Lessons in Obscurity Cont.

“It has been a matter of honor to me to make myself obscure to the ignorant, for that is what distinguishes the learned; to speak in a style that seems Greek to the ignorant, for precious pearls should not be cast before swine.”-Luis de Gongora, Spain’s great Baroque poet

Sigh... I wish I would have read this a few months ago. You just don't know how hard I TRIED to reason with the ignorant. I know now.. it just can not be done. I think the biggest surprise comes when you realize too late that some people are not sensible, especially in the area of religious dogma. I can't even begin to imagine how tough it must have been on Jesus to deal with Pharisees every day.

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The Parable of the Snake

Once upon a time there was a serpent who was badly injured in a fight with another animal. It managed to slither away to safety but would have surely died if a benevolent man had not seen it suffering by the side of the road. The goodly man carefully wrapped the snake up and took it to his house, where he bestowed the kindest and gentlest care on the snake until it was healed and could return to the wild. Just as the man was releasing the serpent back into the grass, the ungrateful snake turned and bit him on the hand. "What did you do that for?" cried the man, who knew that the bite of this particular snake was usually fatal. "Didn't I take care of you when no one else would?" The snake shrugged (no small feat for a snake!) and replied to the benevolent--and now doomed-- man, "What did you expect? You knew I was a snake when you picked me up." We certainly know without any question that they are snakes. Time will tell if the moral of the tale is appli...

Tough Mind and Tender Heart by Martin Luther King

SERMON: A Tough Mind And A Tender Heart, by Martin Luther King, Jr. Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16) A French philosopher said, “No man is strong unless he bears within his character antitheses strongly marked.” The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. Not ordinarily do men achieve this balance of opposites. The idealists are not usually realistic, and the realists are not usually idealistic. The militant are not generally known to be passive, nor the passive to be militant. Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble. But life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony. The philosopher Hegel said that truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in an emergent synthesis that reconciles the two. Jesus recognized the need for blending opposites. He knew that his disciples would face a difficult and hostile world, where they would confront the recalcitrance of...

AS I SEEK

By Cherstin Jagger Mendez I seek within the ebb and flow, In every attempt for my heart to grow. I lean into the winds to see what they say. Hoping it’s secrets, it will give away. How do you live a life to the fullest? How do you push yourself beyond….? The lead weights on my feet telling me I can’t go, Due to my age or life, without much to show. For the potential within me fights every day to get out! For the voice in my heart says I can not do without … Without the land beneath my feet, Without the sound of the trees in the wind. Without the buds that bloom and tell me there’s hope, Without the love that flows from beyond my scope. Without the connection that reminds me that I’m alive, Without your heartbeat here by my side I seek again for what I cannot see. I seek again for what’s found inside of me. I seek again for the strength to persevere, As I walk among those that this world does fear …. DEDICATED TO TDCJ CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS

Jiron

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