Opus 2023-153: Compulsion

Are you OCD?  How do you know?

I just had a “eureka” moment which pointed toward “no”.

I try to keep two rolls of toilet paper on the toilet tank.  I don’t like to run out and today I mounted the second roll.  I know, TMI.  I remembered to get two more and put them in place as backup and in doing so I noticed something.  One roll was right side up and the other was upside down.  The key ingredient to this story is that I felt no inclination to make them both right side up.  If I were OCD I would have felt a compulsion.

More tips for other issues in life may come, or may not.  I feel under no compulsion.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-152: New Term: Gastrogressions

How about a restaurant built on the premise of avoiding gastronomical microagressions?  We would refuse to serve anything that caused anyone a sense of threat, tension or gas.

Let’s start with me.  I hate liver and onions.  It used to be that the simple smell of cooking liver would make me gag and want to vomit.  The first thing we would need to ban is liver.  Sticking with my family, my wife has issues that keep her from enjoying spicy food.  I cannot make chili at home because I might spill some cyan or chili powder and she would pay for it.  That rules out any food with exotic spices.

Nut allergies, shell fish allergies, soy allergies:  The list is endless.  If you have any questions about that then read the ingredient labels on just about anything you buy pre-packed.  From what I see on the warnings, about the only thing we are not allergic to are the chemical additives.  That may be because the chemical companies has big enough lobbying budgets to stay off the radar.  It might be that this new restaurant I am proposing could only offer additive soup and filler casseroles.  

A common sense solution would be to be careful and chose your table wisely.  I have not run into any misguided souls eating liver and onions in a restaurant in forty years.  When I was a young pastor I used to go to the dinner get togethers of the seniors and it seemed like the special was always liver and onions and they loved liver and onions.  I joked about it, tried to sit up wind and enjoyed the fellowship.  

The weakness in this is common sense.  People seem to be allergic to that also.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-151: The Hard Step

When Paul arrived in town and went to the Jews in the synagogues he found a group labeled by various translations with titles like “God-fearing” (4576) who were attracted to the moral teaching of God and to the person of God Himself yet they were not willing to pay the price involved in the law and circumcision.

(Act 13:43 NAS77) Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.

Paul brought the message of Jesus that allowed them into the kingdom without observing the Law.

Today we have a similar group of people.  Some entire churches are made up of people who are attracted toward “something” in the gospel and yet are not willing to embrace the Jesus who is at the center.

There will be no apostle Paul coming to lower the bar for them.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-150: Symbolism

My mental tangent was chasing some of the recent things I had been reading about science and the Bible.  I had also been reading Psalms about God sending snow storms and such and reflecting on the different places it points out that He is holding the universe together.

That took me to thinking God could never be fit into a math formula.

Then I thought that might actually be the answer.  Physicists were known to make up symbols for their math.  Einstein came up with a triangle that had a value that worked.  He didn’t know what the value was, but it worked.  Why not have one for God.  It might be the compromise that the materialists could work with.

Actually it would not work with them.  Their basic foundation is that there is no God and just because their systems don’t work is no reason to consider something that conflicts with their priorities.  An example I came across was provided by some researchers trying to prove that something called “nonshared environmental variability” was key to differences in educational development.  When coming up with results that did not support the desired result the analysis they wrote, “Rather, we believe that the appropriate conclusion is that the causal mechanism underlying nonshared environmental variability is outcome remain unknown.” p. 259

Wouldn’t that be fun having a math symbol that represented the action of God?  You and I would not notice because they have so many symbols that are nonsense to the uninitiated but it would drive them crazy.

We might as well make math and science fun.  

Murray, Charles.  Human Diversity.  New York:  Twelve, 2020.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-149: Ode to Old: Decline Happens

We are all aware of the hypothetically Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”  To that genre of curses I would like to add, “May you be the sharpest tack in the box.”

The curse of being the sharpest tack on the board is only surpassed by the curse of thinking you are the sharpest.  If you are only slightly sharper or sharper in different areas you can still have a good conversation, but if there is a wide difference then talking becomes pointless.  I don’t confuse education, clothing or social class with being intelligent.  We still have lots of people around who did not go to college but have active brains and a grasp of what is going on.  They read, observe and reason, which is more than most intellectuals do.

