Opus 2026-298: The Sloth Spectrum

I don’t consider myself to be lazy.  My wife would disagree with that, at least when she wants something done and wants it done now.  As the song of my youth says, “Manana is soon enough for me.”

The sluggard comes up frequently in Proverbs.  The word is used 14 times and only in Proverbs.  It is not a compliment.  My favorite is where the slothful is described as being too lazy to pull his hand out of the salad bowl to put food in his mouth.  I have never been that lazy.

I would suggest there is a spectrum of sloth-hood.  At one end you have the guy above.  I would think of the stereotype of the basement dwelling millennial who expects Daddy to pay for all his needs and Mommy to prepare and clean for him.  If he leaves the basement it is to go to a party.

I would think the lack of effort goes through various stages.  

As I said, I don’t consider myself lazy.  For at least 40 years I got up every day and went to work.  One time I had three jobs to try and pay the bills.  I may not iron my underwear but I also don’t expect my wife to do it.  My problem is I don’t like wasting my time.  I don’t like tasks that I know will be redone because my standards or skills are not high enough.  I don’t rush out to complete needs that don’t need to be done.  For instance, my wife has wanted me to rake the leaves under our oak trees for years so the snakes won’t get us.  So far I have resisted the raking and avoided the snakes.  Really?  Raking oak leaves in Texas Hill Country?  Nonsense.

Another problem that presents itself is that I don’t notice dirt and clutter.  I pick up my sox.  I make my bed.  I don’t notice the cobwebs in the corner of a room.  The dust tends to build up until my grandchildren come over and start drawing picture in it.  Leaves on the front porch will be replaced by the wind in a few minutes.  Life it too short to worry about some things.

If you have extra energy and want to come rake my leaves I will salute you from my chair in the shade.  I would not want to get in your way of an orderly world.

Color me energy efficient, not lazy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-534: New Lego Pieces

One morning my grandson, who was spending the night and most of the day with us, called me in because he was having a problem.  There was no note of crisis or panic, but obviously he needed my great wisdom and insight to deal with a difficulty.

I proceeded into the living room and sat down beside him and asked, “What’s the problem?”  He was playing with his Legos and he pointed down into the box and asked a question, “What’s that?”  Legos now come in so many variations it could have been a real mystery.  Now my first vision was to see a piece that looked like a corner of a castle, but he would know that.  So I looked closer and there was this dark shadowy object beside the castle corner.  When I got even closer, it turned out to be a hornet.  Fortunately, it was a dead hornet.  Fortunately for us, I’m not sure the hornet appreciated his condition.

I proceeded to extract the carcass, check to make sure that the boy didn’t want to keep it for something, and then took it to the trash can.  Mission accomplished.  I had removed something that didn’t belong there.  I fulfilled my purpose for the morning.

Of course you know I’m going to make some kind of spiritual application out of this.  It seems to me that often times there are bits of theology or tradition that exist in our basket of Legos.  To anyone who is paying attention it should be obvious that they don’t belong.  Sometimes people aren’t paying attention, or should I say most of the time.  When they do notice a problem, they tend to feel they need to call someone else to work it out.  Could my five-year-old grandson have removed the hornet?  Probably. If it had been my granddaughter she probably would’ve picked it up with some tweezers and run around and chased her brother with it.  But he wanted to sit by and let me take care of it.  Since I’m a grandfather and need to be needed, I was OK with that.

But what happens when the person who should be removing dubious material on their own refuses to take that step?  What happens when you read something in Sunday school material or a book somebody lent you or on some kind of billboard?  Too many people just automatically accept it and work it in as part of their world view.  What often happens also when they call someone else to come and straighten it out?  That person is part of the conspiracy and tells him no, that belongs there.

So when you have someone questioning the physical resurrection of Jesus, you need to quickly get rid of that hornet.  It doesn’t belong in any Christian’s library.  When you hear them talking about a divine spark within them that they need to reach on their own effort to raise themselves to divinity, after you get through looking at them with that look, tell them you’ll pray for them in their misguided thinking.

