Science Fiction Messiah

This blog post is not about any science fiction messiah, per se,  though the most famous of SciFi messiahs does come to mind. I'm referring to Muad'Dib aka Paul Atreides from the classic novel, Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert. More recently popular culture has given us Thomas A. Anderson (alias Neo) from the Matrix film trilogy. For decades the world has been fascinated by, perhaps, the most famous of SciFi messiahs, i.e., Kal-El (alias Superman) from the planet Krypton. Humans, by nature, need messiahs at every stage of their development.

What if a new real-world messiah would appear in our midst? I'm not talking about an anti-Christ type of messiah, and, of course, he would not take the place of the quintessential messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Would this theoretical messiah one day be reading a secret text, or praying to God, or walking among us and, suddenly, the awareness that (s)he was a new 21st century messiah would dawn on him or her? It would be wonderful to have a female messiah, for a change. This line of questioning also applies to potential new genuine prophets after the biblical tradition. Examples that come to mind throughout history are the Buddha, Mohamed, Joseph Smith and Ellen G. White. How did these individuals realize that they were the genuine article and not just imagining things. Perhaps a test of their worth is that they helped found important world religions. In contrast, those who imagine themselves to be prophets or messiahs, and contribute very little to world history that is also beneficial, can be sure that they are probably wasting their time, and ours, and would do better to seek another vocation.

If a modern prophet or messiah is out there, please make yourself known as soon as possible. The world would be in a better shape with your ministry in place.

Death of My Personal Computer

Dear friends, it pains me to inform you that my beloved PC of eight years has gone to meet its cybernetic maker somewhere in the Matrix where all "dead ghosts in the machine" go when they expire. For that reason I will attempt to blog from my non-smart cell phone as it has unlimited data usage though it features a lousy browser. If the next couple of months produce very succinct posts it is because the 9 pad keypad is slower than entropy when inputting text. I may enjoy the challenge of tightening my prose beyond belief. God bless. Thank you for your patronage.

Early Adventists Used Popular Songs and Set them to Sacred Words

One way of addressing this issue was to set new hymns to well known popular tunes, and early Adventist hymnals display several examples of this practice. “Land of Light” was written by Uriah Smith and first published in 1856. Smith’s hymn focused on heaven and was set to the popular secular tune “Old Folks at Home” by Stephen Foster. Smith also penned “O Brother Be Faithful” and set it to the popular tune, “Be Kind to the Loved Ones at home” by Isaac Baker Woodbury. [1]

How many times I have changed the words to songs from my youth and enjoyed--as though a secret vice--the joy that these Christianized pop songs gave me. Perhaps the earliest instance was in the mid-70s when I found a particularly transcendent sentence from Steps to Christ [2] and mysteriously started singing those words to the tune of "I've Seen All Good People" by the Progressive Rock group Yes. For me, that combination of a song by a group that had altered my reality and had introduced me to the music of Igor Stravinsky, with the much loved words from Steps to Christ will forever remind me of, perhaps, the most natural and spiritual time of my life.

References:

1. I Have Heard the Angel's Sing
2. Steps to Christ. See Chapter 9, "The Work and the Life." which contains these words: "God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe" which I adapted to the Yes song I've mentioned above.

Adventist Futurist Blog Begins

Adventist Futurist, a new blog devoted to Adventist Futurism, was launched on August 14, 2010. The first post states that the purpose of "Adventist Futurist, is to collect, organize and coordinate past, present and future articles regarding Adventist Futurism." Another reason for this new blog is to trace, when possible, the origins and influences of Adventist Futurism." The blog header specifies that the blog will concentrate on futurology, futurism, science, aesthetics, ethics, space exploration, cybernetics, and other forward-thinking areas of study.