tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64557574672996206672012-01-26T13:35:55.989-06:00Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-90440237967991597902012-01-26T12:50:00.000-06:002012-01-26T12:50:59.404-06:00

From somewhere deep in the Old Testament: Moses spoke to all the people, saying: "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let us not again hear the voice of  the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-10230499447631349112012-01-26T07:12:00.004-06:002012-01-26T07:18:39.702-06:00

Here is another reason I am pro-tax: Charity is not more efficient when done privately than when done in unity. There are things in this world that are worth doing: fixing cleft palates in underdeveloped countries for instance.  We happily gave money.  I googled first to make sure it was legit., etc.  I'm pretty sure it is on the up and up.  Their ratings are good. But, why all the junk mail

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-89565943207118512122012-01-22T19:24:00.004-06:002012-01-22T19:37:33.205-06:00

Just as I thought: gossip is not really bad. Awesome! And I extrapolate that to support my theory that lying is not wrong. Gossip is a type of lie. I talk about someone behind their back and then smile at them, pretending.  I lie. It is good. Now, underlying behavior can be wrong, and that can encourage a coverup. The problem, however, is the bad behavior and not the lie. And I have noticed

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-77151885272942715452012-01-22T09:36:00.002-06:002012-01-22T09:40:35.074-06:00

I am pro-tax.  What's not to love about living in the US?  I think I get my money's worth many times over.  Granted, I live in a place where things are pretty smooth.  But, even here in Iowa, I could never have one pro-tax conversation with anyone.  That 'anyone' would give me the "you are from Mars" look. I think of it as us all being on vacation together and putting money into a jar to split

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-91131531095690402552012-01-20T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-20T11:11:18.363-06:00

The caucus was really really fun.  But the media reads way too much into the 'results'.  It's not an election.  It's not meant to be an election.  If it were, it would be called a primary. Seeing that there were eight votes supposedly dividing the two highest candidates.  And now maybe ....  well no one can know ... Our caucus was held in way-too-small-for-the-crowd gymnasium.  Many of us were

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-75074853933333463282012-01-20T10:43:00.001-06:002012-01-20T10:45:04.158-06:00

Why revisited?  Because I can't get enough of this hobby: smelling incense while thinking up interior Swedenborgian meanings for the Gospel readings.  Here is last week's pay dirt: Gospel, John 1:35-42 The next day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus went past, and John looked towards him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God.' And the two disciples heard what he

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-88368167057114624962012-01-17T05:15:00.038-06:002012-01-17T06:54:15.733-06:00

There is a book that outlines a narrative of what the ancient Maya believed about the creation.  I love this stuff.  The Maya were isolated in this hemisphere.  They developed a very sophisticated society and set of beliefs.  Their climate was warm, so they could live in 'nature' more than northern people could.  What did they think was the meaning of life?  The creation?  If you read the Popol

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-47657721397797438772012-01-11T07:07:00.000-06:002012-01-11T07:07:23.648-06:00

If you are reading this today - did you see Google?  It has a tribute to Nicholas Steno, a religiously minded scientist in the 1600s who investigated geology and anatomy.  He pointed out the layering effect in geology and in living bodies.  I read his bio quickly and my impression is that he realized layers had to be originally laid down as liquid that later gelled.  Then another liquid layer

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-59206973650699801912012-01-08T14:40:00.002-06:002012-01-08T14:43:55.180-06:00

Do you want to hear what my interpretation of Swedenborg's interpretation of the Epiphany story is?  No, I didn't think so.  Because ... is there anything more annoying in life than hearing other people's religious ideas?  Yuk - other people's religious ideas. Which is why I never say anything about religion in my real life. Which is why I love blogging.  Blogging is my fancy way of talking to

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-54069862673418111272012-01-02T16:28:00.000-06:002012-01-02T16:39:31.497-06:00

This is Swedenborg as it is meant to be enjoyed (at a Catholic Mass, in a beautiful church, side aisle, middle row).  Sweet.  The Numbers 6, Old Testament reading screams for a Sw. interpretation: The LORD said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-90409215512931610382012-01-01T07:50:00.001-06:002012-01-01T07:56:42.685-06:00

The new Kindle Fire is aptly named.  It's a book burning ember ready to strike. This is totally my suddenly-formed and not fact-checked opinion: Post-Christmas week and back at my small town library, over half the conversations I had with customers centered on "How do I do my new Kindle?'  Every single one of my best patrons, as we call our library customers, now has one.  They will soon not

