Opus 2026-178: Just a Reminder

He is Risen!

Take a moment to rejoice. Take another moment to rejoice.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-006: Arbitrary Dates

How many arbitrary dates are there in our lives and in our cultures?  One of the most arbitrary dates in existence would be New Year’s Day.  Who designated January 1 as the beginning of the year?  It has nothing to do with the winter solstice.  It has nothing to do with anything that I can think of.  Some king or council somewhere decided on January 1.  Now we know we have Jewish new year, Chinese new year and I’m not sure if there’s a Muslim new year, but I wouldn’t be surprised.  Some of them may be arbitrary.  Some of them may not be, but I know the one that we use in Western culture is.

Christmas Day is also somewhat arbitrary.  There may have been some historical motivation for picking December 25.  Some people like to talk about pagan holidays, others deny that.  But there’s no real reason.  We don’t know from the Bible when Jesus was born so we picked one.

Different cultures have different holidays.  We are seeing this more and more on our calendars as we reject the culture that gave us the prosperity that we have and we start trying to be multicultural.  I see holidays in my date book that I have no clue what they are.  Some of them, such as Kwanzaa, were made up recently with a definite political agenda.  Others are holidays celebrated in Hindu cultures, Jewish cultures, Muslim cultures.

Which ones we celebrate can be somewhat arbitrary also.  I do not spend any time on ethnic holidays.  St. Patrick’s Day is just a day to stay out of South Boston.  Cinco de Mayo isn’t even celebrated particularly in Mexico.  Guy Fawkes Day is something that nobody in America really understands.  Valentine’s Day I only celebrate because a divorce would be more expensive.

In reading the history of Rome I think I read that they got up to the point where they had 175 holidays a year.  Each one of those holidays had festivities and celebrations and parades and sacrifices and all kinds of nonsense.  It’s no wonder that Rome fell.

One thing we need to understand is that every time we get a holiday or a day off that does not reduce the amount of work that needs to be done.  It does not generate the profits that are necessary to pay salaries.  It just means that somewhere along the line it has to be made up.  So don’t wish any more holidays on us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-613: Does God Celebrate New Years?

For that matter does God pay any attention to what we consider to be the new year?  I don’t see him celebrating, that’s not the right word.  I’m sure He’s aware that we are marking the day as having some significance, but He is also aware of some of the computer games we play and He is not impressed.

I would venture a guest that He looks upon some of the ways in which we celebrate with raised eyes eyebrows.  Hopefully it doesn’t get to the point of throwing lightning bolts or sending tornadoes.

Why do we celebrate anyway?  Why is the end of the year considered an excuse to have a party?   Most of the memes that I see about the baby new year replacing the old man on his way out have the idea of being glad it’s gone.  Many of them don’t forecast any optimism about the year coming.

Why do we celebrate?

I think much of it’s just that we look for any good excuse to have a party.  Those of us who are introverts are happy if we are left alone with our books and our four walls.  As long as your party doesn’t spill over into our world, copacetic.

As you look back over the year, don’t get too depressed about your mistakes.  Mistakes are there for us to learn from.  If you made serious mistakes, it may take a while to dig out but the future it’s full of hope.

May you have a blessed year ahead of you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-601: Next!

And now Epiphany starts.  Actually, if my liturgical sense is correct, today is the first day of Christmas.  It is the beginning of the twelve days of Christmas and extends to Epiphany which is January 6.  It celebrates the coming of the wise men.  If that is part of your tradition then, Merry Christmas but for those who are not in the Orthodox tradition it is now “Happy New Year.”

I have no trouble moving on from Christmas.  I turned on my Christmas music after dinner on Thanksgiving and turn it off when I go to bed on the 25th.  I have enjoyed every minute of the season.  I look forward to next year.  But it is time to move on.  

So now the wish for you is Happy New Year.  

It is time to begin to reflect on the past year and anticipate the next.  

What a glorious time of year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-598: `What Makes a Day Special?

