drifting, drifting, gone
From our bed we raised the shade and watched Venus rise this morning,
moving in what from Earth appears to be its planetary arc in our sky, but is actually Venus in the plane of its orbit around the sun, appearing to move, as actually Earth in the plane of our own planetary orbit round the sun turns in daily rotation. Venus doesn't move in an arc any more than the Sun moves around Earth, it just appears so. The same is true of many Truths.
We are now watching whether we can see Mercury and Jupiter in conjunction, and yes, we do see the two very close together, low on the horizon. They are not close at all, are they, it's just how they appear from Earth this morning.
Not Jupiter, Saturn or Mars, which move through our night in the same arc effect as we're watching Venus do just now, but from Earth, that's as high above the horizon as Mercury ever gets for us to see before being extinguished by the rising or setting Sun.
Our bedroom here where Inlet Beach meets Rosemary Beach has quite a good, open sky observation area; and if we need more we can go up to the fifth floor open roof lounge and have a full 360° circle of a 180° arc, which is a full bowl of vision; unlike 7H porch, where we only have half a bowl of vision.
In my mid-to-late twenties, when my astronomy hobby was in full swing, I'd have had my telescope on the roof until late every evening and early every morning, even in winter, when I'd be bundled up in exercise jumper with hood.
Having lots of time to choose between doing nothing because on hurrication I'm too far distant from everything I know to bother, or doing something because it's a shame to waste the Time of life, I seem to vary about half nothing and half something. During the drifting mind nothing half that may, like the arc of Venus, appear to be and pass for thinking; and mulling over tomorrow's sermon that, stretching the point, might pass for something, I was wondering what's the reason and purpose for all this preaching anyway? And is my purpose in a sermon the same or similar to whyever the aitch I bother writing this daily blogpost these past eight years of mornings?
Answering, I don't know why I write the blogpost except that what started as daily status updates on my heart diagnosis and health prognosis, then continued as deliberate mental exercise, but soon degenerated into a habit (that Linda treated me to a guilt trip if I didn't do it or decided to cease altogether), till now is disconnected meandering worse than the worst diary keeping or journaling, I keep on keeping on anyway. Hurrication may be an apt time either to quit altogether, or to double down with some pretense of intellectual pursuit.
On the other hand, the purpose of a sermon is surely not to frighten, threaten, intimidate and cajole; nor to shame or guilt, like a sobered alcoholic preacher who can't preach about anything but the evils of drink. Or the generations of preachers my mother grew up with who preached against playing cards, dancing, and going to the baseball game on Sunday afternoon. Or the, without exception closeted gay, preachers of today who rail against homosexuality. Or the bigoted ones who preach against other religions. I think one of my purposes with a sermon this time of year, may be to share myself in such a way that some folks who hear me perceive themselves and fondly recalling to mind their own life's experiences in the Season. That seems to have happened at times during the Christmas season every year my nearly four decades in the pulpit!
On other fronts, what's bothering me this Christmas? USGov's annual Christmas gift of a hateful, spiteful, evil government shutdown for many innocent Federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck. The high alarm of seeing that about the one highly competent cabinet officer is throwing up his hands in defeat and despair when we need him to swallow his self-respect and stick it out. The fact that I'm finally enjoying hurrication as a Time and place that I can relax and enjoy just Being as I, having no choice out here in the wilderness but to do something or nothing, leave the cares of life and the world to whoever wants to worry.
Shabbat shalom
T
שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם
moving in what from Earth appears to be its planetary arc in our sky, but is actually Venus in the plane of its orbit around the sun, appearing to move, as actually Earth in the plane of our own planetary orbit round the sun turns in daily rotation. Venus doesn't move in an arc any more than the Sun moves around Earth, it just appears so. The same is true of many Truths.
We are now watching whether we can see Mercury and Jupiter in conjunction, and yes, we do see the two very close together, low on the horizon. They are not close at all, are they, it's just how they appear from Earth this morning.
Not Jupiter, Saturn or Mars, which move through our night in the same arc effect as we're watching Venus do just now, but from Earth, that's as high above the horizon as Mercury ever gets for us to see before being extinguished by the rising or setting Sun.
Our bedroom here where Inlet Beach meets Rosemary Beach has quite a good, open sky observation area; and if we need more we can go up to the fifth floor open roof lounge and have a full 360° circle of a 180° arc, which is a full bowl of vision; unlike 7H porch, where we only have half a bowl of vision.
In my mid-to-late twenties, when my astronomy hobby was in full swing, I'd have had my telescope on the roof until late every evening and early every morning, even in winter, when I'd be bundled up in exercise jumper with hood.
Having lots of time to choose between doing nothing because on hurrication I'm too far distant from everything I know to bother, or doing something because it's a shame to waste the Time of life, I seem to vary about half nothing and half something. During the drifting mind nothing half that may, like the arc of Venus, appear to be and pass for thinking; and mulling over tomorrow's sermon that, stretching the point, might pass for something, I was wondering what's the reason and purpose for all this preaching anyway? And is my purpose in a sermon the same or similar to whyever the aitch I bother writing this daily blogpost these past eight years of mornings?
Answering, I don't know why I write the blogpost except that what started as daily status updates on my heart diagnosis and health prognosis, then continued as deliberate mental exercise, but soon degenerated into a habit (that Linda treated me to a guilt trip if I didn't do it or decided to cease altogether), till now is disconnected meandering worse than the worst diary keeping or journaling, I keep on keeping on anyway. Hurrication may be an apt time either to quit altogether, or to double down with some pretense of intellectual pursuit.
On the other hand, the purpose of a sermon is surely not to frighten, threaten, intimidate and cajole; nor to shame or guilt, like a sobered alcoholic preacher who can't preach about anything but the evils of drink. Or the generations of preachers my mother grew up with who preached against playing cards, dancing, and going to the baseball game on Sunday afternoon. Or the, without exception closeted gay, preachers of today who rail against homosexuality. Or the bigoted ones who preach against other religions. I think one of my purposes with a sermon this time of year, may be to share myself in such a way that some folks who hear me perceive themselves and fondly recalling to mind their own life's experiences in the Season. That seems to have happened at times during the Christmas season every year my nearly four decades in the pulpit!
On other fronts, what's bothering me this Christmas? USGov's annual Christmas gift of a hateful, spiteful, evil government shutdown for many innocent Federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck. The high alarm of seeing that about the one highly competent cabinet officer is throwing up his hands in defeat and despair when we need him to swallow his self-respect and stick it out. The fact that I'm finally enjoying hurrication as a Time and place that I can relax and enjoy just Being as I, having no choice out here in the wilderness but to do something or nothing, leave the cares of life and the world to whoever wants to worry.
Shabbat shalom
T
שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם