No That's Not "It"

Saw this today:

I don't take issue with someone proclaiming themselves to be an atheist. I do have a problem with someone saying "that's it" and with proclaiming what they happen to be like to be self-evident or rational to the exclusion of all criticism. Is it any clearer that we should be kind to people than that there is a God? Atheists seem to take some things on faith and proclaim them to be something they know to be true with some level of certainty. Yet there is not evidence that we 'should' do anything at all, really. There is no way to move from facts to value without some model of interpretation, without mechanism by which the leap is made. And that leap cannot, itself, be purely 'factual' without begging the question.

The truth is that any moral maxim can be made to look as arbitrary as most articles of religious faith. The value of human life, for instance is no more self-evident than the existence of God. That doesn't mean beliefs in such a value is groundless, or completely arbitrary, but it is far from certain. Good and solid arguments can be given against the proposition that human life is inherently good, and there have been plenty of people who seem perfectly happy without treating all people well. In fact, it is arguably easier to keep your circle of responsibility fairly tight, allowing kindness and concern to reach out to some select group (for humans do need some kind of community for a rich and happy existence) but keeping that circle clearly bounded.

Is it clear, for instance, that I should risk my life for a stranger? I think not. One could argue that my very self, all I am is tied up in those specific relationships that make up my life as a whole. I don't think it is clear that I should deprive my wife of a husband, or my niece of a source of wisdom for a stranger. Yet it seems intuitive that risking one's life for a stranger is a highly meaningful and moral act. Certainly, arguments in the other direction can be offered, but they will be no more conclusive.

There is no sure and certain ground to stand when it comes to the human experience. Mrs. Hepburn could no more 'know' that we should be kind to others and 'do what we can' for people than I can know that there is a God. These things just defy knowledge and certainty. And it is not clear that a moral commitment is any more rational than a religious commitment.

Off-Topic: Comic Book Reviews

Marvel's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #14
Finally we get a tight, focused Guardians-centric storyline that is worthy of the comic book's dialogue. The art has improved as well. I like the addition of Venom mostly because I am a huge Venom fan, and they started to explore the origins of the alien costume, and that was cool too. There were some additional post script stories, one about Groot and one about the original GUARDIANS team from the future, the team I grew up on. This last story indicated the two teams may meet soon, and I like that idea as well. Overall, this book just rocked. It is also a great place to start learning about the GUARDIANS so pick it up today!
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4.5 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars

Marvel's ORIGINAL SIN #0
The next big Marvel event is ORIGINAL SIN. In this preliminary issue, some big things are revealed about the origins of that ever-mysterious figure known as the The Watcher, Uatu. The reason for Uatu's watching is finally revealed, and the new Nova features prominently in the story. I highly recommend this book for any long-time Marvel fan, though it seems the rest of the ORIGINAL SIN series will be readable without this issue.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #30
JLD weathered the FOREVER EVIL storyline better than some other books, though I was worried at the end that everything was falling apart. This issue is really a kind of relaunch, with some of the team leaving and new members coming on permanently from the affiliation during the FOREVER EVIL arc. And this relaunch feels good, and it feels right. I hope we get back to some of the great tight story telling that made the first dozen or so issues of this book work so well. I'm happy with the relaunch and look forward to what is coming next.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars

DC's TEEN TITANS #30
This was the penultimate issue of the current Teen Titans run. It is being re-launched with a whole new volume soon. This issue in many ways 'set up' that relaunch and in some ways was a preview of it. It looks like it is going to be a big improvement from what came before, but that isn't saying a whole lot. This book used to be the best superhero team in all of DC, but after New 52, it is one of the books that suffered, and FOREVER EVIL made it worse. But this issue had a lot of the spirit that used to make TITANS great, and I hope that bodes well for the future. The only issue with this issue was the pacing was off.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 2.5 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars

Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS #25
Well, this issue clinches it for me, this book is going in my subscription box. There was some really shocking stuff, and some of it I hope doesn't have lasting effects (something happens to Johnny Blaze that I hope is somehow undone). Anyways, this book has the feel of a classic action film, combined with some great comic book dialogue and solid art. Deadpool continues to be one of the highlights, but every character has some great moments. Overall, this book is genius.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 5 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars

A Movie All Need To See

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/04/24/why-20-somethings-and-all-us-need-to-watch-groundhog-day/?intcmp=features

I once wrote a Bible study using GROUNDHOG DAY to teach Ecclesiastes.