We are in that time of year which we call the holiday season.  For some it starts with Halloween.  For those of us who don’t celebrate Halloween and it starts with Thanksgiving . At the center is Christmas Day, preceded by Christmas Eve.  Then we have the celebrations of New Year’s.  These are definitely special days.  They are shared by all of us.  They’re part of our cultural atmosphere.

We also have days that may be special to us as individuals, or as a nuclear family.  And this you would have birthdays, anniversaries, other events that are unique to us as a family that other people would not be particularly aware of.

What makes them special?

Sometimes it is the memory on the foundational events that stimulate those memories.  When we celebrate the Fourth of July, we look back to that moment when a document was produced, declaring the beginning of the United States of America.  We recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.  That looked back to the day in which a union was established as a covenant before God and we celebrate all of the wonderful things that have happened since that day.

Sometimes a special day is in the future, and it holds the promise of something that’s going to change our lives or the lives of others.  Getting a wedding invitation and writing the date down on your calendar make that a special day.  When I was a child, I remember the prospect of going to a place like Six Flags.  I could hardly sleep the night before.  When I was in the army, the date I was going to be discharged would dangle in front of my eyes constantly.  Toward the end, we might walk around the camps in Vietnam and see guys and shiny new uniforms and we would walk by them and yell, “short”.

I also find that I mark the passing of time by events that are regular and expected.  I have three days a week where I am involved in different church activities.  I have a zoom call one day a week.  I have a day which is the day I usually go out to dinner with my son.  I have a day where I do laundry.  There is a day when the ads come out for next week special at the grocery store.

There are many things that can make a day special some are ridiculous and some are sublime. I hope that today is one of the latter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-545: The Interlude

Having grandchildren around is not the most intellectually stimulating event of the holiday season but it is certainly emotionally satisfying.

Imagine being attacked by a Lego spaceship with unlimited ammunition and only having the Space Tickle Monster to defend yourself.  Add to that an inspiring version of O Holy NIght in the background and you have the day after Thanksgiving at my house.

I am not sure I won the battle but the spaceship captain has been distracted by parts falling off.  He is celebrating an undeclared unilateral truce while he gets all the vital tech back in place.  We had to search for an essential yellow star that had mysteriously disappeared.  He was not satisfied with the suggestion that the Space Tickle Monster ate it and he claimed he had not eaten it either.  Finally the Mysterious Space Muse made it appear in the middle of the rug and life when on.  Whether the battle will continue or the spaceship will depart for parts unknown is still undecided.

If you never hear from me again, I lost the battle.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-325: It’s Party Time

I constantly hear people ranking on the tendency of Americans to take every special day and turn it into a party.  It expresses itself in many ways.

Take for instance, the way in which we have taken sacred moments like memorial day and move them to a Monday.  Why?  Is there some kind of sacredness about Mondays?  No.  Moving the observation to Monday means that we now have a three day weekend in which to party and recover from the party.  Think of all the holidays we celebrate on Monday.  Others I’m sure will eventually be moved if they endure as holidays.  It is part of the evolution of red letter days.

The major exceptions would be the most significant holidays. two of those are celebrations of Christians:  Christmas and Easter.  The other that comes to mind is the Fourth of July.  These all are celebrated with parties, which is a part of the tradition.

I think about the Christmas holidays.  They are days celebrating  what could be interpreted as depressing moments or at least great struggles.  If you’ve ever been around a baby being born, you know that it is not a time to have a party.  I wasn’t partying when my first was born.  All I was doing was having a cup of coffee.  I’m still hearing about my cavalier attitude.  I’ve heard of women who, as they’re approaching the moment of delivery, declare that they are not going to have his baby and they are going to back out of this whole project.  That attitude changes dramatically when the baby is placed in their arms, and from that point on there is great celebration.  Noticed that we don’t celebrate the labor.  We celebrate the delivery.  Great pain becomes a time of celebration.

