Head-dibs

"Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don't talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. For remember that in this manner Socrates also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be recommended by him to philosophers, he took and- recommended them, so well did he bear being overlooked. So that if ever any talk should happen among the unlearned concerning philosophic theorems, be you, for the most part, silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not sho...

Do You Suffer from Diet Rage?  "Getting frustrated with you diet does no more good than getting frustrated in traffic. It just makes you unhappy, unsuccessful and tense." Art of Manliness wrapped up a series for young men titled, " Heading Out On Your Own ." Mark Altrogge suggests " 22 Ways to Humble Ourselves ."

When I was perhaps six or seven years old we made a vacation stop at Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico. I did not appreciate the adventure as much as I could have being so young. Perhaps I was travel weary. Perhaps I was scared to death. Maybe both. One feature along the path was dark hole opening up in the floor just a few feet beyond the rail. Not much separated small children from the void and there was no help to confidence in the placard that read, “The Bottomless Pit.” Walls and columns of stalagmites were lit up with blue and pink and white lights, but this hole was the epitome of all things black. I distinctly remember a rope ladder with wooden rungs anchored at the top of the hole spilling down into the abyss and it may be a trick of memory, but I recall the ladder seemed to be broken just about the place where the light ended and the yawning chasm began. There may have been some dusty scientific equipment staged to feed the imagination. As if I was not terri...

[continuing my interaction with " The Problem of Pain ," by C.S. Lewis] How Can My Breath Stink If I Have No Nose? C. S. Lewis asks, “why do men need so much alteration?” If the argument is that man has become bad through abused free will, then he must be able to use free will to become good. This means that the preaching of the good news (repentance by faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ) is not good news at all. “Christianity now has to preach the diagnosis—in itself very bad news—before it can win a hearing for the cure.” Lewis present two principle causes for this faulty assumtion: first, doctrine has been skewed by focusing more on virtue and less on vice, more on kindness and less on wrath. Second, sin and shame have been redefined, which leads one to wonder: was Jesus death a mistake if all it took to fix man was a shift in focus and some simple redefinitions? Lewis likens this to the abolition of the nose, “that the smell of hay or roses or the se...

Playwright Herb Garner introduced us to two brothers, Arnold and Murray Burns in his 1962 play, “A Thousand Clowns.” Arnold is a successful businessman who has “made his peace with the world” for the price of his annual income. Murray is basically a bum, who seems to be hiding from life while trying to get the most out of it. Their story centers around their 12-year old nephew their sister dropped off years ago with Murray, along with some luggage and other items (she later came back to claim the luggage and the items). Murray, an eccentric and a rebel against society, is faced with a decision: get a job or lose Nick to Social Services. This clip from the 1965 movie version gives a sense of Murray’s free spirit: Why did their sister choose to drop her son off with the ne’er-do-well Murray and not well-to-do Arnold? Why doesn’t Arnold offer to take care of Nick? He drops off food every day at Murray’s apartment, but why will he not take care of Nick? One obviously cares for people while...

"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble." Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

Abraham, servant to Montague: “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” Sampson, servant to Capulet: “I do bite my thumb, sir.” Abr: [asking again, as if in disbelief] “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” Sam: [aside, to Gregory, another servant to Capulet]: “Is the law of our side if I say, ‘ay’?” Gre: “No.” Sam: “No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.” Gre: “Do you quarrel, sir?” Abr: “Quarrel, sir! No, sir!” Sam: “If you do, sir, I am for you: I serve as good as man as you.” Abr: “No, better.” Gre: “Say ‘better’: here comes one of my master’s kinsmen.” [Benvolio approaches] Sam: “Yes, better, sir.” Abr: “You lie.” Sam: “Draw if you be men [drawing his sword]. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow.” [They fight] (Act I, Scene 1, “Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare.) Watch the clip below if the text is too dry (it’s not the best clip, but it is the most concise): One does not have to be fully inundated in many genres of literature to know Romeo and J...

I double-clicked on the word “power” and my dictionary automatically opened to the word “control.” Oh, the irony--who is in control? The first definition under “control” includes “check, test” while the second definition elaborates the concept, “to exercise restraining or directing influence over; rule.” “Power” describes “ability” and “possession of control.” The two definitions do not describe two different ideas. “Power” and “control” are both related when one considers “conduct.” We’ve all heard the saying, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Is the principle so absolute? If power is kept in check, under control, power actually contributes and builds up. Electricity, for example, in its unchecked state can be quite dangerous; on the other hand, under the control of wires, insulation, circuits, etc. electricity can be quite good and useful. The same is true of water. Unless it is channeled, water can bring us to ruin. The problem is that absolutes (like power, love...

“I know this, that when God the Holy Spirit gives a man a view of himself, he is utterly loathsome in his own esteem. One of the cardinals of the olden times—when cardinals were sometimes saints—happened to pass by a meadow where he saw a shepherd leaning on his crook, weeping. He stopped to ask the lad what made him weep. The lad replied by pointing to the ground, for just at his feet there was a toad. ‘I was weeping,’ said he, ‘to think that God should have made me, a creature so infinitely superior to this loathsome reptile at my feet, and that I should have made myself such a creature that this loathsome thing is superior to me, because it has never sinned.’ As the cardinal went his way, he said, ‘Verily, has it happened, that the foolish and unlearned enter into the kingdom of Heaven before us, for this peasant has found out the Truth of God.’ Vipers nor toads are more venomous or more loathsome to men than man must be to God, or would be to himself if he could see himself with th...

Psalm 131: A Song of degrees of David. This psalm contains, (1.) David's candid profession of his contentment with his lot, ver. 1-2. (2.) His warm encouragement of others to a constant dependence on God, ver. 3. While I sing it, let me be ashamed of my pride, and of meddling with things above my sphere. Let me desire humility, as my great ornament, in every station; and study, like a child of God, weaned from worldly lusts, to set all my hope on God himself. 1 My heart not haughty is, O Lord, mine eyes not lofty be; Nor do I deal in matters great, or things too high for me. 2 I surely have myself behav'd with quiet sp'rit and mild, As child of mother wean'd: my soul is like a weaned child. 3 Upon the Lord let all the hope of Israel rely, Ev'n from the time that present is unto eternity. (from: "The Psalms of David in Metre with Notes" by John Brown (1722-1787) of Haddington.)