In reply to:

My only disappointment with this thread is that I would like to see the Rev (revmlwest) join in and contribute more than he has so far.

Ouch.... As in times past tanstaafl, you are used of the Holy Spirit to correct my laziness. However things seem to have calmed down a bit at this point. In rereading this thread, and its orginal question, I was reminded of this C.S. Lewis quote.

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.
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Michael West