Opus 2024-007: Killer Splinters

People die from splinters.  Splinters kill.

I assume we have all had them.  When I was a child and got a little, tiny piece of wood under my skin my mother would be forced to remove it in the face of my squirming and screaming at the torture.  Now if I get one I usually dig it out myself, or if it is too awkward, I have someone else do it with no drama.  Maturity does wonders.  

Still, people do die from splinters.

We are all different.  We respond differently.  Our hygiene and immune systems are different.  The probability of infection is a big issue.  There are so many weird bugs out there.  They all seem to be out to live off of us even if it kills us in the process.  What do we do?

Should we mandate a national program to prevent splinters?  We could have inspectors going around looking for objects that might make a hole in us.  We could have subsidies for varnishes and paints to cover over dangerous surfaces.  We could require a daily inspection in elementary school to make sure that the innocent children are not at risk.  Maybe home visits to insure that parents are keeping the home environment safe.  Perhaps we could require the purchase of splinter insurance by anyone wishing to leave their home.

Or maybe we could just learn to remove them and wash the wound.  It is something called personal responsibility.  Sorry, I know those are obscene words in some circles.

Be alert.  The world is out to get you.  Don’t give it any help.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-006: A Place for Law

If you are a Bible reader you may have been puzzled by the different attitudes toward the Law.  Usually this refers to the Law of Moses.  Part of that law is the Ten Commandments, which most people have heard of even if they can’t name them.  It would also contain instructions for the sacrificial system, eating kosher and treating common health issues.

Most Christians would say that the Law of Moses does not apply to us for at least two reasons.  First, we are gentiles and the Law applies to Israel.  Second, when Jesus died on the cross He paid the debt owed for the sins of mankind and we have moved into the age of grace.

As you read the New Testament you find that there is a lot of negative press for the law. There are two reasons people bad mouth the Law.

One is because you have embraced the glory of grace.  This is where Paul is coming from.  He teaches that salvation comes from grace.  All Christian agree with that.  We don’t need a sacrificial system based on the blood of animals any more.  Salvation is a gift based on trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus to pay for our sins.  It can be a tremendous source of liberty.

But there are others who have a different reason, at least in my opinion.  Some reject any call to righteous living or requirement for morality because they want to live an unrestrained life of personal gratification.  Their problem is not with the Mosaic law.  Their problem is with the concept that they need a savior.  They fall into the same trap that Satan laid for Eve in the garden.  

(Gen 3:5 KJV)  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Self-centered ego is the condition of all human beings at birth.  Part of that is dealt with by adults who help the children mature.  Eventually it is a matter between the new adult and God Himself.  Most modern philosophies that reject the idea of a strick moral code do so becaue they think that they are gods and have the right to determine what is right.

This has many names.  One of the best is “narcissist”.  This can be hidden under many differnt covers.  Some people are known for their benevolence.  What most don’t see is that they expect some kind of pay-back.  If they don’t reap then they stop sowing in your direction.  Some are considered anti-social but often that is just an attitude toward people they think are below them.

This attitude is what we are seeing in the elites of the world today.  They think rules are only for the little people.  They think us common folk are bacteria infecting the world.  They really look down on you.  Law?  For their subjects.  Due process?  In your dreams.  The pursuit of happiness?  What have you been drinking.

The masses could bring them in line without violence if we would simply stop enriching them with our irresponsible spending and following their orders when they are clearly immoral.  I again urge you to use the power of the pocketbook.  Most of these people do nothing to bring wealth into the world.  They just manipulate paper and us.

Learn to discern and learn to resist.  Our lives depend on it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-005: New Terms: Crony-Justice

Just as crony-capitalism has perverted the residue of capitalism and the free market, so crony-justice is perverting the rule of law and the Constitution.

In the brainwashing that has been going on for at least a generation certain concepts have been reworked and redefined.  Capitalism is one of those.  Dragged under the bus is the idea of a free market.  Capitalism was a system developed to allow groups of people to combine their resources, their capital, and share not only the risks but also the profits of a major enterprise.  At first is was probably the wealthy that got involved, but in time the concept of stocks made it possible for even common people to get on board.

One of the early examples of this that most can understand involved the spice trade to the Indies.  Pepper, cinnamon and other spices were available from the mysterious East.  What was available came through the caravans crossing the world of Islam and the profits were reserved for Muslim traders.  When the European explorers found a way around Africa and across the Indian Ocean to India it made these commodities available to European traders.  It was a long voyage and full of risk but the payoff was incredible.  

Let me give you an example from my lecture notes of bygone years.  In 1497 Vasco de Gama sailed with four ships and found a way around Africa to India.  He returned two years later.  In the process he lost two ships and two thirds of his crews.  In spite of those loses he sold his cargo and made 60 times the cost of the voyage.  My notes say this came from Bernstein, Paul.  History of Civilization, Volume I:  to 1648, 1960.

Groups of investors would pool their money to send out multiple ships and the odds were that they would get rich.  In our lifetime, you could have invested in Microsoft at its beginning and be living in the lap of luxury.  

Then the government gets involved and the whole equation changes.  We see this in American history on the issue of tariffs.  The northern states that had an industrial base wanted high tariffs to protect their factories and workers.  The South wanted no tariffs because they imported everything and did not want the high prices that protectionism brought.  This issue almost started a civil war long before slavery became the catalyst.  