What gets me on this “tack” is I am increasingly noticing the decline of people who are important to me.  Well read friends who once could quote from almost any book they had read or at least find the quote are having a hard time remembering if they read the book or not.  We all keep a good attitude and use good humor.  It is part of life but it is troubling.

It makes me wonder how far I am declining.  I notice there are certain words that I always have a mental block on.  Like so many things in life we see it in others before we see it in ourselves.  The battle continues.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-148: Word Power

We are being dragged down by a lack of imagination.

What is on my mind right now is the omnipresence of four letter words.  They have lost their shock value.  They never were really that funny.  The talking classes can’t seem to get beyond them.

I had a German teacher who attacked the problem by teaching us a good German word for cussing:  Kartofelvonkucken.  Granted, it had more than four letters, but if you say it with commitment it can sound very powerful.  With nods to my misspelling of the word, what it means is “potato pancakes.”

As a teacher I was a bit constrained in what I said but I still had moments.  I remember I always tried to find original ways to express my frustration.  I would at times get angry enough to say to the class, “Shut the expletive deleted up.”  Another one I used to use was defecation database.  I also would remind people when they apologized that the word they had used was not French but Anglo-Saxon.

The text books in middle school were in a steady decline as far as vocabulary goes.  I see the same process taking place in church.  Words that any 8th grader would know are often beyond the grasp of the teachers that are supposed to be setting the example.  We should be working to expand the variety available instead of dumbing everything down.

Become a paragon of perspicacity.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-147: Why Go?

On Friday nights a group of old people from the church get together for dinner at a local restaurant.  I know I am old because I was invited to join them.  

Recently my wife has been on a mantra of, “Why do you go?”

The obvious reason is to get to know the people of the church.  You don’t know people if all you do is sit in the same room or row.  You may feel comfortable and accepted but a worship service is to focus on God, not to talk to each other.

Then there is a need for this isolationist introvert to get out and rub elbows with other human beings.  I am quite content to stay in my corner of the house.  I have little need for conversation.  At least I don’t feel like I need it, but I am also aware of the dangers of being isolated.  So I force myself to get up and get out.  Once I am in the presence of others I can have a good time but it is something I need to force because it is not my default.

One that occurred to me and generated this post was that I need to get to know people on a level that reminds me not to judge on superficial minutia.  It is easy to do and yet when we get to know people on the heart level we have a bit more mercy.  In some ways God is more critical than we are but I think in many ways He is more laid back, if you will accept that term.  It is because He can see into our hearts and minds.  He does not get distracted by all the superficial foibles we have that don’t reflect our inner reality.  

An example would be close relatives.  It is amazing how much lee way we are willing to give to people important to us.  We do it because we care and also because we know them.  We have a feel for what makes them tick.

When my wife ask me why I go I often don’t have an answer ready.  Maybe this will put the words in my mouth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-146: Consider the Mold

There are many documents that molded American history from the Mayflower Compact to the latest nonsense coming out of Washington.  You might consider it from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Out of them all there are three that stand out in our founding as a nation.

The Declaration of Independence was the first.  It was the result of present and ongoing abuses that the colonies were facing.  If you take the time to read through it you will find a lot of issues that sound contemporary.

Then you come to the Constitution itself.  This was like a term paper in government.  It is the result of deep study and debate.  Rome, Greece, the Bible and anything else they could find that talked about government.  What worked?  What failed?  Why?  They rejected pure democracy out the starting gate.  They learned a lot from the Greek attempts and crashes.  Rome had its lessons.  The English Parliament showed them things they like and aspects they rejected.  The result was an inspired work that, if followed, provided liberty and prosperity for the masses of common people.

The Bill of Rights followed because it was demanded.  One of the big blanks in the Constitution was a lack of reference to God.  Many delegates voted for the Constitution only because they were promised a Bill of Rights.  The first thing that was addressed was religious freedom.  As you read through the first two amendments you need to keep in mind that it is the result of experience in English attempts to push the state church.  Freedom to worship as you please requires freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom to print.  Even the second amendment reflects the way in which the throne restricted weapons to members of the church in power.

Appreciate what we have, or at least used to have.  Read them over.  Think about them.  Stand up and advocate for them.  The future is still not set in concrete.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-145: End Run

It may be that we need some software developed to act as spreaders for our posts.

I don’t seem to need to worry about it.  So far I am off the radar or else I don’t say anything important.  My theory though is that the algorithm for cancel culture is geared in to how many people are reading what you write.  In one sense it is a reward for success.

