the best jokes are funny for the subtext of truth that they play off.

Now I may merely be letting my imagination run away with me .. or perhaps playing with the power-of-suggestion .. but I definitely feel like something NEW is nigh. Is it just me? Or do you sense it, too?

I mean, maybe it's not the end-of-life on-the-planet full-monty .. but something .. something tingly .. like your spidey senses are picking up something .. like the sound you hear when a pin has been pulled from a grenade. (Guess we'll find out soon enough.)

» Totally Rad Quotes on 12-12-12

In honor of the occasion (.. the end of the world) and to provide a treat to help celebrate 12 years online, I've posted a » Quotes page. [ If those arent an eclectic mix, I don't know what is. ]

And that is the order in which I added them. You can eavesdrop on my intellectual development .. as the list grows. I think Dostoevsky is on deck. Then Einstein.

Maybe Oppenheimer. Definitely Nietzsche. Tolstoy should be #12. Dylan #13.

Guess I need a quote from Shakespeare (preferably from Twelfth Night) but he is already so frequently quoted.

And of course, we will need to include a representative quote from the wildman himself » Hunter S. Thompson.