Opus 2023-043: Bone Picking

I have a tendency to pick apart just about anything I hear or read.   I can’t help myself.  I have read more than average and I listen a lot when people talk.  Much I forget.  Some I retain.  What seems to always cause the problem is the gestalt encyclopedia buried deep in my psyche.  When something does not add up it starts turning pages and my baloney meter starts to quiver.  

Let me give you a non-threatening example.  My wife has been reading a commentary on the Old Testament written by Dennis Prager.  She shared with me that Prager, who is quite a scholar, said that according to Jewish tradition the milk and honey mentioned often in the Bible was not what Americans thought it was.  He said the milk was goats milk and the honey was really a very sweet substance obtained from the date palms of the area.  That is what she said as near as I can remember.  Don’t hold Prager to task for her version.  I had no problem with the goats milk.  I read Proverbs regularly and goats milk fits in just fine.  My issue was with the date honey.  I had to check my Bible but it seemed to me that Sampson found a bee hive with honey in the carcase of a lion he had killed.  

(Jdg 14:8 KJV)  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

A quick search shows that the references to “mild and honey” in the Old Testament are all the same Hebrew word.  No big deal.  We are not talking earthshaking, just giving you an example.

I get criticized for that.

I think it is a good thing.  Too often the big lie is introduced by a credibility that is established by the little lies.  I get irritated by lemon drops labeled as a “fat free” food.  The statement is true but the impression of being healthy is deceptive.  They are primarily sugar, which I have no quarrel with but is not noted as being good for you.  When you take the lies of the media and Marxism and the way they are repeated you get the idea.  Who has not heard the line that “real socialism” has never been tried.

I remember the days of my youth and the constant challenge to keep my junker car running.  Let’s have a show of hands.  How many can remember setting the points?  A little bit of fudge can go a long way toward walking home.  Nuance and nit picking is the difference between a high performance engine and an assembly of metal parts.

So indulge me.  While you are at it try to keep your facts straight.  I would hate to have a bone to pick with you.

homo unius libri