Live Man Walking

Rĕsem, Anreu 5th, 7703: Chronological Scripture – Yom #5 (Genesis, Chapters 11:27-15:21)

2011-04-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today (Rěsem) is the fifth Yom (or "time period") of my year (although Rěsem is the seventh of the seven yoms in a week), Anreu 5th in the year 7703 YY. In order for You to understand the dates You see here, i should probably explain what the designations are and what they mean.

i do not count "days" as most people do. The reason for not doing so is that i Live by a different orientation regarding the ~ 24 time period. Most people think of a "day" as beginning with dawn or, in our current Western, American culture with midnight (12:00 AM). However, i count the ~ 24 time period progression on my calendar the way that YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) counts it: by periods of time that begin with the evening (the appearance of stars in the heavens) and run through the following day until the next evening. In other words, an evening and a morning - just as described in the book of Genesis. Therefore, i find the word "day" not really a good term to use, since most people are conditioned to think of a "day" as the morning followed by the night. Therefore, i use the Hebrew word "yom" (literally: a period of time) instead of "day." This subtle change in terminology helps prevent me from agreeing with the world in the orientation of time & space and reminds me that Abba begins with the evening (and night) and then includes the morning (and day).

Also, the nomenclature is different on my lunar-based calendar. The names of my yoms and my months come from Hebrew words and not from the Greco-Roman pantheons (as the current "days" derive) and the Babylonian culture (as the current months derive). Regarding the yoms, the first half has to do with the meaning of Scriptural numerology for that yom's number, and the second half ends in "em" (reminding me that i count from evening ("e") to morning ("m") and not the other way around. Regarding the months, the first half is based on the names of the Twelve apostles in the order in which they chronologically began to follow Y'shua Christos (my Hebrew/Greek way of saying "Jesus [the] Christ"), and the second half is based on the birth order of the twelve tribes of Israel.

"Rěsem" begins on what most people would call "Friday" evening and finishes on what most people would call "Saturday" afternoon, and "Rěs" is short for "rest." As the sixth yom of the week of seven yoms, the number "7" in scriptural numerology has to do with the "completion," and Rěsem is a weekly reminder to me that i can rest (as the LORD Most High did on the seventh day from His labors) due to Y’shua Christos completing the work of salvation by His Life, death, & resurrection. While sanctification is still being accomplished, i have entered the “Sabbath rest” of my Savior, Y’shua, and each Rěsem is a day to delight in His presence, His provision, and His protection. For me, Rěsem is not just about resting from my labors and not doing any work – it is about resting from my labors for the express purpose of delighting in Him. Anreu is the first month (corresponding to the Jewish "Nisan" or "Nissan," and Anreu derives from Andrew-Reuben. The current year (7703) comes from the symbolic calculation of 5771 (the Jewish Year #) + 165 (a reference to the "missing years" in the Hebrew calendar) + 1000 (symbolizing both the billions of years involved in the creation of the universe before the Genesis account picks up the earth-creation narrative as well as also the billions of years encompassed in at least some of the "yoms" (or "periods of time") in the actual Genesis creation narrative) + 767 (symbolizing the unknown amount of time Adam & Eve spent in the garden before missing the mark and going their own way (or "sinning") apart from the LORD Most High). When You add 5771+165+1000+767, You get 7703. The designation "YY" stands for "YHWH Year" - Blessed be His Holy Name. i believe the universe (and, therefore, the earth) are billions of years old and that people are much older than 7000+ years, but i also believe that has absolutely no effect on the veracity, validity, or legitimacy of the Scriptural text (but that's for another time & place). Given all of this, i refer to years as YY, because YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is behind all of it and the only "One" Who knows the Truth about the age of the universe, the earth, or anything involving creation.

In conclusion, the "date" of toyom (or "today," to most people) for this particular post might be more easily read as "Rěsem, Anreu 5th, 7703 YY."

Genesis 11:27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah: Terah became the father of Avram, Nahor, & Haran, and Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸Haran died in the presence of his father, Terah, in the land of his birth: Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹ Avram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Avram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah (Milcah was Nahor's niece, since she was the daughter of Nahor's brother, Haran, who was father to both Milcah & Iscah). ³⁰ Sarai was barren – she had no child.

³¹ Terah took Avram (his son) & Lot (Haran's son), his grandson, and Sarai (his daughter-in-law – the wife of Avram, his son), and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there. ³² The days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1 Now, YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) said to Avram, "Go forth from Your country and from Your relatives and from Your father's house to the land which I will show You, ² and I will make You a great nation. And I will Bless You and make Your name great, and – so – You shall be a blessing. ³ And I will Bless those who Bless You, and I will curse the one who curses You. And – in You – all the families of the earth will be Blessed."

⁴ So, Avram went forth as YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Now, Avram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Avram took Sarai (his wife) and Lot (his nephew) and all their possessions which they had accumulated and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.

They came to the land of Canaan in this manner: ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem to the oak of Moreh. (Now, the Canaanite was in the land at that time). ⁷ YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) appeared to Avram and said, "I will give this land to Your descendants." So, Avram built an altar there to YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) Who had appeared to him.

⁸ Then, Avram proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and Avram built an altar there to YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) and called upon the name of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name).

⁹ Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. ¹⁰ Now, there was a famine in the land, so Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there (for the famine was severe in the land). ¹¹ It came about (when Avram came near to Egypt) that he said to Sarai (his wife), "See now, i know that You are a beautiful woman, ¹² and – when the Egyptians see You – they will say, 'This is his wife' – and they will kill me, but they will let You Live. ¹³ "Please say that You are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of You – and that i may Live on account of You."

¹⁴ It came about – when Avram came into Egypt – the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ Therefore, Pharaoh treated Avram well – for her sake – and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male & female servants and female donkeys and camels, ¹⁷ but YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Avram's wife. ¹⁸ Then, Pharaoh called Avram and said, "What is this You have done to me? Why did You not tell me that she was Your wife? ¹⁹ "Why did You say, 'She is my sister,' so that i took her for my wife? Now then, here is Your wife – take her, and go." ²⁰ Pharaoh commanded his men concerning Avram; and they escorted Avram away with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Genesis 13:1 So, Avram went up from Egypt to the Negev (South country) – he and his wife and all that belonged to him and Lot with him. ² Now, Abram was very rich in Livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning (between Bethel and Ai), ⁴ to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly – and there Avram called on the name of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name).

⁵ Now, Lot (who went with Avram) also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ and the land could not sustain both of them while they were dwelling together – for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Avram's Livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's Livestock. Now, the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling in the land at that time, ⁸ so Avram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between You & me, nor between my herdsmen & Your herdsmen – for we are brothers. ⁹ Is not the whole land before You? Please, separate from me. If You go to the left, then i will go to the right – or, if You go to the right, then i will go to the left." ¹⁰ Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere like the Garden of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name), like the land of Egypt as You go to Zoar (this was before YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah). ¹¹ So, Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and he journeyed eastward. Thus, they separated from each other.

¹² Avram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now, the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and [they were] sinners against YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name). ¹⁴ YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) said to Avram (after Lot had separated from him), "Now, lift up Your eyes and look from the place where You are: northward and southward and eastward and westward – ¹⁵ for all the land which You see, I will give it to You and to Your descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make Your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then Your descendants can also be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk about the land through its length & breadth, for I will give it to You." ¹⁸ Then, Avram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre (which are in Hebron), and he built an altar there to YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name).

Genesis 14:1 And it came about in the days of Amraphel (king of Shinar), Arioch (king of Ellasar), Chedorlaomer (king of Elam), and Tidal (king of Goiim), ² that they made war with Bera (king of Sodom) and with Birsha (king of Gomorrah), Shinab (king of Admah), and Shemeber (king of Zeboiim) and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar ). ³ All these [five kings] came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

⁴ For twelve years, they had served Chedorlaomer, but – in the thirteenth year – they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer & the [three] kings that were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in their Mount Seir (as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness). ⁷ Then, Chedorlaomer & the [three] kings that were with him turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and conquered all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (i.e., Zoar) came out, and these five kings [were] arrayed for battle against the four kings in the valley of Siddim ⁹ (against Chedorlaomer (king of Elam) and Tidal (king of Goiim) and Amraphel (king of Shinar), Arioch (king of Ellasar)) – four kings against five.

¹⁰ Now, the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and they fell into these tar pits – but those who survived fled to the hill country. ¹¹ Then, the four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and they departed. ¹² They also took Lot (Avram's nephew) and his possessions [when they] departed, for Lot was Living inside Sodom. ¹³ Then, a fugitive came and told Avram the Hebrew.

Now, Avram was Living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite (brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner), and these were allies with Avram. ¹⁴When Avram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men [who had been] born in his house (three hundred and eighteen), and [he] went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ Avram divided his forces (he and his servants) against the four kings by night and defeated them, and [he] pursued them as far as Hobah (which is North of Damascus). ¹⁶ Avram brought back all the goods, and [he] also brought back his relative Lot (with his possessions) and also the women & the people.

¹⁷ Then, after Avram’s return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the [three] kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Avram at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley) – ¹⁸ and Melchizedek (king of Salem) brought out bread & wine. Now, Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ He Blessed Avram and said, "Blessed be Avram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven & earth, ²⁰ and Blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered Your enemies into Your hand." Avram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Avram, "Give the people to me, and take the goods for Yourself." ²² Avram replied to the king of Sodom, "i have sworn to YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) – God Most High, Possessor of heaven & earth – ²³ that i will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is Yours for fear [that] You would say, 'i have made Avram rich!' ²⁴ I will take nothing, except what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, & Mamre – let them take their share."

Genesis 15:1 After these things, the Word of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) came to Avram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Avram, I AM a shield to You; Your reward shall be very great." ² Avram said, "O Lord God, what will You give me, since i am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³ And Avram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."

⁴ Then, behold! The Word of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) came to Avram, saying, "This man will not be Your heir, but one who will come forth from Your own body – he shall be Your heir." ⁵ And the LORD Most High took Avram outside and said, "Now, look toward the heavens and count the stars – if You are able to count them. So shall Your descendants be."

⁶ Then, Avram believed in YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name), and the LORD Most High credited it to Avram as righteousness. ⁷ And the LORD Most High said to Avram, "I AM YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) Who brought You out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give You this land to possess it."

⁸ Avram asked, "O Lord God, how may i know that i will possess it?" ⁹ So, the LORD Most High said to Avram, "Bring Me a three year old heifer and a three year old female goat and a three year old ram and a turtledove and a young pigeon." ¹⁰ Then, Avram brought all these to the LORD Most High and [Avram] cut them in two and laid each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds. ¹¹ The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Avram drove them away.

¹² Now, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Avram, and – behold! – terror & great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ God said to Avram [in his nightmare], "Know for certain that Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years, ¹⁴ but I will also judge the nation whom they will serve – and, afterward, Your descendants will come out with many possessions. ¹⁵ As for You, You shall go to Your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then – in the fourth generation – Your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

¹⁷ It came about – when the sun had set – that it was very dark, and – behold! – there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day, YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) made a covenant with Avram, saying, "To Your descendants, I have given this land – from the river of Egypt as far as the Great River (the river Euphrates): ¹⁹ the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."

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Fínem, Anreu 4th, 7703: Chronological Scripture – Yom #4 (Genesis, Chapters 9:18-11:26)

2011-04-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today (Fínem) is the fourth Yom (or "time period") of my year (although Fínem is the sixth of the seven yoms in a week), Anreu 4th in the year 7703 YY. In order for You to understand the dates You see here, i should probably explain what the designations are and what they mean.

"Fínem" begins on what most people would call "Thursday" evening and finishes on what most people would call "Friday" afternoon, and "Fín" is short for "finish." As the sixth yom of the week of seven yoms, the number "6" in scriptural numerology has to do with the concept of always being incomplete or unfinished unless by the presence of the LORD Most High, so Fínem reminds me to let the LORD Most High finish my week of labor by the end of the sixth before the "yom of delight" (or "Sabbath") completes the week as a day in which i delight in His presence on the seventh yom or "Resem." Anreu is the first month (corresponding to the Jewish "Nisan" or "Nissan," and Anreu derives from Andrew-Reuben. The current year (7703) comes from the symbolic calculation of 5771 (the Jewish Year #) + 165 (a reference to the "missing years" in the Hebrew calendar) + 1000 (symbolizing both the billions of years involved in the creation of the universe before the Genesis account picks up the earth-creation narrative as well as also the billions of years encompassed in at least some of the "yoms" (or "periods of time") in the actual Genesis creation narrative) + 767 (symbolizing the unknown amount of time Adam & Eve spent in the garden before missing the mark and going their own way (or "sinning") apart from the LORD Most High). When You add 5771+165+1000+767, You get 7703. The designation "YY" stands for "YHWH Year" - Blessed be His Holy Name. i believe the universe (and, therefore, the earth) are billions of years old and that people are much older than 7000+ years, but i also believe that has absolutely no effect on the veracity, validity, or legitimacy of the Scriptural text (but that's for another time & place). Given all of this, i refer to years as YY, because YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is behind all of it and the only "One" Who knows the Truth about the age of the universe, the earth, or anything involving creation.

In conclusion, the "date" of toyom (or "today," to most people) for this particular post might be more easily read as "Fínem, Anreu 4th, 7703 YY."

This calendar year, i am attempting to post a daily Scripture reading here to help me read through the entire Bible in one year from a chronological perspective. This is the Chronological Scripture Reading for Yom #3 on Fínem, Anreu 4th, 7703 YY - Genesis 9:18 thru 11:26

Fínem (the Yom (or "time period") stretching from Friday at the beginning of the evening thru the end of the afternoon of Saturday (and also known as the "Sabbath") for all You folk used to counting "days") is the 4th Yom of my year. Here is the Chronological Scripture Reading for Fínem, Anreu 4th, 6636 - Genesis 9:18-11:26...

Reading # 4: Genesis 9:18 thru 11:26

Genesis 9:18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Yefet; and Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. 20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Yefet took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father ; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan ; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers." 26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem ; And let Canaan be his servant. 27 "May God enlarge Yefet, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem ; And let Canaan be his servant." 28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

Genesis 10:1 Here is the genealogy of the sons of Noach - Shem, Ham and Yefet; sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Yefet were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tuval, Meshekh and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Rifat and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Yavan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5 From these the islands of the nations were divided into their lands, each according to its language, according to their families, in their nations. 6 The sons of Ham were Kush, Mitzrayim, Put and Kena'an. 7 The sons of Kush were S'va, Havilah, Savta, Ra'mah and Savt'kha. The sons of Ra'mah were Sh'va and D'dan. 8 Kush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful ruler on earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before ADONAI- this is why people say, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before ADONAI." 10 His kingdom began with Bavel, Erekh, Akkad and Kalneh, in the land of Shin'ar. 11 Ashur went out from that land and built Ninveh, the city Rechovot, Kelach, 12and Resen between Ninveh and Kelach - that one is the great city. 13Mitzrayim fathered the Ludim, the 'Anamim, the L'havim, the Naftuchim,14 the Patrusim, the Kasluchim (from whom came the P'lishtim) and the Kaftorim. 15 Kena'an fathered Tzidon his firstborn, Het, 16 the Y'vusi, the Emori, the Girgashi, 17 the Hivi, the 'Arki, the Sini, 18 the Arvadi, the Tz'mari and the Hamati. Afterwards, the families of the Kena'ani were dispersed. 19 The border of the Kena'ani was from Tzidon, as you go toward G'rar, to 'Azah; as you go toward S'dom, 'Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, to Lesha. 20 These were the descendants of Ham, according to their families and languages, in their lands and in their nations. 21Children were also born to Shem, ancestor of all the descendants of 'Ever and older brother of Yefet. 22 The sons of Shem were'Elam, Ashur, Arpakhshad, Lud and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were 'Utz, Hul, Geter and Mash. 24 Arpakhshad fathered Shelach, and Shelach fathered 'Ever. 25 To 'Ever were born two sons. One was given the name Peleg [division], because during his lifetime the earth was divided. His brother's name was Yoktan. 26 Yoktan fathered Almodad, Shelef, Hatzar-Mavet, Yerach, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 'Oval, Avima'el, Sheva, 29 Ofir, Havilah and Yovav - all these were the sons of Yoktan.30 Their territory stretched from Mesha, as you go toward S'far, to the mountain in the east. 31 These were the descendants of Shem, according to their families and languages, in their lands and in their nations. 32 These were the families of the sons of Noach, according to their generations, in their nations. From these the nations of the earth were divided up after the flood.

Genesis 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth ; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth ; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Descendants of Shem

10 Here is the genealogy of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arpakhshad two years after the flood. 11 After Arpakhshad was born, Shem lived another 500 years and had sons and daughters.12 Arpakhshad lived thirty-five years and fathered Shelach. 13 After Shelach was born, Arpakhshad lived another 403 years and had sons and daughters. 14 Shelach lived thirty years and fathered 'Ever. 15After 'Ever was born, Shelach lived another 403 years and had sons and daughters. 16 'Ever lived thirty-four years and fathered Peleg. 17 After Peleg was born, 'Ever lived another 430 years and had sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years and fathered Re'u. 19 After Re'u was born, Peleg lived another 209 years and had sons and daughters.20 Re'u lived thirty-two years and fathered S'rug. 21 After S'rug was born, Re'u lived another 207 years and had sons and daughters. 22S'rug lived thirty years and fathered Nachor. 23 After Nachor was born, S'rug lived another 200 years and had sons and daughters. 24 Nachor lived twenty-nine years and fathered Terach. 25 After Terach was born, Nachor lived another 119 years and had sons and daughters. 26Terach lived seventy years and fathered Avram, Nachor and Haran.

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Gräsem, Anreu 3rd, 7703: Chronological Scripture – Yom #3 (Genesis, Chapters 7:1-9:17)

2011-04-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today (Gräsem) is the third Yom (or "time period") of my year (although Gräsem is the fifth of the seven yoms in a week), Anreu 3rd in the year 7703 YY. In order for You to understand the dates You see here, i should probably explain what the designations are and what they mean.

"Gräsem" begins on what most people would call "Wednesday" evening and finishes on what most people would call "Thursday" afternoon, and "Gräs" is short for "grace." As the fifth yom of the week of seven yoms, the number "5" in scriptural numerology has to do with the "grace." Anreu is the first month (corresponding to the Jewish "Nisan" or "Nissan," and Anreu derives from Andrew-Reuben. The current year (7703) comes from the symbolic calculation of 5771 (the Jewish Year #) + 165 (a reference to the "missing years" in the Hebrew calendar) + 1000 (symbolizing both the billions of years involved in the creation of the universe before the Genesis account picks up the earth-creation narrative as well as also the billions of years encompassed in at least some of the "yoms" (or "periods of time") in the actual Genesis creation narrative) + 767 (symbolizing the unknown amount of time Adam & Eve spent in the garden before missing the mark and going their own way (or "sinning") apart from the LORD Most High). When You add 5771+165+1000+767, You get 7703. The designation "YY" stands for "YHWH Year" - Blessed be His Holy Name. i believe the universe (and, therefore, the earth) are billions of years old and that people are much older than 7000+ years, but i also believe that has absolutely no effect on the veracity, validity, or legitimacy of the Scriptural text (but that's for another time & place). Given all of this, i refer to years as YY, because YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is behind all of it and the only "One" Who knows the Truth about the age of the universe, the earth, or anything involving creation.

In conclusion, the "date" of toyom (or "today," to most people) for this particular post might be more easily read as "Gräsem, Anreu 3rd, 7703 YY."

This calendar year, i am attempting to post a daily Scripture reading here to help me read through the entire Bible in one year from a chronological perspective. This is the Chronological Scripture Reading for Yom #3 on Gräsem, Anreu 3rd, 7703 YY - Genesis 7:1 thru 9:17...

Reading #3: Genesis 7:1 thru 9:17

Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all yourhousehold, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in thistime. 2 "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a maleand his female ; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female ; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 "For after sevenmore days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights ; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made."5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him. 6 NowNoah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon theearth. 7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. 8 Of cleananimals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything thatcreeps on the ground, 9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos, maleand female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 It came about after theseven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In thesix hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on theseventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of thegreat deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. 12The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. 13 On thevery same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered theark, 14 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after theirkind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. 15 So they went into theark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. 16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God hadcommanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. 17 Then the floodcame upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and liftedup the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 The water prevailed andincreased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains werecovered. 21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattleand beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, andall mankind ; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 Thus He blotted out every livingthing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creepingthings and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth ; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Subsides

Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark ; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also the fountains of the deep and thefloodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky wasrestrained ; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at theend of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. 4 In theseventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark restedupon the mountains of Ararat. 5 The water decreased steadily until thetenth month ; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the topsof the mountains became visible. 6 Then it came about at the end offorty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made ;7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water wasdried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land ; 9 but the dove foundno resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into theark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out hishand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So hewaited yet another seven days ; and again he sent out the dove from theark. 11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beakwas a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abatedfrom the earth. 12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent outthe dove ; but she did not return to him again. 13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the coveringof the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was driedup. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birdsand animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on theearth." 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons'wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird,everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from theark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every cleananimal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.21 The LORD smelled the soothing aroma ; and the LORD said toHimself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for theintent of man's heart is evil from his youth ; and I will never again destroyevery living thing, as I have done. 22 "While the earth remains,Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, Andday and night Shall not cease."

Covenant of the Rainbow

Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful andmultiply, and fill the earth. 2 "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky ; witheverything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3 "Every moving thing that is alive shall befood for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4 "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 "Surely I will requireyour lifeblood ; from every beast I will require it. And from every man,from every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6 "Whoever shedsman's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God Hemade man. 7 "As for you, be fruitful and multiply ; Populate the earthabundantly and multiply in it." 8 Then God spoke to Noah and to hissons with him, saying, 9 "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenantwith you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every livingcreature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of theearth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of theearth. 11 "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall neveragain be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be aflood to destroy the earth." 12 God said, "This is the sign of thecovenant which I am making between Me and you and every livingcreature that is with you, for all successive generations ; 13 I set My bowin the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and theearth. 14 "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant,which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh ; andnever again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16"When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember theeverlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all fleshthat is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of thecovenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Crēěm, Anreu 2nd, 7703: Chronological Scripture – Yom #2 (Genesis, Chapters 5-6)

2011-04-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today (Crēěm) is the second Yom (or "time period") of my year (although Crēěm is the fourth of the seven yoms in a week), Anreu 2nd in the year 7703 YY. In order for You to follow me and understand the dates You see here, i should probably explain what the designations are and what they mean.

"Crēěm" begins on what most people would call "Tuesday" evening and finishes on what most people would call "Wednesday" afternoon, and "Crē" is short for "creation." As the fourth yom of the week of seven yoms, the number "4" in scriptural numerology indicates "creation," such as the four seasons, four directions, etc. Anreu is the first month (corresponding to the Jewish "Nisan" or "Nissan," and Anreu derives from Andrew-Reuben. The current year (7703) comes from the symbolic calculation of 5771 (the Jewish Year #) + 165 (a reference to the "missing years" in the Hebrew calendar) + 1000 (symbolizing both the billions of years involved in the creation of the universe before the Genesis account picks up the earth-creation narrative as well as also the billions of years encompassed in at least some of the "yoms" (or "periods of time") in the actual Genesis creation narrative) + 767 (symbolizing the unknown amount of time Adam & Eve spent in the garden before missing the mark and going their own way (or "sinning") apart from the LORD Most High). When You add 5771+165+1000+767, You get 7703. The designation "YY" stands for "YHWH Year" - Blessed be His Holy Name. i believe the universe (and, therefore, the earth) are billions of years old and that people are much older than 7000+ years, but i also believe that has absolutely no effect on the veracity, validity, or legitimacy of the Scriptural text (but that's for another time & place). Given all of this, i refer to years as YY, because YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is behind all of it and the only "One" Who knows the Truth about the age of the universe, the earth, or anything involving creation.

In conclusion, the "date" of toyom (or "today," to most people) for this particular post might be more easily read as "Crēěm, Anreu 2nd, 7703 YY."

This calendar year, i am attempting to post a daily Scripture reading here to help me read through the entire Bible in one year from a chronological perspective. This is the Chronological Scripture Reading for Yom #2 on Crēěm, Anreu 2nd, 7703 YY - Genesis 5:1 thru 6:22...

Reading #2: Genesis 5:1 thru 6:22

Genesis 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God's likeness. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3 Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Shet. 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Shet were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 5 All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died. 6 Shet lived one hundred five years, and became the father of Enosh. 7 Shet lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 8 All the days of Shet were nine hundred twelve years, then he died. 9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan.10 Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 11 All the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died. 12 Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalal'el. 13 Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalal'el eight hundred forty years, and became the father of sons and daughters 14 and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died. 15 Mahalal'el lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Yered. 16 Mahalal'el lived after he became the father of Yered eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 17 All the days of Mahalal'el were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died. 18 Yered lived one hundred sixty-two years, and became the father of Hanokh. 19 Yered lived after he became the father of Hanokh eight hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 20 All the days of Yered were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died. 21 Hanokh lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Metushelach. 22 Hanokh walked with God after he became the father of Metushelach three hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 23 all the days of Hanokh were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Hanokh walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 25 Metushelach lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamekh. 26Metushelach lived after he became the father of Lamekh seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Metushelach were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died. 28 Lamekh lived one hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of a son, 29 and he named him Noach, saying, "This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed." 30 Lamekh lived after he became the father of Noach five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamekh were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died. 32 Noach was five hundred years old, and Noach became the father of Shem, Ham, and Yefet.

Genesis 6 Sons of God and Daughters of Men

Genesis 6:1 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. 3 And the Lord said, "My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterwards, when the sons of God came to the daughters of man, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

Judgment Decreed

5 When the Lord saw that man's wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 Then the Lord said, "I will wipe off the face of the earth: man, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky-for I regret that I made them."8 Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

God Warns Noah

9 These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth. 14 "Make yourself an ark of gofer wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 You are to make a roof, finishing [the sides of the ark] to within 18 inches [of the roof.] You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper [decks]. 17"Understand that I am bringing a deluge-floodwaters on the earth to destroy all flesh under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives. 19 You are also to bring into the ark two of every living thing of all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of everything-from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from every animal that crawls on the ground according to its kind-will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21 Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them." 22And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

Ünem, Anreu 1st, 7703: Chronological Scripture – Yom #1 (Genesis, Chapters 1-4)

2011-04-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today (Ünem) is the first Yom (or "time period") of my year (although Ünem is the third of the seven yoms in a week), Anreu 1st in the year 7703 YY. In order for You to understand the dates You see here, i should probably explain what the designations are and what they mean.

"Ünem" begins on what most people would call "Monday" evening and finishes on what most people would call "Tuesday" afternoon, and "Ün" is short for "unity." As the third yom of the week of seven yoms, the number "3" in scriptural numerology has to do with the "divine," and a key aspect of divinity is the unity of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name). Anreu is the first month (corresponding to the Jewish "Nisan" or "Nissan," and Anreu derives from Andrew-Reuben. The current year (7703) comes from the symbolic calculation of 5771 (the Jewish Year #) + 165 (a reference to the "missing years" in the Hebrew calendar) + 1000 (symbolizing both the billions of years involved in the creation of the universe before the Genesis account picks up the earth-creation narrative as well as also the billions of years encompassed in at least some of the "yoms" (or "periods of time") in the actual Genesis creation narrative) + 767 (symbolizing the unknown amount of time Adam & Eve spent in the garden before missing the mark and going their own way (or "sinning") apart from the LORD Most High). When You add 5771+165+1000+767, You get 7703. The designation "YY" stands for "YHWH Year" - Blessed be His Holy Name. i believe the universe (and, therefore, the earth) are billions of years old and that people are much older than 7000+ years, but i also believe that has absolutely no effect on the veracity, validity, or legitimacy of the Scriptural text (but that's for another time & place). Given all of this, i refer to years as YY, because YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is behind all of it and the only "One" Who knows the Truth about the age of the universe, the earth, or anything involving creation.

In conclusion, the "date" of toyom (or "today," to most people) for this particular post might be more easily read as "Ünem, Anreu 1st, 7703 YY."

Since this is the first yom of my calendar year, i am attempting to post a daily Scripture reading here to help me read through the entire Bible in one year from a chronological perspective. This is the Chronological Scripture Reading for Yom #1 on Ünem, Anreu 1st, 7703 YY - Genesis 1:1 thru 4:26...

Reading #1: Genesis 1:1 thru 4:26

Genesis 1:1 Now In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 ThenGod said, "Let there be light "; and there was light. 4 God saw that thelight was good ; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there wasevening and there was morning, one day. 6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the watersfrom the waters." 7 God made the expanse, and separated the waterswhich were below the expanse from the waters which were above theexpanse ; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and letthe dry land appear "; and it was so. 10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas ; and God saw that it wasgood. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation : plantsyielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kindwith seed in them"; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation,plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind ; and God saw that it was good. 13 There wasevening and there was morning, a third day. 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days andyears ; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens togive light on the earth "; and it was so. 16 God made the two greatlights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to governthe night ; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanseof the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness ; and God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourthday. 20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of livingcreatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of theheavens." 21 God created the great sea monsters and every livingcreature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, andevery winged bird after its kind ; and God saw that it was good. 22 Godblessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in theseas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24 Then God said, "Let the earth bringforth living creatures after their kind : cattle and creeping things andbeasts of the earth after their kind "; and it was so. 25 God made thebeasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, andeverything that creeps on the ground after its kind ; and God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness ; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God createdman in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male andfemale He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every livingthing that moves on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Behold, I have givenyou every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, andevery tree which has fruit yielding seed ; it shall be food for you; 30 andto every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every greenplant for food "; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, andbehold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Creation of Man and Woman

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, andHe rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it Herested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is theaccount of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in theday that the LORD God made earth and heaven. 5 Now no shrub of thefield was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no manto cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist used to rise from the earth andwater the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formedman of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath oflife ; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted agarden toward the east, in Eden ; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow everytree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden ; and from there itdivided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon ; itflows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The goldof that land is good ; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 Thename of the second river is Gihon ; it flows around the whole land ofCush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris ; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the LORD God took theman and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of thegarden you may eat freely ; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you willsurely die." 18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone ; I will make him a helper suitable for him." 19 Out of theground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and toevery beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helpersuitable for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept ; then He took one of his ribs and closed up theflesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the ribwhich He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 Theman said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh ; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 For thisreason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to hiswife ; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wifewere both naked and were not ashamed.

The Fall of Man

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed , has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden '?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat ; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' " 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die ! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate ; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked ; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked ; so I hid myself." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked ? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat ?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done ?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field ; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life ; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed ; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." 16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children ; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you." 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field ; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken ; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." 20 Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil ; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever "- 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering ; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry ? And why has your countenance fallen ? 7 "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door ; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother ?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper ?" 10 He said, "What have you done ? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. 11 "Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 "When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is too great to bear ! 14 "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground ; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." 15 So the LORD said to him, "Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch ; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. 18 Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took to himself two wives : the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal ; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal ; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron ; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; 24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold." 25 Adam had relations with his wife again ; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him." 26 To Seth, to him also a son was born ; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

x

Finday, Matamín 21st, 7703 (Friday, 02-25-2011) Friday-Free-For-All Post (3FA Article) #10: The Death Of me

2011-02-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

i don’t want any of You to freak out. i haven’t made any decisions yet….

Today, i was presented with the final divorce decree for me to review before signing. Since October 22^nd, 2010 (when my ex-wife pulled a Jerry Maguire on me by taking me to a crowded restaurant on a Friday night to serve me divorce papers), i have been trying to be very reasonable and cordial to her. i have bent over backwards to be civil and to give her anything she wanted. i have asked for very little, despite the fact that she makes roughly 4.5 times more per year than i do. All i have asked for is a couple of furniture items, the chance to buy the car, and maybe some other small things that are too trivial to remember. i have set a budget for myself and am barely making it month-to-month. Things were beginning to look up just a bit, as i have gotten my budget set and am actually surviving on a poverty-level income.

Imagine my surprise when today i read through the divorce decree and find the child support figure we had agreed to more than doubled, no mention of me being able to buy the car, and a few other zingers. So much for her trying to be nice or civil or cordial or whatever. Apparently, ruining my Life isn’t enough. There must be more inflicted until i literally can’t survive.

So, i don’t know if i’ll be writing this blog much anymore. Right now, i am thinking i may have to move in with my parents to survive, because i simply won’t be able to pay the child support figure included in the final decree. If that # is approved, i will have to quit my job and move or become homeless. That means i won’t have custody of my daughter at all. i don’t know what will happen, but i know that i just simply cannot afford the number in the agreement.

So, hopefully i will be blogging in the future, but — if i’m not — then, just know that i thank all of You for reading, for Your comments both here and personally to me, and for Your Love. i would imagine there will be no blogs next week and perhaps they might resume on March 7^th, 2011.

Gräsday, Matamín 20th, 7703 (Thursday, 02-24-2011) Personal Post (2P Article) #11: New People

2011-02-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

“Friendship is unnecessary — like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value.
Rather, it is one of those things that give value to survival...”.

(C. S. Lewis)

i feel like a sea. Ya know what i mean?

In case not, let me explain. The Dead Sea is an anomaly. Water comes into it via the Jordan River, but it doesn’t empty out of it. Because of this, the water is incredibly salty and nothing can Live in it. i feel kind of like that….

i need for there to be a flow in my Life, a giving & receiving, a coming & going, a learning & sharing, a balance. i don't do well when it's all one way or the other....

Located on the 6000 kilometer Great Rift Valley running from the Taurus Mountains in Turkey to the Zambezi Valley in Africa, the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth. Unlike oceans, it is composed of 53% Potassium, 37% Magnesium, and 8% of Sodium Chlorides (that's a salinity of 33.7% or 8.6 times more salty than the oceans), enabling people to float. Acquiring a bit of skill, one will even be able to read a newspaper in the water.

One thing that i always enjoyed about my Life (and especially when i was single and traveling a lot) was meeting new people. i don’t know if it’s the fact that they don’t know me and don’t know much about me or if their story is new to me, but i am glad (generally speaking) to meet new people. It seems to invigorate me and keep me interested in Life.

Now, don’t get me wrong. i Love old people, too (that was really just a cheap way to call my long-time friends “old”…i apologize for that, and, LORD, help the pygmies in Africa…). Anyway, i digress….

Sometimes, i need an old friend. Someone who knows me, who i can’t lie to and get away with it, someone who knows my past and uses that to inspire me and not to judge me. Someone who has history with me and can tell my daughter stories on me, someone who has witnessed the growth that has occurred in me, someone who remembers me from decades gone by in their own Life and can recall the good and the hard times we’ve shared. Those kind of friends are essential, and i am a rich man in that regard. Very rich. The list of people who are on my friends list is long and deep and good….

New friends, though, are good, too. It is fun, energizing, and interesting to meet new people and to make new friends. i look forward to hearing their stories about what they’ve overcome, to learn who they share Life with in daily & sacred ways, to listen about their families, to discover their passions and gifts and talents, to notice their idiosyncrasies, to experience their fellowship. i enjoy eventually moving their names from the new friends list to the old friends list.

i am going to post a sermon here that i posted on my old Facebook page a long time ago, but many people who come here were never privy to my old FB page. It’s a sermon by the great Fred Craddock called When The Roll Is Called Down Here (to listen to the sermon, for which You will Thank me over and over again, click here. i have put the Scripture text (Romans 16) referenced as well as the text of the entire sermon below for Your perusal). If You get a chance, listen to it and be Blessed. Remember Your friends. Thank God for them. And, remember, when i say that to You, i mean for You to Thank Him for both the old friends who have been walking alongside You for decades sprinkling grace and mercy and Love and compassion and hope and encouragement and forgiveness and all kinds of other goodies along Your mutual path but also for the ones You have yet to meet who will adorn Your ChristLife with new fragrances, characteristics, wisdoms, and laughs. Old wine may taste sweeter, but it’s hard to beat fresh-picked grapes. Cherish both....

