Opus 2022-042: Firsts: What Is That?

This is a first for a guy delivering a mattress, not me.  

As he was walking through our living room where my wife was playing some old records for our granddaughter he looked at the record player and said, “What is that?”  He had never seen a turntable before.

What is strange about this is that vinyl is making a comeback.  You can buy records all over the place and most people would figure there must be a place to play them.  Totally off his radar.

So when you run into people who believe in global warming and the China Flu plague keep in mind that there are still people who don’t know what a record player is.  And they outnumber us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-041: The Price of Progress

We hear about shortages and we act like this is some kind of new problem.  This has been creeping up on us in the form of less selection and poorer quality for a long time.

Do you remember going to the neighborhood dime store and having your choice of notes books and paper in a wide variety of sizes?  Today we are down to legal and letter.  I would imagine that part of it was the decrease in sales but what other factors went into the decision to discontinue.  I remember I had a notebook with six rings that used the half sized, 8 ½ x 5 ½ inch paper.  I went to Woolworth one day to restock and found that they had discontinued it.  

Remember when shirts came with two numbers, collar size and sleeve length instead of S,M,L,XL?  If you are willing to pay more you can even find XXL and XLT.  I think such things are still available but only in a certain price range.  The same thing was true of shoes.  I don’t think people have suddenly changed their shape and weight but the choices have been slimmer every year.

Remember all the local and regional gas companies?  I remember that my Dad always tried to buy gas at the Flying A.  One day it was no more.  I watched Richfield combine with Atlantic and for a short time it was the Atlantic-Richfield company until it became ARCO.  It used to be you could find intersections with a different brand on each corner, free air and water and an attendant who would come out and fill your tank.  

I remember being able to sell my oil to a recycler when I was a young man.  Now I pay a fee to have it disposed of.  The same was true of batteries.

This is called progress.  Our choices have been decreasing for decades and now we have a world with little competition.  

We will see how that works out now.  It could be the goal is to have a state run monopoly on gas and groceries.  It would make the Biden administration happy, but then I guess an ice cream cone can do the same thing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-040: Modern Anne Franks

What would it be like to be an honest person trapped in the heart of the FBI?  I still have this illusion that there are some good people, serving their country as best they can, and finding it harder to do that each day.  

What are your options in a situation like that?  You watch what happens to people who become whistle blowers.  They know about the strange, mysterious deaths associated with certain political crime families.  They may have processed the paperwork that put innocent people in jail.

What do you do?

I don’t know because I am not there.  What can we do?  We might begin to prepare to hide some of them when they try to come out.  Think of people fleeing the midnight police of 1939 Germany.  Jews were hidden in attics, basement and sheds.  Think of downed airmen being moved across Europe so they can get home and fly again.  The people hiding them took their lives into their own hands in the process.  We may be coming to that time again.  Maybe we should begin considering where we could put up a false wall to conceal a fugitive.

We live in interesting times, Chinese style.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-039: Thanks Thoughts: From the Children

In my prayer time I have a group of friends I lift up to the Lord.  In many cases that involves their children.  Some of them I have never seen.  Others I watched grow up.  This smaller group has so much to offer yet seem to be content with comfort and prosperity.  They are wonderful human beings.  You would love to live next to them.  They pay their bills, don’t litter or play loud music late at night.  I imagine they would gladly help a little old lady across the street.  But they are not making any difference.  

My children have taken stands.  They are making a difference.  They have threatened to write me out of their wills if I talk about them in public so you will have to trust me.  It is possible that you would never notice what they are doing.  I like to think that the children of my friends are the same way, I just don’t see what they are doing.

If we want our country to survive we are going to need more people taking stands.  They don’t need to be splashy, just real.  

There is hope for the future.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-038: The Democracy Mantra

For most of my life we have been able to throw around the word “democracy” without doing too much damage to our country.  That was because the advocates of democratic tyranny were keeping their head down, infiltrating the schools, working their way up in government service and generally getting ready to initiate democracy.

Perhaps you are one of those who has not caught on yet.  We are not a democracy.  We have never been a democracy.  A democracy is one thing that the Founding Fathers wanted to avoid like the plague, and I mean a real plague not what is being pushed currently for political advantage.  I have broadened my reading since the lockdown started.  I have shared that other places.  One of the recurring themes that I have been picking up is that democracy does not work.  It is generally the first step to despotism and tyranny.  That is why we have a federal republic, not a democracy.  

Lord Acton had a catchy phrase that resonates with me,

“It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.”  Kindle location 648-649

Keep in mind the illustration of democracy I will borrow from an unknown source, but democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what they will have for dinner.  If you want a democracy then get ready for everything to be controlled by a small group of people who manipulate the masses.  In a pure democracy we are just one vote away from declaring all people of any group you want to be slaves.  All it takes is one more than half to pass anything.

The Proregressives* know this.  That is why they want to do away with the electoral college.  It is why they allow BLM and Antifa thugs to destroy cities and keep the peaceful protestors of January 6 locked up and denied their rights.  

I know what you mean by democracy.  I also know what they mean and I know how it has worked out in history.  

Be careful what you wish for.

Acton, Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton (1834-1902).  “The History of Freedom in Antiquity",  The History of Freedom, and Other Essays.  Project Gutenberg, First Edition,1907.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-037: Shoe Logic

Logic is slow to develop.  My granddaughter came and asked me if she had the shoe on the right foot.  In this case it wasn’t but that was easy to fix.  What made me laugh a bit was after she had that shoe on she brought me the other and asked if it was the right one for the other foot.  What seems a simple bit of logic for an adult is a mystery to a toddler.  Watching a child develop is one of the joys of life.

Watching adults either fail to progress or see them regress is not such a pleasure.  The blatant nonsense that we hear about the economy, global warming, stopping a virus, white people are bad and January 6 was a violent riot is bad enough.  What is worse is that so many people swallow it hook, line and sinker.

There are many points of blame from the parents to the choices of the person themselves.  Most of those points do not touch you or me.  If the shriveled intellects did not have the right to vote and often think the government owed them, it would not matter to me.  But they do.  

We need to continue to educate and communicate.  Accept the fact that you are surrounded by ignorance.  Ignorance hates information.  It is hard to think you deserve an EBT when you realize that your neighbor is paying for it out of his taxes.  They will never know it if we don’t tell them.  Again.  And again.  And ....

Use humor.  Be ready to back off if they get hostile, and they will.  But keep coming back.  If enough of us keep speaking up then maybe we can make an impression.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-036: Animal Welfare

The War on Poverty is a war we lost, or rather are losing.  In spite of the long string of defeats we continue to press on.  It is a war that cannot be won because the people fighting it don’t want to win and have the wrong strategy if they did.

