The Left Column

Politics for Poets

politics of the here and now

Holy Thursday

Some say that an eclipse of The Sun by The Moon occured while Jesus was being crucified. We use the passive tense because it tends to not put blame on any one group or person. All of them are dead and gone, and noone alive today should be blamed. It's a story, as well as abotu everything else, about the failure of institution to prevent atrocity against an innocent. It's a story of institutional failure at all levels of governance. We shouldn't see it as about any particular type of people, even though they show up in the story. It's really a story about how human society often fails to be just.

Studying a chart of ancient eclipses of the Sun, one might come up with a list of possible days for the actual date of the Crucifiction of Christ.

I looked up some things about this on line and discovered some things. NASA has a very cool repository of all eclipses going back 5000 years, with a map for each. Very cool. I found some but none matched the dates that were suggested by other sources on line. They had two possible dates.

There was a total eclipse in The Levant in AD59, most sources say that is long after the Cruzifiction. The most likely dates were listed. April 3, 33 was one of the dates. The other April 7, 30. Neither of these is the date of an eclipse.

Wikipedia article on The Crucifixion lists these two dates.

The total eclipse in The Levant is shown on a map here. Of course that is thirty years after the Crucifiction as per all sources.

On further reflection concerning this topic: Easter and Passover is based upon the date of a Full Moon. A Solar eclipse by the Moon only happens on a full moon, which would never be on the sunday or Friday following a Full moon, And so if Easter is based upon a date in the say way as was Passover, back in AD 33 (or AD 30), then it could never have been an eclipse of The Sun by The Moon. If an astronomical explanation must be provided it might have been some other object of the Solar System, such as some errant asteroid. Or perhaps it was storm and cloud effects which can make the world dark.

Well, it's an interesting story. And as a fact of History, the Cruzifiction did happen when they said it happened. As far as a date? A date based upon the system of what we use today?

As a Christian I am supposed to tell you that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God. If you believe that or not? That isn't anything that I can give you. Faith is a gift from God, not from people. So consider yourself having been told. And if you get the gift of belief . . . then truly you are blessed. And if you don't agree with me?

You may have the gift of skepticism. And I won't argue the point with you but just point out that the Skeptic is holy even when incorrect in his conclusions. (his/her/?). Skeptics have a valuble roll to route out hypocracy and fraud within systems of governance. The skeptic gives you an alternative point of view and may, in fact, always takes the opposite side that he/she/? imagines that you hold dear to test your metal, so to speak. In any case the different between a skeptic and an atheist?

I can't speak for that. When it isn't just skepticism but a refutal when it serves no purpose but just ego. Hating God? If you know God how can you hate him? I can't speak for that. I cant' really speak for knowing God that well. It's more that I know of God. And He scares me because I'm just not worthy. So . . . the gift of faith leaves me not able to understand the ones who seek to have their worship be unholy. In the Bible the topic often comes up, but it really is impolite to start listing names of false gods, or of demons. They, too , understand who Jesus really is. So those who don't know at all? Or who know and still try to push for the other team? I don't understand it but we do have stories about it. The discussion of good and evil is a very hard topic. It is my belief that only the spirit of rebelion is what causes evil in those who have recieved the word (the gift of faith). And it has to be a faith that is for the various flocks of the Good Shepard. And that isn't just mainstream Christianity, or even have to be what we call 'Christian'. If you are of one of his many flocks, and you know His voice, you don't have to be called a Christian, but you already really are.

Even after 2000 years Jesus Christ is the most popular person ever. You don't have to agree with dogma, and rediculous ritual. But you have to agree with the Spirit, or you have no life at all. And what is that? You can't look to me to tell you.

My inclination is to delete, but it is the season for this kind of exposition. And what with all the politics and hate-mongering the shame-stream media, I figure why not make the most unoffensive Love Jesus post and see how offended some people might get.

Those who know nothing of Christ, if they tell me to not say what I say, if they would go and learn about Christ on their own, read His words, you can't help but love him. Does that make you a Christian? I can't make you one. So why are you afraid of someone who speaks about Christ.

It would be tasteless to prosyltize at another house of worship, almost a hostile act. And accosting a place of worship is also wrong. force conversion: wrong. Forced converts? Are they real converts? And as far as it goes: second generation any one of a 'true believer' group: they always are more socially whateva-faith, and not necessarily part of it because they really believe it, and don't understand their own scriptures.

And the religion becomes tribal. It becomes almost like rival soccor teams, only with much more dire consequences. People are of a faith because they have the faith but because they are the descendants of those who did have it, and the spirit of the goodness that did come from those earlier generations is not necessarily transmitted to the future generations. It's called the curse of wealth.

People want an explanation. And there are groups who make a mockery of any congregation of faith. They seek unity through mockery, and thus create some kind of order, so it seems. And we aren't really sure if it's not all just some giant hoax, and the only solution? if you cant' talk about what's going on at your ritual in the full light of day, then you maybe better be really sure you are doing what is right and holy. If your scripture is that scripture is bunk, then why not that very scripture as being the most important bunk? self--important bunk? There is a point where you'd hope that peopel would understand, when depravity takes over. But what one sees another doesn't percieve. You walk through the holy grove and holy hear mosquitoes buzzing. you don't see the banquet that the king as laid out for everyone as a spread, a holy nosh, for all. And you complain that the world is unfair and that you will set it ablaze if they don't not elect the guy who you are sure is the bad one because they got so many people saying it. Oh, what a villain. Or is he?

