So true. I remember when you-know-who tried to cover his degrading comment, "You can grab 'em by the p---y" by saying it was normal locker room talk. All the men in my life said "wha-? Only dicks talk like that."
Hello Bill Astore... DJT, and Hegseth, are Reeking Pathetic Caricatures... I don't think that many will dispute the ferociousness of some of Us Indigenous... We Indigenous celebrate the Balance of the Male, and Female in each of Us... A Good Father is a Nurturer, as well as a Protector..
Going on a bit of a drive the other day I brought a couple of CDs with me to play, one by Marlene ver Planck (1933-2018), consummate interpreter of jazz, the American popular songbook, and cabaret. As such her repertoire included a lot of less well known songs, but gems nonetheless. One such is “Namely You” by Gene DePaul and Johnny Mercer from the musical “Li’l Abner” with these lyrics:
"You deserve two arms to hold you, namely mine
There to comfort and enfold you, rain or shine
I deserve someone strong and handsome,
Bashful and shy, and true,
And I know just the one who'd do, namely you."
Seems like a pretty decent list of attributes to me.
I personally know two male veterans of Viet Nam Era--one actually stationed in VN for a spell--who, after age of 60, decided they were really born to be women. Human sexuality is a very weird thing. But, to the point, as I am pressed for time: If Donald J. Trump and Pete Hegseth are REAL MEN, I may have to join the aforementioned fellow veterans and declare myself a woman!! :-)
A "hidden" comment is one that's flagged for review. It may violate Substack's rules or my set rules for comments. I have the option of "unhiding" these comments, i.e. making them public.
Bill, I'm so happy to see your post Today. I love it!
Some regulars here might not like me citing excerpts of Scriptures in print for visualization, but here you're pointing out "Christian Values" as written in the Book without mentioning God or Christ Jesus or THE BOOK.
That's this in action in this material World. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'
We know Words and our own thoughts that are pictures that have to be put in Words, our only Sovereign Individuality. A State might suppress WORDS, but it can't suppress THOUGHT.
As for Male and Female, the 6000 year Genesis record is clear. BEFORE God built up a different arrangement of FLESH based on a part God took from the Male, the timeline is 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.'
It's taken 6000 years, but Medical Science confirms that Genesis male-female beginning by the fact of the X & Y chromosomes.
Btw Bill, the MOU might be as impotent as the Minsk Accords in preventing WAR. The real antidote is for many more individuals seek unity with the Word that was made Flesh and dwells in our midst and speak up BEFORE it is too late!
Not everything in the bible is 100% true, and there are many interpretations of it, as is there are many different religious organizations based on parts of the bible, from the Muslims to the Catholics to the Mormons to the Jews.
Biblical scholars now agree the book of Genesis was written by at least four different sources, based on a close examination of the original biblical language and grammar. In addition, any theologian who has studied Genesis carefully, can also point out to you that Genesis contains two different creation stories, where the order of when Man and Woman were created differs markedly - including the origin of each sex. There are also a number of other well known inconsistencies in Genesis that demonstrates the weaving of the 4 different historical writers of Genesis.
Biblical scholars will tell you the majority of older books in the Old Testament are not to be taken literally, but as allegories and metaphors for spiritual truths. Which was often the method during that time to communicate theological principles: allegory. This method of telling a story for spiritual teaching, was often used by Jesus himself.
Yes, there are many remarkable stories in the bible that really are meant as allegories and parables. Particularly in the old testament.
There are some stories where if you translate the original Hebrew, the names of the characters (such as the story of Ruth) - the names themselves actually are translated to symbolic representations of meaning in the story to be understood as allegory.
Symbolism, metaphor, parable - are all methods of attempting to explain truths that have no comparable identifiable, concrete physical existence. Such as, for example, Love (or any conscious human emotion). Consciousness (or the soul) is also something that cannot be concretely pointed to and identified in a physical sense. You can take an MRI machine and examine the electrical currents of the brain, but what you are seeing is activities based on consciousness, not consciousness itself (or the self-awareness we all feel inside of us). Electricity itself, and any interaction of electro-chemicals are not "conscious" or "self-aware" - and never can or will be (IMO).