A Response to "Our Godless Brains"

This is a response to this article:
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/26/our_godless_brains_emerging_science_reveals_mind_blowing_alternatives_to_a_higher_power/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

There is a lot to say about it so I'll just be rapid-firing some responses here. I may get more in-depth into some issues later in the week, or I may not. Hey, it's my blog. I act upon whatever catches my fancy.

Take the most famous equation of all, E = mc2. Just what does that equal sign mean? It implies that the variables on each side are the same. But is mass really identical to energy? True, mass can be converted to energy, as atom bombs prove, and energy can even be turned into mass. Still, they are not the same things. Not only are the units of measurement different, but the equation is only descriptive and predictive. It does not explain how mass converts to energy or vice versa.

One has to wonder if this guy knows what an "equals" sign means. This guy complains that he doesn't know enough about physics to talk with absolute confidence, but that is not his problem. His main problem is that he sucks at philosophy, and philosophy is what he does through most of the article. He seems kind of short on logic, as the above statement shows.

The limits of math become more troublesome when physicists try to explain the origin of the universe. Math does not really explain how a universe can exist without a first cause. True, physicists invoke the “big bang,” a massive explosion of supercondensed matter. They call this the “singularity,” as if that explains things any better. Whatever words, or math, they use, they cannot explain what created the supercondensed mass in the first place. Where did that mass come from? If it was created by energy, where did that come from? You can see that such questions create an infinite loop of effects that have a cause. Scientists call this “infinite regression,” which is an untenable way to explain anything.

Even if you invoke the idea of a creator god, where did that god come from? So, you see, physicists and the rest of us are stuck with the unsatisfying conclusion that something can be created from nothing. I have only read one explanation for how this might happen, which I will discuss shortly, but it makes no sense to me.

No, 'scientists' don't call it an 'infinite regression', philosophers have been calling it that, long before there were any scientists. He doesn't even deal with the main problem here, or the really interesting philosophical point, which is the question of whether the laws of physics themselves have always been here, for it is these laws from which all that happens in the universe is supposed to derive. Of course, theists think it is God that always exists. The question isn't about an infinite line of creation but whether anything exists that is uncreated, and what that something might be. I happen to think that an eternally existing God makes more sense than an eternally existing set of natural laws, since the former is conceived as non-physical and the latter is by definition physical. But that is the real question. It is about contingency and necessity. None of these issues are even mused over here.

Only a few neuroscientists argue that the human mind is not materialistic. Neuroscientist Mario Beauregard and journalist Denyse O’Leary have written a whole book to argue the point. Their “Spiritual Brain” documents many apparent mystical experiences. These authors use the existence of such mental phenomena as intuition, will power, and the medical placebo effect to argue that mind is spiritual, not material. None of this is proof that such experiences have no material basis. Their argument seems specious. They have no clear definition of spirit, and they do not explain how spirit can change neuronal activity or how neuronal activity translates into spirit. They dismiss that the mind can affect the brain because it originates in the brain and can modify and program neural processes because mind itself consists of neural process...By now readers know brains make sense (pun intended). That is, we know enough about the brain to know that conscious mind may someday be explained by science. We already know enough about the nonconscious mind of the brainstem and spinal cord to realize that what we call mind has a material basis that can be explained by science. Science may someday be able to examine what we today call spiritual matters. Consider the possibility that “spirit” is actually some physical property that scientists do not yet understand.

The arguments against materialism about the mind are not primarily to be found in the halls of neuroscience. They are a priori, and at the level of conceptual analysis. Some philosophers have given strong reasons to doubt that a scientific description of phenomenal consciousness is possible at ALL. To get some idea as to what these arguments are, just go over to Maverick Philosopher's Philosophy of Mind section. These arguments may not be unassailable but they are very, very strong. So, no, the advances in brain science give one no reason to be confident that mind as a whole is on the verge of being explained. There are strong reasons to believe it never will be.

