Opus 2023-230: The Answer

There are many benefits delivered by a men’s Bible Study.  Obviously you get to study the Bible, or at least that is the goal.  You have a chance to get to know people on a deeper level.  You gain insights that you could not get on your own.

You also find out you are not the only one.

Part of the time we spent together was spent in a project to help a widow in the church.  In the process of discussing our lives one guy pointed out that his wife wondered why he had time to work on church projects but not enough time to do what she wants.  Suddenly we were all nodding our heads.  It seems this is a common concern of the women in our lives.

I guess it is just one of those mysteries that has no answer, except, “Yes, Dear.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-229: Know Your Place

Why is it important to practice thrift and accumulate wealth to leave your children?  Liberty.  Having enough equity to be able to say “no” and make good decisions is a great source of freedom.  It gives flexibility.  

Why are the government and the elites so concerned to destroy the middle class and rob them of their wealth?  Liberty.  They hate it.  They believe, deep in what they use for a heart, that they are better and know what is best for us.

Part of that vision is locking us up into government run housing so they can keep track of us.  That way if we get too close to them they can send out some lackeys to make sure they don’t have to put up with our inferior vibes.

Part of that vision is making sure everyone has a smart phone and a chip in their car so that the three letter agencies can find us when they want us.  And we go along with this.  We let them install smart meters on our homes so they can decide if we are running the A/C too much and make adjustments for us.  After all, they know best.  Add to that the microphones and cameras that are in just about every electronic device in your house.

Part of that vision is to go to electronic currency.  That way they can track every purchase you make and even cut off access to your funds if you do something irresponsible like refuse a vaccine.

Some of these actions we have little control over.  Others we can slow down and fight if we are serious about that little thing, liberty.  Pray.  Speak up.  Let them know they are opposed and let your neighbors know they are not alone.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-228: Thanks Thoughts: Happy Extra’s Day

Did you ever stop to think how the dance scenes with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would look without the extras?  Where would Superman have been without a crowd to stand, looking up and shouting, “Look!  Up in the sky....”  Where would you get an excuse for being late if it were not for all the peasants clogging up the highway in front of you?

We don’t stop to think about what unknowns strangers do to make our day.

Somewhere in the world is the worker who put the ink in the bottle that I use to fill my fountain pen.  Someone picked my coffee beans.  Someone assembled the drawers on my grandfather’s desk that I use every day.  You get the picture.

There are so many people who make so many little contributions that make the world go round.  Where would we be if they did not show up for work.  Where would they be if I had not made my littel contributions through the years.  It is awesome how a free market makes it all come together and we can enjoy it.

So, take a moment and thank God and all those unseen faces for the contributions to your life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-227: Twenty Years Later

Two decades ago we experienced a moment of infamy.  Devout Muslims struck at the Great Satan and left a pile of rubble and thousands dead.  The nation stopped and stared.  

Two decades ago we experienced a moment of unity.  The nation came together.  Heroes emerged and went into the rubble looking for survivors.  Political party loyalty was set aside as the entire nation tried to deal with what had happened.  To channel Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,...”

Two decades ago we saw George Bush rise above himself at ground zero and rally a nation in shock.  If only he had followed with more of that we might be a different people today.

Today we are divided again.  I don’t go along with the people who proclaim we must do away with partisan politics.  Partisan politics is a sign of a free people.  The problem is that the elites that have taken over the country are trying to make us united by coercion.  They are doing to the Constitution what the airplanes did to the twin towers.  The difference is that no one claimed the towers survived.  Today many see no problem with the destruction of the rule of law and due process.

We are still under attack.  We must pull together around the ideas that made America a city on a hill and a beacon to the world.  Keep talking.  Be courteous but do not back down.  Work to beat back the forces of evil.  The airplanes took down a few building and killed a few thousand people.  The Progressives* are working to enslave an entire nation.

And never forget, not only the forces that hated America twenty years ago, but the ones that hate America today.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-226: Election 2024: Vivek? Maybe Someday

Everywhere I look I see the face and name of Vivek Ramaswamy.  At first I ignored it but eventually I took the click bait.  I find him an interesting person.  I find him an unknown quantity that needs consideration.  I find him to be totally human in the fact that he is a mixed bag.

