Francis Berger's Blog, page 26
May 16, 2024
In What Way Exactly Did the Churches Fail the Birdemic Test?
I disagree that the churches “failed” the covid test because I don’t believe they could have passed it. If I ask a second grader to take an exam I’ve written for college students, it would be ludicrous to say the second-grader failed the exam. If I leap out the window, I do not fail to fly because flying is something I am constitutionally incapable of doing. The churches are constitutionally incapable of defying the State and this has been the case for more than two-hundred years. The reason is simple. The State laughs up its sleeve if any churchman squeaks that he holds the keys of heaven.
The above comes from a comment JM Smith left on a post by Richard cocks. I respect JM Smith and find value in his Orthosphere blogging. He reads here and occasionally leaves comments, the vast majority of which add new insights and dimensions to my scribblings. Although we have never met, our online interactions and correspondence prompt me to regard him as a friend.
Having said that, I must vociferously disagree with JM here. My issue is not with JM personally, but with the rather widespread view among Christians that the churches did not fail the birdemic test because they were constitutionally incapable of doing so. Consitutionally is an interesting word choice because it can apply to legal considerations or matters of composition and form. Anyway, I left the following reply to JM’s comment:
Passing the covid test would require the churches to openly admit that they are slaves to the state and had no choice in the matter. They could have then repented of their involvement in that demonic disaster frankly, openly, and explicitly.
Most did the exact opposite by actively, willingly, and enthusiastically supporting, promulgating, endorsing, and enforcing the state’s coercion, tyranny, and lies. I can’t think of any major church that has acknowledged any wrongdoing, let alone taken any sort of step toward repentance (there may be some out there, but I haven’t heard of them).
Christians can be slaves and remain Christian, but it requires a) acknowledging that one is indeed a slave to worldly forces, and b) repenting actions one is forced to do against one’s will.
That’s where churches and many individual Christians failed the test.
I’ll make this very simple. I am a mortal man. This makes it "constitutionally" impossible for me to live a sinless life. However, I am also a Christian and being a Christian makes it c onstitutionally and, more significantly, spiritually possible for me to acknowledge sin as sin and repent my participation in it.
As Dr. Charlton has repeated ad nauseam, the biggest obstacle for Christians is not sin but the refusal to acknowledge sin as sin and repent.
What then, is repentance? I turn — yet again — to Wm James Tychonievich:
The unrepentant are those who make excuses for themselves, who deny that their sins are sins and are therefore unwilling to give them up. Willingness is all; the flesh is weak, but the spirit must be willing.
Daily repentance does not mean daily groveling for forgiveness like a beaten dog; it means reminding oneself what is good and what is evil, what is of God and what is not, and then going on with life, confident in the knowledge that "he that believeth is not condemned."
And yes, of course, we should try to be virtuous and to sin less, but in the end, no such projects can really succeed in this present life.
They are not what repentance is, and they are not that on which salvation depends.
The churches and many individual Christians failed the birdemic test because they proved themselves constitutionally and spiritually incapable of repentance – incapable of discerning what is good and what is evil, what is of God and what is not.
And as I have expressed here before, those who do not repent will eventually relent.
Note added: JM followed up my comment with the following:
I suppose the churches could have closed up shop more grudgingly, but I am not sure this should have counted as a pass. I’d make a distinction between coopted institutions and enslaved individuals since a coopted institution has necessarily sold its soul. An individual can surrender control over the operations of his body while retaining possession of his soul, but an coopted institution is nothing more than the operations of its body. A church that serves Leviathan is just a fully-owned subsidiary of Leviathan. Unlike the slave, it cannot separate what it wills from what it does.
I agree with JM here, but this agreement requires the acknowledgment that churches that serve Leviathan are fully-owned subsidiaries of Leviathan that have sold their souls, which draws into question what, precisely, they are "willing." Much food for thought.
The above comes from a comment JM Smith left on a post by Richard cocks. I respect JM Smith and find value in his Orthosphere blogging. He reads here and occasionally leaves comments, the vast majority of which add new insights and dimensions to my scribblings. Although we have never met, our online interactions and correspondence prompt me to regard him as a friend.