You don’t need the professionals to tell you what the Bible says.  And with a good dictionary, you won’t need them to tell you what it means either.

God gave us the word so that we could learn and research on our own.  He sent the Holy Spirit to help us tell the difference between a dead hornet and a castle corner in our spiritual Lego world.  You make the application.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-132: It’s Not Simple

One of the rationals that I often hear about needing a new translation of the Bible is that people can’t read such versions as the King James or the New American Standard because of the big words.  The theory is that we need to redefine some of these words so that they’re understandable to the population.  My translation of this statement is, “We need to dumb down the Bible.”

This is a disingenuous argument at best.  The idea that we cannot learn new vocabulary and new ideas is nonsense.  It is a statement of desire and sloth, not a statement of ability.

Why do I say that?  Well, if you have ever bothered to listen to young people today, and especially their music, you realize that they are constantly coming up with new words or redefining old words.  Rap music is famous for this.  You take one syllable words, and make them into five or six syllables if that’s what you need to fit your rhythm.  You take words that have a standard meaning that’s accepted by all of civilization, and you put a new meaning on it to fit your current cultural enclave.

In ordinary conversation you come up with totally bizarre definitions that fit you and what you want to say.  We see that in the acronyms.  My first association with the term GOAT was having a student call me a goat.  He considered that a great complement.  Because I knew that’s how he saw it, I just accepted it and rolled on.  Later on he told me that it meant Greatest Of All Teachers.  He lied.  In reality, it meant Greatest Of All Time, but the new definition fit his need at the moment.  Some of these acronyms everybody knows such as LOL but you only know them on sufferance.  Popular culture could change the meaning tomorrow and you would only find out about it when you were embarrassed in public.

So don’t give me this nonsense that young people can’t learn the meaning of regeneration or justification.  They can.  They just won’t.  Two reasons for this.  First, the adults in their life demonstrate the same resistance.  The second reason they won’t is because they know that by learning them they would become accountable for the meaning.

They will never rise to higher standards unless we have higher standards, maybe not even then.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-323: On the Road: What Ever Happened to the Puritans?

As we have been traveling across the country we have had a lot of conversations with people who showed up for work.  Everywhere we go we see “help wanted” signs.  It isn’t just at your local fast food place.  Almost every truck that went by us had an invitation to come work for them.  There are plenty of jobs.  What is lacking is the old fashioned Puritan Work Ethic.

We had a great waitress at a Cracker Barrel.  She understood The Ethic.  She was working as hard as she could but it took forever to get our food out of the kitchen.  While people were rocking and gossiping on the porch, half the restaurant was empty.  She said that people didn’t come in to work today.  In the discussion she said they didn’t even bother to call, they just didn’t show up and they don’t get fired because the manager is so desperate for help.  The most often repeated comment we hear in these kind of exchanges is “Why work when the government pays you not to?”

There are solutions but there is no backbone to make them work.  Sooner or later people are going to have to suffer in order to get them moving again.  Proverbs puts it this way,

(Pro 16:26 NAS77) A worker's appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.

We as Americans are going to need to harden our sloppy hearts a bit or we will destroy everyone we touch.  We need to do that for theological reasons.  The church and Christians did not go woke this week.  They have been woke for decades.  It started with the desire to reform society using the rules and standards of the God-hating sociologists and psychologists.  It was augmented by a desire to be accepted.  The church stopped talking about sin because that made people uncomfortable.  They draw a big Sharpie line through the doctrine of Original Sin because their big donors didn’t like it.  Over the years they have abandoned the Bible as the measure of truth and in the process abandoned truth itself.  As they “grew” they not only sent the people around them to hell but earned the title Ichabod from God Himself.

We will not recover from the assault of the Proregressives* if we do not tighten our belts, harden our hearts and engage our brains.  Keep in mind that Socialist countries tend to starve and end up murdering anyone they don’t want to feed.

We need to get back to work, all of us.

