One of the great things about living along the state line in southern middle Tennessee is my proximity to the waterways of Alabama. In 20 minutes I can trailer my boat to multiple launch points on the Elk River and Lake Wheeler. Another 10 minutes will get me on Wilson Lake. More here.
A dated but delightful evisceration of the media by Ben Stein
The 7th Saying in the Gospel of Thomas is entirely different than words spoken by Jesus in the New Testament. It says:
(7) Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.”
Rather than try and understand this saying by replacing the word ‘lion’ with a word or phrase and then determining if the saying remains true on both sides of the parable (blessed is a lion and cursed is a man), lets step back from that mechanical approach and ask if this saying provides insight into the spiritual world that God created and our relationship to Him in that realm? If we can, then an interpretation of the 7th Sayings could be:
God created spiritual powers and forces for man to subdue and wield; they enhance and complete the man and both are returned to God and live in the Kingdom. Should these forces consume and subdue the man he falls away from God and the powers return God.
Man’s days are as grass, it blossoms like a flower of the field. The wind blows and it is gone, and its place it knows no more.
-Psalm 103
Intellectual Frog Legs is at
http://intellectualfroglegs.com/
Drove into Huntsville today to retrieve the trailer and haul a 4 wheeler back up to the farm. Son-in Law took them down two weeks ago in order to scope out some property that he was considering investing in. I needed the trailer to haul some corn and sweet mix for the cows, and I’m planning on picking up a deer stand and some lumber later in the week. More here
I have heard that no great undertaking should begin without first asking for God’s blessing. This is doubly so here as we endeavor to discover more of our God and what requirements/responsibilities, if any, He would assign us.
The paths taken by each of us in this life are many, solitary and unique. Life is different for each man and we live it alone save the spirit of God. It can be no other way. Along a path in my walk of life I came across the Gospel of Thomas. And so my sincere prayer to God is that I can understand what he would have me know through this work.
Along this path, one of life’s many, I pause to dip my toes in the waters that flow within the Gospel of Thomas —here—
I’ve always thought that there is/was an upside to confusion. Being confused usually tells us that a piece of information that we have is wrong or doesn’t fit. I suppose the scribe that worked on transcribing Thomas’ work ran into a real head scratching moment when he got to the 5th, 6th and 14th sayings. Go here for the ‘as written’ texts along with how I think they should have been compiled.
The Blind Men and the Elephant is a famous Indian fable that tells the story of six blind sojourners that come across different parts of an elephant in their life journeys. In turn, each blind man creates his own version of reality from that limited experience and perspective.
I thought the fable was particularly emblematic of why Christs disciples may have had trouble defining him. More here.
