Monday 28 May 2012

Dilige et quod vis fac

Bishop Alan sums up the real issue of difference with a nod to the howler monkeys.  So what do I do with my prejudice?  Can I accept his clever note as a proof of liberality?  If I did, I would go against my own distrust of proofs. Perhaps I will take the easy way out - as Augustine said somewhere - Love [God] and do what you will. This is variously quoted and is not quite what you might think or quite what my memory retains. But it is pithy. The diligence required to get the root of the first word, Love, is sufficiently troubling that even the invocation of God (not in the original) is not required. But perhaps God is in our words - affirming or diligently correcting.

Yes.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Things I noted this week

Doug is talking about the wired wireless generation - but the best cell phone response I have seen is this one.

Bishop Alan has a hilarious assessment of the latest movements re female bus drivers in England.

Tim gets marks for clarity here - very timely for me. I need to see where I am not clear and to delete such sentences.

Entangled States has a nice analogy for story telling - similar to Doug's post some time ago. Rachel reminds us of the love for the stranger that is commanded. I think everywhere we are losing our identification with the story and it will be with disastrous results until we turn or are turned from our captivity of self-protection.

James Pate completes his review of BW-III on Christology.

John Hobbins notes a story concerning 'conversion' and reactions.

Monday 21 May 2012

Once a week discipline?

I let my Google reader fall behind a few days. Some things I just skip depending on my mood, but some really catch my attention. Some I venture a comment on. There were a few this morning as I caught up to zero read. Do you ever feel the pressure of not having read something? But if it wasn't on the aggregator, I wouldn't know about it.  I think I will let things slide and give focus to this deluge only a few hours a week - even that may be too much. Productive hours are a rare thing. I count them only a few - 2 or 3 - per day. Nevertheless, meandering aside, I did find some interesting things this morning: Awilum - something to go back to if I have time here. Ancient Hebrew Poetry on Qohelet here. BLT again on Psalm 1.

Sandwiched Conversations

BLT has some scintillating conversations going: here on idolatry and here on the Psalms.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Thursday 10 May 2012

Busy this week

Besides watching the close match between Raonic and Federer, I have had directors meetings all week and I have the loan for 1 week only of the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (8 volumes). Reading a dictionary - (even if you skip all the words that are not in the Psalms) is a tiresome business, but it has resulted in some nice refinements of my root table for the Psalms. These changes (7 letters to go) are reflected in the glossary and interlinear in the links on the right panel. I think I could still be a bit more selective in the mater lectiones that I allow or not in my reduced table of 1354 distinct letter combinations at the roots of things in the Psalms.

I continue to ponder the good advice given in religious circles for the business leader (links and some discussion here). Some day I will get around to an opinion. Contrary to some of my more energetic responses to religious documents, I do see some good advice in this paper, but my initial impression is that it lacks radical precision. This may be because it is wrapped in a tradition that must speak to many all at once.