*(Liberals, educators, the media, socialists, communists, crony capitalists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, BLM, MSM, Deep State, etc.  Synonym for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-217: Link: Ignorance the Enemy of Liberty

You may have read about the guy who tried to launch a rocket from his head.  I came across a post on a blog called Marooned that points out the real reason for this unnecessary death.  He comments on how we are not teaching about responsibility and liberty.  Here is one paragraph:

“Let that sink in a minute. His entire life, things have either been mandatory or banned. Lawn darts? Too dangerous. Banned. Three-wheeled ATVs? Too dangerous. Banned. Helmets for bicycles, skis, roller skates, etc.? Mandatory. Backup cameras in cars? Mandatory. When he was a toddler, his parents probably padded all the corners, blocked all the outlets, and put all the cleaning supplies in the top cabinet. As a young boy, he was forced to wear helmets, pads, seatbelts, bright colored clothes, etc.”

 I recommend reading the entire piece and thinking seriously about what he says.  Don’t be scared away because it is a gun blog.  It might save your child and your country.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-163: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 4 of ?, Sloth

Poverty.  It will always exist.  It will never be cured.  In the words of Jesus.

(Mark 14:7 KJV)  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

He was not saying this was desirable, just realistic.  That is because there are many causes to poverty and most of them are rooted in the actions of the poor.  You can educate and redistrute income all you want, you will still have poverty.  I will be looking at them in the order that I became aware of them as I read through Proverbs.

After absentee fathers, I think the biggest cause of poverty is sloth.  I come to this conclusion because it is mentioned so many times in Proverbs.  Many different words are used but they all have the idea that some people are just plain lazy and get the reward they have earned.  This is like the third rail of discussions about poverty, but it is Biblical.  Here is a verse that uses the word sluggard. 

(Proverbs 6:9-11 NAS77)  How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?  "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest"– And your poverty will come in like a vagabond, And your need like an armed man.

So take a nap.  Lean back and relax.  You won’t need to hunt for it, poverty will find you. 

One major source of poverty is an unwillingness to work.  A warning though, don’t make the assumption that poor people are all lazy.  It could be one of the other factors we are looking at.  It could actually be beyond their control.

To be continued...

Opus 2014-139: Headlines: Wacko's Have Both Right and Left Wings

They are at it again.  I am no fan of the president but I am even less a fan of lazy, “gotcha” reporting.  Linked by Drudge you find this from the Weekly Standard” “Obama's Second $1.5M Brussels Hotel Bill in Less Than Three Months”

To those of us who work for a living that is a lot of pocket change.  Most of us could retire on the money spent on a few of these trips.  That is not the issue.  We are not the head of a nation.  When we go somewhere we make reservations by phone or internet.  We don’t have body guards and multiple secretaries.  All of that is part of the office.

The question that is not asked is, “How does this compare, adjusted for inflation, with the expenses of previous presidents?”  Also not addressed in the article is whether these trips were necessary.

Do me favor, guys.  Let’s act like I have a brain and am not a knee-jerk, Neanderthal.  I get enough of that from the MSM.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-382: New Terms: LIV and LIB

/Does the “LI” stand for “largely ignorant” or “low information”?

Does it make any difference.

You may have noticed the appearance of a new acronym, LIV.  It stands for “low information voter.”  It is an attempt to play nice.  It is an effort to take a group of people that would normally be called ignorant and make it sound like just a minor issue.  It is not a minor issue.  It is a matter of lazy.  That is major.

There is a difference between stupid and ignorant.  Stupid is something you can’t do much about.  It is a material limitation.  Ignorant is something you can do about.  Being stupid does not keep you from being successful in life or from making a contribution.  Being ignorant can be deadly to you and to those whose lives you mess up because you are not paying attention.

In the church we have LIB’s.  I am submitting that this stands for “low information believers.”  We have a growing mass of people who call themselves Christian who don’t have a clue to what it means to be a follower of Christ. 

