Opus 2026-119: Equality Is Not Always Equitable

The Declaration of Independence declares that “all men are created equal.”  It is one of the great founding concepts of America.  It is also one of the most misunderstood.  People wonder how they could write such things when slavery was in existence.  They confuse equality before the law with egalitarian ideas.  They confuse equal opportunity with equal outcomes.

Some use this as an attack on the Christian culture that was ingrained in the Founding Fathers.  As usual it involves a lack of understanding and the inability to think beyond the basic three colors to purple and green.  I keep hearing people try to claim that the Bible is against slavery.  Not true.  Slavery was assumed as a part of life.  Why?  Because it was.  It existed, and was accepted in every culture of history before the modern era.  No one wanted to be a slave but they accepted that it existed.

The reason it was not impossible for the writers of the Declaration was that slavery existed within the legal structure.  It was covered.  Part of this was rooted in the Biblical acknowledgement of its place in society.  Some of the confusion was in the words of the ancients.  Take this Bible verse,

Proverbs 19:10 (KJV) Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

The word for “servant” in both Hebrew and Greek can be translated either “servant” or “slave”.  The reason it covers both is that socially they were not that different.  What verse like this point out is that people are different.  They come in many flavors.  They make different choices.  Sometimes bad choices bring personal disaster.  Some people tend to make frequent bad choices.  Those people should not be in positions of leadership and will probably experience little success in life.

What brings this to the philosophy of the Founders is that in the eyes of God we all are created in His image.  There is a value in all human life.  You may have employees.  In a previous age you might have slaves.  They still are to be treated as more than just animals.  It is what makes the Christian West different from the rest of the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-118: No Contact Information

I am sitting in a waiting room.  My son is upstairs having a procedure done.  One of the joys of being a parent is seeing children grow to independence and learn to stand on their own two feet.  Another joy is still being needed.  I know that he has a sister who could be here but I got the call.

As I sit and try to concentrate I am constantly distracted by the conversations going on around me.  They cause my mind to seek rabbits and the trails are always ready to offer their services.

One lady was not able to get past the receptionist because she had nobody to contact when she was ready to leave.  It wasn’t that there was no one but there was no one who was waiting with her or immediately responsive.  It could just be one of those snafus that happen in life.  It could also be that she had nobody who was willing, or able, to be there when needed.  I am sure she will work it out but whoever she was trying to get to was not responding.

That brought my mind to all the women on the social media who declare that they are childless and quite happy.  I would not call them liars but the day will come when they eat their words.  It isn’t just about having someone to care for you when you are old.  It isn’t about people who will help you.  If you have enough money you can pay for service.  It is about having in-depth relationships with others.  It is about being willing to give, not about having a human insurance policy.

The room is full of people waiting.  In some cases it is two people waiting for one to be called up stairs.  In others it is significant others who have taken time out of their busy lives to be here for someone in need.  And then there is that one lady who is trying to get hold of her ride home.  She can’t get past the desk until they respond.  It will work out but there is a note of sadness.

Why can’t I mind my own business?

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-117: Survival Virtue

One of the rabbit trails that run through my head starts with a verse in Romans,

Romans 11:26 (KJV) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

This generates a question, “Who or what is Israel?”  This leads to the theory that the Israel mentioned here is not everyone throughout history with Jewish DNA but the true Israel who are highlighted earlier in the book as Paul quotes Isaiah,

Romans 9:27 (KJV) Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

What spoke to me today was a verse I read,

1 Kings 18:3 (KJV) And Ahab called Obadiah, which [was] the governor of [his] house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

Ahab was one of the most evil of the kings of Israel.  He was the one married to Jezebel.  Obadiah is called out as a faithful follower of God.  In spite of that he was allowed to serve as a high official in Ahab’s administration.  I found that encouraging.

Obadiah represents one form of God’s faithful remnant.  In this case he was in the middle of a pagan court and allowed to live his life.  I am not trying to make this a promise for us but it does point out that being faithful to God does not automatically produce a death sentence.

What does the future hold?  If the church does not stand up and become an agent of revival then it will not be a happy ending.  I think this points out that it will still pay off to be faithful.  It may be that when the evil elite gains control they will need a few honorable people they can trust. That might be you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-116: Sic ‘Em

One of the items announced at the State of the Union Address was that vice president Vance would be heading a task force to try and deal with the fraud that is rampant in government.  I wish him luck.  I would suggest that he increase his security details and make sure that everybody is on his team.  He will be in the crosshairs if he gets close to reaching the goal.

I would suggest that one of the first things he should do is sit down with Elon Musk and try to revive DOGE.  They showed remarkable results in the brief time they were allowed to operate.  The geeks that were brought in did an awesome job of revealing waste.  I’m afraid that much of it was swept under the rug.  I think that’s one of the reasons why Musk walked away.  I think he’s enough of a patriot that he would at least throw his influence behind bringing back some of those young people.

I think some people would tell us that it is still in operation.  It may be, but if it is, it is so handicapped with regulations and control that nothing is getting done.  We need a revival of DOGE.  I don’t know if you heard it, but one of the things that Trump said, which I have said so it must be wisdom, was if we could deal with the fraud we might be able to balance the budget.

I disagree with everybody who says we can’t pay off the national debt.  It could be done rapidly if we would stop wasting money and cut out the graft.  The benefits to the average working person would be mind-boggling.  The pain to the average congressman would be even more mind-boggling.

Go JD. Sic ‘em.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-115: Trump Being Trump

I watched the State of the Union Address.  I did not want to, but I knew that I would not get any honest appraisal of what was said and what happened if I didn’t watch it.  It’s one of those key moments where we have a way of stepping around the fake news and the distortions and actually going to the source.  It was my responsibility as an American citizen to listen to what he had to say, not what other people said he had to say.

There are two things about listening to this that make it painful.  The first would be the theatrical element that has crept into the State of the Union Address.  There are a lot of really nice things that happen that don’t belong in a report on how the country is doing.  Lifting up heroes is great.  Pointing out people that have risen above the crowd and gone the extra mile is wonderful, but I don’t need to be entertained with 10 minute long applause and weeping family members.  So the amount of time spent on things that have nothing to do with the purpose of this speech I find frustrating.  It’s one reason why I would rather read something than watch it or listen to it.  When I’m reading, I can skim and skip.  I find myself doing this more and more in my old age.  I learned I don’t have to read everything.  Unfortunately in real time, you have to listen to everything.

The second thing that I find painful is listening to Donald Trump.  I support him.  I think he is doing an awesome job overall.  He’s getting things done.  He loves America.  In spite of that I find it painful to listen to him with his constant hyperbole.  The problem with hyperbole when it’s overused is that it loses its impact.  He talks about having the best of this in history, really?  He says it’s the greatest in the last 50 years.  Really?  I know it’s hyperbole.  I know his point is that we are doing well, but I get tired of the exaggerations.  The two hour presentation could’ve been cut down to about 20 minutes if we cut out the theatrics, hyperbole, extended applause, and repetition.

That have been said, since it’s over and done, I am glad I listened.  Of course I’m glad that I was drafted and served in Vietnam too, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.

I really enjoyed this constant emphasis on how the Democrats were not responding like Americans but more like America haters.  Toward the end, they finally started standing up when some things were so obvious they should be approved of, but you weren’t going to catch them giving Trump the time of day.  I found his approach refreshing.  I know all the bleeding heart people that want a lot of touch and feel didn’t like it.  It made them uncomfortable.  But then the truth always does make certain people uncomfortable.

If you didn’t watch it, find time to do so.  If you don’t have time to do so, then don’t believe anything anybody tells you about it, including me.

As George Putnam used to say, “Here’s to a better stronger America.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-114: Curses

We often fail to differentiate between taking the name of the Lord in vain and foul language.  Most of us raised in a Bible believing church or aware of social graces have learned to temper our language.  I don’t know how many times I would hear people say, “Pardon my French.”  I would smile and point out that it was really Anglo-Saxon.  I was raised not using four letter words and it sticks with me.

Others, not so much, and we have apologists who try to make the case that four letter words are not evil.  To them it is not a sin to cuss.  Okay.  With that in mind I found these verses interesting,

Psalm 109:17-18 (KJV) 17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

I was just reading my daily Psalm.  I have read it hundreds of times, but this time it stood out to me.  It seems to be saying that foul language will sink down into your bowels and bones.

I am not sure how to apply that but my feeling is that it can’t be good.  I don’t think David is trying to make a doctrinal statement but it is in the inspired word.

I am not sure that I can say the upper classes swear less than sailors.  Maybe so.  I can say that in polite conversation the person who is at the top of the ladder will have a much more genteel vocabulary than someone who is drinking Bud Lite.  Is there a correlation between vocabulary and success in life?  Is there a tie in between foul language and health?  I have no idea but this would seem to indicate that there is a relationship.