We need a mechanism for spreading the word to a thousand smaller outlets that will fall below the trigger.  It may already exist and be in use.  It should not be hard.  Submit your post and it automatically gets sent out.

Of course it would be better to do away with cancel culture altogether but that does not seem to be on the agenda.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-144: On the Road: Refreshing Question

Last night when I checked into a motel I got a blast from the past.

I was asked if I wanted “smoking” or “non-smoking”.  I was under the impression that such questions were never asked any more because tobacco had been banned from most of the civilized world.

I was wrong.

It was a nice feeling.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-143: On the Road: Highway of Hope

Yesterday I drove north through Texas into Oklahoma.  People are out and moving, at least in this part of the country.  Buc-ee’s, a Texas based maga-gas stop, was bustling.  Even the cops were out.

What encouraged me was a lack of a sense of desperation.  If we ever come to the states going their own way, I think Texas will be okay.  I saw lots of farm land being farmed and cows enjoying the rain soaked grass.  There was also a lot of land that seemed to be fallow.  I don’t know enough about farming to know if it was useful for food production or not but it was fenced and owned.  We may not be able to feed Austin if things go south, but then, I am not sure we would want to feed Austin.  A better plan would be to surround the city, load everyone in cattle trucks and ship them to California.

I think much of the country will go on as usual.  

I found that uplifting.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-142: The Problem of Intelligence

Do we need to worry about AI?  Is there really something to worry about or is it just another attempt to make us cry out for government regulation to make us safe?

In one sense we need to worry a lot.  The concern at present levels would not be with the AI itself but with the people programing and controlling it.  The computer operates under the parameters set by people.  People often have questionable motives.  We have seen this in the way that the social media has censored and controlled information based on the political views of the moguls.  Your best interest is not in their hearts.  We have computer hardware, software and algorithms that can either make sure your stove is not left on or cause the stove to burn down your house.  It all depends on who set it up.

In the future we might need to worry about autonomous AI but again that will be because the people developing it did not have humanity’s best interest at heart.  Computers tend to be really good at remembering and going fast.  Thus if they have your face on file they can go through the entire population shown on cameras and locate you quickly.  It could happen faster than you can exhale.  The problem is created by the human who labeled you to be on their radar.  The question is do they have the right to do that search?  

Autonomous AI is still a theme in science fiction.  Whether it will ever become a reality is questionable, but what if it is possible?  My question becomes, “Will God allow humans to create an equivalent of life?”

Satan asked it better in the Garden,

(Gen 3:5 KJV)  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

See, it is nothing new.  Human beings, being made in the image of God, have a God complex.  We tend to reach for the stars, not because we want to learn about the stars, but because we want to control the stars.  What we have in AI is the same chorus.

We saw it again at the Tower of Babel.

(Gen 11:4 KJV)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

In that case God confused their language, they started fighting and broke up.  Will God intervene again?  Will the natural selfishness we share cause the elites to begin the feast where they eat their own?  

You might remember the story of the fiery furnace.  The issue was a refusal to worship the king as a god.  As we look at our culture we don’t often hear people claiming to be gods but they still want us to bow down to them and their authority.  Years ago when I was in the Army I had real problems with many of the officers and senior enlisted men.  They seemed to think they knew what was best and I was there to obey.  It was kind of like our government today.

Do we have anything to worry about?  Of course we do.  Even if we didn’t we would find something.  I think of all the times I was sent to find the source of a noise that only my wife could hear.  The issue today is there are a lot of noises but people are ignoring them.

Let AI sort itself out.  What you can do is get off the electronic dependancy that we all suffer from.  Start by cutting back.  Siri can’t answer your questions if your phone is turned off.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-141: Want to Be Perfect?

Perfect is boring.

Think about it.  I enjoy playing golf.  I don’t love it any more because I never got good enough to be really challenged, but I still like it.  I can go to a local par 3 and have a great time.  The course would bore a professional golfer to death.  Those guys are so good that it is embarrassing.  If heaven were a par 3 they would not want to go.

The possibility of failure adds spice to the sauce of life.

Will there be broken bones in heaven?  Maybe not bones but something that gives challenge.  A large part of doing the ski jump is the knowledge that things could go seriously wrong.  With my lack of coordination I have never been tempted.  Will I get reflexes in eternity so I can try some of the stunts that I was better off without?