Having said that, I must vociferously disagree with JM here. My issue is not with JM personally, but with the rather widespread view among Christians that the churches did not fail the birdemic test because they were constitutionally incapable of doing so. Consitutionally is an interesting word choice because it can apply to legal considerations or matters of composition and form. Anyway, I left the following reply to JM’s comment:
Passing the covid test would require the churches to openly admit that they are slaves to the state and had no choice in the matter. They could have then repented of their involvement in that demonic disaster frankly, openly, and explicitly.
Most did the exact opposite by actively, willingly, and enthusiastically supporting, promulgating, endorsing, and enforcing the state’s coercion, tyranny, and lies. I can’t think of any major church that has acknowledged any wrongdoing, let alone taken any sort of step toward repentance (there may be some out there, but I haven’t heard of them).
Christians can be slaves and remain Christian, but it requires a) acknowledging that one is indeed a slave to worldly forces, and b) repenting actions one is forced to do against one’s will.
That’s where churches and many individual Christians failed the test.
I’ll make this very simple. I am a mortal man. This makes it "constitutionally" impossible for me to live a sinless life. However, I am also a Christian and being a Christian makes it c onstitutionally and, more significantly, spiritually possible for me to acknowledge sin as sin and repent my participation in it.
As Dr. Charlton has repeated ad nauseam, the biggest obstacle for Christians is not sin but the refusal to acknowledge sin as sin and repent.
What then, is repentance? I turn — yet again — to Wm James Tychonievich:
The unrepentant are those who make excuses for themselves, who deny that their sins are sins and are therefore unwilling to give them up. Willingness is all; the flesh is weak, but the spirit must be willing.
Daily repentance does not mean daily groveling for forgiveness like a beaten dog; it means reminding oneself what is good and what is evil, what is of God and what is not, and then going on with life, confident in the knowledge that "he that believeth is not condemned."
And yes, of course, we should try to be virtuous and to sin less, but in the end, no such projects can really succeed in this present life.
They are not what repentance is, and they are not that on which salvation depends.
The churches and many individual Christians failed the birdemic test because they proved themselves constitutionally and spiritually incapable of repentance – incapable of discerning what is good and what is evil, what is of God and what is not.
And as I have expressed here before, those who do not repent will eventually relent.
Note added: JM followed up my comment with the following:
I suppose the churches could have closed up shop more grudgingly, but I am not sure this should have counted as a pass. I’d make a distinction between coopted institutions and enslaved individuals since a coopted institution has necessarily sold its soul. An individual can surrender control over the operations of his body while retaining possession of his soul, but an coopted institution is nothing more than the operations of its body. A church that serves Leviathan is just a fully-owned subsidiary of Leviathan. Unlike the slave, it cannot separate what it wills from what it does.
I agree with JM here, but this agreement requires the acknowledgment that churches that serve Leviathan are fully-owned subsidiaries of Leviathan that have sold their souls, which draws into question what, precisely, they are "willing." Much food for thought.
May 15, 2024
Still Impressed By The Quality of Light
I would not go as far as to declare László Mednyánszky a great painter; however, I am still enamored by his uncanny ability to capture certain qualities of light.
If I were to define the Wandering Baron as anything, it would be as a light painter.
Dusk
If I were to define the Wandering Baron as anything, it would be as a light painter.
Dusk
May 14, 2024
Broody
One of my 24 hens has gone broody, which is another way of saying she now feels inclined to incubate eggs rather than lay them.
Incubating eggs and hatching chicks have never been part of my overall game plan in the coop, so I researched some ways to break a hen of broodiness. After considering four or five methods, I decided upon the most natural option — let it ride out and see what becomes of the seven eggs.
Since there is a rooster in the henhouse, some of the seven may be fertile. I’ve marked the original seven to distinguish them from eggs the other hens will inevitably lay in the nest.
The only thing standing between the possibility of hatched chicks is time, about three weeks’ worth.
We’ll see what happens.
Incubating eggs and hatching chicks have never been part of my overall game plan in the coop, so I researched some ways to break a hen of broodiness. After considering four or five methods, I decided upon the most natural option — let it ride out and see what becomes of the seven eggs.
