11.18.2024 – new rulers stymied

new rulers stymied
by incompetence, infighting
self-sabotage

Once Trump won, decent outcomes for the country were probably off the table. The institutions are unlikely to hold. Establishment Republicans cannot be counted on to protect us. The best we can hope for is that our new rulers will be stymied by incompetence, infighting and self-sabotage. In that respect, Gaetz may be just the man for the job.

From the article, Matt Gaetz Is the Perfect Man for the Job by Michelle Goldberg in the New York Times, Nov. 14, 2024.

I am trying to stay out of politics so the topic of the article is incendental and I want to salute the word craft in the marvelous sentence “The best we can hope for is that our new rulers will be stymied by incompetence, infighting and self-sabotage.“

… stymied by incompetence, infighting and self-sabotage.

In many ways, this was the underlying foundation of the Allies war on Nazi Germany and it worked out okay and I can easily imaging these words being strung together by Mr. Churchill.

That being said, I am reminded of a discussion of the so called ‘End Times’ I had with a friend of mine.

The End Times in Evangelical circles is when the world as we know finally falls apart.

As we talked about this I thought outloud:

The amount of sin in the world gets to the point where the only thing that can make any difference is the return of Jesus.

Then I looked at my friend and asked: “This would be a bad thing … why?“

Then I asked, “Do we want to encourage bad behavior?

11.17.2024 – do not be afraid

do not be afraid,
discouraged – go and attack
the King of Ai

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king.

Book of Joshua, Chapter 8, verses 1 and 2, (New International Version Translation).

It’s mostly just a coincidence that couples the resurrection of Trump with the rise of Artificial Intelligence.

A coincidence that lends itself easily to the idea of a new world if not a brave new world is just around the corner and all the uncertainty and discouragement that the idea of this brave new world will not be much a world to live in.

It’s also mostly just a coincidence that my daily Bible reading was from the Book of Joshua, Chapter 2.

And it’s mostly just a coincidence that a city that stood against Joshua was named Ai.

I ask you, when you hear the term, The King of Ai, who do YOU think of?

I know not the orange guy but that other oddly named feller the has a seat on his train.

And the King of Ai will be delivered into our hands.

Today you draw your reassurances where you can.

I cannot understand where this country is in respect to its past and in response to its elected future but these Bible verses helped me to remember that God is IN control and I draw reassurance from that.

I will NOT be afraid.

I will NOT be discouraged.

Hang on to hat, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

11.7.2024 – a grey mist sea’s face,

a grey mist sea’s face,
must go down to the seas, call
of the running tide

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Sea-Fever By John Masefield.

This poem is forever in my mind remembered from the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory movie when everyone gets on board he Wonkatania and Gene Wilder gestures towards the ship and says, “And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;“

Then the boat goes through what has been considered to one of the most bizarre 3 minutes in movie history.

It has been written that, “ … you can see the abject terror plastered on the faces of children and adults alike in the scene. He didn’t tell any of the performers how Wilder would behave in character for that particular sequence, which led some of the younger actors, like Denise Nickerson (aka Violet Beauregarde), to believe Wilder was suffering a very sincere, very alarming psychotic breakdown.”

I feel like we are all about to start that boat ride.

Walking on the beach yesterday the clouds closed in to the south and you couldn’t see far down the beach or across the water to Tybee Island.

The horizon of the water and the horizon of the sky were together.

A light rain fell.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied.

The mist will clear and we will see the way through.

10.28.2024 – necessary that the

necessary that the
Executive Magistrate be
peoples’ guardian

It is necessary then that the Executive Magistrate should be the guardian of the people, even of the lower classes, agst. Legislative tyranny, against the Great & the wealthy who in the course of things will necessarily compose the Legislative body. Wealth tends to corrupt the mind and to nourish its love of power, and to stimulate it to oppression.*

So said Gouverneur Morris on July 19, 1787 during the debate on the powers of the Executive during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Let’s look at what Mr. Morris said one more time.

The Executive Magistrate should be the guardian of the people, even of the lower classes against Legislative tyranny …

Against the Great & the wealthy who in the course of things will necessarily compose the Legislative body …

Wealth tends to corrupt the mind and to nourish its love of power, and to stimulate it to oppression.

Mr. Morris, it should be noted, was one of the richest men on the Colonies but he was also that feller that championed the concept that “While most Americans still thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states.” (Wikipedia).

Mr. Morris is also credited with writing out the Preamble to the Constituition of the United States.

The part that reads, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

I can see why there are those in the news today who feel this piece of writing is out of date.

Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention

10.21.2024 – know enough to spoil

know enough to spoil
enjoyment – not enough to
feel happy themselves

D.M. Lloyd-Jones has a fascinating sermon about this group — an exposition of Mark 8 called “Men as Trees, Walking.” In that sermon (now a chapter in the book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures) there is an account of Jesus touching a blind man to heal him. When Jesus asks him if he can see now, the man replies “I see men as trees, walking” (verse 24, KJV). In other words, he could make out moving forms, but he still could not see clearly. Jesus touched him a second time and his sight was healed completely (verse 25). Lloyd-Jones then argued that the account can serve as a picture of many who seem to have been touched by Christian faith and yet still struggle with it. As a pastor, Lloyd-Jones had talked to many in this spiritual condition. It was hard for him to be sure if they were Christians or not and it was hard for them to say themselves.

“They seem to know enough about Christianity to spoil their enjoyment of the world, and yet they do not know enough to feel happy about themselves … They see and yet they do not see. I think you will agree that I am describing the condition, alas, of large numbers of people.”*

From Reconstructing Faith: Christianity in a New World By Tim Keller (Fall 2022: Gospel-Changed Minds).

The joke I grew up with was that Calvinism was the fear that somewhere, someone was having a good time.

Lots to admire about Mr. Calvin but wasn’t the message of salvation, the message of salvation, the message of Christianity called Good News for a reason?

I would be willing to bet that almost anyone American of a center age can recite, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,” just like Linus did in the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Good Tidings.

Great Joy.

To ALL People.

A simple message.

A message to be separated from all the noise about being a Christian today.

Good News.

Glad tidings.

Great Joy!

To all people.

Come what may.

*D.M. Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, Eerdmans, 1965, 40.