Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
Do you believe in ghosts or other supernatural entities? Have you ever experienced something you could not explain?
I'm somewhat agnostic when it comes to the idea of ghosts and the supernatural. I don't have any personal experience with them, and I certainly think that some believers attribute a little too much to the supernatural rather than looking for a more natural explanation, but at the same time I can't rule out the possibility that the supernatural might exist. There are far too many inexplicable occurrences in this world to fully disregard the possibility that there may be things in the universe that we don't understand.
I wouldn't say that I've ever experienced something that can't be explained, although I've definitely been in situations where completely random coincidence would have infinitesimally long odds. Things like running into friends while on vacation halfway around the world, or having an employment or financial situation work out in just the right way, or having a near-miss in what would have otherwise been a catastrophically bad accident or mishap of some kind.
For example, my wife and I took a honeymoon nearly a year after we got married. We booked a trip to Hawaii and, when I told my boss about where we were going, he was like, "Oh Hawaii is great! In fact, we're headed to our timeshare there in September."
The rest of the conversation:
Me: "Oh we're going in September too!"
Him: "When?"
Me: "We leave on Monday the 15th."
Him: "That's the same day we fly out."
Me: "LAX?"
Him: "United, 10:45AM."
Me: "OMG that's our flight too. We're in Row 22, A&B."
Him: "Seriously? We're in Row 23, A through D."
This is a completely true story. My boss and I booked flights to Hawaii completely independent of one another, and ended up on the same flight sitting in adjacent rows. Although we were staying on separate parts of the island, our families met up for dinner one night and it was honestly the point at which that boss became a friend and mentor rather than just the executive whose phones I answered for a paycheck. As it happens, this is also the person who I bake cakes for every day, as referenced in my prior entry, "Cooking Submissive" , and in retrospect, I truly believe this extracurricular connection was at least in part responsible for getting our professional relationship to the point where he's played an instrumental role in a number of professional opportunities I've had over the years, including landing my dream job at Marvel.
Even though I'm technically a Christian, I don't proclaim to know with any degree of certainty what causes these things. What I would attribute to God, someone else might attribute to karma, or fate, or benevolent spirits. I don't have any practical experience that confirms for certain who is correct or why these things happen. All I know is that they do and, as previously mentioned, that means there's either a supernatural explanation for them, or we are all just walking around having statistically improbable things happen to us with highly irregular frequency.
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