Indians and Their Biblical Last Names—

I asked JY why some Indians have American last names.  She corrected me and responded, “You mean biblical last names?”  Then she went on to tell me that when Thomas came to India, lot of Indians changed their last names to Biblical names upon conversion b/c their native last names had references to Hindu deity.  So, the explanation was that if you see an Indian w/ Biblical last names, they probably have a Christian heritage.  This confirmed another thing…I thought Thomas going to India was only a tradition, which wasn’t verified.  But she said it was passed down as an oral tradition but was still very reliable.  And this change of the last names is the living proof of that story being true.  

A Cultural Pluralism in Teaneck, NJ—

Last Sunday, TL and I looked thru a phone book trying to find a pizza restaurant around our church.  Only thing we could find was a restaurant called ‘Pizza Cave’ – TL, using his imaginative mind pictured some caveman serving pizza.  But, upon arrival we found out that the name was a misprint – it was actually called ‘Pizza Crave.’  There, we bought a kosher pizza made by Italians served by Indians.  And in one of the windows inside the restaurant, we also noticed a sign, “Sushi Crave” and saw a Japanese [?] gentleman sitting behind the window w/ his sushi ready to be served.  As we were leaving, we ran into a Jewish gentleman w/ his yamika entering the restaurant.  

Civilization and Its Discontents—

I cannot say I fully stand Freud.  But, what I get from this book is the perspective of someone who holds to Atheistic/Evolutionary theory trying to deal w/ problem of guilt and aggression.  Even if we take away the theistic worldview, the problem of sin and guilt still remains.  And since the atheist rejects the idea of divine command theory, he needs to come up w/ a whole new paradigm for labeling such and dealing w/ morality.  As a person who holds to a theistic worldview, I thought Freud had an honest and accurate observation of the nature of fallen humanity.  But, for his interpretation, I would have to disagree to the point of it being very fanciful.  It’s rather ironic that for a person who claims religion as a fanciful illusion, his explanation of reality seemed just as ‘creative’ and fanciful.  But, no doubt that he’s had a huge amount of influence in modern western thoughts – I recognize his footprints almost everywhere!

Problem of Trust—

“Only love empowers the leap in trust, the courage to risk everything on Jesus, the readiness to move into the darkness guided only by a pillar of fire.  Trust clings to the belief that whatever happens in our lives is designed to teach us holiness.  The love of Christ inspires trust to thank God for the nagging headache, the arthritis that is so painful, the spiritual darkness that envelops us…’ – B. Manning

Even after all these years of my relationship to JC, after all the faithful preservation and provision I’ve experienced, I’m ashamed so admit that I still struggle w/ trust in the face of uncertain future.  No wonder Moses commanded Israelites to put up monuments to help remember what YHWH has done for them… 

a prayer for the passionate misguided...

Started praying for R. Dawkins and S. Hawking.  Interesting observation – it seem like a lot of effective defenders of Christianity were once a staunch atheists or the ones who were once passionate about other religious teachings.  I have a suspicion that maybe the ones who are furthest from the Truth is not the greatest opponents of religion, but lukewarm, complacent ones who doesn’t really care about nor stand for anything.  Isn’t it interesting that those who claim to be evangelicals and go to church every Sunday morning might even be further away from the Truth than those passionate atheists who labor to undermine Christian faith…