Or take a look at Easter.  This is the day the Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.  He went to the grave from the cross.  He went to the cross from a time of great torture.  Then came the breakout.  At first disciples hid in their upper room and cried it out, “Woe is me.”  Eventually the celebration emerged and has endured through this day.  Yes, we commemorate good Friday,  but we celebrate the resurrection.

July 4 is the same way.  The great bloodshed had not been started at that point, but we don’t celebrate those days.  We celebrate the Declaration and recognition of freedom.  It is an American tradition that is rooted in Christian tradition.  We didn’t have pessimistic view, rooted in the fact that we have read the book and we know who wins.

So put on the hotdogs, shoot off the fireworks, enjoy your family and celebrate.  The optimistic expectation of the future is part of the American tradition.

Opus 2025-232: Hope Day

Most people are familiar with the term “Hump Day” referring Wednesday.  Hump Day indicates we are halfway through the week and heading for the weekend.  In a sense it reflects people’s hopes about having some relief and some fun.

Today as we celebrate what some people call Easter, we need to realize that it is the ultimate relief.  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  At one end of the life of Jesus on Earth we have Christmas where are we celebrate the incarnation.  At the other end we have Easter where we celebrate His victory over death.  Notice that life did not end in the grave.  It did not end with a diagnosis of cancer.  It did not even end when we were teenagers and the girl rejected us.

Hope has been offered to all of us.  Those who trust in Jesus have the assurance the grave is not the end, the hospital bed is not the end, that no tragedy we confront is the end.  We have the hope of the resurrection and eternal life.

Like you, I am surrounded by seeming tragedies.  In truth they are serious roadblocks in peoples lives.  We must be careful not to be cavalier.  I know of couples were both the husband and wife are facing life-threatening situations.  I know of people who are dealing with cancer and going through chemo.  My brother is in a nursing home and we don’t know what direction that’s going to go.  We are surrounded by the potential for despair and tragedy.  Generally, people can be divided into two camps.  Some have no hope.  Life ends at the grave.  Their future is in the hands of medical professionals and family.  Others facing situations just as serious know that their lives are in the hands of God.  Guess which group are more inclined to know joy, peace, and hope.

Enjoy your Easter egg hunts.  Celebrate with your families.  Worship and lift your eyes to the heavens.  At all times keep in mind what our hope is focused on.

Blessings on you and yours.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-001: Are You Awake Yet?

I must admit, I whispered that because I don’t know where you are at this point in your life.  I stopped staying up to greet the new year a long time ago, probably when my last child moved out of the house.  I can remember as in my immaturity wanting to stay up all night.  I can remember as a teenager going out and running around with my friends until past midnight at least.  I can remember the challenge.  I have never been one to party hard, drink excessively, and hope I got home alive.  It was enough to stay up as late as I could.

No more.  I go to bed.  I get up.  New Year’s Day is just another day of retirement.

It is also a good day to stop and contemplate the future.  Every culture has these moments.  We know about the Chinese new year with the dancing dragons and the fireworks.  There is a Jewish new year.  The Muslims celebrate a new year.  It goes on everywhere and in addition to the celebration and partying there is often serious reflection on what direction your life should go.

One Bible verse that stands out to us this way is,

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

We don’t have Amorites anymore.  Your fathers may not have served the God of the Bible.  Nevertheless, today is a day of decision.  It could simply be to be a better parent, or to spend less money on Twinkies.  Do you have decisions to make?  Of course you do.  The big decision is what is your motivating force, you’re guiding light, the compass that provides direction.  I would trust that you would make a decision today, to serve the Lord.  I would hope that’s just a repeat of last year.  I would hope it’s just a desire to do better rather than a need to make a radical change.

I pray that you would take advantage of the opportunity you have by taking the day off, spending time with family and time alone.

Happy new year. May God bless you and may you be obedient to him.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-452: Accounts Payable

As I’m sitting on the porch in the dark thinking about God, and what He’s done, my mind turns to the thanksgiving aspect of worship.  As I’ve said many times, I start my daily thanksgiving with rejoicing in the incarnation.  As we are just passed the Advent season, and Christmas day, we are now in the formal Christmas season.  In our yearly round of celebrations we are still looking forward to the day of Easter and the resurrection.