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-13958935189727550562011-12-29T20:03:00.000-06:002011-12-29T20:03:43.942-06:00

This quilt is like the Emory monks' sand mandala.  Quilts take intense concentration.  They are more expensive than you, as a quilter, would ever let on, especially to your husband.  And the process is just worth it.  That's how the monks must feel.  Just like the ritual to erase their work, here is a quilter's ritual: you go to Walmart and see that quilts as good as yours are 'handmade' in China

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-25635027097527984632011-12-27T19:51:00.028-06:002011-12-27T20:00:32.898-06:00

Right on! Bruce Springsteen., a photo by wit*chazel on Flickr. Or better, Zn. Back at work after 2 weeks off, I had a realization:  I want to retire   All of the zn books at my library are SMALL.  That is so ... I don't know ... that is just so zn.  Someone checked one out - a tiny book - and I wanted to comment.  But I did not. 

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-89490591604980180782011-12-23T21:28:00.000-06:002011-12-23T21:28:06.318-06:00

Someone in my real life actually just seriously asked me a Swedenborg question!  Never thought that would happen.  (Not because people are not interested in this stuff, but because I rarely speak above a lame level in my real life.)  Anyway, here is the question - I need help answering: I am reading Mark in the New Test. and I think I do see that there could be symbolic meanings.  I know nothing

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-45432100262559019522011-12-20T16:48:00.003-06:002011-12-20T16:56:18.635-06:00

One of Swedenborg's first writings was the very long, intricate 12 volume Arcana Coelestia.  He had a great idea and he wanted to put it down on paper.  He published it anonymously, I believe, although later he was found out and began publishing nonymously ? (Is that a word?  It should be).  So, then, how to begin?  He had to engage the reader without scaring him off.  He had to sum up what he

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-30709387536471205292011-12-12T20:45:00.003-06:002011-12-12T20:49:33.119-06:00

[I read a blog about a new book about God in science.  It's written by Professor Thompson.  Professor is the perfect name for him, because unlike a simple instructor, he actually PROFESSES something.  You might agree or disagree with him, but you will agree that he professes.  His idea is that presupposing God in science is no weirder than presupposing any of the things that science always

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-66948892877556668282011-12-08T16:41:00.000-06:002011-12-08T16:50:55.335-06:00

I like to combine teachings from Swedenborg and the Catholic church.  It is a challenge because the two entities do not see eye to eye on the surface. Today is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  The Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin.  This is one of those traditional beliefs that you will not find in the Bible.  This is one of those traditional beliefs that Swedenborg

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-34575393101803890492011-12-07T10:39:00.000-06:002011-12-07T10:39:10.610-06:00

Google is a buzz kill, don't you think?  I am addicted to running my trains of thought by it - and it often does not agree with my theories.  Then, who should I believe?  Me or Google? I loved this thought that I had the other day: What are called the gifts of the Holy Spirit were ferocious gifts in the Bible, but wimpy gifts now.  I jumped to that conclusion because at church I heard a

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-39350327922819699752011-12-04T08:31:00.006-06:002011-12-04T09:29:29.868-06:00

Sorry, I have no pictures of this so I'll have to go the 1,000 words route. I went to my Catholic church (the one I gave up on) and it was transformed!  I had stopped in at Eucharistic adoration to pray for a library customer's only grandchild who was going to prison for 10 years (meth of course) on that very day.  I wanted to light a candle for him. This was the congregation where I had

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-49346962931969663312011-11-30T21:52:00.001-06:002011-11-30T21:54:27.917-06:00

I need to show off my latest sewing project - a braided rug - and so, I will tie it in with some Swedenborg.  Here is a meaning he gives to the story of Jesus' tunic: 6] That a "tunic" signifies Divine truth from the Lord, is still more obvious from those passages in the New Testament in which "tunic" is mentioned, as in John: The soldiers took His garments and made four parts, to every soldier

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-6841142011617403572011-11-30T16:11:00.000-06:002011-11-30T16:12:21.739-06:00

Some people nitpick.  When they read or experience anything, the mistakes jump out at them and distract from the book or the happening.  They are like an overactive immune system. "He spelled that wrong ... ergo he does not know what he's talking about", "she is being hypocritical ... ergo I don't like her", that kind of thing. I started reading a blog post - Metacrock's Blog - about Biblical

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-30948163453866039742011-11-26T13:05:00.000-06:002011-11-26T13:17:53.347-06:00