Symbolism, metaphor, parable - are all methods of attempting to explain truths that have no comparable identifiable, concrete physical existence. Such as, for example, Love (or any conscious human emotion)
The Apostle Paul describes the real life attributes and characteristics of love in
1 Corinthians 13. What do you think of his attempt?
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,
Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;
Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never failes: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abides faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I think this covers that! And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.
jamenta, Biblical scholars say Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God and that's just not true according to the Biblical record.
'He came unto his own, (Jews & Christians) and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them HE GAVE POWER TO BECOME the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1
The Muslim Quran recognizes Christ Jesus while Jews don't. It has a whole chapter of Mary, Jesus' mother, but doesn't mention Muhammad's mother anywhere.
US Christian Nationalists don't see the same Jesus I do in the Bible.
ray, I respect your right to practice your religion however you want to do so as long as it doesn't interfere with the freedom of others to practice the religion they follow (particularly when it comes to public schools, and public offices).
In regards to Jesus, my views regarding him align more closely to the gospel of St. Thomas, which the church orthodoxy banned many moons ago.
Well, apparently there are many modern physicists who now argue there may be more than one Cosmos, such as the Multi-World theories based on quantum physics, or the multi-dimensions based on String theory.
In addition, the role consciousness plays in reality remains a scientific and philosophical open question. Why does consciousness even exist? And more importantly - how did consciousness come into existence? Could consciousness be a fundamental aspect of reality? What is consciousness?
These questions remain open questions from a current scientific perspective, despite the heavy handed attempt by diehard Materialists to close off all other avenues of scientific inquiry - such as (for example) the scientifically based arguments of Stephen Meyer and his book "Darwin's Doubt".
When Carl says "Cosmos" I believe he means everything even so called "Multiverses". The Cosmos refers to the Universe as a whole-- all Matter and Energy. I am not a believer in Creationism. We are the embodiment of the Cosmos brought to self awareness through Evolution even tho. I'm not so sure we are deserving, but for a little while...We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries this our lives in the beautiful intricacies of the Cosmos.., opposite of Chaos.
I share similar beliefs i.e. Creationism of earth appearing 6,000 years ago is not true, and as Alan Watts famously once said:
“We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean "waves," the universe "peoples."
The big question however is what exactly is the "Cosmos"? As you say, it is a great mystery, and perhaps one of the greatest mysteries within the Cosmos is our own consciousness - which allows us to even be capable of understanding and becoming aware of this great "Cosmos". It is us - the Cosmos, being self-aware of itself.
But probably where we differ is that I'm with Meyers when he writes:
"The information contained in an English sentence or computer software does not derive from the chemistry of the ink or the physics of magnetism, but from a source extrinsic to physics and chemistry altogether. Indeed, in both cases, the message transcends the properties of the medium. The information in DNA also transcends the properties of its material medium."
Carl Sagan is entitled to his opinion but I relate with this vision in the 1st verse in last chapter of the last major Jewish Prophet in the Jewish Old Testament Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 66:1,
So says the Lord, "The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool; which is the house that you will build for Me, and which is the place of My rest?"
That's wholly Holy!
That verse says to me this whole Earth is the Holy Land, not just that small sliver of blood soaked land people have been indoctrinated to see as the exclusive Holy Land at WAR over for millennia!
It must be wonderful to possess Final Wisdom while everyone else merely has opinions. That and being able to quote chapter and verse reeks of Matthew Harrison Brady.
Nowhere in my comment do I claim Final Wisdom. I offered my opinion interpreting scripture. You explain the difference between the cosmos and the heavens.