I was going over my notes from The Tragedy of American Compassion and came across the following,

“Punishment for refusal to work and continued alcoholism could include whipping. But enforcing work among the able-bodied was not seen as oppressive. The objective was to treat all as human beings, as members of the community with responsibilities, rather than as  animals.” p. 11

I had been visiting my grandchildren and their parents.  I was struck by the difference in responding to a child and a dog.  At least I respond differently.  One of the reasons I don’t get excited about pets is that they will always remain pets.  I can never expect them to pick up after themselves.  My grandchildren will learn.  The cat will always lick its rectum and we won’t bat an eye but imagine how you would respond if your son did it at his wedding reception.

The point Olasky is trying to make is that modern methods of welfare are not designed to get people to grow up and become independent.  They are specifically structured to keep them dependent and have their “betters” direct their lives.

Maybe we should rename the EBT cards, or whatever they are called this week, with something referring to the bearer being a pet.  Maybe Leash Card would do it.

It would do you good to read the book.  There are no solutions for people willingness to be taken care of and let someone else do the work.  If you don’t want to read Olasky then might I recommend The Little Red Hen.  People can grow up.  For some it is a natural step.  For others it only happens when they are forced.

We need to force them for the same reason the Proregressives want to tell then how high to jump:  It is good for them.

Olasky, Marvin.  The Tragedy of American Compassion.  Washington, D.C.:  Regnery
    Publishing, Inc., 1992.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-035: Time for Idle Speculation

One of the themes of science fiction is time and time travel.  It is one of those fertile fields of entertainment because anything goes.  It does ask some key questions though.  One of the questions is, “Can the past be changed?” and following that is, “How does that effect the present?”  

The big question is that if you changed the past would you know it today?  

I read a short story years ago.  I have no memory of the title or author but it stuck in my mind.  A group of scientists were conducting an experiment on what would happen when you changed the past.  The picture was a great machine like a pendulum which would swing back and forth through time in ever increasing arcs.  The first swing was just a few feet and there were no observed changes.  When the arc increased the narrative pointed out that the color of the scientists ties had changed.  Bigger arcs brought successively bigger changes.  Finally at the end the crowd of humans watching the experiment had morphed from what we would consider normal into amoeba like slugs in pools on the concrete.  The final comment by the observers had to do with the fact that nothing had changed.

What got me off on this was some answers to prayer.  One answer involved a newly discovered regulation that brought the requested result.  My question was, “Was the regulation always there and we just didn’t know about it or did God go back and insert it to bring the result we wanted?”  I don’t know that we will ever know.  Since God is outside time and created time then it would seem that He is capable of reaching His goal either way.

I don’t offer this as a doctrinal statement, just speculation.  There are time when I wonder if I need more chores so that my mind doesn’t have so much time to wander.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-034: God As a Tool

For pagans the divine is a giant tool box.  Some are well organized, others an example of chaos.  Sad to say this is the view many pagan Christians also have.  God is Mr. Fixit.

God is more of a Cosmic Multitool.  He is one.  The Bible is clear that there is only one God.  All of the tools to create the universe and sooth your heart are in the same package.  

You might think of the trinity as a pocket knife with three different blades.  My pocket knife has two cutting blades but I have others that are more specialized.  Most people associate the knife with the blade they use the most.  In reference to the trinity you have totally different functions but all are “knife”.  

I am sure I drifted into some type of heresy there but I can live with it since I am not making a doctrinal statement.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-033: God As a Professional

I was in my daily time of praise and trying for a fresh approach.  I was praising Him for His healing and such when it occurred to me that all I needed to do was change the article.  God is not “a” healer, but “the” Healer.  Get it more down to earth for the masses, He is “The” Doctor.  

And as they say, the list goes on:
    The Engineer
    The Mathematician
    The Artist
    The Weatherman

All you need to do is look back over the things you prayer about and for.  God is the ultimate.  That makes Him The Answer.

There is a danger here of viewing these attributes as isolated.  These are not moods.  They are not demigods.  They are not part of a pantheon of gods.  They are not godlets assigned a specific task.  They are attributes that only have meaning as a part of the entire personhood of God.  It is similar in understanding to the trinity.  God never turns any of them off.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-032: Ode to Old: Noun of Choice

My pronoun of choice is “dotage.”  Okay, it isn’t a pronoun.  But it sounds so much better than senile.  It sounds natural, unlike dementia.  “I am in my dotage” seems like a warm hearted statement of what comes to everyone.  It isn’t like “suffering from dementia” which brings to mind vacant stares and emotional outbursts.

I am not sure I am there yet.  I think my wife is trying to convince me I have lost it but it is an uphill battle because I think she is further down the road than I am.  In my dotage the grandchildren will be able to take me on walks without worrying about me getting violent.  If they tell me I always spring for ice cream, I will spring for ice cream.  It is risk free for them as long as they make sure that I don’t spill anything on my shirt that they will need to explain to their mother.

I am wondering if being in your dotage is like being a drunk.  I have not been around drunks much but I have seen some get belligerent and others sitting with a happy face.  I like to think I will be a happy dotager.

Coming to an elder near you.  Be nice to him, it may be me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-031: Snobbery Is Everywhere

When we travel we end up eating out a lot.  One of the discussions is about where to eat.  It is amazing how the recommendations of two people can be so different.  Often they have totally different opinions of how good a restaurant is.  I am not one who has a dog in the fight.  It is totally understood that I have no discerning pallette and my opinion is worth nothing.  The reward of that is I can eat just about anywhere without issue.

Last night we went to a Thai place that my son introduced me to.  It has some great selections and some that are just kind of forgettable.  My wife kept calling it the Chinese place because they have a Chinese section on the menu.  They have a lemon chicken that she approves of.  In the discussion it became clear that our family has some food snobs.  I, of course, am not one of them.  I am a glutton and as long as there is enough I can be happy anywhere.  To give you an example, I think the Golden Coral is right next to Nirvana.  I don’t mind eating at Denny’s.  They want to argue about the quality of the sweet and sour sauce or which type of fried rice is superior.

There are other fields of snobbery.  I have always heard about wine snobs.  They have a vocabulary all there own.  Since I can’t remember all the jargon I did a search and came up with one example at The Inquisitive Vintner.  

“Wine is a complex chemical beverage. Besides the primary acids of tartaric, malic, lactic, and citric, Australian wine scientist Bryce Rankine has identified 23 additional organic acids found in wine in varying amounts,...”

And then, in the same paragraph, they add,

“Rankine has also identified 23 varieties of alcohol in wine besides ethanol, as well as more than 80 esters and aldehydes, 16 sugars, and a long list of assorted vitamins and minerals. Wine can also contain harmless traces of lead and arsenic that come from the soil in which the specific grapevines are planted. Complex indeed.”

There is quite a list of words used to describe all of this.  Among them are aroma, bouquet, texture, legs and body.