I am not talking about people who disagree with me on theology.  Attentive, focused people can disagree on interpretations and emphasis.  I feel they are wrong.  They know I am wrong.  We both know why we are right.  I am talking about those who accept the latest fad or blatant heresy from the pulpit or the pages of a book.  I am talking about pew sitters who live lives in conformity to Abercrombie and Fitch rather than the Sermon on the Mount.  I am talking about people who can’t tell the difference between a quote from Benjamin Franklin and the words of Jesus.

This is the sin of sloth in action.  In this day and age of internet sources and multiple translations there is no reason to be ignorant of what God has said, no reason except sloth.  In politics it can make us uncomfortable and costs us a lot of money.  Sloth can cost us our freedom and limit our choices.  In theology the results are eternal. 

We cannot afford LIV’s or LIB’s. 

Check your own house to see if it is in order.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-306: Discernment Watch: Destructive Generosity

Why do social programs and government handouts weaken individuals and destroy initiative?

It used to be if you wanted something you would be forced to prioritize, economize, save, work harder, get more training or improve yourself.  Years ago I wanted a better guitar.  I had learned that when you have better tools you can do better work.  I did not have the money for the quality I felt I needed.  My credit was good enough I could have charged what I wanted and let my wife try to figure it out.  That is not how I operate.  Instead, I began setting aside small amounts and going without on luxuries.  Eventually I had enough set aside to pay cash.  It is called “saving up” or delayed gratification.  It is a vanishing skill.  Now you just look for a handout and complain if you don’t get it.

Millions of people working off the books don’t need to do any of this because the various charities fill the gaps and supply the wants.  Why go to college when the government will give you what you want?  Why work when you can party?

An example was my friendly neighborhood philanthropist talking about a young man trying to get ahead in life.  He just couldn’t seem to make enough so my friend was helping him out.  The details slowly came out.  He had two children and was not married to their mother.  He did not go go college and did not plan on going.  He refused to get trained for a better job.  He was doing what he wanted to do working as an aide in a private school.  He felt fulfilled and he was enabled by my friends contributions and all the free stuff he got from the government. 

In a past world he would have been forced to improve himself or starve.  Now he can pursue his dreams and expects others to subsidize him.

Society has always had some people like this.  It is now becoming pandemic.  Does the term “critical mass” mean anything to you?  It is the point in a nuclear reaction when there is enough radioactive material to begin the chain reaction setting loose the destruction of the nuclear explosion.  Our society is reaching a critical mass in parasites that are draining the life from the economy. 

My fear is that instead of treating the infection we will feed the gangrene.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-231: I’m Bored!

In education one of the common excuses for student failure is boredom.  All children are described as being very smart.  The reason they continue in ignorance is we are just not challenging them.  My guess is that boring teachers were boring students.

Since when is boredom an excuse to not do your job.  Picture flying on Excitement Airlines which only hires pilots who know how to make landings exciting.  My guess is that a more accurate name would be the former Excitement Airlines.  Count me out as a customer.  When you are landing a plane that I am on, boring is good.  Routine is perfect. 

How many of you would go to a Doctor who says, “I’m not sure what is wrong but I’m feeling lucky today.  Let’s cut and see what we find.  It will be fun.”

Making things interesting is good.  I agree.  But the thing that makes a movie interesting is that I have paid attention.  I have listened to the dialogue.  I have gotten involved with the characters and, so, when the plot unfolds I know what is happening.  It doesn’t get it to disrupt the experience for everyone else by asking, “What happened?” because you were texting.  It destroys the pleasure of everyone except you when you have to interrupt with, “Why did they do that?” because you were talking to the person next to you at a key time. 

If you are bored you might want to get a life.  Getting a life involves developing some interests and paying attention.  If you are waiting to be entertained, I guarantee you are going to be bored.

Read a book.  Learn an instrument.  Clean the toilet.  Something.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-125: On the Street: Fire in the Belly

As I vented my frustration with parents and the educational system I asked my friendly philanthropist, “Why do I keep pushing if the parents don’t care?”  He answered, “Because you still have the fire in your belly.”

