Today I had a good conversation about race and gender. It was good. I enjoyed it. I even got to spend four hours not thinking about race at all. It was nice to have a four hour break from thinking about it.

I will get to more of that eventually.

I am telling you all I am not a lush. I have never been drunk in my entire life. Been a little tipsy but never, ever drunk. I don't plan on starting now. So for you folks that are concerned about me and wondering if I am partying too much just trust that I know my limits. I am not an alcoholic. That's not denial it's a fact. So I appreciate the concern but know that it's not necessary.

Thanks

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America lost a decent reporter and remarkable human being in Tony Snow. As you all know I am completely left of center and yet I respected him for his sense of fairness and committment to his principles. He was fair and honest. That a rare treat in today's world. RIP and thank you for your service.

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How does one interpret a book that is over 3000 years old?

I keep thinking about this because the topic fascinates me. Most of the protestants I run into read all of  it (including the Psalms and other poetry books) literally. Most of the Catholics, Orthodox, and Coptic Christians I know study it very differently. That difference is something I will be discussing in this blog. Literal application is where I came from but my interpretations have deepened since I first opened the book.

There a lot of ways to interpret scripture. There's the literal one where scripture looses any metaphorical or poetic meaning. The fact that God forgets sin becomes literal in that he know longer remembers it when the reality is God can't forget anything. If he did he would know longer be omniscient. The poetic nature of those verses means that it's as if God forgets and the effect is that it is like God forgetting but the truth is a little more complicated than that. There's the metaphorical one where everything is poetic and nothing is literal. The fact that King David existed becomes a folk tale instead of actual history. The last and most mature form of biblical interpretation is the mystical one. Jewish and Christian mystics were the defining interpreters of the bible for centuries before the fundamentalists started to assert dominance. As soon as you start to study church history orthodox and catholic mystics like Gregory and Athanasius and many others interpreted the scriptures from a very complex view. Some of the bible was literal, some of it not. But all of it became mystical text designed to bring the reader into union with God.

Most Christians take the trinity for granted. They believe that has always been the Godhead. Well they would be wrong. There was a diverse view of God and for a while Arianism ruled the day. If you want to know more about that look it up. It makes for interesting reading. That did not come up until the catholic/orthodox monk Athanasius saw the heresy of that line of argument and through unique union with God and a better argument the triune understanding of God came into view for all orthodox Christian today.

Christian mystics seek union, Hasidic Jews seek  D'veikut (also known as bonding.) They start out the same way as Christians do with the literal interpretation being first but they develop more as they study more. It begins with Pshat, then develops into Remez (the hinted meaning,) Drush (A homiletic interpretation of the words, from the word "Doresh"-to expound. Gives a tangential meaning that is often imaginative or ethical, sometimes derived from comparing similar wording from different Scriptural verses.--Thanks Wiki) and then Sod. Sod is the mystical level of reading the text as taken from the experience of the prophets.

That's where Christian mysticism grew from. Being someone that feels a deeper connection to a far more Catholic and Orthodox biblical analysis I feel that if Christians want to really study scripture they should really seek to find a deeper way of studying it.

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The above title comes from a quote. That quote is verbatim in the title. That quote comes from a rather perverse joke. I won't go into the details on this blog but I will let you use your imagination.  I have been partying all week. It' been great. I feel like I am back in college. I still feel a little too old for this. But it is so much fun. The week feels a little blurry. I went from one party to another. Sunday party at a friends house, Monday off (I came home at 5 am.) Tuesday I partied came home at four. Wednesday I don't remember, actually I think I rested. Thursday I don't know what I did, and Friday spent the day with friends and partied more. Then Saturday I did nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing. I watched movies. Sunday, I partied some more, and I got home at 3:30

I love my life.

Last nite was so freakingly crazy. I tried Swedish vodka. It was really good. I had a couple of shots and I have to recommend it. The party I went to yesterday had a bunch of fire dancers, hippies, addicts, yoga teachers, acupuncturists and outsiders.  I felt so at home.   Everyone had a great time, great spiritual discussion and depth. One of those discussions centered on Darshana. My friend Darshana is on a month long vow of silence. I don't know how he was able to stay quiet as we laughed the whole night but he was doing  it. I respect him a lot for that. The guy is fucking awesome. I love these new age types.

I had a great discussion with a UCSD Ph D candidate  about the effects of meditation and  altered states of  consciousness. I am going on a hike soon. I can't wait.

Tonight I am going to a fire dancing show after practicing centering prayer. I love my life.

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