Sigh. It's going to be another one of those weeks, isn't it? We were actually starting to have *fun* here on FFL until the Bringdown Twins decided to lower things to their level again.
Back in the trash bin with Flay-again. :-) --- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > Edg, > > > > Happy that you got off on my rap enough to write > > all this, and happy that it made you happy to > > write it. But you're still selling, and I'm not > > a prospective buyer. I was just walking through > > the market digging all the sights and sounds and > > wandered past your booth. :-) > > > > I would never be so silly as to believe that there > > was such a thing as "one truth," let alone try to > > express it. I'll leave that to you... > > > > Unc > > I can conclude from your response to Edg and others > that there is only one truth and that remains for you > only the truths that you yourself have discovered. You can conclude anything you want. And, history indicates, probably will. :-) > You > are not beholden to the logic or experiences of others > when they are offered to you, although you could > potentially learn from them. That is correct. Neither are you, although you don't seem to have ever realized this. :-) > No, you will only choose that which you have > discovered and which you decide glorifies your own > self image. A good example are the Bruce Cockburn > quotes that you post from time to time. Safe bet, > because Bruce is a well known and "cool" musician, and > he has never chased you, asking you accept his stuff. > You gladly accept it, possibly because you wish to > emulate him. You do have a weakness for musicians I've > noticed. :-) There's music in the forest Children laugh in the school yard On the skid row of the spirit Hear the ranting of the Western Guard Why don't you cool out Can it be so hard to love yourself without thinking someone else holds a lower card -- Bruce Cockburn, 1977 One of the reasons I like Bruce Cockburn, and have for over 37 years now, is that he is fairly unique in the world of spiritual writers. First, although he holds strong personal beliefs (Christian beliefs), he never attempts to force them on others or argue that others "hold a lower card" by believing something else. Second, he's a helluva poet, a wordsmith who speaks to my heart. I love the ways in which he encapsulates complex ideas in simple words. And third, I like his credo. He has described his work as "journaling," merely keeping a record of the fine and wonderful places -- both inner and outer -- his life has taken him to, and through. He would *never* think of himself as some kind of "teacher," or his songs as containing some kind of "message" or "truth" for others. They are merely poetic sound-paintings of his travels through life as a spritual being, a set of footprints left behind to mark that life. He has spoken of this eloquently at religious conclaves at Calvin College and other forums. He doesn't hope that others will *follow* his footsteps -- exactly the opposite. He hopes instead that the song-records of *his* spiritual footprints will inspire others to value their *own* footprints through life, wherever that life may take them. That certainly seems to have been the effect of his work on my life. I'm *sorry* that you got up on the wrong side of the bed today, Jim. I'm *sorry* that you, as you put it, feel "beholden" to the "logic and experiences" of others. I'm *sorry* that you feel the need to argue the supremacy of your ideas. And, most of all, I'm *sorry* that you don't seem to have many footsteps of your *own* to celebrate here, and have to spend so much time trying to elevate the footsteps of others that you feel "beholden" to. It must make it very difficult to be you, and thus I can have compassion for you when you start acting like Willytex. But I don't have to interact with you when you get like this. I'm not "beholden" to you or to anyone else. I make my *own* footprints, and mine are leading away from you.
