From the page: "Curious. Jesus updated the Ten Commandments in his most famous speech, the Sermon on the Mount. In it, one finds the Eight Beatitudes. Why don't we ever hear about nailing those somewhere? Here's why: It's not simply the law in the Ten Commandments that attracts fundamentalists. Rather, it's the syntax. The authoritarianism of so many "Thou Shalt Nots."

The syntax of Jesus' Eight Beatitudes is not so easy (Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the peacemakers). These words invite the kind of hard questions that Jesus loved to tweak his followers with. How are they blessed? And why? It's just like Jesus to leave us with questions instead of answers."

Here is a link to my favorite book about the Sermon on the Mount

Fox explains in his book: "The Truth turns out to be nothing less than the amazing but undeniable fact that the whole outer world--whether it be the physical body, the common things of life, the winds and the rain, the clouds, the earth itself--is amenable to man's thought, and that he has dominion over it when he knows it."

Easy to say, hard to do.

These photos of our February 2005 vacation to South Island, New Zealand run in reverse order, the last picture is on top, and the first picture is on the bottom.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

All images © 2005, David F. Traver.

You can't go to New Zealand without seeing millions of these guys. 

Another random rose in Akaroa 

A random rose in Akaroa 

Another beautiful small garden in Akaroa 

A typical yard in Akaroa 

View from our hotel in Akaroa 

Dusky dolphins jumping all at once at Kaikoura. A hundred more were not in frame.

This must feel great