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Scripture Text Reference (Romans 16 — Partially quoted below) for When The Roll Is Called Down Here:

i commend to You our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the ekklesia which is at Cenchrea that You receive her in the LORD in a manner worthy of the saints, and that You help her in whatever matter she may have need of You — for she herself has also been a helper of many and of myself as well. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who — for my Life — risked their own necks and to whom not only do i give thanks but also all the ekklesias of the Gentiles. Also, greet the ekklesia that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beLoved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for You. Greet Andronicus & Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles and who also were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beLoved in the LORD. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beLoved. Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the LORD. Greet Tryphaena & Tryphosa, workers in the LORD. Greet Persis the beLoved, who has worked hard in the LORD. Greet Rufus, a choice man in the LORD, also his mother — and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren with them. Greet Philologus & Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the ekklesias of Christ greet You. Now, i urge you, brethren, keep Your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which You learned and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our LORDChrist but of their own appetites, and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of Your obedience has reached to all. Therefore, i am rejoicing over You, but want You to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. Timothy my fellow worker greets You, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. i, Tertius, who write this letter, greet You in the LORD. Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets You. Erastus, the city treasurer greets You, and Quartus, the brother.

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Sermon Text for When The Roll Is Called Down Here:

i hope You will not feel guilty if Your heart was not all aflutter during the reading of the text. It’s not very interesting. It’s a list…a list of names…a list of strange names. i always tell my students in preaching class, “When You’re preaching from biblical texts, avoid the lists. They’re deadly — Don’t preach from the lists!”

It seems that Paul is calling the roll. That’s a strange thing in itself. i have never worshipped in a church in which anyone got up and called the roll. It could be very dull. Well, it could…it could be interesting in a way…

Calling the roll sometimes is not all that bad. Last December, i was summoned: “Superior Court, DeKalb County, Georgia” to serve on the jury. On Monday morning at nine o’clock, 240 of us formed a pool out of which the jurors for civil and criminal cases would be chosen.

The deputy clerk of the superior court stood and called the roll: 240 names. She did not have them in alphabetical order — Ya had to listen. And while i was listening, i began to listen…

There were two Bill Johnsons. One was black, and one was white, and they were both "Bill Johnson."

There was a man named “Clark,” a Mister Clark, who answered when the clerk read, “Mrs. Clark.”

And he said, “Here.”

And she looked up and said, “Mrs. Clark.”

And he said, “Here.”

And she said, “Mrs. Clark.”

And he stood up and said, “Well, i thought the letter was for me, and i opened it.”

The she said, “We summoned Mrs. Clark.”

And he said, “Well, i'm here. Can i do it? She doesn’t have any interest in this sort of thing.”

And the clerk said, “Mr. Clark, how do You know? She doesn’t even know she’s been summoned.”

This roll call is pretty good.

There was a man there whose name i wrote down phonetically because i couldn't spell it. His name was Zurfell Lishenstein. Zurfell Lishenstein. i remember it because they went over it five or six times, mispronouncing it. He insisted it be pronounced correctly and finally stood in a huff and said, “i see no reason why i should serve on a jury in a court that can’t pronounce my name!”

The woman next to me said, “Lichenstein? i wonder if he’s a Jew?”

i said, “Well, i don't know…could be. Does it matter?”

And she said, “i am German. my name is Zeller.”

And i said, “Well, it doesn’t matter. That was forty years ago.”

And she said, “He and i could be seated next to each other in a jury.”

i said, “Well, You were probably just a child when all of that happened years ago.”

And she said, “i was ten years old. i visited Grandmother. She Lived about four miles from Buchenwald. i smelled the odor....”

Calling the Roll. You know, a person could get interested in Paul’s calling the roll, even if it’s no more than to say, “i wonder how Paul knew all those people, since he had never been to the church.” i wonder if, back then, You could buy mailing lists? After all, he wants to raise money in Rome for his Spanish mission, and he is politically wise — and he says, “Tell this one “hello” and that one “hello.” ”

Some scholars think this doesn’t even belongs in Romans. He’s never been to Rome.

But i could get interested in the roll call, because it gives a kind of sociological profile of the membership of the church. Now, i don’t expect You to remember, but — in the list — there is a husband & wife, Aquila & Priscilla. There’s a man and his mother: Rufus and his mother. There is a brother & sister: Nereus and his sister. There are brothers: Andronicus & Junias. There are sisters: Tryphaena & Tryphosa. There is an old man: Epeanetus. Isn’t that an interesting profile of the church? There’s a single woman: Mary. There’s a single man: Herodion. Not a lot of nuclear family there at all, except as Christ has called them together. It’s an interesting list — sort of. Not very....

But for Paul it’s not a list. Don’t call it a list!

He’s packing his stuff. He’s in the home of Gaius, in Corinth, who is host to Paul and host to the church in Corinth. And Paul is getting ready to go West to Italy and to Spain. He’s about to move to a new parish — one far away. He is now about sixty years old — fifty-nine years old, i would guess. He feels he has one more good ministry in him.

Most churches don’t want a person fifty-nine years old, but those churches had no choice because Paul started his own. And he wants to have one other ministry, because he got a late start. He was probably about thirty-five when he started.

He doesn’t have much to pack — his coat and his books and a few other things. And, while he is throwing things away to trim down the load for packing and moving, he comes across some notes and some correspondence — and he sits down among the boxes and begins to remember.

Don’t call it a list….

You’ve done it Yourself. When my wife & i finished our service at the student church — when in seminary — on our last Sunday there, they gave us a gift. It was a quilt some of the women of the church had made, and they stitched into the top of the quilt the names of all the church members. And every time we move and we come across that quilt, we spread it out on the bed and we start remembering.

We remembered something about every…there’s Chester, who voted against and persuaded the others to vote against my raise. There’s Mary & John, who put new tires on our car. There’s Loy, very quiet and never said anything. There is his wife, Marie. There is this marvelous woman, Lois, who Lived with that man who drank and became violent, and yet she was always faithful and pleasant — and he was dying with cancer when we went. my first funeral there — You remember? And this is the way we go over the quilt….

Don’t call it a list. Paul said, “Don’t call it a list!”

Aquila and Priscilla — they risked their necks for me. Andronicus & Junias — we were in jail together. They’re great Christians. There’s Mary. Mary worked hard. She was there when everybody else quit. She’s the one who always said, “Now Paul, You go on home. i'll put things up. i'll put the hymnals away and i’ll pick up all the papers and straighten the chairs. You go on home. You’re tired.”

“Well, Mary, You’re tired too.”

“Yes, Paul, but You’ve got to ride a donkey across Asia tomorrow. You go on. i’ll pick up here.” Mary worked hard.

Epaenetus — the first person converted under my preaching, and i didn’t sleep a wink that night saying, “Thank God, finally somebody heard.” The first one to respond to the Gospel. What a marvelous day that was.

Tryphaena and Tryphosa — obviously twins. You hear it, don’t You, in the names: Tryphaena & Tryphosa? They always sat on this side, and they both wore blue every Sunday. i never knew them apart, really. One of them had a mole on her cheek, but I didn’t know if it was Tryphaena or Tryphosa. I never did get them straight.

And Rufus — tell Rufus “hello” and tell his mother “hello,” because she’s my mother, too.

Isn’t that something? Some woman earned from this apostle the title “mother.” Can’t You see her — this woman able to be mother to Paul? Probably stayed in their home. She was a rather large woman — always had an apron — a lot of things stuffed in the pocket of the apron. Hair pulled back in a bun. Fixed a good breakfast. Paul said, “i’m sorry — i can’t stay. i have to be on my way.” “Sit down and eat Your breakfast! i don’t care if You are an apostle — You’re gonna eat.” “Tell my mother hello!”

This is not a list….

i remember when they brought the famous list to Atlanta. The workers set it up in the public place — block after block — to form a long wall of names: Vietnam names.

Some of us looked at it like it were a list of names. Others went over closer. Some walked slowly down the column. There was the woman who went up and put her finger on a name, and she held a child up and put the child’s hand on a name. There was a woman there who kissed the wall at a name. There were flowers lying beneath the wall….

Don’t call it a list. It’s not a “list.”

In fact, these names in Romans 16 are, for Paul, extremely special, because — even though he says “hello” — say “hello” to, say “hello” to, say “hello” to…what he really is saying is “Goodbye.” O, he’s going to Rome, he says, but before he goes to Rome he has to go to Jerusalem. He’s going with the offering, and he’s going into a nest of hostility. And so at the end of chapter fifteen, he says to these people, “Pray with me. Agonize with me that i won’t be killed in Jerusalem, that the saints will accept the money in Jerusalem…that i’ll get to come back and be with You. Please…pray.”

These are not just names.

Do You have a piece of paper? Do You have a piece of — Well, use Your worship bulletin. Would You write in the margins somewhere or at the bottom these words, “i Thank my God for all my remembrance of You.” i Thank my God for all my remembrance of You, and write a name. You choose the name. You remember the name. Write another name and another name and another name.

Before i married and was serving a little mission in the Appalachians, i moved — in my service — down to a place on Watts Barr Lake between Chattanooga and Knoxville — a little village. It was the custom in that church at Easter to have a baptismal service, and my church immerses and it was held as baptismal service in Watts Barr Lake on Easter evening at sundown. Out on a sand bar, i — with the candidates for baptism — moved into the water and then they moved across to the shore where the little congregation was gathered singing around a fire and cooking supper. They had constructed little booths for changing clothes with blankets hanging, and — as the candidates moved from the water — they went in and changed clothes and went to the fire in the center. And finally — last of all — i went over, changed clothes, and went to the fire.

Once we were all around the fire, this is the ritual of that tradition. Glen Hickey — always Glen — introduced the new people: gave their names, where they lived, and their work. Then the rest of us formed a circle around them, while they stayed warm at the fire.

And the ritual was each person in the circle gave her or his name and said this,

“my name is ____, and if You ever need…If You ever need somebody to do washing and ironing...”

“my name is ____ if You ever need anybody to chop wood...”

“my name is ____ if You ever need anybody to baby-sit...”

“my name is ____ if You ever need anybody to repair Your house...”

“my name is ____ if You ever need anybody to sit with the sick...”

“my name is ____ if You ever need a car to go to town...”

And around the circle, and then we ate, and then we had a square dance. And, at a time they knew — i didn’t know, Percy Miller — with thumbs in his bibbed overalls — would stand up and say, “It’s time to go.” And everybody left, and he lingered behind and — with his big shoe — kicked sand over the dying fire. And my first experience of that, he saw me standing there, still. And he looked at me and said, “Craddock, folks don’t ever get any closer than this.”

In that little community, they have a name for that. i’ve heard it in other communities, too. In that community, their name for that is “church.” They call that “church.”

Have You written any names? Do You have a name or two? Keep the list. Keep the list, because — to You — it’s not “a list.” In fact, the next time You move, keep that. Even if You have to leave Your car and Your library and Your furniture and Your typewriter and everything else — take that with You. In fact, when Your ministry has ended and You leave the earth, take it with You.

i know, i know, i know. When You get to the gate, Saint Peter’s gonna say, “Now, look, You went into the world with nothing — You’ve got to come out of it with nothing. Now what have You got?

And You say, “Well, it’s just some names.”

“Well, let me see it.”

“Well now, this is just some names of folk i worked with and folk who helped me.”

“Well, let me see it.”

“Well, this is just a group of people that — if it weren't for them — i’d have never made it.”

He said, “i want to see it.”

And You give it to him, and he smiles — and he says, “i know all of them. In fact — on my way here to the gate — i passed a group. They were painting a great big sign to hang over the street, and it said, ‘Welcome home....’ ”

Crēday, Matamín 19th, 7703 (Wednesday, 02-23-2011) Theological Post (TP Article) #11: Struggling During The Dry Times

2011-02-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

Last night, i had dinner with a dear friend. He is one of the people about whom i most care in this world, and he has been through many difficulties in his Life that probably would have crippled me. Some of these struggles are ongoing, but i Love this friend like a brother and value him more than i can express with mere words — such an expression would only be possible in hugs or tears or some other form.

He came to see me earlier in the day and confided in me about something that is common to so many people i know and with whom i visit: maintaining intimacy with God during seasons of struggle. i don’t think he minds me using his story as a jumping-off point for this article, but i won’t get into any specifics of his path. i just know that what he is enduring is a common trial and a kind of suffering that is way more common than any of us want to admit happens at all — much less to us….

Listen to "The Cave by Mumford & Sons"

As someone who is trained in the art of analysis with years of my Life devoted to understanding various kinds of philosophy and a high proclivity along with several years of training in mathematics (both of which include a heavy emphasis on logic), high-level graduate studies in less logical philosophical forms like postmodernism and deconstructionism, theological training in ethics, sociology, history, etc., and linguistics including learning foreign languages, writing & research, rhetorical analysis, debate & argumentation, etc., i am adept and comfortable Living in the land of theory. So, i am good at analyzing situations, connecting the dots into the correct pattern, and then being able to offer a solution. As a counselor, often i am able to give people a theoretical backdrop that helps them understand the more practical & pragmatic areas of their Lives.

However, the theory matters to most people mainly in its ability to help them manage, cope, structure, order, or orient their Lives in a more useful, profitable, & healthy way. People hate doing things they don’t understand, and the theory is the understanding part of our behaviors. i use theory to help people draw a straight line from their behaviors to what they Truly believe — not what they think they believe, but what they Truly believe.

i say that to tell You that i get it, though. Despite being useful for my ability to articulate and explain theory to people, i understand its purpose as it regards to actual behavior, feelings, thought patterns, and actions. i know that theory is not more important than behavior; i just wonder if other people know behavior is not more important than theory. As a matter of fact, both are equally important to the thing that matters the most: fruit.

Having established all of that, here is the issue: people don’t feel close to God when they are struggling, and that causes lots of problems. Today, i want to share with You what i shared with my friend last night in the hopes that it may help You a bit if You ever experience dry times in a hot, quiet, vast desert that overwhelms You, causes You to despair of Life, and relegates You to feeling alone, lost, provisionless, and vulnerable. God forbid that You ever suffer such a time or season or period, but — if You’re a human being — You will most likely encounter that at some point or other. It’s part of our human journey….

The first thing i told my friend was that we think about God wrongly often and think that He is much more rigid, aloof, and concerned about another set of things altogether than He actually is. Now, i know that what i am about to say may seem heretical to most Christians, but that is not going to deter me from saying it. i know it to be the Truth, and how people deal with that is up to them….

It is True that there is a godly way to do everything, and that any other way is not godly. However, sometimes i think people interpret that Truth to mean that God doesn’t have anything to do with people when they sin (usually because of the misguided belief that — since God is holy (or “different” or “other”) — He, therefore, cannot be around sin or tolerate sin…which is complete rubbish and leaves no room for redemption among many other problems with this view) and leaves us to ourselves to figure a way out of our self-made predicaments. And, yet, i wanted my friend (and all of You) to know that God is involved all the time with people who are sinful or lost or hostile to Him.

If God didn’t choose to intervene on our behalf or get involved in our circumstances or rescue us from awful situations, He’d never have any interactions with human beings. That doesn’t mean that He approves of the sin, but it also doesn’t mean that He can’t stand it — or You. i know this is going to come as a shock to some people, but sin, like everything else, is a creation of God. He gave You the choice in the first place, and — without that choice — there is no such thing as “sin.” He knew that You would have the option of “sinning” (going Your own way and missing the mark intended for You to aim to hit) or of “glorifying” (submitting to go His way and partnering with Your Abba in His work). While no one would argue that God didn’t create Lucifer just because Lucifer happens to have made an oppositional choice to God, people do often want to contend that God can’t stand sin. Nonsense. Sin is not an obstacle to God — there is no such thing as an obstacle to God (except for things He allows to be obstacles, like our free will). It is just simply unTrue that God can’t stand sin or won’t tolerate sin. If either of those propositions were True, we all would be in deep trouble….

Therefore, the first thing i want You to know is that God is at work — even in the midst of Your struggle and — yes — even in Your sin, too. It is just not accurate to say that God cannot or will not accomplish good in sinful circumstances. The examples of this are honestly limitless, but let me give You just one to make the point. Let’s imagine that You have two people who have had sexual trauma from abuse in their backgrounds, and they form a relationship and begin having sex outside of marriage. Is that the optimum environment for healing to occur sexually — without the safety of a marriage covenant to provide unconditional acceptance and security? No, it’s not. Is intercourse outside marriage sinful? Yes, it is. Would there be a better way to handle what those people are feeling for each other? Yes, there would be. However, what happens when You come across two people in that scenario who were Loving and gentle and reassuring to one another and they found a measure of healing in each of their Lives due to the relationship and interaction between them? Do You suddenly conclude that God cannot accomplish healing between two human beings outside of marriage even though the vast majority of healing has nothing to do with sex and almost always occurs between human beings? Of course not, and instead You conclude that God is bigger than any person or trauma or set of circumstances and can, therefore, accomplish good even out of bad or less than optimum or even sinful situations.

So, don’t dismiss what God does in Your Life during the times of struggle and pain and loss and suffering and injustice and despair and trouble and You respond to those stimuli in godliness and righteousness and humility and submission. But don’t dismiss what God does in Your Life during those times and You respond in opposition to Him or apathy toward Him or anger or pride or resignation or any other less-than-godly reaction, either. God is working. Period. He is always working….

The second thing i told my friend is that God doesn’t need my friend’s participation to rescue him. Now, just as the first point will probably make people mad, because they have been taught an erroneous lie that God can’t stand or won’t tolerate sin, this point is likely to make You feel less significant and like You matter less than You ever thought. Stay with me, and listen to what i’m saying in the end — not just what it seems that i might be saying in the beginning. God doesn’t need Your help to rescue You….

