Head-dibs

A short article in the subject of American Studies and Literature focused on Jonathan Edwards, the fiery New England preacher of the mid 1700’s. I was happy to find the article though as I read the hyper-condensed overview of the man and his contributions to early America, made a few observations and came up with a few questions.  Is Edwards still read by students today? The purpose of the article was to survey high school and college exposure to American literature and suggested the intended outcome for students having touched the material; a kind of “here’s what you should have learned but were misled and this is what you discovered about the truth of the matter in college.” Do students still read Edwards today? If so (and using Edwards as a case-study) why are students told what to think about what they read? What, then, do they learn? Considering contributions to early America and literature, Jonathan Edwards is called a Puritan thinker. Yes, he was Puritan; and, yes, he w...

This is not a typical book review for the book actually began with an album, so one finds it difficult to talk about one to the exclusion of the other. “Clockwork Angels” began as the concept album (released June 12, 2012) by the band Rush. Lyricist and drummer Neil Peart teamed with novelist Kevin Anderson to produced this thought-provoking adventure based on lyrics from the band’s 19th album. The cover art (below) is shared between album and book and displays layers of intrigue. Fans of the band will understand without explanation the meaning of “2112,” noting the time indicated on the clock-face (in military time). The symbols on the cover refer to the chemicals of alchemy, but not alchemy in the classical sense. This alchemy is the powersource for a steam-punk world. Musically, the band surprises the listener with some bold adventures into genre not often associated with Rush. They are loud with style in all the right places. The contrasting softer passages demonstr...

Next time you eat a “Danish,” repent. Great Prayer Day is a Danish holiday that began in the 1600’s. The liturgical calendar was packed with days of prayer and repentance and someone got the idea (difficult to pinpoint “who”, as many countries share the same calendar) that it would be easier to condense all these days into one; hence, the “Great” of the Prayer Day. Danish bakers particularly sought to make life easier for their customers by making special loaves that could be easily warmed on the Prayer Day--less work, more prayer.  Make certain to spend time today and every day before the Lord, keeping “short accounts.” Repentance means turning from sin to the finished work of Christ by faith. God forgives those who repent. We pray because He loves to hear from those who are His children by faith. Enjoy a Danish, and enjoy time with God today!

(ht: Classical Musicians FB Group)

When you hear the name “Saint George,” and the picture of a knight killing a dragon comes to mind, then you’ve got the right idea. St. George is considered to be the patron saint of many European kingdoms and countries though (as it often goes with historical figures), he is remembered most by the most romantic tales than by his true historicity. Various histories agree that George was born to a Greek family in Israel nearly 275 years after Christ and include his subsequent following in his father’s footsteps by serving in the Roman army. There are indications that Emperor Diocletian knew George’s father, so that helped; that is, until Diocletian banned Christianity. George was martyred for rejecting the new Romanism and for holding on to his faith as a follower of Christ. The story of St. George killing the dragon is rich in symbolism: first, one recalls the biblical imagery of the defeat of Satan, described as “that great dragon” in scripture. This imagery glorifies Christ b...

Earth Day is a great idea, but there is much more to Earth Day than simply protecting the environment. We must protect the earth, but why? Yes the earth is our home, but how do we protect it? Is fighting litter and “going green” enough? I recall being very young and growing so concerned over the environment that I literally went door to door (with parental permission) and asked people to sign a pledge they would not litter. The result? I was hired (and paid) by the neighborhood to keep the entrance to our neighborhood clean and the association took care of the neighborhood itself. But uncleanliness kept happening--and it still happens. Why? The population of earth remains unclean. Is it any wonder that God’s unchanging Word speaks of the groaning of creation as creation waits for the redemption of mankind (Romans 8:19-23). Imagine the sigh of relief when the earth is made new! Earth Day is tied up in man’s repentance and obedience to God! Man was created and placed on the ea...

