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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Opus 2025-082: Poor Song Theology

Today in church we sang one of my favorite gospel songs, “When the Role Is Called up Yonder.”  I noticed something that I had never seen before.  The second verse goes,

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Sounds good until you read what the Bible has to say,
(1Th 4:16 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(1Th 4:17 KJV)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Notice that the meeting will be in the clouds.

And then you have,
(Rev 1:7 KJV)  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Or this,
(Mat 24:30 KJV)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
I don’t think that the song author checked the weather.  It said, “Fair to partly cloudy.”  

I still enjoy the song.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-081: Philosophical Battlegrounds

The philosophical premises of eastern religion have been attacking Western culture for centuries now.  The western culture which fostered the industrial revolution, the technical advances, the thoughts about liberty and prosperity, the scientific revolution?  Yes, that Western culture.  All these came from the Jewish and Christian views of God in the universe.  The view of the Buddhist and Hindus, for example, are totally different.  As I read through the work of Will Durant he continually will make reference to how different philosophers drew their inspiration from the religions of the east. Those philosophers have been working overtime to destroy the mind set that Christianity had brought in.  I am only half way through the first volume and I have already come across connections to David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer.  I am sure there were more but those I remember.

I have tended to have this idea that the ancient world was made up of isolated communities developing in their own ways but in modern times we have all this sharing.  The idea that the ancient philosophers of Greece could be aware of the Hindu gods or Buddha seemed impossible.  I know that I got irritated when people tried to say that the Jews borrowed their ideas from other cultures.  When you think about it though, traders and wandering philosophers have a long history of travel.  I came across this reading about India,

“The foreign trade of India is as old as her history; objects found in Samaria and Egypt indicate the traffic between these countries and India, as far back as 3000 B.C.  Commerce between India and Babylon by the Persian Gulf flourished from 700 to 480 B.C.; and perhaps the ‘ivory, apes, and peacocks’ of Solomon, came by the same route from the same source.”  p. 479
Then when you add the historical proximity of different thinkers.  In the sixth century B.C. you had the return of the Jews from exile and the rebuilding of the temple.  The writing of the Old Testament was drawing to a close.  This was also the time of Buddha and possibly Confucius.

Were ideas passed back and forth between the different civilizations?  Was the Pope once a Catholic?  Of course.  The cross fertilization of ideas is one reason why certain parts of the world are so advanced.  We need to be aware of these influences when they are disseminated.  Such cultural staples as Lion King and Star Wars have pushed eastern religions.  Yoga, Montessori and TM are foundational to eastern religions.  The class system of Europe finds soul brothers in China and India.  Ideas have consequences, just like elections.

Pay attention and decide what your foundation is going to be.

Durant, Will.  The Story of Civilization:  Part 1, Our Oriental Heritage.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1954.

homo unius libri

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Opus 2025-080: The End of Israel?

People who are into eschatology love to quote these verses.

(Jer 31:35 KJV)  Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
(Jer 31:36 KJV)  If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
(Jer 31:37 KJV)  Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
It is vital to them to keep Israel in the game.  They reject any other thinking as “Replacement Theology” and say it as if that is heresy.  My friend also threw a couple of other big words at me that I was supposed to cringe at.  Meh.  Maybe it is heresy.  Maybe they are over reacting a bit.  Maybe they have a chart or graph that they want to sell.  They still act like this is the final word in regard to verse 36.

Challenge accepted.

In order for Israel to fall out of favor certain milestones need to be passed.  Keep in mind that these are all future.  It has nothing to do with Israel’s importance today.  This is a discussion of theory and the question of how God plans to work in history.

Notice,
(Rev 6:12 KJV)  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Evidently the sun is no longer giving light by day and the moon doesn’t seem to be much help either.

Keep reading,
(Rev 6:13 KJV)  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
(Rev 8:12 KJV)  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Stars are falling.  In my level of astronomy they won’t be giving much light if they fall.  The prophecy enthusiasts also like to make much of the parable of the fig tree which seems to be having some serious problems here, but that is for another day.

As for the sea,
(Rev 21:1 KJV)  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
(Rev 21:23 KJV)  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
(Rev 22:5 KJV)  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

No more sea and it continues with reference to the sun and moon.  It is a great picture.  I like it.  The problem is it does not fit their narative so, guess what?  They ignore it and never quote these verses.

I find the last verse referred to in regard to measuring the heavens and penetrating the earth to be somewhat fulfilled also.  We have telescopes and theories that are measuring the universe.  We have mines and drilling going miles below the surface of the earth.

It would seem that there is a possibility that somewhere in the future Israel will cease to be the chosen nation.  Make sure that does not create any anti-semitism in your heart.  Jews are people and deserve the same courtesy and consideration you would give any other human being.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-079: Cat I.Q.

My wife and I just had a discussion of the cat’s intelligence, or lack thereof.  It was initiated because she could hear the cat making a noise that she interpreted as wanting to come in.  I did not argue with that level of smarts.  We eventually figured out which door needed to be opened.  I was informed that the cat was smart.

A thought occurred to me that I cannot share in this house.  I realized that I think the cat is stupid because I compare it to myself.  That is as far as I will go even in print.  I will leave it to you to figure out the rest.

So often in life our opinion of others is rooted in our opinion of ourselves.

homo unius libri

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Opus 2025-078: Seeds and Weeds

I don’t know if knowledge of the future would be encouraging or discouraging.  I was sitting in the living room, watching my grandson play on the floor and worshiping with praise and thanksgiving of the blessings God is giving me.  Grandma called him out to get him dressed, because Mom was coming.  I lifted up my eyes to the mantle of the fireplace and on it was a picture of my children when they were at a similar age to my grandchildren now.  I think my daughter was two and my son was six.  What a joy it was to look at them and remember.

At the time if you had told me that I was incredibly blessed, I would have looked at you like you were a lunatic.  At the time I was unemployed with a mortgage.  I was at a crossroads that did not have any happy endings in sight.  That was where I was then.  Looking back I tend to forget that aspect.  Now I just enjoy the pictures of the children we were raising and consider the blessing.

We were planting seeds for the future.  Like the farmer we had no idea how the crop would turn out.  There was always the concern that they might turn into weeds instead.  There are times in life where all you can do is what you know to be right and trust God for the big ticket items.

They turned out to be seeds, a blessing.  I look at the next generation and renew my commitment to helping to cultivate their lives.  

Seeds you plant.  Weeds you remove.  May God fill your life with seeds and you with the faith for them to develop.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-077: Views of Perfection

As I walked through the living room my wife was watching one of those House Lust programs.  A couple was walking through and talking about what they thought was good and bad in a house that they probably could not afford.  I have been force fed these programs on road trips that have one room accommodations and a TV to go with it.  

The little part I picked up today reminded me of an old bit of wisdom about men and women as they enter into marriage.  Men expect the woman to stay like she is.  They married her and want to spend their life with the woman they married.  Women look at the man as a project that has the potential to become what she wants.  It leads to a bit of conflict.

I am wondering if the same applies to buying a new home.  It was that way for us.  All I heard before we moved in was how perfect the house was.  I decided I could live with it and began thinking on how to adjust.  As soon as we were unpacking I started hearing about all the projects she had in mind for remodeling.  All I could say was, “What?”  I am not talking about painting the rooms a different color.  I am talking about closing up doors and covering over windows, moving walls, gutting the kitchen, trenching for plumbing changes and, yes, even painting.

Be prepared.  Be understanding.  The irresistible force eventually wears down the immovable object.  It is a rule of the universe.

homo unius libri

Monday, February 3, 2025

Opus 2025-076: Impossible?

I was raised being told that it is impossible to keep the law of God, and therefore we needed the cross, and the sacrifice of Jesus.  I was told all my life that it was the hopelessness of keeping the law perfectly.  It made salvation by faith necessary.

Does the Bible anywhere say that we can never keep the law?  Not in the Old Testament.  Here is a verse in the KJV,

(Deu 30:11 KJV)  For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

 
 The NASB represents an alternate translation found in several versions,

(Deu 30:11 NAS77) "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
The issue is not that it is impossible.  The point, even with the Old Testament, is that keeping the law will not earn your salvation.  That is not the result of keeping the law.  The law was designed to make your life better, and to make the life in your community better.  It was a national standard.  It did not deliver salvation.

So no, the point was not that you could not keep the law.  The point was keeping the law would not do you any good in eternity.  Through the entire Bible salvation is offered as an act of God and what He expected of us was faith and obedience.  What Jesus did was replace the blood sacrifice of animals with His perfect blood and made access to eternal life available to all.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-075: Three Guesses

And the first two don’t count.  I kind of feel that way as I continue reading Will Durant in his history.  He’s so full of speculation and clever writing that you might miss the fact that he often doesn’t have a clue on what he’s talking about.  He gets away with inconsistencies because his book is so long.

I’m currently on the section that deals with ancient Israel and he’s dealing with where Israel came from and it’s rather fascinating.  He seems to embrace any theory that goes against what the Bible actually says.

A thought that came to my mind this morning was all of the different theories he gave about where Yahweh came from.  It seems like every page has a different theory.  At one point he had Yahweh as a local fire God living in a cave.  In had another place he speculated that the Israelites had worship a bull in Egypt, thus you have the golden calf.  At another place he had some other “scholar” saying that one of the early gods of the Hebrews was a pig which explains their ban on pork products.  Another place she talks about Yahweh being a local God, who was battling the other gods, and eventually emerged triumphant.  At no place does he accept the clear statement of the Bible that Yahweh is the only God and the creator of the universe.  He’s having fun.  I find it a bit tedious.

I can’t wait to get past the chapter on Israel when he starts dealing with Persia.  I don’t know as much about the history of Persia as I do about Israel.  I wonder if I will be able to trust what he says there anymore than I find I can’t here.

homo unius libri

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Opus 2025-074: The Good Old Days

We like to sit around and reminisce about the past.  Some of our tales are well embellished and others are actually accurate.  There are a lot of wonderful things in the past that we don’t have anymore.

Some are gone and we don’t know where they went.  Do you remember when you were able to get those big avocados that were just right and you could sit down and eat them with a spoon?  What happened to them?  They weren’t just figment of our imagination.

Some things are gone because they were rotten to the core with a beautiful outside.  I think of Disneyland.  We quit going years ago.  I remember, noticing before all of the corruption came out that every single ride in Disneyland had at least one spot where there was something happen to do with witches or other evils.  That one spot has grown into the major theme of cultural deviancy.  I think of Bill Cosby.  I can remember when he was genuinely funny, and I really appreciated his style of humor.  Little did we know the evil that went on underneath that veneer.  What changed?  I’m still not sure that he was that evil.  I think his big mistake was coming out and speaking up against the degenerate nature of black culture.  It was shortly after that speech the world discovered that he was a pervert.  I will accept it, but I still don’t fully believe it.  Either way, we have Bill Cosby’s humor as only a fading memory.

What about world travel?  I went to Europe while I was still in college.  We got a special deal and five of us went and spent a couple of months over there.  It was a grand and glorious experience.  Even then we were unable to get into the local culture all the way because the drugs and rampant in morality were strong.  There are places in the world that I would love to see to appreciate their historical validity.  I would love to see the ancient city of Zimbabwe.  I would love to see the temples of Angkor Wat.  I would love to visit the holy land.  Most of them I will never make it to because it’s not even close to safe to be there.  What a tragedy.

Some places I will never get to experience because I’m just getting too old.  I don’t expect to ever ride a motorcycle again.  I heal slowly and the ground looks awful hard.  Just getting older and slower keeps a lot of things from happening.  Considering how slow I was even when I was un-old, this is nothing new.

And then you have all of those things which really weren’t that wonderful to begin with.  Remember Chubby Checker and the twist?  How about, “I told the witch doctor I was in love with you”?  Did you ever have a rotary engine?  I used to love baloney sandwiches.  Eight tracks anyone?  

You can make your own list.  The future will produce change for the better or worse.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-073: Lion or Lamb?

Left to myself I don’t spend a lot of time in the book of Revelation, or in prophecy in general.  I accept that it is part of the Bible, and there are lessons to be learned and directions to be given.  I just don’t understand it and have not been able to discern a clear statement about much of what it involves.  I know there are people who have marvelous outlines of the end times, and have it all figured out, but I am not one of them, and I find their theories have more holes in them than a fishnet.

I’m still open to insights that come as long as they’re not trying to make a chart or graph about all the events that are displayed in glorious color and creative imagination in the book.  I started my thinking in the 23rd Psalm.  As you probably know, that implies that we are sheep, and that God is the Shepherd.

That got me thinking about the nature of sheep, and what it says about us.  I got to thinking how most of us want to be the top dog in the pack, the wolf out hunting for prey, the eagle flying majestically in the sky... you get the idea.  Most of us don’t want to be a sheep which implies being dumb, passive and weak.  Jarringly contrasted, with that is the concept of Jesus, being the Lamb of God.  When we were talking about Him being the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins that fits.  In the Old Testament, the lamb was sacrificed as part of the atonement process.

Then I get to this picture in revelation,

Revelation 5:5-6 (KJV) 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
The description of the Lamb here is part of the dystopian tendencies we see in the book of Revelation.  Things are described in ways that just don’t seem logical or realistic.  I think that’s part of what’s going on here.  It’s trying to point out to us that as Jesus comes as the lamb, that is not just a weak passive creature.  He is the mighty Lamb.  In the previous verse, it talks about Him as being the Lion of Judah.

This is not “gentle Jesus, meek, and mild.”  This is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.  This is our Savior.  As much as I get frustrated with Revelation as a whole, this is a joy to behold.

homo unius libri

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Opus 2025-072: The Waiting God

This morning I first greeted God at 4:15 when I woke up enough to engage my mind a little bit.  Then I rolled over and eventually got out of bed around 4:30, stumbled toward the kitchen to start the coffee and went to powder my nose.  It was 5 o’clock before I was ready to again greet Him with my second, “Good morning, Lord.”  I again have Him in my mind, leaning over the banister, tilting His head and smiling at me.

My first thought was He was waiting for me.  He knew how long it takes me to wake up and He knew my heart was in the right place.  All was good.  It dawned on me that He wasn’t really waiting.  Not waiting in the sense of twiddling His thumbs, or looking out the window, or reading a magazine.  First, God is outside time so He didn’t have to sit there wasting it.  Second, He has a million things to do and He is doing them.  It’s more like your father working on the taxes, knowing that you have just come home from school and that you will arrive in a few minutes to share your day and any issues that have come up.  He knows you’re there.  He knows you’re coming.  He’s waiting in a sense but certainly not wasting time.

It always strikes me as funny that we pray that God would meet us when He’s already there.  We pray that God would hear our prayers, when we know He’s already listening, and He’s not hard of hearing.  It’s more a matter of us, finally getting our mind focused and our petty details set aside so that we can approach him and give him our attention.

God was waiting for me.  I trust that He was waiting for you this morning.  Be blessed, trust, move forward with anticipation.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-071: Feudalism II

One of the things that we are seeing in our culture today is an increasing number of organizations that are finding ways around the tax codes.  Churches are obvious as not paying property tax.  I’m guessing that there are many nonprofits that are also included in that kind of loophole.  I know that there are foundations that pay no tax on the money collected.  We have an ever growing number of people lined up at the public trough who live off of government checks and pay no taxes but have the right to vote on raising those taxes.

This follows a parallel pattern from the Middle Ages when the wealthy, the powerful, the religious leaders, and who knows whom else exempted themselves from having to pay taxes.  This put a greater burden on the common people who had no voice and reinforced the power structure.

We are seeing that again today.  There is a multiplying parasite class that sucks the energy out of our economic system while enjoying the benefits.  A large part of this process is making it impossible for working class people to buy property and own homes.  It continues into the push to put us on public transit by making private ownership of automobiles too expensive.  Meanwhile they have chauffeured limousines and private jets.  You need to be disarmed while they pay private security.

Think of the areas of Los Angeles county that were burned off by the fire.  The regulations of California are going to make it almost impossible to rebuild.  Who will step in?  Picture the hills of Altadena, covered with large religious facilities, government buildings, nonprofit headquarters and anybody else who can build without having to pay taxes and find ways around regulations.  They will pay no taxes on the property.  They will probably find ways to avoid taxes on their income.  At the same time, they will be expecting to be taken care of with government services, such as police, fire, and water.

If you are one of the elites that lived in a multi-million dollar home you might be able to go out and pay cash for another one or know the right people to get your mansion rebuilt and include trhe property of a neighbor who lost his because he voted wrong.  The rest of us are expected to live in European style, 15 minute cities where everything you need is less than a 15 minute walk and your cell phone will report you if you go outside your limit.

