Quote of the Day

courtesy of the Goblin.

.. But if we laugh with derision, we will never understand. Human
intellectual capacity has not altered for thousands of years so far as
we can tell. If intelligent people invested intense energy in issues
that now seem foolish to us, then the failure lies in our understanding
of their world, not in their distorted perceptions. Even the standard
example of ancient nonsense -- the debate about angels on pinheads --
makes sense once you realize that theologians were not discussing
whether five or eighteen would fit, but whether a pin could house a
finite or an infinite number.
-S. J. Gould, "Wide Hats and Narrow Minds."

Regarding which goblinpaladin observes:

I wish people would understand this about medieval scientia, about astrology and alchemy. About the medieval world. They were not stupid, these people. They were looking for something we are not. It might be wrong. That. Is. Not. The. Point.

Pastoral Care

I've been meaning to put up a follow-up post to the conversations about evangelism and rock-bottom evangelees (is that a word?), because Interesting Things have been said. But in the meantime, I give you this quote:

Pastoral care says: I will listen to you. I won't try to fix you, I won't try to change you, I won't try to convert you, I won't try to turn you into someone like me- because God forbid I would want you to become like me! I will simply listen to you.

I have it in an old notebook, ascribed to "the minister at St Lukes". It had something to do with easter camp- I think maybe a reunion service, but maybe leadership training too.

What's in itunes this week...

Not a meme, just an excuse to waste time with LJ and itunes.

( my top 25 most played songs, with commentary )

There you go. How boring.