Or is this just a story about God’s creative power only? How does Genesis 2:21-25 read? “ So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made  into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed .” What Moses was inspired to write here is an expansion of what was started in the previous chapter, “ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them .” Returning back to chapter 2, we find that Eve is declared to be man’s helper (2:18, 20, 24). Is that it? Is the woman merely the helpe...

Students on the campus of Columbia International University use this tent to pray for the nations through Operation World this week.

Happy New Year--again! Our friends in Thailand have had one wet weekend, celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year ( "สวัสดีปีใหม่" ) One feature of the day is always more fun for the younger generations while the older folks take what they can, as light as they are able. Starting the New Year means starting clean and fresh, so tossing water at one another by nearly every means possible marks the three days of festival. Buckets, garden hoses, pots and pans, even water balloons and water guns of various types keep everyone fairly doused. The symbolism (of course) is washing off the filth of the previous year and starting over. Recent years have seen a boost in tourism in Thailand as people travel to become, shall we say, “culturally immersed” in the hottest month of the year. Someone once asked, “how does one avoid getting wet during Songkran?” No satisfactory answer comes apart from “don’t throw water and babies, the elderly and people driving.” Is it really that ea...

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has a contender! Just found a book I am going to review it before I actually read it. Judy Jones and William Wilson (there’s an education in that name--calling to mind Edgar Allan Poe--which hints as to why a book like this can be fun) published this third edition in 2009 with Ballantine. The book covers highlights in twelve subject areas that we either forgot or slept through in school: American Studies, Art History, Economic, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Science and World History. Browsing the book, one notes witty writing in short articles. Even the Lexicon presents itself to be a readable 13th chapter. 10,000 years in only 700 pages. I expect plenty of springboards for future blogs to be found within!

April 9, 1942, Japanese troops received the surrender of 76,000 troops (the majority being Filipino and American along with thousands of Chinese). These starving, diseased troops were forced to march over 90 miles to an internment camp and hundreds never arrived, dying along the way of sickness, infection or were simply executed. Some managed to escape. Today is the Veterans Day of the Philippines, remembering those who were swept up in the Bataan Death March. Today is the Heroes Day of Valor. Heroes. We have plenty of them--but Heroes of Valor? What does this word, “valor” mean, anyway? Who cares to look it up? Perhaps one should. A fresh definition may change one's view of the hero . . . Early sea voyagers theorized that Atoll islands were built by coral-animals for the purpose of personal protection. Scientific observation revealed this fascinating fact: coral-builders can only live in the open ocean, particularly where there is plenty of aeration (provided by active wave...

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) is an international day of recalling the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. This day always falls on the 25th day of Nissan in the Jewish Calendar which is this day by our counting. Click for theme resources The 2013 Days of Remembrance invite us to look back 75 years at the events of 1938 and examine how citizens and countries responded to signs of impending war and the Holocaust. In the pivotal year before Nazi Germany invaded Poland and launched World War II, intervention could have saved many lives. Why did so many fail to respond to the warning signs and what lessons do their actions hold for us today? Read more on this year’s theme.   Themes of past years included: “Choosing to Acts: Stories of Rescue” (2012), “Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have We Learned?” (2011); “Stories of Freedom: What You Do Matters” (2010) and “Never Again: What You Do Matters” (2009).

It was to be a simple exercise, an experiment, a group demonstration--a team-building exercise . For some reason it did not work. Well, perhaps it did work; but, I still can’t get my mind around the outcome.  See, we were supposed to lower a stick and we failed. Miserably.  Someone brought a 10 foot section of quarter-round molding and laid it in the floor, forming a line that divided the room. Ten volunteers stepped forward, five on each side of the “line.” We were told to hold out our index fingers and the stick was lifted from the floor and set on our out-stretched digits. We were to lower the stick to knee-height, provided that 1) the stick was not grasped in any way (it must only rest on the index finger); and 2) no finger could leave the stick, or we would have to start over.  The stick rose. The stick wobbled. Some lowered too fast and departed from the stick and we had to start again. The group never lowered the stick three inches in unison.  M...