Of course it could just be poetic license. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-113: Headlines: Conflict of Interest

The recent headlines coming out of New York proclaim the Muslim population is trying to ban dogs from Central Park.  We come to an interesting conflict of special interest groups.  On the one side, you have the Muslims with their attitude towards dogs.  On the other side, you have people with various emotional problems, but have service animals.  Now I don’t know all the details about the Muslims in New York, but it’s a classic example of the way in which the Muslims when they get to a certain percentage of the population, began demanding that everybody else adapt to their way of life.  Expect it in a city near you if this continues.

This demonstrates the way in which Islam lives out totalitarian government at work.  In a totalitarian government, you expect everyone to conform to what the elite declare because it’s good for the whole. The individual is submerged in the good of the whole.  Your personal opinion is only as important as the power you possess to force it on others.

Will guide dogs and emotional support animals survive?  Not if sharia law has its way.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-112: Arrogance Trumps Memory

I was listening to a podcast by Steven Gregg on the 70 weeks of the prophet Daniel.  What caught my my attention was the attempts to date the prophecies and coordinate them with the coming of the Messiah.  It came to a head when he pointed out that Daniel said there would be four kings of Persia and the “authorities” claimed that there were twice that.

Not being a cheerleader for prophecy or eschatology I don’t have a big opinion built into my psyche regarding the visions of Daniel.  What gets me is that some things are easy to document and the “experts” still have other opinions.

We seem to have two extremes.  We have some people who are in awe of the educated.  They are impressed by degrees and credentials.  There are more than are healthy but not as many as the educated classes think there are.  I am in the other group.  I am totally unimpressed by formal education.  Yes, we need to be educated but we err when we correlate that with classes taken at a college or university.

You may have heard about a book with a title something like “All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”  I was disappointed when I check it out and that was just the title of one chapter.  I think we need another book entitled, “All I Ever Learned that Was Important I Learned after College.”

Beware of arrogance masquerading as knowledgeable.  Build your own foundation by your own research.  Read with discernment and you will find your memory is more useful than the guru who wants to sign you up.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-111: Ego Trip

Have you ever had scenarios that you feel like God prepared specifically for you?  It was that way a bit this morning.  It was a warm morning after a cold spell.  Later in the week it’ll get colder again.  That morning was about 64° and a perfect morning for sitting on the porch.  I got out just enough before sunrise to see the spread of pink and gray breaking up the blue sky.  It became a very nice sunrise.  The birds started chirping predicting that the sun was coming.  I had forgotten about that.  It’s been so long since I’ve been out here at this time of day.

And I got to thinking, as I thanked the Lord for His artwork, about how you had to be sitting in this specific spot to see the spread of clouds, the outline of the oak trees, the hills in the distance and having this specific ensemble of birds.  Did God prepare the morning just for me?  I seriously doubt it on one side yet on the other, knowing the mentality of God, it’s very possible.

How could He prepare this morning for me and prepare it also for other people who might be worshiping Him at this time?  The thought came to me that there are some mornings when it is really special because there are some mornings when there aren’t that many people in the audience.  Some mornings I may be up when most are still asleep.  I noticed those that are up are busy driving to work or inside the house preparing to go to work.  It’s very possible that some days I get a better sunrise simply because there’s less competition.

Or it could just be that God is so spectacular, so talented and so infinite that it is no problem setting up all the physics to meet the aesthetic requirements of His people.  I am filled with joy at either prospect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-110: New Commie Phrase

You know the old slogan, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”  It is a very noble concept.  If it was talking about weeds in your yard it might be useful but people don’t tend to do their best or be content with just their needs on a regular basis.

They need to revise that to something like, “From each according to his mood, to each according to his desires.”  I will concede that there are a lot of hard working, disciplined young people out there.  My children are a delight and reason for hope but I also know there is a vast wasteland of woke that has an attitude of entitlement.  And they are not content with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  They are not even willing to accept ground beef. They want Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris with all the trimmings.  And they don’t feel they need to tip.  Peasants are meant to serve them.

I remember how the graffiti artists would always pick the cleanest book or wall to write on.  They did not want their art compromised by the doodles of the less talented.

We need a new phrase for free enterprise.  Perhaps something along the lines of, “From each as his best productivity and to each what they earn.”  A lot of people would be going hungry with that.  Of course, a lot of people have gone hungry with the commie slogan too.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-109: Shared Goals

What do the TSA and terrorism have in common?

I have made several pilgrimages to visit in Reno.  It is a good time of fellowship and discussion.  I’m thinking about how I don’t want to fly.  The hassles of the TSA and government regulation in general have made that unpleasant.  I don’t want to drive.  It is a long journey and as much as I like to drive I shudder at the cost.  What about a train?

Consider how the elites are trying to take away our mobility.  They do not want us free to move around at will.  Regulations, check points, the extra cost generated by government demands, all go to discourage us from leaving our designated space.  That is why they are working on getting us out of our automobiles.  People are much easier to control and monitor if they are forced to walk or dependent on public transport.  Traffic jams also remove the joy and make a commute to work detrimental to our options.  Add that to making flying so unpleasant that many of us don’t want to do it.

The terrorist have the same goal.  They want us to change our lifestyle and cut out things which make it worth living such as mobility, which gives us a great deal of variety in life.  They want us to change our habits by avoiding places where people congregate.  They want to make us afraid to go to church.  They make shopping malls targets.  They riot in the streets.

One of the questions I keep hearing is, “What can I do about it?”  The frustration is that no one in Washington is listening.  True, but it is not congress that makes you stay at home instead of going to the swap meet.  It is your own fear.  What can we do?  Keep on living our lives.  Terrorists and government elites want to get you to change the way you live your lives.  One of the things you can do is keep living like Americans.

Get out there and celebrate the liberty we have left.

Use it or lose it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-108: The Eighth Day?

As I was reading through Psalms 104, I came across this passage,

Psalm 104:29-30 (KJV) 29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. 30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

In the first verse I was just thinking about animals dying but the second verse had a different feel.

Notice the word “created”.  This is the same word used in Genesis 1:1 in regard to God creating the world out of nothing.  In studying that passage I remember that this specific word usually has that idea.

So is this an indication that God is still in the creating business?  I know that on the seventh day He rested.  Creation as a red letter day was over.  As believers we have no problem with any of this but our friends who are into evolution have something they don’t want to acknowledge.  They document times when massive extinction of species takes place.  Every once in a while you hear about how many species disappear each year.  In the face of that we still keep finding new bugs and plants.

Since even the Darwinian folks will admit there has not been enough time for evolution to take place, how do you explain new species after all this time?  This verse seems to give an indication.  God is still creating.  He is still renewing the earth.

We are in the eighth day of creation.  That is not a doctrinal point that requires belief.  It is just an observation.  As they say, results may vary.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-107: It Is not Monday

As I sat on the front porch in the midst of a mild drizzle a line from a song came to mind “rainy day Mondays always get me down…”  I really don’t remember the words to much of the rest of the song.  I can hum a few bars and I remember enjoying it, but the thought came to me today about how it’s Saturday, it’s raining, and I’m enjoying every drop of it.

It’s amazing what a difference in perspective will give you.  As I am at the end of my life and rejoicing in the blessings of God, the rain is a refreshing break in the heat of Texas.  The rain is a renewing touch upon a parched earth.  The steady, yet ever varied sound of raindrops is soothing.  Why would that ever get me down?

I guess I’m not lost in a love triangle.  I didn’t have a picnic canceled.  My baseball game didn’t get rained out.  I don’t remember what the singer was upset about.

That old saying about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure comes to mind as I watch the rain from my predawn porch.  I see the hand of God.  The singer saw the loneliness.

Take your pick.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-106: Good Role Models

There’s a statement I’ve made to both of my children and I don’t know who else about my wife and I:  “Either one of us is losing it or both are.”  I then usually add to it that if I’m the one who’s losing it then I will probably be the last to know.

How do you respond to this situation?  I don’t know that we’ll all be in it.  My parents were pretty coherent till the end.  On my wife’s side there with some issues.  But something like this doesn’t necessarily follow the DNA.  Sometimes it just happens.

I was asking myself, “If my wife is the one losing it, how should I respond?”  What came to mind is I Corinthians 13:4–5.  It talks about how love is patient and the KJV puts it well by calling that long suffering.  From there you go on to kindness, and the next verse talks about not being provoked and about not keeping a list of wrongs.  Seems like a good plan to me.  Since there’s very little you can do to cure someone the best you can do is be loving.

What if I’m the one?  Same answer.  As far as I am able and coherent I should be living those same verses.  There’s nothing I can do to cure myself and nothing anyone else can do, but I can keep a good attitude.