I can say it to you now: if you are a good person than Christ loves you. If you are a bad one, he still does. And when he wants you to come home he'll call you and you'll go skpping off like a giddy fool sure for the first time, converted to loving him all the way.

the little lamb
goes bounding off in gleeful leaps
when he hears the shepard's voice.


how about an old draft poem from 4 years ago?
from poem page 211
 At 8:24:57 PM EDT on Sun Apr 8, 2012 bperil wrote:

  What the artist knows
   he isn't going to say he knows
  he knows better than to claim to know
  but then, as the beer takes over
    he forgets to know to know not to know
   and starts to think that he knows that people don't know
  what they think that they know oh
      no no no ya don't
  and all like that the thoughts
   just turning into hypnotic sounds
 and presented as if it's somekind of philosophy of life
  which it isn't
 and telling you about the heart
 but it doesn't know anything about it
 and presenting bad behaviour
     as  if it is funny when it isn't.

  He fails in his  unknowing to know
     what it is that he doesn't know.
  He fails in his not learning
  to know what to learn to not learn, and what
   to learn to earn
    and how to learn to live
      and be from the bay to the bridge
 to the edge of the sky
      where the Winter is banished
  because he's that kind of guy, stuff
   that makes no sense if you need it to
    but doesn't have to be so clear
     as to leave you wondering what side
     of it you are fastened to.

  The poet never claimed to know
      what all of his words could seem to mean to anyone,
   how could he know that?
     That poet doesn't even need to know
     what these words mean now, hope nothing mean, I miss you.

March 22, 2016

10:44 PM

 
Nonviolent
Response
is the only valid
Political
Response

snark aside
or
snarkacide

I don't want to kill snark
but let people learn 
the appropriate comic
use

if you want a snarkacide, then why
would you insert a snarky aside.

Is it snarky, funny snarky or just
lame snarky?

show of hands for who that
love the police!

🖐Love🖑
🖑Cops🖐

Wanna see a cool demo page which is also a plug for the artist John Barents of Brookline, Massachusetts? Barent's Carousel

MISSING YOU TONIGHT

a song in the tradition of crooners
and lovers true

words and lyrics by Billy

Missing you
tonight
Missing you
while the moon is bright
tonight
tonight
I'll ne'er be blue
when I'm with you.
Missing you
tonight
sound of the forest
and star light
tonight
tonight
while the river is bright
with the Moon reflecting
as rivers of light

Missing you
tonight
Missing you
while the Moon is bright

the forest sways
the river sasheys
the clouds roll in
but they just augment the sight

Missing you
tonight
Missing you
with the moon so bright
tonight
I'll never be blue
I'll never be blue
if I'm with you



logos for Amillia Publishing 
company. 

  

What they claim is good
 for 'the environment' 
   really sucks 
  for the forest.

    
    
🖐Love🖑
🖑Cops🖐

Watch This

show of hands for who that
love the police!
🖐Love🖑
🖑Cops🖐

these can get you banned from school?!:
🔫 🚀 🚙🚤🚣c🍀⚜⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣🚣
🚣🚣🚣  🚀  🚀🔨🔨🔨⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣
🔨 🚙 🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣
⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣


You can't speak in hiroglyphs

even Know-it-all-will-tell-yaa:
When people complaign about the words 
you use often they don't really want to 
hear what you have to say.

spinfont unicode-isms
🍀 Praise God! 🍀
🍀⏲⏱⏰⏲⏱🔫⏰⏰⏲⏱🔫⏰⏰🍀
🎠 
🎠 
🎠 
🔫  careful you might get bad-listed
🔨🔨 


ban the hammer
ban the hammer?
is that sarcasm?

calling into question the agenda and the urge?
careful, you might get bad-listed.

oh my dear
you've been
crying
for change
but
you have to understand
most things
always stay the same
you can't go off riding
on the happy trails to range
far and wide
up to the sky
she is not here
you're not 
her guy.

Oh my dear
you've been crying
for relevence
but you have to understand
that most hours pass
without anyone noticing
anything
anything
about you
but you still matter
You still matter.
you still matter
even though no body seems to care

Delete and repeat, delete.

will? Maybe I've not ordered the elements properly. Well that little snippit doesn't work that well but t

 
When you're alone on the train
you aren't really alone
there are all kinds of other people
traveling on that same line,
going in a similar direction,
very many destinations
end of the line.
 🚀 🚙🚤🚣c🍀⚜⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣🚣
🚣🚣🚣  🚀  🚀🔨🔨🔨⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣
🔨 🚙 🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣
⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣⏲⏱⏰🚣🚣
🖐

sub 🖐🖑 🖑🖐

Here is today's pretty poem:

  

When Eternity starts
you don't really know.
 
    

Big moon
in the midnight sky
big big moon
all across the sky
you can see the crowd
as the marching band
marches by
take the crowd a'dancing
off toward the stars.

🖐🖑
🖑🖐
   
 🖐🖑

🖐🖑 🖑🖐

 ♥♥?

There's a river
of infinite love
flooding from on high
through the heart of all.

There's a river
of infinite hope
flushing through the gorges
through the heart of all.

Spread your wings and fly away
off into your day
off into your all


🖐🖑
🖑🖐


glossry of what's next
 ♥♥? : 

Be nice to yourself and others. What other choice?

Wake up!


You know I thought you was the Buddha
I must have been tripping
on a great big hootta
unn ha haa

wake up and sniff the Buddha

  Praise God!

♥♥ Praise ♥♥ the ♥♥ Lord ♥♥ because ♥♥ He's ♥♥ Wonderful ♥♥ and ♥♥ Awesome ♥♥!!

end of column