Thursday Theology

I often think that Thursday Theology is a poor label for these posts because it is obvious that I am no theologian, nor do these posts in any way fit into a framework that could be considered as theological.

Unless...

Unless you think of theology as something other than a study of God and the religion that a majority of the theologians analyze and break down.
And that would be me.

I see theology as a seeking to understand The Divine and the relationship between humankind and The Divine. I truly have more questions than I have answers as I seek this understanding. The answers I receive only seem to give evidence that no (or few) theologians have a great understanding of God and how God relates to us. It seems to me that their idea of God is far too small to actually be God.

And so I continue to seek and to understand with my own weak brand of what qualifies as real theology.

John

What does your idea of God say about you?

More for me and less for thee is a lousy way to live

I have noticed that being more contemplative leads to some unexpected sadness.
I truly feel sad for humanity as it seems that so many people are unhappy with their lives. 

Why do we feel the need to compete with each other?
Why do we think it is acceptable to tear someone down to get ahead of them?

I understand the survival instincts that are primitive and an innate part of our being, but we are able to reason beyond our most primitive instincts. Getting more for me doesn't always have to mean less for others. Communities build together to make more or better situations for everyone. 
We (in the US) have become so capitalistic that we would prosper by taking away from those in need and celebrating our success while ignoring the great suffering that we have caused.
What is wrong with us?

It is ironic that people use the word "woke" to put down a segment of the population that is aware of suffering and injustice.
Indeed, we are "woke."
We see the things that they do not. To see and be aware of such things is not a bad thing. To call out evil and injustice is a good thing. I think their anger comes from knowing that there are people that are aware of the evil deeds that they are doing or supporting through political actions. They are the ones that need to wake up!

This morning I am happily sitting on the deck. Groucho the cat is dozing on a sunny spot on the deck rug. I have finished my coffee and a small sparrow is chirping loudly from the top of the post that holds its bird house full of babies. I think he is waiting for mama to exit the nest so he can feed the little ones what he has gathered for them. 
Life is pretty good here. The only stress I have comes from the weeds that need to be pulled or needing to mow (again), or deciding if I'm going to brave the exposure to people at the baseball game on any given home stand evening.

Competing for more has never really been my thing. That's why I ended my career at a small level airport at the lower end of the ATC pay scale. I have enough. 
Ours is a simple life. We have a nice home in a semi-rural area. We can afford to travel to visit the kids. We don't worry about having food to eat.

I'm going to run some errands this morning, meet someone for lunch, mow this afternoon, smoke a cigar and sip bourbon this evening. The most stressful thing I have to do today is leave the house and encounter people that are in competition with each other. 
I will end the day in the same way I begin the day -- sitting on the deck enjoying the sounds of nature.

Just another day in the life of...

John

It's not really about politics

I really don't think of this as being a political post even though it is about a politician -- namely, President Trump. 
The thing is -- it has nothing to do with politics, but has everything to do with a person that is just a narcissistic asshole. 

Last night's stunt of going to the NBA game at MSG was all about Trump. It took away from the game and from New Yorkers being able to celebrate their team in the championship series. He made access to the venue inconvenient for everyone that spent hundreds (even thousands) of dollars to be there and cancelled all of the street celebrations and watch parties anywhere near MSG.
Not only did he not care, but he condescendingly said they can go home and watch it on TV. 

He's never shown any interest in basketball. This was just another hate-filled stunt to generate attention.
Frankly, I am tired of it.
I can endure political differences and people with opposing political views. 
He has no political views nor policies. 
He inspires hatred, causes division, and only does what benefits him personally.
He is like a mob boss in the highest office of the land.
He does not care about the US nor its citizens.
He does not care about our allies.
He does not care about humanity.
And he does not care about the states nor the individuals that have supported him beyond getting their money and their votes. 

He is ruining our democracy and our global reputation and the entire GOP is complicit.

I have no answers.
Just needed to vent.

John

Competing or Overlapping Social Media Accounts

Between Facebook, Instagram, Substack, e-mail subscriptions, and the few blogs I follow I am finding many duplicate posts from good writers and sources. I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed by all of the noise and think I need to consolidate most reads to just one source so I can spend less time sorting through what I have read and haven't read.

I think I am going to follow most accounts on Substack and save Facebook and Instagram for the more personal accounts from family and friends. I need to drop a bunch of e-mail subscriptions.
Honestly, there are many days that I feel like I should dump it all. 
I mean, how much real benefit is there from the time I spend on social media? 

How do you use the various social media platforms?
Do you use one for everything and stay off of the others?
Do you use one for personal stuff, another for pics or videos, another for news and information, etc., etc.?

I'm just wondering how others deal with the media's constant need for our attention and money.

John

Thursday Theology

 There are far too many "Christians" with a political mindset and far too few with a Jesus mindset.

John

Morning Rethink

This getting started earlier in the day idea is only going to work if I get up earlier. For some reason I have slept later than usual these past couple of mornings. I don't know if I am going to need to adjust my bedtime to something earlier than midnight to 1 AM or set an alarm (not likely), but sleeping until 8:30 and having enough time to enjoy my coffee is always going to give me a later starting time when it comes to working in the yard/gardens. 
I am going to have to play around with this for a little while and see how I can adjust.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my iced cold brew this morning and listening to the local avian population, already busy with their day's work of finding food and feeding their babies.

