Confession: Accountability or Forgiveness?

(Public Domain)

Many organizations uphold the power of confession, including grade schools and Alcoholics Anonymous.  That is why there are lunchroom monitors and Fifth-Step partners. If you always dance as though no one were watching, you may eventually trip over your own two tootsies.

Yet when it comes to spiritual absolution, there are some stark differences among religious perspectives. Catholics, for example, believe that “confessing sins to a priest is a sacrament” because “priests have been given authority by Christ to forgive sins.”  Protestants instead attest to “the priesthood of all believers,” and state that confession among believers yields accountability rather than true forgiveness.  That is why Protestants confess directly to God, rather than to priests and/or saints.

Nevertheless, human-to-human accountability can go a long way toward keeping destructive behaviors in check.  Coupling this with confessional prayer can be a source of incredible strength. 

Resources

https://mikesignorelli.com/the-7-key-differences-between-catholicism-and-protestant-christianity/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22485390191&gbraid=0AAAAAoWiDOzc4XgUJqw2x4SW-7Pao9bKU&gclid=CjwKCAjw4efDBhATEiwAaDBpbh7_yBJOy6eCy5JkQKddMoAzhKQ31mjVUTe3KdOxApQzEAOyFshu9xoCciEQAvD_BwE

Chasing Heaven

(US Naval Academy, 1890s)

Although there might be more than one way to skin a cat, the pathway to Heaven remains decidedly straight and narrow.

Nevertheless, humans have tried to find upsy-daisy shortcuts throughout the ages.  One such contrivance has been the sport of extreme pole-vaulting.  Not content with simply bouncing about from one ground-zero to another, the Dutch have been leaping skyward for centuries.

They don’t let a little thing like a canal get in the way.  This potential deterrent simply adds to the thrill of defying earthbound forces.  After soaring to “the height of a four-story building,” it’s then time to hope for a smooth landing.  If all goes well, you walk away unscathed.  If all does not, you either walk away wet or not at all.   

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/sports/article/dutch-canal-leaping-pole-vaulters-053959922.html       

Learn Your Urn

An 1889 word to the wise...

Today’s thrift shops have become a counterpart io yesterday’s Macy’s or Gimbel’s.   Just as those two giants did not habitually share information, neither do average folks while dropping their household dispensables into anonymous bins.

All well and good until one such donation happens to contain a sprinkling of human remains.  This occurred at a Goodwill shop in Vancouver, Washington.  When said urn with its unusual contents was discovered by a curious employee, the local police were alerted.  Attempts at locating its past owner appear to be met with dead silence.

As if that weren’t enough, another thrift store wound up with a locket containing – you guessed it – more of same.  These heart-shaped cremains indefinitely hung above the unwitting buyer’s sink, who referred to them as her “spooky little friend.” 

Resources

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/reminder-check-urns-cremated-remains-donating-resale-shops-201426653.html

What we think we know

 

Fruit Bat
(Photo by Lietuvos zoologijos)

We not only think we know what we think we know, but we also continue to pass it on for decades.

Take “blind as a bat” for instance.  Are bats really blind, or is that just something optometrists use for effect?  It turns out that some bats are more or less blind, whereas others are less so than more so.  Fruit bats are said to “have huge adorable eyes that work very well. “

And how about those buckled top hats that “Pilgrims” wear within many a school play, along with all-black outfits?  Did European denizens of the “new world” really sport such garb while chasing down summertime deer?  Or did they instead don multi-colored linen shirts and shifts?

So is the Great Wall of China really visible from space?  It might just depend upon how well “visible” and “space” are defined.  “NASA has gone on record saying it’s not visible from the moon and barely visible from low-earth orbit.”  This popular trope is likely just a PR stunt to promote human dominance over all else…

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/15-myths-american-schools-still-teach-that-are-totally-false/ss-AA1Fh2dq?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=d47dd4aaf03c48beb5844410eeec57af&ei=38#image=15.