This coming Sunday we begin a several-weeks reading through First Thessalonians. It's fascinating, for one because, being Paul's earliest extant writing, it shows his soteriology at least early in his ministry.  Paul was an apocalypticist who believed the End of Days was near when God would send the Son of Man (Daniel 7) to overthrow earthly powers and establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.  This would be heralded by the General Resurrection with the Second Coming of Christ as that Son of Man, when all dead and living (Paul expected to be among the living, it was that imminent) would be raised and lifted into the clouds to meet Christ for judgment.  Those under the umbrella of the faith of Christ, and whose lives passed judgment, would be saved into the new Kingdom of God on Earth, with Christ the Son of Man as God's regent. The letter that we call First Thessalonians was meant to be read to its intended audience (members of the church in Thessalonica that Paul had founde...

Almost certainly, it's Tuesday out there somewhere, may even show up here in 7H, where I sit midst the deafening hissing shriek of the contractor's dehumidifiers, air warmers and dryers working to remove water that came in under our vinyl tile flooring during Hurricane Isaias last Friday evening. They checked yesterday and there's still substantial water in an apparent low spot under the dining room floor.  But if this quick preventive action is successful, maybe it'll be the end of it, no mold and no ripping out flooring =that was installed after Hurricane Michael. TGIT, thank God it's Tuesday we didn't replace the cracked and buckling wood flooring with more wood flooring: in fact, we selected this vinyl tile flooring specifically for its water resistant promise, and it seems good so far. The insurance adjuster is due here about one o'clock this coming Friday, it would be nice if we can cancel the damage claim, or hold it in abeyance pending the outcome. I...

  We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins     and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, ... . We do earnestly repent The imperial "We" - - humans are not alone in our sinful nature. But first, it's Monday. Here we go: From warm, peaceful sleep, Father Nature summoned me just after two o'clock this morning, and I stayed up with a thought that's been nagging me since yesterday's Bible reading. Here I go again, rambling off path into the brambles. Our OT bible story for yesterday, Exodus 32:1-14, is theologically far more significant than the passing piety with which we commonly read and hear it.  The story of Moses and the Golden Calf perhaps inadvertently - - though we should never assume the naïveté of ancient Israelite writers and editors, who someTimes work subtle humor into a good campfire story - - lets slip a flaw in God's character. YHWH is as human as the rest of us: the story conclude...

With 7H unlivable from October 2018 into August 2019, we had a ten month hurrication after Hurricane Michael. Linda is determined that won't happen after Hurricane Isaias, but we are living with four deafeningly noisy blower dryer dehumidifier machines to, hopefully, remove the water that leaked from way high on the Harbour Village south tower down into 718 and poured up through the vinyl tile flooring in our kitchen, dining area and hall as the storm raged Friday evening.   Frantic with throwing down towels to soak up the water Friday evening, we did a lot of good, but Saturday found the flooring still squishy and water oozing up through cracks between the tile panels. The quick action with a contractor and drying machines is to minimize damage including get the jump on things before mold sets in, but it's hopeful and experimental with the idea of avoiding having to tear up and replace the flooring that was put in new after Hurricane Michael destroyed the wood flooring.  Ther...

As tradition has it, when Julian of Norwich asked why there is sin and suffering in the world, Christ answered that it was necessary that there be sin, but that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.  This comes to mind the morning after Hurricane Isaias. Such violence is sin in the nature of things - - hurricane, tornado, earthquake, tsunami, lightning, wildfire - - with their beguiling beauty. That evening in San Diego two-thirds of  our lifeTime ago  when we watched wildfire race down the side of a mountain at sixty miles an hour. To the east of our home, some miles distant, scattering glowing coals in our direction. Beautiful. Frightening. Sin, evil in the nature of things. Hurricane Isaias from above, a satellite point of view.   Which, point-of-view is the key: from whose POV, whose perspective? From Nature's POV, hurricanes are cleansing and restorative, lightning strikes and wildfires, serpents that crawl into rathol...

Hurricane Isaias is today's news here on the Florida panhandle, it's already raining, a heavy mist at this point, but that will change as the morning goes on and storm feeder bands wander by heading north and west. IDK, we have no wind, but that may change as the hurricane closes in on Pensacola. A 7' to 9' storm surge is predicted for us, but we'll see. 7H is right on the Bay and looking out over Shell Island, a low barrier strip that a high storm surge would roll across. Life is short, and we haven't much Time, so I'm using my morning to keep a storm watch. Both porch areas are clear, the living room and my room are loaded with the outside stuff. Also the front hall entry way and the powder room.  A monument to people's good sense, there's no water traffic to be seen on the Bay. ++++++++ With America as we are at the moment (hopefully, prayerfully, this too shall pass, though I'm not with St Paul in believing it will happen in my lifetime), it...