I guess so.  How long can I keep it burning?

What was I yelling about?  I was relating to him my frustration.  We have a form called a Daily Progress Report.  Students carry it to class and the teacher marks if they were on time, brought their supplies, completed their classwork, did their homework, and how was their behavior.  Each teacher signs it and has a place to write comments.  One side is in English and the other in Spanish.  It is supposed to be taken home, signed by the parent, brought back the next day, checked by the counselors and if it is signed a new one presented to the student.  It can be an effective tool to monitor student progress.

But no one cares.

I sit in meetings with the parents and students.  Tears are being shed.  The students promise to do better.  The parents present a face of concern.  We have a moment of victory. 

The next day I ask for the Progress Report.  “I don’t have one.”  This goes on and on.  I have one class in which seven students are supposed to bring me this form.  I ask them every day.  On a good day I will see one.  And no one seems to care but me.

The counselors don’t check the forms.  They leave piles of them out on the counter.  The parents don’t seem to care.  Nothing happens. 

I find myself asking, “Why should I care if the parents don’t?” 

I guess it is that fire in the belly.  For me it comes back to my sense of duty generated by my walk with God.  He revives me daily and keeps the fire going.  I guarantee it is nothing but an ember when I head home each day but after a time of prayer and worship in the morning the belly is glowing.

But with David in Psalms I ask, “How long, O Lord?”

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-235, Tax Dollars at Work: CalFresh

When the advertizement started I thought it would be an ad for Whole Foods or a vegetarian co-op.  It was about something called CalFresh.  It was very upbeat, featuring an precocious  child, an involved father and an obvious happy home.  Father and daughter were preparing a meal.  When they were ready they called mom to join them.  In the process they talked about the joy of a well balanced meal and family togetherness.

Inserted very quietly was the poison.  CalFresh is the new name for the program that used to be called Food Stamps.  It is welfare.  It is paid for out of the pockets of every working Californian.  Since that number is declining it will take a constantly bigger chunk out of my check until I am forced to join those fleeing the state.

Try to get the big picture.  The People’s Republik of Kalifornia is on the verge of bankruptcy, if they have not arrived by the time this is posted.  The hole keeps getting deeper.  So at this crisis time the Progressive (Democrat, socialist, elite, communist) leaders of our state write another big check to produce a frisky commercial trolling for more people to sign up for freebies we don’t have money for.  Do you get the logic?

The goal is to drive as many people as possible into the arms of the government so that they will continue to vote early and often to keep the People’s Republik in the hands of the Progressive (Democrat, socialist, elite, communist) sugar daddies.  The problem is that the sugar is coming out of my pocket.

November is coming.  It may be too late for California.  We already are past the tipping point.  Your state may not be there.  Vote the suckers out.  Or apply for welfare, whichever way you lean.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-70, New Terms: BISS

Are you familiar with these “words”?

TMI
TLDR
LOL
OMG
KISS

They are part of the texting culture.  It has a whole vocabulary of its own that is designed to shorten the number of keys the sender must hit.  It also reflects the truncated vocabulary of the younger generation.  Why learn real words when you can make up your own?

To this sub-culture I offer BISS.

I don’t remember ever seeing it used anywhere else but since I don’t text-message except in response to my children in special circumstances, I am not an authority.  It is possible that someone else has already claimed it or given it another meaning.

For me it means:  Because I Said So

If you have ever been an authority figure working with labor adverse populations you have used this without knowing it.  Parent/child, teacher/student, sergeant/recruit, the applications are almost unlimited.  It also puts you on a level playing field.  I was always frustrated when kids could get by with a one syllable “Why” and I was required to use at least two syllables with “Because.”  Now I do not need to put out more effort than the sloth.

On occasion a person will ask “Why” and really want to know.  I will leave it up to your discernment to respond at more length in those situations.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-12, Monday Pulpit: Sand or Rock?

