And so it has begun: the children's songs. The kid is barely more than a week old and we've got children's songs going on YouTube. But it occurred to me that sometimes even something meant for children can raise deep philosophical questions. For example, what if you're happy, but you don't know it? You're not going to clap your hands, obviously, but I actually think there are a lot of people who are happy and don't know it. Case in point: George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life - he thought there should be more to life, but he was wrong. This movie is a great cautionary tale about a man who didn't get his heart's desire, and was better off for it. He didn't get to get out of Bedford Falls and see the world, but what he found was better - family, stability, etc. But it took divine intervention for him to snap out of his midlife crisis and see how happy he was.
So I would say to people, if you're happy and you know it then you are doubly fortunate. But if you don't think you're happy, it could be that it's only because you are longing for things that won't make you happy if you get them. As Dorothy discovered, sometimes what's really best for you is what you already have. Or another way to put it, sometimes learning to be content with what you have is a far better pursuit than the striving after things you don't have. Anyway, St. Augustine would agree. For him, it's all about the object of your desire. And to make anything other than God the object of your desire will always lead to fear and frustration. You'll either want what you don't have, or worry about protecting what you do have. So it comes down to God and family. That's where true happiness is. And with that, I've progressed from children's songs to country songs, so I guess I better quit while I'm ahead.
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
This was for March 24th, recorded for the Ascension App
Thanks for your patience - here is our next installment of The Journey - it's session # 96, but I'm also calling it PART 1 of a "miniseries" on John chapter 6.
Whoever watches it first, please let me know if it looks good or if there are any problems with it - I get through the first two sections of the text on the feeding of the 5,000.
Enjoy!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
So begins a song I wrote back in the day, to commemorate the martyrs of Rome - which was the point of the name of the band I had for about 20 years - the band was called Remember Rome. The song was called Midnight Light. At about midnight on the night between July 18th and 19th, in the year 64 AD, the emperor Nero's men started the great fire in Rome, which would be blamed on the Christians, starting the long trajectory of Roman persecution of the Church. Here's a video of Remember Rome playing the song - do I look younger? This was recorded right around the turn of Y2K, about 25 years ago.
I highly recommend this podcast in general, but this concept of "Transhumanism" is really important to understand, and in my opinion is not unrelated with the whole AI thing - check this out:
