True Myth

In Letters of C.S. Lewis, Lewis writing to Arthur Greeves recounts his discussion of Christianity with Tolkien and Hugo Dyson as they strolled along Addison's Walk.

Now what Tolkien and Dyson showed me was this: that if I met the idea of sacrifice in a Pagan story I didn't mind it at all: again, if I met the idea of a god sacrificing himself to himself...I liked it very much and was strangely moved by it: again, that the idea of a dying and reviving god (Balder, Adonis, Bacchus)similarly moved me provided I met it anywhere except in the Gospels. The reason was that in Pagan stories I was prepared to feel the myth as profound and suggestive of meanings beyond my grasp even tho' I could not say in cold prose "what it meant".

Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God’s myth where the others are men’s myths: i.e., the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call "real things".

One of the difficulties or stumbling blocks in modern day Christianity is that we have failed to see God's story as true myth. We have been so "enlightened" that we look only for facts or laws and lose the sense of awe and deeper meaning. What seems to be left is either a shallow belief now being coined as 'Moralistic Therapeutic Deism", or else a system of rules to be followed in order to obtain God's approval. With MTD, God becomes our buddy and sidekick and with a rules system God ironically becomes someone we can manipulate with our behaviour.

In the following video, N.T. Wright gives the example of how this plays out in the first three chapters of Genesis. The arguments between strict six day creationists and evolutionary atheists are in many ways the different sides of the same coin. They are missing the forest for the trees, or in other words, the truth for the possible facts.



To get the story, to see the truth, including the facts but also taking in their meaning will bring us closer to God, because he is of course the author. We yearn for the story. Why else fairy tales, or Valhalla, or even Harry Potter? They are pointers to what really is and what shall be.

Here's another Lewis quote from his sermon, The Weight of Glory.

We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves — that, though we cannot, yet these projections can, enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that "beauty born of murmuring sound" will pass into human face; but it won't. Or not yet.

For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.

If we do not have this sense, maybe we should go back to the scriptures and read them afresh, anticipating and looking for the God who surprises, who creates and who has written us into the greatest story.

H/T to Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed for the N.T. Wright video.

Mending Broken Hearts

C.S. Lewis writes of grief feeling like fear in A Grief Observed. I have found this to be a very accurate description and there is the temptation to avoid it if possible. What I am learning is that once one accepts it, on the other side is a sadness, but it is a softened and almost sweet sadness.

I was thinking tonight that it is not just sorrows that break our hearts, but also being in the presence of great beauty or receiving an undeserved kindness. I think this must happen so that God can mend them back correctly.

How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7

A Communication Problem

There are many articles circulating in newspapers, magazines and the blogosphere regarding President Obama's maiden State of the Union speech tonight.  Most are detailing what he should say to recover from his low approval ratings and gain back the independent and middle class voters that have recently repudiated the Democratic agenda by voting in two new Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey and a Republican senator from Massachusetts.  In the wake of Scott Brown's election President Obama told George Stephanopoulis that he needs 'to speak directly to the American people', an amazing statement coming from the most communicative President in U.S. history.

But the President does have a communication problem, and it is that he is no longer believed.  Almost every campaign promise has been broken, whether it is his promise of transparency in writing laws, keeping lobbyists out of his administration, a modest healthcare proposal that would cover all children, no spending freezes, immediate removal of troops from Iraq, the end of earmarks, the posting of non emergency laws five days before they are signed and the closing of Gitmo.  These are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head!

This is a problem, that if he wants fixed, (and all indications are that he doesn't), will take time.  Rebuilding credibility is a difficult task which takes real humility, and won't be mended by one more speech.  We live in a society built around marketing and smoke and mirrors.  Many want to be sold on something, and have been.  Right now many are suffering from buyer's remorse.

Boom and Bust

Are cycles of boom and bust really necessary?  Here's a video that begins to explain the phenomenon.  Check out this website for more economic information.  As for myself, I'm with Hayek.



H/T The Corner

Ubi Caritas Et Amor

Most of us are familiar with the Greek terms for different kinds of love: storge or affection, philia or friendship, eros or ‘in love’ love, and agape or charity.  This post is about agape.


In I Corinthians 13 we are told that we can speak in tongues, prophecy, have all knowledge and all faith, move mountains and be martyred, and it is nothing if it is not motivated by love.

+Love is not tolerance. Tolerance is passive, often to the point of indifference and that is the opposite of love. We want what is best for those we love. If we simply tolerate others, we ignore their sins and suffering. God is not tolerant. Hebrews 12:6 says,

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

Or as professor and author, Peter Kreeft says, God is a father, not an uncle.

+Love is not feeling based.  God has commanded us to love, both himself and each other.  Feelings are fickle.  It is with the will that we can obey this command.  Feeling can play a part, but they often follow an act of love.

+Love is action, an act of the will. In describing love, the apostle Paul uses words of action:  patience, bears all things, kindness, rejoices in truth.  It looks out for the good of others.  Jesus tells what love is in the parables of the lost sheep, the good Samaritan, the prodigal son. He shows what love is in his life and death.

+Love is specific.  We are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.  We are not called to love the church, a civilization, a society, that would be too easy and not real.  We are called to love one another, and to love one another deeply.  I Peter 4:8

+Love makes us vulnerable. Because love is self giving, putting others ahead of ourselves, and trusting, we lay ourselves open to being terribly wounded. C.S. Lewis says in The Four Loves,

Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness. If a man is not uncalculating towards the earthly beloveds whom he has seen, he is none the more likely to be so towards God whom he has not. We shall draw nearer to God , not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it.

 Who, but God in Christ has shown themselves to be more vulnerable?

+Love is a witness.  

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34&35

+Love is eternal.  

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:8-13

Love is eternal because God is love.

This has been a tough season for many of us.  We have each had our burdens to bear; the downturn in the economy, professional difficulties, ill health and the loss of loved ones. 

The world presents us with two ways of dealing with suffering.  One is stoicism or the teaching of Budda, which is to deny desire and accept pain, to expect nothing and to therefore not be disappointed.  To hope only for an end of existence.  The other way is hedonism, to live for oneself.  To gain all the pleasure one can, no matter the cost to others or self.

