The Eighth Sermon to the Dead

This is where the chapel is.

Jordan's post is definitely something I support. We should definitely make a document that proposes this, and I'm definitely going to support it in my limited administrative and clerical positions. Jordan has my whole-hearted support with no reservations whatsoever, and if I can be of any help I volunteer. I don't think it will succeed. I think there are too many egos and authoritarians who'll torpedo it, wary of those who step on their turf, or who's understanding is different than their own. I will support it anyway. It needs to be done, regardless of the possiblity of success. Most importantly, I could be wrong, and the gnosis will succeed where intellect fails. The wisdom of God is the folly of the world.

As a good gnostic should, I wholeheartedly agree and wholeheartedly disagree with Jordan's+ points. I agree that they are well thought out and pertinent. I disagree, in that I think they ultimately don't matter. A point by point response: Point 1: If you strive for art, eventually intellectual theories and utilitarian motives will follow. If you strive for intellectual theories, utilitarian motives and artistic endeavors will follow. If you strive for utilitarianism, Artistic endeavors and intellectual theories will follow. Out there, in the wide wide world, there are people who follow every stripe. And they bring their stripe to our church. Saying that people want this or that strikes me as blind to reality. If people didn't want intellectual arguing, why do we have so much of it? Eventually, we will have all three, and I would rather make a place for it, than fight about it. Point 2) Let me make one thing clear: Ministry does not require ordination . ...

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars. We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future In strength, courage, hope, and love.

I have long maintained that Email or chat is the very worst way to resolve a conflict. You get all the detriments of instant, face to face communication (can't take anything back, don't have time to think about your points) with all the detriments of the written word (can't see the person's inflection, your statements persist). Now, I have some independent confirmation . I am still trying to find the actual Harvard Study, but it's nice to have more anecdotal evidence. As well as some tragic real life experience. My findings: Resolve your distances either in person, or at least by phone. Get out from behind the 1's and 0's, and remember it's not a machine you are in conflict with, but another human being. Also, learn some of the techniques and tools the professionals use.

Read last night at Maduro's Open Poetry Mic, in honor of St. Sophia The Lady of Light Descends The Lady of Light Descends into The Lady of Light Descends into my world And then is gone And my world is left in tatters completely shattered All that I thought mattered lies in ruins I survey my works my empire of dirt All that I had built, despairing She was too much for my structures and such And not even a hutch remains standing The Lady of Light Descends The Lady of Ligth Descends into The Lady of Light Descends into my world And then is gone. My world is filled with Cruelty Division Confusion She brings her gifts Compassion Wholeness Understanding. And I am left in the dark To use these tools to rebuild With imperfect instruction And no help The Lady of Light Descends The Lady of Light Descends into The Lady of Light Descends into my world And then is gone. She tells me I am More than this mud, blood and tears. I am a prince She tells me I am A Son of God A Child of Light A Prince ...

What I don't understand is how that applies to me personally. What am I breaking down? My existence? What and Who I AM? If so, is this all not mere conjecture? I mean I can rationalize evolution from a jelly bean but the difference between my truth and THE truth is obscene. You are breaking down yourself, your perception of your existence and it's relations to the world. Think about it, this happens all the time. We 'grow out of' certain behaviors, and develop new ones we call habits. It's all unconcious. Gnosticism, at least in it's first steps, is taking some amount of responsibility and awareness of the process. It's no longer unconcious, but a recognition that if these walls and ideas and issues are going to be broken down in our personality, it has to start with us. The Higher Self (God, Guardian Angel, etc) will sometimes make the first move, but it is up to us to take the next step. Whether that awareness manifests as meditation, or prayer, or ...

Past couple of years, I've been fascinated by the comments I've read and heard over at PTG, as well as other places. I read a fellow called Vox Day (who may be a gnostic without being a mystic, which I'm not sure is possible.), and he made a comment that stuck with me: Except for the last statement, Papapete's logic is spurious and the fact that it requires the same mental and semantic gymnastics used by academics to argue for the whiteness of black and so forth should have given him pause. The Source The article itself is neither here nor there (I think he's arguing about how the term 'fascism' in 'Islamo-Fascist' is a misnomer as the current global jihad bears no resemblance to Italian fascism, which is itself an academic point). This comment stuck out to me, because it got me to wondering, "WHY THE HECK DO WE SPEND SO MUCH TIME SCREWING WITH THIS TRIVIAL B. S.?" Ah, but then I read Denning and Philips , and it all became clear: The o...

That which has been transformed will itself cause transformation. The man or woman who has passed through the philosophical alchemy and has emerged with integrated personality bears ambiguous gifts to the world of which he or she is no longer fully native: in one hand a crown of peace, in the other a sword. - The Foundations of High Magick , Denning and Phillips This, I've found, is true, no matter how small the transformation, people around you are transformed: Some positively from your POV, some negatively. As I've changed and grown, some friends have stayed, new friends have come, old friends have faded away. I've had a ton of money pass through my hands, 3 houses, 7 pets, 4 or 5 jobs. It's amazing. And it's scary to talk with my friend from college, who had the same job for 10 years, and only recently changed jobs. Not sure where I'm going with this, I just liked the quote. Made me think.

I think I've figured out what sucks so bad about having your coworkers fired. First, there's survivor's guilt. I'm still here, they aren't. That's not fair. Second, there's none of the rituals that usually accompany someone terminating employment. Someone quits, and there's a card, and some money, and a meal or beer at the local lunch place. When a coworker is fired, especially a well liked one, the lack of those rituals is really quite jarring. Of course, I don't know exactly how you'd perform that particular ritual in that circumstance. "Hey, you got fired! Well, good luck finding another job!" Doesn't have quite the same ring as "Good luck in your new position." or "I hope your move goes well." Well, with any luck, I'll avoid the lack of rituals when my time to leave comes.