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| Silverfiddle Rant! |
Could a rogue virus lead to a grand creative moment in America’s history? Will Americans, shaken by the reality of a risky universe, rediscover the God who proclaimed himself sovereign over every catastrophe?
-- Robert Nicholson
"Thy Kingdom Come"
I have been praying for another great awakening for quite some time, and I'm confident my prayers join those of hundreds of millions of other people of faith, so this article caught my eye: A Coronavirus Great Awakening?
America has experienced three or four Great Awakenings. Are we due for another one? What would it look like? What preachers or churches would lead it?
A physics PhD and deep thinker I used to work for opined last week that this could lead to a new wave of intellectual ferment and new ideas and inventions, just as the black plague of the Middle Ages did. I'm not that steeped in history, but he averred that the plague forced people to shutter themselves away and spend a lot of time with their thoughts, and that led to many wonderful new ideas that ended up ushering in the Enlightenment. I'm thinking, "yeah, but those people didn't have Netflix, social media and internet porn..."
Have you been praying more? Reading the Bible? Developing intellectual theories or coming up with a new invention? If the government ordered you to stay in your home, what have you been doing to occupy your time?
At the Casa Silverfiddle, we have been praying and reading the Bible more. The kids are doing schoolwork, bracelet-making, origami and playing music. I've been playing a lot of banjo, slowing down and focusing on good technique, and knocking the rust of the old fiddle, reacquainting myself with all the fiddle tunes I used to know.
One source for daily devotionals and online Bible study:
ReplyDeleteOur Daily Bread.
My wife says we are going to try to watch Mass on tv today. Last week was the first Sunday I've not gone to church in decades. We pray for a great societal awakening all the time, but also for a specific individual awakening. Blessings to all of you and your families.
ReplyDeleteFor the Catholics out there, there is always Bishop Robert Barron's daily mass, including Sunday Mass. It is him celebrating in his chapel with a few other people.
DeleteWord on Fire - Daily Mass
The mass is not live, so you can watch it anytime.
DeleteSilver, thanks for the heads up on Bishop Robert Barron's daily mass, "Words on Fire". I am on it as well as more Bible study. Much appreciated.
DeleteLove Bishop Barron. We actually watched Fr. Mike Schmitz from Ascension Press. He is really great also.
DeleteI need to be more diligent in reading my Our Daily Bred magazine (booklet every 2-3 months). A good way to start -- or end -- the day!
ReplyDeleteWe have a subscription to a daily devotional, and reading the Bible passages and the reflection is a nice way to end the day together as a family.
DeleteIf the globe is in for a great awakening (it is actually transitioning and has been for some time) it will not be what the thumpers expect. Many heretofore man made religious traditions will be exposed for what they are. False structures put in place by those more interested in control of the flock than allowing truth to shine.
ReplyDeleteInstead of launching your petty, simple-minded attacks on believers, why don't you take this in a positive direction and expound on your comment?
DeleteI included in this post the potential for "a new wave of intellectual ferment and new ideas and inventions."
Since you are a man of "SCIENCE!" why not expound on this aspect?
SF, said;
Delete"Instead of launching your petty, simple-minded attacks on believers, why don't you take this in a positive direction and expound on your comment?
If I may... Because all he has is a -laughably- false sense of intellectual superiority and relevance. When that is all you have, you then fling your halfwit -because a half-wit is all you have- at your intended target then -to paraphrase the Monty Python song;
Brave Rational Nation ran away
Bravely ran away away
When danger reared its ugly head
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes, brave Rational Nation turned about
And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat
Bravest of the brave, Rational Nation!
Science and Belief in the One Who created it all are not irreconcilable, except for the blind.
DeleteED: Indeed. That is a logically coherent statement, but probably flies over the haters' heads.
DeleteI think that these "social distancing" measures are as likely to prevent a great awakening as start one. People instinctively look for a reinforcement of their beliefs, but will see few echoes until the churches are re-opened and neighbors gather to worship in groups again.
ReplyDeleteAnd RN, what we are experiencing today exposes the vast limits of human reason. You can't predict the endpoints of exponential curves. Our "rational" societies have been reduced to the absurd babbling of experts w/o expertise, and so faith reveals itself to represent the true nature of the human condition.
More on the "Rational" reduced to the "Absurd".
DeleteBOOM!
DeleteHumans and their reasoning ability is not what it was. Science and its many disciplines have been responsible for ALL of mankind's advancements. Period. Religion and religious superstitions have been responsible for much of human suffering throughout history.
ReplyDeleteOrganized religions of ALL faiths are things to be avoided IMO. Seeking true spirituality and harmony with the energies and vibrational frequencies of the cosmos makes a lot more sense to me.
Poor Les, trafficking in impoverished and discredited "Either-Or" fallacies...
DeletePoor Silver, trafficking in the impoverished traditions of man. Each to their own I suppose.
DeleteReverend King didn't use science to convince Americans we are all equal.
DeleteMeanwhile, Progressive icons Woody Wilson and Margaret Sanger cloaked their racism in Science.
Faith and Reason go together, and both can be abused. A humble understanding that--as the Camus link explains--"absolute truth is unavailable" can produce in a person a healthy outlook.
@ LES: "impoverished traditions of man"
DeleteAs opposed to what? Traditions of animals? Space aliens?
Have you done even the most cursory reading of human history and anthropology? Traditions are the elemental building blocks of all cultures and societies.
Science, true science, is color blind as is true spirituality. So, your point is?
DeleteSpirituality fills in some of the blanks science is not yet able to. Science will very likely never fill in all the blanks. Something I freely acknowledge. I agree with Camus. Absolute truth is unavailable. Why this is so is a subject philosophy will still be massaging long after we're gone.
SF, if you had not already replied to RN, I would delete his comments.
DeleteYou diminish yourself repling to a jabbering idiot.
RN, aren't you overdue for your monthly ECT therapy?
It is tiring watching him pick fights he is intellectually unequipped to participate in...
DeleteAre you?
DeleteI remember one such child when I was growing up. He would incessantly pick fights that he wasn't equipped to win, get his ass kicked, then come back for more the next day. He didn't even seem to realize that he lost every time.
DeleteMaybe it's repetitive brain injury.
A GENTLE REMINDER:
Delete"Just ONE DROP of STRYCHNINE poisons an entire Pitcher of Lemonade giving DEATH to those who only sought REFRESHMENT.
C__A__P__I__C__H__E__?
};^∑>
Another reminder, this one from nature (and the 80's hair band, Poison)...
DeleteEvery rose has its thorn :-)
If you all think you've won the fight intellectually I have a wall for sale.
DeleteOne that Mexico didn't pay for.
LOL!
You shouldn't drunk post, Bozo. It makes you look dumber tha... never mind, that's not possible.
Delete"Every rose has its thorn :-)"
DeleteBret Michaels of "Poisin" :-)
Lively discussion. Thank you.
My favorite: Camus link explains--"absolute truth is unavailable"
Camus was a self-important self-conceited fool which which rejected life as meaningless and absurd. Such drivel would only appeal to those of a similar pathology.
DeleteWhat I don't understand is why these type of people must ever inflict their neuroses on the rest of us.
I split from Camus, as a Christian, on the belief of God. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. But he makes some interesting points about many things. In context, some of this thread is about existentialism more than Christioanity. Your tone through some of it is questionable if not absurd (pun intended).
DeleteSorry, guys, but as I keep trying to tell our friend FJ, "French Thought" and ALL THE ASSERTIVELY atheistic "Philsophers from the 19th-century, –– as well as the current, in-vogue proponent of "New Communism," Slavoj Zizek ––, have worked to DESTROY FAITH by POISONING MINDS with enervating, dispiriting, perplexing, nihilistic HORSE MANURE that masquerades as "Deep Thinking."
DeleteKP,
DeleteMy point is that nihilism is absurd in point of fact. If one truly believes that life is meaningless and has no value then off yourself and spare the rest of us your angst.
"If" truth is relative and unknowable, why bother to argue your point or deride someone else's beliefs, by their own logic, it cannot be know if their point is invalid or not.
Yet they mock and derided those of faith so I ruthlessly mock them. Their self-absorption negates any other reply.
