Opus 2024-171: Lessons of Hide and Seek

We had the grandchildren over today and I was drafted for a game of hide and seek.  The four year old didn’t have a clue.  He told me to hide behind the door, counted to three and then came and found me.  We switched roles.  He went and hid behind the door, while I was still watching.  We both screeched when I “found” him.  My granddaughter walked by him in his bright green shirt when he was playing turtle on the floor in front of the couch.  She did not see him.  Needless to say we all had a great time.

It also taught me something about our American population.  Like my grandchildren, they don’t have a clue.  They don’t see things in plain sight.  They never look in corners.  They are as mature as those kids were and they often have just as good a time.  The polls say that a third of Americans still would rather have Biden in the White House with prices that have doubled than to have someone who posted mean tweets which effected them just how?

If you live next door to one of that third, or have one in the family, you need to realize they will never understand what you are talking about.  They believe Joe when he says he as endorsed by the Border Patrol.  They think the devil wears an orange suit.  It is about that simple.

That means that the other two thirds have to step up to the plate.  It means speaking up.  It means taking a stand.  It also means getting right with God and living a life of repentance.  That is actually the hard part.  

November is coming.  We keep saying the current election is vital.  If you don’t believe it is true then just look at the condition of the country compared to four years ago.  It is hard to believe anyone could destroy things so quickly.  They did.  Once again, it is the most important election of our life time.  Maybe they all are.

I hope to be seeing you on the other side.  I pray that the rule of law will be revived.  I know that a lot of people need to go to jail.  I dream that violence will not be necessary.  It was a good life while it lasted.

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 2024-169: On the Street: Clear Skies

As I was returning from a shopping trip I listened to some music.  A song came up that I was not familiar with but the theme was well know, the unclouded sky.  The clear sky scenario went on and on.  They were really excited about not having any clouds in the sky.

I had a different view of the matter.  It was central Texas and the temperature was at least in the mid 90s.  It was hot.  One of the reasons it was hot was the clear skies.  If every day of the year was like this it would not take long to turn the countryside into a dust bowl.  Sunshine is wonderful, in reasonable amounts.  Clouds and rain are necessary for life.  Face it, there are times when you like to listen to the rain on the roof.

Sunshine, like most of life is a matter of balance.  Too much of any good thing becomes an ungood thing.  Be grateful for what I call Missouri weather because that is the first place I heard the statement about waiting a few minutes and it would change.

Variety is not just the spice of life.  It is a requirement.

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 2024-167: Uncreated

Cain complains,

(Gen 4:14 KJV)  Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

In reading this passage, a question comes up that also appears other places.  Who are these people that Cain is worried about?  Where did they come from?  We know that Adam and Eve were created.  We know that the animals were created.  We have no record of any other people being created.

We see the same situation in regard to angels and those called the sons of God.  What about the wives for the children of Adam and Eve?

We talk about the two people in the Bible who never died, what about the ones who were never created?

We don’t know because the Bible doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say because, if you will forgive me, we don’t need to know.  This is not the need to know of a security clearance, it is simply that it is not important for our advancement in righteousness.

Of course the fact that the Bible does not say is not a barrier for people who want to share answers that don’t exist.  We have theories.  We have opinions.  We have a lot of hot air.  That is okay as long as we are clear that some things are just our opinion or a quoting of tradition.  There is often a difference between a good theory and truth.

Questions are good.  Keep asking.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-166: Dark Thoughts: The Quiet That Isn’t

Recently I had a discussion where I mentioned how quiet the front porch was before sunrise on Sunday.  It’s so quiet I can hear my ears ringing.  Other days of the week there are brief moments like this, and I find myself enjoying the quietness.

Today I recognize the fact that it’s not as quiet as I think it is.

The bugs are out giving a concert.  I don’t know what they are.  They look like fat grasshoppers.  They might be katydids.  They might be some other obscure form of life.  They are Texas big and make Texas noise.  It doesn’t get quiet, it just supplies a natural background noise.

And as I think back before the grasshoppers started giving a concert, the local animals like to check in too.  I can hear donkeys braying across the valley.  Other animals make their contribution.  And then the birds will join in.  It’s never really all that quiet.  It’s just that the quiet that I experience seems that way.  It seems more natural.

Have a blessed day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-165: Unrecorded Conversations

Don’t you wish the NSA was around at the beginning of history.  I find myself wondering what kind of things God had to say to Adam and Eve.  We have one short record of their conversations, but the familiarity with which God spoke to them tells me that this is not the only time that he talked with him.  What did they talk about?  If only Siri or Alexa could tell us.

What about Abraham and the other patriarchs?  What about Moses?  What did God have to say to the prophets that did not get recorded?  I would imagine that God spoke to a lot of people at different times and no one bothered to write it down.  Did the farmer in Judah ask God to explain how to get better quality honey?  Did his daughter ask it the boy next door liked her?

Or take unrecorded events.

Paul’s shipwrecks are not written down.  The one we have recorded took place after this.

(2Co 11:25 KJV)  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

We do not know about the other two.  We know that he also wrote at least one more letter to the Corinthians.  I would expect that he wrote letters to other churches too, but we have no record.  

I would imagine that Satan visited God and more times than are recorded in the book of Job.  He must have had some interesting reports about what he saw.  I guess God figured we would have enough trouble deciphering the book of Job so He didn’t give us any of the others.

Then take the last verse in the Gospel of John,

(Joh 21:25 KJV)  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Now that would make some interesting reading.

homo unius libri