The Pater (or Lord's Prayer) was the favourite Cathar prayer - arguably their only prayer.
It is, after all the only one sanctioned by the New Testament.
The Cathar Pater (from the «Cathar Ritual»)
Pater noster qui es in celis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua sicut in celo et in terra.
Panem nostrum supersubstancialem da nobis hodie.
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in temptationem sed libera nos a malo.
Quoniam tuum est regnum et virtus et gloria in secula.
Amen.
"Our father, which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our supplementary bread,
And remit our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And keep us from temptation and free us from evil.
Thine is the kingdom, the power and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Friday, March 1, 2013
Saturday, May 30, 2009
I am right, you need to adopt this as your own thought
People fundamentally misunderstand, and hence under appreciate, America. I have 3 main problems with contemporary political discussion. Although I reserve the right to add additional levels of bitterness or annoyance as needed.
1) "America" vs "America"
This one is subversive but subtle. It worms its way into the thought and vocabulary of even many independant and intellectual Americans.
When you say "America", such as "America is great", what do you mean by it?
Do you mean our land itself, the earth and soil and Natural resources?
Do you mean our culture, our tolerance, our collective zeigeist, sense of humor, ethics?
Do you mean our low car insurance rates?
Do you mean our economic or military power?
All too often, people think of america from a pragmatic. pratical angle, proud of our GDP and growth and economic and material successes.
-- Doesnt that imply that you would no longer consider America great if other countries one day made more money, or had cheaper car insurance?
Worst of all, however, people use "America" to mean our government, our congress, even our President. And the people themselves, not just the structure!
-- Doesnt that imply that you'd love America itself less if/when morons get elected?
America is independant and external from those elements!!
America is a concept. It is a powerful, bold, terrifying, and open-ended experiment with no safety net. Do not love America because of a paycheck, or economic power, or prestige, or world leadership, or low car insurance rates.
Love America for reasons that you would still be loving her, even if other countries surpass us in GDP or flying cars or whatever. Value freedom above all else.
We did not form this country because we wanted to be successful. We formed it because we NEEDED to be free, at any risk. So dearly, that we revolted.
2) Will of the People
The phrase 'will of the people' has been tossed around a great deal lately, and all with a positive spin... as if a successful and free democracy automatically should enact the will of the majority.
"Will of the people" should send chills up ones spine just as readily as "Final Solution."
While we are a democracy, our country is the ONLY ONE founded with the clear mandate to do just the oppsite of every single country that had ever existed since the dawn of time - to PROTECT the minority from the 'Will of the People'.
And not only protect us from the will of the people, but from our government itself.
Every bad idea in history has been 'the will of the people'. We choose to live in a land where no matter how popular, no matter how universally seen as truth, no opinion or policy can ever be forced onto the unwilling.
3) Genius of The Founding Fathers
But more than anything else, more than choosing not to take up the mantle of lordship and power, more than protecting the weak from the populist masses pressuring them, our founding fathers realized one essential truth -
Government, any government - even our own benevolent and well-intentioned new creation - is inherently Evil.
Instead of trying to form the perfect benevolent government, they created the smallest, least powerful, least intrusive one they could imagine.
Men and Women writing a new government and choosing not to give themselves power because they knew that no matter how smart, how erll intentioned, even they could not be trusted - other than the Gospels of Christ, I can think of few other inspired moments in human history.
God Bless America
1) "America" vs "America"
This one is subversive but subtle. It worms its way into the thought and vocabulary of even many independant and intellectual Americans.
When you say "America", such as "America is great", what do you mean by it?
Do you mean our land itself, the earth and soil and Natural resources?
Do you mean our culture, our tolerance, our collective zeigeist, sense of humor, ethics?
Do you mean our low car insurance rates?
Do you mean our economic or military power?
All too often, people think of america from a pragmatic. pratical angle, proud of our GDP and growth and economic and material successes.
-- Doesnt that imply that you would no longer consider America great if other countries one day made more money, or had cheaper car insurance?
Worst of all, however, people use "America" to mean our government, our congress, even our President. And the people themselves, not just the structure!
-- Doesnt that imply that you'd love America itself less if/when morons get elected?
America is independant and external from those elements!!
