{"id":2726,"date":"2023-12-22T22:25:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2023-12-22T22:25:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:25:49","slug":"evensong-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/?p=2726","title":{"rendered":"EVENSONG 81"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"676\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-676x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-768x1163.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-1015x1536.jpg 1015w, https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-1353x2048.jpg 1353w, https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231222_095237-scaled.jpg 1691w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I think a fundamental problem with organized religion is how we define the divine \u2014 in other words, who or what we worship, and whether or not any other gods exist at any given time.<br><br>Take the principle of the Trinity, for example \u2014 three gods in one. Maybe little children can&#8217;t comprehend that concept because it makes little sense in light of the 1st Commandment.<br><br>In this psalm, Asaph steps in that same little mess by speaking for YHWH again. I mean, how can we have \u201cno other gods before me\u201d unless other gods exist, either now or later?<br><br>But, you say, we can worship anything \u2014 a favorite task, a fulsome talent, or a feckless team, even \u2014 and let it replace our nameless, binary, triune God with He\/Him\/His pronouns.<br><br>That is to say, we can put making money and spending it on ourselves ahead of helping the poor; love some pop diva or group more than we do our neighbors; or be a diehard fanatic.<br><br>Well, hey, that&#8217;s human nature \u2014 and that&#8217;s exactly what I&#8217;m trying to say: We will worship Whatever we please, whether it&#8217;s good for us, and for this wondrous but fragile world, or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think a fundamental problem with organized religion is how we define the divine \u2014 in other words, who or what we worship, and whether or not any other gods exist at any given time. Take the principle of the Trinity, for example \u2014 three gods in one. Maybe little children can&#8217;t comprehend that concept &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/?p=2726\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">EVENSONG 81<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2727,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions\/2727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}