The most recent idea I have read is that Shannon’s information theory lies at the heart of QM and can explain how something can emerge from nothing. Information, quantified as “bits” (0 and 1) is inversely proportional to the probability of an occurrence (with probability measured on a logarithmic scale). I always wonder why physical scientists like to express things in inverse relationships. Anyway, the equation says that “information” has only two properties: an event and its probability of happening. The equation applies to any kind of event, from occurrences today to the moment the universe came into being.

See, right here we see the philosophical deprivation of this author. He says something incredibly stupid here. I mean monumentally stupid. He says that information theory as related to quantum physics shows how something can come from nothing. But indeed, it only shows how that can happen GIVEN THE FACT OF QUANTUM PHYSICS. There are a set of physical laws and these physical laws cause 'something' to exist rather than 'nothing'. But that is stupid. Because the 'something' is coming from 'something' else... the physical laws themselves. Physical laws are not nothing, they are something, and so any physical realities they produce, are themselves the results of other physical realities...the laws themselves. How can this guy not see that? If this is physics' answer to the old theologians' question of how something can come from nothing, then it is a poor one, and a contradictory one.

The corollary is that this science seems to suggest that we humans create reality by observation. This point of view is philosophical solipsism, which was championed by Walter Seegers in a book chapter he wrote for an earlier book of mine. Seegers was a pioneer in the discovery of many of the mechanisms of blood clotting. Along the way, he came to the philosophical conclusion that science does not exist except in our own minds. He approvingly quotes Arthur Eddington, “We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown. We have devised profound theories, one after another, to account for its origin. At last we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the footprint. And Lo! It is our own.” In the solipsistic view, the conscious sense of self discussed earlier now has a new dimension beyond developing events along the continuum of womb to tomb.

Yea, this is stupid. It falls victim to a vicious regress, which I discuss in detail here: http://ljtsg.blogspot.com/2014/03/postmodern-morass.html


Mathematically, string theory only works correctly if there are 11 dimensions or “universes.”
ROTFL, O man, did this guy just confuse geometric dimensions with 'universes'? Did that just happen. Someone get me a tissue I'm crying over here.

So this article begins by promising to give us some picture of how science may answer the questions that religion itself traditionally answered. Those questions are, from the writers' point of view, about the ultimate origins of the universe. This writer foolishly thinks that the main religious question is 'how can something come from nothing'. But this question, which the author doesn't even come close to satisfactorily answering, and probably cannot (for philosophical reason), is not the primary religious question. The question about the origin of the mind is better, but just as unanswered.

The real religious question is this: 'is the universe a friendly place?' The real religious question is about the cosmic context of the human moral struggle and the meaning of my life in this world. Science will never be able to answer the central religious questions because science seeks a third-person perspective. It is this perspective that also makes explanation of mind all but impossible for the scientific endeavor. What I want to know is whether I can take my human EXPERIENCE of the world with the utmost seriousness. Does what I do have an eternal significance. The inter-connectedness of all things, as discovered in science, doesn't give any grounds for that confidence. For this is an impersonal fact, a simple law of nature. It doesn't care about me one way or another. The universe discovered in science will always look indifferent, and so fail completely to speak to the human moral encounter with the world. The religious questions are ones of religious experience, and I'm not talking about mysticism. I'm talking about humor, where life is encountered as a place that is essentially joyful, I'm talking about play, where we live life as if it is deathless, I'm talking about moral struggle, where our choices come to us as having eternal consequences, I'm talking about beauty, where we encounter an invitation to believe in forever. These experiences, the human condition, THESE are what religion is about.

Science has shown us something religiously significant... that the world is more like a living thing than a machine, and that we are a part of that living thing. Thus science provides some kind of cosmic context for our lives. But science doesn't tell us what our attitude towards this fact SHOULD be, for science doesn't deal in values but facts. And it is in our attitude towards life that the religious quest lies. For if that organic whole science discovers is indifferent, or evil, then our lives are meaningless indeed, and we are nothing more than ants trampled under by a wild elephant. That elephant, additionally, is not eternal but mortal, and so even the hope for a cosmic context is crushed down by it. Indifference and nothingness are the supreme realities, if this is true. Yet our living into our humanity screams to us that it is NOT true. We are bombarded with information, information we find within our first-person perspective ONLY, that we are living in a world where love is the ultimate truth. The question is whether we can trust those experiences in the face of the indifference that the third-person perspective of science reports and our own personal encounter with suffering and death points to. Is there a place to stand where the totality of our encounter with the world, both personal and public, both subjective and inter-subjective, both scientific and philosophical, can be reconciled into an over-arching view? Religion and to a lesser degree some philosophy, offers such a perspective. Science cannot, and should not, if it is to do what it is supposed to. Certainly, this article gives no hope that it can.

