[insert your life here]

I am taking two philosophy classes which I think is trouble. It's good to exercise the mind but many philosophers had to be depressed just because they thought about things too much. While listening to my professor rage on about some random sidestream that may or may not have related to philosophy of religion I started writing little notes to myself about philosophers:

if you can talk in a commanding voice and pretend like you know what you are talking about, people will probably believe you.

are their any happy philosophers?

I like happy philosophers.

If you think too much about things that have had no conclusion for centuries, what are you accomplishing? Worse: if you don't allow people to think for themselves on such issues and instead just lead them on till they come to your conclusion.

***

In other news: I visited a Russian Orthodox church in Palanga this afternoon. It's 2 years old with an explanation for every corner and colour of the building. There is something beautiful in purposeful creation: be it architecture or icons. But there was something equally unsettling in the haloed european faces painted in metal and egg tempera. Seeing the russian Jesus... he wasn't smiling, he had bags under his eyes and a mean look on his face. Is this how they see Jesus? Other Jesus' about the room were stern faced and somewhat void. Do the russian orthodox know a joyful Saviour? My roommate Liuda explained to me before that one difference between orthodoxy and protestantism is in our relationships with Christ. We see him as a friendly father, they see him as a master.

It was encouraging to me, though, to see our guide laughing and expressing great joy in the everywhereness of God. He knew where to find Jesus and it wasn't just in the church or the paintings.