Before the resurrection, though we have to have the crucifixion.  With that in mind, I thought about the incarnation in terms of promise, rather than deliverance.  Jesus was born as a baby.  Almighty God, gave up His place in heaven, and became a human being.  What an awesome thought.  What a truth to be grateful for.  What a reason for celebration.  But the payment was still due for our sin.

I could never remember if the accounting term is accounts receivable, or accounts payable.  Either way, at this point in our celebration, if we were locked in time, we would still not have deliverance.  But it was coming.  For us it has come if we have trusted in Jesus.  I believe that his sacrifice was enough to redeem us.

God’s credit rating is excellent in my book.  Although we know that Jesus paid the price, liturgically we are still waiting for the deposit to be made to cover our debt.  What a joyful way to face the new year.

Have a blessed new year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-451: Sounding Like an Optimist

What an amazing time of year this is.  We have three of the greatest holidays, right in a row.  It starts with Thanksgiving, moves on to Christmas and then gives us New Year’s.

Thanksgiving is a time for attitude adjustment.  When we take a long road trip in my wife’s late model Lexus it will send her these cute little messages that it is time to take a break.  We usually ignore the car’s advice but that might be a bad idea when the calendar tells us to take a break.  We take the opportunity to stop and meditate on our blessings and think about all of the great things in our lives.  Instead of worrying about the future, we are encouraged to contemplate the past and enjoy the present.  The great thing about it is that it reminds us that God is the supplier of everything that is worthwhile.  The government is simply an agent when it’s doing its job the right way.  It is a hindrance when it thinks it is in charge.

So we start with Thanksgiving.  And one of the great things that we have to be thankful for is the incarnation, Christmas.  It’s the day in which we celebrate the fact that God broke into history and began the process of the Savior moving toward the cross to die for our sins. If you don’t have anything else to be thankful for that’s a good place to start.  If you don’t celebrate Christmas then celebrate the incarnation.  When you do other things become clear.

New Year’s offers us the opportunity to start new.  It is an arbitrary date.  There’s nothing in any eternal document saying that January 1 is significant.  It’s just a handy handle to hang our new expectations on.  Pick another day if it works for you.  We’ve heard a lot of criticism of the idea of resolutions.  The problem is not the resolutions.  The problem is that we don’t really plan on making any changes.  It becomes just a calendar version of a video game.  The resolutions themselves are probably very good, but we don’t act on them.  So maybe we need to look at New Year’s as a time of revival.  When I was a kid, we would have revivals at our church.  It was a time when you would seek the face of God, and listen to what He had to say.  It was a time not only of contemplation, but have repentance and brokenness.

New Year’s can be transforming if we let it.  I challenge you to stop and take a deep look at who you are and what your priorities are and work on making some changes.  I’m sure your family will help.  Families like to give advice.  In my family we have lots of people who have ideas about how I could change.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about looking down inside yourself, listening to the voice of God and calling up on him to make this the best year ever.

Wow. I’m starting to sound like an optimist. Maybe I need to change that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-372: Veterans and Veterans

I want to thank all those who recognized veterans this weekend.  They had us stand at church.  They said some nice words.  That’s very welcome.

Having said that I think that we need to have an understanding that there’s a difference between guys like me who put in their time and were either in the states or in the rear echelons and never came under fire compared to those who actually went out into the field and not only were shot at but might have been wounded and had to shoot back.

It’s a whole different world.  If you’re looking for someone to thank then give double thanks to those who actually put their lives on the line.  I was in a war zone.  I went places where people have been killed at other times.  I on the other hand never experienced what it was to actually risk my life.

Thank you, you’re welcome.  And I thank those who actually served as warriors.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-170: A Pause in the Recital

Sunday the pastor was waxing strong on a patriotic theme.  As usual on days like this the Declaration of Independence was trotted out.  He quoted it in a way that I had not heard before,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created...”  