It's pointless to argue Christianity with someone that has rejected it as foolish nor can see its benefits or someone willfully and invincibly ignorant. Lady's and Gentlemen, I give you, RN.
I agree with nearly all you say. Just not the way you said it to me. And I appreciate this comment tone. I generally like your comments and would have commented on more of them last night absent your attitude on this one. As well, thank you for the work with St. Vincent de Paul. I have worked with them in San Diego and Father Joe's Villages. PEACE
DeleteWarren, I am pained by your and AOW's loss with TMW's passing.
DeletePatricia was a very special person and will be missed by many.
DeleteKP, thank you for your concern and sympathy.
Delete(From my phone)
@Silverfiddle... take your pick. Your choice matters not to me.
ReplyDeleteWhy yes, I have. Stay on your path and understanding and I assure you I shall do the samee.
For 2,000 years, the Bible provided the best public health advice available. 200 years of Science has improved upon, but certainly not "replaced" it.
DeleteFJ +1
DeleteThank you, SilverFiddle for echoing and expanding on what I have repeatedly tried to say since this hideously hyped up "CRISIS" began.
ReplyDeleteMy earnest attempts at exhortation and admonition have either been studiously ignored or met with contempt, derision and rude attempts to impugn my motives.
I hope you have better luck in your quest to spread the Good Word.
. . .but the righteous souls are in the Hand of God
And neither pain nor Grief shall nigh them come. . . .
~ excerpted from A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms
We also have to remember some scientific facts. Based on the data we have so far, even in the most vulnerable population, 93 to 97 out of every 100 who contract the virus will survive it.
DeleteI'm having a hard time reconciling my belief in all the opinions that we were over-blowing this (Princess Diamond, etc.) with the data from ERs showing up.
DeletePerhaps there weren't enough susceptible passengers on the boat as their are in metropolitan centers?
I wish we had more data on the ER victims' previous lifestyle choices. Not that I would "condemn" them for them, but it would help to reconcile some things.
Ed,
DeleteWe do seem to be missing some information, don't we?
Ed an AOW,
DeleteI believe we are gettng a highly DISTORTED, agenda-driven view of Reality from the ENEMEDIA
This does NOT mean I don't take the threat of this virus seriously, I do, but I also blieve that an atmosphere of deliberately ofmented Mass Hysteria, Panic, and Dread really can make us more vulnerable to EVERY kind of disease as all that ferocius negativity probably weakens our immune system along with our mental health.
... Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
ReplyDelete~ St. Paul to the Philippians 4:8 (KJV)
Happy Sunday, to All!
ReplyDeleteBe glad, as I am, that you are alive and still able to enjoy many of the most important aspects of life such as enhancing a store of wisdom and knowledge through prayer, reading, meditation, and attemptimg to show love to family and friends through phone calls, emails and making every effort to be agreeable and encouraging to everyone you know..
It’s still hard to believe how we suddenly got plunged into this Maelstrom of Fear, Deprivation, and Major Inconvenience. [I still refuse to call it a Disaster, and still believe the dangers have been grossly exaggerated for the purpose of strengthening Power and Control on the part of Government.]
Using a “crisis” –– real or conjured up –– to intimidate people and make them willing to give up their God-given liberties is a timeworn method of conquest and subjugation.
Remember it was Ben Frankin who said:
"They that can give up essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~ Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Also Edmund Burke in roughly the same time frame:
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
~ Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
At any rate please continue to enjoy life no matter what, and remember:
Living Well is the Best Revenge.
I have woken up in an alternate reality
ReplyDeleteI seem to be in the pages of the Mask of the Red Death
Mexico wants to strengthen its border to keep Americans out
Rhode Island want to turn NYC residents back at the border
Dunkin Doughnuts is closed
I was outside and got a Whopper enjoyed it like a last meal
Toilet Paper has replaced cash
When this is over
I dont want to hear open borders abolish ICE
Our nation will survive but it will change
Colleges will no longer need big campuses
Professors lectures will be on the record
Days of Whining Weathermen are a relic
The MSM either attempts to do its job
Or folks will turn to Fox and the blogosphere
Beak,
DeleteToilet Paper has replaced cash
Is that an exaggeration? I hope so!
++ for The Beak
DeleteExaggerating but I am having to use store brand
DeleteThere was a nasty bug before this.
I am wondering if it hasnt been here longer
I couldnt walk. Breathing was an issue
If I laughed I couldn’t breathe.
That was a whale of a flu
Oddly I am better than in weeks
Beak Said;
Delete"I couldnt walk"
No doubt, the store brand toilet paper! ;^)
Glad you are doing better, my dear friend.
Thanks Warren
DeleteI have to go in today and am not pleased. This is dangerous bur the resignation of my family bothers me more. I pass the days with my granddaughter who might remember this. Its hard on kids who want to play and stupid teens in love.
Me I silently protest this order by playing the theme from a bridge too far and recitals of the charge of the light brigade.
I sent AOW a photo from the dead zone in Rush hour. Maybe she will post it
I took pictures showing the dead zone.
DeleteNo people
Beak,
DeleteI saw!
Creepy.
Apocalyptic.
"this could lead to a new wave of intellectual ferment and new ideas and inventions"
ReplyDeletemaybe. I don't expect much in the way of inventions or philosophical progress, but I'm fairly hopeful that we'll carry forward some of the efficiency savings we're discovering as everyone becomes accustomed to remote meetings and more people eschew the long commute to work more often from home instead.
I hope we'll experience a social shift as well, where people reflect in solitude on their dependence on and responsibility to each other.
I think there might be some political shift as the global nature of this crisis illustrates the inherent limitations of nationalism, and more of the general public experiences first-hand the reality of relying on benefits.
Do you expect people to recognize the limits of Nationalism without recognizing the worthlessness of Globalism as personified by the greediness of the independent EU Nations or the ruthless Totalitarianism of the CCP masquerading as a charity organization?
DeleteShall we join hands and sing Kumbaya? -ain't going to happen-
People rely on benefits because, in general, by nature they are lazy and selfish. People have very short memories and waving cash under their collective noses seems to be a proven method to remove any semblance of common sense or morality.
I say that as a former member of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, retired with over 9 years of social work.
join hands and sing Kumbaya? Not quite what Ihad in mind. I'm keeping it intentionally vague, but I'm not speaking entirely without historical precedent, consider the kind of reforms that were made immediately post-WWII.
DeleteThanks for the charity work! You have had more contact with those circumstances than I have, but I expect even your perspective would shift in the face of first-hand (as opposed to second-hand) experience, depending on how stubborn you are (probably very).
Jez,
DeleteYou might be surprised at how many of us here have first-hand experience with poverty.
Jez,
DeleteLet's just say that I have first-hand experience with poverty and my perspective was formed by my situation.
I have first-hand experience with poverty. Why the left thinks they have a lock on this subject is hard for me to reconcile.
DeleteI don't have a lock on it. I just think a lot of right-wing opinion is naive (not all of it, obviously) and I guess it might be different if it weren't.
Delete“Hope” is the thing with feathers ––
ReplyDeleteThat perches in the soul ––
And sings the tune without the words ––
And never stops –– at all ––
And sweetest –– in the Gale –– is heard ––
And sore must be the storm ––
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm ––
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
I, personally woud have preferred Miss Dickinson to have used FAITH instead of HOPE, bcause I believe it closer to the truth of what she was trying to say in this poem. Miss Dickinson, however, suffered with great skepticism about the teachings of the Bible, and privately confessed in her poetry that she often struggled with Doubt. She did not particularly admire this in herself, however. The message I've gotten after reading virtually everything she ever wrote –– including her personal letters –– was that she WISHED "she could believe it," and times indicated that did, but only sporadically. I admire the honesty she expressed in her words and to herself –– a rare quality in human beings most of whom rely on an outward show of conformity to prevaiing orthodoxies in order not to draw unfavorble attention to themselves.
I never knew that it was now patriotic to root for the destruction of America as the Lefties are doing these days!
ReplyDeleteThere is no question the Democrat are using federal Stimulus funding for all sorts of stuff including their New Gren Deal agenda it’s just like stealing the money.