Peasants, welcome back your feudal lords. They may be a new and improved edition, but they are still feudal lords.  Actually they want you to be serfs, not peasants.  Peasants had some rights.  A few peasants were able to accumulate wealth.  Serfs were bound to the soil and needed a note from their lord if they wanted to go too far from that soil.  Can you say, “15 minute city?”

People came to America to escape oppression and find liberty.  That looks good on a poster and sounds good in a sound bite.  It is even true up to a point.  What that meant was that they could own real estate in this new land.  They could attend the church they wanted in this new land.  They could defend themselves in this new land.  They could travel without a permit in this new land.  They could even wear whatever style and color of garment they could afford.  We have no idea of what it will be like if your overlords resume their positions of power.

Be aware.  Resist the decent into Feudalism.

homo unius libri

Friday, January 31, 2025

Opus 2025-070: Click Bait: Sounds Good

I just saw one of the shorts on my YouTube page that was titled “Beautiful Samurai.”  It had a picture of a young woman waving at sword.  I did not click on the bait.  I am not an expert on Japanese culture or history.  However, something in me says that the idea of a female Samari goes against the grain.

We have the concepts of paradox and oxymoron.  They make the statement that two things that seem to rule the other out can both be true.  If you have one child or grandchild it is impossible to think about having enough love for the next.  My brother has so many grandchildren I wonder if he knows all their names.  He still loves them.  Impossible but real.  Theologically we have things  like the trinity and the incarnation.

That is different from things that are logically impossible.  Take for instance the idea of a square circle.  One concept rules out the other.  That is the situation with the Beautiful Samurai, but I reserve the right to be totally out of my depth.  It won’t be the first time.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-069: Out of Touch

I am in the process of reading a book by Francis Collins called The Language of God.  Collins was the leader of the Human Genome Project that mapped the human DNA.  He is a real scientist and a Christian believer.  I am about two-thirds through and am still waiting for the title to be realized.  Collins is a genuine believer in Jesus.  He also is totally committed to the theory of evolution in all of its random selection.  I have no real problem with that but it seems a bit inconsistent.  To both believe in random selection and that God created the heavens and the earth is uncomfortable at best.  The problem is not in the idea of evolving but in the guidance of only chance.

I also question if he is paying attention.  Collins makes this statement,

“No serious biologist today doubts the theory of evolution to explain the marvelous complexity and diversity of life.  In fact, the relatedness of all species through the mechanism of evolution is such a profound foundation for the understanding of all biology that it is difficult to imagine how one would study live without it.”  page 99
Stephen Meyer has this to say in his prologue,
“The technical literature in biology is now replete with world-class biologists routinely expressing doubts about various aspects of neo-Darwinian theory, and especially about its central tenet, namely, the alleged creative power of the natural selection and mutation mechanism.”  page x
Both cannot be accurate statements.

At first I thought that Collins was just writing too early to know these little details.  Then I checked a passage in a novel by Michael Crichton called The Lost World.
“First of all, there’s a time problem.  A single bacterium - the earliest form of life - has two thousand enzymes.  Scientists have estimated how long it would take to randomly assemble those enzymes from a primordial soup.  Estimates run from forty billion years to one hundred billion years.  But the earth is only four billion years old.  So, chance alone seems too slow.” page 226-7
I concede that this is a novel but it is a statement based on a knowledge of the field of evolution.  Both of the statements by Meyer and Crichton are consistent with the other books and articles I have read on the subject.  Collins writes like a philosophy professor trying to sound like a scientist after watching a few You Tubes.  Yet I know he is a serious scientist and a genuine believer.  Both Collins and Meyer are presenting reasons to believe in God.  Crichton, on the same page, attacks the idea that there is even intelligent design.  

Be thoughtful.  Read with your mind turned on.  Make sure that you don’t get a petrified mind but also don’t be naive.  Just because someone has a degree does not make him right.  And of course keep in mind that this criticism is a two edged sword.

Collins, Francis S.  The Language of God.  New York:  Free Press, 2006.

Crichton, Michael.  The Lost World.  New York:  Ballantine Books, 1995.

Meyer, Stephen C.  Darwin’s Doubt.  New York:  Harper One, 2013.

homo unius libri

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Opus 2025-068: Beyond Multitasking

I can’t comprehend how God can listen to the prayers of an entire world.  Some of it is filtered.  We have places in the Bible where it tells us that God does not hear the prayers of the wicked.  I assume that means that He is willing to listen to repentance and confession, but not petitions.  He certainly doesn’t allow attempts to smooth talk Him to have any influence.

In spite of that there are still millions of people calling on Him at all times.  He listens to all.  We have a term that has come up since Windows appeared on our computer of “multitasking.”  I’m not sure if we used that term about women before computers came along.  We probably had the concept.  I have said before that God is quite good at multitasking, but it occurs to me today that multitasking does not even begin to express what it means to be an all knowing and all powerful God.

Perhaps a better word would be infinite tasking.  That would mean there is no end to how far He can extend his consciousness without losing His edge.  I am getting to the point where I have a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time.  It is a challenge to drive and pay attention to what my wife is saying.  This is just one of the ways in which our understanding of God’s character is beyond our ability to truly grasp.  We can try.  We should try.  But we should be content with a happy realization that He is far beyond our ability to pigeonhole.

Is this an attribute of God?  I don’t think the Bible uses the term multitask.  I’m pretty sure the word infinity doesn’t show up in there.  At the same time it is very clear that God is capable of dealing with all of the challenges of the universe.  My concerns are just one.  Our concerns are not ignored.  At the same time we are not the center of the universe, He is.

You would not want me in that chair.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-067: You Should Believe in Miracles

It looks like we might not descend into chaos as a nation.  We have had a successful transfer of power between groups of people who seriously disagree on almost everything.  We did it again without shooting or armies in the streets.  We did it without the Air Force generals trying to bomb the Marines.  This is an American miracle, the transfer of power in peace.

During my lifetime I have seen this kind of extreme before.  It last happened when Jimmy Carter turned over the reigns to Ronald Reagan.  I remember the rumors that flowed as the older Bush left office and how we were supposed to have a revolution when Clinton came in and another when he went out.  Conspiracy never takes a day off.  Part of the American genius is that the nation as a whole would not settle for such rituals.

That does not mean that currently the cabal running the Biden administration did not do everything they could to tie the hands of the incoming Trump.  I doubt if this is the first time such things have happened.  Way back in 1803 when the Federalists were leaving power they tried to appoint a bunch of their judges before Jefferson took the oath.  Down through history it has been a pattern.  

I would be willing to guess that the current crop of traps and handcuffs set a new record for obstruction.  Take the smothering of our justice system by the thousands of pardons that Joe Biden issued.  And what about the preemptive pardons?  Who ever heard of such a thing?  Who ever would imagine doing such a thing?  I guess the Democrats would.  If you have been following the click bait, you have been a witness to major league obstruction and attempts to violate the spirit of the republic.  

Let us hope that the republic and the Constitution are strong enough to surface and move forward.

homo unius libri

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Opus 2025-066: Anchors a Way

I’m thinking of those clever devices we see used as advertising and attention getters on the side of the road.  They are long tubes a very light material, sometimes with legs and arms and extensions, and they are powered by a big fan in the base, blowing air up and out the top.  They wave around.  They go back-and-forth.  Sometimes they fall almost to where they hit the ground.  What never changes is the anchor they have at the bottom.  They can appear to be blown over.  They can have moments where they lose their air and almost collapse.  Through all this, the anchor is stable and doesn’t change.  Through this that fan keeps blowing a new supply of air up and through them.

This is where worship songs come in.  They talk about being anchored in Jesus.  They point out that our feet are set on the solid rock.  They remind us that our hope and our confidence is in Almighty God.  They remind us of our anchor.  And of course there is a harbor.

An anchor does no good unless it is planted firmly and attached to the boat.  Keep in mind that God would love to supply an anchor for your life but you need to attach yourself to Him.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-065: It Wasn’t Me

How often do we see real facts in front of us and refused to acknowledge what we see?

It may be a ridiculous example, but I experienced it this morning.  I generally make my coffee in the kitchen and then carry it to different places in the house.  If I’m going out on the front porch and my route is over hard surfaces I don’t worry if I might spill a drop here and there.  It can be easily mopped up.

If I’m going over carpet, it’s a different story.  What I will do is try not to fill the cup too full, and then carry a full-size plate underneath it in case anything spills.  This morning I was going over the carpet.  I filled the cup too full.  I knew that.  I watched very carefully as I walked to the back of the house, and I felt like I had done a great job of not spilling a drop.

Fast forward five minutes.  For that matter, slow forward.

