Approach to Meaning

Some things came together today, Tuesday, August 13, 2019, for me in the area of finding meaning in experience.  First, I read online the daily Scripture - Dt.  31:1-8; Mt. 18:1-5,10,12-14 - which I try to do each day on USCCB.  Second, as I was scrolling through the Sirius/XM lineup on my car radio, I stopped at the 'Phish' channel and listened as I drove to my Mom's and from my Mom's apartment after my visit.  Trey Anastasio played a song from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, "Fishing for Fishies," which I liked.  Yesterday's Gospel reading was Mt. 17:22-27 and I'd been pondering its potential meanings off and on for a day now.  The 2nd part of the passage involves fish.

   24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

New International Version (NIV)

Peter and other disciples of Jesus were fishermen.

The lyrics of the King Gizzard song advocate against fishing.

  Fishing for fishies

Don't make them feel happy
Or me neither
I feel so sorry for fishies

It seems like cruelty to me
And I'm hungry, leave them be

I don't want to be fishing for fish
I just want to let them freely swim
I don't want to be fishing for fish
I just want to let them freely swim
All heights honk
Egos tying knots being fate
Don't do it
You ain't a God
Don't hunt salmon, cod or carp

In our day, we have the environmental problem of overfishing and possible extinction of species.  This was not an issue in Jesus' era, two-thousand years ago.

I'm still thinking and pondering.     

To See Jesus

    I apologize for beginning this post with a picture.  There's something inherently wrong with pictures, a deception of the viewer that goes unnoticed.  This particular picture of Jesus is very popular, having been seen and recognized by many people in Christendom since it was painted by Walter Sallman in 1940.  A copy used to hang on a bedroom wall in my childhood home.  It hints at certain qualities the ideal person would have.  Jesus is a hero, a model of holiness, righteousness, but these attributes might not be seen by looking at him as he was, but in pondering his teachings.
A question - how does one "ride an endless train to the end of the line."  How can there be an end to what is endless?  Is this not a paradox?
The quote comes from the first verse of Randy Bachman's song, 'Lookin' Out for No. 1.'  Indeed it contains a contradiction between the words "endless" and "end."  As a piece of advice - "every day is an endless train, you got to ride it to the end of the line" - it'd be rejected by logical positivists and analytic philosophy.  Yet there is sense to the saying.  Days go by in humdrum sameness and end in night, usually with sleep.  The repetition of our days makes them seem endless.  A day shall come, for all, that ends in death.  In between, we have lots of choices.  To see Jesus, to want to see Jesus, because of what he represents, could be one of these choices, a decision reaffirmed day after day.

I came ... not to do my will, but the will of  him who sent me.  (Jn 6.38)
Who has seen me has seen the Father.  (Jn  14.9)
... seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.  (Mt 7.7)
Thy will be done on earth.  (Mt 6.10)
Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, sister and mother.  (Mt 12.50)
... walk in the day, ... those who walk at night stumble.  (Jn 11.9)
Labor not for food that perishes, but for that which lasts.  (Jn 6.27)
My food is to do the will of him who sent me.  (Jn 4.34)
I must walk today and tomorrow and the next day.  (Lk 13.33)        

Thank-you for walking and showing the path to life, Master.  I follow.  I'm so glad to have your words.

              

The Real World

The real world is the world in which God may exist.  The question is, how to turn potential into reality.  Is there a way to turn the possibility of God into the actuality of God?  Yes there is a way and that way is called faith.  Faith is belief in God.  Faith is understanding that a supreme Being exists. 

To be noted about faith is that it's an individual, personal viewpoint.  There are people without faith, those who don't believe in God.  This is the real world.

For the faithful, miracles happen.  To infidels, miracles aren't works of God, but rare occurrences which might be explained scientifically.  So we are back to potentiality.  We live in a world of possibility.       

If a person says that God does not exist, that one isn't living in the real world, for God may be. 

From Detroit, USA to Cape Town, South Africa: a Humble Man & his Work

A man who embodies humility, humbleness, is Sixto Rodriguez.  Born in Detroit, Michigan, 1942, currently age 76, Rodriguez is a musician, singer/songwriter, construction worker, husband, father and political activist.  He has become famous, worldwide, as a result of the 2012 oscar-winning documentary, 'Searching for Sugar Man', but he was famous in South Africa and a couple of other countries before that because of his music, two record albums, 'Cold Fact' (1970) and 'Coming from Reality' (1971).  His songs have been an inspiration to many.  They may be heard on YouTube.

Humility is a quality of human personality, opposite to egotistical pride.  Merriam-Webster defines the noun thusly, "freedom from pride or arrogance : the quality or state of being humble."  To be humble is a way of life or personal attitude advocated in world religions.  In Christianity, many thinkers and leaders have expounded on humbleness through the centuries.  Of course actions do not always agree with words, practice doesn't always go along with principle.  The importance of humility in Christian morality comes from the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.  When Jesus was arrested, his followers tried to defend him, but Jesus didn't allow that, surrendering himself in submission to God's will (Jn 18 and par).  Some sayings of Jesus that bear on the meaning of humility:

 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Mt 23.12).

    So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last (Mt 20.16)." 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Mt 5.5).

Love your brother as your soul; watch over him like the apple of your eye (GTh 25).

Whoever among you becomes least will know the kingdom (GTh 46).

Love your neighbor as yourself (Mk 12.31).

Sixto Rodriguez gave up the music business and turned to renovating abandoned houses in Detroit.  He did the dirty work of this job day after day, year after year.  The music has never left him, however and he keeps playing guitar, performing his songs.  He has run for elected office in Detroit, but never got enough votes.  His reticence and humility, as evidenced in the documentary film, are impressive, indicating a well-grounded person, or depending on viewpoint, may elicit scorn and a wave of dismissal.  He is a stranger and a friend.

Further reading:  Craig Strydom & Stephen Segerman, Sugar Man: The Life, Death and Resurrection  of Sixto Rodriguez (South Africa:  Penguin, 2015)