I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in the home of a relative who became, in the course of his four years as a medical student at the University of Michigan, a Michigan football fan. Michigan’s series with Ohio State goes back to 1897, has been played annually since 1918, and it has been played in November as the teams’ last regular season game since 1935.

This year’s game was a great one. The Wolverines arrived in Columbus with a 10-1 record and ranked #3 in national playoff standings. The Buckeyes were also 10-1 and ranked #2. Attendance was a stadium record 110,045, and it was this season’s most-watched college football game on television. Ohio State won in double overtime 30-27. What a great weekend to enjoy being a Buckeye!

Then, two mornings later . . . eleven people “including at least one faculty member, one staff member and seven students” were sent to hospitals for treatment of injuries inflicted upon them by a student who was shot dead by a policeman to stop the student’s attack. Celebrate while you may, for it may not fit tomorrow’s mood.

Thought Prison – The Fundamental Nature of Political Correctness.

Addicted to Distraction – Psychological Consequences of the Mass Media.

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Long gone.

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The phrase Opposition in all Things from the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 2:11) is generally taken to apply to moral development – and the necessity for opposition from Life if people are to experience, learn and progress spiritually.

But I think it is linked also with the underlying metaphysical basis of Mormonism, which is ‘evolutionary’ in contrast with the world view of Classical Theology; and in particular with the unique doctrine that the highest form of spiritual progression – full deity – is only possible for the ‘dyad’ of a man and a woman joined (complementary but not fused – united but separate selves) in celestial marriage. (more…)

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

— Aristotle (384-322 BC)

A doubting anesthesiologist has an out-of-body experience while he was undergoing surgery. [Link updated, per suggestion.]

Kris Bryant, the 2016 National League MVP, is a native son of Las Vegas, born in 1992. As is the 2015 NL MVP, Bryce Harper. I am not aware of a third 24-year-old Las Vegan playing in major league baseball.

[We] sense that there is a will that is behind all things, and we’re also aware of our own will, and it’s the distance between those two wills that creates the mystery that we call religion.

–Leonard Cohen

For the last eight years, any disagreement with policies of the current administration were viewed as signs of racism by those inclined to view matters that way. Had the other major presidential candidate prevailed earlier this month, there would have been more of the same, with sexism taking the place of racism as the secret sin motivating any disagreement with the next president. However, with the president-elect we have the script has a little tweak: any agreement with any policy of the next president will be because he is a fascist, and those agreeing with him (about anything) are OK with that. For example (link):

“The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction,” Matthew LeBretton, New Balance’s vice president of public affairs, told the Wall Street Journal.

The answer was in response to a question about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, an initiative led by President Obama and staunchly opposed by Trump. Boston-based New Balance, the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the United States, has said the trade policy would hinder its business and help competitors who operate overseas.

Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also opposed the deal.

But that didn’t stop opponents of Trump from turning on New Balance altogether and accusing the company of formally endorsing not just his stance on TPP, but entire platform.

From a lecture by Rudolf Steiner at Dornach, Switzerland in 1923 – from the series Mystery Centres

http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA232/English/GC1985/19231209p01.html:

And then, when the Mystery of Golgotha took place, when over in Palestine, the wonderful events came to pass which we describe as the experience of Christ Jesus on Golgotha and its surroundings, while these wonderful events came to pass in Palestine; great festivals were held [in Ireland] within the Hibernian Mysteries, and within their community, i.e. by the people who belonged to the Hibernian Mysteries.

And that which came to pass in actual fact in Palestine, was portrayed in pictures on the island of Hibernia in ways a hundred-fold, though the picture was as a memory of the past. They experienced in pictures the Mystery of Golgotha contemporaneously on the island of Hibernia, while the Mystery of Golgotha came to pass historically, in Palestine.

When later, in temples and churches, the Mystery of Golgotha was experienced pictorially, was shown in pictures to the people, then these were pictures which recalled something which had taken place on the earth, which were drawn out of the ordinary consciousness as a kind of historic memory.

These pictures existed on the island of Hibernia before they could be produced from historic memory of the past, but as they only could be produced out of the Spirit itself.

On the island of Hibernia that was spiritually seen which took place before the bodily eye in Palestine, at the beginning of our era.

And so, on the island of Hibernia, humanity actually experienced the Mystery of Golgotha spiritually. And this indicates the greatness of all that went forth later from the island of Hibernia, for the rest of the civilized world, but which vanished in later time.

**

As far as I can tell, Rudolf Steiner knew nothing substantive about Mormonism or The Book of Mormon. His teachings came from (or were confirmed by) a method he termed Spiritual Science or Clairvoyance (in the sense of clear-seeing).

This was a type of personal revelation, but not regarded as coming directly from God; rather it was more like being able to view or read objective knowledge of the totality of significant reality recorded objectively, and (he said) accessible to anyone ‘initiated’ in these methods (although this training included moral elements and pre-requisites, so was only possible for the worthy).

Anyway, this passage is interesting as describing an ancient Irish civilisation which – like the Nephites – was Christian before Christ, and which was aware of the events and significance of Christ’s ministry, death, resurrection and ascension.

(A major difference from the Nephites is that Steiner does not describe any visit to ancient Ireland by Christ himself. )

I personally suppose that this basic situation may well have happened in several places on earth – I mean that there may have been ancient societies (currently not known to history or archaeology) who knew of, and awaited the coming of Christ – and were spiritually aware (to varying degrees) of the nature of significance of the happenings in Palestine around AD 30-33 (or whenever precisely the ministry of Christ and his death occurred).

Normative text is displayed in black. Archaic spellings and capitalization have been modernized. Text added since release 1.27 are italicized. Text deleted from release 1.27 is struck out.

Rationale is displayed in red. Rationale is non-normative, but is provided to call out differences from release 1.27, better define terms of art, offer the reasoning behind the normative text, and offer other clarifications.

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His Majesty: “Because you are an evil Sith overlord, of course.”

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Your ward is unusually blessed with musical talent. Most Sacrament meetings include a musical number halfway through the service, in addition to the usual hymns.

This week it is a mother and daughter on violin with piano accompaniment. The daughter begins, playing the familiar tune from “A Child’s Prayer”. Her playing is that of a promising student who has begun to master the volin: On pitch, on tempo, but slightly tentative, with no vibrato.

On the second verse, the mother takes over. The mother is the principal of her section in the local orchestra. The music is rich, vibrant, full of life. For a moment you feel slightly badly that the mother is showing up her daughter, a little.

Then it hits you. The first verse of the song is the child’s prayer. The second verse is the parent reassuring the child that there is a Father who hears every prayer. The contrast in musical experience is perfect for the message of the song.

As the mother and daughter join in the fugue that is the third verse, you start to choke up.

With a trained squirrel in drag.

Posted here just because.