tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post7187317672796357160..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: 7qt - nap breakthrough!Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-11849914037280804812015-02-17T05:39:08.325-05:002015-02-17T05:39:08.325-05:00+JMJ+
Other people are definitely the link that ...+JMJ+ <br /><br />Other people are definitely the link that I didn't consider. If we can strengthen each other's faith, then we can also weaken it. =( Unfortunately, those who had other people do a number on their faith will be less likely to want to lean on others again, even if they really need it. <br /><br />Here's the link to the article I was referring to: <br /><br />http://www.johnfrawley.com/#!free-will-and-predestination/c1jw3 <br /><br />You can wander around the rest of his site from there. (Warning: that particular article is heavy with philosophy!) If you read nothing else there, I highly recommend <i>Boticelli's Mystic Nativity</i>, which is purely about art! =) Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-65883690250708092502015-02-16T13:32:31.857-05:002015-02-16T13:32:31.857-05:00Sometimes I do believe it's the fault of other...Sometimes I do believe it's the fault of others. Most of the people I know who are struggling in some way are struggling against a harsh and unloving idea of God .... and we have been scarred by various bad experiences with Catholics. God can't be blamed for that, but it doesn't necessarily mean we are either.<br /><br />I'd be interested in reading that blog myself, if you'll share a link!Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-43917244922097149002015-02-16T12:23:53.987-05:002015-02-16T12:23:53.987-05:00+JMJ+
It's all right. =) I had worried that ...+JMJ+ <br /><br />It's all right. =) I had worried that I was annoying <i>you</i>! In any case, we should probably let it go because: a) we each will never budge; and b) I really should give astrology up for Lent (LOL!) . . . and then not take it back up again. =P <br /><br />But it's worth adding that while we were talking about it on the other thread, I found the site of an astrologer who is also a believing Catholic, and read something in one of his articles that makes me want to take back some things I said in the previous discussion. <br /><br />That article was very critical of the "nominalist" idea that God is so omnipotent and free that He doesn't <i>have</i> to reward the virtuous and punish the sinful. While this may work out on paper, the problem with it is that if God isn't bound to anything--not even His own covenants--then we can't really know Him and can't really be sure whether what we're doing to work out our salvation is right or wrong. And that kind of thinking leads to Martin Luther's advice "to sin boldly" (because if God <i>wants</i> to save you, then He'll do it even if you're a committed Satanist) . . . and to John Calvin's everything. Unfortunately, it also leads to my comments, which you were right to say sounded Calvinist. =( <br /><br />For although I <i>don't</i> at all believe that creation is chaotic, the stories I've told seem to support the idea! Why else would a committed occultist be all but dragged into the Church by St. Therese, while two more devout Catholics apostasised as easily as rolling off a log? Indeed, the problem with my <i>"Well, it's a matter of grace and we can't control that"</i> stance is that it puts us completely in the dark about God . . . which is contrary to Church teaching. We <i>do</i> know about God, thanks to His revelation and the authority of the Church. <br /><br />At the same time, however, I don't feel comfortable blaming people for not having faith. Okay, sure, if you do active things to hurt your faith, like slack off on Sunday Mass, then we can say that it's is your fault you lost it . . . but what about people like my old friends who seemingly did everything right? Is there just a piece of the puzzle that I'm not seeing which would prove that they actually didn't cooperate with grace? Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-65618281092785389482015-02-16T08:51:55.051-05:002015-02-16T08:51:55.051-05:00Sorry to drop the debate .... I actually know just...Sorry to drop the debate .... I actually know just what you mean, debates get you going and it's a letdown when the other person stops replying! Partly I was just worried we were annoying everybody else on that thread.<br /><br />Here's the thing about the "thousands of satisfied customers" thing. Lots of religions have thousands (or millions) of satisfied customers even though they don't really provide anything concrete. It doesn't matter, though, because they provide an intangible service -- the feeling that they're on top of things, that they are understood, that there is some pattern to their lives instead of just random stuff happening. If they get an inaccurate prediction, they'll say, "This must not have been a very good astrologer" or "Perhaps there's some missing information." They remain a satisfied customer even though the predictions aren't always right.<br /><br />But just think, all those astrologers making all those predictions about all those people -- it would defy the laws of probability if they were *never* right -- even eerily right! (In the same way, if you flip a coin a thousand times, sooner or later you'll get heads ten times in a row. It seems amazing, but randomness does produce things like that.)