>>>Well, the free will thing is true as far as it goes, but I would like to have had the opportunity to choose whether or not to be born. I think I would have passed. There's way too much sorrow and heartache waiting for you, despite the highs.
>>
>>It's interesting that you feel this way, in spite of your relationship with Jesus. I, otoh, despite a fair amount of cr*p in my life, look forward to each new day, and expect the best of people.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>I have an assurance and hope, but the point was about free will. If we really had free will, we would have been given the opportunity to opt out.


You been reading some Dostoyevsky, John? ;-) I was up on a stump here a few weeks ago recommending him to all and sundry. It would be nice to think at least one person was listening.

FWIW, here are the names of the chapters in "The Brothers Karamazov". They give you a sense of the flavor of the book. Dostoyevsky is not one of those nose-in-the-air effete artists we are all forced to read in school. His books are roller coaster rides, fun and thought at once.


Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov
The First Son Sent Packing
Second Marriage, Second Children
The Third Son, Alyosha
Elders

They Arrive at the Monastery
The Old Buffoon
Women of Faith
A Lady of Little Faith
So Be It! So Be It!
Why Is Such a Man Alive!
Scandal

In the Servants' Quarters
Stinking Lizaveta
The Confession of an Ardent Heart, In Verse
The Confession of an Ardent Heart, In Anecdotes
The Confession of an Ardent Heart: "Heels Up!"
Smerdyakov
Disputation
Over the Cognac
The Sensualists
The Two Together
One More Ruined Reputation

Father Ferapont
At His Father's
He Gets Involved with Schoolboys
At the Khoklakovs'
Strain in the Drawing Room
Strain in the Cottage
And in the Fresh Air

A Betrothal
Smerdyakov with a Guitar
The Brothers Get Acquainted
Rebellion
The Grand Inquisitor
A Rather Obscure One for the Moment
"It's Always Interesting to Talk with an Intelligent Man!"

The Elder Zosima and His Visitors
From the Life of the Hieromonk and Elder Zosima
From Talks and Homilies of the Elder Zosima

The Odor of Corruption
An Opportune Moment
An Onion
Cana of Galilee

Kuzma Samsonov
Lyagavy
Gold Mines
In the Dark
A Sudden Decision
Here I Come!
The Former and Indisputable One
Delirium

The Start of the Official Perkhotin's Career
The Alarm
The Soul's Jouoney through Torments. The First Torment
The Second Torment
The Third Torment
The Prosecutor Catches Mitya
Mitya's Great Secret. Met with Hisses
The Evidence of the Witnesses: The Wee One
Mitya Is Taken Away

Kolya Krasotkin
Kids
A Schoolboy
Zhuchka
At Ilyusha's Bedside
Precocity
Ilyosha

At Grushenka's
An Ailing Little Foot
A Little Demon
A Hymn and a Secret
Not You! Not You!
The First Meeting with Smerdyakov
The Second Visit to Smerdyakov
The Third and Last Meeting with Smerdyakov
The Devil. Ivan Fyodorovich's Nightmare
"He Said That"!

The Fatal Day
Dangerous Witnesses
Medical Expertise and One Pound of Nuts
Fortune Smiles on Mitya
A Sudden Catastrophe
The Prosecutor's Speech. Characterizations
A Historical Survey
A Treatise on Smerdyakov
Psychology at Full Steam. The Galloping Troika. The Finale of the Prosecutor's Speech
The Defense Attorney's Speech. A Stick with Two Ends.
There Was No Money. There Was No Robbery.
And There Was No Murder Either
An Adulterer of Thought
Our Peasants Stood Up for Themselves

(epilogue)
Plans to Save Mitya
For a Moment the Lie Became Truth
Ilyushechka's Funeral: The Speech at the Stone


Only semi-related, I am looking forward to the Winter Olympics, as no one else seems to be. My favorite events are the men's downhill -- you go like a cannon down an icy mountain, risking your well being for those hundredths of a second that separate gold medal winners from also-rans -- and pairs skating. The Russians have long dominated the latter event. To even get there on your screen they have proven themselves to be the best of the best of the best. Pure poetry. If you don't watch anything else in the Olympics, watch the ice dancing finals. (I mention only in passing that it will make your wife frisky). And imagine Dostoyevsky as the color commentator. LOL