God has another way of dealing with suffering, and it is love.  It is love that stoops to lift us up.  It is love that is compassion, to suffer with.  It is love to teach the truth, to let reality break into our self deceit.  And it is love to which we are called.

Below is a hymn, Ubi Caritas.  It has been sung by the church for centuries.  The first line is Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est, which translated means, Where charity and love are, God is there.  It is a lovely hymn with a real depth of meaning.  I wonder if it inspired Tolstoy's short story, Where Love Is, God Is.

Arise, Shine For Your Light Has Come

From the Gospel of John

 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

From the Gospel of Matthew

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men  from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose  and have come to worship him.”  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;  and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”  After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.  And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

On The Last Day Of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me.....

No, it isn't twelve lords a'leaping. It is the man of sorrows.

Here is Jesus, true God from true God, who tells us to take up our cross and follow him, that to gain our life we must lose it, that those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted. This all just seems like theory until that cross becomes heavier than we can imagine, that the life we thought we were living gets turned upside down, that the comfort in grief is delayed and all we can do is hang on to the promise.

In all the messiness and sin and sorrow of this life, God didn't just wipe the slate clean. He didn't make us all automatons. He became one of us, to live, to suffer, to die and to rise again raising all of life and creation with him. It seems absurd, too much even, but that is love, isn't it? Love is absurd, self giving, lowering oneself to raise the other up, causing suffering to now have meaning, even becoming redemptive.

This is the mystery of the incarnation...the mystery of Christmas.

Once In A Blue Moon

This is the last day of the year and it will end with a blue moon. Blue moons used to be known as the third of four full moons in a season, but now describe the second full moon in a month, a phenomena that occurs every 33 months. The next one will take place in August 2012.

Here is a fun poem from the perspective of the moon and her annoyance with how poets describe her. I just love the word,'botheration' and how Coleridge doesn't let himself off the hook!

A Soliloquy Of The Full Moon, She Being In A Mad Passion

by Samuel Coleridge

Now as Heaven is my Lot, they're the Pests of the Nation!
Wherever they can come
With clankum and blankum
'Tis all Botheration, & Hell & Damnation,
With fun, jeering
Conjuring
Sky-staring,
Loungering,
And still to the tune of Transmogrification--
Those muttering
Spluttering
Ventriloquogusty
Poets
With no Hats
Or Hats that are rusty.
They're my Torment and Curse
And harass me worse
And bait me and bay me, far sorer I vow
Than the Screech of the Owl
Or the witch-wolf's long howl,
Or sheep-killing Butcher-dog's inward Bow wow
For me they all spite--an unfortunate Wight.
And the very first moment that I came to Light
A Rascal call'd Voss the more to his scandal,
Turn'd me into a sickle with never a handle.
A Night or two after a worse Rogue there came,
The head of the Gang, one Wordsworth by name--
`Ho! What's in the wind?' 'Tis the voice of a Wizzard!
I saw him look at me most terribly blue !
He was hunting for witch-rhymes from great A to Izzard,
And soon as he'd found them made no more ado
But chang'd me at once to a little Canoe.
From this strange Enchantment uncharm'd by degrees
I began to take courage & hop'd for some Ease,
When one Coleridge, a Raff of the self-same Banditti
Past by--& intending no doubt to be witty,
Because I'd th' ill-fortune his taste to displease,
He turn'd up his nose,
And in pitiful Prose
Made me into the half of a small Cheshire Cheese.
Well, a night or two past--it was wind, rain & hail--
And I ventur'd abroad in a thick Cloak & veil--
But the very first Evening he saw me again
The last mentioned Ruffian popp'd out of his Den--
I was resting a moment on the bare edge of Naddle
I fancy the sight of me turn'd his Brains addle--
For what was I now?
A complete Barley-mow
And when I climb'd higher he made a long leg,
And chang'd me at once to an Ostrich's Egg--
But now Heaven be praised in contempt of the Loon,
I am I myself I, the jolly full Moon.
Yet my heart is still fluttering--
For I heard the Rogue muttering--
He was hulking and skulking at the skirt of a Wood
When lightly & brightly on tip-toe I stood
On the long level Line of a motionless Cloud
And ho! what a Skittle-ground! quoth he aloud
And wish'd from his heart nine Nine-pins to see
In brightness & size just proportion'd to me.
So I fear'd from my soul,
That he'd make me a Bowl,
But in spite of his spite
This was more than his might
And still Heaven be prais'd! in contempt of the Loon
I am I myself I, the jolly full Moon.

And here's a sweet, sad song from Nanci Griffith about a lost love.

Truth At Any Price

In today's Wall Street Journal opinion page, Shelby Steele has an insightful article on both President Obama and the result of political correctness in our society. I've been following Steele's writngs and thoughts for a while now, having bought his book, The Content of Our Character in the early ninety's. Ironically, his most recent book is titled, A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win.

The point of the article is that the President has rejected any firm principles in order to maintain his bargaining position. Unlike Ronald Reagan who throughout his life made choices that put his popularity at risk and grew a core set of beliefs that in the end made him a decisive and overall beloved leader, President Obama has cultivated a politically correct core which leaves it empty in order to maintain popularity. This in turn has led him to be a weak leader because he has no core principles. Steele's criticism is aimed at our society as much as it is aimed toward our President. We, in our desire to be seen as politically correct, never demanded any explanations from this man when he was a candidate.

We are left with a rudderless leader, because we would not face any inconvenient truths about him. C.S. Lewis wrote of his wife, Joy Davidman, that she wanted "Truth at any price". I am in complete sympathy with her desire. When we will not face up to truth for whatever reason, to seem sophisticated, to avoid conflict, or simply to take the easier path, we end up with more problems and pain than can usually be imagined. As painful as it may be, it is at truth where real love, forgiveness and good will must begin. Otherwise, our personal relationships and our society are based on a sham and cannot continue in any healthy functional way.

The Feast of St. Stephen

Acts 7-8:3

An Ambivalent Christmas

Though I love Christmas, it always holds a bit of ambivalence for me. Jesus is born and worshiped, yet the prophecies even before his birth tell of wretched, horrible things to come, that he will be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

This Christmas the ambivalence is even greater. I am to be celebrating the Christ child while still mourning the death of my own. I'm afraid there isn't much room in my heart for the celebrating this year. My Christmas wish list changed from nursing dresses and diaper covers to that new book by Scot McKnight and maybe some paint for the bathroom. This just isn't how it was supposed to be, and yet, it is.

So here we are at Christmas, twelve days of it in fact. A child is born to die so that others might live, even those who who never had to chance to take a breath. It is deserving of both joy and sorrow. I wonder if these paradoxes are obvious those in the heavenlies, or only to those of us on this side of the veil.

Our Dear Santa

We've been visiting this Santa for eleven years, since Emma was two. He's become a dear old friend who always remembers the girls.




Gotta love a Santa that explains to the children that it takes becoming a Saint and going to Heaven to have the power to deliver all those gifts to all the children. How different our Christmases would be without Saint Nicholas!

Magnificat

Today is the fourth Sunday in Advent. The Gospel reading is from Luke 1:46-55.



Note: This song was written by Hildegard of Bingen.

Welcome

Quiddity readers. I hope you find something on this blog either helpful, interesting, or both. A big thank you to Andrew for the hat tip!

Stones To Bread

The Sunday school class which I attend has been studying the book of Matthew. In reading the book as a whole, rather than in snippets and pieces, I noticed something which I hadn't seen before. In chapter three, John the Baptizer warns the Pharisees that they cannot entrust their salvation to the fact that they are children of Abraham, for God can raise up children of Abraham from stones. He was basically telling them that they aren't necessary for God's work to be fulfilled, and if they wanted salvation they'd better stop thinking that they are.

Then, in chapter four, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting to be tempted by the Devil. The first temptation as recorded by Matthew and Luke is the temptation to turn the stones into bread. Is there a connection between John's reference to stones and the Devil's? Not being a believer in coincidence, I think there must be.

In all three of Satan's temptations, there is the enticement to take the easier way, which was not God's way. There is also the temptation of Jesus to prove he is God. So, in these temptations the virtues of courage and faith are attacked and the vice of pride is appealed to. A return to Eden in a way.

Returning to the first temptation. "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." On the surface, it seems innocuous. What could it hurt to make some bread, after all the hunger was great, and Jesus had the power. But giving into this temptation would have circumvented God's plan and also made Jesus weaker to resist the following temptations. I can just hear the taunting, behind the command. "Come on Jesus, If God can raise up sons of Abraham and if you are God, surely this can't be too hard for you. Why continue suffering as you are? In fact why should anyone suffer from hunger if in fact you are God and can do such miraculous feats?"

In all the temptations is the temptation to avoid the cross and suffering. Christ is the bread broken for us. He is the son of Abraham and of God. Those in Christ are also his body, children of Abraham and of God, to be broken for others. In a very real way, Christ's temptations are ours.

There is a song I remember singing in various Christian youth settings. The lyrics go:

Would you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Me?
Would you be broken like bread to feed the hungry?
Would you be so one with Me that you would do just as I will?
Would you be light and life and love My Word fulfilled?

Yes, I’ll be poured out like wine upon the altar for You.
Yes, I’ll be broken like bread to feed the hungry.
Yes, I’ll be so one with You that I would do just as You will.
Yes, I’ll be light and life and love Your Word fulfilled.

I don't think any of us had a clue what those words really meant. I think I'm just starting to grasp the meaning in part.

Gaudete Sunday 2009

Today is Gaudete Sunday, when in the middle of the traditional Advent season of repentance and reflection, this day is set aside for rejoicing. The rose candle on the Advent wreath is lit as we look forward to the Saviour's coming. So it is reflective of our lives. A time of mourning is interrupted by a moment of joy and yet in the joyous season to come, which we know as Christmas, we are reminded of mourning and sorrow as Simeon prophecies of the infant Jesus and his mother, then later as the infants in Bethlehem are slaughtered on King Herod's orders.

Nothing is simple. The birth of a child is bloody and painful and begins the road to death which often is also bloody and painful. Yet, we are called to rejoice because ultimately death has been defeated, though in our eyes and experience we won't see this until Christ's return. So it is by faith that we say both, "How long?" and "I praise you.".



Gaudete, gaudete
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virginae, gaudete.
Tempus ad est gratiae hoc quod optabamus
Carmina laetitiae devote redamus.
Deus homo factus est natarum erante,
Mundus renovatus est a Christo regnante.
Ezecheelis porta clausa per transitor
Unde lux est orta sallus invenitor.
Ergo nostra contio psallat jam in lustro,
Benedict domino sallus regi nostro.

Update: I previously had a video embedded which is no longer available. I hope you enjoy the new one. 

The Feast Of Saint Nicholas

Snow

Loreena McKennitt Snow lyrics

White are the far-off fields,
And white the fading forests grow;
The wind dies out along the height
And denser still the snow,
A gathering weight on roof and tree
Falls down scarce audibly.
The meadows and far-sheeted streams
Lie still without a sound;
Like some soft minister of dreams
The snowfall hoods me around;
In wood and water, earth and air,
A silence is everywhere.
Save when at lonely spells
Some farmer's sleigh is urged on,
With rustling runner and sharp bells,
Swings by me and is gone;
Or from the empty waste I hear
A sound remote and clear;
The barking of a dog,
To cattle, is sharply pealed,
Borne, echoing from some wayside stall
Or barnyard far afield;
Then all is silent and the snow
Falls settling soft and slow
The evening deepens and the grey
Folds closer Earth to sky
The world seems shrouded, so far away.
Its noises sleep, and I
As secret as yon buried stream
Plod dumbly on and dream.
I dream
I dream
I dream
I dream

Veni Veni Emmanuel

Happy Thanksgiving

A very odd symptom of anemia is insomnia. One might say it is ironic.

Anyway, thought I'd put my sleeplessness to some use and post some songs and articles for Thanksgiving. I hope they are a blessing to you.





I can particularly relate to the first part of John Mark Reynolds' article.

Read here of the economics behind the Plymouth colony.