America is a concept. It is a powerful, bold, terrifying, and open-ended experiment with no safety net. Do not love America because of a paycheck, or economic power, or prestige, or world leadership, or low car insurance rates.
Love America for reasons that you would still be loving her, even if other countries surpass us in GDP or flying cars or whatever. Value freedom above all else.
We did not form this country because we wanted to be successful. We formed it because we NEEDED to be free, at any risk. So dearly, that we revolted.
2) Will of the People
The phrase 'will of the people' has been tossed around a great deal lately, and all with a positive spin... as if a successful and free democracy automatically should enact the will of the majority.
"Will of the people" should send chills up ones spine just as readily as "Final Solution."
While we are a democracy, our country is the ONLY ONE founded with the clear mandate to do just the oppsite of every single country that had ever existed since the dawn of time - to PROTECT the minority from the 'Will of the People'.
And not only protect us from the will of the people, but from our government itself.
Every bad idea in history has been 'the will of the people'. We choose to live in a land where no matter how popular, no matter how universally seen as truth, no opinion or policy can ever be forced onto the unwilling.
3) Genius of The Founding Fathers
But more than anything else, more than choosing not to take up the mantle of lordship and power, more than protecting the weak from the populist masses pressuring them, our founding fathers realized one essential truth -
Government, any government - even our own benevolent and well-intentioned new creation - is inherently Evil.
Instead of trying to form the perfect benevolent government, they created the smallest, least powerful, least intrusive one they could imagine.
Men and Women writing a new government and choosing not to give themselves power because they knew that no matter how smart, how erll intentioned, even they could not be trusted - other than the Gospels of Christ, I can think of few other inspired moments in human history.
God Bless America
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Gnostic Politics
The solution to Global Warming is a Nuclear Winter brought about by Global Thermonuclear War.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Reasons to Destroy the Earth, Obama or not
1) Any classically influenced apocalypse, such as zombie, viral, alien, nuclear, oil, or psycho stalking sorority women in a mall, begins with one bold step. BE THE STEP! If you cause zombies to roam the earth... well thats pretty fucking badass man.
2) Felicia Day is probably not a virgin. That means someone other than you (read: me) has twitterpated her nethers with their probably-pianist-trained, Legolas-like long fingers. The ones with skin so thin they make sushi chefs drool. The only way to right this grievous wrong is to NUKE HIM FROM ORBIT. And by him, we all know I mean every square hectare of arable soil.
3) Seriously, cant be stressed enough. Even a small chance to cause zombies to rise is worth the risk. The risk of global thermonuclear war. Would you like to play a game? HELL yeah I would!
4) Who is sick of paying rent? Roll the ugliness of a global apocalypse!
5) Is there truly anyone out there who doesn't want a legitimate excuse to utter "I had to bust a cap in their ass." and have a legit reason? Is total world apocalypse too high a price to pay? Nay, NAY I SAY!!
6) It will lower the queues for our favorite world of warcraft servers.
2) Felicia Day is probably not a virgin. That means someone other than you (read: me) has twitterpated her nethers with their probably-pianist-trained, Legolas-like long fingers. The ones with skin so thin they make sushi chefs drool. The only way to right this grievous wrong is to NUKE HIM FROM ORBIT. And by him, we all know I mean every square hectare of arable soil.
3) Seriously, cant be stressed enough. Even a small chance to cause zombies to rise is worth the risk. The risk of global thermonuclear war. Would you like to play a game? HELL yeah I would!
4) Who is sick of paying rent? Roll the ugliness of a global apocalypse!
5) Is there truly anyone out there who doesn't want a legitimate excuse to utter "I had to bust a cap in their ass." and have a legit reason? Is total world apocalypse too high a price to pay? Nay, NAY I SAY!!
6) It will lower the queues for our favorite world of warcraft servers.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Lost Time
My old familiar alarm clock died tonight, it seems. The loss was sudden and unexpected. I did not quite realize how much symbolism and meaning was intertwined into it's cheap mass-produced innards, until it was too late.
This particular clock talked. It had a slightly warm, approachable robotic tone that read off the hours and minutes - the fabric of our lives - in crisp and concise increments.
It was a present from my Paternal grandmother, when she got one and loved it. She was blind, you see, and so needed a talking clock.