That’s right — God doesn’t need You to help Him or to allow Him or even to want Him to rescue You. Your participation doesn’t matter at all. Let me illustrate this Truth for You. When i was in high school, i was injured playing basketball, and my back was sprained pretty severely. The doctor who saw me prescribed (yes, on a prescription pad) Lifeguard training for me. (Since i was 14 years old, i wasn’t allowed into the Lifeguard training class sponsored by the city, because i wouldn’t be able to work as a Lifeguard until i was working-age at 16. The doctor knew this, and so he prescribed Lifeguard training for me as a medical necessity to override the city’s policy. Just that part of the story is a fascinating thing to me and can teach us a great deal about the spiritual dynamics behind providence, ordination, and Blessing…). Anyway, when i arrived the first night for the class, the instructor was a former beach Lifeguard supervisor for San Diego. She promptly announced that we would tread water for 45 minutes and anyone left after that could start training. Several people left immediately, and then she trained the rest of us how to properly tread water. It was an amazing experience for me from start to finish.

On the first night, the first lesson was how to rescue someone. It was the foundation of the class on which everything after that built. She explained to us that — when a person who can’t swim is drowning — they will not be of any help to You. In fact, they will automatically drown You to get just one more breath — even though that is not in their long-term interest. The point she was trying to make to us (and did, by the way, very effectively as she almost drowned several of us over the next few minutes) is that a person who is in survival mode and has switched from rational thinking to instinct cannot (literally can not) listen and obey Your instructions as You try to save them. So, she taught us how to speak to people in that situation as we approached them, how to circumvent their ability to touch us or get their hands on us, how to restrain them and put them in a full-Nelson or some other type of restraint hold, and how to cart them safely back to shore. Then, she tried to kill us (like any drowning person would do) as she made us attempt to rescue her. It was an eye-opening endeavor, let me assure You. The most amazing part was when she told us that — if worse came to worse — we should let them drown and resuscitate them at shore instead of both dying. Wow. There was blood in the water and a broken arm at the end of it all, but she clearly and searingly made the point to all of us as we limped away to come back the next night and resume our training. i never thought twice about whether or not a person who was dying could help me at all while i was trying to save them over the years. They can’t help me, and i know and accept that fact. i also know that — given the chance — they will kill me if i let them….

Please don’t think that God needs Your help to rescue You — He doesn’t. He is perfectly capable — as are those trained Lifeguards — of getting You to shore, administering CPR or whatever measures necessary, and doing anything else to save You. Of course, it helps for You to cooperate, but it isn’t required if He decides to do it without You.

Therefore, what i told my friend was this: Be genuine, authentic, & real with God. Don’t worry about being angry or yelling at Him or giving up or whatever. Just be real. He can handle it — whatever You have to give Him. What He can’t stand is lukewarmness, but He can take hot or cold. The Psalms are replete with this kind of raw emotion and distorted perspective and human frustration. People sometimes wonder why the story of Job or the perspective of Solomon or Jeremiah or the Psalms that are less-than-joyful are in Scripture. Well, they are in there to let You know that it’s OK, and that our God isn’t threatened or surprised or unaware of our predicaments, our opinions, or our responses to any number of painful factors.

So, secondly, be authentic with God, and know that He both can and is willing to rescue You despite whether or not You choose to participate in His salvation of You….

The third thing i want You to know is that God will provide someone in Your Life to help You. i told my dear friend that i am there for him, that i Love him more than a brother, and that i will do anything in my power to help, care for, or otherwise Bless him as he undergoes suffering in this Life. Now, that is an important thing — the solidarity of a fellow human being.

In Scripture, it’s called “koinonia,” which is usually translated into English as “fellowship.” This is the entire basis for the Lord Of The Rings series (especially the first part called The Fellowship Of The Ring). i blogged about this on Crēday, Matamín 12th, 6636 (Wednesday, 02-16-2011) Theological Post (TP Article) #10: Helping Each Other Limp Along.

As we ate together and hung out, i shared with my friend that one thing God has tasked me with in this Life is reducing pressure on people. Pressure, as doctors will tell You, causes enormous problems with the human body. Rarely does anything good come from pressure. Although there are some useful contexts, pressure mostly causes harm, shame, and other bad effects on human beings. Many people form their existences around pressure (if not around conflict or some other addiction), because it makes them feel “aLive,” but little do they know that it is harming them and shortening their days all along.

The third thing is this: support Your comrades in ways that reduce pressure on them, and look for people who will do that for You as You endure suffering. A cup of cold water is worth much more than most people realize, but that is not a foreign concept to our God.

i hope all of You realize how much i root for You as You go through Your days. Each day Truly has enough trouble of its own, and i am firmly on Your side as You navigate the stormy and pirate-filled seas around You. Blessings to You today from the LORD Most High, and all my Love….

Ünday, Matamín 18th, 7703 (Tuesday, 02-22-2011) Cultural Post (CP Article) #10: The Expectations Game

2011-02-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

“Ambition is the last refuge of failure…”.
(Oscar Wilde)

“Expecting the world to treat You fairly because You are a good person is

a little like expecting a bull not to attack You because You are a vegetarian…”.
(Dennis Wholey)

“Keep high aspirations, moderate expectations, and small needs…”.
(William Howard Stein)

Well, i was going to write a scathing article tonight about Wisconsin and how both sides are completely wrong, but i think i’ll focus on more broad concerns as i blog about our expectations being out of whack. Expectations play a key part in each person’s Life.

i am choosing to write about expectations, because they spring from an entitlement mentality. Expectations are predicated upon a reasonable assumption that derives from a “right” (entitlement) to something. In America in 2011, You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who does not think they are entitled to a great deal.

Now, the reason we think we are entitled to any particular thing may be radically different, politically speaking. For example, most people who lean left believe they are entitled due to their belonging to the human race — in other words, they believe being human entitles them to certain things and a specific kind of Lifestyle. They will use words like “dignity,” “morality,” and other terms that they assign ontological, humanistic, and existential meanings and try to argue that entitlement springs forth from a value beyond human calculation. Curiously, they often are atheistic or, at the very least, hostile to God in their philosophical formulations — a strange posture for someone arguing for ethics. On the contrary, most people who lean right believe they are entitled due to their work ethic or their belief in productivity. In other words, they believe they have done the requisite work, accomplished the mandatory minimum, or performed the required task to “deserve” their reward. It is not an entitlement that springs forth from value like that of the left persuasion as much as it is an entitlement that results from a quid pro quo. Those who default to a productivity rationale (like capitalists, for example) believe that they are entitled to their expectations based on the notion of stewardship. If i pay Your salary as a citizen taxpayer, then i have the right to expect You to wait on me at the DMV instead of making copies for the March Madness pool, for example. In all of these cases, expectations derive from a sense of entitlement that spans the political gamut.

Expectations are dangerous, and they should be handled with care. As a cousin to their less-pretty relative called “Assumption,” expectations are often more noble in their clothing. They claim to have firm footing, to be reasonable, to be logical. Don’t fall for it — it’s a trap. Another cousin to expectation, “Intentions,” is similarly troublesome. Intentions like to parade around as if they are a walking get-out-of-jail-free card. They are the public professional athletes & celebrities who expect to be let off the hook for their drug addictions, harmful behavior, and outright rudeness based solely on who they are. “Don’t You know who i am,” intentions like to ask. Don’t buy it — they will hurt You….

You should be careful of having expectations of anyone — even Yourself. Unless You are in a covenant with someone (and even then, You shouldn’t count on them as if they are above reproach) or unless we are talking about God, You should rarely place expectations on others. Doing so puts them in a no-win situation and sets You up for disappointment.

Now, i’m not saying it’s quite like Doc Holliday’s response to Wyatt Earp (Wyatt asks, “Is that supposed to let me off the hook?” Doc replies, “There is no hook, my friend. There's only what we do…”). That would be too fatalistic. What i am saying is that when we impose arbitrary expectations on people, we are bound to be disappointed when they either can’t Live up to them or else didn’t know they were supposed to Live up to them. It’s unfair to ask a fish to mow the yard or to ask a cat to give the dog a bath. It doesn’t work that way. Similarly, it’s unfair to ask a healer to harm or a counselor to just “git ‘er done” or a soldier to look at the larger picture. It’s unreasonable to ask a politician to solve problems, because politicians — by definition — cause problems instead of solve them. It’s unreasonable to ask a union to concede, because their whole purpose for existing is to push and push and push. It’s unreasonable to ask a spouse to be God or to ask God to be human. It’s unreasonable to expect a child to be an adult or to ask a parent to not be concerned about their children.

Today, maybe we could all take a step back and examine our expectations. Why do we feel entitled to something from the people from whom we expect to receive? What is it about our outlook that makes us believe we deserve or have a right or should receive something from that person or institution or group? i will submit to You that You very rarely have the right to expect anything from someone, and — when You do have a valid assertion — You need to be careful about the boundaries and parameters and extents of those expectations. Personally, my motto with regard to expectations is an adaptation from a quote in Machiavelli’s The Prince (later recited as the Godfather’s belief in The Godfather, Part II and see a very interesting discussion on Machiavelli here) that one should “Keep Your beliefs close and Your expectations closer...”.

The fact is we are not entitled to much, except the right to choose how we use our breath, time, & Life. Accordingly, i believe we should spend less energy being frustrated at the disappointed expectations we had for others and spend more energy receiving gratefully what we are given or investing energy to cultivate different outcomes by a better process and not by more leverage. Just a thought….

Covday, Matamín 17th 7703 (Monday, 02-21-2011) Philosophical/Political Post (3P Article) #10: Truth

2011-02-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

“There is no god higher than Truth…”.
(Mahatma Gandhi)

“Y’shua said to him, ‘I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life…”.
(The Gospel Of John, Chapter:Verse 14:6a)

“Truth is rarely writ in ink; it Lives in nature…”.
(Martin H. Fischer)

“The trouble about man is twofold:

He cannot learn Truths which are too complicated;

He forgets Truths which are too simple…”.
(Rebecca West)

“They questioned Y’shua, saying,

“Teacher, we know that You speak & teach correctly and

are not partial to any person(s), but rather teach the Way of God in Truth…”.
(The Gospel Of Luke, Chapter:Verse 20:21)

“Truth has very few friends — and those few are suicides…”.
(Antonio Porchia in Voces in 1943,
Translated from the Spanish original by W.S. Merwin)

“The greatest enemy of any one of our Truths may be the rest of our Truths…”.
(William James)

"I will ask the Father, and Abba will give You another Helper so that

Your Father may be with You forever: the Spirit of Truth — whom the world cannot
receive, because the world does not see Him or know Him.
However, You know the Spirit of Truth, because

He abides with You and He will be in You.

I will not leave You as orphans. No, instead I will come to You.
(The Gospel Of John, Chapter:Verse 14:16-18)

“It will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute Truth…”.
(Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy)

“Y’shua was saying to those Jews who had believed Him,

‘If You continue in My word, then You are Truly disciples who belong to Me — and
You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make You free…’ ”.
(The Gospel Of John, Chapter:Verse 8:32)

Truth, like milk, arrives in the dark, but — even so — wise dogs don't bark.
Only mongrels make it hard for the milkman to come up the yard.
(Christopher Morley in Dogs Don't Bark At The Milkman)

In my undergraduate & graduate philosophy studies, i was exposed to one of the lines of philosophical questions often posed & considered that has to do with the concept of “truth.” Specifically, a key question has to do with the notions of “objective truth” and “absolute truth.” In what i would call an ontologically-oriented discussion (although others may not share that view), a commonly posed question is:

Assuming the “existence” of “God” or some creative

deity responsible for the whole of creation,

is that “Being” held to an “objective” standard or

does that “Being” determine the standard?

In other words, does God have the right to say what is “right” and what is “wrong”? What is “sinful” and what is “righteous”? What is “moral” and what is “immoral”? Or is God beholden to some arbitrary standard of “goodness” that is outside of Him?

You might want to consider Your answer carefully before just reflexively throwing spaghetti up against the wall and hoping it sticks….

Truth is a person, and His Name is Y’shua Christos. He is the Messiah (literally “Anointed One”) of the LORD Most High or, specifically as known by His Name, YHWH (Blessed be His Name). The problem with Y’shua (or “Jesus” as Westerners call Him) is that He didn’t go quietly into the bad night, much less a good night. He didn’t retreat from death and back Himself into good standing with humanity by being a “good” person who is fondly remembered for preaching Love or tolerance or acceptance. Instead, He fought (albeit a spiritual fight and not an earthly one) and defeated our enemy by making a public spectacle of him like stringing up a horse-thief in the dry, dusty center of a burgeoning mining camp for everyone to see what happens to His enemies. Instead, He conquered death and removed its power over us and led captives back from the confines of a dark dictatorship more sinister than anything ever imagined in the movies. Instead, He and His Father demand acknowledgment as God — not by threatening or manipulating or coercing or forcing, but rather by simply holding out an offer of covenant relationship. Y’shua is not someone Who preached a warm & fuzzy kind of emotional Love, but rather a tenacious, unyielding, and sacrificial kind of self-denying Love hemmed in on all sides by covenantal obligations, salvific intentions, familial bonds, & eternal fulfillment. Instead of mere honesty, He craves trusting openness…instead of mere tolerance, He models forgiving forbearance…instead of mere acceptance, He offers existence-altering adoption. He isn’t just a savior or simply an ambassador or one more teacher or any one thing for that matter, although He is each of those things. Instead, we should listen to the descriptions He uses to define Himself….

He defined Himself by saying such things as “I AM the Way, the Truth, & the Life,” “I AM the bread that has come down from Heaven,” “I AM the First and the Last,” etc. These descriptions are important, and none more so than “I AM the Truth…”.

The notion of “absolute truth” (also referred to as “objective truth”) means that there are some things that are True regardless of any mitigating circumstances. This notion allows no room for situational ethics, relativistic idealism, or moral ambivalence. Instead, everything is rigid and inflexible and exhaustively determined in matters of ethics — nothing is left to chance, much less mercy. Many people i know (and most who consider themselves “Christians,” which means disciples of Y’shua) would argue for the existence of absolute Truth. They do this not knowing that in that very argument they undercut the very God they claim to know, to serve, and to worship. They don’t realize that by trivializing God as a cosmic judge beholden to a greater constitution that there is also the possibility of mandatory sentencing where the judge has no discretion. They can’t understand that by arguing that God can’t just say “murder is OK” and that it would suddenly be OK (not that He ever would do that, but He could…), that they consign God to a place of universe policeman doing the will of something greater. They won’t acknowledge the fact that by contending that God is less-than-all-moral that He is not all-powerful. It is a sad reality to me that so many Christians are so theologically poor as to look to a richer, poor persona and call Him wealthy when, instead, their Dad isn’t poor at all but rather beyond the reach of wealth….

On the contrary, i think that the notion of “subjective truth” is scary to some people, because they don’t think God can defend Himself to humans or to the enemy. The roll out the trusty “slippery slope” argument to assert that “You can’t just have God making case-by-case decisions — how would that look?” Uh, i don’t know…say merciful or just or appropriate? The fact is that — if You take Y’shua at His Word that He IS the Truth — then He gets to say whatever He wants and that is the way it is. Period. There will be no arguing it or circumventing it or mitigating it….

The reality is that we can take refuge in the fact that Y’shua is Truth. That is precisely why the Scriptures argue that He is our strong tower, our rock of refuge, our help in a time of distress. What? Is Ghandi gonna be able to persuade Zeus that You should go free? Is Mohammed gonna be able to successfully argue with a set of scales as a prop to some New Age consciousness that You weren’t as bad as You seemed because You have calluses from praying five times a day? Is Buddha gonna be able to convince the three guys in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure that You Lived a couple of Your multiple existences toward the end in a markedly more humble & Loving way? Seriously…what do people think will happen? Maybe we should get together the Dr. Pepper crew of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Bigfoot, etc. and fast track their membership to the Justice League so that they can join forces with Superman, the Green Hornet, the batfolks, etc. and we could put our hope in them. Or perhaps, we would rather hope that we could find the equivalent of money in the after world and hire Plato or Cicero or some other famous advocate to stand in for the Holy Spirit. i think i’ll go with Y’shua, the Holy Spirit, & Abba, and You can have all the fairy tale characters….

Philosophy can be helpful, but sometimes folks get outside their depth. The question of what kind of Truth exists would better be answered by getting to know Him first. Then, You can experience first-hand that Y’shua is a “good” Truth — the real deal and not some aspartamish substitute like Buddha, Mohammed, or Chaka Khan. At that point, You won’t have to worry about what He decides is righteous, although it’s not like You could alter it anyway.

Subjective Truth is the only kind of Truth that really exists. Thank God His Name is Y’shua, and Thank God He is good….

Finday, Matamín 14th, 7703 (Friday, 02-18-2011) Friday-Free-For-All Post (3FA Article) #10: Being Good...To me & To Others

2011-02-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

i would just like to say on the record today that i have been wanting to mention this all week and have refrained until now. i want to say “Thank You” to Lara Logan, CBS News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent. i have been a fan of Lara’s for a long time and recently enjoyed her 60 Minutes report on the most successful sports-better in the world. i just watched her on The Charlie Rose Show a couple of weeks ago and was moved by her analysis of the events she had been covering in Egypt before returning. Her analysis was the best and the most Truthful of any i have heard. Lara has been a fearless and insightful reporter in foreign locales for years, and — despite what people might think often attracts men to her — i have always been attracted to her reporting based on her unique perspective, journalistic professionalism, and idealistic objectivity. i am very selective about who i allow to present “news” to me, and i try to listen only to people who are serious, able to consider other points of view without sacrificing their personal convictions but also without being intractably dogmatic, and who are experts in their arena who have the capacity to provide insight. Lara meets all those criteria...