Update: Here's an article which debunks many modern day myths regarding the Pilgrims.

O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~William Shakespeare

Can God Be Trusted?

That in the end was the question David and I were asking ourselves as I lie in the hospital the day after my miscarriage. We had been told a couple of days before that our baby had probably died, but there was still a sliver of hope, and now the hope had vanished.

The miscarriage itself had not gone well, if one can say a miscarriage ever goes well. After five hours of struggling through it at home, I was still hemorrhaging and could hardly stand so we went to the emergency room where I was immediately attended to. After many pokes and sticks it was discovered that I was also in septic shock and had surgery late in the evening.

It is an odd thing, grief. It keeps getting interrupted, whether by hope or illness or just the mundane issues of life, though it's always in the background, taking a bit of the color,energy and taste out of things, but in the quiet it comes on in full force with all it's pain and emptiness. How much I wanted and loved this child. How much I feel cheated to not hold it in my arms and nurse it, to not know the color of it's eyes, or to not inhale that sweet smell from our newborn's head.

I am assured by scripture that I will one day meet our child, and I firmly believe that I will. I believe in the resurrection. Like Job, though, I want to know why. Why did our baby die? I realize I probably will never know the answer this side of the veil. As to the question, "Can God be trusted?". I think I am a bit like Peter when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Twenty Years Ago Today

the Berlin Wall was brought down. I think the time that has passed has caused us forget the horror that occurred behind that wall. Here is a video of some trying to keep the memory.


It might me a good time to make a purchase from Amazon or rental from Netflix, so that we don't forget.

I Am David

Night Crossing

The Lives of Others

Both Night Crossing and The Lives of Others are based on true stories.

Free T.V.

Is the internet not wasting all of your time yet? Here's a new website where you can watch television channels from around the world, absolutely free. It's called TV Free 4U. Try the link, especially if you've been dying to know what Sri Lankan's t.v. culture is like.

Our Massive Debt

My friend Jim posted this link on Facebook. It is a cold dose of reality.

U.S. Debt Clock

Be sure to check out the last figure. It calculates the debt per citizen, what each of us owe some part of the world, probably China, which purchases our debt. This is why we will probably have escalating inflation in the future and why there are rumors of the world financiers wanting to no longer tie the dollar to oil.

This from U.S.A Today article in June, 2009.

The government's plan is to fight the sour economy now by spending money, and worry about the debt problem later. "If that's the price to keep from having the second Great Depression, it's a bargain," say Ken Goldstein, economist at The Conference Board.

Even ardent supporters of the government's plan, however, worry that massive U.S. debt could be inflationary. Every day, for example, the U.S. needs to borrow $15 billion to fund the deficit, says Axel Merk, portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency fund. "Someone has to buy all that," he says. More important, the U.S. has to repay it.

Inflation is a tempting choice to pay the nation's staggering debt, especially because the alternatives are to raise taxes or cut spending. Already, some economists are suggesting letting inflation take some of the bite out of government spending.

Kenneth Rogoff, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, gently told Bloomberg News that a bit of inflation might be a good thing. "I'm advocating 6% inflation for at least a couple of years," said Rogoff, now a professor at Harvard University. "It would ameliorate the debt bomb and help us work through the deleveraging process."

The effects of inflation are cumulative. After five years of 6% inflation, $1 trillion would be worth $734 billion, a 27% drop. Even a 2% inflation rate would be a cumulative devaluation of 81% over 30 years.

Unexpected Blessings

I apologize for the dismally light posting recently. Fact is, I've been tired! Homeschooling has started up, I've been busy with serving on the church council and various other activities which explains part of it, but really, I've been extraordinarily tired, and have in fact found the reason for the fatigue.

Last month before our family made a trip to Busch Gardens and a visit with David's brother and sister in law, Mark and Patti, I thought I ought to take a pregnancy test, just to rule out the possibility. Well, the results of the test did anything but! I jumped on the internet and scared myself with statistics of pregnancies in older women. My biggest concern was the greater possibility of miscarrying, but other concerns weighed heavily, particularly where we were going to add another family member in our cozy little house.

David came home and I shared the news. I was quite concerned about miscarrying, so we decided not to tell the girls yet, and we sat on the news for about two more weeks, just sure someone would figure it out by my not having anything to drink or my not riding much at Busch Gardens. The person who come closest to figuring it out was Berkley, our waitress at Annie Moore's who was stunned that I didn't order an Original Sin, which is my drink of choice at that establishment.

I finally couldn't stand it any longer. I just had to tell the girls, so David and I sat down with them on a Sunday morning before church. It was priceless to see their looks of surprise and delight. The news has been spreading ever since. Thankfully, almost everyone has been encouraging and supportive, and I can't adequately express how much that has meant to David and me.

We've had a few bumps. The day we told the girls, I had some bleeding. I spent most of the next several days pleading with God to save and protect this baby. I am a mama, you know....and he knows. The bleeding has subsided and I have had an ultrasound and seen and heard the heartbeat. How very reassuring! Also reassuring is my midwife who informs me that at age 42 and in good health, I should have a normal pregnancy.

I promise not all my postings will be about the new little one or the pregnancy, but I will write about them here and there, because this is big.

A new life.

We are so blessed.

Into The Wardrobe

Tomorrow, we'll begin a new school year. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, we will take the next several months to focus on The Chronicles of Narnia and use these books as a jumping off point for other literature, history, theology and philosophy. We will begin with, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, while also focusing on Norse myths, The Gospel of Luke, the Blitz and Aesop's Fables. If you've read LWW, you'll see how these fit in.

I'll post more of what we're reading and of our discoveries as we progress.

Emma will continue to study Latin, math, Greek, writing, art, logic, classical astronomy, and ballet.

Olivia will study English, nature studies, math, Latin, basic astronomy, art, piano, and horseback riding.

In all of this, setting before us, the good, the true and the beautiful in order to cultivate wisdom and virtue.

The Illusions Of Technology

In The Abolition of Man Lewis states,

There is something that unites magic and applied science (technology) while separating both from the "wisdom" of earlier ages. For the ancients, the cardinal problem of human life had been how to conform the human soul to objective reality; and the means were knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the cardinal problem is how to conform reality to the wishes of the soul; and the solution is a technique.

