h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"One common belief of determinists is that any good act an unsaved person does will be compromised by the sin that they have and always have had. Consequently the act will be ineffective in a Godly sense. The gulf between the elect and the rest widens."

Does a good act get you closer to being "saved" without also having faith? What is ineffective in a Godly sense?

I don't deny that the idea that good works are useless without salvation may be controversial, although I can find Biblical support for it, but I'm not sure it is a good example of the widening gulf between the elect and the damned. Good acts are good. They help people, things, the environment, whatever, but no amount of good act can get a person saved without faith. Just like no amount of dunking can get you baptised without faith.

"The determinists do struggle to account for the origin of evil."

How do you account for the origin of evil?

"Similarly the choice of any human to turn to Christ, reject devil and all its works ..." Add "the" in reject devil.

And why do determinists struggle to account for the origin of evil?

I love the ending of your entry by the way.

I hope you don't mind this feedback in its multiple forms. Hotels are boring places with no scratching posts, toys or even other cats to torment so I am vociferous tonight.

Thank you very, very much for your comments. I will address them as soon as I can.

I read about your friend dying, are you shut up in a travelling box (read car/hotel room) for this reason?

Thanks for looking at my page. I figured no one did because the only conversations I'm participating in at this time are with you.

I was traveling for work and typically don't bother taking a computer along for short trips but a coworker complained that her computer didn't work when she tried to use it at hotels so I looked into it for her. It was a seminar about corporate cultures. Very informative.

Phoebe, my friend, was quite elderly and ill. It isn't as though I wanted to keep her with me any longer it is just that every death is a reminder of the death that resides in me. Some days the cold creeps a little closer and I have to make sure that my focus is on Christ. I am not a terribly social individual (like most cats) and I find funerals to be draining. Thank you for asking.

I read your entry again and it appears you're about halfway through. I like it so far. It may be messed-up to you but it is becoming more understandable to me.

I am pretending to work hard at the moment but I am half way (well maybe a third) through a very tedious, long and essential task.

Working on these entries provides some relief. However, for the sake of discipline, I have taken to physically removing my ethernet cable for most of the day. It helps keep me focused.

It is not good that I have to resort to such tricks to do my work, but some jobs require two weeks of solid computer time (three very long docs, all open and cross-referred) and I am not good at that.

Ah yes. I remember the days of having to work hard. I actually miss them. I have a new boss who is hoarding all the projects. -Not getting them done mind you but also not allowing anyone else to accomplish great things. I thought he would acclimate to the corporate culture and utilize the team but instead he is acclimating the corporate culture to him.

It's sad really. I have this posh office, all the toys I want, can go to practically any training I can reasonably justify, flexible hours and complete freedom in structuring my position - all at a fair salary.

After 11 years, I will leave it as soon as I can find a better position. It probably won't be a fast change. I'm a master of the arcane so only a very few organizations need my expertise. Fortunately my mentor is head of one of them so that may be my next step. Although I would rather be his peer than his subordinate. We'll see. In the meantime I read/write on h2g2 and piddle with my measly projects and dream of something that requires extreme concentration and effort.

All that to say: I wish I was so busy that finding time was a issue and good luck with your project.

Yuck. Few things nastier than wasting time at work. If I am to waste time, I much prefer to do so at home.

You may have most of the toys you want. You don't have a 17" powerbook do you? Then you would be able to climb a tree and still work for 4 hours (battery life...)!

About finding a better position, I have just finished reading "Howards End" EM Forster. Very good but it will make you think about leaving a secure, esoteric job for a new position. If you want to, you can watch the movie instead. It too is very good.

I borrowed Howard's End from the library and should be able to start it tomorrow. I am finishing up Lord of Light - a very cool book. Thank you for the recommendation.

No, I don't have a powerbook. Instead I have a spacious office with a ergonomically correct lovely mahogany desk and a massive 19" black monstrosity of a monitor on top. (Imagine developing an ergonimically correct desk for a cat!) The wall behind me is solid windows overlooking a (currently scummy) usually beautiful lake. So all in all I'll take the permanent office with the big desktop over a sleek powerbook. I think. For now anyway.

I have serious reservations about looking for a different job. On the plus side, my industry doesn't have very many highs or lows so a job offer today usually means that the position will be there five years from now. On the down side, if I did make a change and then had a problem it would be a very long time before I would get another opportunity.

However, I can't stand being underutilized. I'm about to crawl out of my fur. As you know, cats need to combine bursts of intense activity with long periods of laziness. Without those bursts of activity we lose our ability to think and move as sharply as we like. It also makes us grumpy to feel that we are somehow unessential to the workings of the universe.

PS. Only silly cats climb trees. Otherwise why would they get stuck up there all the time? One should only climb as high as one cares to jump. I prefer mountains.