One line resonated with me:

“To a great degree, your sensitivities and tolerances determine your personal likes, dislikes, and preferences in wine.”

I am sensitive and intolerant.  It all tastes, and smells, like alcohol to me.

Coffee also has its snobs.  The first post that came up from a search honored Stockton Graham.  The list of words is similar:  Aroma, acidity, body, flavor, aftertaste.  There is also profile and cupping.  When I first moved to whole bean coffee and started playing around with a French press and a hand grinder I tried to get into this but I could never figure out what they are talking about.  When people ask me is a cup of coffee is good I will typically tell them, “I can tell a really good cup of coffee and a really bad cup of coffee.  Everything else is in a wide range of ‘it depends on how my senses are working today.’”

If nothing else food and coffee give us something to talk about.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-030: New Terms: Sophiology

I keep track of the non-fiction books I read each year.  I put down the date I finished and the general topic.  I was surprised to look back and see I had read four books I labeled “Philosophy” and a couple of more I could have put in that category.  It surprises me because one of my most boring classes in college was the required Philosophy 101 all students had to take.  I never wanted to touch philosophy again.  

It took years for me to wake up to the fact that we are all philosophers.  Any time we disagree with someone and try to explain it we get into philosophy.  My position is that philosophy is made to argue, not to be read.  Having said that I keep wondering why certain writers get so much press from modern thinkers.  Now that I am old and looking for reasons to sit in my chair I have decided to do a little reading of the books I missed in my youth.  

I think we need to re-label philosophy.  The word is often a lie.  It is a combination of two Greek words.  One means love and the other wisdom.  Together they mean a love of wisdom.  Too often that is a lie.  We should do away with philosophy because those who speak it often do not love wisdom.  They are out for royalties, power or fame.  Instead we should make it a scientific pursuit and call it Sophiology.  That would mean the study of wisdom.  

You can study something without acting like you love it.  You don’t manipulate what you love.  You don’t distort what you love.  You don’t try to confuse people with what you love.  Too often those seem to be the goals of modern philosophers.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-029: Class Warfare: Turning Back the Clock

The Proregressives* want to Europeanize us.  As is typical for the extreme left in politics they want to turn the clock back to an age where special elites had comfort and power and everyone else lived from day to day.  That was the history of mankind.  Until the Founding Fathers came up with a better idea.  They rejected the model of Europe and came up with something new.  It worked well for 200 years but now is being destroyed.

Europe is made up of distinct countries.  In those countries you have different languages, cultures, ethnic groups.  Those are not the things the Founding Fathers wanted to purge from this new country.  What they wanted to do away with was the hatred, arrogance, warfare and class snobbery of Europe.  They wanted a political and economic system that would allow anyone who was willing to work hard a chance at a piece of the pie.  Gradually the Europeanizers have been whittling away at the structure.  We are now on the verge of a socialist police state.

In these ways Europe was just like the rest of the world.  The racial hate mongers of today want to take anything they can emtionalize and say it is a case of white privilege.  These qualities are not a white man thing, they are a human nature thing.  America was created to stand above this.  The way the elites have attacked it is to pick something you are getting without earning, such as you EBT card, and say that demanding hard work is a white hangup.  The Proregressives* will not be happy until the melting pot becomes the blast furnace.

We need to resist this as individuals.  We need to develop eyes that look at people as individuals and treat them in the way they deserve to be treated.  Martin Luther King, Jr. summarized the America all of us want with his comments about the content of our character, not the color of our skin.  We may not be able to take over the BLM and Antifa but we can continue to be Americans by treating our fellow citizens with dignity.  Included in that is the expectation that they deserve it.

Fight back, one conversation at a time.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-028: Job Report

What is the message of Job?  It is referred to a lot when people wax philosophical and discuss the problem of evil.  You have probably done so even if you were not aware of it.  “Why me?” is the beginning of the conversation.  

As I read the dialogue between Job and his friends I see a group of statements that are echoled not only all through Job but the rest of the Bible:

    God blesses
    God allows suffering
    God gives us an inner assurance
    God enables us to live righteously

The book of Job is a teaching tool but is the story history or parable?  Today I am leaning toward parable but then I think that is where I was last time I raised the question.  Like many parables it is probably based on a historic event, maybe in the life of the author.  It is possible a compilation of many struggles that were observed.  The focus was teaching about Providence, trust, righteousness and obedience.

Ultimately I think that there have been millions of Jobs.  I would guess that the reason the book resonates with so many is because we have all asked the same questions.  One of the elements of the Bible that I think verifies it as the work of God is that it does not dodge the big questions or ignore hard issues.

Put on your thinking cap, pull up a chair and let your philosophy gene out of its box.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-027: Firsts: Child Labor

I was babysitting while the parents of my grandchildren went out to dinner.  In a period of lax supervision my granddaughter shredded some streamers and the floor was getting a bit cluttered.  I got out a broom and dustpan and began cleaning up the mess.  My granddaughter wanted to help.

I said to myself, “Why not?”  I realized it would take much longer but it was a chance to teach her a valuable skill.  It was quite a game.  We swept, searched and swept some more.  It is amazing all the places little pieces of glitter can hide.  

Next time you are bored I suggest you find a three year old and try to clean house.  Try to look like you are having fun.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-026: 46 and Counting

I have been married 46 years.  I remember the wedding ceremony that established a covenant before God and man.  It declared that we would remain faithful “until death do us part.”  Not the nonsense they spout in the soaps of “as long as we both shall love.”  It is a covenant.  It is for life.

My wife comes from a long line of divorces.  In her background divorce is a common thing.  I don’t know how many times when we were going through a rocky time I had to remind her that “divorce is not an option.”  She has even quoted me to me on that a few times.  Through the grace of God and an understanding of covenant we have made it this far.

On to 47.

God hates divorce.

(Mal 2:16 NAS77) "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

The only exception given to this condemnation is in the case of adultery.  That is because the covenant has been broken.

My thinking started with the question about breaking the marriage covenant.  I cannot, or is it just will not?  Does it make any difference?  This led me to think about the character of God and the covenants He has established with Israel and modern believers. The Bible uses the picture of marriage to represent the covenant between God and His church.  This is described in Ephesians 5.  Believers as a group are referred to as the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-9).   

Many Christians believe that once you are saved then there is nothing that can get God to break the covenant He establishes with them.  They like to use parts of Romans 8 to back up this thinking.

(Rom 8:35 KJV)  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

That is a strong statement, but there is more.

(Rom 8:38 KJV)  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Very impressive and to be honest these verses give me a sense of security.  I don’t see them as secure as the Calvinists.

The verses don’t say anything about you changing your mind.  They don’t mention apostasy or backsliding.  They are understood to put God in a box and I don’t think God likes to be in a box.

God will not break His covenant.  The question is will He allow us to break it.  How do you tell the difference between “will not” and “can not”?  I again refer to marriage.  Just because I will not reject the covenant does not mean that my wife cannot.  It is a two way agreement.  Am I still married if she files for divorce and it is granted by a judge?

We are part of a living covenant.  It is not based on a dead promise of the past but on a living commitment of today.  I rejoice that I serve a living God who walks the daily covenant with me.  That is the kind of eternal security I can live, and die with.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-025: Firsts: A Cultural Experience

On a recent trip from Virginia to Texas we spent the night in Cottondale, just east of Tuscaloosa.  We were tired of eating out so we looked for a grocery store in the area.  Since we had never been to a Winn-Dixie, that was our choice for shopping.  When we got out of the car my daughter told her children they were in for a “cultural experience.”  

The store was nothing to be ashamed of.  It was clean and well organized.  There were more gaps on the shelf that I was used to in Virginia or Texas but as is usually the case you could get the type of food you wanted but maybe not the brand.  The thing that mystified us was the total lack of saltines of any description.  They had all the cracker variations except saltines.  We figured is was because of the hate crime of calling white southerners “crackers”.  Maybe it was because the aisle was blocked with people telling cracker jokes.

Then my daughter got in line behind a welfare queen who was having some kind of problem with her free lunch.

It was an interesting experience.  Far better than California but still not Texas

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-024: Headlines: Covid Tennis Balls

I am no longer a sports fan.  I found that as I played less I watched less.  I have never been one to follow professional tennis but I keep seeing the click bait about Novak Djokovic being denied a visa to Australia.  He appears to be a super star in tennis.  He has won the Australian Open nine times.  In my book that is a long time to be at the top of any sport.  The Daily Wire had an article about the shenanigans going on down under.  He was given a visa.  It was cancelled.  He got a judge to reinstate it.  The elected officials overruled the judge.

The article I read was objective and well balanced.  Let me throw in a bit of yellow journalism.  I am wondering if the reason he is being kept out of Australia is because he might win the tournament again and someone, somewhere has a reason for that not happening.  Perhaps it is to keep him from beating an Australian favorite.  Perhaps there is a player from another country who is having officials bribed to exclude him so they can win.  Perhaps some new “science” has emerged that actually shows the China Virus is deadly.  Perhaps unicorns really fart rainbows.  I digress.

I don’t know the answer.  Two things I do know.  Things are never what they seem and most conspiracy theories are a lot of hot air based on a grain of truth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-023: Monday Pulpit: 100% Natural

The pastor was dealing with the end of the book of James.  He read from a translation that was very close to mine, which says,

(Jas 5:17 NAS77) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

He pointed out that we have the same nature as Elijah.  I was good with that.  It is what the Bible says, but then he began interpreting that to us.  He said that we are all sinners like Elijah.  Then he went on with the standard Calvinist approach about how we are all sinners and need continual forgiveness for our continual sin.

Excuse me.  I may commit sin but I am not a sinner.  I have been saved by grace, redeemed by the blood and filled with the Spirit.  The Biblical term for me, and I hope you, is “saint”.  We are holy ones.  The church, eklessia, is the called out ones.  Don’t put me in the same category as the generic pagan.  That says that redemption didn’t make any difference in me.

But the Bible says I have the same nature as Elijah.  That is the human nature.  It means that we are fallible.  It means that before Jesus touched us we were in the bonds of our original sin.  At the same time it means we are created in His image.  It is what Solomon was referring to,   

(Pro 22:2 KJV)  The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

I did a few word searches and could not find the name Elisha in the same verse as “sinner” or any variation of the word I could think of.  Let’s try not to force the Bible into our personal interpretation or system of theology.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-022: New Terms: Politicized Science

Modifiers can change the total meaning of a word.  I have written before that adding the adjective “social” to “justice” produces something that has nothing to do with justice.  The same happens any time you put any number except two in front of the word “genders”.  One of the most recent marxist definitions is “multiracial whiteness”.  This is happening all around us.  You may think you understand but you need to accept that there is an organized campaign by the Proregressives* to change the culture through language.  

Friedrich Hayek commented on this 80 years ago as he was reflecting on how the socialists had taken over Germany and were infiltrating the rest of the world.

“In this particular case the perversion of the meaning of the word has, of course, been well prepared by a long line of German philosophers and, no least, by many of the theoreticians of socialism.  But ‘freedom’ or ‘liberty’ are by no means the only words whose meaning has been changed into their opposites to make them serve as instruments of totalitarian propaganda.  We have already seen how the same happens to ‘justice’ and ‘law,’ ‘right’ and ‘equality.’  The list could be extended until it includes almost all moral and political terms in general use.”,  p. 174

Notice the list of words that they focused on.  We have our own examples of language perversion.   

Have you heard people saying that this is the first generation of American children who will not be able to do better than their parents?  At the same time they whine about how there are no jobs available for them after they paid for a college education.  Overlooking the fact that they have not paid for it yet you need to understand that most of them have college majors that include the word “studies”.  How many good paying jobs are there where you work for people with a BA in Women’s Studies?  You can fill in the blanks yourself, *-studies means they went to school to party and have no interest in productive work.  They have no prospects because they have degrees in worthless subjects.

Then you have the diluting of the word “science”.  I wanted to teach history.  They did not have a teaching credential in history any more.  Now it is “Social Science”.  It is a broad category that has nothing to do with science.  It would include economics, government and psychology.  These are subjects that are based mainly on guess work and unprovable hypothesis.  Among the subjects is something called “political science”.  What do you think of when you hear that term?

I think a better title would be “politicized science.”  It is a pollution of the real goal of science which is to seek knowledge and question everything.  Real science uses the scientific method which suggests an hypothesis and then does careful experiments to find if the idea is true or false.  Once that is done they take a baby step, form a new hypothesis and recycle.  Politicized science decides what you want to prove for political reasons, finds guys with degrees and white coats and pays them to come up with the results desired.

Hayek, F.A.  The Road to Serfdom, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1944, 1994.
 
homo unius libri

Opus 2022-021: Benefits of the Lockdown

The manufactured crisis of the Chinese Virus lockdown has been a disaster.  There is no way of compiling all the destruction, depression and death that has been created by our ruling elites in an effort to rid the country of Donald Trump and make America a workers’ paradise like Venezuela.  But there have been some benefits.

It has caused me to do some serious reading that I had been putting off.  This began when the libraries closed and continued when they morphed into havens for the terrorized masked masses.  When they finally started allowing normal human beings in I was a bit out of the habit.  One reason I didn’t need to rush back was shelves and Project Gutenberg.  I had so much in my own library that I had not read and added to that all that was available for download.  It has been a good time.

Then there are the wake up calls:

    It has made more people aware of the failure of their children’s schools.  This has generated various levels of rage.  For some it is simply an awareness that their “free” babysitting, which they had paid exorbitant amounts of taxes to sustain, would continue to pay the babysitters but require the parents to supervise their offspring.  Horrors!  At the other extreme are people who for the first time were becoming aware of how their children were being brainwashed by the Proregressive* state. Maybe putting it is simple letters like CRT or simple phrases like “white bad” did the trick.  Some may have even got a real view of the rot.

    The moral bankruptcy of the Democrat Party was inserted like toothpicks under their eyelids so they had to see it.  They didn’t notice when the Democrat National Convention rejected any mention of God.  They never were alert enough to connect the KKK, Jim Crow and segragation with their Democrat roots.  While the underclasses that are dependent on government handouts only see the checks there are a growing number of people who are starting to think.  Progress indeed.

    Doctors are not gods.  I never thought they were and if people got that impression it was often generated by the desires of the patients to be cured at no effort from themselves.  Give me a pill.  Send me to therapy.  Cut.  People had this idea that modern medicine could fix anything and let them live for ever.  The nonsense of the “pandemic” and the refusal to be honest about the killer virus that wasn’t much worse than the flu has been an eye opener.  The trust that most people felt has been replaced with a good deal of skepticism.  In fact it is a growing suspicion that the medical profession is not on the side of the angels.  

    Ronald Reagan was right when he said the scariest words in the English language were, “I’m from the government and I am here to help you.”  I have known for a long time that where government money flows, government control goes.  I think more people are seeing this with mandates that defy all the medical procedures of the past.  We now face the threat of national ID cards that will be required for every phase of life.  We hear about concentration camps being set up and people being kicked out of the military for having ideas that are not politically correct.  Judges tell us that biological men can compete in sports against women.  They tell us that there is not enough evidence to hear suits against the election results.  It is a good thing they do all of this for our own good.

Many people are learning about thrift.  When you are laid off work with no end in site it changes your view of how you spend money.  Many people never understood the difference between “I want” and “I need”.  Suddenly the generic brand tastes better and the clothes will last another season.  People who still had jobs saved a lot of money eating at home.  Many are better off because of it, or they will be when this starts to die out.

Some have spent more time with their families.

We found out who lives in fear and who lives by faith.  I have had to constantly examine my thoughts and emotions.  It is so easy to start thinking the person sniffing near by is going to kill you rather than has an alergy.  Every headache becomes a sign of death stalking.  It is easy to give in but the Lord has kept reminding me that He is in charge.  If I live in that light then suddenly the fear takes a back seat.

Happy New Year.  Count your blessings.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-020: God Thoughts: Squirrel Glory

I have a lot of questions and “squirrel” thoughts.  That makes me believe in a Creator.  It makes it impossible to have just accidently happened.

We have the Imago De which makes it possible for us to comprehend that we cannot comprehend.  The animals don’t have such an ability.  Plants obviously don’t.  It was only man that was given the image of God planted within them.  Man by his very nature comes up with new ideas.  The phrase from Star Trek, “to go where no man have ever gone before” was not one of those creative ideas.  It was simply an observation.  It is the way people are.  It is why the first Indian tribes wandered into North America.  It is why Columbus sailed west.  I might be why you took that road on your vacation.  If you ever visit The Daily Timewaster you may have seen the picture of a comic book cover that had gorillas going into space before humans.  Last I heard they had not even developed a machine to pick the lice off each other.

We can comprehend what we cannot comprehend.  Maybe we don’t understand totally but we can get a vague idea.  I have mentioned infinity before.  I have mentioned the square root of minus two.  In theology we have concepts like the trinity and the incarnation.

When your grandchildren keep asking, “Why?” rejoice.  It is the image of God trying to break out.  Granted much of it might be just to irritate you but your dog never does it.  

Keep asking and wondering.  Welcome to the human race.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-019: Should-a-Beens: Renaming California

I am thinking that we need to rename the once golden state of California.  I am going to suggest “Coventry”.  This idea is presented by Robert Heinlein in a story of the same name.  If you have never read it you can find the entire text at Metallicman.

The basic thesis is that anyone convicted of a crime is sent to a place where they are free to live with nothing to guide them but their own desires and abilities.  That place is called Coventry.  It has been a long time since I read the story, I stopped reading Heinlein when he started pushing incest, so I will speak from memory.

Coventry is an area surrounded by an wall that cannot be breached and rigorously guarded.  There is only one gate but a lot of places where guards can dispatch anyone who tries to break out.  When you are ushered in the gate you are able to take any weapons or devices you want.  I assume that nuclear missiles were not allowed.  You were given a date on which you would be allowed to exit if you showed up at the gate.  Any other time that you came to the gate would be your last day for anything.

I am suggesting that we do that with California.  They have already declared that they want nothing to do with a republic that allows the liberties listed in the Bill of Rights.  They keep exporting their foolishness to the rest of us.  Let them have their way but make them keep it to themselves.

For Coventry there would be some immediate results.  Their electricity would soon go away because they don’t generate enough to run their A/C and Telsas and when the wall went up they would either be cut off from outside sources of forced to pay in gold for any imported.  The same would be for water and food.  They would soon run out of gold.

There would be long range results.  After the killing fields bring the population down to livable levels the war lords would institute all kinds of things from the past.  Slavery comes to mind as a possibility.

There would only be one gate.  I would suggest the desert to the west of Las Vegas.  The civilized, liberty loving Americans would escort all the miscreants that want to rule us without our consent to that gate and turn them loose.  I would suggest that we start by getting an agreement with the military to look the other way and round up all the people who have been working for the alphabet agencies and take them into custody.  It should not be too hard to separate the wheat from the chaff as they are gathered up.  They could be given different times to consider the errors of their ways in Coventry.  After we are done with them we could develop a committee to investigate the rulings of our judges.  This would be easy in some cases.  Check their bank accounts and such and find out who was bought off to rule a certain way.  Line up their decisions on one side with a copy of the Constitution on the other and see if they should stay in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  The hard cases would be those areas where they were within the letter of the law but ignored the spirit.  These we could treat with mercy.  The example of their despicable colleagues would be enough.

The beauty of this system would be that there is no capital punishment involved and you would require a much smaller budget to maintain it.  

It will never happen but a man can dream, can’t he.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-018: So Many Why’s

Why pray?  It is a question I often ask myself, as I have shared before.  The ultimate answer is because we are told to, but being created in the image of God and having an active mind I still want to know why.  So I keep pondering.  

I start to come up with questions.  Does prayer make God feel good?  Does it change Him in any way?  How can prayer change things when God knows what He wants?

That sounds like heresy to me.  How can something I do make God feel good?  Even an elementary understanding of the God of the Bible tells you He is not controlled by His emotions.  He know anger.  He is called a jealous God.  And yet He is the eternal, unchanging one.  The big theological word is immutable.    

I am thinking that prayer is for our benefit.  One caveat is that the right kind of prayer is for our benefit.  It must be prayer that gets beyond wish lists and attempts at manipulation.  I try to focus first on praise and thanks.  Then I will move on to lift up a list of family, friends and acquaintances.  I find that as I do this I am drawn into the presence of the Almighty.  It is hard to gaze into the face of God and not have your perspective of the world change.  It seeds your thoughts with eternity and your expectations with providence.  Usually I get so wrapped up in Him that I never ask anything for myself except in the general category of being more like Jesus.

I think prayer is a means of grace.  It is a door we can approach and either go through or stop at the threshold.  If we cross over it is impossible to leave without being touched.  It is a grace that starts in our hearts and minds and works out through our actions and our outlook.

So even if you don’t understand why, I echo Paul, “Pray without ceasing.”  You don’t need to know which came first to enjoy a good omelet.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-017: Headlines: The Answer to the National Divide

I had heard the concept before in response to the wedges being driven into the heart of the nation by the Proregressives*.  I have a loathing for civil war.  It never works out the way the true believers think it will.  Another solution for the divisions is being called a national divorce.  American Greatness has a good article on why that won’t work.

The reason it won’t work is that the left never plays fair or sticks to agreements.  You can read that part if you want.  They pointed out how the left has usurped the historic American attitude of the 19th century.

“This is their doctrine of Manifest Predestination—that the arc of history is long but it bends towards a pride flag and BLM sign in front of every house in West Virginia.”

It is a form of heads we win, tails you lose.  They feel it is their, excuse the term, god-given calling.  It is a good summary.  In case you don’t get the historical reference look up “Manifest Destiny.”

The thing that stood out to me is a suggestion of what we can do instead of surrender.  A good summary was,

“The solution is not some national divorce or civil war. The solution is for the Right to stop being rank amateurs when it comes to politics and governance. Purge the grifters and incompetents. Bring back the old sharks and have them train a new generation in the art of election warfare. And once in power, actually use that power to purge or destroy the institutions responsible for brainwashing so many of our countrymen. The Right has to articulate and act on a positive vision for America and break out of this learned helplessness that we find ourselves in as we point and object while the other side steadily achieves their goals. We have to learn from the Left in order to defeat it.”

It is possible to be strong and ethical.  We need to back people who are willing to stand up and push back.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-016: Simple Joys

I don’t remember the catalyst.  I sitting on the ottoman minding my own business.  Suddenly my grandson was running toward me looking for a hug.  At least that was how I chose to interpret it.  It might have been his sister chasing him.  I gave him the shelter he needed and waved my tickle claws toward his sister.  It stopped her in her tracks.  She gave out a lot of shrieks and giggles until suddenly they both went running back to the original corner.  

Repeat.

It was a great few minutes.  I am always willing to be a haven in a crisis like that.

May your day be as blessed.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-015: Utopian Righteousness

Many devout, serious and genuine Christians are of the Calvinist persuasion.  This makes allowance for the fact that most of them deny being Calvinists.  Yet, as the saying goes, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”  That is how I always heard it.  According to a site called Quora the original is a bit longer,

“I can’t prove you are a Communist. But when I see a bird that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, has feathers and webbed feet and associates with ducks—I’m certainly going to assume that he IS a duck.”

Theologians have a problem with the idea of righteousness.  They tend to quote the Apostle Paul when he wrote,

(Rom 3:10 KJV)  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Paul is theoretically quoting the Old Testament and a suggested verse is,

(Psa 14:1 KJV)  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

The problem with this is the problem with any eisegetical proof texting, it ignores a host of other scripture that must be included to come to an understanding.  In the same chapter of Psalms it says,

(Psa 14:5 KJV)  There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

My mind got off on this rabbit trail because I was counting my blessings and I really can’t believe that God blesses me so much because I deserve it.  Or maybe I do.

Anyway, I got off on the question of how do we define righteousness.  It occurred to me that we have a problem with righteousness the same way that the current crop of woke Proregressives* have a problem with America.  In both cases people are comparing reality to Utopia.  When people find fault with the United States of America they compare it to some fantasy land that is called Utopia.  They don’t compare it to any real country because they know they will come up short.  The same with righteousness.  

I believe it is possible to live a righteous life.  It may not be utopian but it is a standard that God gave us along with the ability to live that way.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-014: Another Day for Infamy

We need to declare January 6 Ashli Babbitt Day.  We could probably call it other things such as FBI Entrapment Day but people would get confused about which day to celebrate FBIED since we would have so many to chose from.  We could declare open season on anyone not toeing the line of the federal government.  It’s nickname could be “The Last Entrapment”.  It was kind of final for her.

Every year we could develop new traditions.  Here are a few seed ideas:

We could invite President Trump to give an annual address.  If he was not available we could have a National Guard member who was gleaned for his patriotism by the woke military leadership read the text of the first one.

Perhaps we could sacrifice a virgin in the Senate chambers since it would be impossible to find an honest reporter to receive the honor.  At least we could burn down a few buildings.  A good way to get some action based on justice is to follow the lead of the creative conservative who went around to the cars of liberals in the riot areas and put Trump stickers on their bumpers.  Since real Americans would be arrested for such festivities we can hire a some Antifa goons or Pelosi staffers to do the honors.  They would have nothing to worry about.

We could have a contest to find the best portrait of what Babbitt would look like if she were still alive.  Since sports teams are going so woke we could borrow their tradition of The Wave and have people mimic the policemen at the door that invited people into the capital.  Prizes could be given for the most sincere looks of invitation and the biggest Cheshire smiles.

It could be a wave of the future.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-013: New Terms: Pureblood

I don’t do social media, unless blogging is considered social medial, so I have not actually read the opinions expressed about a new topic, “Purebloods”.  From what I can pick up there are a group of people who have not been vaccinated that are compensating for their inadequacies by pointing out the reality that certain wrongly named “vaccines” are really chemicals that cause changes in you genetic code.  The question is, I guess, if your genetic code is changed, are you still really human?  Is your blood polluted?  If it is then those who have not been modified have pure blood.  

There is a certain logic to it.  The problem is you follow the value system of the Progressives* and start to base your decisions of identity politics.  You invoke the spirit of democracy which demands that everyone be the same.  If you are not the same you have nothing but persecution in your future.  It is the thinking that was at the roots of socialism.  The government decides what is necessary and everyone conforms, or else.  And you have the added advantage that it is for you own good.

It is possible that the vaccines cause irreparable damage to the recipients.  We are seeing a lot of unexplained deaths and severe disabilities in those who are following the directions of the CDC and their local doctor.  In a free society you allow people to make those decisions and live with the consequences.  You do not judge the entire group of vaccinated as potential zombies.  Our idea of freedom is based on judging individuals by their actions not groups defined by their averages.