You don't openly claim it but it is implicit in every entry that you are one of God's Own while everyone else is a sorry nonbeliever who hasn't been blessed with God's Grace as you have. Being firm in one's Faith is fine, even commendable, but it is a personal, not universal, concern. Even after 51 years: you aren't the only soul on the planet searching. But being able to quote or reference chapter and verse as a rebuttle to non-Ray thinking proves nothing and only serves to reinforce the (implied) message that any dissenting voice is and must be by definition wrong. As stated above the definition of cosmos (in the original Greek) is all that ever was or will be. Surely you can see the difference between that and "the heavens." Two very different concepts. I suspect it is also why the politicians you frequently write to don't ever write back. Not to say you are wrong to do so, but unlike the contributors to these comments, elected officials have little time or interest in what their constituents may think or believe, and if the writer is not one of their constituents or financial supporters (you are Canadian, yes?), they will not be moved by anything the writer of the letter may have to say, however righteous. You don't have to agree with it, but to quote from a favorite film, "it is how things are."
wdt parker, I appreciate you sharing your perspective, but you are misreading my intent.
When I share scripture, it is not to claim "Final Wisdom" or to look down on anyone as a "sorry nonbeliever."
As I stated plainly to Fireman just a few lines above: God invites you, me, and every human to become ONE with GOD for eternity. The door is wide open.
Standing firm in a 51-year walk of faith isn't an expression of arrogance; it is simply sharing a roadmap tested by time and experience.
You mention that quoting chapter and verse "proves nothing" to non-Ray thinking. But the point of referencing these texts isn't to win an online debate. It is to show that the geopolitical chaos, the asymmetric warfare, and the billions spent on weapons we read about every day are the continuation of a 6,000-year Biblical timeline of choice between good and evil.
As for the semantics of the Greek cosmos versus "the heavens," we can debate vocabulary all day, but it doesn't change the immediate reality. The material systems of this world are currently standing on a dangerous precipice.
Finally, you suspect that the figures I write to don't write back because they have no interest if the writer is not a constituent or a financial supporter (noting that I am Canadian). You quote a film saying, "it is how things are."
But things are not always as cynical as you think. I received a direct, personal reply from Gideon Levy—the prominent Israeli journalist for Haaretz who writes directly from the heart of the conflict.
He is not a politician, I am not his constituent, and I am not a financial backer. Yet he read my remarks on the reality of this WAR and took the time to respond.
The prophets and watchmen of old didn't deliver a witness to get a polite seat at the table. They spoke because the truth needed to be stated plainly. My goal is simply to point out why things are the way they are—because from the Garden of Eden to this very day, humanity prefers to hide in semantics and point fingers rather than face the writing on the wall.
Well Ray you do often come off as being rather arrogant & stubborn tho. in any evidence other than your biblical interpretations... IMHO peace & light :/ :o) "The Scopes Trial" notwithstanding.
Don't conflate being firm in my Faith seeking God for 51 years and learning more by questioning, after this surprise unexpected Day being resurrected from the Spiritually dead. This Material World is only catching up seeing it unfold in Today's World: https://rayjc.com/2011/12/25/day-of-awakening-david-vs-goliath-vs-armageddon/
Imagine don't stop there Ray about god Einsteins famous question about whether God had any choice in creating the Universe. Stephen Hawking tried to understand the mind of god, and this makes all the more unexpected the results. In conclusion as yet / so far anyways we have a Universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do...."Religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof.... Near the core of religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry."-- Carl Sagan
Fireman, As I see it in the Book, God invites, you, me, every Human to become ONE with God for Eternity.
I never see prominent Christian Establishment preachers cite what is in the Revelation of Jesus Christ 3:14-22. To my mind, it's right up there with the 1st chapter of John's Gospel. To me the Words are explicit IF anyone believes them especially verses 3:19-22. I'm still in the process of overcoming after 51 years of practice.
'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcomes WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I ALSO OVERCAME, and AM set down with my Father in his throne.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
The Bible records EVERYTHING humans did and still do to this Day for the good or evil---War & Peace, Wealth & Poverty, Crime & Violence, True Prophets & False Prophets, lying, stealing, killing and a whole lot about Israel the last major Jewish Old Testament Prophet, speaking for the God of Israel, excoriates in the opening chapter 1 of his book in THE BOOK.