Peter Kreeft in his lecture, Lost in the Cosmos, points out that if we were to categorize these four things; technology, science, magic and religion, into two groups, that a quite proper grouping would be magic and technology in one group and religion and science in another. The reason being, as he gains from Lewis, is that science and religion are about conforming one's will to reality and technology and magic are about bending reality or nature to our will.

So, where does that leave our society, which Neil Postman branded a technopoly? We have become so enamored with technology that an optimistic pragmatism, where whatever "works" is what is deemed true, has become the spirit of the age. The appeal to reason, truth,natural law, religion or ethics seems passe, whether in matters of education, farming, family life, civic life, commerce, etc.. Instead what is appealed to is efficiency, convenience, entertainment and a sense of control. It is ironic that technologies which are often presented as increasing one's control, (not of ourselves of course, but of nature or other people), are most likely what one will forfeit one's control to. It is indeed a Faustian bargain.

Know Your Farmer

Continuing on the same theme of aschewing pragmatism, there's a new video out, taken undercover showing male chicks being ground alive. Apparently, male chickens aren't useful enough.

According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year.

Now, that's pragmatism. Notice, it's not that they are of no use, it's just that they are of no use quickly enough. I guess another month or two of feed is simply out of the question.

So, what is the purpose of a chick? Is it only to meet our needs. Is there not something of intrinsic value in this life? If it's value does not supercede a human's life, and as a Christian I don't believe it does, for it is not made in the image of God, mustn't it have value beyond it's utility to us, because we are not it's creator? In Genesis, humans are given the mandate to be stewards of creation. Here's another case where we are falling short.

If this disturbs you at all, I suggest getting to know a local farmer and start buying eggs from him, or from your local coop. (No pun intended)

Just Thinking

I didn't sleep well last night, so it may not be a good idea to write having so little rest, but here I go anyway.

What would life be like if we stopped concerning ourselves with what is practical, pragmatic or utilitarian, but rather concerned ourselves with what was true, good and beautiful? What would our lives look like? What would our relationships be like?

As I prepare the curriculum for my children this year, I find myself asking this question more and more. While homeschooling is wonderful, particularly in the choices and freedom it gives, there are limits - limits of time and resources. It is so easy to think too practically if the focus is on the limits, so I have to keep reminding myself to take the long view, and the ultimate goal, which is to help develop in my children a deep love and attraction for what is good and true and beautiful. In other words, a deep love for God, for after all, these are his attributes.

More thoughts later.

Robert Novak, R.I.P.

Today, reporter and columnist, Robert Novak died after suffering from brain cancer. I always enjoyed his newspaper columns and his television punditry. What I remember most vividly, though, is this story of his conversion to Christianity.

Novak started to go to Mass regularly, but it wasn't until a few years later that he decided to convert to Catholicism. The turning point, as he recounts in his book, happened when he went to Syracuse University in New York to give a lecture. Before he spoke, he was seated at a dinner table near a young woman who was wearing a necklace with a cross. Novak asked her if she was Catholic, and she posed the same question to him.

Novak replied that he had been going to Mass each Sunday for the last four years, but that he had not converted.

Her response – "Mr. Novak, life is short, but eternity is forever" – motivated him to start the process of becoming a Catholic through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. He was baptized at St. Patrick's Church in 1998. His wife was also baptized a Catholic.

Novak said he believed the Holy Spirit led him to Catholicism. He told an audience at the Heritage Foundation in Washington Aug. 2 that when he was interviewed by The New York Times about his book the interviewer scoffed at his story about his source turned priest.

But Novak said he told her he believed the Holy Spirit was behind the coincidences.

Of course, there are no coincidences.
Read more about his life here.

Lunch, Anyone?

Here is fun food art over at Funky Lunch.

The pig reminds me of a poor man's Boar's Head, appropriately made with ham, but I think I'd rather eat Nessie.

H/T The Scriptorium Daily

Lo, I Am With You Always

How very moving that the first food that was consumed on the moon was the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. How interesting also that this information was blacked out for twenty years because the government was afraid.

Here is a portion of what happened.

Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

Later he wrote: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly…Eagle’s metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

H/T The Scriptorium Daily

Icons and Idols

In today's Wall Street Journal, Joe Queenan writes on the journalistic watering down of the word "icon".

This is actually something that has bothered me for a while. The word icon comes from the Greek, eikon. It refers to something that is an image or representation of something that is more real or greater than itself. The Bible uses this word to describe humans, being made in the image of God and of Christ being the perfect image of God, the perfect icon. In the biblical sense each human is an icon, though flawed to various degrees, all could be spoken of in terms of being an icon of the living God.

Works of religious art, images on a coin or even images on a computer screen can be properly called an icon because they point to something greater and more real.

This isn't how journalists and commentators use the word when describing celebrities, however. What happens when we start using this word for popular people in culture? When we say that Michael Jackson was an icon, what are we saying? What does he represent, and is what he represents worth imitating or looking toward? It abuses the word so badly that it no longer contains its proper meaning. Perhaps the creators of American Idol have a more proper terminology for celebrities of this kind. According to The Free Dictionary, the term idol means:

1.a. An image used as an object of worship.
b. A false god.
2. One that is adored, often blindly or excessively.
3. Something visible but without substance.

Is this not a more proper term for the role of many celebrities?

Rickrolling

Rod Dreher first introduced me to Rickrolling, an occurrence when one opens a link or post only to find one's opened a portal to a Rick Astley video. He's found another way to be Rickrolled. Try not to cry, all you die hard Nirvana fans - this is fun stuff.

The Real Thing

Update:
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon has issued and apology and says that the company handled the matter with the Orwell books poorly. He says similar situations will be handled differently in the future, but he doesn't explain how they will be handled differently. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

In PC World, Melissa J. Perenson writes,

Today, Amazon removed George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from its Kindle e-book store. The company also went ahead and removed any digital trace of the books, too-striking them from both users' digital lockers and from Kindle devices. This disturbing, Orwellian move underscores how, in spite of comments otherwise, a purchase in the digital realm can't be compared to physical ownership of content.