As far as the good attitude goes, I have a number of great role models at my church.  We have one old guy who every time you would meet him he would tell you had Alzheimer’s and then he would just go merrily on his way having a conversation with you.  Every time he couldn’t remember your name, he would remind you that he has Alzheimer’s.  He was a happy camper.  His wife, of course, worked overtime, but that’s also part of the equation.

There’s another couple, in this case it’s the wife who is having issues.  She doesn’t have any kind of classic dementia that I’ve heard of but it seems like she’s fixated at about four years our age and will not get worse or better.  It’s a joy to watch her husband deal with her in a gentle and kind manner.  It also helps that she seems to be a wonderful person and is aware of her problem and treats us with kindness also.

May your mind be clear and may your loved ones have clear minds.  If that doesn’t work out then may you have the right attitude and live in God’s grace.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-105: Uncharted Revelation

I started off my day by plugging in my MP3 player to listen to some Christian music as I drove.  The first song up was called the Revelation song.  The title didn’t ring any bells but once it started, I knew what it was.  It’s closer to contemporary than traditional, but I really enjoy it.  It goes through a lot of heavy doctrine as the girl sings.  Wonderful song.

That got me off, thinking about Uncharted Revelation.  And that made me think about what would I do if I were preaching a sermon, entitled, Uncharted Revelation?  It would be an introductory sermon so it would have to be general and scope.

I would have to start with some disclaimers.  My mind went down the path of pointing out that Revelation is a part of scripture.  That was important to say because I’m not sure I would be praising the book as I went on and people might get the wrong idea.  Wrong ideas are easy to get when you’re talking about Revelation.

From there, I went to II Timothy 3:16 where it talks about all scripture being inspired,

(2Ti 3:16 KJV)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Revelation is clearly a part of the Bible, which makes it scripture, so this declaration by Paul applies to the book written by John.  Well, no matter how much of my speculations may be harebrained and off the cuff that is a statement of truth.

From there my mind kept traveling down past what for other people might be bizarre.  I recognized that there was no mention of eschatology or end times in that verse.  I don’t know if that is significant.  It wouldn’t be important if we were talking about the creation story in Genesis or possibly even the love chapter in Corinthians, but for Revelation that might be important.

I also noticed that it doesn’t mention anything about salvation.  Curious.  I guess both of those topics could be considered doctrine or as modern translations say, teaching.

So keep in mind that no matter how unusual my comments might be, I still think this is scripture.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-104: Liberal Alert

When I opened my door to walk outside to begin my daily constitutional, I noticed that there was a liberal on my front porch.  He was a real lizard.  No, I mean an actual lizard.  The reason I know he was a liberal was because he wouldn’t move from his position, no matter how much I tried to nudge him.

I will concede that I never got violent.  I was rather gentle in my approach.  Maybe that was the problem.  I also noticed that later in the day when things got a little bit warmer, he was gone.

One of the ways to deal with liberals is to let the sun shine.  Face them with the light of truth.  Now they may only scurry off to hide in the tall grass, but at least they will get off your porch.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-103: Celestial Changing Room

One of the controversial concepts we have in the Christian world is, “Does God change?’  It’s not a fair question because it has so many nuances and so many different understandings that it became useless.  As in the question of, “It all depends what the meaning of ‘is’ is…”  This all depends on what you mean by change and what aspect of God is changing.

We have this simple statement,

(Mal 3:6 KJV)  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

That could be taken in a simple, literal, and biblical sense and the way it is quoted shows that it is taken that way.  What confuses me is the refusal to keep reading.  Just a few verses further we have the familiar,

(Mal 3:10 KJV)  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Notice that God is saying if Israel will obey then He will change what He is doing.  Change?  Sounds like it to me.

You also run into problems in other places.  Take for instance, the announcement by God in Genesis 6, 

(Gen 6:6 KJV)  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

That seems clear to me but my son said his pastor went to great lengths to say something different.

He then proclaimed He is going to destroy the entire human race and just a few versus later, we find that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Either these blanket declarations are hyperbole, God wasn’t aware of Noah, or God changed his mind.

A way of approaching that occurred to me today is that we keep wanting to look at God in His dealings with us as a complete picture.  That cannot be.  God is so universal and complex that we can’t even begin to approach His total reality.  Jesus told us that if we have seen Him, we’ve seen the Father, but even there we don’t know the depths of Jesus.

We see what we need.  God never changes in the sense that all of the things that we need are present, along with all of the things that the rest of humanity needs, and everything that the universe needs, and all those things that God has in reserve that we will never know about.

So, no, God doesn’t change.  What changes is our view of him and what he chooses to reveal to us.  It sounds like word games to me and it probably is but the question remains.  I hope you find an answer for yourself.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-102: Where did that Come From?

Every once in a while, I get these connections in my head.  I would call them in inspirations, but that seems a bit arrogant and presumptive, so we’ll just go with connections for today.

I was sitting in my comfortable chair with a cup of coffee and meditating on the glory of God and thinking about the blessings I had.  Nothing new there.  I’m sure you’ve been there.  And one of the thoughts that came from my mind was the previous Friday morning when my grandchildren were spending the night with us, and they both ended up on my lap in my chair, in the dark and for a brief time they were both just cuddled there.  I remember the glorious feeling and the overwhelming sense of joy that were brought by those moments.  I remember thanking God for it and if they hadn’t been quiet, I would’ve felt like shouting.

A time of blessing.

The connection came this morning as I was sitting here thinking about that, and the thought came to me that I wonder if me sitting in this chair, quietly meditating on the glory of God, is a similar experience for God himself as His immature, undeveloped child is sitting in His lap in comfort and security with a sense that His arms were wrapped around me.  I don’t know if that gives you the concept, but I was in a sense seeing my grandchildren, quietly immersed in the security of my arms, sitting on my lap and I was quietly immersed in the security of God’s arms sitting in my chair.

It was a glorious moment.  I plan on reliving that in my memory and re-experiencing it in my daily walk on a regular basis.  I hope you can experience the same kind of joy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-101: Names Matter

We have been getting a wide range of reports about the names that are supposedly mentioned in the Epstein files and what difference it makes.  We need to understand that just because someone includes a name in an email does not mean someone is guilty of a crime.  It could be something as simple as “Hoover said no to the invitation.”  That speaks of nothing, let alone some evil activity.

But, taken in context, the names can matter.

We should consider some of the emotion stirring graphics proclaimed in memes and soundbites.  We don’t consider them as proclamations of guilt.  We consider them as illustrations of the evil we are dealing with.  The concept of an elderly man approaching a twelve year old girl on a bed, dressed up to fulfill the fantasy of the man sends shivers up my back.  My desire to do something violent becomes very real.  It is a good thing that a know the difference between evidence and accusations.

The names matter.  The evidence matters even more.  There are accusations that most of congress is involved.  Is that a true assessment?  We will not know until a trustworthy body investigates and shares the results.  If there are guilty parties to these repulsive actions then the rule of law is in place to deal with them, and they must be dealt with.

Why?

Because these people are the ones passing laws that determine what is acceptable and what is not.  Do you really think that someone participating in molesting a child is to be trusted deciding anything?  Do you think murderers should be the ones making laws involving murder?  If you can’t trust them with murder can you trust them with tax rates?

So, yes, the names are important.  Let the rule of law engage.  Let it get busy in doing its job.  Remove the perverts and reprobates.  The guilty should be in jail for a long time, maybe forever.  The innocent should be given an apology.  I realize no one is perfect but it is a long way from terrorizing children to being late for work.

Pay attention and remember who helped move things forward and who was an obstruction.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-100: No Events Today

I knew that.

As I was looking at my home screen, I noticed that the Calendar app is still there even though I never use it and it informed me that I had no events today.  Actually, I do have an event today, but I have that event every Friday and so I really don’t need to be reminded by my computer about what I’m going to do this evening.

I keep a date book.  I write important things in it.  Next week I have an appointment with the dentist.  This week I had an appointment do you have a CAT scan.  I know I go to church on Sunday morning and when possible on Wednesday night.  I don’t need my computer to tell me that I have an event today.

I have pretty much always been this way.  I use a date book.  I check it every once in a while but even in my early stages of potential dementia, I know generally what I’m doing this week.  It used to be I would get up in the morning and go to work.  I didn’t need my calendar to remind me of that.  If I was in a good mood, I would remember to come home.  Usually, I would schedule several stops on the way to pick up groceries that were on sale at one of the many markets that existed in Southern California.

We have so many aspects of our life that our computers are trying to control.  Often when I go online to check my emails it urges me to sign up for some AI application.  I don’t need an AI application to check my emails.  I don’t need an AI generated summary every time I do a search on Google.  I don’t know if Google realizes it, but I am getting less and less willing to submit myself to the nonsense that they keep throwing my way.  I’m finding it of less and less value because it doesn’t bring up things that I know were there that should be at the head of the list.