The Biblical God of Israel was so disgusted with how evil and rebellious His own chosen people had become, they ceased to exist as a nation for some 2600 years until reappearing from the Bible as the 1st THEOCRATIC State in the Middle East in 1948, and given another chance by the God of Israel.
Looking at what Israel does in Gaza and the Middle East against People and Nations not having any equal defence against the $BILLIONS in FREE WEAPONS the US gives Israel EVERY YEAR, they're not unlike their ancestors of so long ago.
To sum all this up, Fireman, THE BOOK has Good and Evil in it and where the heart is, there is your treasure also so People choose.
When God confronted Adam asking him, 'Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat?'
Because he knew not to eat from the Tree having both Good and Evil and taking a chance after God told them it's all good. Adam could have said 'Yes, I did. I'm sorry.' Instead he blames God and the woman saying, 'the woman YOU gave me gave it to me and I ate it.' The woman blamed the serpent.
To this very Day People blame somebody else, hiding in the fears and figments of their imaginations, still blaming God!
Well said, Bill. Just being a good person is not limited to a gender. Sensitivity, compassion, and tenderness are to be welcomed, not derided.
"Treat people as you wish to be treated" is always sound advice. Nothing to do with gender.
So true. I remember when you-know-who tried to cover his degrading comment, "You can grab 'em by the p---y" by saying it was normal locker room talk. All the men in my life said "wha-? Only dicks talk like that."
Yes. Total dicks. The kind of guys you want to steer clear of. Self-absorbed assholes.
Hello Bill Astore... DJT, and Hegseth, are Reeking Pathetic Caricatures... I don't think that many will dispute the ferociousness of some of Us Indigenous... We Indigenous celebrate the Balance of the Male, and Female in each of Us... A Good Father is a Nurturer, as well as a Protector..
"This isn’t about being tough or masculine: it’s more about being a dick. A jerk. A dipshit, if you will."
Exactly, well said Bill. Linking once again @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Going on a bit of a drive the other day I brought a couple of CDs with me to play, one by Marlene ver Planck (1933-2018), consummate interpreter of jazz, the American popular songbook, and cabaret. As such her repertoire included a lot of less well known songs, but gems nonetheless. One such is “Namely You” by Gene DePaul and Johnny Mercer from the musical “Li’l Abner” with these lyrics:
"You deserve two arms to hold you, namely mine
There to comfort and enfold you, rain or shine
I deserve someone strong and handsome,
Bashful and shy, and true,
And I know just the one who'd do, namely you."
Seems like a pretty decent list of attributes to me.
I personally know two male veterans of Viet Nam Era--one actually stationed in VN for a spell--who, after age of 60, decided they were really born to be women. Human sexuality is a very weird thing. But, to the point, as I am pressed for time: If Donald J. Trump and Pete Hegseth are REAL MEN, I may have to join the aforementioned fellow veterans and declare myself a woman!! :-)
Just out of curiosity...what does it mean when comments are hidden?
A "hidden" comment is one that's flagged for review. It may violate Substack's rules or my set rules for comments. I have the option of "unhiding" these comments, i.e. making them public.
"How many “real men” does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. Real men aren’t afraid of the dark.”
Not funny. Real men replace faulty lightbulbs so the rats won’t bump into the legs of the crib and wake up the baby.
Was JFK masculine? How about MLK . . . and RFK . . . Paul Wellstone . . . W.E.B. Dubois . . . FDR?
Bill, I'm so happy to see your post Today. I love it!
Some regulars here might not like me citing excerpts of Scriptures in print for visualization, but here you're pointing out "Christian Values" as written in the Book without mentioning God or Christ Jesus or THE BOOK.
That's this in action in this material World. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'
We know Words and our own thoughts that are pictures that have to be put in Words, our only Sovereign Individuality. A State might suppress WORDS, but it can't suppress THOUGHT.
As for Male and Female, the 6000 year Genesis record is clear. BEFORE God built up a different arrangement of FLESH based on a part God took from the Male, the timeline is 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.'
It's taken 6000 years, but Medical Science confirms that Genesis male-female beginning by the fact of the X & Y chromosomes.