Since there is a rooster in the henhouse, some of the seven may be fertile. I’ve marked the original seven to distinguish them from eggs the other hens will inevitably lay in the nest.
The only thing standing between the possibility of hatched chicks is time, about three weeks’ worth.
We’ll see what happens.
May 13, 2024
Religious Faith and the External
The ongoing disintegration of Christian externals has prompted some to experience what could be called a crisis of faith. At the core of this crisis sits the glaring and palpable discord between internal and external sources of faith.
After all, how is one supposed to nurture an internal faith in Christianity when virtually all Christian externals continue to decay, dissolve, disintegrate and degenerate? How are Christians to maintain their internal faith when virtually all the people and places representing Christianity’s external faith are corrosive and corrupt? Of what use is one’s internal faith if the outside world does not mirror it? Can such internal faith — barely supported or utterly unsupported by exterior factors — even be considered valid?
Christians have grown accustomed to the idea that externals like politics, society, and nations must reflect and align with their internal faith. Or, more accurately, that their internal faith must reflect and align with externals like churches, liturgies, politics, society, and nation.
I say accustomed because the alignment of internal and external Christian faith was certainly the case historically, which has led many to conclude that the breakdown between interiorized and exteriorized faith heralds the inevitable end of Christianity as we know it.
Although this sounds terminal, it does not exclude the possibility of Christianity continuing and developing further in other forms, and I believe this is where Christianity is now. Conventional, exteriorized Christianity may indeed be ending, but a heightened, interiorized Christianity capable of a new religious consciousness may emerge.
However, it can only emerge when Christians overcome the crisis of the external and begin to have faith in their inner faith. In a faith that is noncontigent on externals.
After all, how is one supposed to nurture an internal faith in Christianity when virtually all Christian externals continue to decay, dissolve, disintegrate and degenerate? How are Christians to maintain their internal faith when virtually all the people and places representing Christianity’s external faith are corrosive and corrupt? Of what use is one’s internal faith if the outside world does not mirror it? Can such internal faith — barely supported or utterly unsupported by exterior factors — even be considered valid?
Christians have grown accustomed to the idea that externals like politics, society, and nations must reflect and align with their internal faith. Or, more accurately, that their internal faith must reflect and align with externals like churches, liturgies, politics, society, and nation.
I say accustomed because the alignment of internal and external Christian faith was certainly the case historically, which has led many to conclude that the breakdown between interiorized and exteriorized faith heralds the inevitable end of Christianity as we know it.
Although this sounds terminal, it does not exclude the possibility of Christianity continuing and developing further in other forms, and I believe this is where Christianity is now. Conventional, exteriorized Christianity may indeed be ending, but a heightened, interiorized Christianity capable of a new religious consciousness may emerge.
However, it can only emerge when Christians overcome the crisis of the external and begin to have faith in their inner faith. In a faith that is noncontigent on externals.
May 11, 2024
This Time of Year Always Gets the Best of Me
Not in the sense of defeating, outwitting, or putting one over on me, but in the sense of absorbing and engrossing the best parts of me and leaving little left over.
Spring and summer are my busy seasons. I spend most of my free time outside tending the garden or working on seemingly endless home renovation projects, and I invest the bulk of my “best” energy in these activities.
Unfortunately, this has a rather detrimental effect on my other pursuits, including blogging, but working on your property in the warm sun and open air provides something blogging cannot.
Still, I know I’ll strike a balance between the two in the coming days or weeks.
Spring and summer are my busy seasons. I spend most of my free time outside tending the garden or working on seemingly endless home renovation projects, and I invest the bulk of my “best” energy in these activities.
Unfortunately, this has a rather detrimental effect on my other pursuits, including blogging, but working on your property in the warm sun and open air provides something blogging cannot.
Still, I know I’ll strike a balance between the two in the coming days or weeks.
May 9, 2024
Sometimes Ignorance Really Is Bliss
My wife likes to listen to the radio in the kitchen when she cooks. Well, she doesn’t listen. The radio merely serves as background noise. Lately, she has kept the dial tuned to Retro Radio, a station that — yeah, you guessed it — focuses exclusively on oldies spanning the sixties to the nineties.