Not Really Off-Topic: In-Depth Review of TIME LINCOLN: CONTINENTAL One-Shot *Spoiler Alert*

It has been two years since I first picked up the graphic novel version of the original TIME LINCOLN mini-series from Antarctic Press. I have read it dozens of times since, and it remains one of my all-time favorite comic book story lines with Time Lincoln himself becoming one of my all-time favorite superheroes (see here: http://ljtsg.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-favorite-superheroes-5-1.html). I was so upset that the book never led to an ongoing series, and I've long hoped that AP would put out more Time Lincoln comics in the future, last week they did and this week I got to read it.

And man was it good. Absurdist, strange, tongue-in-cheek but with a real message, I thought that this was up there with some of the best stories from the original series and perhaps outmatched them. In this book, we see the president-turned-time-god Time Lincoln going head-to-head with a mysterious void-powered time-god known only as 'the man'. Reputed to be as dangerous and evil as TL's first major villain, Void Stalin, this super villain has been sending void powered assassins through space and time taking out important historical figures. Time Lincoln has responded by essentially resurrecting the victims and turning against their killer. The book made some awesome references to the original series and the breadth of Time Lincoln's power remains something that holds you in awe. This book does something very creative by taking historical characters that already come to us as heroic and larger-than-life and making them, in fact, larger than life. It is like a creative representation of our own sense that behind human history are cosmic forces. Incarnating those forces, both good and evil, in historical figures is what made the original series work and it continues to work here.

But a new element is added to the thematic soup that so engrossed me with the graphic novel. One of the characters elevated in CONTINENTAL is Martin Luther King, Jr. King's strength of spirit and commitment to moral principles are galvanized by the power of the temporal dimension known as The Void. He is actually able to create an impenetrable force field and can turn violent hearts peaceful. The use of a passive resistance as a kind of holy weapon was so awesome to see poured out visually on paper and I loved the kind of deconstruction of the classic comic book motifs. There is still a 'shoot em up' aspect as Time Lincoln's own more direct and aggressive approach is also needed.

This created another layer here, because these were two men who were motivated by similar goals by chose very different methods. Lincoln was about as far from pacifism as you could get, though the man himself was never comfortable with the violent measures he felt history had pushed him into. Indeed, good probably needs both types of people on its side, as does God. There have to be people who are willing to stick to moral principles no matter what, and those who are willing to subvert some principles over others, in order for evil to be defeated. That there should be both tension and cooperation between the two characters is natural, and elevating them to the level of cosmic semi-divine beings both highlights these thematic elements and makes for great fun, and some humor.

This is simply everything I think Time Lincoln should be, and I hope for more like it in the future. I highly recommend buying the graphic novel first, though, or you may be a little lost.

Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Too Christian

I got in trouble yesterday because some people think I am too 'in your face' about my commitment to Jesus Christ. Yet I know so many who would hate me because they think my Universalism somehow entails a lessened commitment to Jesus Christ. But that is ridiculous. To believe that Christ's sacrifice was powerful enough to save ALL souls no matter what in no way denigrates Christ's importance. On the contrary. Jesus Christ stands at the center of all I do, am, think about and talk about, whenever I am not faltering in sin. He is the most important person in my life, the form and function of my encounter with God, my closest friend and the center of my sense of salvation. Jesus Christ is absolutely everything to me, and it permeates all I do. I work hard to be inclusive, to never put down those who believe differently, to learn from other religions and respect other faiths, but the man Jesus, as the living Incarnation of God Himself, the Cross and Resurrection, exist as my foundation. The criticisms I received yesterday hurt me, because no one likes to be criticized. But they also reinforced my own sense that I am doing something right.

