artist and/or craftsman

That polka was on the jukebox at the House of Chin where I spent considerable amount of my young manhood on either side of the bar.  I think our people here invented the polka though I've heard the Poles over here also often get credit.  I've heard that European Poles, proud of their classical music tradition, look down their nose at the polka.  In Ireland, by the way St Patrick's Day is a solemn churchy day and not the drink-a-thon that it is here.

I took my bible down from shelf.  By the way do you remember something called Confirmation at Elsdon Methodist church?  Seems like you had to study a bit, I don't remember if there was a test, and then when you were about twelve you dressed up in your Sunday suit and there was some kind of ceremony.  It seems like it might have been our version of baptism.  At the end you were given a bible.  I'm not sure if I went through it or not.

Anyway that Exodus is like thirty pages long, thirty bible pages.  Maybe you could select some chapters I could read which would run under ten pages. 

Well probably that St Peter standing with that long list at the podium next to the pearly gates has been enshrined by cartoonists, like the guy on the tiny island with the one palm tree.

Wait a minute, your interpretation of what happens after we die doesn't seem to jibe with what Joe Sixpack thinks. 

Who is this Elect?  How did they get to be Elect?  Was it good works or were they preordained?  Anyway let's go through the flowchart.

When you die if you are the Elect you go to heaven, otherwise you go to sleep.  After awhile, while you are still sleeping, Jesus will return to Earth, and I guess all the people who are alive at that time will be enjoying God's Kingdom.  After a certain amount of time Judgement Day will roll around, seems like this is after the Apocalypse which will occur during the time of God's Kingdom.  Who are satan's followers who will be cast into the fiery lake?  Are they your garden variety of sinners?  But wait a minute, Judgement Day the people who are not elect, but are without sin, or maybe just a little bit of sin, don't they go to heaven then?  And then isn't there nothing but heaven and hell, and the earth is I suppose like Chernobyl where the deer and the antelope play finally being shut of man.

Sounds awfully convoluted, sounds like it comes from that bad boy of the bible Revelations, widely thought to be some crackpot's ranting against Rome.

So if I read this right, you only enjoy the Kingdom of God if you happen to be alive when it's established otherwise you sleep through it and wake up in time to go to heaven or hell.  Are you equal to the elect then or do they live in a little better neighborhood? 

None of which tells us what heaven is like.  I still suspect it will be much like Elsdon Methodist church.  I don't expect there will be any beer.


Saw a couple movies about music lately.  One was Love and Mercy about the beachboys (never a fan) and more particularly about Brian Wilson the genius/nutball.  The other was The Wrecking Crew, which was a documentary about how from the early fifties to the early sixties most of the music that was recorded (including the beachboys) was done by about twenty studio musicians, because basically the performers weren't very good musicians. 

Interesting the role of the musician.  He's nobody without a composer because that's where the music comes from, but likely the composer is not that good a musician, so his music is nothing without a musician.  You know there is that whole thing between the artist and the craftsman.  I'll see if I can express this more coherently after the weekend, after I have read those ten pages of Exodus that you recommend for me.