Lara returned to Egypt to cover the celebrations over Hosni Mubarak leaving, got separated from her security detail and journalistic companions, was surrounded by a group of thugs, and then endured over a half hour of sexual assault by several men. It breaks my heart for her, her family (whom she discussed with Charlie only days before the event and their fears for her safety), and for the people at CBS News who Love her as a colleague and have responsibility for her welfare. i want to wish Lara a speedy recovery physically, a perfectly-paced path of healing and wholeness emotionally, and a spiritual reality of peace, continued courage, & hope for the future as she deals with all of this trauma. Lara, we are praying for You. Be Blessed, Lara….

Well, today is Finday (Friday), so it’s the Friday-Free-For-All. Lately, i’ve been posting things i used in my family to Bless them, but my computer has crashed rendering access to such things impossible temporarily. i may soon post the personal calendar i use for each month of the year i observe at the beginning of each month. You may have noticed that i call the nights/days (Yes, i begin each day at sunset and not at midnight) & months by different names than the Western world or the Jewish society. As always, there is a reason for that different nomenclature, and i will begin explaining more of that as it begins in April (when the new year that i observe starts).

However, for today, i think i will blog about being “stuck.” It seems to me that many people are stuck in their Lives. i know i have been for several years. In my personal situation, it was the result of a multiplicity of factors including (but not limited to) my education and its impact upon my career arc, my marriage, my personal giftings and their value to society, my desires, my immaturities & maturities, my fears, my past hurts, traumas, & experiences, and much more. Being “stuck” and existing in limbo is no way to go, but it’s hard to get out of that rut once in it. At that point, my own personal experience is that it feels more confining than optional and more like a prison than a rut….

Part of the issue for me is giving myself things. i’ve always been a good gift-giver, but i haven’t always been a prolific gift-giver. In other words, people Loved the gifts i would give them, but i didn’t give them a lot or at the expected commercial holidays of American culture. However, when i began counseling to deal with the abuse i suffered as a child, one of the first things my counselor told me was that i was going to have to learn to be “good” to myself — because i wasn’t….

Hmmm…i had never really considered that, per se. i don’t guess — even with all my training in various things — that i had ever thought about how i treated myself. Instead, i focused all of my energy on how i treated others. That may be a noble notion, but it’s also misguided and naive….

A teacher whom i greatly respect used to routinely say to me in various contexts, “You can’t give out of what You don’t have…”. He meant that if You aren’t forgiven, then You can’t forgive. If You’re not wealthy, then You can’t be generous monetarily. If You’re not courageous, then You can’t encourage. When my counselor told me that i would have to learn to be good to myself, my teacher’s words echoed in my mind and the two statements came together for me.

Now, i know that i must learn to be good…to myself and to others. So, my divorce has triggered a lot of introspection, reflection, & self-examination with a few questions at the center of the self-dialogue. One of those questions has been, “How can i be good to myself?” A follow-up to that has been, “What can and will You give to Yourself to allow You to be more at shalom (peace)?” That means that i have to be able to answer with specifics of what can and will i give to myself…restrict from myself…allow for myself…deny myself….

When i became single again, i gave myself time. For the last twelve years, i have devoted myself to something that no longer exists: my family. i no longer have a family. i have a daughter and an ex-wife — and i have what Americans would call a “family” — but, in Truth, i have no family anymore. The slate is blank. So, where should i go? What should i do? How should i spend my time? With whom should i interact? There are lots of questions. The courts will force me to do some things. The ex-wife will demand i do certain things. Employers and creditors and all kinds of people with whom i’ve spent the last twelve years building something that has collapsed will all have ideas about how to answer those questions, but they aren’t me and they aren’t God. Their opinions don’t count. i can’t fight the courts — not that i would want to. i can’t please my ex-wife, which is why i’m in this situation now. The others don’t even register on the radar. So, it remains for me to attempt to heal from hurts, grow in maturity, leave behind old obstacles, and carefully choose profitable relationships. Going forward, i have questions to answer, and formulating the answers will take time. So, i gave myself time…time to settle, time to reflect, time to think, time to heal, time to maybe dare to hope again….

Also, i am giving myself a break. i could be hard on myself for so many things, but i was extremely hard on myself during my entire marriage and all it got me was grief (from the pain of being hurt), depression (from the joy of Living), and loss (as in a loss of proper esteem for myself as i came to believe i was useless to anyone for anything). Being hard on myself is the last thing i need to be right now. Sure, it’s not good to sweep things under the rug or not admit my mistakes or try to justify wrong behaviors, but i’ve never done much of those things to begin with. Instead, i’m usually the first to acknowledge how wrong or hurtful or selfish or immature i am or have been, but that is rarely met by people in my Life (or at least the ones who have been there screaming the loudest) with any kind of mercy or leniency or grace. So, i need to give myself a break, because no one else is going to do it (or at least very few people)….

Additionally, i am giving myself freedom. i think the thing i Loved most about my Life before marriage was my willingness to learn and experiment and try. That all stopped when i got married, because my risks were shared with others and, in particular, my wife. When others don’t share Your risk aversion index, it is difficult. Fortunately, my ex-wife was up for most stuff and only got less so once we had gotten burned when some things didn’t work out as we had hoped. For me, i have learned to trust the LORD Most High regardless of how things work out — and that doing so is a much better option than shutting down or closing up just because something didn’t work out as i thought it should. However, i understand that others aren’t like that. i’m not like that naturally, but i have become like that over years of walking with God. So, i’m giving myself freedom again…freedom to try & fail, freedom to experiment, freedom to do new things, freedom to try again, freedom to watch others & learn, freedom to be led by God….

Anyway, that’s just my thoughts this Finday as we finish up another week at work. i’m going to pick up my daughter for a three-day weekend and take her swimming tonight and out for a hamburger.

Well, today is the end of my tenth week blogging. To me, that is a significant milestone as a writer. i would Love to hear some feedback from You guys who read this Blog as to whether or not it is impacting You, whether or not it matters or makes a difference, or with any suggestions to make it better. Currently, i’m just trying to be faithful to blog consistently and to be honest with myself & You, and to address things about which i feel passionate. Let me know Your thoughts….

Gräsday, Matamín 13th, 7703 (Thursday, 02-17-2011) Personal Post (2P Article) #10: Rediscovering Joy & Relearning Happiness

2011-02-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

A farmer walks into an attorney's office wanting to file for a divorce.

The attorney asks, “May i help You?”

The farmer answers,

“Yea, i want to get one of those dāvorces.”

The attorney asks,

“Well, do You have any grounds?”

The farmer replies perplexedly,

“Yea, i got about 140 acres.”

The attorney says,

“No, You don't understand…Do You have a case?”

The farmer responds in obvious disdain (having clearly been insulted),

“No, i don't have a Case, but i got a John Deere.”

“No, You don't understand,” replies the attorney,

“i mean do You have a grudge?”

The farmer scratches his head and says,

“Yea, i got a grudge — that's where i park my John Deere.”

The attorney says,

“No Sir, i mean do You have a suit?”

The farmer wonderingly replies,

“Yes Sir, i got a suit. i wear it to the church on Sundays.”

The exasperated attorney asks,

“Well, Sir, does Your wife beat You up or anything?”

The farmer replies,

“No Sir, we both get up about 4:30.”

Finally, the attorney asks,

“Okay, let me put it this way: Why do You want a divorce?”

The farmer contemplates for a moment and answers,

“Well, i can never seem to have a meaningful conversation with her…”.

The past few months have given me extensive opportunities to reflect on the past: my past Life so far, my past actions, my past friends, my past relationships, etc., etc. One of those reflections has been something that several friends have said to me in the last three months or so. More than five friends have said something similar to: “Wow, it’s like we finally got the old shane, the good shane back…”. Well, maybe….

As i have queried my friends when they make a comment like this to see exactly what they mean, their answers have all had to do with joy & happiness. Apparently, i wasn’t a very happy person when i was married, and — also apparently, at least to my friends and people who knew me before i was married — i seemed to lose the joy that had so characterized me before marriage once i got married.

It’s strange hearing Your friends talk about You as if You just woke up from a coma or just returned from serving in a war overseas or just survived a plane crash. It’s odd hearing them describe You as “better” or “normal again” or “Your old self” or whatever. i’m not sure i like it, but i understand what they mean completely.

Have You ever burned Your tongue on hot chocolate or coffee (for those of You with addictive personalities, a penchant for denial, and way too much money)? You know how You can’t taste anything for a few days and then — one day, BAM! — You’re eating and rediscover that food has taste? That’s how i feel lately. It seems like i can taste Life again….

A few weeks ago, i was out at a restaurant with a friend who was buying me dinner. He was concerned about me, and so we went to eat and talk about the divorce and my Life & future. At one point, i needed a refill, so i took my drink glass up to the counter. While i was there, i began kidding with two guys who were working behind the counter. Eventually, a girl got involved and the four of us were just laughing and having a great time. Apparently, i had said something that sparked all this.

When i returned to my seat, my friend commented. He told me that he watched me as i went up to the counter and noticed how relaxed i was as i interacted with these people i had never met. He remarked that i seemed (though out of earshot to him) “aLive” again, and that the old way i engaged with people and made them laugh and put people at ease and genuinely cared about people is what it looked like was happening with these three younger people. i was a little taken back when he told me that he was glad to know me again….

Again? i wondered aloud if he hadn’t been glad to know me for any length of time, and he responded simply, “No, not since You got married. i haven’t been glad to know You and i really haven’t wanted to know You.”

Wow. We’ve known each other a long time. That really stopped me in my tracks. It was a wake up call to me, but it hasn’t been an isolated incidence. Friends have told me all manner of encouraging-but-hard-to-hear things lately. All of them have been glad to know that i am divorced now — not because they didn’t like my ex-wife or thought poorly of her or anything like that. On the contrary, those of her who knew her at all really liked her and are sad she’s having to go through the pain of a divorce. Toward me, though, they have all (with only one exception) been glad to see us get divorced, because (in their words one way or another) i am not a walking picture of depression anymore.

i guess i never realized how much marriage had weighed me down and fundamentally altered my personality. The friends who have been courageous enough to speak to me in detail and who knew me before my marriage and during it have said some hard things to me. All of their comments have not been nice — some have been brutal. However, they have been True, warranted, and helpful to me.

When we were married, one day my wife left me a note that read, “Don’t let anyone — even me — steal Your joy.” Well, she didn’t steal my joy, but i don’t know why she wrote that except that, apparently, i had no joy in my Life at that point after 10+ years of marriage. i thought about that note a lot; every day for weeks, as a matter of fact. i still think about it several times a week.

When i was young, i believed so much that things would be good for me. i believed that i would have opportunities, that people would like me, that i could contribute things to society people would appreciate, that i would value others & that they would value me, that i would look back someday on my Life with gratitude, humility, & gladness in my heart…and then i got married.

Sure, there were bad things that happened to me before i got married. Tragedy is no stranger to any of us. We all lose. We all suffer. We all fall. For me, though, i had an optimistic outlook that things would get better.

i don’t know what part marriage played in all of that changing. i’m not sure it’s fair to say that marriage ruined me or that being married was the worst thing that ever happened to me. i know it sure feels like that most days, but i don’t know if either of those things are accurate to believe or say. And i know it wasn’t my ex-wife, per se. She is an amazing person who deserved so much better than me, and she and anyone who knows her will readily tell You that. All i do know is that marriage triggered something in me…something dark…something awful. i look back at things i did and said while i was married and think, “Who was that person? That’s not me! i’m not like that…”. It’s kind of comforting to know (even with the hard comments) that my friends and people who have known me since before my marriage also will testify to those facts: that i wasn’t like that and my behavior & actions while married were not consistent with who i was (and Truly am).

So, now i’m trying to rediscover joy and relearn happiness. i am attempting to just be myself and i am indeed enjoying Life again. i don’t fight the expectations of in-laws or the pressures of being a husband that used to drain me dry before i even got up in the morning. Apparently, i’m so incredibly selfish and so incapable that just managing my own Life is all i want to do and all i can do. i mean, i know the testimony about me all of my Life from others has been that i am generous, unselfish, and capable, but i just am not sure how True the outward appearance of all that is in reality. It seems to be all i can do to just take care of me and invest what little energy i have left over into the Lives of a few people for whom i deeply care.

Joy & happiness: i may not deserve either, but i am going to hold on to both — if i can….

Crēday, Matamín 12th, 7703 (Wednesday, 02-16-2011) Theological Post (TP Article) #10: Helping Each Other Limp Along

2011-02-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

“Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ…”.
(Rabbi Paul, Letter To The Galatian Ekklesias, Chapter:Verse 6:2)

“…A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart…”.
(Ecclesiastes 4:12b)

Did You know that the word “compassion” literally means “to suffer with”? That’s a very disconcerting thought, is it not?

A friend of mine called this week to discuss her new boyfriend. He recently had a teenage daughter commit suicide just two weeks after she began dating him, and — obviously — the arc of their relationship has fallen from the sky in the aftermath of paralysis, trauma, & grief. She wanted to talk about her situation….

Did You know there is a Law of Christ? Why didn’t anyone tell me about that? Why hasn’t anyone told me about that? i had to learn from God Himself about it, because no one would tell me about it….

The world is a world of divide & conquer. Our enemy has learned that — at the essence of any successful strategy against any of us — there is a fundamental weakening that happens when we are isolated from one another. We need each other. We don’t just miss out when we’re not with each other — we are both literally & figuratively “less” in that situation. It’s not the way we were designed to Live, and it is our kryptonite.

Rabbi Paul addressed this when he counseled us to bear one another’s burdens and, thereby, fulfill the Law of Christ. Now, i’m not going to address the Law of Christ here, because that is a whole subject in and of itself. However, suffice it to say that Christ does indeed have a Law and we should heed it. The old Mosaic Law may have ceased to be our mandate, but only because it was replaced by a new one from Christ Himself….

“Bear one another’s burdens…”. Interesting. In the Greek, the word picture is that of a felled tree that is blocking the road and stopping traffic but too large for one person to move. Passage (moving beyond where we are currently) may only resume when more than one person is present and more than one person is willing to work together to move the tree out of the pathway.

Ropes don’t do so well when they are only one strand, but a rope of two or three cords is very strong. Even when they are wet, they are strong. In fact, wet ropes are often stronger when the cords are together and weaker when the cords are separated….

i told my friend what i thought about her situation after listening to her describe it and ask for my input. What i would like to say here on this blog post today is that we need one another to move beyond the felled trees in our Lives. We cannot (literally are not able to do so) move forward without help from one another. We are destroyed when we are isolated. We are attacked when we are separated. We are vulnerable when we are dislocated….

Since “compassion” means “to suffer with,” we should embrace suffering. Not only for the reasons articulated on this blog previously, but also because in suffering with someone we find the joy of solidarity. It is our privilege to suffer with one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to move one another forward. It is our opportunity to minister in pain, provide in lack, and comfort in affliction. We heal individually when we are treated by others.

Today, i urge You to consider the role You play in the Lives of others regarding making them more than they are by themselves with Your presence. You & me & God make five, friends of mine used to say….

U & Me & God Make 5

Ünday, Matamín 11th, 7703 (Tuesday, 02-15-2011) Cultural Post (CP Article) #10: The Grammys Recap

2011-02-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

“This past Monday I had the pleasure of having sex with her, on TV no less.

It left me exhausted, aroused, and more than a little confused…”.
(Neil Patrick Harris introducing Katy Perry)

“i should have thanked my wife instead of Howard Stern,

because i'm probably in a lot of trouble…”.
(Train frontman Patrick Monahan backstage after accepting

the award for pop performance with vocals by a duo or group)

“Sorry, i just got a text. Can you repeat the question…?”
(Justin Bieber backstage taking questions from reporters)

Ah, the Grammys. The Grammys are like my Super Bowl, except that the Super Bowl is actually my Super Bowl. Hmmm….

i guess, then, that the Grammys are like my…uh, Grammys! As a musician, i Love to watch the performances, because people do things at the Grammys that they don’t ever do anywhere else. i remember Prince opening 2004 by playing Purple Rain in the dark, and — halfway through — Beyoncé comes out and joins him on his miniset (including an awesome version of Let’s Go Crazy). Sometimes, the Grammys change the way i view artists. For example, i never cared about Justin Timberlake or thought of him as talented until i saw him with Arturo Sandoval one year doing Senorita (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch1sdksaRgk). And the best part, for me, is usually discovering new artists i don’t know and getting introduced to them. This year, Mumford & Sons, Esperanza Spalding, & the Avett Brothers were among those discoveries.

But the performances are always the best. The notable performances for me this year were the trio of Nora Jones, John Mayer, & Keith Urban, Bob Dylan with friends (Mumford & Sons as well as the Avett Brothers), Eminem, Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum, Katy Perry, and the fabulous tribute to Aretha Franklin with Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, & Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. i was disappointed with the performance of The House That Built me by Miranda Lambert, but i Love that song…

Let’s start at the beginning: the Aretha Franklin Tribute. Damn.

Apparently, this is what happens when You bake a cake using a legend, five flavors of sugar, great songs, and a setting like the Grammys. Holy Desert, Batgirls! This is what i hope Heaven is like during leisure hour….

They didn't perform, but they did win the Grammy for Best Pop Duo Or Group Performance with Vocals with Hey Soul Sister. You can see the video for Train's smash hit here.

The next performance was Lady GaGa with Born This Way. Now, listen all You peeps, i am not a huge GaGa fan, but i do like her. It was a fabulous performance, although the song is merely OK. But her dancing and singing were great. i’ll leave it at that….

Miranda Lambert’s version of The House That Built me was disappointing because it wasn’t mixed very well from a sound point of view, the acoustic guitar sounded either out of tune or not very rich, and Miranda didn’t sing it very well. Sad all around, but what an amazing song….

i have no doubt that Bruno Mars, BOB, & Janelle Monae are going to each do great things. They’re all obviously very talented. The only one of their performances i really enjoyed was the retro thing Bruno did. And, girl, seriously — Can we talk hair for a minute? Wtf? Janelle, Baby…i Love Ya. Seriously, i would Love Ya, but next time try to find someone to do Your hair who’s last meaningful credit wasn’t for There’s Something About Mary.