Quotable

"All false gods eventually fall."- Captain America

On Ethics

I've reached the point in my life where I've just become skeptical of the search for 'the good' either as a matter of some external law or some internal fact of character. More and more I quit looking for some abstract ethical principles or some vision of human nature to which I seek to conform. I've come to see all ethical language as merely reflections of some fact. Moral language seems to me to reduce to some perception. I don't ask myself so much whether what I am doing is 'good' or 'bad'. Rather, I think in terms of the suffering or joy of God. I think when people talk about what should or shouldn't be done, they are in effect talking about the pain or joy of the divine. All 'ethics' has become, for me, strictly religious. Is God benefited or hurt? Is God made or less incarnate in the world by this act? These are the ethical questions that interest me.

To say something 'is good' is just, for me, to say 'I see God in that.' This doesn't fall victim to Euthyphro's Dilemma because there is not question of God's Will, but rather God's presence. Truly, then, I think my entire outlook on life is vehemently Christocentric. There is no right or wrong, or good or evil, there is only the Cross and Resurrection, and what our lives look like in the light of these.

Cross-Blogging: EYC LARP Page

Here:
http://stthomaseyclarp.blogspot.com/2014/04/arena-larp-rules-for-may-17th.html

Quotable

"Greed in service to a good cause is still greed."- Stephen King

Off-Topic: Comic Book Reviews

DC's SMALLVILLE: LANTERN #1
Smallville was not my favorite television show, but I did watch it from time to time. It was a hard show to watch because most of the episodes weren't that good, but individual episodes reached the level of brilliant. It was a show with islands of excellence in a sea of suck. So you had to switch to it and watch a few minutes and decide what the situation was each week. I have not read the comic book that was the continuation of the show, but the idea of Superman with a Green Lantern ring was too interesting not to pick up. The book was pretty good, actually, and I enjoyed the approach, though my wife (who was a bigger SMALLVILLE fan than I) did not. The pacing was off and the art was just okay, but overall not a terrible book.
Storyline: 3 Stars
Dialogue: 3.5 Stars
Pacing: 2 Stars
Art: 2.5 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars

Marvel's NOVA #16
I kind of screwed myself with this story arc because somehow I missed the middle issue. But I love Beta Ray Bill and he was featured prominently here to good effect. What I got of the storyline I enjoyed because the story was very 'classic'. A young superhero's oversight has cosmic consequences. Those consequences cause him to fight with an experienced and older hero. Then they team up and wrestle with the bad guy. There was a lot in this comic about youth and power, and how important experience really is. I enjoyed it.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3.5 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars

DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE #29
Here Cyborg and the Metal Men take center stage as progress against the Criminal Syndicate continues. I have to say, I am enjoying watching individual members of the Syndicate finally get taken down. Here Cyborg overcomes a mental block he's long had when it comes to manifesting mentally in the digital world. That overcoming of a long-standing limitation makes it possible for him to finally take out his evil robot nemesis Grid. I loved every aspect of this comic.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

Marvel's DEADPOOL VS CARNAGE #2
Well this book is just a shoot-em-up rage of chaos and laughter. This is not a comic book for kids, and the violence is extreme, but there is a loony toons edge to it all that really works. Funny and fun, this battle is one that really needed to be explored. These two characters work perfectly against one another. And Deadpool's comic awareness has perhaps the best effect I've ever seen in the comics. It sometimes annoys me, but here it just works.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 5 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars

"Let It Go" *Spoiler Alert*

There is a song in the film FROZEN that has become very popular. Little girls are singing it everywhere, and it is a rare Disney film that has actually made it on billboard charts. The song itself is one of the best aesthetically in the film, but the lyrics are morally impoverished. One of the dangers of taking a song out of context when it is part of a musical, is that one can miss the point of the song. In the film, the main character goes through a transformation. This song is from an important part of that transformation. But ultimately it represents an existential crisis, a major fall from which the character must eventually extract themselves.