Children everywhere (yes, even the children-at-heart), today is the day to parrrr-tay. Get out there to the playground and share the swings. Today is the Chinese festival Qingming (Ching Ming), a day of joy and sorrow, of looking back and ahead. The weather is getting warmer as we move away from the cold of winter and closer to the heat of summer! So lean back, pull on the chains and get those legs going, up, up, up into the sky (be safe and no Superman jumps ok)? If you’re not on the swings, go fly a kite. No, really. Kite flying is another festival activity of the day and if the conditions are right, kite flying goes on into the night. Special lanterns are rigged to the kites and the stars take on new dancing partners as kites are cut free. Kite flying is a wonderful diversion that I (admittedly) have not enjoyed in a few years. I know of an individual who spent a lot of time on the road and always packed a canvas kite. Rest stops often included a brief outing in sun and wind fl...

[I read old books because they are there] Louie Giglio’s book, “The Air I Breathe [Worship As A Way of Life]” (2003) is well, a breath of fresh air, considering the number of contemporary books available on the subject. This 122 page book (consisting of 11 chapters plus questions for group discussion) fits nicely in just about any pants pocket or purse. If you’ve enjoyed any of Louie’s talks, this will be a nice refresher. Louie begins with a captivating question then goes beyond any typical answer, demonstrating “why worship matters” and the cost of worship--both for Him and for we who worship. Here, Louie proves that worship begins not with the one who worships, but with the object of worship; that is, worship is our response to God. “When God is not greatly praised, it’s only because we don’t think He’s that great of a God. When our worship is small, it’s because our concept of God is small. When we offer God little-bitty sacrifices, it’s because we’ve somehow reduced Him i...

Today is Easter Tuesday, the day after Easter Monday. You thought the Resurrection celebration was over? I just learned that few (very few) cities in the U.S. plan their city calendar accordingly, even cancelling school during these special days. I was also reminded that for the past few years, some have claimed that Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus was a borrowed idea, being no more than a fantasy or a myth. Permit me to summarize J.R.R. Tolkien (who corrected C.S. Lewis, who once said that myths are lies): Christianity is a myth--one that happens to be true. It’s just the further myths gets from source material, the more misguided they are in communicating truth. So how do we know if the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus was not a borrowed idea? Let me suggest reading the ancient myths, noting how myth stories change over time. "Not one clear case of any alleged resurrection teaching appears in any pagan text before the late second century A.D., almost...

Nobody is sure who, where or when the custom of playing tricks on this day actually began, but there are a few interesting possibilities: The French claim that Francois Rabelais (16th century) chose the Royal Family as the mark for a daring prank that nearly cost him his very life! The story is he left a bag of brick dust labeled as poison to be discovered. When the truth was revealed (and his life was spared), but the Royal Family remained to be called the “un poisson d’avril.” The Italian version of April Fools Day is “pesce d’ aprile!” (April fish). This reference goes back a little further into the Middle Ages where references are made to the arrest and trial of Jesus, being sent back and forth from Pilate to Herod then back again, from Herod to Pilate. The “pesce d’ aprile” involves sending people on senseless errands as diversion to set up a prank, or as the trick itself. Isn’t it interesting that Eta Piscium is the brightest star seen in the constellation Pisces (the Fish) betw...

Just a quick note to wish everyone, " Happy Atheist Day !" Listen to a recording of a debate  between Atheist Ron Barrier and evangelist Ray Comfort. This debate was hosted by the American Atheists, Inc. in April 2001 in Orlando, Florida at the National Annual Meeting of American Atheists, Inc. Ray Comfort attended by invitation. Is it possible that in examining all the evidence, that the atheist could have missed something?  Here's a quick test to find out if it is possible to have missed something: