Pilot's Log

No, I'm not going to talk about the Autumn of Discontent. Tho' it is tempting.

That extra hour of rest from the end of daylight savings time was welcome...but I don't like having to pay for it every spring. *shrug*

I have this bizarre notion now that if war breaks between Iran and Israel, hostilities will begin at either midnight Teheran time (2030 GMT/3:30 PM Eastern US) or midnight Jerusalem time (2200 GMT/5:00 PM Eastern US). Because, as Revelation puts it, the Apocalypse comes "like a thief in the night".

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Meanwhile, I've had to update my Amazon wishlist, because a great many things on it have since become unavailable. Mainly in the fields of graphic novels, CD audio, old movies and collectable game booster packs.

My week 3 contribution to the Sweepstakes? A pilot's uniform jacket from Gibson-Barnes.

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I still have the lingering crud in my throat and bronchi, so that limits things. But it isn't my last day on Earth anyway. When I worked for a hotel in Sevier County, I took Jesus' reservation for his Second Coming. He told me He couldn't make it before 2184, but keep His room ready as long as possible.

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No mail, no bills.

Passing This Along On Behalf Of My Brother-In-Law.

Iggy Pop was on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air" again today, and he was relating a near-death experience he had in the time since the previous interview. He said that he got the whole "path of light" thing, and said the music was "insipid", "like a Tangerine Dream album".

If Heaven is "insipid" to Iggy Pop, then why would I want to go there?

On the other hand, what if the Devil is using his talents for deception to line the road to his domain in the trappings of Heaven, just to fool the souls of the innocent?

And on yet another hand, I'm wondering why I care...even at the small extent that I do. Some would argue that I don't possess a soul, due to that wonderful thought experiment that brought us the ecclesiastic concept of Limbo. Thus, if I don't have a soul, why would I have any interest in whether they exist, or whether they survive physical death?

More to come? I'm not sure.

FP

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of February 5, 2009

A substantial fraction of the world's scientists are funded by the military. This saddens me. I wish we lived on a planet where most scientists were in service to peace and plenty, working to solve social and environmental problems. But corrupt exploitations of the scientific method are no excuse for me to banish it from my repertoire. I use it frequently. Likewise, I draw tremendous inspiration from the life and teachings of Christ, even though I don't belong to a Christian church and am distraught about the devastation wrought by the fundamentalist mindset. Would you consider applying this approach to your personal life, Sagittarius? For example, maybe you could come to a new appreciation of your parents' gifts without losing sight of the ways they messed you up. Or perhaps you could forgive your heroes for their slight lack of integrity, or borrow good ideas from a way of looking at the world that partly offends you.

The proverbial bathwater stinks so much either you can't imagine a baby being in it, or perhaps it smells like baby and you've forgotten. All I know is that I haven't been clean lately myself, and I don't like it.

FP

Link Given Without Commentary.

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of July 31, 2008

I don't recommend that you go on a spiritual retreat at the Zen monastery near Mount Kumgang in North Korea. As exquisite as the place is, the repressive government's secret police are suspicious of tourists and would probably make your trip miserable. Likewise, don't take a vacation on the gorgeous beaches of eastern Somalia. Pirates prowl the coastal areas of that lawless land, and anyone can buy a hand grenade for $10 at the outdoor markets in nearby Mogadishu. No, Sagittarius, while it is an excellent time to leave your familiar haunts and expose yourself to exotic scenes, you should be acutely discerning about where you go. In my opinion, you need a sanctuary that simultaneously surprises you and deepens your sense of being at home in the world.

All of a sudden the churches here are getting armed guards and 24-hour surveillance. Somebody eroded the line between faith and politics to the point of warfare and now God the Father is a prison warden. There is no sanctuary any more. The front line in the War on Terror has just come to the hill behind my back (the chapel where my parents go for their Sunday worship).

To get the rest of the world up to speed...the man who shot two people to death and wounded half a dozen more at a Unitarian congregation in Knoxville on Sunday did so from political motives. It was premeditated; he smuggled his weapon and ammunition into the building in a musical instrument case because there was a concert of children there. Somebody stopped him when he tried to enter the back door of the building (and it saved lives by denying him the possibilty of taking the child performers as hostages and shooting from the stage!) so he used a side entrance that made him relatively vulnerable. He only got off a few shots before the crowd tackled and disarmed him. It could have been much worse than it was. There are reports that he planned to kill policemen if they responded and he was still armed--he wanted to be martyred by the cops...and destroy the church in the process.

Last week, I prepared to make statements such as "I'm not a Militant Peacenik; I'm a Peaceable Militant" and "My relationship to Christianity is somewhat like that of somebody married to a spouse in an arranged betrothal, many years previous..." But I don't know what I feel anymore. It's too late for rage. I'm too detached for pity. I'm too disgusted with the politics. I want to get away...but know that the problem is global and there is no "away".

FP

Because There ARE No Reasons...