Rocky

That's sad.

Totally tribal, for sure.

Meanwhile, back at the... something, however, this is not intended to be a joke. From a 2017 article in The Atlantic titled "This Article Won't Change Your Mind": "There are facts, and there are beliefs, and there are things you want so badly to believe that they become as facts to you." This is most likely a large part of why our friend Waxit didn't see eye to eye with us, or us with him. FWIW, That, in itself doesn't make Waxit's belief system necessarily sinister. But it also as such makes neither him nor us inherently correct.

Twinky said: Indeed!

Wow... yes, in a very limiting way, it can be. I remember a time when I used to think I had SO arrived at that place. But now I'm much more comforted by the realization that there is SOOOOO much more available to know about God and about every aspect of life than we can ever learn. I think of Proverbs 2:1-5. My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Hey STL, I appreciate your posts. It now occurs to me that this thread presents a poignant case study in critical thinking... as well as demonstrating very well that there is safety in a multitude of counselors.

It certainly was apparent even though it took quite a while to figure out which one.

How generous of you, my Lord.

I totally understand. A couple years ago i started/tried reading a book by Peter Gabel, a law professor who has been a university president. (Desire for Mutual Recognition). What I could get through (and understand) made sense. But his sentences were almost exclusively very long with numerous dependent clauses. I got frustrated and gave up. I wrote a review on amazon giving it only three stars. The handful of other reviews and rates were primarily five star. Professor Gavel contacted me by email (which was posted on my blog site). We had a nice 20-30 minute chat on zoom. Now I reflect back to a cost accounting class I took in the mid-1980s. The instructor apparently very much disliked my (then) writing style. I had been using long sentences. Never got higher than a C grade on any writing assignment in that class. Jump forward a decade and while working for an Arizona state government agency, I took a professional development class the agency offered on Effective Writing. That class changed my life dramatically. I've been writing a LOT ever since. I had numerous op-eds and letters to editors published afterward. Now I write a blog (political) and have posted more than 1,100 of my own essays to it. For the last couple of years, I've been thinking in terms of writing fiction. I still haven't written much of it. But hopefully, when I get started, it will flow like rivers. All of that to make the point that if nobody reads any of it, I don't see the point. So, I try not to write those humongous sentences anymore.

The same verses from the Message Bible: 1-2 The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. 3-5 Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. From my perspective (as it is now, not what it was 30+ years ago), I'm thrilled by penguin2's ideas. I'm not right and you're not wrong. (Which contrasts how I viewed things 35 years ago). In much the same way reading classic literature can help a person learn how to think deeply, it seems obvious that comparing these two versions/translations CAN foster deep thinking. This is important because I believe there is so much to God that we puny humans can even come close to comprehending. Thanks so much to every commenter here for your thoughts and suggestions. WE belong to each other not because we fellowship in the same living room or annual cult festival, but because we share a journey and a heritage and can fellowship with each other in THIS cyber living room. I love you.

Intriguing. John 1:1-5 from the Passion Translation 1 In the very beginning[a] the Living Expression[b] was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God.[c] 2 They were together—face-to-face,[d] in the very beginning.[e] 3 And through his creative inspiration this Living Expression made all things,[f] for nothing has existence apart from him! 4 Life came into being[g] because of him, for his life is light for all humanity.[h] 5 And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom[i]— the Light that darkness could not diminish![j]

Obviously, I'm not the one who's disappointed. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11:15

I would think it's important to use a beer that you like. There are some that can taste pretty bad. I remember a bad one my mother's second husband used to buy that I've heard referred to as weasel p i s s. (Carling's Black Label).

Socks, what do you use to season it on top? Those look great.

I believe dmiller IS on Facebook. Friends there with several current and/or former GSCers... but not me, so I wouldn't be the guy to ask him for more specifics.

Thanks. I knew what sourdough starter is. And I figured that might be what you meant by the bubble substance. But couldn't find anything doing an internet search.

Bubble substance? Haven't seen that expression before that I can recall, but I used to enjoy a chewy sourdough bread. But now I stay away from white flour products as much as possible.

Don't forget Johnny Jump Up.

RE-read all of the comments to this topic. Your demand has already been met.

We KNOW you by your words. Btw, repetition of anything is the "mother" of memorization, not of understanding and certainly not of wisdom. In case you haven't gotten the message yet, nobody here seems to agree with your premise about the significance of the 7th Day Sabbath. Discussion of the underlying issues here has been done ad nauseum. Another way to look at it is like how Nathan cut to the heart of the issue with King David in II Samuel 12. Here, you're just not considering the possibility that you might learn something if you opened your heart to the wisdom several people here have so compassionately tried to reach you with.

I've wondered (for a long time) if one can make whole grain sourdough bread. What do you think about that?

to live together, one light, one way! Wise words to Waxit... who perhaps would do well to clean the wax out of his ears.

That seems like a poignant and concise description of the brainwashing effect that Wierwille's subculture system established.

Dude, so many kind words here, trying to effectively communicate important concepts about life, don't seem to have gotten through to you. Even Twinky's admonitions to you, as kind as they REALLY are. The kindest thing I can say to/about you is that you respond to people here as if you are completely tone deaf. IF you "get it," you're thus far not making that known by your words here.

I'd agree with you (actually, I do agree with you for the most part) except that I am able to block ads online for the most part. I abhor them. Because of the essay I quoted, I'm going to embark on a whaling ship soon (well, in the novel Moby Dick, which I didn't read in HS). I missed out on a lot of literature in HS. That's my biggest regret for those years of schooling. I did obtain Melville's book for free to read on my Kindle app. I also didn't learn Latin in HS or college. I did take four years of French. However, having graduated... 48 years ago, and never having traveled to France or any other French-speaking land, the best I can do with it now is to watch movies wherein the dialogue is in French and try to recognize words and match them with the English subtitles. I won't rule out someday travelling to Paris. And perhaps Italy. During my military service, I did make it to Germany twice. For that experience, I'm thankful. I do spend more time reading, either books or current affairs/news. It was in Air Force technical training that I learned to type. As a telecommunications system tech, I spent more than three years communicating by dedicated teletype (we called them "order wire"). It became imprinted in my brain. Probably that's why I am comfortable posting online in social media and GSC, and writing a blog. Thanks, WW for your insight.