Tagged: faith
The White Church Hedge, The Black Church Codetalk
The preacher at the Black church (as a reminder, I am a member there, not completing an assignment for my degree or a tourist or a journalist) only mentioned the assassination in codetalk, “We know that everyone who mentions Jesus ain’t talking about the Jesus of the Bible.” I confirmed with a friend there that this was in reference to Kirk. In the end, the Black church thinks Kirk maybe was saved, but that didn’t prevent him from being racist and homophobic.
I called my parents and sister to see how their two pastors handled it. They both respectively said their pastors talked about the Evergreen Shooting, the MN lawmakers or Charlotte Blonde, and then Kirk. In the end, I know, like you know, that there exists some group of Kirk ultra-supporters that regular people don’t want to be associated with and this hedging and including other tragedies is done simply to not go “full retard”.
And that’s the state of preaching on this Sunday, Sep 14, 2025.
On Higher Education
I read and I read and I read.
It’s lovely.
But even I have doubts as to what exactly to do with all the knowledge. I am not interested in being a college professor. There was a time when I could almost imagine working hard and becoming an Indiana Jones-style biblical archaeologist (yes, kids, there are archeologists and they really do have dangerous/exciting experiences depending on the types of finds).
But that mood passed.
I ate with an old professor and we briefly discussed the pros and cons of re-engaging formal education. I wasn’t sold that the pros outweighed the cons. Specifically, every part of actual biblical training and academics is losing ground to the soft skills of Christian counseling and other versions of underwater basket weaving. Why join a dying breed? There simply is no demand from the public for an educated pastor. So the degree has to be for teaching or research, and the field is near exhaustion.
This brings me to the catalyst for this post. Check this endnote out. It is from Fr. John P. Meier’s A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 5 “Probing the Authenticity of the Parables”. I have been reading his Marginal Jew books since 2001 (24+ years). I think in the beginning I used them against Christianity as I questioned the Faith, but over time they actually have become some of my favorite books on Christianity-ish, outside of the inspired canon.
All of those listed titles, articles, books etc. are about just one (1) parable. I have been in churches for probably 25+ years and I don’t think I could list that many individuals who have commented (informedly or free-association style) on any one (1) parable. Fr. Meier, on the other hand, read three pages’ worth of scholarly commentary. (And in at least two languages.) Talk about putting me in my place.
I take it all back. I do not read. I do not read. I do not read. And I have no business ever lofting an opinion about anything into the air.
In the end, Fr. Meier and his impossible bibliographies (1) arms me for rhetorical battle with the loudmouth ‘educated’ nonbelievers that I sometimes run into and (2) keeps Christianity larger than life.
I think my favorite title from those listed is, “Excuses, Excuses: The Parable of the Banquet (Luke 14:15-24) within the Larger Context of Luke.” Funny guy.
Also, not that Meier loves its conclusions, but he did reference it enough that it sounded kinda like a definitive work so I did pickup a used copy of Snodgrass’s Stories With Intent—a 900+ page comprehensive look at the generally eloquent parables. I have to admit I haven’t been this excited to read such a book in many years. So add that to Meier’s effects: inspirational.
Pilots—Hope Embodied
I’m at work today and was chatting with the mechanic. It got me thinking.
Man, this job sure requires me to place a lot of trust in other people.
This led to me wondering What makes someone want to be an aircraft mechanic?
This led to I sure hope the answer is ‘not being as brave or good-looking’ as pilots.
But I backed off that and landed on Flying the aircraft requires more trust in other people than mechanics usually possess.
There are surely other measures of trust or, more broadly, hope. But what I mean to call attention to is the why behind the quality of the trait that pilots necessarily possess.
Once considered, I say one must conclude that it isn’t merely the mode of travel, but the fact of travel that betrays the pilot’s special embodiment of hope. From the functioning of the aircraft, to the people at the (planned or unplanned) destination not killing you upon arrival, the pilot embodies hope.
From another angle, consider that Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”
That’s got all the right words, but it’s backwards. From where I sit, “Prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness are fatal to travel.”
But, of course, by travel I mean more than the movement of the body from one location to another. I count as travel learning—even via books. I count attending different cultures’ events (ie, Chinamen moving to Chinatown is not travel, but one religious Chinaman’s visiting of a different religion’s Chinaman family—all who live in the same apartment building is) as travel. There are probably other meanings I would count.
Or not.
So I only mean three things count as travel. (1) travel, (2) learning, and (3) dually (i) meeting people who look identical to yourself but are, in fact, not you and (ii) meeting people who look nothing like you and finding out they are, in fact, your identical twin. And the connection which binds these three is not travel, but hope.
Do you see?
“The Koran” is What “The 1619 Project” Longed to Be
I was writing a friend an email about how inaccurate the Koran was regarding its recounting of events recorded earlier and definitively in the Bible and the thought hit me. The Koran’s relationship to the Bible is essentially what the 1619 Project tried to do to American History.
I share this because I know none of you will ever read the Koran. Yet I know that some of you still are curious about the book, given the state of international relations these days.
For me, I read it almost a decade ago while at a Christian Seminary, on my own initiative, with the intention of finally learning if the jihadic violence was taken out of context. In other words, I was well aware people (opponents and zealots) can take the Bible’s violence out of context. I kept hearing the Koran was a promoter of violence whole-cloth, so I finally got ahold of one and read it.
Surprisingly, I discovered that the calls to religious violence weren’t even the worst part. The worst part was the utter lack of reality in its description of human history, specifically, the events covered (basically exclusively) by the books of the Bible.