Oh, the irony! So, the gist of the article is this: If you receive information electronically, such as music, books, movies, etc...consider it a rental. The idea of not having to store cds is appealing to me, but I've always loved having books around. In fact, I kind of wonder about people who don't.

The Books Behind Harry Potter

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince opens at midnight, so in honor of the occasion, I'm posting a link to John Granger's, (aka The Hogwart's Professor), new book. n">

Happy 13th, Emma

Today, my daughter Emma turns 13. She is a very responsible, funny, lovely and energetic young lady.
Here she is hanging out in the dressing room during The Sleeping Beauty rehearsals.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

fails.

Here's its creed as understood by Smith and Denton and reported in their book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
.

1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

In the end, this is nothing but wishful thinking. It does not answer the perennial human problems of evil, sin and despair. It leads one to have no faith at all, because this is a weak, thin, vague kind of faith, that in the end means nothing. God's love is a costly love - a real love - as one can see from Christ's suffering on the cross. If the point of life is being happy, this is not the kind of happiness Jesus taught. He taught a self-sacrificing life that leads to happiness - to daily take up our cross. This Moralistic therapeutic deism has nothing to say to The Beatitudes, which describes those who have a true and lasting happiness.

1Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Are we ready for that kind of happiness? Are we ready to let go of our 'Five steps to a more fulfilling prayer life?' or 'Ten steps to a happier marriage.' Are we willing to say to God, "Be it done to me according to your will?" I say we, not to soften the question, but because as a gen Xer, I have fallen under MTD's sway too often and since it is so much a part of the church culture at large, it is easy for it to seep into my thinking.

Here is a video with short interviews that address the MTD's type of belief in the church.

Scripture of the Week- Matthew 6:22-23

22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

The mystery contained within these 2 sentences has captured my imagination for years. At different times, I have found different meanings in the words. What I think the true meaning, the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit, is- is this... We control the use of our eyes. For the most part, we decide what to focus on and what to ignore. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. When we focus on Him, with not only our eyes but with every fiber of our being, our being becomes full of His light.

This light is the glorious and beautiful light of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. This light is the light that struck Paul blind on the Road to Damascus. It was the subsequent healing that he received from God that enabled him to focus on the light of Christ and his whole being was filled with light from that point on.

This is the uncreated light that emanates from the Godhead Himself. This is the light, the simple presence of God, that will provide light for God's children in heaven billions of years after the sun has been extinguished.

This is the light that burns and refines the deepest recesses of our souls. This is the light by which we may catch a glimpse of our own hearts and become devastated by the darkness therein.

Most of the world does not know this light. Most of the world walks in darkness for the bible says that Jesus came into the darkness and the darkness could not recognize Him. How incapacitating and awful that darkness is when it infuses a person's soul.

The Psalmist cries out in Psalm 13, "Give light to my eyes Lord, or I will sleep in death". This has been my deepest hearts cry for a very long time. If we turn our eyes from the Lord, our souls become consumed by darkness. Like Peter walking on the surface of the dark and storm ravaged waters, we begin to sink beneath the waves and drown. "If the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" The darkness can consume us, for all eternity, if we allow our eyes to go bad.

Janine

Scripture of the Week- Genesis 4:7

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

I have recently been devoting much time and energy to deeply considering what this means. This was God's most intimate advice to Cain upon the most disappointing failure of his life. Cain was presented with a clear choice. Either he could allow bitterness and resentment to become a full blown, murderous impulse, or, he could choose to "rule over" the sin that was threatening to overtake him.

I think that sin is most easy to rule over when the inclination has just begun, before it begins to grow. If we can manage to simply control our thoughts and impulses at that initial stage, sin can be vanquished. It is when we entertain those thoughts that we begin to loose control of ourselves and give into sin. And small sins, when surrendered to, almost always blossom into very large sins.

What began in Cain as profound disappointment and jealousy blossomed into murder. And yet, God said that it was possible for him to rule over it.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons that God allows us to experience failure in the midst of life. He already knows whether or not we will surrender to sin. We need the opportunity to be tested and to come to know this about ourselves. It is of critical importance that we learn to rule over our own sin. If not, it will rule over us.

Janine

An Appeal To Authority

My daughters were having a debate. Olivia insisted that yummy chocolaty goodness with crunchy peanuts is much superior to Emma's white chocolate creaminess with crunchy cookies mixed in. I, of course, always having an opinion in all matters of chocolate, sided with Olivia. This led Olivia to rejoice at her good fortune that she is right because she is in the majority, not knowing of course that this statement is a logical fallacy, known as argumentum ad numerum. Emma then argued that simply because more people may agree on the matter, it does not make it true. Olivia blurts out, "And I've got a Mama!"...Ah, the appeal to authority, argumentum ad verecundium.

Scripture of the Week- 1 John 4:9-18

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[c] our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Eastern Orthodox theology teaches that, on each Christian soul's way to God, there is a middle way and the way of perfection. Some never reach the way of perfection. Perfection is this, that perfect love drives out all fear and only love remains.

I am far from perfect. My deepest fear is that God is going to turn His back on me and that I will be separated from Him for all eternity. Sometimes, in moments of despair, this fear becomes all consuming.

During such times, I become incapable of loving other people, or God. I become so focused on myself, and on my fear, that only my consciousness of myself and the fear exists. That is a horrible place to be. I think that it is a state very close to hell.

Most days, I am stuck soundly within the middle way-- loving God passionately and fearing His judgement and punishment. This scripture states that we can know and rely upon the love that God has for us. This scripture states that our salvation depends upon what God has done for us. This scripture states that we can have confidence on the day of judgement if we exist within the key to that confidence--- that we must live in love and, in doing so, live in God. In this way, God will also live within us.

There are few things that intrigue me more about scripture than the idea that "perfect love drives out fear.... and.... The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Ironically, these verses fill me with both fear and hope.... Fear that I am still far from perfect and hopeful that the very real possibility exists that I can one day be perfect in love and exist without fear.

