Instead of being the lost soul of a loner drifting aimlessly having a peripatetic wind, I'm now preferring something with more bite to it. As experience is just nature cruel way of giving the exams first followed by their lessons; you eventually reach a point where silence can no longer be contained no matter the cost.
JELLYFISH AND A CLOWNFISH NAMED VOLTAIRE
BE CAREFUL!!! GOT A FRIEND WITH ME HAVING THE LUCKY FIN OF A CLOWNFISH NAMED VOLTAIRE! WE CAN BE VERBALLY AGGRESSIVE.
E = mc3: THE NEED FOR NEGATIVE THEOLOGY
FUSION CUISINE: JESUS, EINSTEIN, and MICKEY MOUSE + INTERNETS (E = mc3) = TAO ~g(ZERO the HERO)d~OG
Hearing impaired (tendency to appear dumb,
dense, and/or aloof), orthodox atheist (believe faith more harmful than doubt), self depreciating sense of humor (confident/not to be confused with low self esteem), ribald sense of humor (satorical/mocking when sensing Condescension), confirmed bachelor (my fate if not my choosing), freakish inclination (unpredictable non-traditionalist opinions), free spirit (nor conformist bohemian)
Believe others have said it better......
"Jim! You can be SO SMART, but you can be SO DUMB!"
"Jim! You make such a MARTYR of yourself."
"He's a nice guy, but...."
"You must be from up NORTH!"
"You're such a DICK!"
"You CRAZY!"
"Where the HELL you from?"
"Don't QUITE know how to take your personality."
My favorite, "You have this... NEED... to be....HONEST!"
we have (holy) Spirit as in with a big "S" and we have (holy) spirit as in with a little "s"..?"
~(Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts: Senior Pastor St. Mark UMC)~
"Beth,
you do you realize that Spirit as in with a big "S" and spirit as in with a little "s" translates into
GOD
as in with a big "G" and god as in with a little "g"?"
~(Simply Jim)~
"...(silence)..."
~(Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts: Senior Pastor St. Mark UMC)~
"Well fine then!
If you are wanting to believe we have a God then we have a God;
YOURS!
Why complicate things dragging one of my own into this..?!"
~(Simply Jim)~
Most of us are familiar with the tales of the reclusive cat lover who died in a locked house or apartment and whose starving cats began to consume her body. Often it is viewed as her just desserts - to be consumed by the animals whose company she valued over human company - and excused as an act of desperation by her pets.
More recently, soldiers in Najaf, Fallujah, Bosnia and other war-torn regions have brought back tales of feral cats eating bodies of the fallen. Some of these veterans have been so disturbed by the sight that they have developed an irrational fear or hatred of friendly pet cats back home. What is so horrifying about the sight, or even thought, of cats (or dogs) eating dead humans?
CAT THE PET
In cat-keeping countries, cats are viewed as friendly domestic pets whose predatory instincts have been curbed, eliminated or confined to small prey. They also scavenge from bins and unattended plates. While many owners try to deter these behaviours, they are well aware that cats instinctively hunt and are attracted to fresh carrion. This is the acceptable view of cat the predator and scavenger.
Apart from owners of barn cats and those who profit from kitty-mills, most owners view cats as family members. Some owners erroneously scribe human emotions and motives to their cats (anthropomorphism). Quite how cats relate to humans is debated, but they do not regard us as prey. Cats lick us as they would lick other cats, they play with us and they often cuddle up with us to sleep. Those owners who accept their pets as non-human family members with non-human behaviours would, in general, still not want to think of cats eating the flesh of their caregivers.
CAT THE SCAVENGER
Abandoned and feral cats, especially those is war-torn areas, rarely have regular sources of food. They must scavenge whatever sources of food they find - dustbins, handouts and dead bodies (including their own species). Desperate ferals have been seen eating soiled nappies and sanitary napkins as well as bread, fruit and vegetables that cats cannot digest. Some have resorted to eating earth just to assuage their hunger. Post mortems of feral cats have found some to have stomachs full of insects. Bodies of larger animals pose problems as the domestic cat's jaws are designed for small prey hence they are most likely to tackle the extremities such as fingers and toes. Although cats normally avoid decomposing flesh to avoid food poisoning, cats with no other options will try to eat a dead body that has begun to rot and soften. At the 1992 American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans, a forensic pathologist stated that individuals living alone sometimes died unexpectedly and unnoticed. He claimed that, in his experience, a pet dog would go for several days before it resorted to eating the owner's body. A pet cat would wait only a day or two. What he didn't mention was that cats are obligate carnivores and, unlike dogs (which are more omnivorous), cats cannot consume other potential foodstuffs that might be lying around the home (fruit, veg, cookies). For a dog, the corpse might be a last resort, but for an obligate carnivore, it may be the first resort
CONCLUSIONS
What makes the thought of cats and dogs eating corpses so horrifying is our inability to reconcile cat-the-pet with cat-the-scavenger at the same time as understanding that our bodies are meat and bone. Despite human technology and culture setting humans apart from "lesser animals", we find it hard that nature treats us all the same after death. Having sanitised the disposal of our dead, we are shocked at seeing human bodies being consumed by scavengers. We are not shocked at nature documentaries showing scavengers consuming dead beasts, but we are unable to consider a dead human in the same light as a dead antelope. Most of us want human dead to be treated with dignity, to do otherwise offends our sensibilities. Even where it is acceptable for scavengers to consume dead human flesh, that practise is made acceptable by rituals. Where consumption by scavengers is not sanctioned by religious beliefs, it is offensive to us.