At the point when this song is sung, the main character has been doing everything they can to hold back their fears by learning not to feel anything, but rather to live according to some tight set of rules and obligations. It is an attempt to live and to be motivated not by what one wants but by what one should do. In an attempt to move past this kind of 'frozen' existence, the character decides to seek a kind of absolute freedom, where there are no rules and no responsibilities. She wrongly believes that to be free is to live outside the bounds of rules. The song specifically talks about embracing a radical relativity, 'no right nor wrong' where freedom is found by making up one's own moral order.

The character quickly discovers that living without rules doesn't make one more free, but less, by isolating them from others and by creating terrible consequences for other people. We cannot neatly extract ourselves from responsibility, because who we are is inclusive of other people. The self is not isolated and atomized, thus freedom cannot be found all by our own. A freedom that does not free others is no freedom at all. The main character's supposed 'freedom' oppressed others, and so was no kind of freedom.

She goes on to learn that it is only by creative love, by finding a mutual self-giving that is neither an escape from responsibility nor some life controlled by hard and fast rules, that fear can truly be overcome and freedom truly embraced. Freedom is not escape from all duty but an embrace of a higher duty born not because of some imposed obligation but because of a spontaneous sense of responsibility that comes from the discovery of self in relationship with others. By giving of myself to another, I discover who I really am. And in that self-discover I find my true freedom.

The song itself calcifies one moment in the film, and it is the moment where the main character has made a serious mistake on the road to genuine self-discovery and freedom. It is a mistake we all make at some point. But that it should be celebrated is a bit disturbing. It is not surprising given the fact that our society often makes the existential mistake of identifying 'the good' with external obligation and 'the free' with the ability to flee from obligation. But the real adventure of life is more subtle and complex than our modern imagination is often capable of conceiving.

Easter & The Song of Solomon

Arguably, one of the most beautiful lines ever written is Song of Solomon 8:6

Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.

This line, it could be said, sums up the reason for Easter, the true meaning of the day. The facts of suffering and death, and the depth of horror that they make known to us, cannot be denied. They must be fully faced and accepted as true facts of life, whether to be accepted or fought against vehemently. The horror of life cannot be minimized, or explained away, or ignored without denying Truth with a capital "T". This is the meaning of the Cross, the beauty and horror of Good Friday. God helps us make sense of the 'depth' of our experience of horror and lets us know that we are not alone in it. We can understand suffering and don't have to minimize or ignore it. It is real, and it is as terrible as it seems.

But in the face of this, in the face of the death of God in the world, the question of despair instantly arises. How can we live in such a world, how can we accept that evil has the last word. In point of fact, we cannot, not just because we are psychologically incapable of doing so, but also because the choice to take the world seriously and deeply imposes on us a responsibility to take both the bad AND the good seriously and deeply. Beauty, wonder, virtue, love and life impose themselves on us just as evil, death and suffering do. They invite us to eternity, to believe in forever. The question is whether we can indeed TRUST that experience. Is the Song of Solomon passage true? This is the central question of life. Is life greater than death, being greater than non-being, beauty above horror, wonder above despair, and love greater than death? Easter is God's way of saying 'yes' to all of these questions. The Christ that dies on the Cross is raised again. The things that we need to accept about the Resurrection are that it was an act of God (that it was not just some psychological projection of the disciples, but that God Himself  acted to make it known), that Jesus Himself was victorious over death (so that we know what was revealed in Him was truly God), and it affirms life in this world as it is lived in this world. 

The horrors of the world are known in the Cross, and the depths of sin are recognized. Love and life remain triumphant, however. Evil and good may seem equally powerful in the world, with evil often having the upper hand. But the pretense to ultimacy is, for evil, merely a lie. For evil is passing, and good is eternal. Every moment of beauty, wonder, life and splendor is eternalized in God. No moment of value passes away, it lives forever in Heaven and in the mind of God. Thus love is not only as strong as death, but much stronger. Christ is risen, God is eternal, and so life is victorious. Amen. 

A Recitation: Luke 25:36-53

The Lord is risen indeed!

Recitation: Luke 23:49- 24:35

The Empty Tomb, and early encounters with the Resurrected Christ. 

Another Fantastic Blog

http://thecrucifiedgod.blogspot.com/2014/04/christs-horrific-death-on-good-friday.html

This is a must read.

