Kinda clever.
Peace,
Chris
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Signs of the End: "The Man" needs to be bailed out
I'm honestly getting a little worried and am wondering if the center can hold. When "The Man" is needing a bail out you know something is really wrong!
The president has said, "our entire economy is in danger," and that "The market is not functioning properly. There has been a widespread loss of confidence, and major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down."
Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin agreed that without bailouts we will have "another great depression."
Economists who've been in the business for 40 years are saying they've never seen anything like this.
The Congress isn't making a decision about how to fix this crisis.
And now Pakistani troops are shooting at American Helicopters on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border... and get this we are shooting back!
And where does this leave us?
Part of me thinks if "The Man" doesn't need to pay for his mistakes and debts I should not pay my recent hospital bills or repay my student loans. After all if the over thirty crowd can't take responsibility for their own house we irresponsible youngin's should be going amok in the streets, stealing stuff, looting, etc.
Another part of me thinks back to the great depression and to FDR's words, and I paraphrase, "thank God this is only about material things and not matters of the spirit."
I used to laugh at historical interpretations of the Book of Revelation. Luther's language of Pope as Anti-Christ was veiled in Eschatology. French Catholics were sure the French Revolution and Napoleon were enmeshed in that text and harbingers of the end, the London fire of 1666 was clearly time enfolded in the Mark of the Beast. In the teens, the '40's the '60's and the '80's the Great War, the Depression, the cultural revolutions, and the Cold War were all cloaked in Biblical desperation. In the 90's and now, we are fixated on Mesopotamia and "prophecy" in our time. Obama is anointed by some, mocked at "the One" by others, and a so called "prophet" has recently proclaimed the election of Sarah Palin, the woman from "the gates of the north" to be necessary for the return of Jesus.
And that all seems rather silly to me.
Yet, the stuff of our lives, specifically the uncontrollable events that loom monstrous over unfolding history, are clothed in a dangerous power, describable and made plain, by these visionary images loosed of old.
And right now, boy o' boy, it feels like we've been living in some odd times, from 9/11 to Iraq, Katrina to the current economic shakedown. These things can be viscerally described in mytho-poetic terms, the Fall of the Great Tower, the Flood, Gog and Magog, Beastly credit marking itself upon the furrowed brow of the nation.
But as I said before thank God this is only about material things. As for me I'm going to do the mature thing and grade some Hebrew Homework.
Peace,
Chris
The president has said, "our entire economy is in danger," and that "The market is not functioning properly. There has been a widespread loss of confidence, and major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down."
Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin agreed that without bailouts we will have "another great depression."
Economists who've been in the business for 40 years are saying they've never seen anything like this.
The Congress isn't making a decision about how to fix this crisis.
And now Pakistani troops are shooting at American Helicopters on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border... and get this we are shooting back!
And where does this leave us?
Part of me thinks if "The Man" doesn't need to pay for his mistakes and debts I should not pay my recent hospital bills or repay my student loans. After all if the over thirty crowd can't take responsibility for their own house we irresponsible youngin's should be going amok in the streets, stealing stuff, looting, etc.
Another part of me thinks back to the great depression and to FDR's words, and I paraphrase, "thank God this is only about material things and not matters of the spirit."
I used to laugh at historical interpretations of the Book of Revelation. Luther's language of Pope as Anti-Christ was veiled in Eschatology. French Catholics were sure the French Revolution and Napoleon were enmeshed in that text and harbingers of the end, the London fire of 1666 was clearly time enfolded in the Mark of the Beast. In the teens, the '40's the '60's and the '80's the Great War, the Depression, the cultural revolutions, and the Cold War were all cloaked in Biblical desperation. In the 90's and now, we are fixated on Mesopotamia and "prophecy" in our time. Obama is anointed by some, mocked at "the One" by others, and a so called "prophet" has recently proclaimed the election of Sarah Palin, the woman from "the gates of the north" to be necessary for the return of Jesus.
And that all seems rather silly to me.
Yet, the stuff of our lives, specifically the uncontrollable events that loom monstrous over unfolding history, are clothed in a dangerous power, describable and made plain, by these visionary images loosed of old.
And right now, boy o' boy, it feels like we've been living in some odd times, from 9/11 to Iraq, Katrina to the current economic shakedown. These things can be viscerally described in mytho-poetic terms, the Fall of the Great Tower, the Flood, Gog and Magog, Beastly credit marking itself upon the furrowed brow of the nation.
But as I said before thank God this is only about material things. As for me I'm going to do the mature thing and grade some Hebrew Homework.
Peace,
Chris
A thought about Squirrels and Seminary ethos
I've been thinking about squirrels. Why dear readers have I been thinking about squirrels? I'll tell you!
During my Undergraduate at U of O our online resources were called "Duckweb." This was because our athletic mascot was Donald Duck(yes we stole him from Disney and there is nothing they can do about it! Hahaha!). At University of Cambridge our Webmail system was known as "Hermes," as in the Greek God of messages/boundary crossing. This fit with the schools classical ethos quite well.
Now, good readers, I ask why does my Seminary have "Squirrel-mail?"
The obvious answer is that LTSP has a bit of a Squirrel infestation and they are as tame as angry Chihuahuas on speed.
Another answer is that we as Seminarians have so identified with the little human-esque animals that we notice them standing in the Orans position or hands folded over some piece of food as in prayer, that we've allowed them to, in some pre-modern sense, represent us.
Just a thought.
Peace,
Chris
During my Undergraduate at U of O our online resources were called "Duckweb." This was because our athletic mascot was Donald Duck(yes we stole him from Disney and there is nothing they can do about it! Hahaha!). At University of Cambridge our Webmail system was known as "Hermes," as in the Greek God of messages/boundary crossing. This fit with the schools classical ethos quite well.
Now, good readers, I ask why does my Seminary have "Squirrel-mail?"
The obvious answer is that LTSP has a bit of a Squirrel infestation and they are as tame as angry Chihuahuas on speed.
Another answer is that we as Seminarians have so identified with the little human-esque animals that we notice them standing in the Orans position or hands folded over some piece of food as in prayer, that we've allowed them to, in some pre-modern sense, represent us.
Just a thought.
Peace,
Chris
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