The other day, the station played “You Spin Me Right Round” by Dead or Alive. I hadn’t heard the tune for years, and my memories inevitably turned to the song’s video featuring the band’s flamboyant and openly gay lead singer. I found myself wondering what became of him when the band’s flash-in-the-pan success quickly cooled and faded.
Here’s how I remembered the chap.
And this is what became of him.
The information I read claimed he became addicted to cosmetic surgery. Some cite that addiction, replete with many subsequent botched jobs and complications, as the real cause of his death from cardiac arrest in 2016.
I had been ignorant of all of that. I kind of wish I still was.
Thanks, Retro Radio!
The other day, the station played “You Spin Me Right Round” by Dead or Alive. I hadn’t heard the tune for years, and my memories inevitably turned to the song’s video featuring the band’s flamboyant and openly gay lead singer. I found myself wondering what became of him when the band’s flash-in-the-pan success quickly cooled and faded.
Here’s how I remembered the chap.
And this is what became of him.
The information I read claimed he became addicted to cosmetic surgery. Some cite that addiction, replete with many subsequent botched jobs and complications, as the real cause of his death from cardiac arrest in 2016. I had been ignorant of all of that. I kind of wish I still was.
Thanks, Retro Radio!
May 7, 2024
The Point and Shallow Motivation
Things coming to a point should inspire a re-evaluation of motivations. Ideally, shallow motivations should give way to deeper motivations. At the very least, shallow motivations ought to be recognized and acknowledged as shallow. The absence of that leaves little room or opportunity for repentance, to say nothing of nurturing deeper motivations.
Overcoming shallow motivations is often difficult, primarily because they can be so easily replaced with other, equally shallow motivations. Thus, prevailing over one shallow motivation often does little more than create space for some other trivial impetus.
The reasons for this are many. Suffice it to say that shallow motivations reflect our innate weakness and the innate imperfection of mortal life in this world.
So, we should not punish ourselves for failing to overcome all our shallow motivations, but we must also resist making excuses for such failures.
We must be sincere about our shallow motivations — see them for what they are, recognize where they fall short, and repent our inability to renounce them and look deeper.
Most of all, we must not allow ourselves to be lured by the temptation to characterize shallow motivations as deep ones. Giving in to this temptation is a clear sign of intentionally “missing the point.”
Overcoming shallow motivations is often difficult, primarily because they can be so easily replaced with other, equally shallow motivations. Thus, prevailing over one shallow motivation often does little more than create space for some other trivial impetus.
The reasons for this are many. Suffice it to say that shallow motivations reflect our innate weakness and the innate imperfection of mortal life in this world.
So, we should not punish ourselves for failing to overcome all our shallow motivations, but we must also resist making excuses for such failures.
We must be sincere about our shallow motivations — see them for what they are, recognize where they fall short, and repent our inability to renounce them and look deeper.
Most of all, we must not allow ourselves to be lured by the temptation to characterize shallow motivations as deep ones. Giving in to this temptation is a clear sign of intentionally “missing the point.”
A Striking Gravestone
Created by the artist Jenő József Percz to mark the resting place of fellow artist Vilmos Aba-Novák. 
May 5, 2024
Still Staring Into a Prolonged Eclipse
Honestly, I am not immensely interested in what Plato and the Platonists have been banging on about for the past two thousand five hundred years. What interests me is what Jesus said two thousand years ago.
In my book, Jesus’ two-thousand-year-old words created a cosmic shift that should have tempered the incessant five-hundred-year-old Platonic drumbeat and cast it in an entirely new light.
Unfortunately, the opposite occurred. Men utilized Plato — and many other systems, models, and ideas — to "correct" and amend the cosmic shift, thereby muting and obscuring its simplicity and significance in man’s thinking.
The magnitude or reality of the cosmic shift is still there, but it has been obscured in much the same way the moon obscures the sun during a solar eclipse.