I pick up my coffee cup, and there is a suspicious ring of liquid underneath it.  How could this have happened?  I was so careful.  I didn’t spill a drop.  What nefarious gremlin has gotten into my life.  I look over at the plate and it has a small pool of coffee in it.  There was enough that it ran over the side onto a piece of paper underneath it.  How can this be?

My eyes told me I spilled no coffee.  The flat surfaces around me tell me that someone spilled coffee.  I have to make a decision.  Was it gremlins?  Did the cat sneak in and try to find a way to get back at me?  Can I figure out a way to blame my wife?

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I probably did it.  As careful as I was, as clear as the evidence was to my eyes, it happened.  I have to step up like a man and accept responsibility.  Of course I will be doing this confessing and mea culpa on the internet and not around anybody who knows me.

Maybe I need new glasses.  Maybe I need a bigger coffee cup.  Maybe I need to fill the cup less full.  Life is full of options.  Isn’t it wonderful living in a free country?

homo unius libri

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Opus 2025-064: The Old Five

If you mention the five today, you have people respond by thinking about a TV program.  If you are a little older, you might think of the five finger discount.  I think I watched at least part of the show on occasion but it is not regular viewing for me because I don’t normally watch TV.  However, in Christian circles, there is another five it has mentioned, and I believe it is the five soli, with soli being a plural Latin word for alone or only.

I believe the context is salvation and people who endorse this will say that you are saved by,
Grace alone.
Faith alone.
Christ alone
The glory of God alone
Scripture alone.

Anyone with a logical mind looking at this would think this is nonsense.  You can’t have five different things each one being attributed with the adjective “alone”.  So we have to think of this in a little bit different way to even try to grasp what is being said.  You see, if it’s by grace alone then you don’t need faith.  If it’s by faith alone, you don’t need grace.  It is by either grace or faith alone, you don’t need Jesus, and so forth. That is the logical approach.

The Bible does teach the importance of each one of these.  It might be more productive to say that if you leave any of them out, you don’t have salvation, but to say each one by itself is the source is logical nonsense.

Take grace for instance.  Grace refers to an act of God, which is put into motion purely by the choice of God.  It cannot be forced.  It cannot be bought.  It cannot be earned.  It is the free choice of God to bestow his grace upon people.  It is this act of God that is necessary for salvation, because there’s nothing we can do in our own power to cancel the sin or earn the status.  So far, so good.

My question would be, “On what basis does God make the decision to bestow saving grace?”  Five Point Calvinism would say that it is totally up to God whom He chooses to bestow salvation on.  It is arbitrary.  From my point of view this is making God totally capricious.  I don’t believe God does things arbitrarily, for no reason.  At the same time we cannot earn His favor.

I think this is where free will and being created in the image of God comes in.  We have attitudes.  We make moral choices.  God looks at those and beyond it to the heart directing those choices and decides whom He will save.  Notice the adjective “moral”.   I really don’t think God is concerned about whether you went to McDonald’s or Burger King.  In fact, both might condemn you.  It is the choices that would reflect the two Bible concepts of “righteousness” and “wickedness”.  There is a level on which we can make those choices freely.  I think God notices those things.  He seems to keep bringing them up.

Of course God can see nuances that we can’t even imagine.  My principle point is that a just God would not make choices like that on a celestial flip of the coin.  He might make it the best out of five.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-063: Pentecostal Pep Rally’s

I can almost guarantee that you will never see me at one of the Trump rallies.  I’m glad that they’re happening.  I am enthused about the ideas that Donald Trump is bringing to the presidency and the country.  I plan on supporting him.

Just don’t expect me to stand in the middle of a crowd, screaming, waving my arms, and generally sacrificing my dignity.  There are many things I can enjoy without immersing myself in them.  I don’t need to play in the mud to enjoy watching my grandchildren.  I will never get on a motorcycle and go jumping over obstacles.  I am sure you have your own list.

If you want to go and cheer, I encourage you.  I will endorse the behavior.  Just don’t expect me to join you.

homo unius libri

Monday, January 27, 2025

Opus 2025-062: Quote for the Day: Wesley Huff

Certain principles are very important when you try to understand the Bible.  One of the steps that you need to go through is to ask yourself first, to whom was this written? Then you need to ask yourself, “How did they understand it?”  After several different levels of thinking, you can finally come to the point where you seek to apply the truth to your own life.

And listening to apologist Wesley Huff, he made a statement which was not new but reminded me of something we need to understand.  I’m not sure in which order he had them, but the basic idea is this,

    “The Bible was not written to you, but it was written for you.”

For instance, when the Bible talks about the sword of the spirit you need to, in your own mind, translate that into a more modern metaphor.  We don’t use swords anymore, except in movies.  They are not something we apply to our daily life.  You might want to substitute your favorite firearm, or your favorite martial arts.  The fact that the Holy Spirit is active is the key point.

Keep your mind turned on.  Keep thinking.  Don’t be afraid to go there when someone brings up a controversial point.  Truth is on our side but sometimes it takes a bit of digging.  The person you disagree with might actually have an insight that will get you closer to genuine truth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-061: Old and Unimproved

Advertisers and people who make products like to find ways to get attention and increase sales.  I always get amused at lemon drops saying that they are a fat free food.  Or how about oatmeal being gluten-free.  These are part of the definitions of what those foods contain.  I don’t need a special advertising for it.

Another technique they like is to announce that something is “New and Improved”.  Now the newness and the improved aspect is always questionable.  I would venture to guess that sometimes if they put 11 ounces of cereal in a box that used to contain 12 ounces they could say that this is new and improved because you will gain less weight by eating it.  Deception is deception.  Naïve is naïve.  Gullible is gullible.

There are many things that I don’t need to hear “new and improved” about.  I have done my due diligence.  I am ready to accept the judgment of my decisions.  One of those things is oatmeal.  I’ve gone through a long process of arriving at how I like to have oatmeal in the morning.  I’ve tried instant, quick, old-fashioned, older-fashioned, and steal cut.  I have followed directions.  I have been a maverick.  I have come to the conclusion that old fashion, basic as it is, cooked for six minutes instead of five, and not stirred after the initial dumping of the oats produces what I want for breakfast.

It doesn’t mean I’m against trying something new if it comes along.  Just don’t try to advertise it as being biodegradable or organic or Vegan or any of the other nonsense.  Also, you need to put it in a smaller package that it doesn’t cost me the down payment on a house just to try it out.

As a senior citizen, I’m a big endorser of old and not improved.

homo unius libri

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Opus 2025-060: Which Title

Two songs are going through my mind this morning. The first one starts off, “Creation shows the power of God.  There’s glory all around…”  The chorus begins, “I believe in miracles.”  I’m thinking of that as the title.  The other song going through my mind is a popular song which starts off, “Do you believe in magic?”  Take it either way, miracles or magic.  We just saw that demonstrated on January 20.

Many of us were worried about what the elite cabal that controlled the Biden administration might be planning on pulling during that day.  They were all kinds of conspiracy theories.  At this point, everyone will laugh at them, and pat the conspiracy theorists on the head.  What we will never know is how many of those potential conspiracies were actually considered by the left.  Were they really thinking assassination?  Were they really thinking of some massive explosion to wipe out the leaders of the nation?  I was very nervous as I watched multiple times that both President Trump and JD Vance were standing just a few feet apart.

Did we dodged a bullet?  Was there a bullet to be dodged?  It’s time to consider miracles or magic.  I personally will go with miracles.  One of my theories is that we are surrounded by miracles all the time, but we don’t notice them because we think that’s the way things are supposed to happen.  Sometimes when I’m driving on the interstate across country and see all of these cars rushing to wherever they think they have to be and I noticed how few are broken down by the side of the road.  I wonder why there aren’t more accidents.  So many things I wonder about, and in reality, it may be just that the hand of God is causing multiple miracles in order to reduce the amount of mayhem that we are able to produce.

We made it through the inauguration.  How many plots were foiled by faithful civil servants in the Secret Service, sheriffs department, capital police or any other Agency involved in protecting the president and the country.  There seem to have been enough serious about their responsibility to do the job.  I thank them.

Do you believe in magic?  I don’t.  But I do believe in miracles.  Bismarck is quoted as saying, “God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America.”  I can live with that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-059: IT Prayer

As I was praying this morning I found myself using a phrase that I didn’t like.  I knew what my heart was saying but the words that were coming to my mind just didn’t quite get across the connotation that I wanted.  I found myself relaxing in my prayer because I knew that God knew what I meant.  If I had been speaking in public, or I guess even praying in public, I might have had a reason to be concerned, but I’m in private, and the only person listening is God Himself, and He knows what I mean.