Call to Action: (for Christians who base their faith on the Bible) Study the Bible and teach the Bible with an emphasis on accurate transmission of the contents, more than doctrinal conclusions and wild claims about essentially unproven results of Christian living. For example, when I teach my kids the Bible, I end by saying, “The point is that you are going to hear people attack the Bible. But when you know the Bible, you are going to be able to see that they are not actually attacking the Bible. The people don’t know the Bible. Don’t miss this point. They attack straw men. It’s not that the Bible magically compels faith in Jesus Christ. But there is something about the Bible. It has the curious ability to compel or call forth continuous uninformed opinions. Seeing these for what they are allows us to help them see their error, rather than join in their error.”
Saturday Sermon
The following is the short, thunderous homily I just texted my wife who is constantly perplexed by my actions. She’s my second wife. She is anxious about some stupid imaginary drama regarding her son and his dad who lives in a different country. This is for posterity.
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If you want to attack me about H- and her mom etc, the strongest way to attack is to say, “You paid money NOT to see H-. How stupid are you, Pete?!”
And my response is, “Do you see it then? Do you finally understand? Life is, at times, unbelievably horrible. How does it make sense to be able to pay money to ‘not’ get/buy something, like time with your own child?
“I, your husband, would rather pay money to not see H- (which is insane) than pay money to (maybe) see H-, which is evil. I am not paying people to be my friend. I am not paying you to be my wife. I am not paying children to be my children. Humans are not for sale. Humans are not slaves. That is the outer darkness. That is my ex wife’s world. And the lawyers. And the government. It is not my world.”
Two Novel Thoughts As We Wait (Wink Wink) on Iran
Firstly, I love how the media made Iraq out to be some super fighting force in the days Desert Storm 1. The big claim was “fifth strongest” military in the world. But let’s run with this. They were wrong. Next, Afghanistan was supposed to be cavemen. Now, the media wants me to be worried about Iran’s response. Did you they not see the response that the strike aircraft saw? Zero. Zilch. Nada. No response. They didn’t even know the planes were in the air. But sure, media (wink wink), we’ll wait for the response.
Secondly, this is the largest attack/action that has occurred in my non-fighting age days. As in, 9/11 was a large impetus for my wanting to join the AF. And I did join the AF to help get revenge. But right now, even if WW3 somehow starts, I have a new feeling like, “Well, I hope my company doesn’t fold during the war. I don’t know how else to make money.”
Time will tell.
Do I Make It Rain?
Obama breaks silence.
Did you see how soon it was after I expressed sincere desire to hear his thoughts? To be clear, I am declaring that I manifested it.
If you missed it, here is what he said.
“Thirteen years ago, my administration acted to protect young people who were American in every single way but one: on paper.
DACA was an example of how we can be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. And it’s an example worth remembering today, when families with similar backgrounds who just want to live, work, and support their communities, are being demonized and treated as enemies.
We can fix our broken immigration system while still recognizing our common humanity and treating each other with dignity and respect. In fact, it’s the only way we ever will.”
Decent, if weak, opening.
Second para is trash entirely. “Who just want to live” is as disrespectful as it gets.
Third para brings to mind the question: just how much dignity is required to fulfill the definition of dignity?
People are told, “You can self-identify and leave.” That seems dignified.
Then they are not physically abused during their arrest. Seems pretty dignified to me.
They are fed for free. That seems dignified.
I just don‘t know what more is necessary. Many Americans would be fine with much more aggressive tactics and techniques to resolve the “paperwork.”
In the end, Obama played his role perfectly—while demonstrating again that he has no power besides attracting our attention.
The Idea: Keep My Kids Out of War
How best to accomplish this?
My method is simple. I will teach them of the utter madness of most wars. If I am successful, then my kids will be so distrustful of the concept of destruction-based-improvement, that they’ll only engage in it when it is absolutely the best decision.
Why this post? Because I am not certain my simple method will work.
What say you?
Filling Space
George Carlin joked about how people acquire space—then we fill it up. Something like, “Look! There’s some space! Let me put something there!” (It’s Saturday. I know. I’ll help if you’re not yet bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Think of our closets, rooms, trunks of cars, open land etc.)
Isn’t the same thing true for mental space? I’m thinking specifically about “misinformation” “delusions” “lies” and the like. What is our problem? We just can’t keep mental space empty? We can’t admit “I don’t know” and wait to fill it until we do? Does there have to be a filler for every single topic that enters our mind?
Is that healthy? Does it even accomplish anything? We all just walk around spouting lies as if no one can tell, even though we also, on some level, know we “don’t know” everything?
Is it really so hard to keep a clean mental house? Is it really so hard and inhumane to tell your conversant, “Now, you know that’s not true”?
What is it? Is it that we need people in proximity to us so desperately that we’d rather put up with their incessant, void-preventing bullshyat than call them to try harder to keep their integrity?
I don’t get it.
“Had I Known”, The Game
I have all sorts of analogies for why I read—current favorite is, “Books are the map of life; find yourself.” But when I read something totally new—Vietnam War history in this case—I find myself continually considering, “Wow. Had I known this earlier in life, I would’ve…” and then a fun imagination game plays out.
How about you? What information have you read which forced you to play the game, “Had I known…”?
I just ordered a “F%#* Communism” flag, probably for ceiling of garage, because of my reading. (The one created by Paul Krassner and John Francis Putnam in ‘63.) I share this so y’all won’t think I only read for its mental fitness.
It was mentioned (as a sign, not a flag) in an article about the “defoliation” AF squadron whose classically AF Pilot wit-filled motto was, “Only YOU Can Prevent Forests.”
I can hear you now. “Why?” And, “Don’t you have toddlers?”
Because as much delight as this game provides, I don’t want my kids to play it regarding such a pivotal war.
Seriously though, do comment below with any instances that have initiated the “Had I Known” game in your mind.
Captain’s Log 