I have watched a few interviews.  At this point I can’t remember which ones except the beginning of his conversation with Bill Maher.  The bit I watched convinced me that they both had big gaps in their education and that Bill Maher is not as funny when he is drunk as he is in the clips I occasionally watch.  

In addition to that I have finished Ramaswamy’s first book, Woke, Inc.  I am in the process of reading his second, A Nation of Victims.  I love libraries.  He writes well.  If you like what you see on video I would suggest you read his books with your mind turned on.  You will see the enthusiasm for America but you will also see that he has drunk a bit of the Kood-aide and doesn’t seem to know it.

He is an interesting combination of innovative thinker and naive sponge.  One simple example of the concept appeared in his discussion with Bill Maher.  He stated his opinions and was not going to back down.  When it came to discussion Christopher Columbus he managed to get Maher to admit that Columbus made a contribution.  Well and good.  Too bad they did not leave it there.  I would have been impressed with both of them.  Maher then went on to compliment Columbus on his courage, sailing out into the unknown where everyone thought they would fall off the end of the earth.  He even said everyone believed that.  Ramaswamy agreed with him.  I don’t know if you ever did any reading outside your public school class room but this is one of the popular myths of our age.  When I was researching early explorers I learned that the existence of land to the west was well known.  Columbus knew that the Vikings had tried to plant a colony in the area.  The ancient Greeks had even calculated the circumference of the earth.  The truth is that the only people who believed the world was flat were farmers who lived in small, isolated communities.

Too bad our modern intellectuals also live in small, isolated communities.

I find this tendency in Ramaswamy.  I am an uncompromising Trump supporter in this election but I am looking down the road.  I wonder if he will grow into a good candidate.  I hope to come up with more as I finish his second book.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-225: Question Tangents

Anyone who attends church or synagogue is familiar with the verse,

(Psa 8:4 KJV)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

My mind always goes on tangents.  I find myself looking at it from the other side.  What is God that we are mindful of Him?  Or perhaps you could phrase it, “What is man that we are mindful of God?”

This is a real question.  Why do people contemplate God, or gods?  What even brings such a topic to our minds?  As far back as we have any historical records there seem to be people seeking to know the answers to the big questions like, where did we come from and is there meaning to life?  

I am sure that being created in the image of God has something to do with it.  We are designed to look at the night sky and wonder what those lights are.  We visit the zoo and recognize a basic difference between us and the animals.  Why are all of them on one side of the bars and we are on the other?  We are weaker, slower and helpless for years, yet we are at the top of the food chain.

A second reason is found in the Bible verse that brought up this question.

(Psa 8:3 KJV)  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
(Psa 8:4 KJV)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Notice that verse 3 is reflected in my statement about animals and the sunrise. The animals don’t contemplate infinity.  I am not sure they really enjoy the sunrise splendor.  Many of them don’t even know to come in out of the rain.  Of course I notice that my wife cleans out the cat’s liter box and the cat has never worried about mopping the kitchen floor.

I rejoice in the ability to think even if I don’t have a lot of answers.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-224: Shared Ignorance

I am always amazed at the truth gaps that seemingly informed people have.  Often it is people who are self-styled informed rather that actual.  This hit me recently when listening to a discussion between Bill Maher and Vivek Ramaswamy.  They were having a great time.  Vivek got Maher to admit that Columbus might have made a contribution and then he shared his ignorance, probably as a result of a public school education.  They both were saluting Columbus’ valor in sailing into the unknown because everyone knew that they would sail off the end of the world.

This is ignorant.  It didn’t surprise me about Maher but I thought Ramaswamy was a bit more educated.  If you were a peasant farmer who had never been more than an hours walking distance from your cottage then you might think the world was flat.  Everyone else knew it was round.  The ancient Greeks did a good job of calculating the circumference.  Columbus knew that the Vikings had tried to plant a colony on what would become known as North America.  This is information that is readily available if you go beyond CNN.

This is ignorant if you know anything about science, geography and physics.  If the world were flat then the water in the oceans would be running off the edge.  In fact I have seen art work that shows these waterfalls.  Now I ask you, how long would it take for the water to run off so you could walk across what had been the Atlantic?  It is possible that the mid-Atlantic trench would have held a lake that would require a boat, but really, what would keep the water from disappearing?  

The next thing you know people will be trying to tell us that the world is going to boil.

homo unius libri