The Bible has the concept of perfection.  At least it is translated that way.  The concept is more maturity and having reached the goal.  That leaves a place for imperfection in perfection, if you get my drift.  A good example might be my granddaughter when she was born.  She was a perfect baby.  Believe it.  Also believe that she filled her diaper regularly, spit up and refused to go to sleep.  We never doubted her perfection.  Well, maybe that day when she threw up in her crib at 2:00 AM.

Adam and Eve were perfect.  How did that work out?  That is why the spiritual journey to maturity is as important as the grace powered transformation that starts the journey.  Perfect is boring but maturity opens doors to glory, like turning 16 and getting my driver’s license.  

Grow in grace.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-140: California Presents Silver Linings

According to a piece by Victor Davis Hanson California has half of the homeless in the nation ane one third of the welfare recipients.  If I read correctly half of the illegal aliens go to California as well.  

All I can say is, “Thank you, California.”  

If their reparations nonsense goes through then we will see the erosion of much of our diversity as blacks move west to get their share of the dream.  Who can blame them?  Many will probably be back in a few years.

Always look for the silver lining.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-139: Rejection

I think it is a miracle that I am not a raging racist today.  Why, or, why not?

First, I don’t remember any input from my parents that would imply that people are inferior because of the color of their skin.  That foundation was important.

Second, my contacts with people with Mexican or black backgrounds was with the working class, proud poor that were just like us.  When I worked with my dad I remember that his goto mason when he had a big job was Manny whose ancestors came from Mexico.  In junior high and high school I never came in contact with anyone with an attitude of victimhood.  

Then I was drafted into the army.  Basic training had no racial stress.  Our platoon leader was black.  One of four squad leaders was black.  There were more in the ranks.  There was no tension, maybe because we all came from the pre-woke Southern California.  It was not until the next stage, when I was sent to New Jersey that I had my first experience with the ghetto.  We were ordered not to go out after dark in groups of less than four because of the black gangs that were roaming the base at night.  This was on an army base.  

By the time I got to Vietnam it seemed like a black power rally.  Uniforms were very individualized.  Military courtesy was sporadic.  There was a definite sense of tension.  If my opinion of other ethnic groups were based on those experiences I would have felt like the Klan was a legitmate organization.

That was balanced by people like Thomas Sowell and Clarence Thomas.  Categorizing people based on superficial traits was totally contrary to the equality statement in the Declaration of Independence.  You didn’t need to spend much time reading the New Testament to find it was not the way things were supposed to be.

A mature mind recognizes that there are all kinds of people in any demographic you want to choose.  Anal orifices come in all colors.  Fools do not correlate with gender.  Income does not determine how you treat others.

So reject the woke nonsense and lets get back to being Americans.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-138: Go for the Gold

Will there be competition in eternity?  This is actually a serious consideration.  We have members of the woke community that have been working for years to drive the toxic masculinity of competition from the public square.  I have never been to one but I hear there are soccer matches in which they don’t keep score.  Sports that generate competition are discouraged.  Cooperative exercises are the order of the day.  I guess the real question I am asking is, “Is competition evil?”  Will we have a desire to win in heaven*?

I would say, yes, because many of us enjoy a rousing challenge.  The cost of winning and losing is often important to activities we pursue.  I reflect on my experience playing poker.  I really enjoyed the brief experience I had with poker but quickly realized it would be a way for me to either become addicted or lose my shirt, probably both.

So our family tried playing poker with no real money involved.  The cards were the same.  The odds were figured the same.  We could tell who won and who lost.  Why was it so boring?  Because we always had people who would make risky bets because it was fun and they really had nothing to lose.  They would bet everything in their pile for no reason but the hope it would bring you down.  In a game based on probability and odds it doesn’t take too many moments of foolish risk taking to destroy the dynamic of the game.  Many things in life are like that.

What will be different in heaven* is our attitude because we will be beyond jealousy and pettiness.  I don’t have to win to enjoy competition.  I can rejoice with the winner.  It is twice as much fun if the battle is neck-and-neck down to the finish line.  What makes competition a problem is a desire to injure or belittle.  

The same would apply to practical jokes.  It is one reason why there may be no liberals in heaven, they can’t laugh at themselves.  They only think something is funny when it hurts someone they don’t really care about.  That is also why they want to bore us with smarmy kumbaya circles.  They know it can take the joy out of life.