OK, the whole Justin Bieber w/ Usher, Justin Bieber w/ Jayden Smith thing was a little anti-climactic for me, and You know how i hate that. Seriously, a bad home video, a patronizing intro, and two songs of old, tired dance moves. O, yea…i almost forgot about the pathetic songs and the mediocre guitar playing. i like You, Justin, but it’s like that joke about the sugar cookie: “Dude, it’s 2011 — You’re gonna have to bring a little more to the party these days…”. And Usher: i expect more from You. You’re amazing — start acting like it….

One of my favorites all night was the mix of Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, & Bob Dylan. The Mumford & Sons version of The Cave was just awesome. Nicely done, chaps. The Avett Brothers’ version of Head Full Of Doubt, Road Full Of Promises was pretty good, too. If it hadn’t been for not being able to hear Bobby D on Maggie’s Farm, this might have just about been perfect. i ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more...Wow, what a great tune.

i was a little perturbed by the description of what Lady Antebellum did as a “tribute” regarding Teddy Pendergrass, but i didn’t want to hear Teddy Pendergrass music (from them anyway). i Loved their slow version of Need You Now, but i wanted them to kick into singing the whole song. That song is just freakin’ addictive and one of the best of the last decade.

Then, there was the stunner of the night: Cee-Lo & Gwenyth Paltrow with assorted & sundry puppets. i’ve never been turned on by a puppet before…well, nevermind. i think i’ll just skip that part. Anyway, the Dr. John outfit by Cee-Lo made me actually physically cuss. Gwenyth, i like Your style, dear. i like it a lot. O, and You puppet girl back-up singers…You had me at “ooo”….

What can i say? i like Katy Perry. Don’t hate me just because i’m beautiful….

i have always thought Eminem is one of the most talented artists out there. Him and Rihanna together performing Love The Way You Lie, Part. II with Dr. Dre was great. i got my fix of rap for the year, and i’m back to sanity. What a great rap E did, though. Sheesh — his emotional delivery was off the charts….

i know it’s blasphemy, but i don’t care about Mick Jaggers. i couldn’t even care enough to watch more than a minute. What i did see looked fine.

i hate Barbara Streisand’s arrogance, all-around diva-ness, and political views. Therefore, i don’t support her at all, and i never watch her. Didn’t see it. Sorry if You like her. i hear she’s amazing. i Loved her in Nuts. One of the best dates i ever had….

Rihanna & Drake. Couldn’t get up for this one, and Drake didn’t help. i guess he’s OK, but Rihanna was great.

Arcade Fire just annoys me. i don’t know why. Honestly, i can’t figure out why pulsing strobe lights, music that sounds like it’s the soundtrack to a movie about anarchy, and — honest to God, i kid You not — bicyclists on the stage would annoy me. Absolutely no freakin’ idea….

By far, the best diddy of the night was the trio of Nora Jones, John Mayer, & Keith Urban doing Dolly Parton’s Jolene. Proof positive that three enormously talented people and a mic is all You need. And Nora, sheesh. Girl, You just hang in there and stay safe. i need You for the rest of my Life….

There it is: my 2011 Grammy Review. Hope You enjoyed….

Covday, Matamín 10th, 7703 (Monday, 02-14-2011) Philosophical/Political Post (3P Article) #10: The Totality Of Reality

2011-02-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

“Beware, lest You lose the substance by grasping at the shadow…”.
(Aesop)

Well, today is Valentine’s Day — one of many holy days (holidays) honoring a saint who contributed a particularly unique contribution to his society. Happy Valentine’s Day to all You Lovers: those of You who Love people, children, spouses, parents, the disabled, the vulnerable, the weak, the sick, the homeless, the poor, the indigent, etc. We need more Love, so welcome to the True meaning of Saint Valentine’s Day…

OK — enough with the mushy crap…

Today’s Philosophical / Political Post is about the difference between what is seen and unseen…between what is temporal and what is eternal…between what is substance and what is shadow. It is a concept that goes back as far as i know in history, although certain people like Aesop and Plato are more well known for addressing it in philosophical circles.

There is — in the entire sphere of what we might term “reality” or “actuality” — a dichotomy between two types of matter. There are always two sides (at least) to things. For example, right now scientists are virtually positive that there are at least eleven (11) dimensions — not just the three (3) that You are used to noticing. This is a foundational tenet of current string theory (You can learn more about string theory here). That may not mean much to You, but it just illustrates that things are not as “flat” as humans always see them. Just as Galileo could prove the earth was round but still couldn’t convince people mired in religious thinking of that fact, there are Truths today that are not accepted by the rigidity of religion but are nonetheless True even still.

On this point, though, religions usually “get it”: that there is more to reality than meets the eye. There is more than just our senses can detect.

What is important for humans is to acknowledge that the three different parts of our being (spiritual, physical, and soulal) allow us to access different parts of the overall reality. It was intended to be that way. So, when You limit Yourself, let’s say, to only what can be proven through science, for example, You end up denying Yourself access to parts of reality. That’s why evolutionists get it wrong and don’t understand the way things really work. They limit themselves to what they know. Now, any adult who’s ever taught a stubborn child ought to recognize this as foolishness: the posture of only acknowledging things that You know or can be shown empirically.

So, what is so important about opening Yourself up to the other dimensions of reality? Well, those other dimensions contain Truth that can be helpful or healing or enlightening or invigorating or whatever for You. For example, learning to see things from a spiritual point of view can inform You greatly as to how to explain anomalies in the physical world. Learning how to navigate the soul can really help You understand the physical or the spiritual. This is common sense in many areas of the world, but not in the U.S. or the Western world for the most part.

When i was young, people (especially teachers) would try and prepare me for the “real” world, but now i know that what we see is more like a “fake” world than it is a real world. Of course, what You can observe sensually is real, too, but it only masks what is beyond it. i know that most people would be freaked out to insanity if they could see the spiritual beings that are around us all the time, but they are there. There is so much more to all of this than just what Your eyes can observe.

A dear friend of mine is right now accruing certifications in ASL (American Sign Language). She was telling me several months ago how deaf people hate being labeled “disabled.” She said her teacher had introduced a subject by giving them an analogy. The analogy went like this: the teacher asked the class, “What if You were approached by a person who was able to see radio waves and other things that most people don’t see. And this person was trying to explain to You that You were somehow less of a person due to Your “disability.” What would You think of that person? Well, that’s how most deaf people view “hearers.” They don’t like being called “disabled” any more than anyone else likes it…”. i thought that the teacher’s analogy was striking. Deaf people view “hearing” folks as privileged, not themselves as disabled.

So, how are You privileged in Your abilities to see beyond just the surface obviousness? What are You able to notice or observe or process or feel or engage that not everyone around You seems to be able to access? Today, my encouragement to You is to realize that there is a difference between the reality You can see, touch, feel, smell, or hear and the totality of the larger reality. There is more to it than what You can engage if You leave Your soul or Your spirit out of the conversation. And engaging those parts of Your being can be scary, but it can also be exhilarating. It can be dangerous, but it can also be freeing.

God said, “Let there be Light,” and there was. God’s creative mandate is still being accomplished. The universe is still expanding, according to the amazement of scientists.

Why yes, yes it is, and a big part of that is through You....

Finday, Matamín 7th, 7703 (Friday, 02-11-2011) F3A Post #9: An Assembly Of Scripture

2011-02-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

“Thus says YWHW (Blessed be His Holy Name),

‘Stand at the crossroads, and

see & ask for the ancient paths — where the good way is — and walk in it;

And You will find rest for Your souls.’

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it...’.”

(Jeremiah 6:16)

Lots of people have asked me for the various rituals i have employed in my family over the years. So, i'm going to use Fridays (for a while and also while reserving the right to comment about something else anytime i want) to post some of the things i have created to Bless, instruct, remind, or otherwise impact my family. For today's post, i am going to post a Scripture medley that i assembled and attempt to read most every day before i leave my house. It is my way of trying to remind myself of how the LORD Most High views things.…

i assembled this several years ago, and i’m not sure if i know every Scripture from which these are taken off the top of my head. Most of them, i could tell You, but there may be some that are not readily apparent to me. i say that to tell You that every word of this is from Scripture. Again, i don’t remember if every word is my personal translation or borrowed from a more standard version, but i know that it is most likely a mix of the two (because i recognize some of it as my personal translations). Anyway, i hope it Blesses You each time You review it, and may it give You courage to continue, inspiration to ignite, and permission to pursue Your path in faith, Love, & creativity….

The LORD’s Perspective

YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) Declares, “For I know the plans that I have for You: plans for Peace to prosper You and not for evil…plans to give You a future and a hope! Then You will call on Me and come & pray to Me — and I will listen to You. You will seek Me & find Me when You search for Me with all Your heart — and I will be found by You …and I will restore Your fortunes….

The Scriptures teach that “Whoever Loves money never has enough — whoever Loves wealth is never satisfied with his income, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either. But if we have food & clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation & a trap and also into many foolish & harmful desires that plunge humans into ruin & destruction, for the Love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. Some people — eager for money — have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Flee from these things, You ambassador of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, Love, perseverance, & gentleness, and God will supply all Your needs according to His riches in glory in Y’shua Christos….

LORD Y’shua said, “Don’t pile up treasures on earth where moths & rust can spoil them and thieves can break in & steal them. Instead, keep Your treasures in Heaven where no moths or rust exist to spoil or steal them, because — wherever Your treasure is — You can be certain that Your heart will be there, too! No one can be loyal to two masters. He is bound to hate one & Love the other or to support one & despise the other. You cannot serve God and — at the same time — serve wealth & the power of money.

“That’s why I say to You, ‘Don’t worry about Living.’ Don’t wonder about what You are going to eat or drink or wear. Surely Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than the clothes You wear. Just look at the birds in the sky. They never sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t You much more valuable to Him than they are? Can any of You make himself an inch taller by worrying? And why do You worry about clothes? Consider how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work or spin, but I tell You that even Solomon in all of his glory was never clothed like one of these. Now, if God clothes the wild flowers like this (which are aLive today but burned in the stove tomorrow), do You think He’s not going to clothe You even more, ‘Little Faith’?

“So don’t worry and keep saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” Those are the issues about which the pagans are always worried and seeking assurance, but Your heavenly Father knows that You need all these things. You seek the Kingdom of God & His Righteousness continually — and seek it as Your first priority — and all these things will be provided to You! O, and don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough evils of its own. Don’t be anxious about anything — tell God every detail of Your needs in earnest & thankful prayer, and the Peace of God which transcends human understanding will keep constant guard over Your hearts & minds as they rest in Y’shua Christos. What is there left to say? If God is for us, who is against us? Can You not trust the One Who did not spare His Own Son — but instead gave His Son up for all of us — to freely give You everything else that You need along with His Son?

It is written, “Delight Yourselves in the LORD! Yes — Find joy in Him all the time! Be known for being gentle, and never forget the nearness of our LORD. Do not worry because of those who do evil, and do not envy those who commit wrong for they will wither and fade quickly. Trust in the LORD and do good…Dwell in the land where God has placed You and cultivate faithfulness. Delight Yourself in the LORD, and He will give You the desires of Your heart. Commit Your way to the LORD — Trust in Him and He will do it. Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him. Do not worry about those who prosper in their ways of wicked schemes, for evildoers will be cut off — but those who wait for the LORD will inherit the land. The humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

“Trust in the LORD with all Your heart, and do not lean on Your own understanding. In all Your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make Your paths straight. Do not be wise in Your own eyes. Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. It will be healing to Your body and refreshment to Your bones. Honor the LORD from Your wealth and from the first of all Your produce, so that Your barns will be filled with plenty and Your vats will overflow with new wine. Do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, for the LORD reproves the one He Loves even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

“Let us grasp the fact that we have Peace with God through our LORD Y’shua the Messiah. Through Him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand — in happy certainty — of the glorious things that He has for us in the future. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys — we can be full of joy here & now even in our trials & troubles. Taken in the right spirit, these very things will give us patient endurance that will in turn develop a mature character, and mature character produces steady hope — a hope that will never disappoint us.

For the LORD Y’shua said, “The thief comes with the sole intention to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to bring You Life — and far more Life than You know….”

May YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name)

Bless You & Keep You...

May the LORD Most High Make His Face to

Radiate with Joy because of You…

And May LORD Y’shua – Who is Himself our Shalom – Give

You His perfect peace and Continually grant to

You His shalom in every circumstance

This reminder has routinely brought me back into alignment with the Almighty, and i hope that for You it will be a healing balm, a fragrance of hope, and an oil of gladness.

Selah….

Gräsday, Matamín 6th, 7703 (Thursday, 02-10-2011) Personal Post #9: my TV Favorites

2011-02-10T18:06:00.001-08:00

Well, i got home tonight to find out that my computer has died – it says “hard drive failure.” So, another thing to get fixed if i ever get any money. That’s both my laptop and my home computer now, so i’m down to just my work computer.

The previous three blog posts this week took a lot out of me, so i’m going to keep tonight’s post fairly short & sweet. i think i’m going to mainly just discuss TV shows, since this was a good week for them.

First, the series premiere of The Chicago Code debuted, and it was as great as i hoped it would be. Shawn Ryan is one of my favorite Hollywood writers. His writing on The Shield was just incredible. That was, by far, the most intense television program i have ever watched. It made The Sopranos or any of the other best shows in television history look like Howdy Doody. Seriously, i had to quit watching it, and i don’t regret that decision at all. However, it left me with a craving for TV that is of that caliber, and there are precious few shows like it that can give me satisfaction now — especially fiction.

The Chicago Code is about an alderman who is exceedingly corrupt and attempting to expand his grip on Chicago. He appoints a new police commissioner, the city’s first woman to the position, who turns out to be a watchdog instead of the puppet for which he had hoped. She turns to her former partner, a rebel with a cause, to bring down the alderman, and there is the conflictual premise underlying the show. You can read a review of it from Mark Peikert of the New York Press here. The first episode was great, but i can promise You that Ryan is just getting started and hasn’t had enough time to paint the canvas for us to see what the eventual picture might reveal. All i know is that it will get better and better the longer it goes on….

Then, there was the best decision ever made by a television executive who had my best interests at heart: the season premiere of the second season of Justified. You can read a review of it by David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle here, but i’m telling You and You should listen to me: Justified is the best show on television currently. It’s like the best of all worlds: the plot-complexity writing of The Shield, the gritty, humanity of The Sopranos, the twists & turns of Law & Order, the quick-witted banter of The West Wing, the Western-like heroism of Bonanza, the well-done production of CSI, the goodness of Hill Street Blues…it’s just fabulous. Hands down my favorite fictional drama series on TV.

Of course, tomorrow will bring the third episode of the season of Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena. It is already a staple in my viewing after last season’s first run to glory, but this second season has been nothing short of spectacular already. It is the prequel to last season’s first year plot due to the main actor acquiring cancer after the first season. So, it is great to find out answers to all the questions last year caused about how these characters ended up where they were when we met them last year. The sex and violence are an issue, but it’s Roman society — it was sexual and violent.

So, there it is: my personal TV viewing habits laid bare for all to see: political shows like Morning Joe, Meet The Press, or Charlie Rose that don’t settle for a debate that devolves into screaming or shouting and that don’t allow politicians to squirm out of the questions and also fictional dramas that just freakin’ rock. So much better than game shows, soap operas, or stupid Reality TV. O, and i did catch the Celtics / Lakers game last night — the NBA is definitely heating up for the playoff run. Go Celtics!!!

Crēday, Matamín 5th, 7703 (Wednesday, 02-09-2011) Theological Post #9: The Culture Of Heaven: Righteous Rule

2011-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

*** Special Three-Part Series: #3 of 3:

"The Culture Of God Versus The Cultures Of Humanity" ***

“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters…”.

(George Herbert)

“my father didn't tell me how to Live — he Lived and let me watch him do it…”.

(Clarence Budington Kelland)

Noble fathers have noble children…”.
(Euripides)

“A man's desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself

in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world…”.
(Helen Rowland)

“A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties.

A father can do neither.

“If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma…”.
(Marlene Dietrich)

“i cannot think of any need in childhood

as strong as the need for a father's protection…”.

(Sigmund Freud)

“It is not flesh & blood but the heart which makes us fathers & sons…”.

(Johann Schiller)

“A father carries pictures where his money used to be…”.

(Author Unknown)

“A truly rich man is one whose children

run into his arms when his hands are empty…”.

(Author Unknown)

The words that a father speaks to his children in the privacy of home

are not heard by the world, but — as in whispering-galleries — they

are clearly heard at the end and by posterity…”.

(Jean Paul Richter)

“my father used to play with my brother & me in the yard.

Mother would come out and say, ‘You're tearing up the grass.’

‘We're not raising grass,’ Dad would reply, ‘We're raising boys…’ ”.

(Harmon Killebrew)

Heaven exists as the environment surrounding a King, and — as such — has a culture that derives from that King. This King is God, and He may be viewed from one of two perspectives: “Father” to those who are part of His family and “King” to those who are not (whether on His side or not). The culture of Heaven is very different from the cultures of this world, and that is because fathers establish cultures. Every culture is based on the customs, habits, laws, mores, manners, postures, rituals, etc. of the fathers who came before the present generations (key word being “before”). This is why ancestor worship is so prominent in almost every major (and minor) religion. Fathers are enormously influential. They cannot but be. Whether or not they embrace that influence, they will still be profoundly influential in the Lives of their children most certainly and often in the Lives of other people, too — especially those younger than themselves. Almost every day, the only thing that really matters to me is how well i father my daughter, how can i do it better than i am doing now, and how will i go forward in fathering as a Lifestyle.

People in our society discuss “leadership” incessantly. There is a whole cottage industry on how to lead, and leadership is crucial. The greatest problem in the world today (by far — it’s not even close) is fatherlessness. The second greatest problem is a lack of leadership. Fathers father, and leaders lead. There is a difference — a huge difference. Fathers impart; leaders rule. Both are necessary, and neither is a luxury. Today’s post is about how the culture of Heaven derives from the being of God and how that reality causes the culture of heaven to be incredibly different (or theologians would use the word “holy”) from the cultures of the world….

