Of the year, that is. As I will be at the Lodge in Lethbridge and then having a geekfest Lord of the Rings marathon with my bestie, I will not have time to post a New Years blog. I know I could always schedule one, but I really don't feel in the mood to write one out at the moment, so I'm not going to do one this year. Look back to last year's and you find my sentiments on the end of one year/start of another one.
I could make resolutions for the new year, but who am I kidding? Those kinds of things never come through, so I'll make decisions on my life as things happen to me. :3
Happy continuing time everyone.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
201211 Beginnings
I want to talk about beginnings and other stuff. But the way in which I might talk about them may insult people (no one in particular; we may just have conflicting beliefs about things). I do not mean these things as a personal attack on what you believe, I’m just hoping that you will read my thoughts and think about them. No pressure to continue though.
This is a series of ideas that rose from a particular discussion in my philosophy class, when we were talking about the philosophy of religion and a certain Kalam argument. What I took from that discussion was the sequence of logic that the Kalam argument proposed: a) whatever has a beginning has a cause, b) the universe has a beginning, therefore c) the universe has a cause. This is where things divide and my own views mess around and make a number of haphazard bridges.
We get the two opposing sides of what caused the universe. On the religious side, of which I am a part, the cause of the universe is God. On the scientific side the cause was quantum, which caused the big bang from which the universe expanded and continues to do so. I personally believe that both are true. We cannot ignore science because it is taking a seemingly atheistic stand. The universe, and therefore the earth, is millions of years old.
When we discussed the Kalam argument in class, it came with a sense of relief that I wasn’t the only one who believed in the big bang AND God. But there was a great deal of debate (that I can’t recall). One thing everyone agreed on though was that God does not, or cannot, have a beginning. Without a beginning, God does, or cannot, have a cause. He just is.
So where did this obsession with knowing God scientifically come from? Humans, myself included, are obsessed with cause and effect. Everything that is done must have a cause and that cause creates an effect. I’m no scientist, nor do I claim to know a lot about the sciences, but from high school I know that much of science is based on studying the cause and effect of things in existence. But God has no cause, so how can science see or study him?
We cannot understand God because of who we are and how we were created. We have a beginning and therefore a cause. We see out things like us in the world around us so that we can relate to them. Because the earth has a beginning and a cause, it is easy for us to relate to earthly things over relating to Godly things. Trying to relate to Godly things frustrates us because we cannot comprehend it. God is fundamentally different from us. He rules over all.
When I say that, I mean that he sees both the beginning and the end of the universe. It’s not a never-ending line for him; it’s all bunched together in one place. God knows not of how timelines function because time is a human concept. We go through every day, hour by hour, minute by minute and we assume that everything else does to. Indeed, everything on earth goes through time the same way that we do because everything on earth has a beginning. Where there is a beginning, there is not only a cause, but a succession of events that happen in chronological order.
There is no chronological order with God. He is outside of time.
Of course, there is one aspect of God that has a timeline. It is the aspect of Jesus’ life on earth that we seek most earnestly, because it is something that we can understand. Jesus’ mortal life had a beginning, just like ours did, which makes it easier for us to relate to him. I’m not saying that this is wrong; in fact because it is the only aspect of God that is so similar to ourselves, I believe it is the strongest way to connect ourselves with our faith.
But we also have to be aware that there are parts of God that we cannot humanly understand. There are tough questions in life that are asked of those of faith and many of them cannot be answered (which serves as fuel for the people who do not follow the same faith); questions like ‘why did this happen to me?’ or ‘why does God let this happen?’. We try and try to find the cause of these things because that’s what we do as humans; we know no different. The answers to those questions cannot be answered because the answer lies in what we cannot understand.
Tl;dr? In short: Anything that begins has a cause; the universe began so it has a cause. God doesn’t have a beginning, so he doesn’t have a cause. God caused the universe through the scientific ‘big bang theory’. We have a beginning and that separates us from being able to fully comprehend God because of our limitations. God breached our comprehension through the mortal life of Jesus. Even though we can understand part of Jesus like ourselves, we can’t understand everything because God can’t be understood by humans.
This is a series of ideas that rose from a particular discussion in my philosophy class, when we were talking about the philosophy of religion and a certain Kalam argument. What I took from that discussion was the sequence of logic that the Kalam argument proposed: a) whatever has a beginning has a cause, b) the universe has a beginning, therefore c) the universe has a cause. This is where things divide and my own views mess around and make a number of haphazard bridges.
