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Monday, April 8, 2019

Thought for a Sunday, April 6 - Jude Verses 3-25 And Revelations Chapter 3 Versus 19

 "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
*   And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day. *
  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over by fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
  Likewise also these filthy dreamers, defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."
  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
  Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
..And Enoch, also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
  To execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
  But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
  And of some have compassion, making a difference:
  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."


Revelations

Chapter 3 - V. 19
  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent.



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….and so, though Richard Dawkins would wax rhapsodic about the superstition that comes of religiousity stunting science, and all manner of winded remonstrations denuding a sense of the unseen, I would say this:

     I would say that Elon Musk's efforts to create non-damaging vehicles, transportation systems, and the means by which we could transport our inferior efforts at energy production (i.e. nuclear waste and nuclear weapons, both of which could wipe out humanity, without depending upon the rock of the Canadian Shield to protect us from an accident, or leaching into the pristine salvation of our species - WATER ),much like the man, are efforts to be supported and valued greatly, along with his very driven sense of courage and humility. Noah was very much like Elon Musk.

     But I would say this, too, notwithstanding the caution about "abandoning that first estate" - firstly, that "first estate" being  the Garden of the Earth, literally and corporeally, and secondly, on an intimate scale, that "estate", or state of being, being our own bodies, as God-given bodily vessels - either through false spiritism, the lure of Artificial intelligence and enhancement, or supplanted robotics or cloning, as part of a calculated, and innately deeply distorted disrespect for the shell that houses our spirit: it has been proven by our own Astronauts that prolonged time in Space away from the celestial Garden that is our home as a Species, has detrimental and degrading effects. I believe that Space exploration - including journeying to Mars - and other uses for the Moon, particularly as a practical and logical venue for the disposal and movement of  nuclear and toxic waste out of our immediate environment - waste which we have neither the time, nor the intelligence to dispose of properly before it kills us, until such time as we are bright enough to recycle our "creative stupidity" - is both a useful, and helpful  exercise and effort by some of the Brightest Minds of our time, and it may just save our Species.

     I do not, however, think that, by default, it precludes a deep sense of responsibility for reviewing our role as Caretakers of the Earth, having been supplanted here by that same Creator, and charged with that responsibility. If the same sense of concerted effort were put forth to recycle plastic waste into affordable dwellings in the third world, we would have no slums in India, or barrios in South America.....so there has to be somewhat of a shared focus, here, working in tandem.

   Thus, it is with a deep sense of caution that I consider the casual pursuit of these, as "the dalliances of empowered and enabled Men", both financially and intellectually, without proper purpose, or a misplaced sense of both purpose and priority, in the doing. But that is where you and I come in.

  Not one to deter, degrade or delay the seeking Mind, in its pursuit of making use of innate capacity, capability wise,  it is an old saying, but a good one, which might well guide the situation:                                                  "It is always wise to get one's house in order."
           …. And our "house" needs some serious work, lest the plumbing, the garden, the crops and the living - both animal and human - are lost in a potential furnace, figuratively, literally, and socio-politically speaking, into which we seem perpetually ready to contribute an endless supply of fodder - starting with ourselves.  

                                              Food for thought, remembering Manna.