Carl from Beyond

Just finished Carl Sagan's new book (which was quite a feat for Carl considering he passed away a decade ago... Actually the book is based on transcripts of a lecture series in 1985.) The book is entitled The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God. Sagan starts by expressing his opinion that "the objectives of religion and science...are identical or very nearly so." As much as I admire Sagan's impressive intellect, I would have to respectfully disagree. I believe the objective of science is to understand the 'what' and the 'how', while the objective of religion (or at least one objective) is to embrace the mystery of the 'why'. So for me, the subtitle (A Personal View of the Search for God) ended up being a bit of a misnomer. Sagan's strength is (was) in the scientific realm; he doesn't quite have it in the theology department. However, that being said, it's a decent read---and parts are quite thought-provoking.

--BB

Pic of the Day

Just ran across this... sorta rings true, don't you think?!
--BB

source: google image search (was just bopping around)

New Song (by Ginny Owens)

OK, I did it! Made a powerpoint for this cool song -- which turned out well if I do say so myself :) ... And it looks as if we are going to discuss it Sunday night, so here are the words in their entirety:

---------------------------------------------
I've been grazing in the lush green pastures,
Watching time pass me by,
And I've been wading in the shallow waters,
Where everything is all right-
But today I know that something's different,
Something's disturbing my peace,
Oh, I can feel the changes in the distance,
And hear them calling to me-

The day is here, the time has come
To sing a new song,
It's very clear, I must move on,
And sing a new song,
It will define who I become,
This new song,
So show me how to sing along
To this new song-

I've been looking in the strangest places,
To find the source of my strength,
And even though the outcome never changes,
Still I search endlessly,
But no more wandering around in circles,
It's time that I cross the sea,
Now I'm trading in my cozy corner
For the bigger mystery

Going there means leaving here,
Saying yes means saying no,
Moving on means letting go of what is sure,
For more
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Hope to see ya at The Portal!
--BB

Musings from an Erstwhile Elder

With the Session resignation, etc this past week, I've been thinking about where I've been and where I'm going... I was bopping around Rhapsody today and found a song that I just might put to powerpoint slides... It's called New Song, and I think it fits...

I've been grazing in the lush green pastures,
Watching time pass me by,
And I've been wading in the shallow waters,
Where everything is all right
But today I know that something's different,
Something's disturbing my peace,
Oh, I can feel the changes in the distance,
And hear them calling to me-

The day is here, the time has come
To sing a new song,
It's very clear, I must move on,
And sing a new song,
It will define who I become,
This new song,
So show me how to sing along
To this new song-

...There's more, but that's the idea :)

So anyway, here's to the new song (as we travel along the road)... How many metaphors can I combine?!
--BB