They'll know we are Christians by our...uhm, theology.

A couple of things wafted by today, and I enjoyed their serendipitous juxtaposition. (That's fancy-talk for "funny side-by-sidedness")

The first was this article on ChristianReport.com listing the 50 Most Influential Christians in America. I was directed to this article by Jeff, whose excellent blog I read religiously, so to speak, and who I think believes that this is a sign of the soon-coming Apocolypse, if not something worse. He may be right, although I don't remember reading anything like this in those Left Behind books. All I know is that Jeff's name and my name are conspicuously absent from this list which casts an omnious shadow of dubious integrity on the whole deal.

I am happy to say, without smugness, but with a genuine sense of humble gratitude that a full 20% of these popular Christian folks are customers of mine. Because, regardless of which side of the denominational slice of bread you put your butter on, everybody who is anybody these days needs professional A/V production and broadcast equipment. And we don't judge people's theology at www.proaudio.com (well, sometimes we do, but we're smart enough to keep it to ourselves). Nope, the technology marketplace is an ecumenical gathering where all are welcome. Some of these nice people have been a big help in keeping my son enrolled at IU, and I am truly grateful.

The second fun thing that I ran across is synchronistically related, I am certain, albeit it in a way I can't quite pin down. Kind of like the way that the curvy black swashes are related to the white drip-drops in this Jackson Pollock painting. But I'm okay with the tenuous and pensive theological connection here. I'm an artist, so I thrive on ambiguity and dissonance. Here is this timeless and timely (how can it be both?) quote from that most irrascible of anti-religionists, Mark Twain:

"Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal
that has the true religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight."

This quote was at the bottom of today's A Word A Day. I made it print in green (uhm, blue)so as to dilute its venom. There is a sobering truth in this glib observation.

Another sobering truth is that when Jesus returns, one of the first things that happens is He sets everybody's theology straight. That will be a good day and, I do agree with Jeff, its probably not far off.