The new Starz series Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena (and last year’s series premier season Spartacus: Blood And Sand) both give a really good look into the political importance of a father. Last year’s episode ended with the escape of the wife of a man who had become the patron (“patron” is a word derived from the Latin/Greek word “pater,” which means “father”). However, his patronage was extorted, and his revenge was accomplished opportunistically. This season opens (the 3^rd episode) with and episode entitled “paterfamilias,” meaning the father who has absolute rights in all family decisions. To see the cultural implications of the extent of power that belonged to a paterfamilias (or “father of the family”) is to understand how little power fathers have in today’s American culture. In a world where most cultures still exist this way, Americans have a very difficult time understanding True fatherhood. The lack of True power for American fathers is astounding, although they still possess enormous influence.

Why am i discussing fathers in a discussion of culture? The answer is that culture is the result of families. Culture derives from the union of a father & mother and the passing down of their combined, unique, & created ways. Fathers are crucial to everything. It all started with a Father, not with a King. God is both, but He was a father before He was a king, so to speak. But leaders are important in a different way from fathers, and a good father should also aspire to be a good leader. Often, people confuse fathering and leading. For example, You hear Americans speak of our “founding fathers,” and i understand the sense in which they mean that. However, it is important to understand the differences between who a father is and what a leader does. It annoys me when people try to make a workplace a “family.” You know what? It’s not a family, so stop trying to make it something it isn’t. It’s the same with fathers and leaders; both are important, but don’t confuse them.

You might wonder how this affects America? A couple of weeks ago when the Egyptian riots were just beginning, Colin Powell made an interesting comment to Chris Matthews. They were having a private discussion off-air about why Hosni Mubarak (the Egyptian dictator) was trying to have his son (Gamal) take over after him as the next ruler of Egypt. Matthews couldn’t understand why such a transition was so important to the Egyptian tyrant or why he would want such a transition, and Powell was lamenting to Matthews that all of the Middle Eastern dictators are that way and that “that’s all these guys care about…”. Powell used a specific word, which i have rarely heard used by Americans: primogenitor.

Now, i have known the word “primogenitor” for a long time due to my studies in history, theology, linguistics, and other areas, but i don’t think it’s part of the vernacular. It means a noun that means “1. a first parent or earliest ancestor (Adam and Eve are the “primogenitors” of the human race); 2. a forefather or ancestor.” It’s sad to me that Matthews (a respected political commentator) and Powell (an American general and a powerful political influence in our culture) seem to have such an poor and awful grasp on why Mubarak wanted his son to follow him, but it explains why American foreign policy is such a mess and so useless most of the time. Fathers in the Middle East come from ancient cultures, and the ancient cultures understood things much better than we do….

See, many people aLive today think that we are better off than those who Lived before us, and — in some cases (like medieval Europe, for example, or modern-day Islamic countries) — that may be right in some respects. However, overall the world is getting more & more stupid, ignorant, and off-course as they mistakenly believe that their progress in science, technology, & medicine is making them more intelligent, informed, and on-track (cf. Jeremiah 6:16). We are not getting better as a culture; we are getting worse. We are not progressing as human beings; we are regressing. We are still not able to understand how the Egyptians built the pyramids or understand the astrology of ancient cultures or any number of other mysteries to us. The ancient wonders of the world still amaze us with their precision, design, beauty, and scope. It is an illusion to think we are better in almost any regard to the previous generations.

For a father to wish a son to take over his rule is the normal way of doing things — not some strange perspective. Matthews and Powell should know better, and so should all of us. Why wouldn’t a father who happens to be a ruler want his son to assume his role when he dies? What could be more normal? But in the upside-down world of democracy, that seems strange.

As i critiqued democracy yesterday, You could probably tell (although maybe not) that i am not opposed to freedom. In fact, i believe that freedom is the fouth-best gift (after Love, salvation, and redemption) bestowed on humanity by God. However, as is often the case with great gifts, it is also highly dangerous. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Freedom to do what…freedom for what purpose? We have been given a great privilege by God to have freedom at whatever levels we enjoy it (personal, corporeal, national, etc.), so why would He give us such a gift and how does He expect us to use it? Freedom is Truly an awesome privilege that is marked by both opportunity and also responsibility. Democracy is not a very good use of freedom, generally speaking. Democracy — at least as practiced in America — is more often an abuse of freedom….

The answer to the question of what is the intended purpose of freedom is this: to facilitate rule (as either a father or a leader). Rabbi Paul speaks of freedom as being “profitable” (cf. here for more detail) This obviously implies that there is a sense in which freedom can be used that is not profitable. “There can be a way which seems right to a person, but at its end are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). It is important for us to realize that freedom is a gift to be used for the glory of God and the benefit of people, and that it is profitable when used thusly and unprofitable when used otherly.

Now, why do i assert that the purpose of freedom is to facilitate rule by a father or king (or others in positions of authority such as mothers of a household or teachers or police or inspectors or employers or…)? The reason i assert this is that i do not think most people understand that Truth, and ignorance of that fact is an awful thing about which to be ignorant. See, the posture of ruling is somewhat easy to assume, but the exercise of ruling is another matter altogether.

Ruling (in any regard at any level in any environment) is the most “purely voluntary” thing a person may do (as one of my friends puts it). No one HAS to rule anything. In fact, in almost any scenario, people (and other beings) will give You the option to not rule, may oppose Your rule, or may try to harm You to take Your rule away. People only rule if they choose to do so. You cannot be compelled to rule. This is why it is so offensive when people claim that they were made to rule by the people. It’s why historians tell little-known stories about the great well-spring of ambition inside every single one of our American presidents. Rule is a choice that must be embraced or neglected — there is no in-between, no man’s land, kind of unclaimed ground. Literature is replete with examples of this — none more well told than the story of Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. We were all made to rule, but we were all made to submit first to God and then to rule ourselves before ruling others. This is the point of Rabbi Paul’s teaching about the selection of elders.

Why? Why is there no middle ground on which we may languish treading time until we make a decision about whether or not to use our freedom to rule in the manner in which God intended? The reason is simple: God gave humanity the right to rule, but — in a vacuum unexercised — that rule will not prosper. In order to oppose us victoriously, our enemy has to acquire our ability to rule by getting us to cede our birthright of rule over to him, because we have the mandate of legitimacy from God. (cf. Romans 6:13, “…do not go on presenting the members of Your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but [instead] present Yourselves to God as those aLive from the dead and Your members as instruments of righteousness to God…,” where the word picture in the Greek is one of two enemies locked in combat to the death and one pausing to hand his weapon over to the other before resuming the fighting. Stupid? Yes, but that’s how we treat freedom all the time…). It is not only our right to rule, though — it is our mandate, our task, our assignment from God.

Understand that leadership is the nexus of four things, a creation (meaning that it involves, by definition, creativity) forged from the elements of authority, power, vision, & influence. The result of those four components being melted into one sword are called, amalgamally, “leadership.” As creatures who are charged to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, as partners to God who are privileged with cultivating the gardens He plants specifically for us and then transports us into, as ambassadors who are appointed to minister His reconciliation to those without it, we must be equipped. God knows this — He designed it this way. He never had any intention of asking us or expecting us to do something for which He did not properly equip us, train us, and empower us. Therefore, He gave us an heirloom grant of rule and imparted to us (as our Father) the ability, capacity, & creativity to establish culture through families & tribes as fathers & mothers ourselves and then also bestowed upon us (as our King) His Blessing of appointments as cabinet-level officials in His government to lead (via authority, power, vision, & influence). He did these things to enable us to fulfill our design of bringing glory to Him while benefitting others.

In this context, where we witness the good rule of God in our own Lives and are asked as His heirs to submit to Him in learning to exercise our family’s heirloom of righteous rule on His behalf — first in our own Lives for our own benefit and then in the degree, to the extent, & within the scope of our charge for the benefit of those whom He has ordained to be part of our sphere of influence — we are given freedom. That liberty is to be used profitably, and yet how many politicians or rulers or despots do You see behaving in this manner. Tyranny reigns and benevolence is scarcely to be found in the cultures of the world. In its societal dealings, the world with its cultures and systems and principalities reduces families to random, by-chance organized social groups of evolved primates deserving of being squashed, broken up, or pressured at every turn. In its political dealings, it prizes power by whatever means necessary and winks at hypocrisy or corruption or greed as if they were Lovers to be courted for fleeting pleasures. Not so in the culture of Heaven, though. In the culture of Heaven, derived from the very essence of our great King, the values are goodness, nobility, & strength and the dealings are marked by integrity, authenticity, & faithfulness. Love is the overriding consideration in every matter, mercy trumps justice when repentance is but a flicker, and hope buoys the perishing until Life rafts and rescuers can arrive to bring salvation, restoration, & redemption to an eternal being who is withering….

That is my homeland. That is from where i come. That is in me, and it is in You, too.

To Live in this world is to Live upside-down where youth is prized and old age is relegated to a retirement home full of other wise people withholding their value from the arrogant whippersnappers who are too busy, too distracted, and too oblivious to see their deficits are causing their treadmills to catch fire while taking them nowhere…where rulers use their acquired power to please themselves and cause suffering in others…where the weak, poor, & vulnerable are left to fend for themselves without dignity, hope, or access. It is shameful, wrong, and sinful, and it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, every day it isn’t that way inside the spheres where heroes walk and create an alternate reality borne of an other-worldly origin and out of a higher call. In every government, there are those who quietly mind their own business but do things that run counter to the injustice and the unrighteousness. They don’t revolt — they Live differently. They obey the government, but they submit to God….

A father imparts to his children what they need to establish their tribe even more deeply in the roots of righteousness; a king makes way for citizens to use their freedom to extend his rule to every nook & cranny of the society. The culture comes from the fathers and is reaffirmed & reinforced by the king to the society. i hope that these three articles in this special series have been helpful to You. i hope they have been clear and insightful and illuminating. i hope they inspire You to remember who You are, to rise up and reclaim Your mantle, and to restore Your sphere of influence, Your garden of koinonia, and Your family of intimates to the shalom of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name), for that is the culture of Heaven and the difference between it and the cultures of this world.

Selah....

Ünday, Matamín 4th, 7703 (Tuesday, 02-08-2011) Cultural Post #9: The Problems With Human Cultures

2011-02-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

*** Special Three-Part Series: #2 of 3:

"The Culture Of God Versus The Cultures Of Humanity" ***

“Nothing appears more surprising to those who

consider affairs with a philosophical eye than

the ease with which the many are governed by the few…”.
(David Hume)

“The best minds are not in government.

If any were, business would steal them away…”.
(Ronald Reagan)

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government,

except all the others that have been tried…”.
(Winston Churchill)

“Democracy means simply

the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people…”.
(Oscar Wilde)

“Government of the busy by the bossy for the bully…”.
(Arthur Seldon)

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where

fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine…”.
(Thomas Jefferson)

“Democracy is the only system that persists in asking

the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be…”.
(Sydney J. Harris)

“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy].

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.

There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide…”.
(John Adams)

“As i would not be a slave, so i would not be a master.

This expresses my idea of democracy…”.
(Abraham Lincoln)

“The best argument against democracy is a

five minute conversation with the average voter…”.
(Winston Churchill)

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary…”.
(James Madison)

“The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves…”.
(Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)

Today, in the second of a three-part series on the cultures of humanity versus the culture of heaven, i want to examine some of the aspects of democracy and explain why it is not — as a form of government — either heavenly or godly in its nature. In tomorrow’s post (a theological post as are all Wednesday articles), i will examine the culture of heaven. For that reason, i have placed several quotes in this article — most of which touch on problems with democracy as a form of government.

Let’s be clear about one thing: we know what the only righteous form of government is, because it is currently in effect in the Kingdom of God. Since it is the form of government that God chooses to employ in His own Kingdom, then we can know that it is the form of government He intended humanity to inherit from Him. That form of government is known as a “kingdom,” and democracy is about as opposite of a kingdom as one can imagine. Hume argued: “Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider affairs with a philosophical eye than the ease with which the many are governed by the few…”. This has long been one of my favorite governmental quotes, because it captures the fascination that people have with why they do things.

Why do people submit to other people? Why is the phenomenon of influence such a powerful thing. In the recent movie The King’s Speech, the king of England says to a girl who asks him what Hitler is saying with such great passion & fervor as they watch him on video, “i don’t know, but he seems to be saying it rather well.” It is obvious that some human beings speak or act or lead or perform or whatever with an enormous power to enthrall others — whether that power be derived from personal charisma or penetrating intellect or beautiful movement or whatever. People have the capacity to captivate one another, but that capacity is intended to be used to fascinate instead of captivate….

This amazing capacity to gain & hold the attention of others was intended be a good ability received from God to be used as a way of showing each other His myriad attributes (since no one human being can manifest all the various wonderful attributes of an infinite God), but — instead — it gets perverted by our enemy into a calculated & manipulative power grab in an attempt to provide ourselves security apart from God (a mirage if ever there was one) and then this perversion of the God-gift is distorted by those of us who are playing the role of “captor” as a way of feeding our own egos, feeling good about ourselves by masking our deficits, medicating our ills, & distracting ourselves from our pains, and exalting ourselves by assuming roles that are beyond our purview. We even teach people in classes on speaking or dance or drama or whatever how to “get the audience to eat out of the palm of Your hand” or “have the people hang on Your every word” or any other number of euphemisms that we use to describe this manipulative power grab. It was not intended originally to be that way….

No, but rather the ability to mesmerize one another with any number of skills, postures, gifts, etc. was intended by our Creator to result in a good, profitable, and beneficial affect on one another. A kingdom, as we will discuss tomorrow, is the proper context and the only righteous form of a government that allows for each member of the kingdom to properly impress the other members in ways that support, inspire, affirm, etc. them while remaining in a proper posture toward God of humility, gratitude, and partnership. When You wonder why some people can acquire or amass or keep power so easily over so many folks, remember that — as human beings — we are built to be able to both cultivate creation and to rule over that creation. That is now — and has always been — both our mandate and our purpose….

So, why do people submit to one another? Well, the reason for that must be understood as a divine coin of two aspects merged together: fatherhood and leadership. i have not the time to go into either of these topics here, but these are the two great needs of every human being: family & society. As social creatures who wither without the affection of Loved ones and languish without the ability to contribute, every person is designed to flourish in the Loving, secure, & empowering climate of a family and to contribute in the affirming, ordered, & creative context of a society. Without these parameters, human beings are diminished: they know less about who they Truly are, they feel like less than they Truly are, and they act unlike who they Truly are….

These two great needs cause people to look to others for guidance, because all of us know intuitively that we are not complete within ourselves and — even if we were — there would be no one to appreciate it if we were indeed by ourselves. Marriage is the fundamental building block of family, and government is the fundamental building block of society. A father is the head of a household, and a king is the head of a government. So, people look to others to give them what they need from both a father and a king, and — when they find someone acceptable to them for either or both of those roles (whatever they choose to call those roles) — they acquiesce to that person in the hopes that their submission will be rewarded with what they need….

In our American capitalist version of democracy, people view success in the private sector as more important than success in the public sector. It is the opposite in countries that have governmental forms like socialism or communism. This is why Ronald Reagan quipped, ““The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away…”. The idea is that private businesses derived from personal ownership (sole proprietorship), joint endeavors (mutually-owned, limited partnerships), or stock enterprises (publicly-owned, share-oriented corporations) can — and should (at least in many people’s minds) — pay more than public services derived from government (military, regulatory, social, or auxiliary agencies). In a communist, socialist, fascist, or otherwise non-democratic, non-Republic type of government, the government wants the best & brightest workers to work in it for its purposes. In Republics or democracies (or drug cartels or multi-national (what i call “super-national”) corporations like Microsoft, for that matter), the allure of freedom entices people to want to exercise their “right” to jump social strata and take advantage of the opportunity to move up the unspoken (or sometimes spoken) caste system and improve their lot in Life. Most times, this happens by increasing their financial wealth (businesspeople or what the ancient world referred to as the merchant class), power profile (executives, for example), or anonymity index (the level of fame achieved by, for example, professional athletes in the days before the money was so extravagant). Rabbi Paul argued for what he terms “profitable freedom,” but that kind of others-centric, self-control is rarely seen in democracies.

Reagan was expressing the reality that, in America, the work government does isn’t as important as government allowing people to chase their own dreams (doing Your own thing), and, therefore & consequentially, roles of public service in governmental agencies are not deemed as impressive as roles of private ambition such as entrepreneurship, the traditional professions (clergy, law, & medicine), or entertainment (just to name a few). This shouldn’t come as a surprise, because America has always been based on individual rights instead of the rights of the state (like on abortion, for example). Slavery was overturned on the basis that each individual has inalienable rights from God and, therefore, should never be subjected to forced servitude of another (but more about that later). One of the main points i am trying to make in this article is that the notion that people should be encouraged to do whatever they want is a bad idea. It ignores too much reality to let people chase dreams without any grounding. That may seem incredibly harsh, but i assure You it is not. It is, indeed, the only Truly spiritual view….

Winston Churchill has been the first quoted as saying (so far as we know, anyway), ““It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried…”. This statement belies another fundamental, worldly fallacy: namely, that we must settle for something inadequate, broken, and only slightly less tyrannical than its predecessors (never mind his assumption that a kingdom was a form of government that had been tried and found lacking & wanting and should be discarded). Given Churchill’s background as an Englishmen and the arc of the governmental evolution that Great Britain had experienced by his day, it is not surprising that he eschewed & dismissed kingdom as a legitimate form of government. The Truth is that democracy is not the worst form of government except all the others — it is simply worse (albeit much worse) than a thriving kingdom ruled by a benevolent king. Referencing Hume again (or at least alluding to him), it is amazing to me that people will tolerate something as awful as a democracy or a republic when a kingdom is available to them.