Visit your local library.  Don’t bother putting it on your events calendar, just go.  If you don’t have a library card, shame on you.  Get one.  Check out a few books.  Take them home.  Find a good easy chair and read them.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Usually, if you forget an event for the day, it’s because it wasn’t all that important anyway.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-099: Gaps in the Apostle’s Creed

Every Sunday morning, we recite together the apostles Creed.  The pastor points out that it’s the version we use.  The one thing I’ve seen that they leave out that I’ve always seen another creeds was the idea that Jesus descended into hell before He rose again.  He could not explain why it was removed.  I understand why they change Catholic to Universal church but not the other variations.  

I found myself looking at it and thinking about the theological concepts that are totally missing from the Creed.  Some are assumed, some are inferred, others I don’t know what happened to them.  I know that the apostles Creed is a much shorter than the Nicene Creed.

What is missing from the Creed?

There is no statement about the eternal existence to either God, the Father or Jesus the son. There is no clear statement about the divinity of Christ or the fact that he became fully man.

Grace

Faith

Atonement

I guess the basics of the faith are simpler than we expect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-098: Boomerang

I was reviewing the scripture that we had looked at on Wednesday night, and I came across this verse. 

Jeremiah 23:16 (KJV) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

My thinking had three levels.  The first level was the obvious, the literal.  The prophets running the streets of Jerusalem were doing nothing but catering to themselves and trying to gather a loyal following for their own egos.  That seems obvious.

Then my thinking went to the rabbi’s of Jesus’ day.  These are the ones that have been vigorously producing the Talmud.  The Talmud is the product of the rabbis sitting around and deciding what it was that God really wanted to say, but didn’t have the nerve or the insight.  The rabbi’s made up for God’s lack by filling in all the gaps in the law of Moses that had better indicators in the oral law.  From the quotations I’ve heard from the Talmud it’s one of those books you can find what you want.  There are some inspiring spots, some humor spots, and an overwhelming pile of garbage.

And then, finally, as often happens, I turned my sites on myself.  I’m not sure I liked what I saw.  I tend to like to express my opinions.  If my opinions are rooted in God‘s word and lavishly basted in humility than well and good.  Too often I get sidetracked by how clever I can be.  That works for no one’s edification.

I recommend, to you and myself, to read carefully, contemplate, think two or three times, and then if you still have something to say, be careful how you say it.  Part of worship is sharing.  It is not just a chance to sound off.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-097: What Age Accountability?

This rabbit trail was instigated while watching my grandson roam around the kitchen, singing to himself while munching on a rolled up tortilla which was coated on the inside with butter and cinnamon.  That is his breakfast of choice and since he’s at grandma‘s house, that’s the breakfast of the day.

He seems so unconcerned about the economy.  He wasn’t worried about global warming.  He didn’t even have to worry about his sister because she was home with mommy.  From there, my thought went to pictures I’ve seen of people living in more primitive conditions with a child wandering around naked, pot bellied, and seemingly just as unconcerned as my grandson.  At what age does life begin to press upon them and impress them with the fact that what was ahead of them was work and the unknown.

One of the issues we are facing with a large percentage of the younger generations is that they never had a rite of passage that reminded them they were adults now.  For me it wasn’t going away to college.  It was being drafted and sent to Vietnam.  After that I was ready for life.  I hear how many are still living in Mommy’s basement and expecting her to do their laundry.  It is one thing when a six year old doesn’t worry about where his next tortilla comes from but not so good when they are twenty-six.

Do what you can to help the younger people in your life grow up.  That will be painful but keep in mind that someday you will be dead and the drunk next door does not iron underware.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-096: Get Organized

How would you organize your Legos, assuming you have Legos?  Yesterday I almost fell into the trap of trying to sort out all the wheels and put them in one place.  It’s a trap because my grandchildren are not old enough to understand the concept of sorting.  The day will come.  When it does, I can expect some conflict.

How do you sort Legos?  It depends on your maturity and your personality.  Do you start with size?  Do you start with color?  How about shape or purpose?  It’s going to be different for everyone and if you leave them available, someone might come along to help you get things where they really belong.

I remember, we could always tell when my grandmother had been to our house.  We could not find anything in the kitchen.  She tended to re-organize things when she was there, and since at that point, she wasn’t really in touch with reality, it got very creative.

It may be that you will only be able to organize small parts of your world like which pocket you put your change in.  For bigger things, like your sox it may be up to someone else.  Relax.  You will live to tell about it but I wouldn’t advise saying a word.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-095: Love Mirage

I am currently coming off a day spent with my wife, daughter and grandchildren.  The word to describe it is euphoria.  Being in the presence of a wonderful bunch of people and doing things that are building memories such as visiting museums, eating smashed burgers in an out-of-the-way hole-in-the-wall, visiting an ice cream factory and sampling the wares and having a grandchild repeatedly crawl onto your lap and lean back against you is not described by any simple word.  If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.  If you haven’t been there, you have my sympathy.

Then, today, as I was reading in, of all things a diet book, I came across this thought about the love of God.

“We have talked to continually of the need for you to love the father, but does He really care about you?  Yes, powerfully so!  He does not allow your idols to save you, and He is waiting patiently to save you with his power when you finally call on him.” p. 119

It got me thinking about the different types of love and how it is described in I Corinthians 13:4-6.  I think I’ve written other places how an insight into what it means to say “God is love” could be gained by studying the section of I Corinthians 13 that starts, “love is patient….”  It gives us real insight into what it means that God loves us.

We tend to forget that.  If we don’t forget it, we tend to misinterpret it.  We tend to confuse what God means by agape with what Hollywood and Hallmark mean by love.  This is not a romantic love.  This is the kind of love that will do anything to make your life what it should be.  What we overlook is that that often involves discipline and allowing hardship.  In the book, the author is talking about how the children of Israel went through the desert and how God was trying to mold them into a godly people in that process.

We go through a similar phases.  If God just wanted a bunch of fruit salad, you could’ve thrown it together very quickly and its value would be very questionable.  If He wants a banquet of nutrition, it takes a little bit more planning and expects us taking of that which is offered in the right methods and measurements.

God loves us.  That means that He disciplines.  It means that He denies.  It means that He does a lot of things that we don’t like, but it’s for our own good.  When we love others, we should have this in mind.  Our purpose and loving others is not to meet their momentary desires but to mold their lifelong character.

Shamblin, Gwen.  The Weigh Down Diet.  New York:  Doubleday, 1997.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-094: Needs and Wants

Our children don’t really “need” us anymore.

That is a good thing.  It says that we have done our job.  We have raised them right.  We have planted the seed and it is growing to maturity.  They may have times where they think they need us, but in reality, they have the tools to deal with life.

If I was talking to myself, I might say, “Good job”.

As I said, there may be times when they would like to retreat to childhood and let mommy take care of it.  There are times when they wish they could metaphorically let daddy answer the door.  That’s normal.  The point is that they are equipped to deal with what they face in life.  All they have to do is reach down and call up the lessons that they have been taught.

How do they raise their children?  They’ve had that demonstrated.  How do they respond when the finances get low?  They certainly had that lesson.  Most important, what place does Almighty God have in their lives?  So far it seems like we demonstrated a living faith.

I hope that you can say the same thing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-093: Not the First Test

I was reading in a book where the author talked about Israel being led out of Egypt toward the promised land.  There were certain key moments that were overlooked.  The author had a point to make, and those key moments did not follow the narrative, but my memory would not let it go.

The moment in question was when Israel came to the Red Sea and made camp on the shore and noticed one little detail:  Pharaoh was coming after them with his chariots.  He was not coming to offer a loan of his boats.  The children of Israel in typical fashion reacted, as if there was something threatening them.

Exodus 14:11 (KJV) And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

Of course, you know the story.  God opened up the Red Sea and miraculously let them across.  Pharaoh tried to follow and was drowned.  This made me think of where we are today in our country.  I don’t know about you, but one of the common themes is that people feel everything is falling apart, everyone in power is greedy and stealing from the coffers of the country.  Anarchist are rioting in the streets and things seem to be going definitely south.

We find ourselves looking over our shoulders and noticing that the chariots are coming.  Am I the only one?  Are the people I meet the only ones?  I think there’s a lot of concern about the direction of the country is going.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could actually move into a position where we realize that we are under His wings.  I wonder, if the Hebrews had not panicked but simply gone to prayer and made a request that God would see them through, what would have happened.  Would the scenario have gone on pretty much the same or would God have come up with some other miracle?  Would Pharaoh’s horse have gone lame and done a cartwheel with him in his chariot?  We’ll never know.