A PERSONAL VIEW
For my part, I'm not disturbed at the thought of my dead body being consumed by scavengers - after all, my mind and my sense of propriety won't be there to be worried about it. My family, and unrelated well-meaning humans, might be less keen at my remains being treated in what they consider undignified manner. What makes me an individual is my mind, something that will no longer present after death.
has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens-wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Rev. John Turlington is right about our Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts.
"I almost said the graveyard."
Having arrived late, I had asked him how to get to Beth's bible study class.
"You go through the playground."
If he almost said it; then he definitely already thought it.
Do not know if you attended the "Interactive" class this morning or not, but I would have been there if I hadn't been met by two black officers presenting me a letter from Rev? Dr? Beth on behalf of the congregation as represented by administrative council
that
my presence on property of
St. Mark
(private?property vs. God's?property)
shall constitute a criminal trespass from the time of the delivery of that letter..?
As I was raised Methodist first eighteen years of my life,
is
this really all that much different
than
the less than 25 year old residents
of
the Lost and Found Shelter on the property of St. Mark.
Rev? Dr? Beth on behalf of St. Mark
has just now justified the very same reasoning behind these kids?kicked out of their homes in the first place.
I've already told Beth this,
but
maybe it would help to say the same thing a different way:
"She's nothing but a Catholic
Fag Hag being paid a Methodist Administer;
and the bigger the lie needing protected the bigger the income one "Abel" earning."
To: Jon W.
Sent: July 5, 2:39 pm
See!
It appears I'm "Abel" looping God into a circle and hanging him around our necks like an albatross.
Just did it not only with the whole of St. Mark but all Methodists everywhere!
"Sounds like you are preaching to me. I don't listen to people who preach to me."
~(Dr. Don Clarke)~
I'm definitely not liking how it's seeming we are going about expiating for our sins..?
~(Mark 6:1-13)~
781 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30308-1205 404.873.2636 facsimile: 404.873.2639 office@stmarkumc.org www.stmarkumc .org July 1,2015 To James Avery, Acting on behalf of the congregation as represented by Administrative Council of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, we, the Board of Trustees, hereby notify James Avery that his presence on the property of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, 781 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta Georgia 30308; bounded by Peachtree Street, Fifth Street, and Juniper Street, shall constitute a criminal trespass from the time of the delivery of this notice forward. E.C. LaRocca-Pitts Senior Pastor, representing the Board of Trustees Loving Accepting Serving
***
I can't help but find this letter handed to me Sunday morning July 5th , 2015 by two uniformed police officers when showing up for the Adult Interactive Class.
As I was leaving St. Mark United Methodist Church the previous Sunday after the Interactive class over, I said to the very same female officer handing me this letter from the senior pastor of St. Mark:
"LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!
If I hear God is 'LOVE' one more time I''m go to scream."
Then I asked this black female officer what she knew about Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech as it relates to Malcolm X's role in our African-Americans gaining their civil rights. She only knew that Malcolm X's espoused violence as the means to gaining their civil rights.
“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
~(Mark 9:1 )~
I not only knew way more than she did, asking her what she thinking might have happened after Martin Luther Kings speech had Malcolm X's not been present in Martin Luther King's shadow?
Even told her, jokingly, of going home and coming back with a cool looking water pistol of mine teaching some of these useless faggots along with their Rev. Dr. Beth and Rev. Josh Noblitts a lessons about indifference.
***
Mark 6:1-13
New International Version
(NIV)
A Prophet Without Honor
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. 8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent.13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
*** Overheard:
Beth's Wednesday Bible Study 101
"You can see why I just...LOVE...reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes."
~(Rev? Dr? Beth LaRocca-Pitts)~
"You do realize that...WISDOM...comes from a luxury of having leisure time..?" ~(Simply Mr. Avery)~
"There's no profit in being a prophet."
~(Pam: Member of St. Mark UMC)~
"I don't understand why we can't just get rid of
"Son of Man"
and all become instead,
'Sons and Daughters of a Fish Named... Wanda?' At least,
this gets our 'Darwin Fish' back into the picture."
~(Simply Mr. Avery)~
To: Jon Woody
Sent: July 8, 10:43 PM
Hey Jon,
It's been over a week since we've discussed the possibility of the two of us debating politics/religion as avatars in the role as Carrie (stigmatized?active wise) vs. Pollyanna (love?indifference/passive wise). I'm still wanting to do this, even inviting you and your partner into my home for this debate.
Or just let me know that you have changed your mind? You won't be the first, not even close.
One more favor...
could you pass my phone number on to Tim Anderson and let him know that I had every intention of calling him later that same Sunday we crossed path outside St. Mark but misplaced the card he had given me. Would not have surprised me Don Clarke picking it up and failing to hand it back to me..?
His demeanor toward me certainly changed when apparent me and Tim were acquaintance.