It was a blessing to start each of my days with the instant reminder that there was someone out there who loved me, and who was blind, and definitely had larger issues than me. It is an order of magnitude harder to get upset about having to go into work an hour early when the voice that lifts yu from sweet reveries also reminds yu that a loved one is blind and cannot enjoy any of the sights I will see that day. No trees, no jokes, no children, no change. So shut up and get into the shower.
It also reminds me that I have the same genes as her, same disposition to bad eyes. It was a reminder that there are elements of my life that I cannot control, although possibly predict, and to bear appropriate humility through all my endeavors. I might go blind as well one day, without the luck of genetics or the mercies of american insured medical techniques. There but for the grace of god, go I.
And today that clock, my internal, digital conscience, ceased it's insightful beeps.
I cannot help but fear it is an omen for the woman whom it represents.
MFP
This particular clock talked. It had a slightly warm, approachable robotic tone that read off the hours and minutes - the fabric of our lives - in crisp and concise increments.
It was a present from my Paternal grandmother, when she got one and loved it. She was blind, you see, and so needed a talking clock.
It was a blessing to start each of my days with the instant reminder that there was someone out there who loved me, and who was blind, and definitely had larger issues than me. It is an order of magnitude harder to get upset about having to go into work an hour early when the voice that lifts yu from sweet reveries also reminds yu that a loved one is blind and cannot enjoy any of the sights I will see that day. No trees, no jokes, no children, no change. So shut up and get into the shower.
It also reminds me that I have the same genes as her, same disposition to bad eyes. It was a reminder that there are elements of my life that I cannot control, although possibly predict, and to bear appropriate humility through all my endeavors. I might go blind as well one day, without the luck of genetics or the mercies of american insured medical techniques. There but for the grace of god, go I.
And today that clock, my internal, digital conscience, ceased it's insightful beeps.
I cannot help but fear it is an omen for the woman whom it represents.
MFP
Sunday, February 3, 2008
feb 3 gaming post
I did not expect this to be my first gaming post on this blog, because I have so much mental material (or materielles!) stock-piled like a nerdy Maginot line, but here we are.
When I grew up , a lot of people looked for ways to find self-esteem, and explored them. Jocks played sports, nerds did computer stuff in the nascent industry (I am a 1973, Commodore 64, Lets-play-Oregon-Explorer-on-an-Apple2e-kind of guy), and cute women flirted. Well maybe they did other stuff as well - I certainly wasn't observing them, try as I might.
So we explored this universal human need by focusing our efforts - and hence defining who we are for decades - by choosing between one of a few well-defined paths... frankly, metrics.
Tonight I watched a 7 year-old explain to a 30-something, for hours, how her Nintendo Ds worked, and just one fucking game - something called NintenDOGS, or the like.
I knew this angel well when she was 4 and 5. She was bright and focused on math and puzzle solving (!), but prone to suddenly change rules to her benefit when it suited her.
I listened intently now that she was 7, and her entire seminar was cogent and devoid of exaggerations, egoisms, fabrications. This game sounded really complex and kinda cool!
And just as I was impressed with the game and the tech, she uttered a phrase that prompted and entirely new understanding of the little pink, soft, beeping tool in her young impresionable hands.
With great confidence, when the adult said he didn't think he could handle it without her help, she said:
"Yes it is very detailed and complex, but nothing that I can't handle!"
The point I am trying to make is not that my friends little gal is smart, or that NintenDOGS is neat, but that technology, and most importantly gaming technology, has created a multitude of new paths and methods in which a young kid can find self-esteem, confidence, and ego. And in addition, while computer people of my generation who did well at Oregon Trail automatically defined themselves as 'Nerds', with all the benefits and self-loathing that entails, this little girl who loves pink and magic wands and dancing and being a Princess, could excel at a particular gaming technology and yet not be definied by the technology itself, but still draw all the self-esteem (and my god, ego!) that the successes offered. The technology benefitted her but did not define her, nor limit her.
That to me was Gnosis, a revelation. There is an entirely new world out there, and I am ignorant of it. A 7 year old takes it for granted, and to me it is foreign and magical. If there was middle ground, I am at a loss to find it.
