Monday, January 12, 2009

Stairway to Heaven.

I'm sure I'm not the only Knight, who lays on his sofa some nights and watches the TV, and thinks that this world may indeed be a beautifully created place... but just look at those humans, both Heaven and Hell bent on trashing it.

I say Heaven too, because as we have noted many times in these pages, theology, meta-physics, or what you want to call it has an awful lot to answer for.

On Friday Night there was the second part of the "80 Faiths" series with everyone thinking they have the answer......

Then tonight, after the TV News, ( during which i got up to make a cup of tea, while one set of Middle Eastern people fired Phosphorus fireworks onto another set of almost identical looking set of Middle Eastern people, sharing an almost identical bit of scrubby,parched desert rock ) I settle back to watch the first part of the "History of Christianity".

Immediately i'm shown scenes that would not look out of place on the KMSA's Favorite show; Monty Pythons, when video pictures from Jerusalem's Old City, show Christian clergymen fighting inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Viewers watched, I dare say, in amusement as Monks with flowing beards and gowns tried to beat each other senseless right next to the spot where Jesus is revered to have risen from the dead. It made for great, if depressing, television.

But smirking apart, disagreement between the Christian groups - Greek Orthodox, Franciscans and Armenian Orthodox - is a serious business in the Holy Land. Friction arises because while the groups share guardianship of the Christian holy places such as the Sepulchre and the site of Jesus's birth, the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, they have never really worked out exactly how to divide responsibilities.

This friction has been going on a long time and by that I mean a very long time, ie: 500 years or so. It got so bad back in 1852 the then rulers of the Holy Land, the Ottomans, issued a decree that froze things as they were and forbade anyone from changing them. The so-called ''Status Quo'' agreement basically meant that, for example, if the Armenians have always had responsibility to clean the windows then they must clean the windows but they must not move the ladder below the windows because ladder moving has always been done by the Greeks.

One of these ladders, high up on its ledge, was photographed in 1892, and also recently in its unmoved state.

(I'm tempted to say, looking at the two pics, that it has been moved, but i don't want to start a war, by pushing the issue )

The same goes for weather damage to the roof the Church of the Nativity. This has meant worshippers in recent years had to use umbrellas inside the church whenever it rained, so bad were the leaks, but the committee still failed to agree on how to make satisfactory repairs.

Various leading archaeologists and scholars visited the church and produced reports about the importance of immediate reparations to one of the oldest and most precious Christian shrines. But still the committee does not agree, and of course, one day soon, the whole lot of it will fall about their stupid ears, and they will have nothing to lay around in the hot sun all day , guarding.

So you have to say to yourself, if sets of people who are meant to be part of a sharing, uplifting Jewish based religion, that was invented by St Paul, because H Christ hadn't finished the job off properly in the first place, are behaving in such a way, then what hope is there for the rest of us.....

We could of course start a brand new KMSA Religion, religion #81, where apart from maybe not being able to covert another man's wife ...anything goes. Except I'm not moving off this sofa unless i get to guard the Beer.

Sir Dayvd ( we're not going to heaven cos we're already there ) of Oxfordshire

11 comments:

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar (a.k.a. David A. Kuhn) said...

Very interesting post.

If you want to make sure that something never gets done, assign it to a committee!

Sir Bowie "missing a few rungs" of Greenbriar

Anonymous said...

AS they say, you learn something new each day, but for how much longer.

Last night i was listening to a top scientist on the radio, describing our everyday carbon usage, and he said; that every time we do a Google search, or any search engine for that matter, then the amount of electricity used in that simple click action, by all the subsequent computers and gee-gaws you have triggered off, is equivilent to the amount needed to boil a half full kettle of water.

So overnight my carefully considered dainty Carbon Footprint, has grown from a ballet bootie to a sign five hundred Clown Shoe, as, according to that i have just boiled thirteen kettles of water in the last 2o minutes.

Well i'm sorry folks...the earth then is going to hell in a handcart... as i will still be trying to find out the lyrics i have just misheard of that song on the radio, at the moment the earth suddenly burns up like cellophane film in a seized projector.

Sir Dayvd ( going to blazes ) of Oxfordshire

Anonymous said...

once upon a time a minister who was close to our family...made the startling statement that Hell is here on Earth...now to my young mind that was horrifying

but as I've grown older and somewhat more wiser, I see what he was trying to tell me

we make choices every moment of our lives and some do indeed create a Hell to live in

others simulate Heaven...