What we do know is that God saw his people through.  Historically, even in the times when Israel was being decimated for their rebellion and evil living the faithful remnant came through.  I know we can trust God, but the question is, “Are we part of the faithful remnant?”  I like to think I am and I hope you are.  So as we approach the Red Sea and the mob is chasing us remember that God has a plan and we are part of it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-092: The Middle Ground

My thoughts were on being thankful for God’s beneficial providence.  I was marveling over how patient He is.  We hear a lot about God‘s wrath and forget that He would often withhold His correcting rod for hundreds of years before He would lower the boom.  He was definitely patient.

From there, my thoughts went to the antisemitism that we are hearing so much about.  I just finished reading a section in Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” in which he was dealing with the suffering that the Jews endured in medieval Europe.  It was widespread and brutal.  What impressed me, and honestly surprised me, was that the safest place to be a Jew was in the Papal Estates.  Were the Pope had the greatest authority the persecution was held at bay.  Throughout Europe, many church leaders did what they could to protect the Jews that were being harassed by Crusaders and others.

I fear that antisemitism is real and is on the rise.  By that I don’t mean all of the loud noise attacking certain talking heads.  I don’t listen to those people much anyway, but I’ve never heard them say anything I thought it was filled with hate.  Much of what we hear is just the left and the pseudo-right trying to defame them.  Hatred of Jews does not come from those who believe in the traditional America.  Historically it has come from the world of socialism and totalitarian governments.  Keep in mind that the communisst are also socialist and if you lump together the persecution between the communist and the national socialist, you have a perfectly brutal demonstration of what totalitarians have in store with the Jewish people.

What is ironic is that in our country the forces of socialism seem to be supported by the Jews themselves.  Is it a form of self hatred?  What kind of thinking has almost an entire ethnic group being supportive of the people who hate them the most?

We need to bend over backwards to make sure that we are not expressing hatred for Jews.  Whatever you’re feelings about the nation of Israel and the place of Israel in prophecy, Jews are created in the image of God, just like the rest of us.  They deserve the same courtesy and compassion that anyone else would deserve.  That middle ground is hard for people to walk.

Genuine Americans, and true Christians should be looking inward and preparing themselves in case we ever have the resurgence of the kind of things that happened in Nazi Germany.  What that means is that we will need to be ready to quietly and secretly practice resistance to the forces of tyranny.  That means sheltering the target of tyranny and risking ourselves in the cause of righteousness.  It means realizing that we may be that prey.

Pray and prepare.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-091: Source of Heresy

I am currently in the middle of a discussion with a friend of mine who to be honest, has a lot of weird ideas.  He likes to take quotations out of context and throw them at me and then say, “Aha! Gotcha!”  When I take time to read the proof of my perfidity, I just scratch my head and wonder what he’s been smoking.  The reason he sees it the way he did is because he came with his mind made up and was sat on finding something to put me in my place.

The focus of our current discussion is the heresy of Arianism.  This goes back to an early Christian teacher called Arias, who was involved with the controversy of the Nicean council.  His basic teaching was that Jesus was a created being.  At best he was a minor God.  Of course, this opened up the controversies about trying to understand the Trinity.  In fact, he was rejecting the orthodox position of the church.

One of the scriptures that gets thrown in is in Proverbs 8.  In that Proverb wisdom is personified and when you get down to verse 22 and the passage after that, you find that there are qualities laid upon wisdom which crossover enter the description of Jesus. A few verse down you read this,

Proverbs 8:25 (KJV) Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

The “brought forth” can have the idea of being born. Arias interpreted this to mean that wisdom, which he equates with Jesus, is a created being.

This is where heresy is born.  It is born in the mind of the perceiver.  When you come to something with your mind made up what it’s going to say, you can find just about anything you want.  When he came to this verse, Arias was allowing his arrogance and his confidence in his own intellectual ability to supersede what he knew the Bible taught.

If you come to these verses with an understanding of what the Bible teaches about, Jesus, then you read this and look for something inspiring about it.  You don’t look for a way to undermine the rest of the Bible.  It’s called studying with a spirit of humility instead of arrogance.

Attitude is so important when we come to scripture.  I think most of the heretics in the world and most of the pagans of the world come to their research with the idea that they are smarter than the average bear and will find that they deserve the picnic basket on the table in spite of the signs.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-090: How about a Dumb-Down

Some temptations roll off my psyche with no pause or penetration.  I was recently looking for a primary source document and at the beginning I saw this message:

“This appears to be a long document.  Save time by reading a summary using AI assistant.”

No.  When a certain terminal destination freezes over.  I would sooner have Joe Biden give me a summary as AI Assistant.  

The invasiveness of this software is ubiquitous.  If you don’t know what that means ask Google.  The irritation is even worse.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-089: Scapegoat Phoenix

They’re at it again.  In this case “they” are the Jew haters who seem to always emerge from the rotten cellars whenever they’re running out of other conspiracy theories.  Right now I’m seeing it frequently in mentions of the Epstein files.  They’re dripping with nauseating accusations about the Jews.  True, they are quoting some things expressed in the emails but it’s just the old scapegoat emerging again.

Right now it seems to be coming from both sides of the aisle.  Historically it’s been around since almost the beginning of time.  I’ve been reading about medieval times and how the Jews struggled through those time and persecution was prevalent.  Some of the accusations that we’re hearing today are just repetitions of what they threw around 1,000 years ago.  They were accused of drinking babies blood.  They were accused of murdering Christians in their rituals.  They were accused of witchcraft and all sorts of nonsense.

Some things never change.  You may not like the Jews.  You may think Israel is an aberration.  You may think that Jewish bankers are at the center of all our economic problems.

As the medieval world would say, hold my beer.  These accusations are nothing new.  I would assume that being human beings the Jews have their share of nefarious individuals, but these accusations are nothing but liable and insults to our intelligence.

What does it say about our intelligence, let alone our moral fiber, that we believe them so readily.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-088: How Are You?

Sunday as we were all sharing in the ritual of “How are you”, I shared that I was above average.  Some wag had to call by bet and raise me with, “How did you get above average?”  As often happens, that made me think.

When I hear words like “average” and “normal” my mind goes to the George Carlin routine about how half the people in the country are below average.  It doesn’t give us a very high bar.  I looked around the congregation and I had to admit that the group was well above average.  There were people I disagree with, but that could be a mark of intelligence in itself.  I didn’t see any millionaires or CEO’s of major corporations but I did see people who had made a lot of right decisions.

I have been around stupidity.  I was, after all, a public school teacher and was required to attend faculty meetings.  I remember the guy who worked in special ed who had failed the BEST exam about five times.  Keep in mind that it was something any high school graduate should have no trouble with.  I remember the math teacher who shared she had not read a book since college.

It is scary that the people I know that seem so normal are all well above average.  Keep in mind that you only need to survive eighteen years to vote.  When you add ignorance to stupidity, the future is in doubt.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-087: Bell Curve Utopia

 he emergence of AI seems to promise a lot.  Picture technology, moving forward to the point where no one needs to mine iron ore anymore, it’s all done by intelligent machines.  You no longer need to do your laundry, or mow your lawn.  It’s all done by intelligent machines.  Everyone is able to live in comfort and plenty.  There are no shortages.  There is also no need for most human beings.

When you think of a world demonstrated by such science fiction as Star Trek, you have these beautiful advanced starships with carpet in perfect condition, uniform cuffs that are never frayed, food appears miraculously out of a slot on the wall.  Nowhere is there a sweaty cook tasting the broth.  It’s all done by machines.

So all you really need in this ideal utopia are the elites.  All you want are those who are of superior intelligence and ability.  There is really no place for anyone else.  The problem this presents is that it seems that humanity is produced from the womb in a bell shaped distribution of intelligence and ability.  The only way you can produce just an elite is to eliminate all those who are below a certain IQ level.  I use IQ as a familiar term not because it would be the actual measure used.

Of course this would require some more advanced technology, overseen, maybe by AI.  You would probably have intelligent machines choosing who would live and who would not.   You could do this by abortion, the pre-birth level, elimination by murder shortly after birth,  regular testing schedules, where everyone who failed to measure up was done away with, or some really sophisticated genetic engineering.

When it comes to the bell curve of humanity, I am relatively sure that in most areas I am above mediocre.  I am far from being the top of the pile.  I am not really excellent in anything, but I am better than the average bear.  In spite of that I’m afraid that I would not be high enough on the scale to qualify to walk down the halls of the Starship Enterprise.  They don’t need people who are just good enough or slightly better than average.  All they have room for is the cream at the top.

It is a scary scenario and one that some people would love to see.  Of course the rioting fools of socialism all see themselves in the captain’s chair.  At best they will be red shirts.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-086: Star Trek Christmas

How do you give gifts if you live in a socialist Utopia?

