Opus 2024-096: The Gateway of Creation

I was sitting on the front porch, thinking about how glorious it was, and how blessed I am.  I got to thinking about other perspectives.  I thought of Donald Trump sitting at the top of Trump Tower.  I assume he has a penthouse up there and might sit and rejoice in the vista that he had over the city of New York.  I don’t know what goes on in his mind.  I don’t know his heart, but I know he would enjoy that panorama and I would too if I could go and spend the morning there.  But then I looked out on my front porch and said to myself, “You know, he doesn’t have it any better than I do.”

I thought back to the vistas I’ve had over the years.  I have not always had a front porch looking out over the hill country in Texas, but I will admit I’ve had some great vistas.  I had a view of the forrest and mountains in the high Sierras far from any other human beings.  I knew the glory of the beach at Maui as the sun rose behind me.  But I also have a vista of sitting in a rented living room with boxes piled high in front of me and narrow pathways leading through to the front door.  Even there I was able to rejoice in the God of my salvation with.  I worshiped amidst the piles of boxes and narrow pathways.

What makes the the location meaningful is the presence of God.  The knowledge of him.  Calling upon his name and sensing His response.  It occurred to me that what I was looking at was not just a bunch of plants and bugs and clouds, but the Gateway of Creation.

May you appreciate your vistas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-095: Dark Thoughts: Not Alone

My heart was warmed by what I witnessed in the morning darkness.  Across the street the lady that lives there leaves to go to work early in the morning.  Often it is still dark as it was today.  Sometimes as early as 5 o’clock.  Today she left a little bit later.  It was light enough that she might’ve seen me waving to her.  She started down the road.  She didn’t even get out of sight before she stopped, backed up, went back into her driveway, and got out of the car.  She then went in the house to get whatever it was she forgot, came back out, got in the car again, and proceeded on her way.

I don’t know about you, but I have been there many times.  It is always encouraging to see people who are much younger than me having the same problems in life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-094: Dark Thoughts: Security

As I sit on the front porch and get up and go inside to get another cup of coffee, I always lock the door behind me.  I don’t know why.  It has to do with my not wanting someone to sneak up on me in the dark.  In reality that little lock wouldn’t stop anybody who is determined to get in.

We live in an age of imagined security.  Our little locks would not stop any determine criminal.  Or a big glass windows would not keep anyone out who was determined to get in.  We have a confidence because our culture is based on certain values which make such behavior unusual.

We used to think we were safe in church or at the mall.  Our car was a sanctuary.  If we could get in and lock the doors we were good.

That will be changing.

Part of the reason is that there are more crazy people on the loose.  The authorities have emptied the mental hospitals and jails.  You never know when or where they will show up.  An extension of that is the people who would behave in a civilized manner if they thought there was a consequence for misbehaving.  The way the justice system lets violent criminals go makes them bolder.  The refusal to prosecute people who walk into stores, fill bags with merchandise and walk out without paying is an open invitation to return and do it again.  

People vote with their feet when they can.  They leave blue cities and states.  Businesses close down and if possible relocate.  They are only putting off the day when the deviant find a way to get to them at their new location.  

I am all for people leaving dysfunctional locations.  Too often they bring their politics and opinions with them and that spreads their pollution to the remaining safe zones.  I am watching it happen in Texas.  I assume it is happening in other free states.

As far as possible, draw lines where you live.  Vote like morality matters.  That means finding out who the judges are that believe in the Constitution and who sits on your city council.  If you are on a jury then learn about the concept of jury nullification.  When backed against a wall, or sooner if possible, defend yourself.   

Pray the year does not get too interesting.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-093: Divine Arrogance

As I was contemplating the miraculous and mysterious, my mind bounced over the definition of love given in the Bible.

(1Co 13:4-8 KJV)  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  Charity never faileth:...

One of the thoughts I think I have already shared is that this definition of love helps us understand what the Bible means when it says “God is love”.  It demonstrates what it means when we read “For God so loved the world...”  But I had trouble relating not vauntething itself and not being puffed up.  The NASB translates those as “arrogant” and “not bragging”.

In thinking about love, being non-arrogant, and non-bragging I realize that perhaps this was talking about the relationship within the trinity.  The ideas involve some kind of puffing up that is all hot air and no substance.  How could the source of all things think too highly of Himself?  Some of the chapter talks about us as humans but others relate better to God.  Or maybe it’s better to say that while all of it relates to us as humans some of it relates very well to God.