I think that the key must be the cultivation of a deeper trust in God and a consistent reliance upon what He has done for us. It is very challenging to abide in God, always, when you do not fully trust Him. Paradoxically, it is also very challenging to learn to trust God completely without abiding in Him consistently.

I once heard it said that true courage is not the absence of fear but taking action in the presence of fear. I think that abiding in God, from a human perspective, must necessarily be like this. We grow deeper in the Lord, and closer to perfection in love, when we do not allow ourselves to be defeated by fear.

As in all things with God, much depends upon our free will and much depends upon the grace and help of God. If we not try though, our fear will consume us and, ultimately, fear has the potential to extinguish love.

Janine

What Happened In Roanoke Today

Some performance artists decided to go out on the market and watch fixatedly, old unplugged televisions. The goal of the group seems nebulous, but anything that may promote turning off the television gets a thumbs up from me.

From what I understand, they were abiding by the law as far as how many were standing together, though from the police officer's perspective, if there were many gathered around this particular performer it may have been a violation of some code. It seems that it would have just been easier for the officer to ask the people to move along. Question; What are the responsibilities of a citizen/artist in such situations?

In the long run, it probably has worked in favor of the performance group, because now it may be seen around the world.



An explanation of the project from Beth Deel.

Piano Lessons in Roanoke

For any of you in the Roanoke area, Olivia's piano teacher has a website here.
Olivia has really enjoyed her lessons, so if you've been wanting to give the piano a try, check it out.

Monica

Today is the Feast day of St. Monica, faithful mother of Augustine of Hippo. This is a portion of how Augustine remembered her to God.

For in your hidden providence your hands, my God, did not forsake my soul. By my mother's tears night and day sacrifice was being offered to you from the blood of her heart, and you dealt with me in wonderful ways.

A reminder that God listens to a mother's prayers. How appropriate that this Sunday is Mother's day.

St. Clive's Academy

I've been thinking of taking some time off of our history rotation to spend a few months doing a unit study of the Chronicles of Narnia, adding extra reading for Emma. Lewis' books are so rich in literary and historical references, there would be plenty to study and I think the change would do us great good.
Well, I guess I'd better get busy!

A Little Budgetary Perspective

Scripture of the Week- Ezekiel 3:16-21

16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul."

This scripture has always inspired great fear of the Lord within me. It is so deeply mysterious, yet at the same time very straightforward. This is one of those golden threads that weaves thru all of the bible and is consistently present in all of the tapestry of God’s Word. Namely, it is not good enough to be hearers of God’s Word…. We must also be doers of God’s Word in order to be saved.
How fearful of a thing it is to know that, when we ignore or disobey the Lord’s instructions to us, “the blood” of others will be “required at our hands”. There are a great many scholars who would say that these words were meant specifically for Ezekiel, but I believe that they are words for all of God’s children. What does it mean for us that, even when we commit a sin of omission- of negligence, that the consequences for ourselves and for others will be severe?

Yes, by all means, we are washed by the blood of Jesus and when we confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts that Jesus is Lord, the promise is that we will inherit the Kingdom of God. This act of divine grace is purely God’s great work of mercy towards all who would receive Him.

Revelation speaks about those who will pass thru the fire of God’s judgement naked and those who will pass thru, along with their works which were done to the glory of God and are of eternal value in God’s Kingdom. I think about this so often…..
As I have mentioned in this blog before, I have become captivated by the Eastern Orthodox theological concept of synergy. That is that the process of salvation and sanctification is a dance between divine grace and the human free will. Yes, there must always be that initial surrender to God and to all that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. There must always be that initial surrender when we come to the ends of ourselves and realize that we can never reach God thru our own efforts. There must always be that initial, God given, awareness that we are literally drowning in our sins and that only God can save us. And yet, even then, there are those who choose to walk away from Jesus and those who choose to love Him for the rest of their lives.

Synergy is a dance that begins between 2 partners. Yes, God invites and initiates but it is we who must accept and join Him. It is we who choose to continue with Him or stop dancing. As long as we continue to dance, He makes us more perfectly into the image of His Son. This is the Glory of God, revealed by God in the lives of His children.

And Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. “

Once again, how fearful an echo of Ezekiel...

And in John 14 Jesus says, 21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

How fearful a thing... To know that we are responsible to the living God to live lives of holiness and to continue to walk with Him all of the days of our lives. And yet, He gives us the strength and the grace to do this, if we ask Him.

Even the demons confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. They know who He is. That is not sufficient for their salvation.

I think that all of the literature that has been written on assurance of salvation, without sanctification and holiness, is a very dangerous thing. It is literally eternity that hangs in the balance. What an accomplishment for satan when he is able to convince those who come to knowledge of and surrender to the Lord that no further effort is required on their part. And yet, God promises to bring the good works that He has begun to completion.

I guess, in summary, what I am trying to say is that this is a deeply mysterious issue. God is all powerful and only He could have ever accomplished what was necessary for our salvation. However, I also think that salvation and sanctification require constant effort, in blood, sweat and tears, on our part. I think that salvation and sanctification is a dance between divine grace and the human free will. I think that this dance must continue for all eternity, once a person comes to believe in Jesus Christ and accepts His invitation to the dance. This dance is no easy thing. Yet, it is wonderful beyond anything else in the cosmos.

Janine

Why Balance?

Former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, who was to be awarded the Laetare Medal, wrote a letter to Father John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame University, declining the honour. She writes that she did this in part for the fact that the university decided to go against the request of the bishops to not honour those whose views are antithetical to the church's beliefs, she doesn't want to see Notre Dame's decision influence other schools, but also to not be used as a pawn to assuage the conscience of those attending. She writes:

Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:

• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”

• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”

A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.

Why does an institution whose foundation is based on faith need to "balance" the speakers at the commencement? Shouldn't all the speakers uphold the fundamental values and faith of the school?

Sarah Palin, "Life Is Ordained."

Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!

Good Friday

Maundy Thursday

More On Investing In Real Things

In a recent Mark Steyn article, he analyzes the problems with the recent G-20 summit, noting that they were looking for scapegoats while refusing to do what would really be necessary to really grow the GDP of the western nations. There was one particular gem of a paragraph in which he touches on our country's growth of "investments". Bold is mine.

