Morning was for relaxing.
Afternoon was for relaxing, too. And a bit of spray painting.
Evening, our first fire in the new firepit.
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Recital
The Boy had his first recital today. He’s been fretting about it on and off since he decided he wanted to participate in his music school’s annual recital, and he was particularly worried about it once we arrived at the venue — it was all too real then. But once he got in the warm-up room, he seemed fine.
“Do you want me to stay here with you?” I asked. He glanced up at his teacher.
“No, I’ll be fine.”
I went into the auditorium and found the girls. It wasn’t hard: there weren’t more than fifteen to twenty people in the audience.
Once he and his teacher worked out a little cord issue, he began, and though he later said his hands were shaking, you can’t really hear it in his playing.
Afterward, of course, it was time for some family pictures.
And then the Girl drove us home — on the highway.
Fields, 20 Years Ago
Thoughts on Hell
I’ve been in a Twitter conversation with a Christian fundamentalist about hell. What has come to light once again is the Christian double standard regarding hell and God’s omnipotence. This Christian and many like him suggested God doesn’t send anyone to hell. People choose to go to hell. They choose with their sins, they choose with their blasphemy, and they choose with their rejection of God. And most disturbingly, some will even admit that according to Christian doctrine and the idea of original sin, even newborn babies are deserving of this punishment because of the stain of original sin.
Yeah who determine the parameters that resulted in such consequences? Who determined that transgressions against gods will result in separation from God? God of course. God said all the rules and all the consequences, so why are you might want to try to suggest to ease your conscience that God doesn’t send anyone to hell, he set up all the framers to make that a certainty in some situations.
This Christian continued his argument by explaining that God didn’t Mikaël for humans but rather for the devil. Here once again we run into a problem when we accept the idea of God's supposed omnipotence and omniscience. He exists outside time, Christians explain, so he knows all things at all times. That means that when he created hell for the devil, he knew man would eventually end up there as well. But the Christian view creates a surprised God who thinks, "Crap -- that went off the rails quickly! I'd better do something!" My interlocutor explained it thusly:
Can you decide anything yourself? Free will. Man had free will & chose evil. He didnt have to, was warned not to but did anyway. Free will. Then God Himself made the way back. Man sends himself to hell. Your choice.
My response was along the lines above:
God made the consequences of disobedience hell. He could have made the consequences anything. He chose infinite punishment for a finite transgression—or, thanks to original sin, the transgression of a distant relative of eating a piece of fruit. Perverse.
But he'll likely continue to insist that I just don't understand God's grace, that I don't understand the finer points of the theological argument, that I just don't understand.
And that's another problem: why would a benevolent god make things so difficult to understand, so easy to misunderstand, when eternal punishment is on the line?!
Four Blood Moons
I don’t know why I read things like this. I knew when I reserved it at the library that I was just getting this nearly-decade-old book by fundamentalist nutjob pastor John Hagee to see just how ridiculous it is — to mock it, in other words. Yet since I’m reading a book of primary documents (letters, reports, etc.) from the perpetrators of the Holocaust, I felt I needed some light reading.
The back cover blurb itself was enough to entice me:
It is rare that Scripture, science, and history align with each other, yet the last three series of Four Blood Moons have done exactly that. Are these the “signs” that God refers to in His Word? If they are, what do they mean? What is their prophetic significance?
In this riveting book, New York Times best-selling author, Pastor John Hagee, explores the supernatural connection of certain celestial events to biblical prophecy—and to the future of God’s chosen people and to the nations of the world.
Just as in biblical times, God is controlling the sun, the moon, and the stars to send our generation a signal that something big is about to happen. The question is: Are we watching and listening to His message?
It’s rare that Scripture and science align? It’s never happened. Ever. Scripture and history? A handful of times. All three together? Never. Double-never.
But I was intrigued: it sounded from the blurb that Hagee was going to try to get some prophetic meaning out of the positioning of the sun, moon, and stars. That sounds like astrology — one must say that in a rumbling, threatening voice for the full effect. Fundamentalist Christians avoid astrology or anything that looks like it at all costs. So how can a good, Rapture-believing, tee-totaling, fundamentalist, Scripture-literalist have anything to do with astrology?
First, we might want to define astrology. Sure, we all know what it is, but let’s get a good definition on the table. Let’s Google it and take the first definition: “the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.”
Just for kicks, let’s see what astronomy’s definition is, using the same method: “the branch of science which deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole.”
How does Hagee define these?
- “Astronomy is the science of studying the movements and positions of planets and stars.”
- “Astrology is the worship of stars, which is occultic and pagan.”
He literally gives the definition of “astrology” for “astronomy.” Don’t believe me (because I’d be skeptical of such idiocy myself)? Here are the shots from the book:
This means one of two things:
- He’s completely ignorant about what astronomy actually is, and no one around him corrected him either from deference to his position as “God’s anointed” of their own ignorance.
- He knows what astronomy is and is counting on his readers not knowing how duplicitous he’s being.
Neither option is good.
Tuesday Evening
The Boy has a new chore: watering the grass in the front yard.
He does it even when it’s not needed.
I’m sure the fact that he needs to (in his mind) get soaked in the process has nothing to do with it.
In the meantime, K took some pictures of our flowers.
Of course, the real highlight for the Boy was in the evening, when his packages arrived.
Evening on the Deck
Washing Clover
Team Picture Spring 2022
Last Saturday in April
The Boy’s soccer team is finishing up this weekend with a tournament. They lost their first game today 0-4, and they tied their second game at one apiece. I didn’t take the camera to the first game; I wasn’t at the second game, so no pictures.
Instead, a picture from twenty years ago.