ReplyDeleteThe Vermin don’t care at all about the Millions of Americans who are Hurting and are in desperate need of help. Pelosi’s Coronavirus Bill is stuffed with Unrelated Goodies for the Democrats agenda.
It's a shame, and disgusting how the Democrat party ALWAYS tries to profit from a catastrophe and from some ones misery!
They should be ashamed of themselves...
But then again, they have no shame..
Including $35 million meant for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C
Saving the Postal Service
$300 million would be allotted for the National Endowment of the Arts and an additional $300 million for the National Endowment of the Humanities. Funding for Planned Parenthood
Occupy Democrats, a very popular Liberal News Piece of Crap, and also known as the Bible of the Ultra Libs, with more than 8.6 million followers, posted a tweet on March 26 that wished for the Suicide of two Republican Senators. The tweet showed a picture of Senators Lindsay Graham, and Mitch McConnell , with the caption: “If old people have to die to save the economy, maybe these guys will volunteer”
ReplyDeleteComments from users also included the ghoulish statement, “Absolutely first in line. All Congressional members 65 and older plus the Orange One. We could use a good house cleaning for the benefit of the country.”
Maybe I can get into see a performance at the Kennedy Center this year as I definitely should be a Stockholder.
ReplyDeleteJust a question (or 2)
ReplyDelete5g Rollout:
Seattle, Washington
New York
New Orleans
Dallas
Las Angles
and so on.
Hot spots of The Virus!
The destruction of small Business.
Usher in the New Currency.
The vaccination will be mandatory, with a chip to track us and prove we are safe to be roaming around in society.
READY FOR THE ANTi-CHRIST.
The Constitution is only a peace of paper-until the People enforce it!
Telling us we cannot attend prayer services.
God's Holy Spirit with a Church full of prayful attendees is
more powerful than their 5g. They have ordered us to stay away from gathering at our Churches.
Houston Pastors have filed law suites against the Harris County Judge for violating the CONSTITUTION.
Lets see if these Secret Handshake Judges will rule against the Houston Pastors.
RN, why are you SO DAMN NEGATIVE to everyone here, if you are so disagreeable with whatever e here has to say, why did you come here? Or did you get lost?
ReplyDeleteGrim, if true...
ReplyDeleteCoronavirus could travel 27 feet, stay in air for hours: MIT researcher!
Doris,
ReplyDeleteRN, why are you SO DAMN NEGATIVE to everyone here, if you are so disagreeable with whatever e here has to say, why did you come here? Or did you get lost?
EXACTLY!
@ KP,
ReplyDeleteThe reason for my tone with RN is that he is a loony tune repeat offender that has been deleted in the past, after warning, for his passive aggressive behavior. He likes to troll SF in particular. He makes vague mealy-mouth insinuations then flees after being called out on his statements or being asked for links to his supposed "proof". A month or so ago he left, supposedly, to never comment here again, -his words- yet here he is.
I don't post very often, -a matter of time- I do, however, read every comment. I am the janitor on this blog in addition to being an administrator. I take out the trash. If RN won't keep his word, at the very least, I'll make him extremely uncomfortable when he comments.
Warren, thanks for the explanation. More than I deserved with all that is going with TMW passing and other stuff. I appreciate your work on the blog.
ReplyDeleteFair enough Jez.
ReplyDelete@KP thanks, and I take your point about the left's pressumption. This is an example of both left and right talking exclusively to their own base: I can't blame either side for responding dismissively to the style of rhetoric used by each others' most prominent opponents; in fact, they are both correct to dismiss the rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteWe agree and I enjoy reading your points of view.
DeleteOn RN, they guy doesn't bother me. I can choose to skip his comments or read them. So what if he is disagreeable relative to God and religion. That is the world we live in. I would rather he shared his point of view without demeaning others in a discriminating way. Still, I would prefer he was able to comment if he could swallow that pill. gulp ...
DeleteThank you to ALL of the above who have written about RN.
ReplyDeleteHe is the most annoying, Big Mouthed, Small man that has ever crossed my path. You deleting his trash, and banning him from this blog is greatly appreciated.
Again Thank You All.