He said he likes to pause right there.  While it is true that the author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, was not exactly born again, devout believer in Jesus Christ, he at least had a basic understanding of Providence.  All of the founding fathers did.  One of the basics for everyone was that God had a part in the universe coming into being.  It was a given.

Believing in the kind of God that even the deists would admit to put some parameters on your sense of right and wrong.  You might commit adultery but you acknowledged that it was wrong.  While you might be self-centered, you knew you shouldn’t be.   It is important to keep reminding ourselves that this country was founded based on the teachings of the Bible.

Pray that such an attitude will return.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-168: A Reminder

It is that time of year again.  This is when it is good to take a few minutes and read over the Declaration of Independence.  As we watch the political theater and realize it is not just a fictional stage, it would be good to renew our memory on what the Founding Fathers actually said.

It doesn’t take all that long.  Get as far as you can.  I am sure you will see something to get you a little bit angry.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-151: It Should Be Just Another Day

Father’s Day is like Easter, it is meaningless if it is your only appearance.  This is true for both the fathers and the children.  I am at the grandfather stage and enjoying every minute of it.  One reason I am able to enjoy it is because I look at a trip to Cosco with two kids in the cart and my daughter doing some shopping as a great Father’s Day event.  What makes those events extra meaningful is that they happen often during the year, not just in June.

I have dinner weekly with my son.  We always leave a good tip because we sit as long as our tail bones will hold out.  Each week is a Father’s Day.  It is the payoff for all those mornings I went to work.  It is the result of being there when needed.  It is glorious.

I attended a special Fathers’ Day event two weeks before the official date.  All right, it was not a Fathers’ Day event.  It was a birthday party for a 5 year old.  We had a cloud of children relishing a combination bounce house/ water slide.  It was raucous.  It was chaos.  It was smooth as silk because the fathers were there.  They changed diapers and mopped up the floor.  They passed out cake and helped supervise the opening of gifts.  The kids were kids.  They were well behaved kids because their fathers were involved in their lives on a daily basis.

I hope you can experience the same.  If you are the child, reach out.  He may not know you want to spend time with him.  If you are the father, reach out.  They may not know you want to spend time with them.

Have a blessed day, and year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-060: Dependent Clause

One of the devices that has made its appearance in the church is the formula, “He is risen.  He is risen indeed.”  It is what we celebrate on the day that has come to be called Easter.  It is the core of the hope that Christians have.  For the most powerful statement on this you should read I Corinthians 15 starting in verse 12.  There are many key verses you could pick out, depending on your need for the day.  Let me lift out this one,

(1Co 15:14 KJV)  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

What Paul is saying is that if Jesus did not rise from the dead then all of your doctrines and beliefs are empty nonsense.  If Jesus did not rise, you are not saved because that means He was a fraud.  It is also key, read further down, that you understand that this was a physical resurrection.  It was not just a spiritual event.  Although Paul talks about the new type of body we will have it is still a physical body.  We will not spend eternity as spirits floating around in the ether.

I am officially old.  Okay.  Got it.  So what?  I will enjoy my grandchildren as long as God lets me do so in this life.  Once I am gone, and I hope they notice, I will look forward to all the joys of eternity in the presence of God.  I assume that will include my grandchildren but that will depend on whether they come to faith.

So rejoice.  

He is Risen!

He is Risen, indeed!

We who believe will also be risen.  I hope to see you there.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-001: A Place to Start

Psalm 91 is a great way to begin the year.  I read it in my normal worship routine this morning and it was almost like I picked it out on purpose.

It starts out with standard promises.

(Psa 91:2 KJV)  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

As I kept reading I nodded my head and said, “Yes.  I can identify with that.”

(Psa 91:3 KJV)  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Does FBI entrapment and a new variant of the Covid panic come to mind?  These are not new concerns of ordinary people.  History is full of tyrants oppressing everyone they can reach.  Plague and disease have been a part of life down through history.  Why should we be any different?