Keep in mind that there is no real difference between Marxism and socialism when you get to the end of the day.  Scholars may want to debate the nuances but they both end up with the state in control.

I was thinking about Star Trek and how you never see any money being used.  I believe it is supposed to be the perfect Utopia which functions on the Marxist slogan of “from each according to his ability; to each according to his need.”  In this perfect Utopia you are advanced to Star Fleet because you are the most qualified.  I always wonder where the peasants are who produce the basics for the elites.

How would you celebrate Christmas or birthdays in a culture where what your needs are provided but there is no surplus for things like gifts?  Is there a prescribed list of gifts in the government store that anyone can walk in and collect?  Do you need to fill out a form or get your supervisor to approve?  If the person needed the gift, could they not pick it up themselves?  If they did not need it would you be allowed to give it to them? 

Would old people have a clutter of knick-knacks around their one bedroom suites or would they all be collected by the Need Police?

Somehow the concept of Utopia and socialism don’t seem to go together.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-085: Click Bait: Astronomy Quiz

Okay, so I got pulled in.  Jay Leno was doing one of his Man on the Street things.  You know the idea.  He stops a random stranger and asks, “How many toes do you have on your right foot?”  You can see them thinking and they come up with a number like “25”.

I usually finish one of those feeling really smart but I have a question:  How many correct answers were screened out in order to get the entertainment?  Could people really be that ignorant?

My favorite on this series was “What galaxy do we live in?”  When the man only looked puzzled, Leno gave a hint, “It a candy bar.”  To which the man answered, “Mars”.

We will never know the real level of ignorance unless they put out a press release.  Even that could be fake news.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-084: What Is the Ratio?

How many peasant farmers does it take to support one philosopher?

This isn’t the first time I’ve asked myself this.  Often it reflects the opulence of ancient kings and medieval nobility.  Recently, though, I have been reading about the Muslim empires, and the author, Will Durant, seems very supportive and excited about Islam historically.  His accuracy is questionable but his enthusiasm is measurable.

In the process of going through several hundred years of medieval history in the world of Islam, he mentions name after name of syllables that are impossible to pronounce and all have deep hidden meanings.  He will then go on and talk about all of the books they wrote.  Some of them lived in very high style.  One of them insisted on living on two dollars a day.  Overall, I asked myself how many peasants does it take, laboring from sun up to sundown with all of the difficulties of raising a crop and feeding a family, to make it possible for this great famous wise man to sit around, meditating on the categorical imperative.

When you consider the vast amount of gold that went into providing the elaborate mosaics, flowing fountains, numerous slaves, and concubines, and just general waste in supporting this infrastructure, I keep wondering what the ratio is.

One of the miracles of the free enterprise system that we used to enjoy was that it provided a large enough surplus from the labor of what used to be peasants, to support an elite that lived an elaborate lifestyle.  Rockefeller, Carnegie, the other is so called Robert Barron’s lived in great luxury.  At the same time, the people who worked in the oil industry, steel industry, at Ford Motor Company and so forth, tended to live lives of security, plenty and prosperity.

Now with all of the graft and corruption going on in government, I see the day coming again, where we will be forced into the same pattern as ancient times.  The elites will not suffer.  They will make sure that they have their caviar, gold plated toilet seats, numerous servants and so forth, but with so much being siphoned off for their waste, there will come a point where we will become peasants again.

We worry about the economy, collapsing.  That could be from a mild collapse to total destruction of the infrastructure.  Rest assured that there will still be a small group of elites at the top who are living off our blood and sweat.  It’s called communism.  It’s called socialism.  It’s called tyranny.  It’s called the a lot of the common man for most of history.

The younger generation seems to want to embrace the socialism.  If I live long enough to see all of these feminine studies majors out slaving in the fields then maybe it will be worth it.

But I doubt it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-083: Living up to Mediocre

One of the big disappointments in my life is that I am not an expert in anything.  If you car is making a funny noise and you ask me if I know what that sound is, all I can do is hum a few bars.  If your vacuum isn’t working well I might suggest emptying the bin.  Lawn mower won’t move?  I can point out that it is a push mower.  After that I might suggest a pair of scissors.   If they want to know where the book of Amos is I am glad to direct them to the table of contents.

I can show people how to write a complete sentence but no one cares about such things any more.  I can preach them a sermon but I can’t make them turn their hearing aids on.  

When I was teaching it wasn’t such a challenge.  Teachers don’t get out much.  When they would come to me and say their computer didn’t work I would suggest checking to see if it was plugged in.  Usually that solved the problem.  They thought I was a techo-wizard.  If they could not get their key to work in the door all I needed to point out was that there was another key on their ring.  I could feel like the one eyed man in the land of the blind.  One of the sayings I used to post in my room to keep me humble was, “Being the deepest puddle on the sidewalk is nothing to brag about.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-082: Embarrassment

My family just celebrated a birthday and it was a day that was enjoyed by all.  Today I got to thinking about my children.  They don’t want me bragging on them in public.  Okay.  Maybe I can’t broadcast all their attributes but I can share with you that they do not embarrass me.

That is a major thing in life, the absence of embarrassments.  I think of the people my age who love their children but are almost ashamed to be with them in public.  The other side of that is I don’t think they are embarrassed to be seen with me.

One of the reasons I am an introvert is my insecurities that would make me ashamed to go out in public.  Looking back, many of my insecurities were products of my imagination.  I guess the question is, “Which came first, being introverted or being insecure?”  Age has made me more content because I don’t care as much about what others think.

We should extend that confidence to the criticism that the woke culture wants to beat us down with.  I think I would be glad to be accused of “toxic masculinity” or being a “fundamentalist”. Just because someone thinks they are insulting you doesn’t mean that the comment is really negative.  When someone mocks me for my well done steak I just nod my head and take another bite.

I don’t know what embarasses you but it can’t be worse than going to Flemings and ordering your steak well done.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-081: Hiding Behind Hyperbole

In case you weren’t paying attention in high school English, hyperbole is a literary device where you use extreme exaggeration to make a point.  It’s fairly common and I think most of us have used it sometime in the last 24 hours.  It involves words like “never” and “always”.

Sometimes I think hyperbole is used to hide our feelings or our opinions.  In a sense it’s an out-and-out lie, but the person can’t accuse you of that because you will just say, “I was joking”, or “you don’t recognize hyperbole?”

We also need to acknowledge it when we see, or hear, it.  A good example that I find irritating is the way President Trump always declare things are “huge” or “the best in history”.  It is irritating but I have learned to live with it.  One way I deal with it is to not listen to his speeches unless it is necessary.  Why would it be necessary?  Because the media will try to tell me what he said and in their case it isn’t “extreme exaggeration to make a point” it is just plain lies.

There is a difference. They don’t seem to know it, but we do.

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Opus 2026-080: A Verse for My Granddaughter

My granddaughter’s favorite animal after her cat is the unicorn.  We have assumed that they are mythical creatures.  I am not sure she agrees with that.  The King James translators may have agreed with her.

Psalm 92:10 (KJV) But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

Modern translations seem to substitute “wild ox” but what is the basis for that?  In a moment of whimsey I checked out the Hebrew on my software.  I was under the impression that we only saw “unicorn” once but in the KJV it occurs nine times.  It says that this is one of those words that we have no idea about what it means.  Could the KJV translators have known something we don’t?

The word “horn” at the beginning of the verse is in the singular.  It would make sense that this refers to an animal with one horn.

Keep in mind all the times that statements in the Bible have been mocked by scholars only to find out that the Bible had the last laugh.  Don’t be shocked if someday they dig up a skeleton that has a horn in the center of its forehead.  It would be extra special if they found it in the stables of King David.

Stranger things have happened.

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Opus 2026-079: Uncharted Revelation: Going Full Dystopian

I don’t know when I first started seeing this word “dystopian” used in print.  For the longest time I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about.  I think I finally looked it up.  I think it’s a good word to describe the change that takes place between chapters 3 and 4 of Revelation.  The first three chapters are visions, it says “in the spirit”, but there is at least some element of connection with reality.

All that is put aside when we enter into chapter 4.  Once again, John is “in the spirit”, but the whole feel of the Revelation changes.  The word dystopian comes to mind.  I was trying to put myself into some of the scenes, to get a feel for what the individuals involve my be going through.  It was almost impossible.  And it was definitely impossible to do it without that feel of dystopia.