Update: Compare to: http://ljtsg.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-unconscious-divinity-of-jesus.html

Good Friday At MavPhil

http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2014/04/good-friday-at-the-mercy-of-a-little-piece-of-iron.html

FROZEN Bible Study *Spoiler Alert*

I recently did a FROZEN Bible study. If you think about it, that entire movie can be summed up in one line: "Perfect love casts out fear."- 1 John 4:18

Partial Re-Post: Stations of the Cross

Intro

These stations represent the last fourteen steps of Jesus' long journey to the cross.

It was a journey with many twists and turns, with joy and laughter, danger and sorrow, as any great journey is. But Jesus knew how it would end.

Yes, these are the last fourteen steps' of Jesus life. But for us they must be the first fourteen steps on a new journey. 

Unlike Jesus we don't know where that journey will take us, but if it is shaped by our experience here, then we can know that wherever it takes us, we will be able to endure and keep faith. 

For our journey can be no harder than His, and on ours He will be our companion. 

Amen.

Station 1: Jesus Is Condemned By Pilate

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Here Jesus, The Judge of the World, stands trial before a corrupt official. But who is really on trial here? Who is proved guilty and who really stands condemned? We must always beware when we judge others, that in our condemnation we are not really condemning ourselves. And let us seek to never overcome evil with evil. But like Jesus to let our love and obedience be so great, that in defeat God might bring us victory.

P: "Let us not judge lest we be judged."

R: "And not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good."

Station 2: Jesus Takes His Cross

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Jesus is given a mighty burden to bear. But the physical weight of the Cross is only the tip of the iceberg. It reveals to the senses a much more terrible and hidden reality. For the real burden this frail man carries is the weight of all of our sins. Every lie, every betrayal, every harm visited upon anyone, now sits upon the body and soul of Jesus. So whenever we find an opportunity to fight against sin within, or injustice without, let us see that as an opportunity to relieve, if even to the smallest degree, the pain of our Lord.

P: "We know what is required of us."

R: "To love goodness, and do justice, and walk humbly with our God."

Station 3: Jesus Falls For The First Time

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Jesus is God Incarnate, the Lord of the Universe. Now He has so humbled Himself that He falls upon the ground from exhaustion. People so often seek God in the unusual, the extraordinary, the glorious and the distinguished. But Christ came as one of the lowly. And it is among the lowly that we will discover our God. Service to the lowest is not a duty, but the expression of a fundamental truth: God is Suffering Love.

P: "For The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve"

R: "And offer Himself as a sacrifice for many"

Station 4: Jesus Meets His Mother

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

The greatest spiritual pain a person can experience is helplessly watching the suffering of someone they love. But in a very real sense, we should all seek the perspective of Mary, watching Jesus bear this terrible burden. For if our sin causes the suffering of the Lord we love, then should not this knowledge push us away from evil? So let us not turn away, but witness boldly the consequences of our sin, so that we may sin less. 

P: "Create in us pure hearts, O Lord"

R: "And send your Spirit upon us."

 Station 5: Simon The Cyrene Carries Jesus' Cross

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Jesus is not alone on this final leg of His journey. God is with Him. And there are people there, too. Simon bears' Jesus physical burden, when He no longer has the strength to. Simon has no idea what is going on, or who Jesus is. How often do those who know nothing of Our Lord, find communion with Him through the alleviation of suffering in this world. May we follow their example, and let love be our guiding light when others are in pain.

P: "Let not jealousy bring us to stop those who are doing good."

R: "For whoever is not against us is for us."

Station 6: Veronica Wipes The Face Of Jesus

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Simon comes to us as an outsider. But Veronica appears as one who knows and loves Jesus. Love always issues in obedience and service. And no kindness, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is ever wasted. For to alleviate any suffering to any degree is to do a kindness to God. And no kindness towards God could ever be accounted small.

P: "Anyone who gives even a cup of water to one of these who are His servants"

R: "Will surely receive their reward."

Station 7: Jesus Falls A Second Time

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

How great Jesus' suffering must be. Even without the physical burden of the Cross, now carried by Simon, the spiritual weight of all sin and its consequences weighs Him down. How often do we complain and moan because we have to deal with the after-effects of even one person's mistakes? Only through forgiveness and tolerance of the weakness of others, can we share in the power of Christ.