I have no doubt that Heaven is where we will all abide someday when we leave these mortal bodies

why do I believe that?

Why not?

we have to have something to hang our hats on and that's mine

and some day we'll find out!

too deep for me, back to sweeping floors this morning

Lady Suzanne of Greenbriar,
howling at the moon

Anonymous said...

Nah..not deep at all Suzanne :))

If you are expecting Heaven, and you get there and it is there, it will be no surprise. If it is not there then you will be bitterly disappointed.

If like me, you don't particularly expect it to be there, and it is there, then it will be a delightful even ecstatic surprise, if however it is not there, I won't be disappointed, but i will be the one saying I told you so.

Honest, heaven is right here on earth...LOL...so leave the floor ..and get out there and enjoy it LOL...

DO

Anonymous said...

you three Dav(i,y)ds are very much alike...no wonder I forget which one I'm talking to sometimes!

we can't always get out there and enjoy it 24/7, this is my "job"
to take care of hearth and home
(not that you all don't at times, don't want to open that can of worms!)

kind of like the Martha/Mary story about Jesus's visit to their home (one sat at his feet and enjoyed the visit, the other was so busy with chores that she didn't let herself stop preparing food and enjoy his visit)

some days I'm Mary and some days I'm Martha
though I'm getting better at balancing the two parts

today is chores with 10 minute breaks to check email, change the cd, have a bite to eat
and by tonight hopefully most will be caught up and I can relax and enjoy the evening events : )

hopefully your day is a great one, wherever and however you experience it!

Lady S
still thinking Heaven is waiting
for me, just because there should be something after this life???

Anonymous said...

Suz.. well maybe you are right... so if for some reason you get there first be sure to send a message down, saying Yarboosucks UK Dayvd..I told you so...LOL...

Yup ..living alone I know all about those pesky floors, all sparkling clean every day... You want to see my Hyper-ventilating, apoplectic Martha Impression when friends who think they are "jesus" come tracking mud across my carpets

Sir Dayvd ( living the dream ) of Oxen-ford

dkWells said...

Once again I find myself wanting to jump in the "Frying Pan", but work...(what's the male version of Martha?) dictated otherwise. So, here I am ready to be...(what's the male version of Mary?)!

I believe in another dimension of life after this one. I also believe that we sow the seeds of what that life will be like here on this side of the plane.

In other words...Heaven and Hell are both here now. It's our choice which we'll live in now, as well as live in during the next series once this one is canceled by Upper Management...or by our own stupid mistakes! (Car Crashes, etc.)

I believe this is what Jesus meant when he said, "The Kingdom of God is at hand". It doesn't mean sometime, later on...it is the perfect fit for...IF NOT NOW...WHEN?!!!

Finally, I'm sure that other organized religions besides Christianity have division problems, sects that don't get along, know it alls who know nothing! Let's start hearing about them for a change!

I get feed up with the Islamic Terrorist who thing it's ok to send a child or woman of their own faith strapped with bombs to kill innocent Israelies but wine like babies when they get a dose of their own medicine, sans the suicide bomber! It's time to call a Spade a Spade, and an Ass Hole an Ass Hole regardless of their belief!

Sir Hook Who's Enjoying Heaven on Earth, But Not As Much As I Could If Everyone Else Thought Like Me of Warrick

Anonymous said...

LoL...good to see Chairman Hook up on his hind legs, the Knight who brought us Strength thru Diversity and debate.

Was it Matahatma Gandi who said "an eye for and eye and the whole world goes blind" right before someone stepped up and shot him.

and then there is my favourite Jewish poet, St Paul of Simon, who wrote "still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."

:))

Do you US guys ever get a Brit TV comedy series, called Red Dwarf?
About three "guys", one a normal lad, one an ex hologram, and one a mutant ships cat that has evolved over time into a human likeness. and they are in deepest of deep space, trying to get back to earth.

And in one show, the three lonesome guys came across a spaceship, that had three gals on board who were female versions of themselves; same lines of thought, same habits, same likes and dislikes, and like them you thought wow...i'd love to date someone who was sooo like me in everyway.

Of course in reality and on the show it turned into a nightmare within five minutes... I mean.i personally couldn't put up with bumping into ME on the street for five minutes, even tho i live inside and control that guy 24/7 ...still not convinced?...try getting one of your good pals down at the bar ( or in the ecletic 8 ) to imitate you for five minutes.. We tried this a few months back, and everyone was howling to stop within a minute, before we all fell out LOL...soooo funny....

