Wandering Elder

As I get older, I find myself thinking about the idea of karma.  It isn't a doctrine I hold, or a particular philosophical or theological ideology that I maintain, but it is one that tends to make me nervous.  Having been brought up in the South, and in particular the Christian traditions of the South, karma was not something I was ever even aware of hearing about until the popularity of Culture Club's song "Karma Chameleon" in the early 1980s. What I found was that Christians have their own way of speaking about Karma.  "What goes around comes around."  That's a popular phrase among Christians - usually when referring to some perceived nere-do-well who finally got in trouble the way the righteous persons always thought they would or should.  "They got what was coming to them." So we all have our ideas of karma.  Jesus said, as found in the Gospel according to Mark, that "the measure you give will be the measure you get."  (Mark 4...

A few days ago I watched the movie Joe  starring Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan.  Mostly I watched it because I tend to like Nicolas Cage as an actor.  I find it interesting how he has fallen into the B-List or lower for most people.  I can't figure out why he isn't a draw any longer.  I have found him to be a solid actor.  The movie Joe  is no exception. I won't go into the plot too much here, but it is billed as a movie about the relationship between Joe (Cage) and a young boy named Gary (Sheridan).  The writing is good.  The pacing is pretty good, even though it tends to lag a few times, but only briefly.  And while the movie isn't an action  movie, from the beginning you feel the tension beginning to build. Everyone in the movie seems to be in some state of disrepair, and while they all seem to be trying to get out of their brokenness, situations are such that the interpersonal relationships between the characters is ironical...

With the fires going out in Baltimore, I find myself wondering about civilization.  The word itself, civilization, has multiple meanings.  One is "a being civilized."  Another is "the total culture of a people, period, etc."  The third one I found is this, "the peoples considered to have reached a high social development." The height of civilization is something that can usually only be measured in retrospect.  Being 'civilized' has also become something of a fluid definition.  For example, it was considered civilized for men to remove their hats upon entering a building - especially academic or religious settings.  I lament the passing of that mark of civility.  Of course smoking  was once the mark of high society.  I think that particular loss isn't so bad. So things change.  We have to recognize that.  Yet with the riots in Baltimore and the rise of groups such as the IS, the growing economic disparity in the US, and so ...