Then we have the concern about the knock in the middle of the night.  Recently I have been reading about people being “swatted”.  That means some anonymous person calls up and reports something terrible going on in your house and the swat team comes calling.

(Psa 91:5 KJV)  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

See?  Nothing new here.  The chapter goes on this way.  

A lot of promises are given.  The one I like the most involves guardian angels,

(Psa 91:11 KJV)  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Like I said, a good place to start the year.

One word of caution before you get too excited:  Keep in mind that the promises are conditional.  They are not extended to everyone.  They are based on us calling on God and listening to His answers.  God loves to deliver people.  I think of a friend whose neighborhood was burning to the ground.  His house was not touched.  You could follow the path of the fire up to a certain point and it was as if something, or Someone, said, “No farther.”

Get in touch with that Someone.

Happy New Year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-282: Obligatory Thanksgiving Muse

We have a Thanksgiving tradition.  I don’t think it originated with us.  As we sit down to celebrate, each person finds two pieces of corn on the plate.  We pass a small basket around twice and each of us share something we are thankful for and drop in a kernel.  It is a good way to focus.

I would say I don’t need to focus.  Every morning is Thanksgiving for me.  It is hard to spend time contemplating the nature and goodness of God without crossing the line to thanks.  This morning my meditation turned to Philippians,

(Php 2:5-8 KJV)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Then it went to the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us and becoming sin on our behalf.  If I wasn’t worried about waking up the neighbors I might have a shouting spell.  I like a bit of alliteration so I start the categories of my thanks with “G”.  Here it stand for Grace and Gospel.

It is similar to the perpetual Father’s Day I experience.  Often my daughter will take me shopping with her and the kids.  It becomes a celebration of grandchildren as I take over the cart and turn it into a race car or a bumper car.  At the end of the day I thank my daughter for a great Father’s Day.  I am thankful in the morning for the G of genetics, generations or genes.  

I could go on but you are getting too old to spend the time with my celebration.  It is a daily Thanksgiving.

I am going to try to start a new Thanksgiving/Advent tradition this year.  We have our Christmas light up and I want to start the habit of going out before the grandchildren go home and plugging them in to celebrate the start of the season of the incarnation.  There are not a lot of lights.  No one will be driving across town to see our display but it should be enough to impress our youngest if I let them try to plug things in.

Blessings on you as you count your grace gifts and celebrate the greatest gift of all.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-281: Thanks and Trust

I was thinking about God‘s way of providing in my life. When I left the pastoral ministry, one of the pressures was to feed my family. I questioned whether I was right and leaving the pastoral ministry. But even then God provided for us everything we needed, my children turned out great, and life is good in retirement. When I was pastoring on a shoestring, He provided. When I was teaching, God provided. When I retired I looked at the world around me and wonder how we’re going to make it.  Society is coming apart and I am getting too old to do many things that might need doing.  Inflation is growing daily but our income isn’t.

At the same time that the concern emerges it becomes clear that the same pattern will apply. God will provide. It doesn’t matter what the government does. It doesn’t matter about the social climate. God will provide.

That is something to be thankful for.  Trusting is a part of giving thanks.  Happy Trust Day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-265: The Morning after the ‘Een

November 1 is All Saints Day, All Hallows in the old tongue.  It is the day of dread for the devil worshipers who came up with the original Halloween festivals.  Just as Halloween paints the pits of Hell as a lot of fun and frolic, All Saints Day reminds us of all those who have gone before us to eternal life.  

It occurred to me that we are at the other end of the year from Easter where we celebrate the resurrection.  Easter moves around because it is on the Lunar calendar but it comes roughly six months after the celebration of death and despair.  Today we start the long assent to celebrating the heart of the Christian faith.  We move to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Passover.  We throw in a few frivolous dates such as New Years and Valentine’s.  Some get distracted by ethnic celebrations but the course is ever upward.

I can’t begin the Christmas music until after dinner on Thanksgiving but I can wish blessings on you as we move into the holiday season.

homo unius libri