Thursday 23 December 1999

Pic of the day: Wrapping Christmas gifts took some time too. It's a good thing we never had a problem finding out what to give to the various members of Superwoman's extensive family. It's not the cost of the gift, you know, but the personal thought that lies behind it. Something that shows that you know and care about them. Ahem.

The day got a somewhat disturbing start as I woke this night from the strangest dream. I dreamt that I was with a group of people from the workplace. We crawled under some tables to a dark corner of the office where the surveillance cameras could not see. (Not that there are any, but the place looked nothing like my workplace either.) There we proceeded to quickly undress. And then people began to merge. Literally. As they touched, they changed into protoplasm form and slithered into a rapidly growing central body. At this point I chickened out. The combined body later became a superorganism with the ability to change shape and size and some limited PSI power, but it was uncontrollable and seemingly uncontrolled as it went rampant through the bookstore.

In the real world, I am happy to say that things got off to a much better start. Well, after an initial stumble. Superwoman came out of her room at the same time as I tumbled out of mine, the two rooms are right beside each other. "Perfect timing" she grinned. I guess she had not been lurking there all morning for me to arrive. Anyway, the perfection of it is open to debate. As we came up the stairs, we met her mother.

There is nothing quite like shopping in a mall, is there? All kinds of strange things are for sale. And there are burgers too. What more could you ask for? Strange things and burgers! Burgers and strange things! Oddly shaped candles; books about the blood type diet; forks and spoons with handles shaped like vegetables; see-through clothes; bikes that just stay put on the same spot, and resisting more the harder you pedal. If it is odd, strange, peculiar or just plain crazy, you find it at the mall. And burgers, too.

We bought heaps of cool things. All of it was things the people could live without: If they had really needed it, they would have had it already. And if they for some reason did not have it and still needed it, they would probably have told that they needed it and the surprise would have been ruined. And if we could afford it, it had to be cheap, and so it's even more certain that they would have bought it too if they had any interest in it whatsoever. In this way, the system makes sure that we all buy only things that people either don't need or don't particularly want. I think Christmas has done more than nukes and cruise missiles to help the capitalist world stay that way.

Anyway, we had great fun and came home tired. More good food, lazing around, and boxing presents for tomorrow. Then more good food. I snuck away during some boring television (not a rare thing, I would venture) to write my diary. I guess I should try to upload this and check my e-mail. Having a great time here. Wish I had time to write about James Redfield's ideas, and about hating the sin and loving the sinner. The two things are intricately related, but I really should not lock myself in here.

OK. Listen up, you sinner-lovers out there. The problem with hating the sin and loving the sinner is that the sinner usually loves the sin. And having people trample on something you love is not likely to infuse you with a feeling of deep gratitude and sympathy.

Say for instance that you have come to the understanding that cows are holy, because the cow is a symbol for the divine motherly element in nature: The loving care and nurture that transcends one's own needs, the way the cow's milk nurtures not only its own calves but human children as well. For this reason, you see the slaughter of cows as not just a callow treatment of a fellow emotional creature, but a blasphemy against the divine love. Now you happen to arrive in a country where people not just imprison and slaughter cows, but even take pride in it. You are going to hate the sin and love the sinner. What are you to do? If you hate the sin, you would try to stop it, right? If you simply ignore it, what is you hate worth except gnawing at your own moral integrity? But if you love the sinners, you know that attacking a central part of their culture will alienate them and make them unlikely to ever listen to you. Ouch! You're stuck!

The Redfield solution is to fill yourself with spiritual energy, then extend your prayer field to the people around you and lift them up so they can come closer to feeling their destiny. You can not force them to follow your destiny, but as they awaken to their own calling, they may change their view on many different things. (Just like you probably have changed in many ways after your spiritual opening?)

OK, anyone have any better answers? Write me. I'm all ears.