A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Some Randomly Not Necessarily Connected Thoughts

This is the first week I have sensed a bit of autumn in the air. I love autumn with the colors and the crisp feel in the air. But I must say that I love summer even more, and every year I do not like its ending.
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The seasons remind me of the cycle of life. In this transitory existence we call life, everything must end. But as Christians our hope is in the God who has the power to restore all things and bring about eternity without corruption and decay. God not only can do this, God will do this because of his promise to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
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Facebook stock has plummeted to under $20.00 a share. I said in an earlier post that when it hit $30.00 I might buy some shares. I'm glad I didn't. While it's important to seize the moment, we need to make sure it's the right moment.
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I find electoral college maps for presidential elections to be helpful. I like to see how the territory is mapping out (pun intended). CNN has a map of this year's presidential election (here) as well as RealClearPolitics (here). Of course, the map will likely change. How much, only time will tell. By the way, if MSNBC had such a map it would look like this, while the map from Fox News would be this.

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Speaking of the Electoral College, there are those of the opinion that we should do away with the Electoral College. Some believe that while it was a good idea two hundred years ago, things have so radically changed that we should simply go with the popular vote. The video below explains the rationale for the Electoral College. As is mentioned in the video, it is a quirky system, but I think it still makes much sense.


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Physicists have discovered the Higgs boson. Now scientists are looking to study black holes in space by discovering gravitational waves. Gravitational waves are "ripples in space-time." It all sounds so Star Trek.  This stuff really fascinates me.
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Speaking of time, while we are bound to time and stuck in time and have no idea what timelessness would feel like, time is really hard to define. Scientists and theologians have pondered time for centuries. St. Augustine wrote on the subject. He states in his Confessions:
For what is time? Who can easily and briefly explain it? Who even in thought can comprehend it, even to the pronouncing of a word concerning it? But what in speaking do we refer to more familiarly and knowingly than time? And certainly we understand when we speak of it; we understand also when we hear it spoken of by another. What, then, is time? If no one ask of me, I know; if I wish to explain to him who asks, I know not. Yet I say with confidence, that I know that if nothing passed away, there would not be past time; and if nothing were coming, there would not be future time; and if nothing were, there would not be present time. Those two times, therefore, past and future, how are they, when even the past now is not; and the future is not as yet? But should the present be always present, and should it not pass into time past, time truly it could not be, but eternity. If, then, time present — if it be time — only comes into existence because it passes into time past, how do we say that even this is, whose cause of being is that it shall not be — namely, so that we cannot truly say that time is, unless because it tends not to be?
Some tend to view time as an enemy dogging us toward our demise and decay, but I think time is a friend (did Shakespeare say that?) that accompanies us along life's journey as we move toward that existence we call eternity.
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Quotes of the Week (Possibly, but Not Necessarily Said This Week):  "Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was."--Will Rogers
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"The Scrabble world is abuzz. The Internet is abuzz."--National Scrabble Association Executive Director John D. Williams, Jr., after a player was caught cheating at a national Scrabble tournament.

"You can all go home and say, 'I was at the first Yogurt Summit ever in the history of the State of New York.'"--Governor Andrew Cuomo, at a yogurt industry meeting in Albany.
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"It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes."--Thomas Aquinas

"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."--Joan of Arc

Interesting and Somewhat Useless Trivia: "Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush." OK, so that's not exactly useless. Pardon me while I excuse myself and get a measuring tape.

This Week in Christian History: On August 16, 1875, Presbyterian revivalist Charles Finney died at the age of 82.

4 comments:

Robert Cornwall said...

From the two maps, if everything stays the same. President Obama needs Florida and one other state to reach 270. Mitt can win this, but he'll essentially have to run the table. Not likely to happen, unless there is a major financial disaster or an Israeli attack on Iran. Then all bets are off.

Allan R. Bevere said...

Bob, do you remember, was that the same issue for Barack Obama in 2008 and the the financial collapse happened or am I just confusing several elections? The older I get, the more these things run together in my mind.

Robert Cornwall said...

Allan,

In 2008 the big collapse came in the fall and Obama demonstrated a better grasp of the situation than did McCain. The steadiness that Obama showed helped him win.

My concern, and this may be cynical of me, is that Netanyahu has something cooked up to help his old business partner. But, hopefully not.

Allan R. Bevere said...

Bob,

I really don't know about Netanyahu, although let's not minimize Iran's saber-rattling in the past couple of days; and while I don't think McCain did himself any favors in 2008, I don't believe Barack Obama demonstrated much grasp on the situation either... he simply benefited from the Republican incumbent being in office. But then again, I am a cynic when it comes to nation state politics.

I appreciate your insights.