Wednesday night the pastor was sharing the parable about the two builders.  One built on the rock and one on the sand.  You are familiar with the events that unfolded.  Both start with hearing the word.  Both acted.  One acted by diligent effort.  One took the casual approach.  One survived disaster.  One was destroyed.

My mind wanders when people speak.  I am open to this being the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  It helps me apply what I am hearing.

One of the thoughts that came to my mind was the observations I have made of a creek in the high Sierras.  It too has places where there are rock surfaces and places where the sand builds up.  We seem to be encouraged to build on the rock, not the sand but as I thought about the rush of water in the spring melt that seemed counter productive.

Sand piles up where the water slows down.  It gets deepest where the current is the least violent.  Where you have rock you have hard driving floods that sweep all before it.  It would seem to me that the safest place to build would be where the sand is deepest because there would be the least chance of violence and opposition. 

Have you ever heard, “You can run, but you cannot hide.”

The point is foundations, not oppression.  Oppression will come.  Persecution will happen.  Temptations will rear their ugly heads.  You may try to live in the calm waters but the floods will come.  Survival doesn’t depend on staying out of the conflict but in having the right foundations.

We are coming to the end of a time of peace and complacency in the United States for believers.  Followers of Jesus are being attacked and killed in Nigeria and Egypt.  They have been hounded out of Iraq.  They are discriminated against in most of the world.  They have been forced onto the rock.  We Americans have been living on the sand.  In Europe few serious believers remain.  I hope that in the coming flood there are enough of us left to be a faithful remnant. 


Maybe that is the value of missionaries coming home to report.  It isn’t to tell us what a wonderful job they are doing spreading the word but to remind us that there are parts of the world that are living on the cutting edge of the conflict between righteousness and evil.  The Church is alive, even if our part is asleep. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-270, Counterfeit

I had a five dollar bill examined for being counterfeit the other day.  The clerk held it up to the light and acted like she knew what she was doing.  For a moment I had this terrible fear that I was passing counterfeit five dollar bills.  Would they confiscate my money?  Would I go to jail?  Would my friends shun me?  She gave it her seal of approval so I am still free to write.

Wouldn’t it be good if believers would learn to hold what they read up to the light?  Remember how the world was going to end a few months ago?  People believed it.  If the perpetrator lives long enough he will try again in a few years.  Have you seen a sale catalog of Christian books lately?  The one I get was about 50 pages long.  It had pages labeled “Favorite Women Authors” and pages of books about Christian exercise videos.  There were authors I had never heard of that had a whole page of titles in print.  I would like to think that all of this was genuine but I doubt it.  Much of it is fluff.  Some is harmless fluff.  Biceps for Jesus is not going to send you to Hell.  But much of it borders on the heretical. 

Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t mean it is true.  Just because you read it in a “Christian” publication does not mean it is Biblical.  Just because they put it in a book doesn’t mean it is accurate.  Just because the latest, hot-off-the-press, warm fuzzy Bible “translation” says it also doesn’t make it trustworthy.

We are talking discernment.  Some people have a special gift of the Spirit in this regard.  They need to speak up more, even if it makes them unpopular.  Even if you don’t have the gift you are expected to exercise the discipline.  Tomorrow when you get up, turn on your brain and punch the “discernment” button.  It is like turning on a black light in a dark room.  You will be amazed.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-269, Healthy Insights: Mañana

There was a popular song when I was young enough to listen to AM radio.  It was called “Mañana.”  Some of the words went like this.

My Momma she was working, she was working very hard,
And every time she wants me I am sleeping in the yard.
My Momma thinks I’m lazy, and maybe she is right.
I’ll go to work mañana, but I gotta sleep tonight.

And the chorus went,

Mañana, mañana, mañana is soon enough for me.

Of course the idea was to mock people who always procrastinate.  I am here today to put in a word for procrastination.  There are some people who need to learn to say, “Later.”

Perhaps you know someone like this.  They are always going like a living dynamo and always have one more thing to do.  They are usually late because they stopped to get one more thing done.  They consider others lazy because they are not running fast.  And of course they complain about always being tired.