Btw Bill, the MOU might be as impotent as the Minsk Accords in preventing WAR. The real antidote is for many more individuals seek unity with the Word that was made Flesh and dwells in our midst and speak up BEFORE it is too late!
Not everything in the bible is 100% true, and there are many interpretations of it, as is there are many different religious organizations based on parts of the bible, from the Muslims to the Catholics to the Mormons to the Jews.
Biblical scholars now agree the book of Genesis was written by at least four different sources, based on a close examination of the original biblical language and grammar. In addition, any theologian who has studied Genesis carefully, can also point out to you that Genesis contains two different creation stories, where the order of when Man and Woman were created differs markedly - including the origin of each sex. There are also a number of other well known inconsistencies in Genesis that demonstrates the weaving of the 4 different historical writers of Genesis.
Biblical scholars will tell you the majority of older books in the Old Testament are not to be taken literally, but as allegories and metaphors for spiritual truths. Which was often the method during that time to communicate theological principles: allegory. This method of telling a story for spiritual teaching, was often used by Jesus himself.
Hmm?... Why is Jeruselem, which is 'Holy 'to the Abrahamic Faiths, is probably the most Bloody Patch of Ground on this Earth?...
Extremism. And note, extremism can be secular just as much as it can be religious.
Hello Jamenta... Does 'Extremism' Destroy 'Holy'?...
Well, if you read enough history books, it certainly appears that way Apache.
I like the Garden of Eden story, when God says not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or suffer removal from the Garden.
Always used to think, in my youth, that Genesis was bullshit.
After reading something from Huston Smith (comparative religion scholar), I understood this as it was meant to be: A caution against judgement.
What has created all the wars and destruction (personal or political) JUDGEMENT. THE "OTHER" IS EVIL AND "WE" ARE GOOD.
We are not only being removed from the "Garden," the Garden is being destroyed.
Yes, there are many remarkable stories in the bible that really are meant as allegories and parables. Particularly in the old testament.
There are some stories where if you translate the original Hebrew, the names of the characters (such as the story of Ruth) - the names themselves actually are translated to symbolic representations of meaning in the story to be understood as allegory.
Symbolism, metaphor, parable - are all methods of attempting to explain truths that have no comparable identifiable, concrete physical existence. Such as, for example, Love (or any conscious human emotion). Consciousness (or the soul) is also something that cannot be concretely pointed to and identified in a physical sense. You can take an MRI machine and examine the electrical currents of the brain, but what you are seeing is activities based on consciousness, not consciousness itself (or the self-awareness we all feel inside of us). Electricity itself, and any interaction of electro-chemicals are not "conscious" or "self-aware" - and never can or will be (IMO).
Symbolism, metaphor, parable - are all methods of attempting to explain truths that have no comparable identifiable, concrete physical existence. Such as, for example, Love (or any conscious human emotion)
The Apostle Paul describes the real life attributes and characteristics of love in
1 Corinthians 13. What do you think of his attempt?
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,
Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;
Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never failes: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abides faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Remember, even Wisdom is outdone by Love!
I think this covers that! And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.
jamenta, Biblical scholars say Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God and that's just not true according to the Biblical record.
'He came unto his own, (Jews & Christians) and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them HE GAVE POWER TO BECOME the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1
The Muslim Quran recognizes Christ Jesus while Jews don't. It has a whole chapter of Mary, Jesus' mother, but doesn't mention Muhammad's mother anywhere.
US Christian Nationalists don't see the same Jesus I do in the Bible.
ray, I respect your right to practice your religion however you want to do so as long as it doesn't interfere with the freedom of others to practice the religion they follow (particularly when it comes to public schools, and public offices).
In regards to Jesus, my views regarding him align more closely to the gospel of St. Thomas, which the church orthodoxy banned many moons ago.
"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." --Carl Sagan, from Cosmos.
Well, apparently there are many modern physicists who now argue there may be more than one Cosmos, such as the Multi-World theories based on quantum physics, or the multi-dimensions based on String theory.
