Think

We might ask and Texas is certainly is asking, why is life in our world so very fragile? How can a good God or any God be so seemingly sadistic? There are no safe spaces. The Guadalupe River swells 29 feet above normal levels in just 45 minutes, on a holiday and at midnight of July 4. If God had control of any of these circumstances, why did he or she allow the waters to rage? Can a seemingly apparent remote uncaring God be called good? Is not this God’s very existence called into question?  Maybe, as some have supposed, there is no God?

The television networks are interviewing religious leaders of every flavor and asking this question. The consensus from every quarter is that there is no answer, all we can do is nurse the fallout. Every time religion comes up short it becomes a so called “mystery”. There is a lot of mystery going around. If we remain as children stuck in the God is all powerful tree, there will be no sensible answers. God did not put this world into motion to display his powers or his authority.

Maybe God wants his people to think up to there potential. If we remain as children, accepting the “whatever” of others, we will remain as children. Thinking is not about education, it is about coming to understand the obvious and then making adjustments. Common sense thinking is available to all of us.

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.          

 

Destiny

I am now doing what I was always meant to do. It only took me a lifetime to get there, hard headed as I am. Established religion was no help. I finally died to all earthly expectations and just listened. 

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.

 

Good

A false dichotomy is used by one philosopher to justify his assent to Christian doctrine. Who am I to call him out but here I am? This philosopher with mighty credentials and literary accomplishments, makes an elemental mistake. In defense of doctrine, he posits a false choice for the reader, a choice between the 300 year old Enlightenment understanding of human nature or a choice for the 1700 year old traditional Church doctrine. Enlightenment says that we humans are essentially good and Christian doctrine says that we are essentially evil (original sin).

After quite thoroughly tearing down the “man is good” extremism, this thinker seems to assume that we should choose Church doctrine for want of a better alternative. Could it be that the “man is evil” understanding is also an extremist view of human nature (forgive me dear St. Augustine)? Extremes are rarely consistent. Could there be a middle ground?

Who are we? We are the obvious, we are all obviously and hopelessly self-centered, no more, no less. Like the rest of creation, we are all momentary survivors. We can do “good” by mitigating our self-involvement or do “evil” by nurturing our selfishness. All of us do both, there are no good guys but we are freely choosing one or the other, that is good.  

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.

 

  

 

 

authentic

We are all in the same boat. We seek an experience with the beyond and then turn to seeking validation in the experience of others. That is how religion gets started. As hard as we may look for a commonality, it is for naught.

Religion as a substitute avoids the simple fact of this our reality, there is no common experience on which to construct a perceived normal spirituality. We all are abnormal, abnormally solo seekers. My experience is not yours and yours is not mine. 

Why are spiritual chops ever so obscure?  Maybe, the authentic is not to be spoken of. 

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.   

 

 

Tragedy

History was so boring in my early years. Now that I am historical, I have become a bit of a history buff. Learning about the ancient Greek thinkers is a real trip. They seemed to be about finding how we and our world function. Their explanations came close to being a scientific mindset. Aristotle was for all intents and purposes a biologist. The pre Socratic thinkers were talking about atoms. Each was in an investigative mood.

Question: what would our world be like if it had not taken a deep dive into the top down empire of religion?  Circa: the Council of Nicaea, St. Augustine of Hippo and the politically and spiritually repressive Roman Catholic Church. Could the 1000 year period of “the dark ages” have been avoided?  Let’s hope so.

All of us should be thinkers because it matters. Just a little common sense prevents a lot of tragedy. Please, get the kids thinking.

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca. 

Juice

God is a moving target. To Aristotle, if it moves, it is God, it is Soul. This made the reading of “On the Soul” by Aristotle a bit disappointing. Some of us were or are anxious to hear again all the spiritual mumbo jumbo, even from the ancients. Instead, what we get is a detailed description of all our moving parts. The word that comes to mind is sterol, “On the Soul” is a sterol description of our reality. Where is the juice of life? Why are we here? Why have we all been here for thousands and millions of years? To be moved?

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.   

 

Wisdom

Aristotle taught that, first we must know ourselves and our place in this world and then we can start all that God talk. Not popular religion, we believers first go God shopping. Is it a Teddy Bear God to nurse our emotions? Is it the Judge enforcer God to keep us and the other guy on the straight and narrow? Is it the Patriot God to wave the flag? Is it the Daddy God to give us a bit of supposed security? Is it the God of ancient Greek culture that made our human frailties acceptable? Where ever there is a man, there is a God, some say.

G. Goslaw

Landers, Ca.