Author: Tim

• Pyramid Religion and Parenting

  In Islam, God is the Ruler.  He sits atop the pyramid of the cosmos and watches everything down below to keep them all in their right place.  In this type of religion, the problem of our world is disorder and the solution is His will.  Force.  Dominion.  Obediance or rebellion.    All that matters is…

• The Mystical Ladder, for Husbands

  Note: this is secret mystical knowledge, for men alone.  Let the deacons now show the women out and let the doors be shut. Stage 1, the New Convert: If  I talk to her about it, I can understand why she is crying and help her understand why she doesn’t need to cry. Stage 2, the…

• The Everyman Sentiment

  “He’s Everyman.”  “She’s Everywoman.”  We hear this comment about politicians, and it is supposed to be a compliment.  We have the sense they are “like us” in some way, so they can understand us.   And this is construed to be good. But it actually can mean opposite things, depending on who is speaking, and…

• Watercolor: Casey the Labrador Retriever

  

  Casey was our practice child, before our son came along.    She was with us for a little over 10 years and her death was quite a loss.  It’s watercolor and colored pencil, from a photograph.    Some glare upper right from the glass.

• Watercolor: bird nest

  

• “conscience” in Hebrews 9.14

  When we hear the phrase “purified conscience” our Western reflex is to think of sin, or guilt.  Sin, if we have a Judeo-Christian background, or just guilt if our reference is more generically secular.    Religious or not, our experience is that something bad gets “on” the conscience, and must be removed. Not so, here.  …

• Now You Don’t, Now You See It

  It is hard to say anything about creation ex-nihilo, except that we observe it. One instant nothing exists; the next, it does. There is little reason to either assert or deny such models as “the Big Bang”, though evangelical Christians get all worked up over them. The Big Bang is simply a backward extrapolation of…

• Marilynn Robinson: Paris Review interview, quotes

  I read “Housekeeping” years ago, and knew I was in the hands of a great writer.  Since I’ve learned you can be a great artist yet an execrable person, in my cynicism I didn’t form an interest in her on account of just one brilliant book. Now comes this interview, with the comment in the…

• On Talking About Creativity

  Before “Let there be light” there is only “without form, and void”.   What precedes God’s Creation ex-nihilo implies that it is impossible to talk about the creative process.   You can stand outside it and talk about appearances, but you can’t stand inside it and talk about it.  The “meta” mode of discourse instantly loses touch…

• My Credo

  Some people read things I’ve written and may miss the irony, sarcasm, or some other tone.  They wonder if I’ve become a zen jedi druid or something.  For the record and for anyone who cares, here is what I believe until another memo is officially issued: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker…