Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for February 18, 2019

“But now we got weapons of chemical dust

If fire them we’re forced to, then fire them we must

One push of the button and a shot the world wide

You never ask questions when God’s on your side

Through many a dark hour I been thinkin’ about this

That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss

But I can’t think for you, you’ll have to decide

Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side"

—Bob Dylan (two stanzas from “With God On Our Side”)

And the screaming sky won’t let me sleep.

The stars are laughing at us,

As we crawl on and on across this antheap.

- XTC’s “Across This Antheap”

“All religious wars are about people arguing over who has the biggest invisible friend;” quote attributed to Yassir Arafat

SKY CAKE!!!

Isaac Asimov wrote the short story ‘Nightfall’, in which things turned out quiet differently. A movie was made by the same title, that was supposed to be based on the short story, but was long, dull, and didn’t have much to do with the story. So, read the story, skip the movie.

“…with their admonishing smite.”

One of the things I enjoy about the facilitating people that Gavin quotes, is discovering the hidden depths of a person I had been in ignorance of. I was familiar with Emerson’s name but not his life; and what a life he lived as he transitioned from religion to a sort of Transcendentalism non-religion. Naturalists observe and study multiple wars/killings and murders committed by animals of all levels of reasoning, animals that are not trained in religion and can not blame religion for their violence. Humans use religion to excuse or even a support their violence, but it is not the root cause. Given the aggression and fear that every human is born with, any faith that moves us toward the higher-than-human virtues of Faith Hope and Love is welcome.