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Showing posts from July, 2012

Proof the invisible unicorn does not exist

So there is a camp that challenges young people to prove the invisible unicorn does not exist - the proof is that it was invented as an activity to make the claim that the burden of proof lies upon the believer not the unbeliever (and subversively the non-existance of God).  The concept didn't exist prior to the creation of Camp Quest: http://www.campquest.org/activities and it was invented for the sole purpose of the camp's curriculum, and that is proof enough that it doesn't exist.  Another proof is this - would any of the camp counselors be willing to give up their life to fight for their fictional belief in the unicorn?

Greatly Deceived Generation

This morning I read an AP article about the young man who went on a shooting rampage at the new Batman movie.  As I read his story, it sounded like the story of so many people in my generation.  We were told in elementary school, middle school, and high school to continue our education after high school and to pursue a white collar financially secure career that fit with our gifts, talents, and dreams.  But after completing college, so many of us discovered that the only jobs available to us were jobs that did not require the education we received.  Those who were able then decided to further their education with a masters or doctorate degree.  But once in those programs, we discovered that the higher the degree we earned the less likely were our chances of finding a spouse, having a happy marriage, and getting a job.  Some of my peers who are completing their PhDs are discovering that indeed the job pool is even thinner than when they began.  So what are they to do - acquire a job th

Definition of the Saint - a quote by Raimundo Panikkar

"The saint--'sanctus'--is, thus, the man God has taken specially for Himself, the man He has 'reserved' and 'segregated'. God calls everybody to be divinely perfect, i.e., holy.  Each person receives his personal vocation to sanctity. But only the saint answers fully to that divine call and freely accepts, wills, loves to be this living Temple of the Holy. Each saint is, in consequence, a kind of Revelation of God, he has a message to deliver, though not always with words, he is an instrument of the Divine, he is the Man (and Woman) in whom God, who is Love, finds not only His resting but also His acting place. True sanctity is not so much God-realisation on Man's part, as Man-realisation on God's part.  The saint is the ontological full human personality in spite of our rational concepts about human perfect, and notwithstanding the objective shortcomings in his pilgrimage towards God. We cannot forget that sanctity is a concept-limit, only attain

"Padre"

A highlight of my week is often visiting the alcohol and tobacco shop located next door to our church.  Every time I go I am met with an unexpected and pleasant surprise.  One of the employees has decided that I am the store's pastor and that it is my responsibility to come by each week to bring a little Jesus into the store. Today when I went, it must have been in the midst of a shift change, because several employees were behind the counter.  One of the men who I am getting to know introduced me to another man as "the padre I've been telling you about, the one at the church next door."  This then started an entire conversation with employees asking where the church was because they hadn't remembered seeing one next door.   Our church is currently meeting in two connecting store fronts in a strip mall.  We don't yet have a traditional sign, so many people don't yet know we are there.  It is only by our relational presence in the community that we