We now have seen this blossom into full blown crony capitalism.  This is a situation where big business and government get together to line their own nests at the expense of the general population.  A good example would be in the laws passed with the noble concern of making life accessible for the handicapped.  In these laws there were a lot of requirements for businesses that reached a certain size.  If you were already big you were grandfathered in or at least given a long period of time to put in handicap access in restrooms, elevators and doorways.  If you were a small business on the verge of moving up the cost was prohibitive and thus you were destined to stay small and not provide competition to the big guys.

Another name for crony capitalism is fascism.

We are seeing the same process in our justice system.  I am sure there has always been corruption.  I will accept the fact that there are conservatives who are effected by partisanship.  I also know that left wing, ideologue judges are in the process of ignoring justice and advancing a left wing agenda.  All you need to do is see the way in which Marxist prosecutors and judges have excused violent criminals with mild reprimands and for lesser “crimes” thrown conservatives in jail for years.  The only way you can be sure of having justice is to avoid the justice system.  Instead of the rule of law we have crony-justice in place.

Both gilded capitalism and gilded justice make use of the old terms.  This is part of the method of the progressives based on the philosophy of deconstructionism.  It is deliberate and has been in motion for a long time.  They use time honored words and phrases but they mean exactly the opposite of what they actual say.  They will not be happy until they bring about the violence they claim we are starting.  Their happiness will be short lived when they find out how their Marxist overlords treat the traitors that put them in place.

It will be no consolation for the rest of us.

So pray first, then act.  Stand up.  Speak out.  Vote.  Choose which businesses you support and stay off the radar.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-004: Whom Is Being Measured

If you are reading the prophetic portions of the Bible, one of the major themes is the disobedience of Israel and the punishment God has in store for them.  Usually it is a call for repentance as much as a threat of destruction.  Usually it is ignored.  Modern America has a lot in common with ancient Israel.

How does God measure the spiritual status of a nation.  Take Israel as an example.  Which has more influence on God’s decision, the attitude and actions of the king, or the attitude and actions of the general population?  How much original thinking did the ancient Jewish people do?  Were they just repeating what their betters said or were they reading and deciding on their own?  I don’t know if we can know but the result seems to be the same:  Rebellion and rejection.

I’m thinking in terms of the nation of Israel and the evil that appeared so many ways.  Does God come down on the nation because the king is evil or does he reject the nation because the people turned away from him?

It makes a difference to us today.  If God only considers the elites, we are toast.  There are very few people at the top of any segment of our society that even pay lip service to the God of the universe.  Once you get down to where most of us peel our potatoes the numbers change a bit.  

The book of Proverbs points out the kind of attitude that is necessary,

(Pro 30:8-9 KJV)  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

There is a sweet spot in the middle of the wealth spectrum that we need to be in.  One reason that the top 1% ignore God is because they are so full that they don’t think they need God.  At the other end you have people who get desperate and do even stupider things than ignore God.  We want to be in the middle ground.  We want to be there not just for our personal well being but for the health of our nation and ultimately our world.

I hope God is more patient with us than He was with Sodom and Gomorrah.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-003: On the Street: Dog Collars

As I approached the turn-about point on my daily walk one of the dogs on the corner came through the fence and after me.  I wasn’t really threatened.  It was a small dog and not super aggressive, and I had a nice walking stick with a heavy head.  But I worried about the dog becoming road mush, so I went up to the door on my way back and had a talk with the owner.

In our discussion he pointed out that several of his dogs had huge collars, big balloon type things around their neck.  He said that was to keep them from going through the fence.  He was aware of the problem and I assume he will deal with it.  Since I have no emotional attachment to the dog that is good enough for me.  And I will always have my walking stick.

My thoughts went to what the Apostle Paul called his thorn in the flesh.  I am sure that the dogs felt that way about their clown collars.  Could it be that a thorn in the flesh given by God is really a collar to keep us from going places we’re too stupid to avoid?  No, I am not implying that you are stupid.  I am stating that you probably do things that are stupid.  Make whatever application you want.  I know it applies to my life but I may be the only one.

May your thorns be gentle enough to bear and sharp enough to get your attention.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-002: Servanthood Remains Unpopular

I think it was an army commercial that said, “Be all you can be.”  Then you had the hamburger that told you, “Have it your way.”  We have a generation of Cafeteria Catholics who have infected the Protestant into Beatific Buffet fans.  The concept of a business making a profit by giving the customer what they want has infiltrated all of our society.  It came to the church in the form of “seeker friendly” services.  Instead of “repent and be saved”, it became “Don’t worry, be happy.”

We want to be social workers not servants. The idea of being a pastor and a minister is being bypassed by a generation that wants personal fulfillment instead of fitting the mold of previous generations.  That could be progress but it doesn’t seem to be working that way.  Now they’re going for a specific and specialize ministries to the down-and-outers. They have forgotten that we are called to serve others, not to serve in positions that pay well and make us noble while we reach out to those less blessed than we think we are.

Part of this is a response to a “guest speaker” we had at church Sunday.  He had a ministry to college students that really sounded exciting.  One of his goals was to raise enough support so his wife could quit her job and spend more time working with the young women that were coming to them.  You got the impression that they were lined up out the doors.  What I heard was here is another guy who wants to do something noble and he is not above putting his wife to work to pay for it.

Have you wondered why your pastor’s sermons don’t seem to be that powerful?  Maybe it is because he is spending his time drinking coffee with “prospects” rather than in the study risking spilling coffee on his Bible.  It could also be that the congregation expects them to be hold their hands instead of holding them up in prayer.  It is hard to say.

People forget that the word “minister” means “servant” and in the Greek New Testament the word in the original actually refers to slave status.  That is not popular today.  Perhaps it is time to have a revival where we sing songs like “I Surrender All” and mean it.

Blessings.

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