Opus 2013-171: Plow and Crown: Two Pillars of Liberty

Who are the greatest enemies of the modern left.  Who has done the most damage to the modern leftists dream?  You can see the fear lived out in what the Elitists (Democrats, Progressives, Communists, socialists) are frantic to attack and remove from our culture.  They have special fear and hatred for the legacies of Henry Ford and Samuel Colt.  One gave us mobility and variety.  The other made it possible to defend ourselves from hoodlums, organized crime and government. 
I apologize for that last redundancy. 

Think about the change that Henry Ford brought about.  He turned the toy of rich people into mobility for the masses.  He lowered the price of the automobile so that everyone could afford to drive.  How did that change our culture?  You now can live more than walking distance from your job.  You can shop for the best deals and force stores to keep their prices low.  You can travel farther than you can see for your special dinner, entertainment and education.  Mobility is one of the great freedom producers of our age. 

The left hates that breath of liberty and thus they are doing everything they can to take us out of our cars and make us dependent on mass transit.  It may be a great social experience standing on a platform or by a bench waiting for the train or bus but the cold and wet detract from the pleasure.  Also, more people are mugged at bus stops than in the family sedan.

There is a reason the revolver was called the “great equalizer.”  In the days of muzzle loaders you generally got one chance to deal with a problem.  If you missed, or there was more than one person attacking you, you were toast.  The guns weighed a ton and kicked like a mule.  Then Colt introduced the revolver.  Now you had six chances and if you were good at changing cylinders you had time to reload before they got through the door.  No longer could the local bully scare you for no reason.  Now he never knew when you were packing.  Now it was dangerous to come through your window.

The left hates people being able to take care of themselves.  It kind of makes the nanny state a non-starter.  It does them out of a job and the warm fuzzies that come from being Uncle Sugar.

So stand up for liberty.  Do what you can to keep cars and guns available to more than the rich and their personal servants.

And how about a “Thank you, Henry.  Thank you, Samuel.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-170: On the Street: Open Your Mouth and Close Your Eyes

On the way to work I was bored enough to notice a poster for a wine brand.  It consisted of a guy needing a shave and a babe.  They both sat their with their mouths open like they were going to stick a hot dog in half way.  On the way home from school there is a billboard with a celebrity named Beyonce who has four poses and in all of them her mouth is open.  What is there about modern models and ads that require the mouth to be open? 

It reminds me of the proverb,

(Proverbs 17:28 KJV)  Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Open mouths, anyone?

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-169: On the Street: Going Green

On the way to school I saw a girl riding a bicycle with tires that had lime green sidewalls and pink treads.  It was matched by a pink frame.  Awesome.  I want one.  It gives a whole new meaning to “going green.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-168: The Eternal Red Hot

For over a month a single Red Hot had been sitting in the middle of the floor in the entry way to the men’s bathroom at my school.  I had been walking around it very carefully.  It is a little game I was playing to see how often the place is cleaned.  Today it was gone but the dust that had been around it was still there.  Maybe someone got hungry.

It is kind of childish but I can be that way.  The method to my madness has to do with the waterless urinal that was installed in a fit of green political correctness last year.  I have issues with how a device designed to dispose of body wastes without water can be sanitary.  The answer seems to be chemicals.  Another trade off and I think we lose.  The environmentalists want to use less water to save the world.  To do this they dump chemicals into the system.  It is possible that they are some kind of biodegradable chemicals but I question how effective they are in that case.  I think we have disease waiting to happen.

I have asked around and the only way they are sanitary is if they are serviced regularly.  If the janitors are not moving a Red Hot in the middle of the entryway do you think sanitation is happening in the urinals?

I don’t, but then I don’t believe in unicorns or tooth fairies either.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-167: Anticipate the Sugar Smacks

I was again thinking about eternal life and the resurrection.  Most of the ideas we have are more imagination than they are accurate.  For instance, the idea of heaven.  We will not be floating around on clouds playing harps.  That is a cartoon creation not a Biblical revelation.  True there are times when it mentions joining the angels in singing praise to God but there are other pictures too.

Eternal life will center on the new Earth and the New Jerusalem.  On the new Earth we have pictures of lions and lambs together in peace.  In the city we have jewels and gold that no one will try to steal.  These are snapshots not final statements. 

It is very hard to understand these projections.  God is trying to give us a flavor, a nuance, a taste of the glory that is to come.  How do you describe eternal?  How long does it take to count the infinite?  At this stage in our existence we cannot begin to understand.  We are not capable.  Get this down, if we were able to comprehend what it will be like it would not be from God.  If it won’t be better than we can understand then it probably would not be divine.  Not only will our bodies be changed at the resurrection but our minds will be expanded.

(1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV)  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Since we live in corrupted bodies with corrupted minds we cannot understand what it means to be uncorrupted.  Accept it.  Glory in it.

Think of an infant eating Cheerios and having the time of his life.  He chases them around the tray in front of him.  He watches them fall to the floor.  He sees how far he can throw them.  Eventually he puts one in him mouth and has a revelation.  His world has expanded.  He discovers there is something beyond pureed apple sauce and milk.  He never knew.

That is just the beginning.  He doesn’t even think about Sugar Smacks being in the future and has no comprehension of what that will be like.  Once he has tasted the Smacks there is no going back.  Of course with maturity I can now enjoy Cheerios again but that is after steak, Stroganoff, pizza, tacos and countless other things I could not imagine.  What is waiting down the road in all the ethnic restaurants opening down the road?

Eternal life will be like that.  There is no way we can beginning to comprehend it except with what we know like gold and jewels. 

It will be much better than that or it will be boring and believe me, eternity will not be boring.  Just think of all the computer games that an eternal, omnipotent, all knowing God could come up with.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-166: Headlines: The Real Backlash

If you bother to read the entire article about Anti-Muslim Backlash you find some of the nonsense that diversity training and post modern thinking are bringing to a police department near you.

In the followup of the murder of the off-duty soldier by a Muslim convert you would think the police would be occupying their time trying to limit further attacks but it seems they have other priorities.  Here is what they are doing.

“Since the attack, a number of people have been charged by police after allegedly offensive messages were posted on social media websites.”

I realize that this is not America we are talking about.  I realize that Great Britain is a socialist paradise where the Nanny State meets all your needs and keeps you safe but I thought they had some semblance of freedom of speech.  I guess not.

“Three men - two from Gateshead and one from Stockton - have been arrested by Northumbria Police on suspicion of posting racist tweets.”

Our political leaders want to make us more like Europe.  They want to make hate speech something we can be arrested for.  They have already succeeded in many states.  This is our future if we don’t wake up.  Murderers run the streets and the police are spending their time arresting people guilty of hate speech.

We have something to fear and it is worse than crazed Muslims with hatchets, knives and dynamite.  It is the Nanny State that is here to help us.  What is scary is that in England I could be arrested for writing this.

The crazies are running the asylum.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-165: Headlines: Anti-Muslim Backlash

One of the headlines on the Drudge Report today announced an Anti-Muslim Backlash.  Who would have thought?

Let’s see now....  We had a politician murdered in Denmark, fatwas put out on cartoonists who drew a picture of Mohammad, an author that has been hiding for years, riots in France, riots in Sweden, Christians fleeing Egypt and being murdered in Iraq, and to top it off a British soldier murdered in broad daylight on a street in England.  This doesn’t even bring up 911, Fort Hood and Boston.  After all those are just problems in the colonies.  Then you have a spiritual leader who had influenced the murderer calling him a hero. 

According to the article the backlash took the form of graffiti, name calling and pulling off head scarfs.  It also mentioned attacks against mosques, but gave not details.  Now let me see, you murder a young man going about his business and I pull off your head scarf.

Backlash?  No, this is what we call a subdued response.  The backlash, if it ever comes, has not even started yet.  The Muslim extremists are very brave when it comes to attacking the innocent and the unsuspecting.  They may find that there are people who are ready and able.  I would hope that sanity will invade the Muslims of the world before everyone else loses patience.  All it would take is to believe their teachings will stand the openness of debate and let people listen in an open society.  What are they afraid of, the truth?  A gun to the head works for conversions but eventually it gets turned on the bearer of bad news.

Backlash?  Let us hope we never have to see real backlash.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-164: Headlines: Is It Over?

A quick check of the Drudge Report this morning did not show any new reports about the rioting in Sweden.  Does that mean it is over or has the media just become tired of the topic.  After all, riots by “youths” and “immigrants” only plays so long.

I did not read all of the reports but the ones I did read seemed to be missing two key words to understand what was happening.  The two missing words were “Muslim” and “Islam.”  Did you notice?  They gave the countries that the rioters came from, Turkey, Somalia and the Middle East (yes, I know that is not a country).  They never mentioned that Muslims were involved but since these are all areas where it is dangerous to be a Christian or Jew it would seem logical that these people are Muslims.  Since I know how ignorant the children I teach are, I doubt if they put it together that the Middle East is predominately Muslim.

I noticed they did go out of their way to repeatedly say that the rioters were from all kinds of backgrounds and such but there were no pictures I saw or details given about the diverse nature of the hoodlums.  They are probably justified.  They know if they reported that the followers of Mohammed were participating in senseless violence they would themselves be put in the cross-hairs. 

Wake up people.  You may not have long to smell the roses.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-163: Are You Doing Anything Important?

I hate it when they ask me questions that are both stupid and insulting.  A student came up to me and asked, “Are we doing anything important today?”  I know what she was really asking, “Can I leave your class and go work on the special project another teacher is doing?”  I don’t know exactly what the other teacher said to the child but it would not surprise me if the quote was accurate.

My general response is that I do something important every day.  They still leave and go to their fun activity but at least I have put in my two cents.

One of our teachers is planning a Latino Heritage assembly.  Last week we got a list of students who would be missing Thursday and Friday.  We were not asked, we were told.  In theory a participant can have no more than one “F” in a subject or an “Unsatisfactory” in citizenship.  I have most of these kids.  I have looked at their records.  No one else seems to be checking.

People seem to cling to the belief that children come to school to gain the skills and knowledge that they need to be successful as adult citizens in a free society.  That is why I teach but I don’t live in the illusion that it is why they come. 

The question could really be phrased, “Is it more important that you try to get them to see the patterns of political manipulation that perpetuated racism and bigotry in the post-Civil War South or is it more important that they paint a poster for the assembly next week?”

The answer is obvious to them.  The insult is obvious to me even if it isn’t to the teacher who sent the child.

More money for education.  We need more posters.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-162: Headlines: The Scandal of the Pope Opposing the Devil

It wasn’t there today so it must have not been a big story but when I Googled it I got a lot of hits.  I refer to the recent headline on the Drudge Report about the scandal of the Pope performing an exorcism.  What got my attention was not the Pope casting out a demon but the fact that the tabloids seemed to think this was a scandal.

Really?

Let’s see now, the head of the largest Christian organization in the world attacks the kingdom of the enemy, the Devil.  This is not a man bites dog story.  It isn’t even a dog bites man story.  It should be in the category of “The Sun Came up Today” story.  After all, isn’t fighting the power of Satan the primary job of the head of a Christian organization?

Maybe the mass media needs to get their head out of the Obama Spin Machine and look around them.  They have been doing mindless drivel so long they are shocked when the normal happens.

Maybe we ought to have the Pope visit Hollywood or the New York Times and see what he could do there.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-161: New Terms: Cultural Abuse

The public square is having a tizzy over bullying.  It is part of a mantra of dangers to our self esteem that is being broadcast in order to condition people for the nanny state stepping in to make us feel safe. 

Bullying is often lumped in with concerns about child abuse.  Child abuse, unlike bullying, is a real, life destroying issue.  The confusion comes when our elitest leaders take a real issue and begin the process of piling on by adding all kinds of issues that are not part of the real problem.  The social workers and teachers of the nanny state are supposed to report if they even suspect there is abuse going on.  The person accused has their life ruined and the accuser walks away scot free. 

Then you expand the definition to include such things as neglect and emotional conflict as child abuse.  This opens to door to include almost anything the educator or social worker doesn’t like.  Do you force your child to eat his vegetables?  That is abusive.  If you force him to go to church, it is abuse.  Did you forget to give him his lunch money today?  That is neglect.  Call Uncle Sugar.

I would like to add to the mix.  What I see the adults in public education doing I want to begin calling “cultural Abuse.”  Not physical or emotional but cultural.  We are destroying a generation.

How?

By letting them go through life thinking there are no consequences for their actions.  Day after day I see students wandering the halls and no action is taken.  Students have fifty tardies in one period and nothing happens.  This year out of 218 students we are told that 151 are failing at least one class and are not eligible for promotion activities.  Notice I did not say, “Not eligible for promotion.”  All of them will be moving ahead to the ninth grade.  None will be held back.  The mantra is that it would damage their self esteem.

I suggest that these adults in charge are destroying a generation by destroying their understanding of how the culture works.  In the long run they are destroying the culture.  Thus I am coining a phrase, “Cultural Abuse.” 

I would say, “Coming to a school near you” but I am afraid it is already  there.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-160: Your Tax Dollars at Work

I want to again thank all you tax payers with special kudos to those who voted for tax increases and bond issues to help finance public education. 

Yesterday you provided me with dirty strawberries. 

The background.  I think I have mentioned before that we are participating in Network for a Healthy California.  Teachers are sent off for training.  We are told to include it in our curriculum and keep a log of the time spent.  Currently we are receiving a package of some food and asking the kids to rate it for taste.  This is called the “Harvest of the Month.”

Yesterday it was strawberries.

Picture this.  The bell is ready to ring.  We are supposed to quickly take role and escort the kids to the auditorium for an assembly.  It is a short period so there is no time to spare.  Down the hall comes and adult and a student assistant who have a cart loaded with packages of strawberries.  She gives me two packages.  Someone has thoughtfully typed out a label with my name and room on each package.  They also had included a label which said, “Please wash before consuming.” 

What?  I have no water nor do I have access to water.  How am I going to wash these beautiful pieces of produce?  I have no time.  I am due in an assembly.  On top of that the school has a policy of no food in the classroom.  Or in the building for that matter.

I asked the janitor if he wanted the strawberries.  I was not going to eat them.  I have a policy that I don’t eat anything that has been touched by students.  The janitor laughed and said, “No way.  Do you want me to get rid of them for you?” 

So your tax dollars went into the trash.  Thank you for the hours you worked.  Remember that all of the federal employees who were employed to implement this program also thank you.  All the people who packaged, labeled and delivered it thank you.  The market that sold the produce at top price thank you. 

The children?  They didn’t get any strawberries but we had a great time at the assembly.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-159: Tax Dollars at Work: The Economy Must Be Improving

Many who are employed in the private sector are angry about the salaries and benefits in government jobs.  Some target teachers.  I want you to know that I am perfectly aware that I am lined up at the public trough and living on your tax dollars.  I often thank people for going to work and paying their taxes and the expression is only half tongue-in-cheek. 

Those who hate and blame public education should be happy:  teachers are getting laid off and having their salary reduced.  At our middle school we currently have 29 teachers.  We were told that next year we would have 23 ½ positions for the same number of kids.  That means a lot of people are going to be looking for work next year.  We have also had our salary cut and our contribution to benefits increased, so you can be happy.  We are feeling your pain.  Is the economy getting better yet?

Those who have kids in the public school should be on the phone.  It is often the best and brightest that are being let go.  The number of kids in a room will increase.  Is the economy getting better yet?

Those of you who think the answer is more money should come see out construction projects.  We don’t have money for books, closed our library and are cutting back on janitors.  This summer they are going to redo the central quad.  We are told we will get new concrete walks, sod and concrete benches.  In a district with declining enrollment we are opening new schools.  Like all government operations, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of funds for the projects dear to the hearts of those in charge.  Is the economy getting better yet?

Where will it all end?  The government keeps telling us things are improving.  I am not sure we can take them getting much better.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-158: Cornerstone Considerations: Abuse of Freedom of the Press

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is concerned about some specific protections for our liberty.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Although freedom of the press is not the first concern mentioned, it is in the Top Ten.  Currently there has been concern expressed about this because the Department of Justice has evidently been seeking and obtaining the phone records of journalists in a quest to find out who was leaking information. 

We are hearing a lot of breast beating about the Department of Justice obtaining the phone records for a bunch of spoiled brat reporters who think they are above the law and have the right to destroy the country for a paycheck.  They get people to leak information that can damage our national security and claim it is for us.  This is an ongoing saga. 

What is the real issue here?  I don’t think anyone questions the importance of a free press.  I don’t see that being the matter on the table.  Last I heard, no one was threatening to put any journalists in jail for their irresponsible behavior.  I might like to see it but that is often my partisan concerns.  I understand that the law is supposed to be blind.  Again, “freedom of the press” is not the issue here. 

Freedom of the Press is not the same as freedom of the snitch.  That is what the journalists are concerned about.  They are not worried about their right to publish what they want and have no responsibility for the help or harm that results.  They are protected and if they would honestly do their job as watchdogs on government instead of cheerleaders for the administration the public would be totally on their side. 

What they want is to get people to break the law, their oaths of office and promises they have made and not have to pay the piper.  That is a different issue.  If you want to “leak” half truths and selected information in order to destroy someone who you disagree with politically, go for it.  But be prepared to pay the price if you are caught.  That is also a part of liberty. 

Since I know how the Camel’s Nose under the Tent works I am forced to side with the irresponsible journalists.  If the government wins this they will come after us next.  That doesn’t mean I must agree with the media’s methods, motives or mantras.

Liberty can be very complex.  Tyranny is simple.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-157: Liberty and Law

Anyone who has lived long enough to give advice recognizes that things are changing in America.  Change is a part of life.  Sometimes it is for the good.  Even then it is usually painful.  Few that have a sense of history would say that the changes we are experiencing are for the better.  We are in the process of abandoning personal responsibility and putting the government in charge of our lives.  The sheep may not like the sheep dogs but they fear the wolf more. 

The natural product of a reduction of personal responsibility is an increase in laws and regulations.  We used to understand the principles that were necessary for a culture of liberty.  The concepts of the Golden Rule, Ten Commandments and the rule of law were applied without a myriad of self-help books and gurus.  We were free because we lived by the principles.  We were better regulated by principles than we will ever be under the increasing burden of nonsense laws.

Why are principles stronger than laws?  Why do we have more choices when we require less conformity?  I can apply it best in spiritual terms from the Christian life.  Why does holiness have more power than legalism?  How is it that God can demand us to walk straight and live in righteousness and at the same time say that we are free?

(1 Corinthians 10:23 KJV)  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

The key in the Christian walk is that the Holy Spirit can live in us in such a way that we are motivated by the principles, not fenced in by the laws.  It becomes a personal issue.  We accept responsibility to apply it as best we can.

When we accept a principle we try to apply it in all situations, as broadly as possible.  When we have a law we try to apply it as narrowly as possible and use our creativity to rationalize, break, subvert and ignore.  This is true in our walk with Christ.  This is true as we live in society.

More and more people are being bound by the laws.  That means they think they are free to violate the spirit of the law as long as they do not break the letter.  It is a downward slope for liberty.

Pray for revival.  Pray that people will allow a Holy God to place the principles in them.  This is not some newfangled holy roller idea.  It has been around for a long time.

(Ezekiel 36:26 KJV)  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Pray for revival.  I pray it would start in me.  Please return the favor.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-156: Cornerstone Considerations: Well Regulated Militia

This week I was walking through Walmart to buy a few items and swung by the sporting goods department in the ritual of “Is There Any Ammo Today?”  I was shocked to see several boxes in a caliber that I could actually use.  I bought my limit:  Three boxes.

When I went up to pay, cash of course, the clerk asked to see my ID.  I was a bit mystified.  He looked at it carefully and verified that I was old enough to buy ammunition.  This is silly.  I am 65 years old and have the hair, or lack of it, wrinkles and sags to prove it.  He said it was the law.  This is more than silly, this is the creeping crud of tyranny.

I quoted a well known document to him.

“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

In case you were raised in a liberal home and a public school, that is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

You say, “How does showing your ID infringe?”  Well, I recently wrote about how the knee jerkers go ballistic at the thought of showing ID to vote.  It infringes on the rights of the poor.  Why should I need to show ID to buy something that is necessary for the right to keep and bear arms? 

Tyranny usually does not come over night.  It is more like gaining weight.  It happens one spoon full at a time.  When you get used to that, here comes the next spoon full.  Before you know it you get a bigger spoon.

ID today.  Registration tomorrow.  Confiscation the next day.  They will probably justify it by claiming that they are trying to keep the militia “well-regulated” but I don’t think that is what the Founding Fathers had in mind.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-155:  Nanny State:  Be Helpless

Every time I come up the stairs at school I am faced by a poster.  “Don’t face a bully on your own.”  It may be well meaning but it is really just another drip in the flood of brainwashing going on to perpetuate the nanny state.  There may be some cases when you need help and support, but most bullying situations can only be faced and dealt with by you.  Help will not always be there to bail you out.  Bullies may be cowards, but they are not necessarily stupid.  And how much intelligence does it take to see if anyone is there to help you?

I learned this the hard way when I was a child.  I was made miserable for about a year and a half.  I have written about that before.  The only times I was able to enjoy life was when another kid would come over and make the bully leave me alone for a short while.  The other kids got tired of it and after a time the rescues became very rare.  I was only ceased being a victim when I pushed back.

The purpose of this poster is to condition us for the nanny state.  The well meaning Progressives (liberals, leftists, elitests, Democrats, socialists) want us to believe that only the government and its surrogates can keep us safe.  We are learning not to stand on our own two feet because that might cause us pain, suffering and discomfort.  It also might make us reject them and their high paying jobs.

Don’t believe everything you read.  It doesn’t matter how nice the graphics or frequent the posting.  Think for yourself.  Act for yourself.  In a way this is an extension of the awareness that when seconds count the police are only minutes away.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-154: Discernment Watch: Who Are You?

As I drive onto campus I pass several signs.  One says that visitors are required to register at the office.  A new line was added recently.  It now also says Identification may be required.  The reason for this is that some of our students have restraining orders against one parent.  People need to be screened and might need to prove they have the right to talk to a child.

It is a reasonable precaution.

It would also seem that it is a reasonable precaution to require ID to vote.  If there is a definition of “no brainer” that would be it, or so you would think.  But there are laws making it illegal to ask someone to prove who they are before they cast a ballot.  Think about all the places that you are required to produce ID in your everyday life.  Just a few days ago I was required to show ID to use my Costco card.  I have to show it to have blood tested or to donate a pint.  I had to produce it to a police officer recently.  No one is crying out about how this discriminates against the poor. 

Why are the liberals (Democrats, socialists, communists, progressives, leftists) only concerned about voting?

There is only one real reason to be against ID at the ballot box, a desire to commit voter fraud.  If you are afraid of honest elections you want to do anything you can to control the outcome.  Flooding a precinct with carefully chosen “voters” is a good way to do it.  The Democrats have a long history of this and I doubt if the Republicans have clean hands.  When Kansas was moving toward statehood and was having elections the slave owning Democrats from Missouri crossed over into Kansas and voted for their party.  I have seen different numbers but the ones I use are that with 3,000 people registered to vote, 6,000 votes were cast, and counted.  Needless to say, the Democrats defeated the Whigs in that one.  We are more creative today.  Having the dead vote and pets cast a ballot are sure fire winners if you want to manipulate the system. 

Let me make a strong statement.  People who are against voter ID are anti-American and pro-tyranny.  The only other descriptions I can think of are ignorant or too simple to be allowed to vote.  If you disagree then I would suggest that you fit in one of those categories.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-153: Ode to Old: Third Time’s the Charm

Is it age or just coincidence?  As I was on my way to get something I saw a task I had failed to finish, so I took care of the oversight.  I then returned to my study spot, settled in and realized I had not returned with what I went to get.  That would have been bad enough but that was the second time I had left on that quest, only to be distracted by shiny. 

So I got up again.  Kept my focus and brought back what I needed.

The third time is the charm, as they say.

I hope this isn’t the third time I have written this.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-152: Healthy Insights: Second’s Thoughts

One of the problems with keeping the weight off is that you can’t eat as much as you want.  There is no way around it.  We have a gut because we glut.  I have never seen a box of Cheeze Its that I have not wanted to finish.

One of the great things about keeping the weight off is that you can’t eat as much as you want.  How is that a blessing?  What you can eat tastes so much better.  When you only get a section of baguette for breakfast, it is possible to slow down and savor the flavor.  I write this as I look at the small piece of bread before me.  I am trying to convince myself it is true.

If you stop while you are ahead you don’t have a chance for your taste buds to get satiated and begin to deaden.  It leaves you wanting more but if you think about it, the rest of the loaf won’t taste as good as the first part.  Same bread, different you. 