So irritate a woke liberal.  Have a race with your grandchild to see who can finish their ice cream first.  Have a tickle competition.  Count who can pick up the most toys when it is time to send them home.  It is okay if you cheat a little so that they win.

*Heaven - I know that “heaven” is technically not the right word for eternal life but it is the word most people use.  In this case I will bend to common practice.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-137: The Fork Conspiracy

What made Western European culture the dominate force in the world?  I could explain it to you but you probably would not believe me so let me suggest something that may have gone unnoticed.

I give you a symbol of White, European, Patriarchal Dominance:  The Fork.

The fork is a symbol of White dominance.  It is amazing how many people have an opinion on the fork.  Like almost everything, some people claim the Chinese were the first.  However you want to trace it the widespread use of the fork was European.

Different cultures use different implements.  Knives, spoons and fingers are probably the most common.  Asian cultures seem to have adjusted to chop sticks.  Where Europeans have gone they have taken the fork.  Not only do you need to know how to use one without puncturing your body you might also need to know which fork to use first.

It is the fork that oppresses the rest of the world.  If the people trying to drag down Western culture are successful it is possible that the world will go back to eating with their fingers out of a common pot.  Perhaps Congress will declare the use of a fork as a hate crime.  Proregressives call it progress.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-136: Click Bait: Hydrogen Engine

The title was too much to resist.  You Tube was claiming that Toyota had a hydrogen engine.  As is usually the case the title was a bit overstated, but the development is real.  It sounds like they are getting close to production.  I think it is a great possible development.  Toward the end they stated that the only thing that comes out of the exhaust is water.  Everyone breath a sigh of relief.  What a glorious moment.  Of course, if you listened carefully they also said there were other noxious gases but in lower amounts than a gas engine.  It still sounds good.

But wait a moment.  The green movement has not even started working on this.  They want to deny us mobility because we are easier to control if we can’t jump in our car and go looking for a new job or a new place to live.  They have not yet begun to fight on this one.  Remember that they have you afraid of toxic carbon dioxide, the main thing that comes out of a gas engine.  It is going to warm the planet and kill us all.  Actually carbon dioxide is also a harmless substance.  Every time you exhale you project carbon dioxide.  It is a nutrient for plants.  It is necessary for the plants the greens want us to eat to thrive.  They have still painted it as a toxin.  In reality if there is more carbon dioxide the plants around us will be stronger and grow faster.  

Yet it is evil.

They will do the same with water.  I don’t know what their hook will be.  It won’t make any sense.  It will be laughable to thinking people.  In spite of that they will have celebrities telling us how all this water is destroying the planet.  Perhaps all the water produced will raise the ocean levels even faster.  Water vapor will become the new cause of global warming/cooling.  You will hear it so often that you will wonder if you are the only one who notices that the King is naked.

So get ready.  There will be a special sweat tax because it contributes to the problem.  Perhaps we can be fitted with monitors that measure not only the carbon dioxide leaving our lungs but the water also.  We may be fitted with special pouches that will condense and collect our toxic excretions.  It will then be taken to a government facility for recycling.

I wish I knew I was joking.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-135: Should-a-Beens: Killer Vines

I was thinking about Proverbs 31 where it talks about the perfect wife buying a field and planting a vineyard.  My thoughts went to world hunger.

How did I go from a vineyard to world hunger?  The same way that the green vegans go from a field of corn to people starving to death.  The corn is used to feed and fatten cattle instead of feeding people.  Thus, meat eaters are keeping food from the hungry of the world.  Because of that, eating meat is evil and should be done away with.

Why don’t we hear that argument for vineyards?  How many acres are tied up in producing wine and other alcoholic beverages?  Granted, it might be the best use of some marginal land but are you telling me that there is nothing edible that could be grown instead of grapes?  If you have to grow grapes then turn them into raisins instead of intoxicants.  Wine drinkers of the world are starving the poor and needy.  Plow the vines under.  Plant okra or kale.  Maybe focus on bean sprouts.  Drinking is evil and must be done away with.

I guess I have too much leisure time.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-134: Should-a-Beens: Walls

I have a suggestion for the next congressional bill to raise the debt ceiling.  Walls.

I don’t mean walls on the borders.  What I am looking for is walls around any city over a certain size, say 500,000.  I am rigid on the walls but willing to adjust the number down.