How do I describe my vision of dystopia?  I think the best is the feel I got from the brief exposure to one of the Conan the Barbarian movies.  I think I tried to watch one of them and got partway through but nowhere near the finish.  There was a mood in the photography that put me off.  I think of the main character, Conan.  It struck me at a certain point that this giant of a man never did any physical workouts.  You don’t get that kind of muscle mass, just walking across the country and swinging a sword occasionally.  I noticed that massive square jaw was never shaved.  I noticed that that flowing hair was never washed.  I know he never took a shower at least in the parts I saw, yet here we have this tall, stately, giant, striding across the set.  It goes without saying that we never saw him hunting or farming.  We never find him digging up root vegetables to eat.  I never saw him mending a broken strap or anything else that would bring reality to the picture.  In addition to that there seem to be a filter over the camera that made everything dark and depressing.

That is the picture that I get as I continue reading in Revelation.  I think the most important words for understanding Revelation are found in that phrase “in the spirit”.  That tells me that this is similar to a dream, or with possibly the greater accuracy of a vision.  I just had a dream last night.  It was a nightmare.  I was back teaching middle school.  It went downhill from there.  There was nothing terrifying that took place except the general sense of frustration that nothing made sense.  I’m sure that if I had a psychologist sitting across from me, he could analyze the parts that I told him, but for me, they are a total mystery.  Why did that student appear?  What happened to my grade book?  Why did this classroom have so many doors?  None of it made sense, but all of that had a basis.

So as I began chapter 4, I began a new journey with a different attitude.  My sense of interpreting things literally has been put on a back shelf where I can reach it if I needed it.  For the most part, I’m going to try to also put my skepticism on the back shelf and see if there’s anything I can find in here that could possibly be of any use before the rapture.

Onward into the uncharted depths of Revelation.  By that I mean, uncharted by me, not uncharted by the multitude of interpreters of the book.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-078: It’s Everywhere

Everyone is a philosopher.  Philosophy is all around us.

This came to me today when my wife asked me why my whites were not on the back porch.  In this case it had to do with laundry, at least on the surface.  Underneath it, though, was really a philosophical question.  She was really asking, “Why?”  She was not really interested in the laundry.  She wanted to know what eternal truth was keeping me from completing a simple task.

You may have run into this at work, if not at home.  When I was teaching I would often have administrators asking “why” questions.  They really didn’t want to hear my answer.  They didn’t care what I said or my motivation.  The question came because their view of reality was being questioned.  I found that I could not help them.  I found that the best way to help them find reality was to stay out of their sight.

Think about it.  When your wife asks you, “Why haven’t you taken out the trash”, she really doesn’t care about your reason.  It does, though, reflect her feeling that meaning is eluding her.  If her real concern was the trash she might say, “I would feel better about the condition of the universe if you would take out the trash.”  She could also do it herself unless she is confined to a wheelchair but that would not be philosophical.

So next time you are asked, “Why” consider it to be a question about the meaning of life not just an evasive request for the completion of a menial chore. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-077: Controversy

There is a definite conversation that we as Americans need to have.  Patriotic Americans that believe in absolute truth and eternal values have a tendency to look at the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as being semi-inspired documents.  They would be just slightly below the Bible itself.  Because of that, we tend to get a bit idolatrous about them.

What brings this up is the problem that we are having now with the invasion by the Muslims.  Islam is a religion, but unlike other religions, it is also a political system.  It demands total and complete obedience in every area of life.  Sharia law is to be implemented wherever Muslims go.  We on the other hand, have a tradition of religious freedom.  The idea of executing someone because they leave your religion is anathema to Americans and yet it is foundational to Muslims.

Can these kind of differences survive in the current understanding of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  More and more people are beginning to doubt it.  So what do we do?  We need to have some serious conversations while we still have time to disagree in a civil manner.

That conversation needs to take place on the internet, in coffee shops, over family dinners and any other forum that has two or more people.  One of the basic rules of civilized conversation and debate is at the base or our freedom of speech.  People need to explore ideas.  Just because someone says we might need to review the clause in the Constitution that outlaws religion tests for public office does not make them a hater or a bigot.  We need to listen and come up with better responses than, “Well, Oh yeah?”  This requires a bit of intellectual activity on our part.  Did you ever stop to think that the person who is retarded enough to disagree with you might have some part of their argument that makes sense?

It will also require a bit of courage.  We need to get over being afraid someone will call us a name or hurt our feelings.  We need to embrace the insults.  I am ready to exult in the accusation of White Privilege.  I yearn to be called a chauvinist.  I would love to be called racist by someone who does not see their own racism.  Deal with it.  Glory in it.  It means you have connected at least on some level.

We need to address the controversy.  If we don’t it will not go away, it will eat us alive.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-076: Late Blooming

What areas of growth are open to you when you approach 80?

I know I need to accept that fact that I am old but even harder to accept is the concept that I have wisdom to share.  Part of that acceptance is involved in the futility of blogging.  What kind of arrogance assumes that being able to write a paragraph and remember the final period qualifies you to be read?  Long ago I decided that it was more an inner urge to express myself than to actually think I would go viral.

Another approach I am trying to figure out is finding a coffee shop to hang around in and develop some dialogue.  I have a vague idea how it would work but starting to move is difficult.  First I need to find a place where I can sit and study without putting them out of business by tying up a table.  Then I need the consistency and patience to wait for things to develop.  Over time the regulars begin to recognize each other.  If they are all introverts like me it never moves beyond a nod of the head.  If there is an extrovert in the group then contact might be made.

I am working on a few areas.  My fingers are getting too stiff to play chords on the guitar and my voice is becoming an embarassment so I am working on playing the melody off the sheet music.  So far I can get by in three keys.  More to come, I hope.  I am starting to play around with the recorder.  Little progress at this point.  I dug my golf clubs out of mothballs and am starting to walk nine hole, par three and executive courses.  It is not a promising goal, but good exercise and a bit of fun.  The last two times I went out I scored a scorching 10 on the first hole.

I got sucked in by some click bait that revealed the five things that the elderly do that drive people away.  Most of it I was already aware of.  One of the temptations we get as we get older is to ignore hygiene.  Why shave and shower if you are going no place?  I think the idea is that shaving is a bit of rebellion against the decline of life.  

The battle continues.  Once you lose ground it is very difficult to gain it back.  Ultimately the end will come but I can work to make it as dignified as possible.  So I keep walking, practicing and pushing my limits even if they are not impressive to you young squirts.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-075: Immortal Quotes: Enquiring minds…

In contemplating all the doomsday scenarios that we are looking at I began wondering what it was that would help us to come out as individuals, families, communities the other side, moving forward and prosperous.  I am somewhat amused at the people who tell us to buy gold.  They don’t seem to have studied much in history.  As recently as FDR, we have had the government confiscating gold.  In order to make your goal worthless all it takes is the government to make it illegal.

The most recent advice I got was to invest in assets that would retain their value, don’t put all your money in cash.  Make sure you don’t put it all in the bank.  At all sounds very good.  Real estate is an asset that doesn’t go away, but it could be taken away.  All you have to do to wipe out someone’s real estate assets is to increase taxes to the point where they can’t be paid.  The same is true of almost anything.

That led me to think about what would help us to survive and the two things that came to mind were skills and flexibility.  In looking at skills, I could see that my children would be well placed to survive, but if I were younger and had to go out and get a job, I’m not sure that I have any skills that would find a place in a world coming out of chaos.  If I were younger, there might be a place for pastors, but even pastors often have to have a skill on the side.  My 29 years of teaching would be almost worthless.

I always get amused at people to think about teachers is being this elite group of highly trained professionals.  Not really.  Teachers main contribution is daycare.  They supervise people’s children while their parents are off, trying to earn enough money to keep up with their neighbors.  There is very little that is taught that most parents could not take care of.

The basics that are necessary for an education?  Go back to the three R’s.  Any adult who can read should be able to teach a child to read. If you can write a sentence, you should be able to teach your children to write a sentence and encourage them to put them together in a paragraph.  If you can balance your checkbook, you’re ahead of most Americans and you can teach your child the math that they need to survive in the future.  After that, it’s up to the child.

There might be some exceptions to this such as teaching microbiology or quantum physics, but that won’t be the issue for most of us.  In the world coming out of chaos there won’t be much demand for microbiologists or quantum physicists.  They well however, be a need for carpenters, bakers, welders, and hopefully we will be advanced enough to need electricians.

So that commercial phrase from the National Enquirer really should be one of our goals and focuses.  We need to create children with enquiring minds.  We need children with curiosity and the initiative to go out and look for answers.  What we need for the future are not more teachers, but more well stocked libraries

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Opus 2026-074: Terms in Transition

We like to use words without being forced to define them.  There are so many different ways you can use the same term.  Currently a word that comes to mind it “ice”.  Spoken quietly at the dinner table it can mean you want a few more cubes in your glass.  Screamed in a mob it can mean, “Attack the nazi thug.”  Totally different uses.  My most common example is the word “can”.  Just stop and think of all the different ways it can be used.

