Opus 2024-072: The Nap of Luxury

Does God ever take naps?

I don’t mean this in a sacrilegious way, it is more just a curiosity.  We were made in the image of God.  We enjoy your naps.  Do we need them?  I don’t know.  But we certainly do like them.

God, taking a nap could be just a way in which He finds joy in his existence.  Wouldn’t be necessary, because God is not needy in any way.  It would be something that is built into His being that He finds great pleasure in.  It is possible that He trades off with the other persons in the trinity and they sleep one at a time.  It could be that He goes into an automatic mode when He sleeps, but a part of Him keeps track of all the things He needs to do.

It could be that the times when we have natural disasters are times in which He is taking a nap.  Now it feels like I’m crossing the line into sacrilege or blasphemy.

Is there any indication that Jesus took a nap?  I don’t think so.

The Bible does have something to say about taking naps.  The subject comes up several times in Proverbs.  Here is one,

(Pro 6:10 KJV)  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
(Pro 6:11 KJV)  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

It would seem that naps are a path to failure.  I guess I just answered my original question.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-242: Political Theater in Proverbs

I want to share something I came across in Proverbs today.  As I read it my mind went to a recent political display that most of us have been following.  I will mention no names or point any fingers although I am probably shaking a fist.  It starts with this,

(Proverbs 6:16 KJV)  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

I have read that many times and reflected on the verses that follow.  Usually I am looking to get my own act together but today it seemed like something that should have been covered by the MSM.  Read this and ponder.

(Proverbs 6:17 KJV)  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

I’m going to guess you didn’t need to ponder too long.  I have this feeling that certain faces and actions came to your mind without me saying anything.  If not then you have been playing video games too much.

The things we have seen have created a lot of rage in me and probably in you.  Keep in mind that they are an abomination to God.

It is good to be on the right side.  Again, I will let you fill in the names.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-089: Hate as a Red Herring

We are called haters if we call a spade a spade.  We are nasty when we speak truth to a power that the left doesn’t like.  We are mean spirited when we expect people to pick up their own trash.  We are selfish and greedy when we expect people to get a job and pay their own bills.  The left with its progressive elite values keeps trying to control and manipulate us by calling us names that have nothing to do with the behavior but sound really bad.

And we fall for it every time.

Maybe we need to embrace their words but do what they do:  Move the needle of meaning.  Maybe we need to have a more fact based hate.  There are some things that deserve hatred. 

(Amos 5:15 KJV)  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

What is worthy of hatred?  God hates divorce.  How do I know?  He said so.

(Malachi 2:16 NAS77)  "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

And notice that He includes in that hatred the person who causes it to happen.  You can’t cop out and say “God hates the sin, not the sinner”.  If you want a list then do a little research on your own.

(Proverbs 6:16 KJV)  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

The antidote to all the hate in the world is not love, it is information and honesty.  It is values based on truth, not emotion.  It is measured by the eternal not the contemporary.

Some people and groups deserve hate.  Islamic terrorists as well as their syncopates:  media terrorists, political terrorists, educational terrorists.  These are people who deliberately set out to destroy the innocent and unsuspecting.  So the solution is not to be void of hate but be selective in its target.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-173: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 9 of ?, Planning ahead

Sometimes the key words are not used but the idea is easily seen in the story.  Most people are aware of Aesop’s fable about the grasshopper and the ant.  Here we see a similar idea in Proverbs.  Lack of planning.

(Proverbs 6:6 KJV)  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

A lot of people have this tremendous sympathy for the grasshopper who played away the summer months.  While the ants were working he was partying.  Now the cold is coming and he comes with his hand out.

We see this in our American culture.  People live high and save nothing.  They run up their credit card bills and file bankruptcy.  They carry no insurance and go to the emergency room.  They eat until they are extremely overweight and want someone to pay for their diabetes medicine.  They do no homework and expect to pass their classes.

I hear certain bits of “wisdom” in our day and age.  All my life I have heard that you can’t make it on one salary.  We have done it.  The problem isn’t that you cannot live on one salary.  The problem is you can’t live like you want to on one salary.  I have heard that you can’t survive on Social Security.  My mother did it.  Of course she was an ant while younger.  My parents had their house paid off when it came time to retire.  Did they have all the luxuries?  No, but they had everything they needed.

So work hard and plan ahead.  Does it guarantee anything?  No, but the chances of having food in the winter are a lot higher than if you expect someone else to work and provide for you.

To be continued...

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...