George M. Cohen had a song he wrote that had the words

“Always leave them laughing when you say goodby,
Never linger long about
Or else you’ll wear your welcome out.”

Your taste buds are crying out for more.  You body is crying out for less.  Listen to your body and your taste buds will rejoice next time you listen to them.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-151: The Sermon that Wasn’t

Sunday night I was to begin my short stint of preaching.  I am filling in for the pastor who has gone on Sabbatical.  I have been looking forward to it.  I was ready to go.  It did not work out that way.

I thought I had someone to cover the music.  It turned out that he could only cover the morning service so I got out my guitar and proceeded to have a one man show.  We had a great time of singing mixing an old hymn with several “contemporary” songs.  In between songs I asked if anyone had anything to share or a word of testimony.  Many people shared from the oldest in her eighty’s to the youngest in high school.  It took longer than I expected, but it was a good time.

Then we went to prayer.  We had a lot of requests.  Sunday night is when we make up lists for ourselves and update the needs we are aware of.  It went on longer than I was expecting.  You could sense the warmth and caring that was present.  I don’t feel adequate to cover so much in a “pastoral prayer” so I explained we would have a time of open prayer and I would close.  I told them not to worry about times of silence.  If they did not feel comfortable praying out loud, then pray silently. 

We went before the Lord.  I was expecting one or two of the regulars to lead out and they did but the prayers just kept coming.  Old, young, long, short, people just kept lifting their prayers to God.  Several prayed more than once.  A teen prayed in tears.    The college student next to her lifted her in prayer.  Another college student referred to the morning theme of the church being “cross generational” and praised God.  After a good time of prayer I started to sing “God is so good...” and they joined me as we closed.

Wow.  We only had fifteen minutes left.  I figured I could squeeze my sermon in but someone else shared.  Someone else brought up a special concern and we focused on that in prayer.  When we got down to five minutes I confessed I would not try to get my sermon in.  I think they would have stayed, but the Lord had blessed us enough I didn’t want to mess it up.

So my first Sunday was the Sunday of the sermon that wasn’t.  It will still be there next week.  The Lord was with us.  I wish you could have been.

The small church is still alive and well.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-150: Death and Taxes

As I was driving to work last week I noticed a vanity license plate.  It said, “TAX LIFE.”  I asked myself is “tax” a verb or an adjective?  It makes a difference.

If this is an accountant, he is getting in a little advertising.  He loves the life of numbers, formulas and regulations.  Good for him.

What is scary is the thought that “tax” is meant as a verb.  This would mean I was behind a Democrat with the ultimate tax. 

Which was it?

I am not sure I want to know.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-149: Should-a-Beens: Let’s Be Positive

Recently my friendly neighborhood philanthropist made a suggestion.  He said that the next time we met we should try to only talk about positive, upbeat things.  He says we always focus on what is wrong with the world.  He said this after sharing how he was telling other people how much he enjoyed talking to me. 

You can’t have it both ways.  I think that one reason he enjoys talking to me, even though we disagree on so much, is that I disagree with him on so much.  I think I may be the only person he knows who is not impressed by his wealth.  I have never asked him for anything.  On the occasions that he has asked what he could do for me I have not been willing to fall into the trap.  I have suggested others I knew that had needs but have avoided getting dependent on him.

I think that frustrates him. 

To me he is the perfect stereotype of the well meaning liberal.  His intentions are good.  He wants to help people.  He wants to reform education.  He wants everyone to have excellent health care.  He wants justice, equality and rainbows.  The problem is that he wants to take the concerns of God that established his Jewish roots and apply them with the methods and standards of paganism which is popular in his social set. 

You can’t have it both ways. 

There is no way to give everyone gold standard health care, not in a free society.  You can’t do it in any society.  In socialism you can promise it, declare it and open the doors.  You can deliver equal medical care, it just won’t be the gold standard.  It won’t even be the silver or bronze standard.  Maybe it will be lead, but remember that lead is toxic. 

Under socialism you can’t deliver it because until everyone involved in the system is willing to work or supply goods and services for nothing there will never be enough to go around.  Socialism does not produce that kind of responsibility.  Picture if grocery stores gave out food regardless of your ability to pay.  All of the quality items would be gone in the first ten minutes and there would soon be no cheap items either.  They would never be replaced because the farmer will stop growing wheat for the bread.  Why?  Because he is not going to get up before dawn, work his fingers to the bone and go to bed exhausted so that someone who won’t work or plan can have a free loaf of bread.