You may have heard the term “Untermenschen”.  They were to ones defined by the National Socialists as not being part of the master race.  In those days it was defined by your race.  The idea of “pureblood” is the same type of dangerous doggerel that can pervert society and cause ongoing harm.

We are one nation, under God not the Ins and the Outs.  

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-012: New Terms: Liberty

As the forces of the Administrative State and the Proregressive version of democracy work late into the night to reduce our liberty we hear a lot of talk about freedom, rights and the accompanying liberty.  Lots of people talk about liberty but to see the problem with that let me remind you of one of the most memorable quotes of that great philosopher, William Jefferson Clinton, “It depends on what the meaning of “is” is.”  For our uses substitute “liberty” for “is” and you see the problem.

Lord Acton, of absolute power corrupting absolutely, had a definition. 

“By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.”  Kindle Location 531-532

It is not a complete definition by any means but it does give us a way of closing in on an understanding.  Liberty means that you have the ability to do what you feel is right no matter what the government, society or your wife tells you to do.  You can make choices without coercion or threats to your life or well being.

We are experiencing a tremendous loss of liberty in our modern day America.  The entire purpose of the illegal and traitorous persecution of the people arrested for their actions on January 6 are not for the purpose of justice but to frighten the general public into being quiet and enduring the overbearing actions of the police state.  Since when do you throw people into jail for a year when the worst they could be accused of is trespass.

Admit it.  You are not as likely to speak out as you once would.  Those of us who write on blogs and such are not really brave.  It is the person who stands up in a city counsel meeting that shows his courage and demonstrates his American liberty.  The parents in Virginia who went to a school board meeting and had the FBI sicced on them is another example of persecution for exercising God given rights.

It is printed on our money.  We need to see it in our streets.

Acton, Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton (1834-1902).  “The History of Freedom in Antiquity",  The History of Freedom, and Other Essays.  Project Gutenberg, First Edition,1907.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-011: The Year of Fear

We have a lot of concerns facing us.  They are serious.  We have Russia eying Ukraine.  China is rattling its sabers at Taiwan.  Iran is making progress on the bomb.  Our children are being brainwashed by Communists controlling our public schools and universities.  Young people are being injected with chemicals of dubious value and definite danger.  The administrative state is expanding.  How long do you want me to go on.

I find that I am not overly worried.  The potential for disaster is real.  I am not going ostrich, I am going Providential.  

I start every day with the character of God; I praise.  There are many expressions in the Bible about what God is like.  Such words as faithful, merciful, patient, and attributes like power and knowledge.  Of course those are balanced with wrath, jealousy, justice.  Tying it all together is the concept of holiness.  

Holiness is a characteristic we can walk all around, talk about forever, define until the cows come home and we still are far from total understanding.  God’s holiness is so powerful that it would burn out all our circuits if we get too close.  Picture how looking at the sun too long bleaches the rods and cones in your eyes and consider it dim compared to His raging purity.

The first verse in the Bible tells us that God created.  It is an inclusive statement that involves the heavens and the earth.  In the New Testament we are told that Jesus holds everything.  

Realize that He created and maintains

Neutralize the fear of the unknown by the fear of the known.  God wants us to know Him.  He reaches out to us through Jesus.  He informs us through the Bible.

Consider:

He controls the electrons.
He controls the action of the viruses
He controls the macrophage

This can be a year of glorious fear.  Join me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-010: Why?

Did your children go through this phase?  Maybe you can remember being the questioner.  In case you have never been entrapped by it, let me explain.  A child asks a question.  You give them a good, age appropriate, well thought out answer.  They respond, “Why?”  Being somewhat naive and not getting out much, you explain the next step in logic.  They respond, “Why?”  Are you seeing the pattern or do I need to go another round?

I used to get this from 8th graders on occasion.  Once I picked up the game we were playing I simply started answering, “Because” or if I was feeling the flow, “Because I said so.”  I can be very stubborn and always won those bouts.

We recently went through a Why session with my granddaughter.  It stimulated us to try to think up answers that will work even though we know there is not such thing.

We liked, “Ask your father,” and decided we could reduce it to AYF.

The one I liked the most was, “It’s Trump’s fault,” which quickly morphed to “Let’s go ask Brandon.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-009: Critical Mass: Censorship Is Deadly

Today I saw a headline that a member of the United States House of Representatives was permanently banned from Twitter.  According to Red State it was for something called a “Covid-19 misinformation policy.”  I understand she was guilty of repeated some of CDC’s own statistics.  This is a growing problem as the Proregressives* try to control the flow of information in order to keep the masses in their pocket.  We all remember when social media kicked the serving President of the United States off.  Daily we read about doctors and professors who are cancelled because they speak out.  When the left did it they called it “speaking truth to power” with the idea that they were doing something bold and brave.  Since the traditional patriotic Americans have never been fans of censorship and in my memory coercion has never been an acceptable choice, I am not sure that they were brave or bold.  

Not so when the left is in charge.  Deplatforming.  Pink slips.  Detoxing.  Vaccination passports.  Locked up in a D.C. jail.  The list of aggressive attacks on anyone who dares to speak out is continually growing.  At what point will it reach a flash point?  Will it ever reach a flashpoint?  Are there enough Americans that value their freedom?  

Every time I see our traditional freedoms stomped into the mud by the left I get angry.  I doubt I will ever get angry enough to get violent.  I have these Bible verses about turning the other cheek that keep popping up but I wouldn’t mind being on the jury when people who lose it come to trial.

We are running out of time.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-008: Pumicisms: Have I Mentioned This Before?

I have been dealing with memory loss for as long as I can remember.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-007: Angel Report

I am staying with my grandchildren and as I was being thankful this morning my guardian angel came to mind.  I am a believer in guardian angels.  

Psa 91:11  For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.

This is repeated in Luke 4:10.  I used the NASB because it uses the word “guard”.  When I think of my guardian angel my mind takes a squirrel moment.  For instance, how do you leave your guardian angel cookies?  Do they like cookies?  And so forth.
Since I have a guardian angel it follows that my grandchildren have them too.  It occurred to me that they are doubling up, mine came with me and theirs is here.  It brings a whole bunch of squirrel questions to mind.

I wonder if they have ever met.  Do they need to be introduced?  Do all guardian angels know each other?

I assume that we were assigned the best available.  Or it could be that they are genuinely equal, after all God did make them.

I wonder if it will give them time off as they share vigils.

I wonder if my imagination is running away with me.

It is a great way to have it happen.

Happy New Year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-006: Wild Foal Wisdom

As I write I am reading through Job.  I am finding that I am old enough to read and benefit from things that put me to sleep years ago.

