in the interest of clarity

on 'gnostic' as I use it

Unsurprisingly, I tend to go with the linguistic/etymological rather than cultural/historical meaning on this. As I understand it, the root is gnosis, or knowledge, with the implication that direct knowledge of ... something else/hidden/outside of the domain of convention is possible (it's too bad I don't have an authority on the Greek language with which to confer...).

What I don't mean is any allusion to dualism or the corruption of the material (which doesn't even make sense unless one necessarily differentiates spirit from matter, which I don't (and yet I'm not a strict materialist, either)), and I certainly don't speak to any absolute hierarchy of supernatural beings because, well... that's not been my direct experience (and I take so little on faith).

In the rare instances that I do intend to speak of the collected traditions that are generally lumped together under cultural/historical Gnosticism, I always use the capital 'G' (this can be potentially confusing if I use the term at the beginning of a sentence, but that seems rare, and in such cases I count on context to assist.)

silly fun

80

I don't know you as well as I'd like to, and probably should, but you've surpassed the lofty recommendation from a very qualified source long ago. You seem to take a joy in everyday life that most people only hit on rare occasion and pursue your own happiness with steady determination not removed from a sense of compassion and awareness of others. I would like to live in a world where there are more people like you.