The Trinity postulates three persons.  It would take a God-sized love to exist as one for eternity.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-092: Meaning

I started thinking about bees having a purpose in life.  Don’t ask me how I got there.  And that worker bee, as long as it could gather pollen and bring it back to the hive, was happy.  To my knowledge it had no sex drive, no interest in philosophy or politics, and certainly was not into origami.  It’s whole being was wrapped up in gathering pollen.  From there I went to the wheat and oats in the field.  Well, actually I went to my oatmeal and I started asking myself what brings fulfillment to an oat plant?

For an oat seed or a wheat stalk the only joy and purpose I could come up with had to do with finding water and reaching the sunlight.  If they could get their roots down to where the moisture was and break the ground to find sunlight, they rejoiced in finding their purpose in life.  Have you ever walked by a wheatfield and stopped to listen to the wheat rejoicing in its purpose?  I don’t have any wheat or oats near me but did ask the wildflowers if they were celebrating.

I did not get an answer.

Obviously, we were not made like the wheat or the honeybee.  We were made in the image of God.  That means that we are not simply satisfied with gathering pollen.  We are not fulfilled by just reaching the water or having the sunshine on our head.  We have deeper drives, deeper needs, and I lust for meaning in our lives.  That is what it means to be created in the image of God.

You were created to subdue and rule the earth, not become compost for a tree.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-091: Rudderless

We are currently in a leadership crisis.  The ship of state seems to be meandering around and having no useful goal.  Our leaders ship billions of dollars to Iran and then say, “Don’t”.  We have a supreme court nominee who claims she does not know what a woman is.  That was bad enough but she was still confirmed.  

We have an absentee father crisis.  Young men have never had the influence of a father and end up burning, looting and brutalizing.  

Why is leadership so important?  People in that position have the authority to make decisions that the rest of us are locked into and forced to live with.  When Jesus came it’s very possible that God was giving Israel one more chance to embrace the God of their fathers.  How that coordinates with the idea that God knew from the foundation of the world that the cross would be necessary, I don’t know.  We are locked in time and have no comprehension of what it means to be outside time.  God knows and operates both in and out.  I don’t have a way of explaining that but, Israel had one more chance, and they blew it.  The thing is, it was not the people of Israel so much as the leaders of Israel.

The gospels continually refer to the Jews.  They talk about the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the elders.  Most of the people in these categories rejected Jesus as the Messiah.  The common people flocked to him to listen to what he had to say.  Granted, many of them just came for the free bread, but if there was anyone who is willing to respond to Jesus, it was the common people.  Their opinion was never considered.

We see this in the early church.  The common people responded to the teachings of the disciples.  Although there were exceptions, the early church was made up of slaves, workers and women.  The heresies and controversies were the product of the educated leaders more than the majority.  We see it today as liberal leaders take their denominations and congregations down the road of wokeness and turn their back on Jesus.

It is vital that we get concerned about the leadership.  We have disasters happening both politically and spiritually.  We will be judged by the leaders that we pick and support.  It may not be individual.  You may be a faithful believer in a sea of apostates.  You will go to heaven but the church and country will burn.  You may be a patriotic American but if you have a communist judge, hello jail time.

And don’t hide behind the “Jesus is my leader” mantra.  We know Jesus is our leader.  And one of the things he’s leading us to do is to pick godly leaders.  It might even mean that you will need to accept the burden yourself.

We are having run-offs in the primary round.  On the ballot are appraisal district candidates.  We also have school boards and a passel of other places where leadership is needed.  At the very least, pray.  Start there.  Then move on to vote and look for chances to speak up.  If the country crumbles you will at least know that you did what you could.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-090: Internet Gossip

The internet is replacing the church prayer chain as the primary source of gossip in our culture.  If you have been around some churches they have prayer chains organized that rapidly deteriorate into a place to find out all the juicy stuff happening.  It was an early form of Facebook or Instagram.  I say that never having used prayer chains, Facebook or Instagram.

Even when the internet was accessed by dial-up modems it was hailed as a great source of communication and information.  As search engines matured and the speed of access sped up the possibilities became endless.  Unfortunately it went in directions that the innocent were not prepared for.  Who knew that Russian brides were a path to porn?  And then there is the matter of trust in what you read.  The internet has become a great source of nonsense and distortion.

Most of what you find on the Internet could be classified as gossip. People have always had the choice. We have always had the choice of whether they listen to someone who speaks from knowledge and experience, or listening to someone who is upset, because aunt Mabel snubed them in the grocery store. Most of the Internet is aunt Mabel.

Consider how easy it is for the mysterious “them” to modify sources of information such as Wikipedia.  What is even more evil is when they start changing definitions in on-line dictionaries.  

The information is still out there.  You may need to keep digging and rewording your searches in order to get past the censorship of the elites but much is still waiting to be accessed.  As in so much of life, keep your brain turned on and your baloney meters on high.

homo unius libri