I came across one of those verses that seem to speak wisdom without adulteration.  I am not willing to make doctrinal points out of them.  These types of verses are usually taken out of context.  They just seem to sit up and say, “Look at me.”

(Job 11:12 NAS77) "And an idiot will become intelligent When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.

You have heard such statements as “When Hell freezes over” and “a snowballs chance in Hell.”  Here I give you a similar statement that would be suitable of G rated audiences.

Many candidates come to mind when I look at this verse.  I think the category of “idiot” is wide.  

When I get a little more serious about this I would extend it to other types of people.  I would suggest that child molesters can not be changed.  They might repent and be genuinely sorry but I don’t think they can get over the brokenness in their inner being.  I would accept that God’s grace can work the miracle but I don’t think we as a society can count on them being honest about it.  Serial killers would be in the same category.  Ted Bundy comes to mind.  I listened to an interview that he gave Jim Dobson.  I believe that he was genuinely redeemed by the blood of the lamb.  He said that in spite of that he deserved to die.  I salute him for that.

We are to love.  We are to forgive.  We are not to be fools.  There is a reason the Bible has a death penalty.  We should consider that we are also to love the people who stand to be damaged by people that we want to go soft on.

Love may forgive but it does not condone and enable.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-005: Subtlety - God Level

Recently we had an answer to prayer.  It was specific and definite, or was it?

My son in law was caught in the jaws of the vaccine mandates.  He was locked into a government mandate and was facing a decision to give up his retirement, health care for his family and his good name because the behemoth of government wanted to throw its weight around.  We have heard the demand to be jabbed.  We have heard there are exemptions for religious reasons.  If you are in the crosshairs you also know that they are not giving those exemptions.  An article in the Gateway Pundit says all religious exemptions have been denied in the Marines.

He filled out paper work, made appointments and we prayed.

It turns out that there was a regulation that brought about the desire we sought.  My question is, “Was that regulation in existence before I prayed and no one was aware of it or did God go back and insert it so it would be there when needed?”  

Does it make any difference?  We will never know how God works out all the knots that need to be dealt with.  We just know that He does.

I have a lot of questions about prayer but we are told to pray and it makes a difference.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-004: Holiday Merry-Go-Round

In the First World we are used to the mantra, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”  It isn’t that way in the rest of the world.

In areas where the Orthodox churches are predominate it would be “Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas.”  

In Africa it would not be “Happy Kwanza and a happy new year.”  In southern Africa it would still be “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” followed by the question, “What is a Kwanza?”  Northern Africa being predominately Muslim would not celebrate Christmas.

And of course you would need to make allowances for the traditional New Years of different cultures such as Jewish and Chinese New Years.

May God’s blessing rest on you in the coming year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-003: Eliteicrom Variant

The minions of Communism think they are safe.  They are in for a rude awakening.  The thug attacks on expensive shopping areas are an indication of what is coming.  If they had been paying attention they would have seen pictures of notes stuck on windows proudly informing the rioters that the owner of the business is on their side.  Of course the note is attached to a window that is shattered in front of an empty display.  Criminal thugs, rioters and Communists don’t stop to consider your feelings, or it could be that they just can’t read.  Liberals think they are immune from the coming social holocaust just as they think that a mask makes them immune from a virus.

This is nothing new.  It is a characteristic of socialist thinking.  In his 1944 discussion of socialist thinking, F.A. Hayek said,

“If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will settle these questions for others, and because they are convinced of their own capacity to do this justly and equitably.” page 243

Liberals are so out of touch with cause and effect that they think they will always be on top of the pile and the unwashed masses will be overjoyed at the willingness of their overlords to take an interest in their welfare.  

I can envision the theme song of these disillusioned fools when the van shows up to escort them to their next position in the hierarchy.  It is a song out of my past and it’s mantra is,

“They’re coming to take me away.”

I hope we are still here to wave to them as they pass.

Hayek, F.A.  The Road to Serfdom, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1944, 1994.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-002: Headlines: Micky Mouse Club Minus One

A few years ago my wife bought an old Lexus RX 300.  Suddenly I began to see a Lexus on every block.  Or should I say I began to notice them.  I don’t know that there was a sudden increase in the model and brand, but I became aware of them.  It was an interesting phenomena of no importance.  

A similar phenomena is going on with sudden deaths.  What brings this to my mind was reading a headline on the Gateway Pundit about a star of the Mickey Mouse Club who had dropped dead suddenly.  I watched the Micky Mouse Club as a kid but I was first gen.  I did not recognize the face in the picture but I checked it out anyway.  She died of a cardiac arrest which had put her in a coma for an undisclosed period of time.
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What is there to raise awareness?  A sudden heart attack in someone who is relatively young.  No details given about other factors.  Does it sound familiar?  Did she have a history of heart trouble?  Had she recently been vaccinated?  It is always interesting how little information the so-called news media give us.

Are we seeing a new pattern or has this kind of thing been going all our lives.  You could almost put out a magazine listing all the people who are suddenly dying of heart attacks.  I have never bothered to read them but I have seen links to lists of professional soccer athletes collapsing on the field with heart problems.  You may have read about the editor for the New York Times who dropped dead almost immediately after getting a jab.  Politicians, movie stars and unreported common folks could be added to the list.

Is it like the Lexus sightings or are we seeing the tip of the predicted die-off from the side effects of the safe vaccines?

My hope is that it is coincidence and hyper sensitivity.  My fear is that we are seeing just the beginning.  Maybe I should not say fear.  I have not been vaccinated and trust that God will give me every day He has planned for me.  A better word would be concern for those who will die or be disabled by the second major political disease of my adult life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-001: Jump Start

As I was looking at the new year I found myself wondering about a verse for the year.  With all the panic going on in the media and government I felt like we needed to be reminded about the call to not live in craven fear.  It might be well to remember that fear gets both positive and negative press in the Bible.  In reality there are two very different meanings.

The conclusion is that we are to have a hierarchy in our fear.  The proper fear is a foundation for a successful life.  I fear electricity.  I fear wasps.  I fear a lot of things, and so I should.  If they are not treated with respect they can damage or kill.  That kind of fear does not keep me from turning on the lights, going out side or many other things because the fear I have teaches me respect and control.

Thus our lives begin with fear, the fear of the Lord.  The book of Proverbs keeps repeating that phrase starting with,

(Pro 1:7 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

and goes to,

(Pro 23:17 KJV)  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

I will let you do your own research.  The best known products of the fear of the Lord:  Wisdom, knowledge, understanding.  It goes beyond that.

But there is another verse that I want to focus on this year.

(2Ti 1:7 KJV)  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

A little comparison might be in order to get the depth here.  Look at the NASB,

(2Ti 1:7 NAS77) For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Notice that fear can be read as being timid.  Notice that a sound mind has the idea of discipline.

Those are good strengths for me to cultivate this year.

Grace and peace.

homo unius libri