As for me, I will get busy without the usual internet/social media scrolling. Perhaps I will make a Wednesday Wisdom post later this evening. 

Have a lovely day!

John

It's time to make the coffee!

Typically, 8 PM isn't the time I'd be making coffee, but since I'm making a batch of cold brew it works out very well. My usual method is to use 150 grams of coarsely ground coffee in a two liter jar and to fill it with tap water. That will be covered and remain on the counter overnight. I'll strain out the grounds in the morning and that will leave me with about 1 1/2 liters of concentrated cold brew that I dilute at a 1:1 ratio, giving me 3 liters of cold brew. 

Admittedly, this is a little light and you may want to use more coffee (175 g) or dilute it a little less. For me, this works well chilled and poured over ice with a little heavy cream and maybe a splash of vanilla. For this batch I am thinking about skipping the water dilution and going 1:1 with milk and a little vanilla.
If you are strictly a hot coffee drinker, you can heat this up and you will find it to be less acidic than your normal cup of hot brewed coffee.

My normal morning is a scant liter of pour-over brewed hot coffee, but the iced cold brew is also pretty good. Currently, I am drinking a bulk Ethiopian coffee and I am thinking that I will also throw a cinnamon stick into the brewing process.
Oh yes, this is going to be good!

Tell me about your coffee.

John

June 1

This was one of those Mondays that I met a shelter volunteer friend for breakfast. It is a fine way to begin the day and in this case, the month. During the cold weather season I worked on Sunday nights and he always volunteered for the Sunday night shift. After the shelter was shut down and the Monday morning clean-up crew arrived, we would go out for breakfast. We have tried to keep that up on Monday mornings and I think we have settled on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month.

We really don't have a great deal in common other than our ages and similar outlooks on life in general, but we have a comfortable friendship and easy conversation. We both have Red Access Memberships to the Springfield Cardinals but we rarely see each other at the ballpark.

I did manage a little quiet time before our breakfast meeting, but decided to save the blogging for this evening. I forgot that it was the first of the month and meant to step on the scale for a weight check this morning. I guess I'll have to do that tomorrow. 

Although I didn't have a separate exercise time today, I do feel pretty good about the work activity for the day. Tomorrow I'll work in some exercise to go with the activity of yard work. Most of this week will be a little cooler than yesterday and today, but as the summer days get warmer I may move my online time to the evening and try to begin the work/exercise part of my day a little earlier. Maybe that will help me to get more than two or three hours of work in before calling it a day. 

Maybe not.
We'll just have to see.

It's a beautiful evening in the Ozarks of SWMO. It's a comfortable 81 (27 C) degrees and the night sounds are beginning to make themselves heard as the sun sets in the west.
There is nothing particularly extravagant or special about my life, and yet I feel very blessed to live it. 

Rest well, my friends.
Let's do this again tomorrow.

John

Let's talk about June

The Ozarks of SWMO have wrapped up May with a week of cooler temps and quite a bit of rain. While the skies are still overcast this morning, I think the rain will be moving on for a few days and we will see sunshine and summer temperatures around 90 (32 C) degrees.
That works for me.

My head is telling me that I need to make a June plan to get some regular exercise. My body is groaning at the mere thought of it. Working in the yard is an easy out when it comes to being active, but it really doesn't make a good substitute for regular exercise. I think that a daily walk, bicycle ride, or even time on the stationary cycle would be a good start. I'm afraid I will have to make some changes surrounding my slow mornings and early coffee and quiet time.

Now my head is groaning.
I like my slow mornings and easy beginning each day. Changing it seems sacrilegious.
I feel like this is one of those times when the present John needs to think of the future John and make decisions based on what is best for him. 
Something I read recently said that we often make decisions in the present that harm the one person that we should be loving the most -- our future selves.

That hits hard.
The food, the friends, the habits of today all have an impact on who we will be in the future.
I remember an old man telling me, "John, if I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."
I should have paid attention to him 20 years ago rather than waiting until now.

It sounds like that falls into the same category as tree planting -- The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Oh! That reminds me -- I have some trees I need to plant!

Plant trees
Get exercise
That sounds like a good plan!

John

My Summer Indulgence

Baseball.

That's my summer indulgence.
I think this is the fifth year that I've had a Red Access Membership for the Springfield Cardinals, the AA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. I have always bought the cheapest package which includes ten ticketed reserved seats in one of the cheapest sections, and a general admissions pass to all of the home games. The pass also includes perks like discounts at the gift shop and concession stands. 
The GA pass does not include any of the promotional give-aways during the season. I have to use one of my ten reserved seats tickets if I want a freebie.

Last year the team won the Texas League Championship and I think I attended 20 games -- most of them by myself. This year's team is off to a slow start, but I've been fortunate enough that they have won all of the games that I've attended -- 5 so far.
Even in those five games they have struggled to generate good offense. Defensively, they're doing okay.

I generally park a few blocks away from the stadium and walk to save the $10 fee for parking closer. I also limit my concessions so this doesn't become an even more expensive habit. 
Today is another humid and overcast day, but we are not expecting more rain this afternoon/evening.
Due to Thursday's rain out, tonight's game is a twofer double-header. The last double header I went to the first game and then left to meet with friends at our midweek Barchurch. I may or may not stay for both games tonight.

What's your favorite summer indulgence?

John

A pic from last night's game.