The concept of children and young adults using, mastering, incorporating technology into their little lives but yet not being defined by it as a result is a completely new and foreign concept to me. I can only say I am jealous, even though my C-64 with Telengard and Bruce Lee from tape was way cooler than her crappy NintenDOG.
But yeah, I never went to prom either year, and that C-64 with Telegard and Bruve Lee on tape was a factor. It told me I was wonderful, and special, but we did not mix freely with them. I dream that one day this little girl will read this post I have written about her, and have absolutely no idea what the hell I am talking about.
Who knows if lowly gaming can one day be a bridge between races, classes, sexes? Is it possible that one day the jocks will not beat up nerds, but instead ask them for help with the final boss on level 7 of 'Waffle Thieves of Antiquity, and Other Baked Goods Nere-Do-Wells'? Or better yet, is it possible that gaming can unite people to such a degree that terms such as nerd and jock all blend into one happy, homogeneous guilt-free geekdom?
M. Frank
When I grew up , a lot of people looked for ways to find self-esteem, and explored them. Jocks played sports, nerds did computer stuff in the nascent industry (I am a 1973, Commodore 64, Lets-play-Oregon-Explorer-on-an-Apple2e-kind of guy), and cute women flirted. Well maybe they did other stuff as well - I certainly wasn't observing them, try as I might.
So we explored this universal human need by focusing our efforts - and hence defining who we are for decades - by choosing between one of a few well-defined paths... frankly, metrics.
Tonight I watched a 7 year-old explain to a 30-something, for hours, how her Nintendo Ds worked, and just one fucking game - something called NintenDOGS, or the like.
I knew this angel well when she was 4 and 5. She was bright and focused on math and puzzle solving (!), but prone to suddenly change rules to her benefit when it suited her.
I listened intently now that she was 7, and her entire seminar was cogent and devoid of exaggerations, egoisms, fabrications. This game sounded really complex and kinda cool!
And just as I was impressed with the game and the tech, she uttered a phrase that prompted and entirely new understanding of the little pink, soft, beeping tool in her young impresionable hands.
With great confidence, when the adult said he didn't think he could handle it without her help, she said:
"Yes it is very detailed and complex, but nothing that I can't handle!"
The point I am trying to make is not that my friends little gal is smart, or that NintenDOGS is neat, but that technology, and most importantly gaming technology, has created a multitude of new paths and methods in which a young kid can find self-esteem, confidence, and ego. And in addition, while computer people of my generation who did well at Oregon Trail automatically defined themselves as 'Nerds', with all the benefits and self-loathing that entails, this little girl who loves pink and magic wands and dancing and being a Princess, could excel at a particular gaming technology and yet not be definied by the technology itself, but still draw all the self-esteem (and my god, ego!) that the successes offered. The technology benefitted her but did not define her, nor limit her.
That to me was Gnosis, a revelation. There is an entirely new world out there, and I am ignorant of it. A 7 year old takes it for granted, and to me it is foreign and magical. If there was middle ground, I am at a loss to find it.
The concept of children and young adults using, mastering, incorporating technology into their little lives but yet not being defined by it as a result is a completely new and foreign concept to me. I can only say I am jealous, even though my C-64 with Telengard and Bruce Lee from tape was way cooler than her crappy NintenDOG.
But yeah, I never went to prom either year, and that C-64 with Telegard and Bruve Lee on tape was a factor. It told me I was wonderful, and special, but we did not mix freely with them. I dream that one day this little girl will read this post I have written about her, and have absolutely no idea what the hell I am talking about.
Who knows if lowly gaming can one day be a bridge between races, classes, sexes? Is it possible that one day the jocks will not beat up nerds, but instead ask them for help with the final boss on level 7 of 'Waffle Thieves of Antiquity, and Other Baked Goods Nere-Do-Wells'? Or better yet, is it possible that gaming can unite people to such a degree that terms such as nerd and jock all blend into one happy, homogeneous guilt-free geekdom?
M. Frank
feb 3
gnostic football -
0 Ive fought this so long, but Joe Buck is just terrible. He is so likeable, I hate to admit it - but he is brutal. I cannot even fully explain why.
0 Ive fought this so long, but Joe Buck is just terrible. He is so likeable, I hate to admit it - but he is brutal. I cannot even fully explain why.
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