Nancy's Musings

I had a challenging conversation last night with a friend who is a non-practicing Jehovah's Witness. Although she is non-practicing, she is very firmly set in her beliefs, at least on the subject we touched on last night. This rigidity of thought reminded me of a blog post by Michael Austin at By Common Consent . He discusses the need in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be able to admit that we are wrong. But I came around to this article in a kind of backwards way. A long, long time ago when I was serving my mission in Germany I remember encountering people who were simply not interested in exploring new ideas because their religions offered them everything they wanted, culturally and philosophically. I remember vividly how strange it felt to talk to someone who expressed interest in listening to what we had to say. I didn't trust it. What kind of people could simply abandon what they'd learned all their lives? But I was there to teach and be a cond...

Ecclesiastes is my favorite Old Testament book. I love that it's a puzzle. It gives the shapes of certain things, and leaves you to understand what has been omitted. And in the omissions I can see amazing things. I do not believe everyone sees the same things. But I saw something the other day that you might find interesting. Ecclesiastes is strange sort of text with a fairly comprehensive indictment of mortality. If mortality is everything, then everything is nothing. A fascinating philosophical premise! I quote from the KJV: "What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" (1:3). "Under the sun" is, according to a footnote, a phrase that comprehends mortality and nothing more. I pondered this question yesterday. Why do we work? "All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing [Netflix, anyone?], nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and ...