This is one of the ways in which I interpret this verse,

Romans 8:26-27 (KJV) 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
I know there are other applications and possibly deeper meanings but one of the assurances of this to me is that the Holy Spirit is working in me as I try to express my heart to God.  It’s kind of like when you were using the app on your phone or iPad that allows you to speak and it writes down what you’re saying.  There are times when the app gets some really wild understanding of what you’re saying.  The app is making wild guess guesses based on its programming.  God, on the other hand, knows exactly what you want to say so when He corrects it it’s an improvement.

I find that encouraging and thought I would share it just in case you are in the mood to hear it.  If not now, then file it away for some future moment.  God not only hears what we say, but listens to what our heart is trying to communicate.

homo unius libri

Friday, January 24, 2025

Opus 2025-058: Stake Anyone?

It is interesting the way new ideas will pop up at different places simultaneously.  It is either coincidence or just that you were seeing them without being aware of them.  Currently it has been around the term “New Perspective.”  I am still not sure that I grasp the nuances but it is making some people go Rambo so it must have some interesting aspects.

As I first approached the term I was reading a book on theology called Reconsidering Key Biblical Ideas.  I was finding that the authors were mentioning a number of points I had been coming across.  I always like it when someone endorses my thinking.  After investigating some key points they dropped the term on me on page 39.  Okay.  A new theological term in a book about theology.  No big deal, or so I thought.

Shortly after becoming aware of the term the You Tube algorithm dropped a bit of click bait that had three theologians discussing the idea.  I could tell from the names, which I knew, and the way the title was written that there would be some disagreement.  “Disagreement” is a mild term.  
They drew you in by a clip of an interview of a scholar named N.T. Wright.  I have seen his name around but have not read anything he has written.  He fit into that category in my head of “Basically reliable but open to confirmation”.  What he said went along with the book.  The they switched to a different clip with a group of about seven men sitting on a platform and at the end was a man named R.C. Sproul.  I am familiar with Sproul.  I used to be on his mailing list and received a monthly newletter from his organization, Ligonier Ministries.  I knew I did not agree with him on some issues because he was a full-fledged Five-Point Calvinist.  In spite of that there was I lot I topics I could learn from him on.  

That acceptance ended when I was listening to a pod-cast in which he declared war on all Christians who did not embrace the total Reform theology.  Literally, he declared war.  He was taking off the gloves and going after the jugular.  I don’t remember the exact words, this was at least 20 years ago, but that was his point.

When the moderater asked him in this clip what he thought about N.T. Wright his response was, “He is a heretic.”  This was not one of those semi-humorous statements that we throw out when someone disagrees with us.  His accusation and the memory of his previous statement brought to mind the attitudes of John Calvin back in the days when they were burning heretics and drowning
Anabaptists.  He was deadly serious.  I keep forgetting that there are people like that out there.

I will continue reading the book and its “heresy”.  Part of that is because I totally reject Sproul’s theology.  If I had to pick a heretic I would choose him and the theology of John Calvin.  I would, however, stop far short of burning at the stake.

Forster, Roger and Marston, Paul.  God’s Strategy in Human History, Volume II, Reconsidering Key Biblical Ideas.  England:  PUSH Publishing, 2013,

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-057: Balancing Act

We need to keep in mind the principles that have been espoused about responsible government and overspending.  My concern here is two of the announcements given in Trump’s great inauguration speech.  He announced that he was creating two new government bureaucracies.  He announced DOGE, and a department involving external revenue.  In the past I heard that DOGE was going to be sunset in a couple years and was going to be mainly a volunteer organization.  I was very on board for that, but it sounds like now it’s going to become just another typical government organization, throwing its weight around.  I’m all for the concept of cutting back government waste.  I don’t think we can do that by starting more government waste.

And about this department having to do with external revenue, I think that we already have the capacity to do that through the IRS.  The I in IRS stands for internal of course.  Any money which is made in this country is included.  That also includes money made by international corporations.  We don’t have the right to go into other countries and demand a tax from what happens there.  We already have the capacity.  We don’t need to expand the government to do it.

If we think that these are such wonderful ideas then I would suggest an idea that I have heard from somewhere, I don’t know where.  I think I’ve heard of several places.  The original statement had to do with a demand that for every new regulation a government imposes it is required to cancel three or four.  If we apply that to government agencies, then for each new government agency that Trump establishes he needs to dismantle another.  He has already suggested the Department of Education.  I am definitely on board with that.  There are other departments that could also could be done away with.  Maybe our goal should be to cut back to the level authorized in the Constitution.  What a novel idea.  At least in part the staffing on these new agencies can come from the ones that are being dissolved, but the total employees should go down dramatically.

Then you have the announcement currently for $500 billion for AI development.  I wasn’t aware private enterprise needed this kind of stimulus in an area where they are already doing so well.  Where are we going to get $500 billion when we’re already in the tank so far.  I didn’t read the article, just the Clickbait.

Overall I’m excited at what I see.  My memory tells me that one of the big problems that Trump has is that he likes to spend money.  As he spends it, he needs to find a way to cut spending in other areas so that the economy can recover quicker.

I have hope for the future politically. I have confidence for the future spiritually. Hopefully the two will go together.

homo unius libri

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Opus 2025-056: Specific Laws Mentioned in Psalms, Part 2 of 2, Details

Here are two lists of all the verses mentioned in the previous post.  In the first they are gathered by topic.  In the second they are in order read.

By Topic

Only God, First Commandment
Psalm 44:20 (KJV) If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
Psalms 81:9 (KJV) There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
Psalm 106:28 (KJV) They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
Psalm 106:36 (KJV) And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
Psalm 106:38 (KJV) And shed innocent blood, [even] the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psalm 115:3 (KJV) But our God [is] in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psalm 115:4 (KJV) Their idols [are] silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

Sacrifices
Psalm 4:5 (KJV) Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
Psalms 20:3 (KJV) Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice;
Psalm 40:6 (KJV) Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalm 50:5 (KJV) Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psalm 50:8 (KJV) I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, [to have been] continually before me.
Psalm 51:16 (KJV) For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psalm 51:19 (KJV) Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Psalm 54:6 (KJV) I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for [it is] good.
Psalm 66:13 (KJV) I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Psalm 66:15 (KJV) I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah
Psalm 66:15 (KJV) I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah
Psalm 116:17 (KJV) I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
(Psa 119:108 KJV)  Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

Vows
Psalm 22:25 (KJV) My praise [shall be] of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
Psalm 50:14 (KJV) Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Psalm 61:5 (KJV) For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given [me] the heritage of those that fear thy name.
Psalm 66:13 (KJV) I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Psalm 116:14 (KJV) I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people
Psalm 132:2 (KJV) How he sware unto the LORD, [and] vowed unto the mighty [God] of Jacob

Lies
Psalm 31:18 (KJV) Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
Psalm 34:13 (KJV) Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psalm 36:3 (KJV) The words of his mouth [are] iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, [and] to do good.
Psalm 40:4 (KJV) Blessed [is] that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Psalm 52:3 (KJV) Thou lovest evil more than good; [and] lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
Psalm 62:4 (KJV) They only consult to cast [him] down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
Psalm 101:5 (KJV) Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.2
Psalm 101:7 (KJV) He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
Psalm 119:163 (KJV) I hate and abhor lying: [but] thy law do I love.
Psalm 120:2 (KJV) Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, [and] from a deceitful tongue.

Murder
Psalm 37:32 (KJV) The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
Psalm 40:14 (KJV) Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

Theft
Psalm 50:18 (KJV) When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
Psalm 62:10 (KJV) Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart [upon them].

Adultery
Psalm 50:18 (KJV) When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

Feasts
I Psalms 81:3 (KJV) Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

Complete list

Psalm 1-3, none

Psalm 4:5 (KJV) Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

Psalm 5-19, none

Psalms 20:3 (KJV) Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice;

Psalm 21, none

Psalm 22:25 (KJV) My praise [shall be] of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

Psalm 23-25, none

Psalm 26:10 (KJV) In whose hands [is] mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

Psalm 27-30, none

Psalm 31:18 (KJV) Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

Psalm 32-33, none

Psalm 34:13 (KJV) Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile

Psalm 35, none

Psalm 36:3 (KJV) The words of his mouth [are] iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, [and] to do good.