Men have been staring wide-eyed into that eclipse for over two millennia, believing the dark circle and its dazzling corona to be the source of all light. Nearly all have been unwilling to comprehend that the true light emanates from behind the dark orb.
Men have been partially blinded. A prolonged eclipse has a way of doing that.
In my book, Jesus’ two-thousand-year-old words created a cosmic shift that should have tempered the incessant five-hundred-year-old Platonic drumbeat and cast it in an entirely new light.
Unfortunately, the opposite occurred. Men utilized Plato — and many other systems, models, and ideas — to "correct" and amend the cosmic shift, thereby muting and obscuring its simplicity and significance in man’s thinking.
The magnitude or reality of the cosmic shift is still there, but it has been obscured in much the same way the moon obscures the sun during a solar eclipse.
Men have been staring wide-eyed into that eclipse for over two millennia, believing the dark circle and its dazzling corona to be the source of all light. Nearly all have been unwilling to comprehend that the true light emanates from behind the dark orb.
Men have been partially blinded. A prolonged eclipse has a way of doing that.
May 2, 2024
I Wish I Could Fuse and Blend My Home With Nature Like Those Grand Design Folks
I first became aware of the home design and building TV program Grand Designs during my nine-month teaching stint in the UK. For those unfamiliar with the show, it basically chronicles the construction of unconventionally planned residences in Great Britain.
The bulk of these grand designs qualified as what I personally refer to as architorture — you know, ghastly rhomboid concrete structures with unsightly-angled roofs defying all geometric logic. However, every now and then, the show would feature the painstaking restoration of a medieval ruin or abandoned lighthouse, which was always intriguing viewing.
Regardless of what the grand design was, it unfailingly featured enormous windows, panes of glass, or supersized glass doors, all crafted to “open into nature,” thereby fusing and blending interior and exterior landscapes.
Every week, I would watch UK homeowners gleefully throw open thirty-foot high French doors or crank up fifty-foot-wide panes of glass and then inhale deeply as they basked in the glory of their practically open-air homes seamlessly becoming one with the Yorkshire Dales or the Cornish countryside.
I wish I could live like that. I really do.
Unfortunately, if I accidentally leave my regular-sized entrance door open for more than thirty seconds, half of the insect population of my village inevitably comes rushing into the house. The same goes for an open window if we happen to forget to pull down the screen.
Open the (regular-sized) terrace door? I did that once to air out the house and received a rather unwelcome visit from a backyard garter snake (in addition to the insects, of course).
The only thing that is always somewhat open is the cat door with the swinging flap mounted onto the back door, but the cat only uses that when she wants to sneak a live mouse or bird into the house for playtime.
But good on those Grand Design folks. They have all managed to fuse and blend their houses with the natural world in ways I can only dream.
The bulk of these grand designs qualified as what I personally refer to as architorture — you know, ghastly rhomboid concrete structures with unsightly-angled roofs defying all geometric logic. However, every now and then, the show would feature the painstaking restoration of a medieval ruin or abandoned lighthouse, which was always intriguing viewing.
Regardless of what the grand design was, it unfailingly featured enormous windows, panes of glass, or supersized glass doors, all crafted to “open into nature,” thereby fusing and blending interior and exterior landscapes.
Every week, I would watch UK homeowners gleefully throw open thirty-foot high French doors or crank up fifty-foot-wide panes of glass and then inhale deeply as they basked in the glory of their practically open-air homes seamlessly becoming one with the Yorkshire Dales or the Cornish countryside.
I wish I could live like that. I really do.
Unfortunately, if I accidentally leave my regular-sized entrance door open for more than thirty seconds, half of the insect population of my village inevitably comes rushing into the house. The same goes for an open window if we happen to forget to pull down the screen.
Open the (regular-sized) terrace door? I did that once to air out the house and received a rather unwelcome visit from a backyard garter snake (in addition to the insects, of course).
The only thing that is always somewhat open is the cat door with the swinging flap mounted onto the back door, but the cat only uses that when she wants to sneak a live mouse or bird into the house for playtime.
But good on those Grand Design folks. They have all managed to fuse and blend their houses with the natural world in ways I can only dream.