In addition, the role consciousness plays in reality remains a scientific and philosophical open question. Why does consciousness even exist? And more importantly - how did consciousness come into existence? Could consciousness be a fundamental aspect of reality? What is consciousness?
These questions remain open questions from a current scientific perspective, despite the heavy handed attempt by diehard Materialists to close off all other avenues of scientific inquiry - such as (for example) the scientifically based arguments of Stephen Meyer and his book "Darwin's Doubt".
When Carl says "Cosmos" I believe he means everything even so called "Multiverses". The Cosmos refers to the Universe as a whole-- all Matter and Energy. I am not a believer in Creationism. We are the embodiment of the Cosmos brought to self awareness through Evolution even tho. I'm not so sure we are deserving, but for a little while...We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries this our lives in the beautiful intricacies of the Cosmos.., opposite of Chaos.
I share similar beliefs i.e. Creationism of earth appearing 6,000 years ago is not true, and as Alan Watts famously once said:
“We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean "waves," the universe "peoples."
The big question however is what exactly is the "Cosmos"? As you say, it is a great mystery, and perhaps one of the greatest mysteries within the Cosmos is our own consciousness - which allows us to even be capable of understanding and becoming aware of this great "Cosmos". It is us - the Cosmos, being self-aware of itself.
But probably where we differ is that I'm with Meyers when he writes:
"The information contained in an English sentence or computer software does not derive from the chemistry of the ink or the physics of magnetism, but from a source extrinsic to physics and chemistry altogether. Indeed, in both cases, the message transcends the properties of the medium. The information in DNA also transcends the properties of its material medium."
Nice to see a plug for Alan Watts.
Good to see there are still some Alan Watts fans still alive!
Carl Sagan is entitled to his opinion but I relate with this vision in the 1st verse in last chapter of the last major Jewish Prophet in the Jewish Old Testament Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 66:1,
So says the Lord, "The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool; which is the house that you will build for Me, and which is the place of My rest?"
That's wholly Holy!
That verse says to me this whole Earth is the Holy Land, not just that small sliver of blood soaked land people have been indoctrinated to see as the exclusive Holy Land at WAR over for millennia!
It must be wonderful to possess Final Wisdom while everyone else merely has opinions. That and being able to quote chapter and verse reeks of Matthew Harrison Brady.
Nowhere in my comment do I claim Final Wisdom. I offered my opinion interpreting scripture. You explain the difference between the cosmos and the heavens.
You don't openly claim it but it is implicit in every entry that you are one of God's Own while everyone else is a sorry nonbeliever who hasn't been blessed with God's Grace as you have. Being firm in one's Faith is fine, even commendable, but it is a personal, not universal, concern. Even after 51 years: you aren't the only soul on the planet searching. But being able to quote or reference chapter and verse as a rebuttle to non-Ray thinking proves nothing and only serves to reinforce the (implied) message that any dissenting voice is and must be by definition wrong. As stated above the definition of cosmos (in the original Greek) is all that ever was or will be. Surely you can see the difference between that and "the heavens." Two very different concepts. I suspect it is also why the politicians you frequently write to don't ever write back. Not to say you are wrong to do so, but unlike the contributors to these comments, elected officials have little time or interest in what their constituents may think or believe, and if the writer is not one of their constituents or financial supporters (you are Canadian, yes?), they will not be moved by anything the writer of the letter may have to say, however righteous. You don't have to agree with it, but to quote from a favorite film, "it is how things are."
wdt parker, I appreciate you sharing your perspective, but you are misreading my intent.
When I share scripture, it is not to claim "Final Wisdom" or to look down on anyone as a "sorry nonbeliever."
As I stated plainly to Fireman just a few lines above: God invites you, me, and every human to become ONE with GOD for eternity. The door is wide open.
Standing firm in a 51-year walk of faith isn't an expression of arrogance; it is simply sharing a roadmap tested by time and experience.
You mention that quoting chapter and verse "proves nothing" to non-Ray thinking. But the point of referencing these texts isn't to win an online debate. It is to show that the geopolitical chaos, the asymmetric warfare, and the billions spent on weapons we read about every day are the continuation of a 6,000-year Biblical timeline of choice between good and evil.