Sarcasm requires mental gymnastics.  Reading Emanuel Swedenborg requires mental gymnasics. Ergo, Swedenborg and sarcasm are almost exactly the same. You have to learn to see a deeper meaning in literal conversations.  Children as young as four have the smarts to say "Nice move, Mom" when mom spills the milk.  Sarcasm shows a non-literal way of thinking.  It can be a sign of brain disease if

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-56020353848362966672011-11-22T19:42:00.003-06:002011-11-22T19:59:28.508-06:00

I read a certain blog wherein a physicist has used his own brilliant mind and combined it with Swedenborg's brilliant mind to come up with a theistic (believing in God) scientific philosophy (one wherein God is just assumed rather than proved).  I love this kind of thing.  It's hard to explain.  But it has been said that if you really understand a scientific theory you should be able to explain

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-43062941285898443182011-11-20T06:43:00.001-06:002011-11-20T06:46:35.176-06:00

Nature is a ballet. My artistic and funny internet friend has a Maxim of the Week on her blog, Ragzedge.  If you scroll down to the categories you can see all. She is the one who made art out of a photograph for me: Walmart turned it slightly canvas-looking and it was a big hit at my housewarming.  My view from my old house.  ***************************** Want to hear a story about a crazy

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-26696096470402446292011-10-09T16:22:00.004-05:002011-11-18T12:23:34.637-06:00

Fruits of my husband's labor (he is organizing his family's photos with Kodak software). That is Patsy, Vonnie and Dick at their mother's feet. Helen is beautiful and elegant. I am guessing that Charlie shot this pic - he always did get photos aimed wrong (being almost blind and all ...), and also because, isn't this romantic?, he really only cared about capturing her radiance and really didn't

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-30777521502171011552011-08-10T10:38:00.008-05:002011-12-29T19:47:03.485-06:00

 "Other Wonders From the Basic Pattern"  That is a chapter title from a quilt book (and here you thought quilting and philosophizing were not one and the same thing!)  Btw, according to my interpretation of Swedenborg, the angels do make log cabin quilts up there: "In order that it may be still better known how the case is with representatives in the other life, that is, with those things which

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-63967060202321345812011-08-03T16:27:00.001-05:002011-08-17T17:55:21.992-05:00

Quite Swedish I think.  The two bedside tables can stay white.  The smaller table rotates; it's so cute - only $10 at the second-hand store.  While I was there I searched out a dish to fit its recessed center and found a glass platter for another $1.50.  Since white would be weird in the condo living room, I mixed some blue I had from an old paint can with the Granny Smith Apple.  The box was

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-80852548652950829262011-08-01T23:53:00.005-05:002011-08-17T17:56:51.735-05:00

Here is phase one of painting second-hand-store furniture white to make it ever more Swedish: Ghostly. The color is called Granny Smith Apple so I was not expecting it to be quite this white. I will add blue.                                                                        **** I found these under my birch tree: Two four leaf clovers and one five leaf.  Then I found out the people we

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-60703650465838323052011-07-29T05:13:00.085-05:002011-07-29T06:15:20.586-05:00

Old House, a photo by nzlbob23 on Flickr. The US government might default sending us all into a new found state of poverty.  I've been through this.  My childhood was spent studying this very problem so think of me as your own big sister, ready to offer advice. First of all, yes, Daddy is asleep drunk on the couch and the phone is ringing.  The call will be a creditor wondering where his money

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-86130938037050259212011-07-22T16:11:00.076-05:002011-08-17T17:56:51.736-05:00

Purple Cake and Shabby Chic, a photo by PetitPlat - Stephanie Kilgast (in dolly mood) on Flickr. You know how some decor styles encourage distressing your furniture?  It gives me a mild form of post traumatic stress disorder.  I have a theory that people who grew up poor can never really buy into shabby being chic. The photo is actually doll furniture which makes it cute, but it also serves as

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6455757467299620667.post-15858563285018702712011-06-30T06:00:00.023-05:002011-07-09T20:14:53.996-05:00

Suzanne And Another, a photo by Country_doll on Flickr. I read and loved the book Carl and Karin Larsson Creators of Swedish Style. Ask your librarian for it.  The print I want for the condo kitchen is the one above.  Suzanne was his oldest - the whole family got into painting designs on walls.  This work hit me as having spiritual meaning: we each paint our interior and the world at large

Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04122828543615175957noreply@blogger.com0