Perhaps a little nap would take care of some of that.  We talk about stopping to smell the roses.  This person has it on the list and will get to it next Tuesday, unless they are in the hospital for stress.

Although we are expected to put in our days labor and work hard we are also commanded to take a Sabbath.  Remember when Martha complained about Mary being lazy.  She wasn’t working, just listening to the words of Jesus.  Martha did not get much sympathy.  In another place Jesus had something else to say about this kind of frantic behavior. 

(Matthew 6:27 NAS77)  "And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?

Just a few verses later He sums up what our target should be,

(Matthew 6:33 KJV)  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Make it a priority to seek the kingdom.

And don’t just add it to your list.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-223, Links: Dog Days

One of the benefits of reading some blogs is that they give the Holy Spirit a chance to speak.  I read and enjoy and in the midst of the reading my mind takes off on a tangent.  Georges Grouse did that for me in his post called “Dog Days.”  You might want to read it if you have not done so, but he made me think of getting rid of wasps and hornets.  I was forced to take that action recently.  Bees I consider friends or at least believers in peaceful co-existence.  Wasps and hornets are the terrorists of the insect world.

I believe in reading directions.  This is doubly true when dealing with vicious insects.  The can I held in my hand said you get them when they are sleeping.  I knew that but I wanted to be reminded.  So I followed the directions.  It must have worked because I lived to tell about it.  I have memories of those cartoons with clouds of angry creatures following Elmer Fudd.

Satan seems to have read the can.  He knows that the best way to get to God’s people is to get them to go to sleep or at least be dormant.  He does everything he can to get us that way.  We often help.  When we are on mental recess he works to water down what little awareness we have left.  He tells us that sin is cultural conditioning, not God defined.  He tells us that words are not important.  He tells us that a loving God would not act the way the Bible says He will act.

This works in politics too.  We get agitated but the ruling classes know that if they can wait it out our attention will turn to the weather or sports very soon. 

Be alert.  Be aware.  Read the Book and think about what it says.  Compare what it says to every event that faces you.  The drive home isn’t over until you pull into the driveway.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-77, New Terms: Scapegoat

I would like to recommend that the people of this country stop trying to make teachers the scapegoat for all that is wrong in our country.  Certain people can ignore what I have to say because they have the right to gripe.  If you have participated in a Tea Party rally, written your congressman in the past year, voted in all elections after carefully considering the issues involved and the records of the candidates, if you live within your means and didn’t try to buy a house you could not afford, in short, if you are a thinking, responsible, informed adult then this does not apply to you.  I often tell people, if they don’t vote, then don’t complain.

This should not be a new term but I find that many people don’t get out much.  The term comes from the Old Testament.  The first mention is in Leviticus 16:8.  Two goats were picked to be used in a ritual of atonement.  One goat was sacrificed on the altar.  The other had the sins of the people dumped on it and it was released into the wilderness.  It was the one that received the blame for the sins of others.  Thus a scapegoat is blamed for the failure of others.  Teachers make convenient scapegoats for the problems of society.

But let me share something with you, teachers did not appoint the federal judges that keep making a joke of our laws.  Teachers have never passed a federal budget.  Teachers have never set free criminals.  Teachers have never written EPA regulations.  Do you get the point?  Teachers are too incompetent to have done these things.  They are also too busy being nice.

Teachers as a whole are helpers, not radicals.  They are healers not warriors.  They are warm and fuzzy and just as uninformed as the general population.  Because they have been to college people expect them to be above the pack, but they are not.  That is why the union organizers have been so effective at organizing them.  Like their students, if it doesn’t hurt them right now, it is not a pain.  I was a union rep for our school for a few years.  Usually I was the only dissenting voice.  I finally gave up because the deck was so stacked and I was losing my hair because my head was being patted so much.  We had an issue that we voted on once.  I don’t remember what it was specifically but I was against it.  Our school voted against it in a simple majority type of way.  The elementary school across the street voted for it unanimously.  The worm in the apple is that the school across the street never sent a single rep to any meeting I was at.  They were simply a bunch of nice people doing what they were told.  They are typical of teachers.

