Author: darthjedi

Why do people believe in Astrology?

In the first century A.D. the Philosopher and Theologian St. Augustine said “… you have made us for yourself [God], and our heart is restless until it rests in you (Augustine, 1998).

Back in the 1500 to 1600 hundreds the child prodigy, mathematician, physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal (Blaise Pascal, 2008) said “Man tries unsuccessfully to fill this void with everything that surrounds him, seeking in absent things the help he cannot find in those that are present, but all are incapable of it. This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite, immutable object, that is to say, God himself (Pascal, 2008).”

The great apologist and linguist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter to Mr. Vanauken in the 1950’s in which he said; “If you are really a product of a materialistic universe, how is it you don’t feel at home there? Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or w[oul]d. [sic] not always be, purely aquatic creatures (Lewis, 2007)?”

As recently as 2007, the neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg has identified areas of the brain that he believes may be hard-wired for responding to religious activities (Gajilan, 2007).

I believe the continued interest in Astrology, despite its lack of scientific basis is a manifestation for a desire to know and understand and seek something to fill a void that we all have as humans. We want to know where we come from, why we’re here, and where we are going. I believe that the interest in astrology provides at least the positive benefit of keeping people open minded, understanding that not everything can be simplified to a mathematical equation (e.g. how does one describe love with numbers), I think the negative impact of Astrology is how much money people actually spend on it; and how much some people actually schedule their lives around it – in that respect, I believe that people would be much better releasing themselves from a belief that has no evidential basis.

 

 

 

References

Augustine, S. (1998). Confessions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Blaise Pascal. (2008, October 14). Retrieved October 14, 2008, from WikiPedia.Org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_pascal

Gajilan, A. C. (2007, April 5). Are humans hard-wired for faith? Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Cnn.Com: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/04/neurotheology/

Lewis, C. (2007). The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Pascal, B. (2008). Pensees and Other Writings (Oxford World’s Classics). New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

 

One of my Short Stories

 

©2004 Jediah Logiodice

 

There he was, laying in his bed, a frail little boy of only 3. It’s amazing how circumstances sometimes require a child to grow quicker than their years.

And here he was – my little boy – all grown up at 3 years old.

He understood the whole meaning of his life – which doctors speculated would last only a few more weeks.

Every time I saw him I longed to take him in my arms and hold him forever.

I’ve never been able to shake the pain, the thought that I failed him.

I remember how I used to hold him at night and whisper in his ear that nothing bad would ever happen to him as long as I was around, that I would always protect him.

But you can’t protect them from everything, you know, no matter how I had tried; I could not keep death from coming to his little life.

How much I felt I had failed him.

It’s hard to keep your faith in God when you go through trials like this.

I remember the day we sat together, I stared as his precious little face, soft and serene, and Andrew looked up at me and said, “Papa, I’ll give Jesus a hug and tell him that you love him still.”

The tears rushed from my eyes, and I collapsed on his bed beside him and held him as close to my face as I could. I laid there weeping uncontrollably, and he ran his hands over my head and whispered – “Shhh –its ok, papa, its ok.”

Sometimes he seemed all grown up.

On the day Andrew left, I had one last glimpse of the simple inner beauty that God had bestowed upon him.

It had been hours, we had sat there, together, holding his fragile little hand.

He had slowly turned his head toward me and inquired, “Papa, where is the sweet by and by”?

“What do you mean, Andrew”, I asked?

“You know, like in the song, it says ‘In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore'”.

“Oh”, I said, once again welling up, “that means in a little while we’ll meet in heaven”.

“Oh” was all he said. He was silent for a long time afterwards.

But those last words he said to me before he ebbed away was; “Papa – I’ll see you by and by”.

That was almost 15 years ago.

It’s funny how some memories remain so vivid.

I can remember everything about that day. What I ate for breakfast, what I wore, even down to the color of Andrew’s socks.

Time slips on, but memories like that never fade.

Even to this day, when I think of my little boy, I lose yet again another part of me – leaving me feeling just a little bit more cold and empty inside.