Go read the Little Red Hen and apply it to health care.  Apply it to housing.  Apply it to food.  Apply it anywhere.  Eventually the Hen will refuse to give away her eggs or she will stop laying because noone is supplying her with the grain she needs.

It won’t work.  How is that for being positive?  I don’t think that is what he meant.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-148: Jury Duty, Part 2 of 2

Let me relate my experience last time I was called.

I began calling in daily and eventually got the word, arrived at the correct when and where, and waited in the hall.  When they were done with their coffee, they checked us in and I proceeded to sit all day waiting to be called.  In the last hour of the day my name was called and I went out to again stand in the hall waiting.  Eventually we were taken into a courtroom and about 50 of us were arranged in the gallery.  The selection process began.  Because it was so late in the day they told us to come back the next day.  My “one day” became two. 

The next day we stood around waiting for the judge to finish the trial work in process.  We serve at the convenience of the system and some judges don’t show much awareness that people’s lives are on hold.  We were eventually seated again in the court room.  They put 14 people in the jury box and proceeded to ask all 50 of us some generic questions.  A few were dismissed at this point.  Eventually the lawyers focused their attention on the people in the box.  The questions got specific and sometimes personal.  After each lawyer had a shot at the potential jurors they consulted with the judge, some were dismissed and the seats were filled again from the pool.

This routine continued until twelve jurors and two alternates were selected.  I was the next one to go into the box when they declared themselves satisfied. 

Once again I was not on a jury and in the process missed four days of work.  Fortunately for me the school district I am on pays for five days of jury duty.  I don’t know what I would have done if I had been forced to stay for the trial.

What are the lawyers looking for?  Obviously someone who is not biased against their case or client.  Even more they tend to be looking for people they can manipulate into seeing things their way.  The first questions are designed to eliminate everyone who knows the law, the situation, or has a high respect for policemen.  Originally the jury system chose people who knew the parties involved.  It looked for the most informed.  Now, we look for the least informed.

Like democracy, it is probably the worst system except for all the others.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-147: Jury Duty, Part 1 of 2

I have received another summons to jury duty.  I am definitely on their short list.  It is frustrating.  Not only do I get summoned more than anyone I know, I rarely get on a jury.  If you have never responded or have avoided the list they draw from, it is an interesting experience.

Last time I went, I was shuffled to a courthouse far from home.  I would guess that the areas with the greatest case load are the areas with the fewest eligible citizens.  Once I was moved twice.  That was the only time I actually was seated on a jury.  They were so short of people that I think the judge threatened the lawyers to choose from the one’s available.

A lot depends on the clerk in charge of the jury holding tank.  Some make life miserable and guarantee you will try to avoid it next time.  I have been called to report to one of those locations this time.  It was an ugly experience before.  Hopefully someone has retired.  Others bend over backwards to make it work for you. 

We have what is called a “one day, one trial” arrangement in our area.  If you don’t get on a jury the first day, you are dismissed.  If you are chosen to serve it is just for the duration of that one trial.  The way they string it out is that you call in each evening to see if they want you to show up the next day.  At the end of that time, if not called in, you are done. Your “one day” doesn’t start until you are told to report, so you go through an entire week not knowing how to plan your life.  If you are called and seated on a jury you serve from then until the end of the trial.  At the end of that time, if not called in, you are done.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-146: New Terms: Pagan and Heathen

A couple of words used to be common but have fallen out of use in everyday conversation.  One is pagan; the other, heathen. 

Pagans are people who believe in more than one God.  It is not a term of derision, or at least it shouldn’t be.  Plato, Marcus Aurelius and Confucius were pagans.   They are recognized by all as being giants of history.  They were still pagans.

Heathen is a more relative term, open to being pejorative.    We tend to use it to refer to anyone who is not a Christian.  Thus, while Saladin was not a pagan, he was a heathen.  We need to understand that heathen is like beauty, it is in the eyes of the beholder.  Thus, Saladin would think of Christians as being heathen.  Actually it means someone that does not share your religious and cultural beliefs.

Understand the words and use them, or not, correctly.

homo unius libri