P: "Let us daily bear each other's burdens"

R: "For to suffer for the wrongs of others is to share in the Cross of Christ."

Station 8: Jesus Meets The Women Of Jerusalem

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Jesus did not seek the pity of others. Rather, He had pity for all those whose sin is so great and so unexamined that a sacrifice like His is required. The women Jesus meets here love Him, and stay close to Him even when His other friends have left. But their pity is misplaced. For it is not the one who suffers because of sin that is pitiable. It is the sin itself that is pitiful.

P: "Let us not weep for Him, but for ourselves."

R: "For if this is what happens when times are green, what will happen when they are dry?"

Station 9: Jesus Falls For The Third Time

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Jesus again reveals to us a God found not on the mountaintop, but in the lowest and weakest. God created us to love and serve Him. But He also created us so that He could love and serve us. We cannot fully understand the meaning of the first principle, if we do not grasp the significance of the second.

P: "If we do not allow Him to serve us, we can have no part with Him."

R: "But as He served so must we, for the student is not greater than the master."

Station 10: Jesus' Clothes Are Taken Away

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

He stands now at His most vulnerable. God Incarnate, naked to the world. Battered, broken, and humiliated. But this is the very reason for which He came: to show us the power of vulnerability, and the Divinity of Love. In helping those most in need, we humble ourselves before the lowest, and make ourselves vulnerable to those most vulnerable. That is the very substance of the Kingdom of God in this world.

P: "We know how to feed, clothe, and comfort our Lord."

R: "For if we do this for the least of these that are His children, we do it for Him."

Station 11: Jesus Is Nailed To The Cross

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

The nailing to the cross is the image that stick with us. The physical pain is something we can scarcely imagine. But, again, that image is but a visible and outward sign of a more terrible and hidden reality. For the pain of the nails merely represents Jesus' place as the victim of every crime, of every sin, every dishonor ever visited upon anyone. So to fight for the right, and to help the victims of sin, is to alleviate the suffering of God.

P: "For we know that our redeemer lives."

R: "And that He has stood upon the Earth."

Station 12: Jesus Dies On The Cross

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

The life of God now encompasses the whole of human existence: from birth to death. There is no place of brokenness, fear, or pain where God has not followed, or where we are hidden from Him. God has fully embraced the problem of Job. Death and suffering are not foreign to the life Divine. So let us never take them as signs of God's disfavor or opposition in this world. Jesus suffered not because He was evil, but because He was good.

P: "Let us be of the same mind as Christ"

R: "Who became obedient unto death, even death on a cross."

Station 13: The Body Of Jesus Is Taken Down From The Cross

P: "We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, for your gift upon the Cross."

R: "For by Your death You destroyed death. And by Your wounds we are healed."

P: Amen

Even through His darkest moment, Jesus brought people to the light. A Roman soldier sees in Jesus' attitude towards death a revelation of the Divine. His battered and broken body, now lifeless is brought down from the cross. Death is painful for those left behind, but for the dying it is a doorway to a greater adventure. For without the cross, there can be no resurrection.

P: "See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness over its people."

R: "But the Lord rises upon you."

Station 14: Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb

[A moment of silence]

It ends with yet another act of service. Joseph of Arimathea has contributed part of his burial land for the one called Jesus. This would've taken great courage, as Joseph was a member of the very council that condemned Jesus. What a wonderful event is to come, however, and Joseph's kindness is richly rewarded, for his name will forever be connected to it. Service to others is service to our Lord, and to serve our Lord is to share in His resurrection. Not just in the future, but right here, right now.

P: "As Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish but was released,"

R: "So shall our Lord descend to the realm of the dead, yet be raised up on the third day."

Conclusion

And so Jesus' journey ends. But yours is just beginning. You do not know where it will take you, but now you know the real stakes in life. Every decision to sin or not to sin; to help or not to help; is a decision to participate in or to alleviate the suffering of God. You will not always make the right choice, but try my friends. And for good or ill know that nothing, absolutely nothing in this world can separate you from the love of God, and all because of the gift Jesus Christ gave us upon that Cross.

Amen.