We get the two opposing sides of what caused the universe. On the religious side, of which I am a part, the cause of the universe is God. On the scientific side the cause was quantum, which caused the big bang from which the universe expanded and continues to do so. I personally believe that both are true. We cannot ignore science because it is taking a seemingly atheistic stand. The universe, and therefore the earth, is millions of years old.
When we discussed the Kalam argument in class, it came with a sense of relief that I wasn’t the only one who believed in the big bang AND God. But there was a great deal of debate (that I can’t recall). One thing everyone agreed on though was that God does not, or cannot, have a beginning. Without a beginning, God does, or cannot, have a cause. He just is.
So where did this obsession with knowing God scientifically come from? Humans, myself included, are obsessed with cause and effect. Everything that is done must have a cause and that cause creates an effect. I’m no scientist, nor do I claim to know a lot about the sciences, but from high school I know that much of science is based on studying the cause and effect of things in existence. But God has no cause, so how can science see or study him?
We cannot understand God because of who we are and how we were created. We have a beginning and therefore a cause. We see out things like us in the world around us so that we can relate to them. Because the earth has a beginning and a cause, it is easy for us to relate to earthly things over relating to Godly things. Trying to relate to Godly things frustrates us because we cannot comprehend it. God is fundamentally different from us. He rules over all.
When I say that, I mean that he sees both the beginning and the end of the universe. It’s not a never-ending line for him; it’s all bunched together in one place. God knows not of how timelines function because time is a human concept. We go through every day, hour by hour, minute by minute and we assume that everything else does to. Indeed, everything on earth goes through time the same way that we do because everything on earth has a beginning. Where there is a beginning, there is not only a cause, but a succession of events that happen in chronological order.
There is no chronological order with God. He is outside of time.
Of course, there is one aspect of God that has a timeline. It is the aspect of Jesus’ life on earth that we seek most earnestly, because it is something that we can understand. Jesus’ mortal life had a beginning, just like ours did, which makes it easier for us to relate to him. I’m not saying that this is wrong; in fact because it is the only aspect of God that is so similar to ourselves, I believe it is the strongest way to connect ourselves with our faith.
But we also have to be aware that there are parts of God that we cannot humanly understand. There are tough questions in life that are asked of those of faith and many of them cannot be answered (which serves as fuel for the people who do not follow the same faith); questions like ‘why did this happen to me?’ or ‘why does God let this happen?’. We try and try to find the cause of these things because that’s what we do as humans; we know no different. The answers to those questions cannot be answered because the answer lies in what we cannot understand.
Tl;dr? In short: Anything that begins has a cause; the universe began so it has a cause. God doesn’t have a beginning, so he doesn’t have a cause. God caused the universe through the scientific ‘big bang theory’. We have a beginning and that separates us from being able to fully comprehend God because of our limitations. God breached our comprehension through the mortal life of Jesus. Even though we can understand part of Jesus like ourselves, we can’t understand everything because God can’t be understood by humans.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
151211 12.5%
That's how far into my BA I am. XD
I had my last exam today and I am now FREE. At least until Jan 10, when my second semester starts.
I really don't have a lot to say right now. I might have more to post later.
I had my last exam today and I am now FREE. At least until Jan 10, when my second semester starts.
I really don't have a lot to say right now. I might have more to post later.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
131211
A happy birthday to my father today, who turns 47! (even though he was convinced he was turning 46...)
And a very merry unbirthday to everyone else!
And a very merry unbirthday to everyone else!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
101211 Exams and the Like
(This post is heavily school-related...)
So I have officially finished all the papers that I had to write and I've gotten two of them back already, with comments on how to improve. :3
I have started exams also. I had my first one today for Old Testament, which I tried to study last night but gave up because the textbook is soooo dry. D: That and I kinda wanted to play Zelda. XD In keeping with my tradition, 90 true/false and multiple choice questions took me approximately 40 minutes and I was the first to leave the room again.
I have Rep Lit on Monday, which includes an essay, which I'm not looking forward to. D: I have to actually finish reading Robinson Crusoe that I know what happens in the middle instead of just the beginning 100 pages and the last 20. XD
Tuesday is Intro to Lit, which, thankfully, does not include an essay. Instead, Tim is putting in a few sample paragraph and we have to edit them. My brain threw a mini party when he said this; talk about playing to my strengths! I need to read the last two short stories for that class also, especially Bartleby the Scrivener because Tim very blatantly said that it would be on the exam.
Wednesday is Philosophy, and I'm not really too worried about it. I was worried about the midterm because of the classes I missed, but I managed to pull out an 80% which is decent considering the class average was in the 60s. I'm looking forward to reading the funny answers Ken comes up with this time.
Thursday then is my last exam, Psychology, which isn't really an exam. It's a chapter test on the last three chapters. Not worried about this one.
After that I'm free! At least until Jan 9, which is when I start semester 2. I only have 4 classes in the new year, which I think will make things a little less hectic for me in April. My new schedule is as follows:
Tues+Thurs
9:45-11: World History Since 1500 (I'm also go to take Up To 1500 in semester 3)
1-2:15: Short Story
Wed+Fri
11:15-12:30: Principles of Sociology
2:30-3:45: New Testament
My days are a lot more compact, which means less driving back and forth, but less work hours. D: We'll see how that goes.
(My space bar is currently going through a stage of adding two spaces where there should be one, so I apologize if I missed any.)
So I have officially finished all the papers that I had to write and I've gotten two of them back already, with comments on how to improve. :3
I have started exams also. I had my first one today for Old Testament, which I tried to study last night but gave up because the textbook is soooo dry. D: That and I kinda wanted to play Zelda. XD In keeping with my tradition, 90 true/false and multiple choice questions took me approximately 40 minutes and I was the first to leave the room again.
I have Rep Lit on Monday, which includes an essay, which I'm not looking forward to. D: I have to actually finish reading Robinson Crusoe that I know what happens in the middle instead of just the beginning 100 pages and the last 20. XD
Tuesday is Intro to Lit, which, thankfully, does not include an essay. Instead, Tim is putting in a few sample paragraph and we have to edit them. My brain threw a mini party when he said this; talk about playing to my strengths! I need to read the last two short stories for that class also, especially Bartleby the Scrivener because Tim very blatantly said that it would be on the exam.
Wednesday is Philosophy, and I'm not really too worried about it. I was worried about the midterm because of the classes I missed, but I managed to pull out an 80% which is decent considering the class average was in the 60s. I'm looking forward to reading the funny answers Ken comes up with this time.
Thursday then is my last exam, Psychology, which isn't really an exam. It's a chapter test on the last three chapters. Not worried about this one.
After that I'm free! At least until Jan 9, which is when I start semester 2. I only have 4 classes in the new year, which I think will make things a little less hectic for me in April. My new schedule is as follows:
Tues+Thurs
9:45-11: World History Since 1500 (I'm also go to take Up To 1500 in semester 3)
1-2:15: Short Story
Wed+Fri
11:15-12:30: Principles of Sociology
2:30-3:45: New Testament
My days are a lot more compact, which means less driving back and forth, but less work hours. D: We'll see how that goes.
(My space bar is currently going through a stage of adding two spaces where there should be one, so I apologize if I missed any.)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
071211 Want To Do List
These are the things that I want to do when I don't have school to worry about after tomorrow:
- crayon art
- scrapbook pages
- watercolour my sketch
- read at least three books that I don't have to read
- write pieces of TWS because I didn't get to during November
- SLEEP IN.
- to be continued...
- crayon art
- scrapbook pages
- watercolour my sketch
- read at least three books that I don't have to read
- write pieces of TWS because I didn't get to during November
- SLEEP IN.
- to be continued...
Monday, December 5, 2011
051211 Little Drummer Boy
You might have seen this already. If you have, watch it again; it's good. If you haven't, watch it, it's good. XD
Good Canadian boy, wear shorts outside in the snow. X3
Saturday, December 3, 2011
031211 Salvation Army Christmas iKettle
You know those familiar red kettles and the jingling of bells that go with them, usually manned by a jolly volunteer who will give you a candy cane or a new year pocket calendar. The Salvation Army Christmas campaign is a regular sight in the malls.
This year I'm hosting an iKettle, where you can donate to the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle fund online! You don't have to go to a mall to give.
I haven't set a fundraising goal because I don't want the pressure. But here's my promise: I will match whatever is donated through my kettle; up to $300.
Unfortunately the iKettle can only take Canadian donations, but don't be discouraged if you're not from Canada! Please find a way to support an organization in some way this Christmas.
This year I'm hosting an iKettle, where you can donate to the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle fund online! You don't have to go to a mall to give.
I haven't set a fundraising goal because I don't want the pressure. But here's my promise: I will match whatever is donated through my kettle; up to $300.
Unfortunately the iKettle can only take Canadian donations, but don't be discouraged if you're not from Canada! Please find a way to support an organization in some way this Christmas.
Friday, December 2, 2011
021211 Shakespearean Insults
I remember doing this in gr 11 English. So much fun!
Also, 8000+ views. <3 Thanks guys.
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