Does this excuse teachers for their lack of leadership.  No.  It simply puts them in the same category as the rest of you.  The country has major issues.  We need to deal with them.  It will mean that every individual will need to bite the bullet.  It will require being responsible for our own lives and refusing to expect others to pay for our joy ride.  It means growing up.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-47, Immortal Quotes: “Give a man a fish,...”

The way I heard it originally was “Give a man a fish, you feed him for today.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life.”  There are other variations.  Trying to track it down has many sources saying it is a “Chinese proverb.”  Of course everything seems to go back to the Chinese from bicycles to fishing.  One source specifies Lao Tzu as the original.  Another says it is an Indian proverb. 

It is one of the hardest thing for some people to learn.  Sometimes helping people does not help them.  Often if makes them weaker by making them dependent.  At school the kids often get upset because I won’t give them answers they can find themselves.  They have a million ways of trying to trick me and I can only conclude because they try so hard that in the past the tricks have worked.  Teachers love to be helpers but the warm fuzzy way is not always the best for the student. 

I have been told that Alcoholics Anonymous have a term for this kind of person:  Enablers.  They are people who protect the alcoholic and shield them from having to face the reality of their situation.  They can keep recovery from happening.  We all could use that lesson.

Teach people to fish.  Demonstrate and transfer the skills necessary for life.  Do not do the fishing for them.  It may feel good to you, it is disaster to them.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-30, Charity that Destroys

The Bible is full of expressions of God’s concern for the poor.  The concern extends beyond what we are used to by telling the poor not to join the ranks of the oppressors and take advantage of those who are weaker.  Like everything else that God teaches us there is a balance.  Unlike other systems, Biblical Christianity does not assume that you are poor because you are evil or that being rich makes you righteous.  Although the two effect each other, they are really separate qualities.

Our society has forgotten that.  Part of the attack against biblical Christianity is this idea that if someone is poor, it is because someone else has cheated them or taken advantage of them.  That is not what the Bible teaches.  Read Proverbs.  Yes it talks about oppression and cheating.  But it also talks about lack of planning, sloth and indolence. 

So how do we respond to the needs around us?  Let me cop out:  It depends.  Holy living is hard.  It requires that we engage our brains and look at the situation.  I know that there are those who give a dollar to every beggar outside every 7-11 and feel good about it.  Good for you.  You have just been an enabler.  You have contributed to their destructive life style.  They may die someday because you have been so “loving.”  You say you can’t judge them.  Okay, don’t judge them.  Give your dollar to someone you judge as worthy instead of someone you are afraid to judge.

People raise there children this way.  They make no demands, protect them from all challenges and allow them to set their priorities.  Then they wonder why the child can’t find a job or be successful.  The “love” has destroyed them.

The Bible makes a difference between the deserving poor and the sluggard.  One is in a tough situation from no fault of their own.  It may be a father who works hard, long hours but can’t get ahead.  A may be a mother of young children who has a husband struck down by disease.  It may be an entire community in the midst of drought.  These people are worthy. 

The sluggard is the one who is poor because they won’t work.  I once had a man come and tell me he needed fifty dollars.  He said he was willing to work for it.  It sounded so sincere until he said he only had twenty minutes.  Another wanted me to let him sleep in my back yard.  I bought him a meal and talked to him.  In the conversation I found that he had lied to and cheated every friend and family member he had to the point that they would not help him any more.  And he wanted me to take their place. 

Helping people without destroying them is hard work.  It takes time and effort on our part and requires a willingness on their part.  You need to be willing to teach.  They need to be willing to learn. 

So save your dollar for the waitress that is hustling to take care of your table.  Maybe you could give it to the guy who mows your lawn.  Your dollars are limited.  Seek the wisdom to invest them as a steward not just a warm heart.

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