I think that they could sneak it into the small print when the bill is in the resolution process, or does it not do that for budgets?  It would be a way of playing the game by their rules, pass the bill to find out what is in it.

Construction should start immediately, starting with the city which meets a formula of population and geographic size.  The more condensed, the higher on the list.  It would also require funding for another government police force on the lines of TSA.  It could be paid for by a graduated tax like we all pay.  The bigger the city, the higher the tax, with small towns getting a welfare subsidy paid for out of the pockets of the megopolices.  

It is an idea whose time has come.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-133: Attitude Definitions

There is a difference between lazy and efficient.  My wife will say I am lazy.  I don’t remember hearing that when I was getting up every morning to go to work while she slept in but I would hear it on week-ends.  We obviously have different understandings of the two words.

Lazy is when something that needs to be done is put off.  I don’t mean a few minutes.  Usually it is put off forever or until it will kill you, whichever comes first.  There is suffering associated with it because what needed to get done damages the chances of survival.  Thus if I don’t hoe the corn the harvest is smaller and someone goes hungry.  

Efficient is when something that does not need to be done is ignored.  I don’t think I ever made a bed until I was approaching retirement.  I don’t know that anyone ever went hungry because of it.  I don’t think our home insurance ever required a bed check.  Eventually I got to where I enjoyed the look of neatness enough to make it each morning but I don’t think I ever got my salary raised because I did that.  Why make a bed when you are going to mess it up a few hours later?  Inefficient.

Check your definitions and adjust your attitude.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-132: The Pool of Love

I was thinking about love, stimulated by an evening with my grandchildren.

I started thinking about how much I can love them, thought about my children, then went on a tangent:  Do I love my son-in-law as much as I love my daughter?  It was not hard to come to a clear “no” and I asked myself why that was true.

I started thinking about how love is not just a current experience but it also has a history.  It is not stagnant but dynamic, thus it is like a faucet pulsing out of your heart and mind.  You can have equal amounts going out at any one time but the faucet that has been on longer will have a larger pool beneath it.  It will have irrigated and carved a much more dynamic landscape because it has had longer to work.  In time, both pools may get big enough that you can’t tell the difference but that can only develop over time.

There is also a sense in which genuine, agape love, cannot be measured like a quantitative thing.  You don’t have five scoops of love as opposed to four.  You love or you don’t.  You are either all in or you are not.

There is also a sense in which it is measured.  The love of God is beyond anything we can reach within ourselves by ourselves.

(Rom 5:5 KJV)  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

It is possible to love because the Holy Spirit lives in us and Jesus modeled it for us.

(Rom 5:8 KJV)  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I am convinced that this love works itself out in practical ways.  I believe the Christian parents love their children more than pagans do.  There is a level of willingness to sacrifice for others that is there at the root.

I pray that more people will seek the love that God has to offer so they can offer it to those around them and transform the world we see falling apart.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-131: Material or Spiritual?

Do you really want a materialistic world?  The term materialism means a belief that any ultimate reality or purpose is found in material things.  Spiritual values would be looked at as fairy tales and myths with no real content.  All that exists can be weighed and measured.  There is no God, no heaven or hell, no truth.

Have you stopped to think of the implications if the universe really were a product of chance?

I believe God created.  Part of that belief is that He is still active in keeping things on course.  What if we could get God to back out and let the universe, from this point on, be the kind of place that you envision?  It would be the ultimate back to nature.

Let chance and probability reign.  It is possible that there would be no immediate difference.  Inertia exists and would take time to be worn down by other forces of nature.  God left things well designed and probability would keep things running smoothly for a time.  But eventually it would begin to unravel.

What would happen when one of the laws of nature decided to do a morph?  What would happen if water would continue to contract as it froze instead of gaining volume?  I don’t know the laws of physics that would need to be changed but imagine it happened.  After all, if everything is random and chance, why not?  Ice would no longer float.  The current cycle that brings the frozen to the top to be melted again would cease.  Eventually the oceans would freeze up except for a possible light coating in direct contact with the sun.  Imagine what that would to to life as you know it.

I prefer a world in which gravity always pulls you down, where nitrogen (71% of the atmosphere) remains inert, where fire provides heat and hunger reminds you that food is needed.  I would not want to live in your world.

Fortunately I will never need to.

homo unius libri