Hats

I do not like to wear hats because they never fit right.

Which is why I prefer hats that form around my head.

Fitted baseball hats, toboggans, even bandannas are welcomed because,

These hats conform, they are comfortable.

These are the hats my friends wear and we all agree hats should be made to conform to us.

And this crown of thorns I was given, I rarely put it on.

It does not conform to me.

I must conform to it.

The unforgivable sin

Have you come across this or remember reading it before:

“‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven of their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’ - for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”

— Mark 3:28-30 (NRSV)

Can it be that there is a sin that is so bad that it is unforgivable? A line that even God says, "even I cannot go there.' Some action that is so reprehensible and evil that you will have a mark of shame on your soul for eternity? And if there is such an act, is "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" such an act?

Jesus makes it clear that disciples are forgiven to the extent that they forgive others. The Lord's Prayer even says it: "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those trespass against us." We are restored through the act of forgiveness.

The role of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of forgiveness. Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit being the "Advocate". The Holy Spirit is advocating for the accused, much like what God does on behalf of Job to Satan (the "Accuser").

Blaspheming is speaking wrongly about God. So when one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, one is saying that Holy Spirit cannot/will not forgive. 

When we say there cannot be forgiveness for someone else, when we are not forging the trespasses of others, then we are not restored.

And so, if we are forgiven to the extent that we forgive and we say the Spirit of Forgiveness cannot forgive someone, then we commit an unforgivable action. Not because God does not desire forgiveness, but it becomes a closed circle.

And now for the crude and over simplified "paint" version:

Only forgiveness can break the cycle. 

Where is the outrage for the Halftime show?

I loved the show. However, I wonder where the outrage is about the show? 

Ten years ago, the no infamous "nipplegate" happened. In which for a fraction of a second Janet Jackson's breast was exposed after Justin Timberlake ripped off part of her black leather costume. In 2013 Beyonce gave this sexually charged performance which some people were shocked by the outfit (which also was black leather). 

Then in 2014 we have the very talented Bruno Mars performance in which the only outrage I saw was related to the shirtless Anthony Kiedis and Flea. 

But did anyone listen to what was being sung during the show by Mars? It opened with a chorus of children holding hands and singing a song that talks about how desperately the song writer desires to be a Billionaire. This was then followed up with a song that talks about how having having sex. 

I am not a puritanical prude that believes that all the hip gyrating is leading these United States toward the path of destruction. Again, Mars is very talented and would enjoy having 1/4 of his musical talent. But when we are okay with kids singing about the desire for being super wealthy and a band singing about how not having sex would be like being locked out of heaven, but not okay when there is a "wardrobe malfunction" I have to wonder if there is a disconnect. 

I am not even going to talk about the male/female difference here. I am not saying that we are all okay with men preforming hetro-sexualized material but not okay with women doing it. I want to point out that this is an example of just how influenced we are by Plato.

Aristotle argues that what is real is that which we can see, touch and sense. The scientific community is built on this idea that what is measurable is reality and what is not measurable is theory at best. Because of the emphasis on the measurable (i.e. the material) it may be argued that science is the religion of the material. It is what can be seen and measured that really matters.

So when someone shows off some skin or dances provocatively then we "know" that the performer is moving in a specific direction. But when the performer uses the less measurable ethereal objects such as words to invoke something we are much better with it because we cannot measure words like we can an exposed nipple.

I don't know, maybe it was the upbeat tempo, maybe it was because the dancer dressed in a way to make physical connections to a more "pure" time in american music, maybe it is because Mars is male, maybe it is our connection to ancient Greece and a philosophy that places truth in the material rather than the "ideal", or some combination but I just wonder where is the outrage for the halftime show?