‘The sense of the world must lie outside the world,’ said Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). The human problem is seeking sense of the world within the world or within one’s own self. But can man go beyond himself by himself? Can someone lift himself up by pulling up his bootstraps? The epistemic predicament of man has been just that in several cases: when he started from himself or nature he returned to himself or nature, to the extent that ‘man is the measure of all things’ was reflected in all his cogitations on man, God, and the world. A glance...
The Sun Still Rises - Gen. 32:31
The Sun Still Rises ‘the sun rose upon him…’ Gen. 32: 31Itarsi, 10 July 2007Domenic Marbaniang Introduction 28: 11 – the sun was set But God had not abandoned him. The first meeting 28: 13 Jacob’s response: 28: 20 – A very business-minded young utilitarian.1. ...
Still You Bend Down To Where I Am
As eternal as the skies is your love t’wards meMy failings disturb me, and I’m downBut you lift me up as a father His childShould I ever recount my transgressions to myselfMy self would abhor me above my transgressionsBut you love me, despite my failingsMy heart feels pale at the thought of its weaknessesBut then you call my name and it sounds sweet in my earsThe highest hills aren’t high enough to scale your majestyStill you bend down to where I am14 July 2...
Praise & Slander
Praise and slander are both fruits of magnification;The one focuses on virtue; the other, on vice.The one supplants the other or versa vice.Thus, bias judges by exaggerationWhat feelings are aroused by sympathy,And striking a note once, then twice,Then times a many, grows voluminous ever,Until revoked, stilled, transformed, removed.Then does feeling spur reason to find more reasonsTo back what it feels, and gets stronger thereby:This all to prove that man knows a littleBut speaks much more,And one only sees as much as one feels.14 July 2...
True Love
Love is unpredictableOr at least, falling in love is.Call it blind, but then call it also deaf and senseless;For, the blind will also love if they can hear and sense.Then does love relate falsely, for the senseless can’t relate.But, as instant is love so is hatred.The dearest soon turns the sorest;The hero, the villain….The flickering, then, can’t be true;For Truth flickers not.The unpredictable is the irrational,And the irrational breeds chaos,Which none’s will can conquer.Therefore, love is stronger than death and unquenchable.Unconquerable for...
Virtue
Service brings reward,And Vice is a good slave-master,For it always recompenses;So does Virtue.But Vice is a vain-masterFor at dusk the hand is empty,And all gathering,Good when at hand;But to the end, a venomous sting.Pleasure is a murderer;Pain, a saviour:For, Pleasure sticks to the Present,While Pain looks to the Future.The Present is time;The Future, eternal.Time kills Contentment;Eternity, Boredom.Time is surface;Eternity, depth.Time is a shadow;Eternity, the real.Time’s encaged by Boredom;Which Pleasure strikes, to kill,But makes it stronger...
People
I must be interested in people, they say. I’m not. I’m interested in ideals. People come and go: ideals do not.….Reality is now visible, after many years.Childhood fancies of fairies and friars gone.I searched for an ideal, but in vain.What I’ve found is truth so cold,That untrained youth can’t hold.Religion is a cloak.Virtue is intermittent; vice, perpetual.Virtue is pretention; vice, desire.Virtue is a feeling; vice, the current.Virtue is a fancy; vice, reality.Man, in ministry, is a self-centered animal.The Christian…doesn’t exist.Heart is witness.Only...
Can a Christian Use Medicines?
In answer to a query by a friendTHERE is a confusion among Christians that believers should not use medicines. However, the Bible nowhere makes it statutory or law for the believer to refrain from medicines. In fact, the Bible is against humans making laws that God has not made. Matthew 15.9; Isaiah 29.13. There are only the Ten commandments and the Two Great Commandments of Jesus Christ. Matthew 22.37.The Bible never tells us that using medicines or any scientific invention (e.g. ovens, utensils, agricultural technology, weapons, etc) is sign...
Ego Masks
Everyone’s great, or so one feels.If no such feeling, can anyone live?The desire to rule is not very bad, not at all.Only misdirected.To have dominion was man created.But he can’t even rule his own spirit.A slave to passion, a slave to the world,Unruled passion, kings of destiny – but still slaves,If one can will, but one can’t.I’m better than most, better than all.If none such feeling, won’t I continually fall?Vainful ego, vain contentions,Ego-contentions, Ego-war,Ego-affronts, Ego-masks,Ego-presumptions, Ego-affections,‘I’ must prevail, ‘truth’...
The Rule of Law Vs The Rule of People
Basically, there are two kinds of government or rules: the rule of people and the rule of lawThe rule of people is manifest in democracy (mobocracy) where majority rule or in dictatorship where the whim of a single man pilots the state. Obviously, the rule of law is preferred above the rule of the mob. However, the appropriateness of the laws is an important question to tackle.As far as best governance is concerned, the best government is considered to be that which has the least control. In other words, if you have to monitor every act of your...
If God Knew that Man would Sin, Why Create Man?
If God foreknew that man was going to fall in sin, then why did He create the world?Answer # 1: The alternative positions to Christianity must be considered, first of all.Atheism. According to it God doesn’t exist; therefore, the problem of ‘why’ He created the world also doesn’t exist. However, the atheist must admit that ultimately ‘why’ the universe exists also is a meaningless question. Thus, lacking any eternal and absolute ground of existence, morality and justice are illusory concepts. In fact, the above question presupposes morality; for...