I think this harks back to something Hooky was saying in the Yes Man Blog, when he thought that Lennon fell for the creator rather than the person, when he'd made up his mind about Yoko.
Don't we all do that?....don't we all carry a pretty darn good blueprint of who we would like to be with ( most guys need look no further than their mothers ) someone who compliments rather than mirrors ourselves, and we have usually made up our mind before we have met the person.
Sure Looks come into it, in the first instant, this is the BIG draw, but unless you are the kind of guy or gal who just wants a trophy partner to show off to the world,( Hugh Hefner ) then looks come way down the list in a relationship. Most people don't care what their friends and partners look like, as long as the insides don't change.
Some may challenge that it is the outsides that can shape what's in the insides... and thats a fair point, but really thinking about it...my own physical appearence only indents marginally on the way i think. I do wonder tho if i did look a bit more like Robert Redford whether it would make me even more tiresome than I am now LOL...

Anyway.. As Hookster and Suzanne say...there is work to be done...as the hands on my watch are now shaking their fists at me...

D ( amen to all that ) of O

dkWells said...

Chairman Hook...I like it! Part of being a good Knight is realizing the diversity within yourself and attempting to unify yourself into a productive member of society.

I have a lot of diversity inside of me!

I never saw the show "Red Dwarf", but it sounds like fun. Good bar experiment by Sir D and friends. I would have punched myself out in ten seconds!

Actually, it is funny how the written word is subject for interpretation. When I signed off my last comment, it was made as a joke...about it would be better if everyone thought like me. It's hard to get the subtle meanings and facial expressions, etc just be reading. I've had that problem with clients through email. But at least we can respond immediately today, instead of waiting a few weeks or months for a response like days past.

The Chairman still is on his hind legs about the Gaza situation. I understand Gandhi and agree; however, the common mortal only knows how to sling shit. I'm simply saying that Hamas has the whole world crying in an uproar over the death of innocent civilians. He who is without sin cast the first stone! If you live by the sword, you sure as hell better be ready to die by it too!

Perhaps they should try not killing Israelies for a change....just maybe the favor would be returned!

Sir Hook the Incomplete Gandhi Chairman of Diversity from Warrick

Anonymous said...

:)) Don't worry Hooky...i figured you'd fallen foul of the old Internet Nuance trap... still it was amusing to see you had "got off your bike " as we say here...

LOL.

You do have to look into the Gaza problem real careful tho...its no where as simple as it seems on the surface. I used to think a little like that....and while i don't agree enitrely with Hamas.. when you read into the full history of it all , you can see how the Wests apathy and simplification of it all,( of something which we stitched together badly in the first place...) has led to the rise of people like Hamas who thrive on peoples despair. If the West took away the Palistinian despair, Hamas would wither and die, just like the IRA. With all the best will in the world i can't condone the ghettoizing of a nation, nor the killing of hundreds of small kids , no matter whose they are...

one poor father had a wife and five daughters killed... ( for which he has every right to blame both sides, just as we do...)

Hamas's tactic of firing darts at the big dog they consider to be trapping them in the corner of the yard, just so the big dog will get up and try and rip them to shreds is a Phyrric gambit to get world attention, which it has, rather than just to cow in the corner and have the West think that everything is hunky dory everyday....which it isn't.

As with England and Ireland...a final ceasefire and some serious banging together of heads is the only way forward... jaw jaw..not war war...:))


Sir Dayvd ( who probably only understands a quarter of what is going on ) of Oxfordshire...

dkWells said...

Well said!

Jaw, jaw is a good solution, but remember that a Jewish warrior used the jawbone of an ass to kill an entire population of pre-Hamas ancestors. And of course, the "official" PLO is waiting on the sidelines with joy to see Hamas get its ass kicked so that they can get back in power.

General Patton was right, war and politics don't mix. They each water the other down. It's like going into a bar fight with one hand tied behind your back or into a debate with a mouth guard stuck in your mouth. Not very effective!

Leave war to the warriors, that will end a war real quick! Leave politics to the politicians...well that doesn't quite work as well does it?!!!

Perhaps is should be leave war to the warriors and peace to the peace makers!

Sir Hook Who's Jaw is Tired of Kicking Ass of Warrick