<br /><br />The really good, "natural" psychics and astrologers are often just extremely good judges of people. They can easily guess things that are likely to be true or which will please the customer. And perhaps it's possible that they have some kind of ESP (I'm not going to rule that one out, just because it's difficult to be sure it *never* happens).<br /><br />And that argument that if astrology worked so well, people would use it to predict the finance markets and get rich -- I know your answer to this, "well, lots of people who use astrology ARE rich!" And that's true enough, but lots of people who use it aren't actually rich. Now you might say "well, they're not using the right astrologers!" But obviously they're not -- they can't afford the rates those people charge! Rich people hire the "best" astrologers, poor people make due with the newspaper horoscope, and then (as I don't need any prescience to predict) the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. You'd need to compare rich people who use astrology and see if they get richer any faster than rich people who don't.<br /><br />I'll drop this conversation whenever you like, because I don't really care, but as long as you actually *want* to keep arguing about astrology, I'm game. :)Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-58921418743467226512015-02-16T06:59:00.378-05:002015-02-16T06:59:00.378-05:00+JMJ+
#4 -- It's oddly a bit of a let down t...+JMJ+ <br /><br />#4 -- It's oddly a bit of a let down to have the last word. Um, thanks? LOL! =) <br /><br />#5 -- <i>Breaking Bad</i> ruined me for a lot of old shows that are otherwise pretty good. Take <i>Early Edition</i>, which I've been blogging about. The format is episodic, so we can't really expect the supporting characters from one episode to hang around in another, no matter how much importance they have to the main characters. But it gets kind of funny to see the two male leads fall in love again and again, with women that they have to end up letting go. <br /><br />I also have vague memories of watching <i>M*A*S*H*</i> and liking it, although I'm sure half the stuff flew over my head. I started watching it late, when Honeycutt and Charles were the ones sharing Hawkeye's tent. <br /><br />#6 -- No suggestions, sorry. A couple of years ago, I gave up Cracked.com, my then-favourite Web site, along with some other pleasures. Maybe you could pick a site that you enjoy . . . BUT NOT MY BLOG! (LOL!) . . . and just not visit for forty days? <br /><br />(Okay, okay, if it <i>must</i> be my blog, I'll understand. =P) <br /><br />#7 -- Although I'm not seriously into SF, I used to read John C. Wright's blog. I think I found him after someone linked to a post that he wrote on women superheroes. I vaguely recall agreeing with him about women characters, but I can't restate his arguments at the moment! Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-50839725823923479282015-02-13T21:10:38.358-05:002015-02-13T21:10:38.358-05:00Apparently the Internet Gods are slow to avenge, b...Apparently the Internet Gods are slow to avenge, because she slept even better today -- took a good morning nap and a brief afternoon nap. I would have liked a bit more out of that afternoon nap, but at least she took one!<br /><br />Alaina, I'm afraid that would be too much sacrifice for John and Michael, who love meat, and none at all for me or Marko, because we could take it or leave it. If I got eggs or cheese to substitute for meat, I doubt I'd miss it at all! (I do love steak. But I am "giving it up" anyway because it costs so much!)Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-60968495203634591302015-02-13T19:48:28.249-05:002015-02-13T19:48:28.249-05:00One of my favorite Lenten ideas is doing more meat...One of my favorite Lenten ideas is doing more meatless meals. It's still sacrificial, but it's not more work, since you have to make dinner anyway!Alainahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04785564102360724557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-29290588799540011972015-02-13T18:07:08.134-05:002015-02-13T18:07:08.134-05:00If she's sleeping 12 hours at night and 3 duri...If she's sleeping 12 hours at night and 3 during the day, that's 15 total, which seems about right for a baby her age. But she is a bit young for only one nap. When he was about that age J settled into the habit of 2 hours awake-1 hour nap-4 hours awake-2 hour nap-4 hours awake (which comes to 14 hours of sleep total). But I'm not sure I'd have the heart to wake her either.<br /><br />Also, my condolences on the havoc the internet gods will wreak thanks to this post. ;)The Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559244806125834569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-33833617646337436562015-02-13T16:34:23.250-05:002015-02-13T16:34:23.250-05:00I'm happy to hear about Miriam's nap break...I'm happy to hear about Miriam's nap breakthrough! Rosie still doesn't sleep for very long by herself. I think it's a personality thing, honestly. She just seems to need a lot of reassurance.<br /><br />John C. Wright is definitely an interesting character! Some of his books are much better than others, though.Ariadnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974270928059434503noreply@blogger.com