I think that if you go to a caucus, it feels more like you’re doing something. (Which reminds me, I need to finish up my post on “Why Voting Is an Irrational Act.” But it’s a more demanding process, so fewer people go. And if fewer people participate, does that serve democracy?

I have no trouble with the idea that if you want democracy you have to work a little for it, but I don’t think that’s the common attitude in our society.

Not being a regular blog participant (I normally just read blogs), it didn’t occur to me that you may have replied to my comment above via your blog, hence my 7.5-month-belated response.

You touch upon two issues:

First, the quid pro quo aspect of indulgences.

Second, the natrure of Purgatory and how one comes to perfection therein.

At the heart of both is God’s respect for our free will and His desire that we actually own what He gives us.

Because of His respect for our free will, He asks us for some action on our part, however token, to indicate — primarily to us — that we’re serious about receiving what He’s offering us. He won’t give us anything without our cooperation with it. That’s why indulgences require some action of response, and why Purgatory is a process: processes rerquire responding.

But that’s only part of the picture. Being omniscient and omnipotent, God can give us indulgences and Heaven in a flash if He so desires. However, just as anyone who’s worked hard and is resting satisfied with the results will tell you, there’s a deep satisfaction in owning something that you’ve worked for — a deeper satisfaction than in simply receiving it as a handout — that’s the effectiveness of the token prices in thrift stores. That’s why indulgences require some at least small action to obtain them, and that’s why God’s grace doesn’t simply lift a soul out of Purgatory as soon as he or she enters it.

Related to the ownership is how we come to own — our effort creates. Being made in God’s image, we’re capable of creation (from pre-existing stuff, though, unlike God).. That’s why when you look back on 50 years of marriage with 5 grown children and 11 grandkids, your satisfaction is not only from the ownership that came from all that struggle and sacrifice that made your relationship with your wife last as well as the maturing of your kids possible, but all that effort was an act of creation — doing what God does — something that wasn’t there before you got to work on it now is there.. Purgatory is such a state, too: He allows you to change yourself — it’s an active, not passive state — so that you can be ready to live the life of joy in Heaven.

Now it’s important to remember that our ability to create and to cooperate with God are His gifts — no Pelagian nonsense here — but His desire is that we, in receiving His gifts, come to own them as our very own.

I hope that answers a few questions.

God bless you, Dave!

Ademar

Not being a regular blog participant (I normally just read blogs), it didn’t occur to me that you may have replied to my comment above via your blog, hence my 7.5-month-belated response.

You touch upon two issues:

First, the quid pro quo aspect of indulgences.

Second, the natrure of Purgatory and how one comes to perfection therein.

At the heart of both is God’s respect for our free will and His desire that we actually own what He gives us.

Because of His respect for our free will, He asks us for some action on our part, however token, to indicate — primarily to us — that we’re serious about receiving what He’s offering us. He won’t give us anything without our cooperation with it. That’s why indulgences require some action of response, and why Purgatory is a process: processes rerquire responding.

But that’s only part of the picture. Being omniscient and omnipotent, God can give us indulgences and Heaven in a flash if He so desires. However, just as anyone who’s worked hard and is resting satisfied with the results will tell you, there’s a deep satisfaction in owning something that you’ve worked for — a deeper satisfaction than in simply receiving it as a handout — that’s the effectiveness of the token prices in thrift stores. That’s why indulgences require some at least small action to obtain them, and that’s why God’s grace doesn’t simply lift a soul out of Purgatory as soon as he or she enters it.

Related to the ownership is how we come to own — our effort creates. Being made in God’s image, we’re capable of creation (from pre-existing stuff, though, unlike God).. That’s why when you look back on 50 years of marriage with 5 grown children and 11 grandkids, your satisfaction is not only from the ownership that came from all that struggle and sacrifice that made your relationship with your wife last as well as the maturing of your kids possible, but all that effort was an act of creation — doing what God does — something that wasn’t there before you got to work on it now is there.. Purgatory is such a state, too: He allows you to change yourself — it’s an active, not passive state — so that you can be ready to live the life of joy in Heaven.

Now it’s important to remember that our ability to create and to cooperate with God are His gifts — no Pelagian nonsense here — but His desire is that we, in receiving His gifts, come to own them as our very own.

I hope that answers a few questions.

God bless you, Dave!

Ademar

I had friends that caucused in WA state recently - it was my first experience with a caucus over a primary, and I really enjoyed hearing about the process. It seemed significantly more democratic and just plain empowering than the primaries I’m used to.

This blog post was a serious case of tempting fate, let me tell you. The next morning, the bus we usually take was early, so I got to see that go part the bus stop while we were half a block away. So we commenced with the piggyback up the street to Bus Stop #2 - carrying this month’s contribution to the classroom snacks and supplies stash - only to find that the backup bus was running late. It finally came, we hopped off at school and ran into the yard, and got kiddo in line just as her class started moving.

Dave 15 - Late Slips 0. Darnit, I’m goin’ for the shutout if it kills me.

The live CD I bought for Liam is available from Kufala, the company that’s also releasing the Crowded House shows. Although, unfortunately, it looks like the venue didn’t allow them to record the Philly show for release.

Although, y’know, if I were you, I wouldn’t be rushin’ to buy it, just in case there were already a copy of it earmarked for you. Just saying.

On Liam and Neil - Neil’s managed to be in show biz and keep a marriage going for 20+ years, so I know how he feels about family. But y’know, I love my mom and siblings dearly, but if we ever had to collaborate on some kind of creative endeavor, everyone involved would be insane within a matter of days. It takes us a month to order baseball tickets, for crying out loud.

The clarinet/keyboard gadget is most likely an EWI, or Electronic Wind Instrument. It takes the pressure data from a woodwind-style mouthpiece and uses it to modify the output parameters for softness/loudness/etc. for MIDI-driven samples. A really cool concept, but I gave up lusting after an EWI ages ago when I realized that this meant you’d have to be an excellent keyboardist (which I really can’t claim to be) and a decent woodwind player (which I ain’t). They’re great for making sampled wind instrument sounds come across more realistically.

And I’m not surprised one bit by Neil being able to live on the road with Liam. Now, bear in mind, Liam’s old enough to not be living at home anymore, but even more than that, in Neil, we’re talking about someone who has written whole albums around family relationships. It’s obviously a subject of deep importance to him.

Hey Dave, did Liam’s CD have a URL or anything like that on it where a poor sod like me who couldn’t make it to the concert might order a copy? Or is that info on the MySpace site that I probably should’ve looked at before asking this? I really liked Liam’s worth with Betchadupa, and I’ve got a darn good start on a complete collection of Finn family CDs. No point in falling behind now.