Nonsense

Being serious all the time is a real drag.
I can't imagine what it would be like to never just do or think something nonsensical...can you?

And so...just because I can:

~You non-conformists are all the same.

~I know it sounds like I'm in denial.  But I'm not.

~Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.  -Albert Einstein

~Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.  -Santayana

~Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.       -Albert Einstein

~When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it.    -Yogi Berra

~The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.        -Carl Jung

~Always remember, money isn't everything - but always remember to make a lot of it before talking such fool nonsense.     -Earl Wilson

~The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.
 -Vladimir Nabokov

~The world is nonsense: what looks beautiful in the morning looks ugly in the evening.    -Maltese Proverb

And finally...just so I can feel good about posting this blog, and you can feel good about reading it...

~To appreciate nonsense requires a serious interest in life.  -Gelett Burgess

War and Peace (not the book)...

If you are my age (68) or thereabouts, you probably remember the song by Edwin Starr that contained this lyric:
"War! What is it good for?  Absolutely nothin'."

Great song.  Easy to see why the lyrics spoke to a generation of young people ready for the war in Vietnam to be over and done with.  Surely singing about no more war is much easier than actually putting an end to war.

However, given our nation's involvement in a couple of continuing wars...that seem to have been going on...like, forever...peace-in-place-of-war seems as urgent today as it did in 1970 (when Starr's record was released).

There are no doubt many reasons for war.  I would guess that most of those reasons are just silliness...and vengeance...and aggression...and nastiness.  There may be a time and a situation when war is none of those things.  There may be.  But then again...

Peace must really be hard to achieve.  We achieve is so seldom.  Oh, we achieve an end to hostilities, but achieving peace is a whole other thing.  And it must be really hard to achieve.  Maybe war is easier.

I wish war wasn't so easily resorted to by peoples and nations.  I wish peace was pursued as vigorously as war...I doubt that it is.

I remember Jimmy Carter saying that, "War may sometimes be a necessary evil.  But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good."

And, the very next time our country is ready to do the easy thing, instead of the hard thing...I hope somebody plants this sign smack in front of the place where such decisions are made...

What is the Proper Use of The Holy Bible?

As often as not, the book known as the Bible, is labeled The Holy Bible.  That's a pretty big set-up for a book. 
Look up the word "holy" and you will find something like this: "Specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority...dedicated or devoted to the service of God."
And since it is the Bible, it is clear that this Holy book is about a particular understanding of God. 

What is the intended...the proper use of The Holy Bible?

Maybe it is as an award given to children for memorizing certain Bible verses, or for completing Confirmation Class.

Maybe it is as a convenient place to record important family events...births, deaths, marriages, etc.

Maybe it is as a resource for those who put together sermons or other religious presentations.

Maybe it is as an authority to quote (or mis-quote) in the heat of an argument.

Maybe it is as a devotional book for personal use.

Maybe it is as an easy reference for too often uninformed politicians wanting to endear themselves to folks they think are drawn to a particular slant on the information contained in the over 60 individual books that have become the compiled work known as The Holy Bible.

Well, that a pretty harsh view of The Holy Bible.  But there is a whole lotta truth that ought not be missed in the words under the picture.

What would be the proper use of this book?

Probably there are millions of answers to that question.  Probably suggesting just one is very suspect.

So let me answer with this...an answer that seems right to me:
It is a great starting place to learn of many attempts over hundreds of years by scores of individuals to understand and act on the relationship of humankind to its creator...its source...its ultimate end.

And then...put the book down and start acting on your own understanding of your relationship to God and all of God's creatures and creation.

 

And life goes on.