But, the time did come when I could talk to Jesus again, and I got down on my knees buried my head in my hands, and through silent tears I said, “Jesus, Andrew was right, I do still love you, but please give him a hug for me, and tell him that I miss him awfully.”

 

The Weight of Gold…

 

I am stuck inside a mud pit with

    A pocket full of gold.

This story of my wayward step

    Is one that should be told.

  
 

One day while walking on the edge

    I thought that I would try,

To soil my sole, to take a step

    and yet keep clean and dry

  
 

And ‘lo perhaps if I should fall

    Or something worse unfold

The remedy was right with me

    My pocket full of gold.

  
 

I walked out deep, I felt no fear,

    As you can clearly see

The safety net, that you can get

    With gold so plentily

  
 

But now I stand up to my knees

    And sinking very fast

There’s something that I could not see

    But late, at last, I grasp

  
 

And with a frown, my head goes down

    Below the mirky foam

The weight to bear of gold so fair

    Has crushed me like a stone.

 
 

 
 

© 2007 Jediah Logiodice

 

(Sometimes having financial security can be a blessing – but sometimes it can be a curse)

“The world is my country, and science is my religion.” —Christiaan Huygens, 17th century astronomer.

 

I found the quote by Christiaan Huygens very interesting. I’ve recently finished reading a few books written by qualified and well known scientists in the field of astronomy, physics and biology discussing how these fields of science can and do work together with religion to build a single cohesive worldview.

The quote especially reminds me of the most recent book that I am nearing the end of. The book is written by Frank Tipler, who is a Mathematical Physicist at Tulane University, and is titled The Physics of Christianity. Tipler also views science as a form of religion and states “… since His [God’s] laws [of science] are His direct creation, studying His natural laws is as pious an act as studying the Bible (Tipler, 2007).”

Indeed if there is a God, and He created all things, than the study of His creation (science) is as much of an act of trying to understand Him as opening up a bible and reading His word.

There is so much hidden in the recesses of space and time and the multiverse waiting to be found. This information has and will continue to help describe our origins and will help us understand our meaning and purpose.

 

References

Tipler, F. J. (2007). The Physics of Christianity. New York: Doubleday.

 

 

Pres. Bush’s speech last night

What a huge mess we’re in… but I found it interesting about the references to the “Global Economy” and that some of the laws being put forth right now would allow the the “Federal” Reserve bank (Not a federal organization, but a privately run organization) more power and control over the U.S. economy and financial institutions (and governments).


One bank to rule them all, one bank to find them, one bank to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them!



Let the March of the NeoCons commence! 😉



Shadows…

Evening dance

   starry rain

      pouring down from

         Heights on high

 
 

Nights caress

   brightened sky

      forming shadows

         from days gone by.

 
 

What I see

   echoes vast

      from long away

         where memory fades

 
 

And here I stand

   at last it’s past

      the moonlight

         recedes for another day.

 
 

 
 

– Dedicated to the moon, whose mercy echoed within the recesses of my mind a dreamy childhood memory – 8-23-2008.

©2008 Jediah Logiodice

My son the hacker…


So Donovan informed Amanda a couple days ago that he is going to be a “Scientist, a computer scientist, like papa” and last night he asked me to start teaching him about computers, and he was asking tons of questions about breaking into computers and hacking.



So we sat down and starting having a conversation about CPUs and Memory and Hard drives and Graphics Cards and Sound Cards and Mother Boards and binary and CD-roms – and he was just sucking it all up, he asked me to open the case on his computer so I could show him the components one by one.



Well, when I logged onto my personal email this morning I had an email sitting in my email box saying that I had signed up for a parent account on playhouse Disney and then signed up Donovan for a free trial for a particular game on playhouse Disney – and all I needed to do was click on the verification link and login and verify his account so he could play.



Of course, I didn’t know the password “I” used to create the account, and I’m glad he doesn’t know how to brute force POP3 account logon’s yet… but needless to say, I think I’m creating a monster…. He is only 7…. Before long, I’m going to have to enroll him in an “Ethical Hackers” program @ the university…. J