End of the month tends to be extraordinarily busy, so for now, I shall simply list those things that need further contemplation.
John 5:41 – the various translations can change that verse drastically. One translation “I do not accept glory from human beings.” Another: “Your approval means nothing to me.” Another: “I receive not honor from men.” Those are the three basic, with minor variations after that. From context, the third makes the most sense, but the other two are interesting variations within the context.
Today’s commemoration was about the co-founder of AA, Samuel Shoemaker, an Episcopal priest, from whom came most of the 12 steps. Given the information from my friend about her father and his involvement in the organization, it interests me.
Resurrection of the body – this is in the Apostle’s Creed, and means different things to different people. For Catholics like my father, it means that you don’t give away your organs after death, you don’t get cremated, because when Christ returns, the physical body gets resurrected. (I’m going to be irreverent here, so if that bothers you, don’t read further *grin* – Zombie Apocalypse anyone?) I’m sorry – the whole concept of physical resurrection for people who have been dead for long periods of time (not talking about Christ’s resurrection, obviously) just creeps me out. I tend to look at “the body” to mean “the body of Christ” or the Church – those who believe in Christ will be made whole in the image of God, the way that we were created, and other than Christ, as far as we’re aware, God doesn’t have a body – I think I discussed this previously regarding our present forms being both spirit or soul and body. To my way of thinking, we only need the spirit portion to be resurrected. ‘course, I could be wrong, and those people who were cremated or gave away their organs after they were done using them will be completely screwed. In any case, I need to look up how other cultures view the “resurrection of the body”, ’cause I’m curious how other people view this.
It’s Friday – and I’m obviously in a weird mood. I ended morning prayer this morning with a wish for humanity to behave itself for God today, so that He gets an easy end to this week. And then of course, we’re back to the whole linear time concept…. Life is a circle.
Passage of Hours 
Try looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
Interestingly, in looking up the Catholic doctrine on cremation, it appears to have been outlawed in 1917, made okay again in 1963, and since 1987, you can do either. They only request that you not scatter the ashes. Given that dad didn’t become Catholic until 1983, I’m uncertain as to why he takes that particular phrase literally, when, as Kirsten so nicely points out, it is clearly allegorical – a “house” provided to us temporarily, where God has our permanent houses available to us, as described in the text above. Cremation as a human matter seems to go in cycles, depending on space, cost and number of people dying all at once. Orthodox Jews, Greek Orthodox, Muslims and Baha’is forbid cremation. Hinduism, Janism, Sikhism and Buddism actually mandate cremation to encourage the soul to detach from the physical body and move onto its next destination. Fascinating stuff – cultural and religious beliefs. 🙂