Psalm 37:32 (KJV) The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

Psalm 38-39, none

Psalm 40:4 (KJV) Blessed [is] that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Psalm 40:6 (KJV) Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Psalm 40:14 (KJV) Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

Psalm 41-43, none

Psalm 44:20 (KJV) If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;

Psalm 45-49, none

Psalm 50:5 (KJV) Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Psalm 50:8 (KJV) I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, [to have been] continually before me.

Psalm 50:14 (KJV) Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Psalm 50:18 (KJV) When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

Psalm 51:7 (KJV) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:16 (KJV) For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

Psalm 51:19 (KJV) Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Psalm 52:3 (KJV) Thou lovest evil more than good; [and] lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

Psalm 53, none

Psalm 54:6 (KJV) I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for [it is] good.

Psalm 55-60, none

Psalm 61:5 (KJV) For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given [me] the heritage of those that fear thy name.

Psalm 62:4 (KJV) They only consult to cast [him] down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

Psalm 62:10 (KJV) Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart [upon them].

Psalm 63-65, none

Psalm 66:13 (KJV) I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

Psalm 66:15 (KJV) I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah

Psalm 67-80, none

I Psalms 81:3 (KJV) Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

Psalms 81:9 (KJV) There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

Psalm 82-100, none

Psalm 101:5 (KJV) Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.2

Psalm 101:7 (KJV) He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

Psalm 102-105, none

Psalm 106:28 (KJV) They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Psalm 106:36 (KJV) And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

Psalm 106:38 (KJV) And shed innocent blood, [even] the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Psalm 107-114, none

Psalm 115:3 (KJV) But our God [is] in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Psalm 115:4 (KJV) Their idols [are] silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

Psalm 116:14 (KJV) I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

Psalm 116:17 (KJV) I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

Psalm 117-118, none

Psalm 119:1-107, none

(Psa 119:108 KJV)  Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

Psalm 119:163 (KJV) I hate and abhor lying: [but] thy law do I love.

Psalm 120:2 (KJV) Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, [and] from a deceitful tongue.

Psalm 121-131, none

Psalm 132:2 (KJV) How he sware unto the LORD, [and] vowed unto the mighty [God] of Jacob;

Psalm 133-150, none

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-055: Specific Laws Mentioned in Psalms, Part 1 of 2, Summary

This is a follow up to a study of laws mentioned in Proverbs.  There are only 31 chapters in Proverbs and 150 in Psalms so the latter took a bit longer.  I made note of specific laws as I read.  I probably missed a few and if you are worried about it I invite you to do your own research.

Here is a summary by frequency

Sacrifices and Offerings, 13x
Lies, 10x
Only God, 7x
Vows, 6x
Murder, 2x
Theft, 2x
Adultery, 1x
Feasts, 1x

As you look at this list remember that there are 150 Psalms and according to the Rabbis there are 613 laws. It seems strange to me that the law would be mentioned so often and yet the specific application is almost totally lacking.  Notice that except for the items dealing with the sacrificial system everything else is from the Ten Commandments.

My personal theory is that the law that people looked at as vital to life were in those two categories.  The rest dealt with common issues of the community such as health, government and vocation.  That is for the Old Testament and Jesus.  When you get to Paul he hyper-ventilates over circumcision.  That should explain the different approaches and attitudes.

The details will be in the next post which you can skip unless you are having a hard time getting to sleep.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-054: But Should We?

The president announced that he was going to initiate a $500 million investment in AI.  That’s what the Clickbait said.  I have not yet read in depth about what he is proposing.  I’m not excited about spending more federal money to subsidize private industry.  Private industry does very well on its own if it’s worth doing.

That is a different issue than I want to address now.  I want to look more into that well-known phrase, “Just because we can doesn’t mean that we should.”  What I’m looking at here is the whole question of AI.  I can’t think of any other topic that generates so much concern and even fear in the general population.  I’m talking to those who are actually think about consequences not just the woke groups that don’t know how to think.  We are going to be moving forward into investigating the potential of computers.  That is inevitable.  While we are looking into the technology of it, we also need to consider the ethics of it.

We were involved in a war for survival when the Manhattan Project produced the atomic bomb and opened up nuclear holocaust to the world.  I’m not sure we had much choice at that point about whether we went forward with it.  There have been a lot of people looking back and second-guessing the decisions of the time and asking, “Should we have developed the atomic bomb?”  This is a question that should’ve been asked before the question of, “Should we use the atomic bomb?”

We tend to ignore the philosophical and ethical questions of our advancements.  While it may be true that we are going to advance whether we talk about philosophy or not, we still need to get in the habit of looking into the consequences of what we do.  AI in itself is simply just developing technology to be more efficient and more effective.  When asked about AI and whether it’s dangerous, the most intelligent answer I’ve heard is that it depends on who develops it and what their goals are.  Any technology can be used for evil.  Any technology can be used to benefit mankind.  The big question is which direction will this go.

In one sense I am not afraid of AI.  I understand the limitations of computer programming.  Did you hear about the self-driving car that plowed into a parked fire truck?  The programers never told it not to run into parked fire trucks.  I don’t think that we will ever get to the point where computers will be like the robots of Isaac Asimov.  It’s a nice dream in science fiction, but I somehow don’t think that will develop in the real world.  Of course, that’s based on my review of men being created in the image of God.  I am more worried about the motivation of the programmers.

Can computers be developed that are so strong and so fast that they are very effective in limiting our freedoms?  How can we keep them on a leash?  These are questions that need to be asked.  They are really future molding.

It needs to be asked loud and clear and repetitively.  We need to hold the developers feet to the fire and have open and frank discussion about what the real goals are.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-053: Experiments in Physics

As I write we are in the middle of a cold spell.  Some people just say, “Texas.”  Others start looking through Revelation, Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24 or any other place where the end of the world is forecast and try to apply their fear to the real world.

Is it cold?  Yes.  Should we panic?  Guffaw.  I am willing to let the faucets drip to keep peace in the family.  It might even be a good idea.  I went on line to see what the “experts” had to say about how cold it needed to be to drip the faucets.  At one end they seemed to be saying 32º.  That is ridiculous even to this California refugee.  At the other end they said 20º which is reasonable if you keep the heat on in the house.  

It is simple physics but what does not make it simple is the location of your pipes, how long it is how cold and how hard the wind is blowing.  As an experiment I left a two liter bottle of water out on the porch all night and put one in the garage.  This morning they were both liquid.  I will leave them because it is supposed to get colder over the next two days.  

So we let it drip.  Better safe than sorry.  In the last cold spell we had a pipe burst in the garage but that was when the high for the day was 18º.

I love central heat.

homo unius libri

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Opus 2025-052: Pardon My Thoughts

I don’t know why I am so angry about the pardons that Joe Biden gave to all of his criminal allies and family.  It fits.  It’s so appropriate.  Why was I surprised?  I guess I thought there might be some decency buried under the piles of garbage, but I was wrong.

As I was thinking about these pardons, and if there was any way around them and still follow the rule of law, my thought went to other cases where I couldn’t understand what was going on.  I thought of how O.J. Simpson was declared not guilty of murdering his wife.  I didn’t agree with the verdict but I had not followed the celebrity case.  I was willing to grant that the jury knew something I didn’t.  I was shocked when the family of his ex-wife was allowed to sue him in a civil court.  I thought there was this thing about double jeopardy in the Constitution.  Evidently the people who are trying to destroy the protections of the Constitution decided that even though you are not guilty of the criminal charges you could still be guilty of a civil violation.  They have done the same thing using civil rights as an excuse.  It still seems like double jeopardy to me.  There were other cases where this happened.

Because of our system of common law, which is based on precedent, it would seem that it is now possible for us to use this to move towards justice.  OK.  All these criminals are pardoned from their crimes.  What about all the money that they have stashed as they betrayed the country?  Would that not be a safe target of a civil trial?  If it works for O.J. Simpson, why not for Andrew Fauci?

The left is continually perverting protections given to us by the law.  Joe Biden distorted the power of the presidency with his executive orders.  Executive orders have been a standard tool of the president to get things done.  It is simply a name for the directions being given out.  Under Democrat presidents they became tools for going around Congress.  We can continue to look at ways in which they have perverted law.  They are continually changing the rules.  The senate filibuster is either good or bad, depending on who’s in power.  They have changed the rules on judges and the budget.

We need to take the precedents that they have established and use them to try and reinforce what the Constitution is all about.  Meanwhile, the legislature should be clarifying just exactly what the law is.  My understanding is that they can limit what the court can control and explain how the law is to be understood.  They need to do their job.

There should be a way to achieve justice before the vigilantes start coming out of the woodwork.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-051: Clickbait: Good Timing

As I was scrolling through the You Tube Clickbait I came across this announcement:

Former Clinton Pollster Mark Penn Absolutely SAVAGES Joe Biden Over Last Minute Pardons: ‘The Last Straw’
How timely.  You wait until your epiphany will make absolutely no difference and suddenly you see the light.  Is it honesty and insight speaking or just a concern about your future?  

I have seen several comments about how people who have been savaging Trump for years are now lining up to lick his boots.  Most of the names I don’t know but the phenomenon would not surprise me.  My hope is that Trump has learned his lesson.  I hope he will be courteous enough to get them to support America for the brief time their repentance lasts but will not give them the keys to the liquor cabinet.  I hope he has learned how to deal with the lizards even if they took a shower after climbing out of the swamp.

Pray for humility and wisdom to be granted to Donald Trump.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-050: Ode to Old: The Magic Is Gone

We had a dusting of snow Monday night.  It was enough to cover the walkways and any flat surface but the grass was still standing valiantly.  There was enough on the front steps to go out and make a few snowballs.  I was not tempted.  The magic is gone.  Warmth and comfort are more compelling.  

I imagine that my grandchildren are dragging their father out to see what they can make.  They learned about snow angels over Christmas in Minnesota.  If they got enough snow they will be out swishing and whooping.  They may be doing it even if they don’t have enough snow.  If I were down at their house I might be out washing their faces with snow.  That is what the magic does for you.

I will find my magic in other ways, thank you.

homo unius libri

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Opus 2025-049: Daily Prepping

I did some prepping yesterday morning.  I would not have recognized it as such.  It involved boiling some eggs.  Why was this prepping?  Because my wife had been watching the Weather Wiz again and, on the fringe of panic, was worried that we would starve it the power went out because of the end-of-the-world storm coming our way.  Okay.  Boiled eggs are good.  They are even better if the world does not come to an end.  They keep well and can be used many ways.

So I have been prepping.  Catastrophe is coming.  I hope to see you on the other side.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-048: Live First Person

I watched President Trump’s entire inauguration speech.  I didn’t spend much time on the theatrics in the ceremony.  I watched a little bit of one of his appearances immediately after the speech, but it was clear that he was getting into keeping his base, happy, and communicating with the people who have supported him.  I don’t need that kind of encouragement.  The speech was enough for me.

I listened to the whole thing for the simple reason that I don’t trust any of the media, right or left, to tell me what he actually said, in the way in which he said it.  I think the spin should be kept in my clothes dryer, not in my politics or, for that matter, in my spiritual life, or my family.  I need to live life in the first person. I need to do the listening as much as possible.

I find that reading the Clickbait headlines is interesting to get a general trend of what is happening, but it does nothing to give me accurate facts.  Usually the articles are even worse.  I want information uninterpreted.  I don’t want to live through someone else’s dreams and aspirations.  That can be time-consuming when you’re talking about Donald Trump or any other politicians.  They love to hear themselves talk.  They love to repeat things.  Part of that is because people don’t listen.

I will admit that Donald Trump tends to go on and on.  That’s one reason why I don’t listen to many of the speeches.  I’ve already heard them.  At the same time, I need to pay enough attention to know what he’s really saying.  His inauguration speech was unfiltered from the heart into every American.  We need to take it seriously and ignore the way the media spins what he said.

Have a good time filtering the Clickbait.  Fake News did not go away just because it lost an election.  Somewhere in all that you’ll find the information you need.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-047: Time to Double Down

I’m not sure where the term “double down” comes from.  In the back of my mind there is this thought that it is a gambling term which somehow means that you multiply your bets.  My creative imagination tells me that there’s a situation in playing blackjack where you can divide your cards into two piles.  Is it imagination or memory?  That part is not important.

What is important is that people who have been praying for the revival of our country and a change of direction need to not get complacent.  We are now at the point where we need to pray even more.  This morning on the day after the inauguration I realized that we need to double down in our prayers.  What brought this home to me?  What’s the way in which God scheduled me to be reading Proverbs 21 and found this as the first verse,

Proverbs 21:1 (KJV) The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
I noticed that Donald Trump made several mentions of how God was important to our progress as a nation, and how God is going to use him.  All that was good.  I believe he meant it.  I believe he feels the hand of God upon him.  I don’t know that he has become what we might call a “true believer.”  If not, I hope that day comes, but until it does, or if it has, we need to double down in our prayers for him.

We feel we took a step forward by winning the election.  We’re hearing the kind of things that we need to hear or want to hear.  We need to make sure we don’t submit to hubris and start thinking we have arrived, and that we are specially blessed by God at the expense of other people.  We need to pray that God‘s will would be done.

As we pray for the president, we need to pray for ourselves and for the church.  We need to double down in all areas.  America is not the chosen nation in the sense that Israel was chosen by God and received a special mandate directly.  In spite of that we can be used of God, and we want to keep this nation as close to the center of his will as possible.  It makes me wonder how the world might be different, if righteousness has taken hold of Sodom or of Egypt or of any other political power in history.  Where would the world be today if Israel had been faithful?

God bless America.  Pray that we would be a part of that blessing.

homo unius libri

Monday, January 20, 2025

Opus 2025-046: Mixing It Up

I am really struggling with being isolated.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy being isolated; I do.  I’m an introvert.  I have very little need of contact with other people.  I find them draining and often depressing.  They can bore me or make me mad.  The problem isn’t that I feel like I need a counselor to help me with my depression and isolation.

The problem is I enjoy discussing things with people who have different viewpoints.  Actually, that’s not the problem, the problem is finding people with different viewpoints who know enough about why they have those viewpoints to talk about them.  In talking to friends in California during the election, they told me that all they saw anywhere were Harris signs.  On the converse side, in my area of Texas during the entire election season I only saw one Harris sign.  It’s kind of hard to discuss your difference of opinion with someone if you can’t find them.

There are places I could go.  I can start hanging out at Starbucks.  Something in me cringes at the thought of their over cooked coffee and under thought politics.  I could hang around a bar perhaps, but in Texas, the bar would be full of rednecks who voted for Trump.  I could go to a liberal church, but I value my soul too much and I’m not sure that people who attend those churches know enough about what they believe to have a reasonable discussion.  If they knew enough to have a reasonable discussion, then they probably would not have believed that they have.  I’ve thought of signing up for a class at a local educational unit of some kind.  My fear is that I would run screaming out of the room or else possibly throw up on the floor at what I was hearing.

So I continue to hope that somewhere along the line, I will be able to have a reasonable, in-depth, thoughtful discussion with someone who might not have like mind, but has a mind period.

Is that too much to ask for?

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-045: You Are Welcome

It occurred to me as I was driving to do some shopping Saturday and saw that the price of gas had gone down seven cents a gallon that I did the entire country a service by filling up two days ago.  It seems in my life that when I do some thing like filling up with gas, the next day the price goes down.  It is awesome to see how my butterfly wings can cause a typhoon in the South Pacific, or wherever typhoons happen.

I will do my best to stay out of your lane on the interstate and your line at the grocery store.

You are welcome.  It’s the least I can do for my fellow citizens.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-044: The Day After

Did you go to church on Sunday?  If you did, did anybody ever mention that it was a special day other than being Sunday?  Sunday was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  Sometimes it’s called Pro Life Sunday.  Did anybody mention it in Sunday school?  Was it mentioned from the pulpit during any part of the service?

If your church was not aware that this is the Sunday that the champions of life selected to remind us of the tragedy of Roe versus Wade, then that might be one of the marks that tells you whether the church is worth attending or not.  Roe versus Wade was overturned, true.  In reality, the battle goes on.  Thousands of children are being slaughtered every day.  That really adds up over time.

Ignoring abortion is not the only issue that a week church fails on, but it is an indication.  It might be a good litmus test, or it might be that for some reason, your church does everything right except for that.  Only you can be the judge, but I would guess that if you go to a church that ignores the issue of abortion or soft-pedals it or sugarcoat it, you will find other areas that are also falling short of what God wants for them.  It’s amazing how often common threads of thinking and values run together.

We need revival in the nation.  We need to stand up and be counted.  If you are going to a church that is overlooking vital areas of morality, cultural, compromise, doctrinal, deviation, or outright denial of the divinity of Christ then you need to be one of those clanging cymbals that are calling people back to truth.  Keep in mind that it’s not just the public square that needs revival.  The church is where it must start.  And one of the things I’ve been hearing regularly in the past few weeks at my church is that it must start in each one of us.

Pray for revival. Pray that it would start and you and me.

homo unius libri

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Opus 2025-043: Created vs Modified

While watching the Joe Rogan interview with Stephen Mayer,  I noticed that Rogan continually asked that same question about, “What if...?”  One of the things that comes to my mind as I think about that is that you can’t know when real genius will step into the scientific process.  We tend to confuse genuine genius with a bit of talent.

The difference can be summed up in different words.  I tried to figure out a couple and the best I could come up with was created versus modified.  I tried thinking of creating with different adjectives, but it wasn’t startling enough so I went with these two.

Most of the things that we consider to be new inventions are really just extensions of what already exists.  They are evolutional modifications.  For instance someone invents the refrigerator.  Now that is in the realm of genius but after the genius has done its work, the innovators start to evolve things.  They say if you can make things cold maybe you can freeze things, and the freezer is born.  Then someone says why not have the freezing compartment at the top of the refrigerator.  Another says let’s put it at the bottom.  Someone in a burst real creativity says, “Well let’s put them side-by-side.”  Someone else says let’s make them different colors.  These are evolutionary concepts at best.  They are not creativity.

Somewhere I read that Hugh Ross came to Christ because after studying the usual round of religions he came to the conclusion that the only one that had concepts impossible for the ancient human mind to produce was the one explained in the Bible.  I don’t think he was talking about creation itself.  It involved concepts that only an astrophysicist would notice.  It worked for him.

I love to speculate with “What if...”  At the same time I don’t let it replace truth and knowledge.  Let your imagination go wild but don’t assume you can turn off gravity.

homo unius libri

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Opus 2025-042: Incomprehensible

While basking in the presence of Almighty God I turned to my list of attributes that we find in the Bible.  They are puny human attempts to define God.  At the same time we do the best we can because they are given to us in the inspired word.

It might help us to keep that in mind when we try to define certain biblical terms.  Right now there are words that I am investigating and meditating on.  I keep wondering how to define grace.  I am mystified at how the Law can be so marvelous to David and such a precaution to Paul.  I wonder how righteousness is possible in fallen man.

As I continue to try to understand, to stretch the limits of my thinking, to put it all together, I need to accept the fact that I will never totally arrive.  In one sense, I will never be able to wrap my arms around the glory of God.  He knows that.  He has always known that.  I wonder how much of that will be modified in eternity.  I anticipate learning and experiencing.

At the same time, Jesus told us that if we know him, we know the Father.  That means that I will study the Son in order to understand the Father.  I rejoice in my ignorance, not because it highlights my limitations, but because it promises a continual and never ending progression of new revelations and delights.

I look forward to tomorrow.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-041: Fake News Is a Symptom

The repetitive clickbait regarding Joe Rogan interviewing Wesley Huff finally got me to watch the discussion.  It was interesting and informative.  What caught Rogan’s attention had been a “debate” between Huff and someone called Billy Carson.  There was enough reaction expressed that I am in the process of listening to that.  It will take me several days.

One of the areas that I have a working knowledge of has to do with the validity of the Bible.  I have read enough and listened enough that my baloney meter knows when to go off.  Wesley Huff comes across as a careful scholar who knows his stuff.  Billy Carson sets my meter to playing a concerto.  He makes statements that would cause anyone who is awake and serious about learning to develop a rash.  

It occurred to me as I was listening that Billy Carson is not alone in the world of scholarship.  Much of what we read, be it history, science, theology, economics or any other topic, is nothing but the scholastic form of Fake News.  Call it Fake Scholarship.  If you have been exposed to it from kindergarten their might be some excuse for believing the things that you hear coming from your friendly local professor but it does not take much digging to at least question what you are hearing.

The list of Fake Scholarship is long.  One that has been around since I was a child is global warming or, as it used to be called, global cooling.  The nonsense about America having some special role in slavery means you have never got past the book of Genesis.  If you want to know how many genders there are all you have to do is look in a T-shirt catalog.  What the Second Amendment means only requires a second grade education to understand.  What kind of brain dead accepts that only white people can be racist?

You get the point.

Be alert for Fake Scholarship.

homo unius libri

Friday, January 17, 2025

Opus 2025-040: A Stolen Idea

I have looked for the source.  I can’t find it.  At this point, I doubt if I will ever be able to isolate where I came up with this idea, but it is not mine.  It stood out to me when I read it, and for some reason, I did not make a note of where I found it.

The mysterious writer said that the most important, or significant, issue in any argument is the basic assumptions you start with.  He said you can have all the right facts, have logic that is impeccable, have everything on your side, but if you start with the wrong assumptions, your conclusion is wrong.

Assumptions totally mold the argument.  Assumptions guide your choice of facts.  You ignore many things that might apply but either you don’t see them or are you downplay them.  Assumptions direct your logic.

One of my big assumptions and everything that I do, say and think is that there is a God and He is the God of the Bible.  I assume He has expectations about right and wrong.  I assume there is evil in the world and it is opposed to Him.  I assume He wants me to live in obedience.  That is the root.

So certain issues are no brainers.  Killing your baby in the womb is not an option.  Sex is reserved for marriage and the is defined as being between one man and one women.  God created only man and women, not unlimited genders based on our feelings of the day.  There is a hell as well as a heaven.  I am sure I could go on but I also assume you have a limited attention span.

Start you day with the right assumptions.  It is more important than the right breakfast.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-039: The Yellow Snow May Be Lemonade

Thursday on a Zoom meeting we got to talking about the L.A. fires.  At least three of the group live in the ash strewn valleys.  One lives within the “no-go zone”.  He is in an interesting situation.  They are not forcing people to leave but they have turned off the electricity.  They were first told to boil their tap water then told not to boil it because that would release poisons that had been absorbed.  He can leave but he can’t come back.  It is typical California nonsense.

What struck me was the positive things he had to say about his situation.  He said it was bringing people out of their houses and getting them to talk.  He was encouraged by the spirit of community that was emerging.  He was getting to know people he had lived beside for years.  It doesn’t rebuild the homes or bring the dead back to life but it is an aspect of hardship that we overlook.  

Another guy on the call, who does not live in California, reminisced on the experience I shared with him in Boston during the Blizzard of ‘78.  Martial law was declared and you could not drive.  People came out of their houses and met in the snow clogged streets and got to know each other.  It was an unexpected benefit of the attack by Mother Nature.

So be encouraged.  The destruction is not over yet but life goes on and people are busy making lemonade.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-038: The Fire Shall Burn on the Just and the Unjust

I have mixed emotions and thoughts about the California fires.

On one hand I have friends who still live in the area threatened by the fire.  Another series of furious winds and they may be out on the streets.  On the other hand I have been encouraging them to leave for years and there is nothing but deeper heel marks.  It is hard to feel much sympathy for people who keep eating at a fast food place that gives them gastric adventures.

On the one hand there are virtuous, godly people who have been effected.  I believe this simply because it is hard to believe that an entire town is full of blue brained fools.  Having said that I used to believe there were still some good people in the Democrat party too.  Some fantasies are hard to unbelieve.  I feel for those people.

On the other hand the vast majority of people being burned out have consistently voted and contributed to the people and policies that made the fires much worse than they needed to be.  Many of them will vote for the hairdo again if given a chance.  The plain fact is that some people will never learn.  My sympathy runs out very quickly for those people.  I wish them well.  I hope that they do not get what they deserve, but that crosses over into the nature of evil and why people seem to be less than they should be.

Let us hope that lessons can be learned at the lowest possible price.

homo unius libri

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Opus 2025-037: MADD, Media Attention Desire Disorder

I was watching a YouTube conversation between Chris Williamson and Konstantin Kisin.  There were intersting insights into what is going on in the UK but nothing shocking.  During the discussion they touched on the main goal of media, both social and legacy.  I thought this was an interesting summation:

“Do whatever it takes to get you the most attention.”
Truth, facts, informing, all take a back seat to making a splash.  I think that is true of what we consider news and even the weather.  As I have been picking up coverage of the fires in Southern California I get the same coverage.  In talking to people who live close to the fire I get both how the destruction does not seem to get the coverage it should and the panic is overdone.  One guy on our Zoom call is living within the no-go zone.  He has no electricity and there is dust everywhere.  Other than that he is getting along.  They are not forcing him to leave but if he tries to go out for supplies they will not let him back in.

These are good lessons for being prepared for various levels of emergency.

homo unius libri