Month: June 2007

I am not Jed, I am becoming Jed

Ok, sounds strange – but let me help you understand (it’s all pretty simple).


Each and every day of my life, I have experiences from the past, and experiences in the present that change me, that mold me, that make me who I am. The Jed of tomorrow, is not the Jed of today. Because of that, when you look at it from an eternal perspective, I am not who Jed is, I am becoming who Jed is.


So what is the point you ask?


Well, when God said “I AM”, what he was saying is “I EXIST”, that is, I am the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, he was saying that he can not change.


To explain this a little further, God, being outside the constraints of time, space and matter, is never becoming God. He is never a different God tomorrow than he was yesterday because a succession of moments and experiences (God can not have a succession of moments, because he is by the definition of God – outside of time which is required for a succession of moments, and change).


So when God said “I AM” – it was a declaration of what God is – what God has to be, it is so far from human comprehension, and yet, it gives us so much understanding about his nature. He is the creator that is not created, the mover that is not moved, He is One.


Praise be to God!

An infinite nuber of moments cannot be traversed….

This is a paste from the Philosophy of Relgion website (www.philosophyofreligion.info).


Man, I love philosophy – I can’t wait to get this bachelor’s done, so I can get my Masters, then I can get my Doctorate in Philosophy… probably won’t happen till after I’m dead though….




The Impossibility of an Actual Infinite that has been Traversed


The third mathematical argument for the claim that the universe has a beginning draws on the idea that actual infinites cannot be traversed.


If I were to set out on a journey to an infinitely distant point in space, it would not just take me a long time to get there; rather, I would never get there. No matter how long I had been walking for, a part of the journey would still remain. I would never arrive at my destination. Infinite space cannot be traversed.


Similarly, if I were to start counting to infinity, it would not just take me a long time to get there; rather, I would never get there. No matter how long I had been counting for, I would still only have counted to a finite number. It is impossible to traverse the infinite set of numbers between zero and infinity. This also applies to the past. If the past were infinite, then it would not just take a long time to the present to arrive; rather, the present would never arrive. No matter how much time had passed, we would still be working through the infinite past. It is impossible to traverse an infinite period of time.


Clearly, though, the present has arrived, the past has been traversed. The past, therefore, cannot be infinite, but must rather be finite. The universe has a beginning. This is the third mathematical argument for the second premise of the kalam cosmological argument.

Scary…. but he survived….

If you didn’t see it on the news thursday night, my older brother came close to death in a motorcycle accident on I95 on his way home from work…


He was half way passing a Tractor Trailer at about 70 miles per hour, when it veered into his lane; forcing him off the road; hitting the rumble strip, loosing control of his bike, being thrown into the air and landing face down; bike going one way – him going another.


My father who was in front of him on his bike saw the whole thing in his rear view mirror and thought he had been killed.


“oh my God, oh my God” was his words of desperation, which is ironic, as it was the first thing I said hearing that he had been in a serious accident on I95 (I knew he never wears a helmet).


It’s scarey how life can be be pulled away so fast, so unexpectedly, it’s scarey to think this morning when I woke up, that I could have been waking up to a new day without someone who has been part of my life for the last 30 years.


It’s scarey to think that his wife and children may not have had a father if just one little atom was placed differently in that whole accident.


It’s scarey to think that someone might have had to tell his children or wife that he had died there on I95 a little after 4 in the afternoon, unexpected and instantly.


It’s scarey because any day it could happen to me or my father; as we both ride bikes too, and someone would be telling our families in our abscense.


It’s scarey – because he is my brother – and of course I love him.


It’s all scarey, but praise to the Lord that he has survived!


He has multiple fractures in his back and neck, and a broken wrist. He has shattered one ankle and had to have it replaced with hardware as well as his other ankle (which he is still waiting for surgeury on).


His life will never be the same again, but he is alive, and for that I am thankful.


Amen.

University

So – I think I’m going back to school… LoL – I *think* because it all depends on how the financing works out – I think the government needs to realize that it doesn’t matter how much or how little you make – there is still no way to pay to go to school out of pocket.


I still ask myself why I’m doing this – I mean; I can’t get a better job; this degree can’t make me any more money – I think there are a couple reasons.



1) I love to learn – i’ve been reading and studying just about everything I can get my hands on for the last 6 or so years; but I have no paper to show it – I guess i’ve finally decided the paper would be nice.


2) I want a Masters Degree – In Divinity – but I can’t get it – until I have a bachelors.


3) I’m even thinking of a PhD in Philosophy – but of course, I first need the Bachelors, and then the masters.


But the government said, based on my income, I should be able to pay 17 grand out of pocket for this years school – I’m wondering what planet they come from – I could maybe afford about 10 grand; out of pocket; but my kids would have to stop eating… and we’d all have to stop wearing clothes too.


So, depending how the financing works out – I’m going back to school. I’m very excited about it!


At the same time, I’m wondering how anybody in their right mind could afford to go to school… @ 300 a credit hour – for the number of hours it takes to get a Bachelors degree – my school payment is going to be 800$ a month for 10 years – to pay it back. Most schools are more like 400-500 a credit hour – how can a college grad afford to pay 1100+ a month just on school loans …. I guess the idea is, once you start going to school, don’t stop until you can afford to stop. 🙂 [like when you die].


We’ll see….


IPOD

You know, I listen to audio books & lectures (philosophy & religion mostly) – so much; I have gone through like 8 MP3 players over the last couple years; and I finally just bought a car with a 6 MP3 CD player in it – however; i have to find places to drive all the time just so I can listen…



I bought an IPOD yesterday – already have close to 40 GIGS on it (including a season of ALF) – and I’m wondering – how did I ever live without this thing!