What started me down this road is a recent discussion by Steven Gregg on the future of Israel.  In the process, a lot of time was spent on “Who is Israel?”  It occurs to me that this is a question that has parallels in New Testament vocabulary also.  Have you ever wondered “Who is the church?”  I find the same definitions are necessary.

In the OT you have the nation of Israel juxtapositioned with what might be called the True Israel.  One is based on DNA and geography.  The other is based on on faith and obedience.  The nation of Israel is repeatedly turned over to invasion and God’s wrath.  It is exciled and dispersed.  Words like “destroyed” are used and yet the Jews kept coming back.  The key word here is “remnant”.  In the midst of the threats of wrath there is a constant reminder that there will be a faithful remnant.  That represents the true Israel which is the recipient of the promises.

We see the same problem of definition emerging in the New Testament.  Here the word of confusion is “church”.  In the Greek it means “called out ones”.  During NT times it was probably a good word to describe the saved people of God.  In modern times the word has become almost meaningless.  It has become a building.  It is often nothing but a social club.  It has often lost its spiritual meaning.  We sometimes talk about the “true church” just like we might have talked about the “true Israel”.

There are Biblical words that are more accurate.  When you want to refer to the Israel that is the recipient of God’s promise it is the remnant.  When you want to refer to the church that God is saving, refer to the body of Christ.

I think that understanding would go a long way toward clarifying issues.  If you are one of those people who don’t want clarification then try reading the L.A. Times.

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Opus 2026-073: Pictures of Providence

As I look at the chaos approaching I wonder how this will play out for the people of God.  I have different pictures.  One of my favorites is “Pocket of Providence”.  I also coin “Bubble of Benevolence”.  The concept is that there always seems to be a remnant that survives when God allows His people to face persecution.

There are better terms and phrases found in the Bible itself.

Under His wings

In His hand

A shield about me

A Fortress 

Thy rod and they staff, they comfort me

Fire by night and the cloud by day

Angels to stand guard

The more I look the more examples I find. 

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Opus 2026-072: Headlines: The Big Flip

One of the recent headlines has been about how the government agencies have redrawn the nutrition pyramid.  There’s a lot of talk about how it has been inverted.  I watched one “Doctor” on the Internet until he got to his commercial, and he was excited about the fact that grains and carbohydrates have been taken from the position of king and foundation to a fringe group.  He had a lot to say about how destructive carbohydrates are and so forth.

While I will accept the fact that we eat too many carbohydrates it is not a problem of the carbs themselves as much as it is our lack of discipline and moderation.  One reason people eat a lot of carbs is that they are less expensive than the other things on the chart such as red meat and fresh vegetables.  I sometimes wonder if the people telling us how wonderful this will be have ever actually gone to a grocery store or had to balance a budget.  Pasta is cheap.  Porterhouse is expensive.

Another reason that I am not jumping on this bandwagon is because of a point that was made years ago in a book called The Weigh Down Diet.  The author pointed out that God had designed our bodies and designed hunger and appetite as a way of the bodies knowing what they should take in.  Her point was to eat what you craved, but do it in moderation.  Unfortunately, most of us don’t have the kind of discipline necessary to do that, but the principle of God building in a craving for certain foods resounded with me.

I’m not ready to reject carbohydrates as being the major problem in diabetes, and, according to the good doctor, all major illness.  My reason is theological.  I can give you a reason from the Bible in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For instance,

(Mat 6:11 KJV)  Give us this day our daily bread.

This is a clear statement about bread.  I’ve seen other click bait on YouTube about how the bread they ate in those days was different than the bread we eat today.  That’s probably true.  The answer is not to throw out bread, but possibly to stop putting pesticides on the grain.  I’m not ready to reject what is a staple across almost all cultures just because the FDA decided to revise the food pyramid.  I am not ready to reduce the population of the world in order to give everyone the amount of fresh vegetables and fruits needed to follow the fruits and nuts.

I have been tracking certain things in nutrition for years.  Bread, and starches like potatoes, contain fiber, protein, and a bit of fat as well as carbohydrates.  Government agencies have a tendency to take extreme stands.  They tend to throw the baby out with a bath water.  While their advice is something to be considered, each of us needs to be our own advocate and walk our own path.

Shamblin, Gwen.  The Weigh Down Diet.  New York:  Doubleday, 1997.

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Opus 2026-071: Interview: Matt Fradd and Daniel Suazo

I just finished watching an interview between Matt Fradd and Daniel Suazo.  Fradd is a devout Roman Catholic who hosts a podcast called Pints with Aquinas.  Suazo is a Catholic convert out of Judaism.  At times it was very frustrating and at other times enlightening.

Suazo has both great insight and frustrating blindness.  At times he shares the big problem with Judaism.  It is no longer the religion expressed by the OT but an aberration based on the creative imagination of the Rabbis.  He admits this but does not seem to understand what he is saying.  He speaks of the Talmud with great respect . He shares a few of its ridiculous moments and ignores what they demonstrate.

One example is when he says that the Law of Moses says nothing about mixing dairy and meat.  That is true.  He points out that the Rabbis have explained this conclusion from a statement about boiling a baby goat in its mother’s milk.  (That is my paraphrase).  To him this seems a noble and honorable thing.  In reality it is the extreme arrogance of legalistic scholars.  If something doesn’t make any sense he explains it as allegory.

He then explains the attraction of the Catholic Church in the similar application of scholarly rationalization by the priests.  He somehow finds a parallel between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the movement of the tabernacle by David.  I am still scratching my head over that one.

Can I expect to see Suazo in heaven?  I think so.  He is clear about the trinity, incarnation, resurrection and other basic doctrines.  I think God will be more lenient on some of the nonsense we advocate than we will be.  As I have said, Jesus did not die on the cross to see how many He could send to hell.

As long as we know what we believe and why we believe it we can gain by listening to people that we don’t understand, or if we do, don’t agree with.

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Opus 2026-070: New Terms: Needles

I find recently that I have been using a phrase that I don’t think I’ve frequented before.  I know it’s not original with me.  I don’t know if I heard it somewhere recently, what put it in the front of my mind or whether it just emerged from the murk of my magic eight ball.

The phrase is “move the needle”.  You can express it different ways such as “move your needle”, but the idea is the same.  The concept is that needles on seismograph’s, audio equipment VU meters and such respond to show when there’s a sudden disturbance.  Most of us are stuck somewhere in the middle and our needles just don’t move.  We need a challenge that comes from discomfort or crisis.  It seems that only that will move our needle.

Another way in which the needle moves is demonstrated by the needle of our fuel or our temperature gauge in the car.  They are bound to move.  The question is are we watching to see when we need to do something about it.

So maybe a new phrase might be, “watch your needle”. Or we could say “take care of your needle”.

Life brings change, or it should if we’re still alive.  Pay attention, fill up with gas, have your oil changed, and get on down the road.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-069: The Jinx of the Book

There are a number of things that take the place of superstitious mementos in our lives.  I have a few.  One of them is a book.  Any book will do.  I found that if I travel somewhere and do not take a book along to read that almost invariably I end up sitting staring at a wall.  Once I got so desperate, I was reading People magazine.

I accepted it as superstition and nonsense.  At the same time, it seems to work out that way.  I don’t get stranded unless I don’t have a book.

Then there are the times I want to do something at the next red light.  Guess what?  Life is lived in the green lane.  I balance the frustration with rapid progress.  If I am going to have a flat tire it always seems to be raining.  If I am going to have a breakdown it hits when I left my phone at home.  I am sure you have your own list.

In my intellect I know this is nonsense.  I still take a book with me everywhere I go.

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Opus 2026-068: 101 Means 101

In case you have not picked it up, I enjoy debating theology and Bible.  For me a paraphrase of “All roads lead to Rome” would substitute “Bible” for “Rome”.  It is a natural drift in my mind.

There is a basic truth about Christian theology that we tend to overlook and that basic truth is that basic theology is easy to understand.  It might be an exaggeration but with John 3:16 and five minutes I could teach you basic theology.  From there we would open a door to a lifetime of enriching conversations about God, His nature and how He expects us to live.  If we are really bored we could get into prophecy and the end times but since those things generally have no practical application they can be saved for theological desert.

Does basic theology demand that you accept Jesus as God?  Yes.  Does it demand that you agree on whether Mary had other children?  Not really.  Such topics lead to the divisions in the body of Christ and can be taken to the point of undermining the basics but they are not necessary for salvation.  Is there more truth than I could cover in five minutes?  Obviously.  I could not read you the Sermon on the Mount in five minutes but it is loaded with spiritual truth.

Don’t get upset when people disagree with you on topics beyond the five minutes.  Remember that some people tan and some burn but the sun is the same and produces vitamin D in both.

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