Let it be said that in recent years in America, the United Kingdom and certain other countries the "financial sector" grew too big. In The Atlantic, Simon Johnson points out that, from 1973-85, it was responsible for about 16 percent of U.S. corporate profits. By this decade, it was up to 41 percent. That's higher than healthy, but it wouldn't have got anywhere near that high if government didn't annex so much of your wealth – through everything from income tax to small-business regulation – that it's become increasingly difficult to improve your lot by working hard, making stuff, selling it. Instead, in order to fund a more comfortable retirement and much else, large numbers of people became "investors" – albeit not as the term is traditionally understood: Instead, you work for some company, and it puts some money on your behalf in some sort of account that somebody on the 12th floor pools together with all the others and gives to somebody else in New York to disperse among various corporations hither and yon. You've no idea what you're "investing" in, but it keeps going up, so why do you care? That's not like a 19th century chappie saying he's starting a rubber plantation in Malaya and, since the faster shipping routes out of Singapore, it may be worth your while owning 25 percent of it. Or a guy in 1929 barking "Buy this!" and "Sell that!" at his broker every morning. Instead, an exaggerated return on mediocre assets became accepted as a permanent feature of life.

This is interesting to me, as the more I have been reading about our banking and investment systems, I've wondered about the ethics of mutual funds and the like. As we become further removed from those with whom we invest our money, we lose the ability to hold them accountable, all in the name of reducing risk and gaining larger returns. It seems that if we invest, we are morally responsible for the actions taken by the businesses in which we invest, but our thinking has become muddled on this point because we have wanted to remove all risk, which in turn removes any sense of responsibility. All the more reason, I think, to invest in real things and perhaps businesses closer to home.

"Mass" Marketing Has Gone Too Far!

I can't think of anything to make something so sacred appear so irrelevant to children as this seems to. This is not like children reenacting the ceremony with saltines and grape juice, which would be normal for children to do as they mimic important activities. To me this seems to be a way for someone to make money. At least when children mimic with saltines, the host will not end up in the bottom of a toy box.

Dying Easter Eggs, Naturally

Here's a video tutorial on how to use natural materials to dye Easter eggs. I've done this before, and I don't know if it is a matter of the video quality, but my eggs had much more vibrant colors, especially the blue from the red cabbage. Mine were a beautiful bright blue. At the end the host makes a "crack" about happy dying. It is more apropos for Holy week than I think he realizes. Pax.

Rescue Me!

Another funny. It's said that a joke is only funny if there is an element of truth to it. Did you laugh?


The dig is toward government workers, but I think it might be made toward society in general.

H/T Matthew Redard

Investing In Real Things

James Rogers gives an interview for the U.K.'s Channel 4, and the poor interviewer can't believe what he is hearing, as Rogers presents to him the reality of the economy and what it will take to avoid a depression. One of the most important things, other than giving a basic economics lesson, that comes out of this interview is the importance of investing in real things, farming, mining, etc... So, time to expand your gardens folks, and learn a necessary skill. This is what will last and be of worth in the coming years. Enough of the efforts to create desire for extras, if what Rogers, Austin Fitz, Roubini and Celente are saying is true, the yeoman will be the one prospering.

This reminds me of my public school education. Many times I remember the history texts, in a deriding way, taught of how Thomas Jefferson wanted the U.S. to be the food supplier to the world, with farming being the main occupation of our population. Somehow, that doesn't seem so absurd now.

Here's the Rogers interview.

Scripture of the Week- John 12: 24-26

24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.

Jesus spoke these words as the hour of his death, the hour of his "glorification" was approaching. These words are so clear and yet so deeply mysterious and paradoxical. It seems that our God, who's thoughts are not our thoughts and who's ways are not our ways, can best communicate His infinite depth to our finite minds through paradox and mystery. Yet there is a piercing clarity and truth couched in the midst of these beautiful words.... And this is God's bottom line for us, if we want to live we must die.

This truth flies in the face of every human instinct and inclination. Surely God created us with desires that He intended to fulfill in this life... Surely, as our provider, He will give us health, food, shelter, clothing, money, a loving spouse and the love of family.... Didn't he promise each of His children "an abundant life", after all?

And yet here, His will clashes with all of our intentions at the very deepest level possible. We want to live and to be comfortable and happy. We want lives full of realized dreams, material blessings, and significant relationships. Modern psychology tells us that this is our birthright--- self actualization, the deepest purpose of human life. But God demands the impossible, that we willingly abandon our desires and deepest human inclinations in order to embrace death.... Death.... How empty Jesus must have been, empty of all of His hopes, dreams and intentions... And our Father said that He was "perfect" in His obedience and asks us to be perfect in the same way. We are invited to share in Jesus's sufferings that we might also share in His glory. We are told that we must hate our life in this world and that, then, we will have eternal life. And our dear, precious Lord Himself speaks these words that are almost to impossible to contemplate--- that if we love Him and desire to serve Him, we must follow Him. Yet all things are possible with God.

Truly this is the ultimate choice of every human being who has ever lived. Do we follow Adam and Eve as they determine good and evil for themselves and disobey God in the pursuit of their own desires, or, do we follow Jesus who emptied Himself of His own desires and became perfect in His obedience to the Father as He embraced incomprehensible agony and death on our behalf?

Personally, I return to this question over and over again. This is a war of epic proportions within me and I vacillate between these 2 polarities, knowing all the while that God does more than frown on those who are double minded. I often wonder why God has not given me the things that I believe that I need in order to survive and thrive in this world. I want to be happy and love my life. Again and again though, God keeps bringing me to the realization that I hate my life in this world and that the only thing worth having is Him. Yes, there are tremendous blessings, comforts and consolations-- dear friendships and material provisions-- Perhaps this is God's deepest provision for me though, that He does not let me have the things that would cause me to love this life dearly. In so doing, He keeps me willing to follow Him and keeps me willing to continue to die to myself.

I always remind myself that this life is only a vapor. Yes Lord, please keep me willing, all of the days of my life, to follow you and to embrace the cross.

Janine

More Fun

I don't watch Letterman, so I missed this when it first aired. It's good fun!