As for the semantics of the Greek cosmos versus "the heavens," we can debate vocabulary all day, but it doesn't change the immediate reality. The material systems of this world are currently standing on a dangerous precipice.
Finally, you suspect that the figures I write to don't write back because they have no interest if the writer is not a constituent or a financial supporter (noting that I am Canadian). You quote a film saying, "it is how things are."
But things are not always as cynical as you think. I received a direct, personal reply from Gideon Levy—the prominent Israeli journalist for Haaretz who writes directly from the heart of the conflict.
He is not a politician, I am not his constituent, and I am not a financial backer. Yet he read my remarks on the reality of this WAR and took the time to respond.
------ Original Message ------
From: levy@haaretz.co.il
To: ray032@sympatico.ca
Sent: Saturday, June 13th 2026, 05:46
Subject: RE: WAR
Dear Ray, Thank you for your remarks. Gideon
The prophets and watchmen of old didn't deliver a witness to get a polite seat at the table. They spoke because the truth needed to be stated plainly. My goal is simply to point out why things are the way they are—because from the Garden of Eden to this very day, humanity prefers to hide in semantics and point fingers rather than face the writing on the wall.
Peace to you on your own search.
Well Ray you do often come off as being rather arrogant & stubborn tho. in any evidence other than your biblical interpretations... IMHO peace & light :/ :o) "The Scopes Trial" notwithstanding.
Don't conflate being firm in my Faith seeking God for 51 years and learning more by questioning, after this surprise unexpected Day being resurrected from the Spiritually dead. This Material World is only catching up seeing it unfold in Today's World: https://rayjc.com/2011/12/25/day-of-awakening-david-vs-goliath-vs-armageddon/
Imagine don't stop there Ray about god Einsteins famous question about whether God had any choice in creating the Universe. Stephen Hawking tried to understand the mind of god, and this makes all the more unexpected the results. In conclusion as yet / so far anyways we have a Universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do...."Religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof.... Near the core of religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry."-- Carl Sagan
What i'm saying Ray is if god wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the only way to send it He, or She could have done a better job!!
Fireman, As I see it in the Book, God invites, you, me, every Human to become ONE with God for Eternity.
I never see prominent Christian Establishment preachers cite what is in the Revelation of Jesus Christ 3:14-22. To my mind, it's right up there with the 1st chapter of John's Gospel. To me the Words are explicit IF anyone believes them especially verses 3:19-22. I'm still in the process of overcoming after 51 years of practice.
'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcomes WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I ALSO OVERCAME, and AM set down with my Father in his throne.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
The Bible records EVERYTHING humans did and still do to this Day for the good or evil---War & Peace, Wealth & Poverty, Crime & Violence, True Prophets & False Prophets, lying, stealing, killing and a whole lot about Israel the last major Jewish Old Testament Prophet, speaking for the God of Israel, excoriates in the opening chapter 1 of his book in THE BOOK.
The Biblical God of Israel was so disgusted with how evil and rebellious His own chosen people had become, they ceased to exist as a nation for some 2600 years until reappearing from the Bible as the 1st THEOCRATIC State in the Middle East in 1948, and given another chance by the God of Israel.
Looking at what Israel does in Gaza and the Middle East against People and Nations not having any equal defence against the $BILLIONS in FREE WEAPONS the US gives Israel EVERY YEAR, they're not unlike their ancestors of so long ago.
To sum all this up, Fireman, THE BOOK has Good and Evil in it and where the heart is, there is your treasure also so People choose.
When God confronted Adam asking him, 'Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat?'
Because he knew not to eat from the Tree having both Good and Evil and taking a chance after God told them it's all good. Adam could have said 'Yes, I did. I'm sorry.' Instead he blames God and the woman saying, 'the woman YOU gave me gave it to me and I ate it.' The woman blamed the serpent.
To this very Day People blame somebody else, hiding in the fears and figments of their imaginations, still blaming God!