However, the seeds of their tolerance lie in the fact that — in their minds (or perhaps experience in rare cases) — kings rule for their own benefit instead of for the benefit of the people. What is ironic to me is that they want to chastise kings for this behavior and say that they would do it differently, but — in reality when they are given the freedom to do it differently — they use that freedom to do the very same thing: to benefit themselves primarily (through business or whatever) instead of benefiting others. Everyone knows deep down in their hearts that a kingdom ruled by a strong, merciful, benevolent king would be the best option; we just doubt that there is anyone like that. This is why David having a heart after God’s own heart was so important, and — no — that statement does not mean that David was perfect or never made mistakes. It pertains to the fact that — despite his frailties, weaknesses, blind spots, bad judgments, immaturities, rebellion, and other faults or deficiencies — David ruled in a way that glorified God and benefited people. This is why James contends that Love covers a multitude of sins, because it does according to the One Who determines what — if anything — covers sins. By the way, this argument for democracy or something worse sounds suspiciously like the one now being rejected by the most thoughtful members of our democracy as a false choice argued by President Mubarak in Egypt. For years, he argued that his tyrannical, repressionist, evil regime was not necessarily good, but it was certainly much better than the Islamofascist alternative. No dice, Hosni, and no dice to You, either, Winston. Nice try, though….

Not only does democracy place the rights of a free individual in a paramount position to the destiny of a Divine creation and also argue that it is good as less of an evil than any other alternative, but democracy is adversarial in nature — by design. Democracy pits people against each other in competition as a form of Darwinian survival. i’m never surprised that Darwin reached the absurd conclusions that he did, but i am not sure how any astute observer (unless informed by the mind of Christos & the illumination of the Holy Spirit) could come to any other conclusion after Living in a democracy all of his Life. You can read my article on competition for more of my views on this (Ünday, Jāseph 27th, 6636 (Tuesday, 02-01-2011); Cultural Post #8: And The Winner Is….), but competition is satanic in both origin and nature. Wilde laments, “Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people…”. That is True, in the experience of most people. Democracy tends to excuse people from caring for the indigent, the less-fortunate, the disabled, the elderly, minorities, and all kinds of other vulnerable demographics, because democracy is — at its core and in its heart — a selfish form of self-government more than it is a selfless form of societal government….

That kind of unchecked self-absorption, tunnel-vision, and insensitivity lead to vanity, conceit, & moral bankruptcy. People who thrive in a democracy spiritually do so only because they allow someone (a grandmother, a disabled child, an unjustly condemned prisoner — someone) to call them to a higher purpose, but Y’shua Christos has already called us to a higher purpose. It should not be that disciples of Y’shua have to have someone else call them to something when their Master has already called them to it Himself. Seldon critiques, “Government of the busy by the bossy for the bully…”. Democracy is a distraction that allows us to busy ourselves with activity devoid of lasting purpose, to improve our own lot in Life without benefiting others around us, and to move forward in terms of social mobility while leaving behind those to whom we are ordained to minister most. It is disgusting to watch people move away from their extended families for a job promotion that brings more wealth-oriented compensation at the personal cost of broken relationships between grandparents & grandchildren, husbands & wives, and friends, of more work & less rest, and of an uprooting from the geographical, historical, & tribal heritage from which they emerge. All of that destruction over a little, rotten, soon-to-be-gone carrot dangled by a boss who made the same stupid decision years before and now needs others to make the same mistakes in order to justify himself and feel less awful about it….

And while most people are distracted by the chance to be free and run wild headlong after their own desires, a mentality emerges to justify their pursuits (like Life, Liberty, & happiness — sound familiar?) despite the costs of those pursuits to everyone affected. Thomas Jefferson put it this way, “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine…”. Even in Greece and Rome, when the notions of republic and democracy were warping ahead at unprecedented speeds (despite the pull backwards by Caesars and such), there was a basic understanding that people had a station in Life determined by “the gods” and that to run counter to that was inviting ruin. Now, however, running counter to the ordained path is not even taboo; in fact, it is admired. The U.S.A. is currently mired in a cultural split with about 47% on either side and about 6% in the middle who swing rudderless between competing ideologies. Mob rule, although the mob is absent conviction and a minority 6%. Hey, that’s what happens when everyone’s vote counts the same: people cancel out people. Stupid people cancel out brilliant people, bad people cancel out good people, extreme people cancel out reasonable people, ignorant people cancel out informed people, etc., etc. Ever heard thing like “Everyone’s doing it, “ “that many people can’t be wrong, right?” or “the center holds”? Choose the better way: Love as a transient being with an eternal purpose….

Apparently, mob rule was deemed acceptable, because the founders were smart enough to institute a sharing of power and a dissemination of responsibility (often referred to as “a system of checks & balances). Well, how’s that system of checks & balances working out for Ya? Did it keep the bankers from ruining Your 401(k) or Your mortgage value or Your job stability in the past five years? Has the distribution of power amongst the three branches of government or, more recently, presidential term-limits made it more likely that imperfect people will work together and solve problems? Has the concept of accountability kept our governmental systems free of bureaucratic red-tape, fraud, corruption, constituent abuse, systemic lethargy, etc.? Checks & balances are a human attempt at a divine solution: judgment. The problem is they don’t work for any number of reasons — not the least of which is a lack of what i call “useful authority” (which means that authority must be used as a part of a broader understanding of leadership and not alone as a method of manipulation). For example, in America people often refer to the courts as their “justice system” when there is no such thing. Justice is not the purview of human beings — we are not capable of administering “justice.” We do not have a justice system — we have a “legal system” that is adversarial in nature, punitive or rehabilitative in responsiveness, retributive in restoration, and vengeful in administration. Nothing about any of that smacks of justice. Thank God that He does not allow any of us to dispense justice. Sydney Harris remarks, “Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be…”. i would submit to You that neither the powers that be nor the citizens have either the right or the information to ask that question….

All of this leads to the inevitable conclusion that anyone can see from all previous democracies: they fail. John Adams described the inescapable deduction thusly, “Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy]. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide…”. Yes, democracy eventually fails, just as every other human form of government eventually is toppled by passionate people thinking they have stumbled across something new — something that is, this time let’s all hope, bound to work. People think communism failing proves it doesn’t work — and they’re right to an extent. But democracy doesn’t work long-term, either. The fact is that no system of human government works. As Psalms 2 contends,

“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing ? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs — the Lord scoffs at them. Then, He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name): ‘He said to Me, “You are My Son — today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.” ’ ” Now therefore, O kings, show discernment! ake warning, O judges of the earth! Worship YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son that He not become angry and You perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

In this realization that democracy is essentially a vanity indulged by ignorant youths and idealistic aged, there emerges a “Live & let Live” kind of attitude. Just let me be free, and leave me alone. This is the heart of the libertarians: no masters. Their view ignores the obvious (that there are indeed masters, and everyone has at least one — in fact, in a democracy, most people have multiple masters instead of just one, and we all remember what Y’shua said about trying to please more than one master) and doesn’t take into account that there should be masters. Slavery is not immoral. Yes, i am aware of what i just asserted. Western people have been educated and conditioned to think that slavery is immoral, but it is not immoral. Bad masters and bad slaves are both immoral, but the notion of slavery itself is not immoral. As long as people have been extant, there have been voluntary forms of slavery in varying degrees from indentured to permanent. And — if You are pro-democracy — You can’t argue that slavery is immoral, because that would mean You deny people the right to go their own way and make their own choice to enslave themselves to something or someone. Today, Americans are primarily economic slaves, although more abhorrent forms of slavery exist all over the world from the sex trades to gangs in chaotic places in anarchy to the repression of religions like Islam. Abraham Lincoln used to say, “As i would not be a slave, so i would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy…”. Well, Abe, i guess You missed it, then, because You were called to be a master when You were created. The only question is not whether or not You should have been a master, but over what and over whom. We all have a Master — even kings. Clearly, being subject to a master is not ungodly or evil or any of that nonsense. Being subject to a master is a right and proper thing — as long as it is ordained by God Himself.

This leads us to the last arc of this particular post and the segue to tomorrow’s post: ruling. Is there anything worse than ignorance regarding how to rule? Can there be anything worse? Churchill was right about something when he said, “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter…”. The knowledge of how to properly rule is essential to a ChristLife as a disciple of Y’shua. It is indispensable to being of benefit to others. It is vital to glorifying God. We will touch on the basics of how to rule in tomorrow’s post.

Some assume that there is a place somewhere that rule is unnecessary. For example, James Madison used to flippantly say, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary…”. Uh, yes, Jamie, angels do need government, or did You forget that Lucifer is an angel and took a third of the angels with him in a rebellion? How absurd. If any beings need governing, it is angels. Granted, there are no perfect people, but everyone needs governing — especially children who are heirs and will grow up to administrate the family fortune (You) and especially the servants to those heirs (angels).

One of my favorite quotes is by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, “The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves…”. Amen. God teaches us ultimately to regulate ourselves by first submitting to His government in our Lives as our King. LORD Y’shua is our Master. The Holy Spirit brings us into alignment with Him and instructs us as our teacher in the ways of righteousness. It is with the context of a kingdom that freedom finds its profitable result of submission to righteous authority for the purpose of beneficial government. Democracy leads to a selfish kind of self-indulgence that is only satiated by more & more excess and less & less denial. It is critical that we understand the difference between the culture of Heaven and the cultures of this world in which we Live….

Covday, Matamín 3rd, 7703 (Monday, 02-07-2011) 3P Post #9: The Culture Of Democracy (Part 1 of a 3-Part Series)

2011-02-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

*** Special Three-Part Series: #1 of 3:

"The Culture Of God Versus The Cultures Of Humanity" ***

“And Y’shua was casting out a demon, and it was mute.

When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.

However, some of them said,

"He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."

Others, to test Him, were demanding of Y’shua a sign from heaven, but

He knew their thoughts and said to them,

"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid to waste, and

a house divided against itself falls…”.
(The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 11:14-17)

“In those days there was no king in Israel;

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes…”.

(Judges 21:25)

“The king's heart is like

channels of water in the hand of the YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name),

for Adonai turns the king’s heart wherever He wishes.

Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but

YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) weighs the hearts.

To do righteousness & justice is

desired by YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) more than sacrifice…”.

(Proverbs 21:1-3)

In today’s Philosophy/Politics Post, i want to lay out the beginning of a case that will probably get me hung (figuratively, i hope) in the court of public opinion. However, i think that it is important that someone articulate what i am going to assert in the hopes that maybe Americans will come to understand both why they should rethink their values and also why that process should not lead them to embrace anti-American values.

i have wanted to write these things for a long time, but the timing has never seemed right to me. However, with the revolution in Egypt underway, it has brought a context that may make this information a bit more palatable and, perhaps, useful.

i write from the perspective of the Kingdom of God. Unashamedly, i admit this bias in all of my perspectives. It is a paradigm that colors all of my thinking. As an American citizen, i have grown up with three citizenships: 1) Texan (for Texas is still a Republic), 2) American, & 3) Heavenite. i consider myself to have the Holy Grail of citizenry with these three in my pedigree, but that does not mean they are all perfect. Only the Heavenly citizenship is perfect; the other two have flaws.

By the way, the heavenly citizenship of which i refer is not a religious citizenship in a church or a denomination or anything like that. i am not Catholic or protestant or Jewish or Islamic or Satanic or New Age or Hindu or Zoroastrian or a Scientologist. Those are other kinds of citizenship than heavenly. However, they are frequently thought of as heavenly — as is sadly portrayed from various points of view in many historical movies such as The Kingdom Of Heaven.

Having laid that foundation, this post will briefly touch on topics relating to the culture of American democracy. It will not be easy for many Americans to read or accept, and it will not be pleasant for non-Americans to embrace, either. That is as it should be; my aim is not to please either side, but rather to faithfully represent an alternative viewpoint from one whose citizenship in not in any earthly root.

The arc of this post will be to discuss both contemporary and historical events and catalysts in the context of three kinds of government: Religious, Civic, & Kingdom. i am part of a kingdom and see it as the only rational form of government.

Revolutions are not just movements that redraw maps; they are wide-reaching, centuries-encompassing events that take generations to play out and shape the political, cultural, financial, etc. landscape for an epoch or beyond. The West is still reeling from the impact of the American & French revolutions, and those were shaped profoundly by the earlier protestant religious revolt against the Catholic church and the Irish revolt against the English monarchy (just to name a couple of key influences). Trace back further, and You can unpeel the history of revolutions like an onion. Indeed, all of Western society is still reeling from the pursuits of the Greeks and the conquering of the Romans, for that matter, but it goes back much further than all of that….

In this context of seeing the history behind the underlying movements, Egypt should not surprise anyone. Indeed, the more amazing phenomenon is not the political altering of Egypt’s form of government so much as the impact that social media like Facebook and Twitter are playing in that altering. Only this year, the founder of Facebook was chosen as Time’s Person Of The Year (cf. the article at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037183_2037185,00.html for a fascinating insight into “the Facebook Age”), since he has created the world’s third-largest country by networking a twelfth of all humanity together. To know that Japan first embraced Twitter and to realize that their culture can say 140 words (since words are denoted by characters in Japanese) instead of a mere 140 characters gives You some idea of the impact that causes Twitter to be much more than just a quip site. Beyond social networking sights, the emergence of WikiLeaks and the network of sleuths, anonymous hackers, & spies that follow the leadership of founder Julian Assange as an arbiter of transparency has chilling ramifications with humanistically-rooted tendencies. Then, there is the rise of opinion-journalism from FOX News and MSNBC to Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report that correlates to the fall of “objective” journalism (as if there ever was such a thing in the first place). The plague in Egypt is not occurring in a vacuum; it is happening in a Petri dish….

Revolutions change things forever — not just for a moment. We would all do well to understand that at the beginning of this article.

Regarding the more immediate implications of the African revolutions (for example, that of Algeria many years ago in the 1970s, then 1980s, and beyond and that most recently erupted in Tunisia a few weeks ago), Islam has played a central role. Many people i know in the U.S. are worried about the rise of Islam, but i see that as a distraction from the real issues to be addressed. From the perspective of a kingdom, Islam is no threat. Why? Because Islam is a religious form of government. It seeks, fundamentally, to govern society from a religious pretext. The facts are that the religious pretext of “Mohammed” and the myth about him is: 1) religious (i.e., not Truthful and based in Love but rather based in fear — as are all religions by their definition), 2) cultural, and 3) reactionary. None of these are good bases for a foundation of governing….

Due to this religious pretext and the instability of the foundation of Islam (from being a lie to being untenable), Islam is divided against itself: radical, violent purists & extremists versus “peaceful” interpreters, Sunni versus Shiite, assimilation versus domination, etc. If You are a citizen of Heaven and if Y’shua is Your Master, then You know that a house divided against itself will not stand and that a kingdom divided against itself will come to ruin. It is only a matter of time, and the end is not in dispute. So, Islam is a red herring. It will fall; indeed, Egypt may be a harbinger of its undoing globally. Why? Because, the Egyptian problem is one of secular nationalists versus religious purists, and this is in a country that is neither Arab nor Persian. The myriad of possibilities is fascinating, but every sign points toward further fracture of Islam instead of some great galvanization….

So, from the view of religious governments (like Islam), one may look back over great rivers of history and see that they do not last in the long term. Religion indicates fear, by definition, and it is not a basis for a government that will last. In response to this, humanity developed less religious, more “moral” types of approaches. The two most common in Your Lifetime would be democracy and socialism (not to be confused with communism; communism is atheistic in its roots, while socialism is “moral” from a belief in a deity in its roots). These approaches developed in order to try and get away from government by a “mandate of heaven” (as the Chinese used to say). They wanted to govern based on humanistic compassions instead of heavenly ones….

Fox's 2008 Super Bowl Version of The Declaration of Independence

The nature of democracy, for example, is self-determinism. Democracy is rooted in rebellion from authority. That is precisely the genesis of the United States of America. Yesterday, in preface to the Super Bowl, the reading of the Declaration of Independence by famous athletes was championed as a good thing. The problem is that the Declaration of Independence is a temper tantrum, albeit an understandable one. The fact that the king of England was a jerk and a terrible ruler does not just excuse the rebellion. The Truth is that the king was wrong and so were the American colonies.

Despite that Truth, the idea of democracy is that every man should be allowed to determine his own destiny. Accordingly, freedom is the chief virtue of democracies, because it is the mechanism by which people may most successfully seek out their individual destinies. That is not a good thing. i know that Americans believe it is a good thing, but it isn’t. People should not pursue their own interest without regard to the history of their families traditions or their ancestors giftings or skills or their tribe’s ways. People should not try and establish their own destinies — for men are not capable of doing so in a beneficial way to their posterity. To determine Your own way is what the Scripture defines as “sin,” literally, and — yet — it is the chief ambition of Americans and the most cherished use of freedom.

Not only do Americans embrace self-determinism, but they actively try to spread the contagious disease to other parts of the world. It would be unforgivable to spread a contagious disease in any other context; in fact, we call that biological warfare. Never has that description been more accurate than with democracy, for with democracy it is a corporeal disease that is carried by people as an idea instead of a viral disease that is carried by people as an illness. George W. Bush became president, and one of his campaign promises was to not engage in nation-building. Then, he was elected and burdened with 9/11, and nation-building became, to him, a necessity of war…a supporting of democracy where it had already taken hold, a preaching of it where it had not, and an implanting of it where it was perceived as the antidote to Islam or any other malignant form of government. Why? Because, as he said incessantly, people deserve to be free (which they do, by the way) and they yearn to determine their own destinies (which they do, by the way). i would just like it noted for the record that self-determinism is the root of democracy, and those of You with eyes to see and ears to hear will recognize that self-determinism is — in the most literal and purist form & sense — sin.

Now, communism is even more diabolical than the moral forms of government (like democracy or socialism) or any of the preceding religious forms of government (like primitive cultures embraced in places like China, India, Egypt, the Americas in the native populations and cultures, or basically anywhere else). Why? Because communism tries to strip away religion and morality. Whereas other forms of government are blindly groping in the dark for an ethical compass, communism despises ethics and tries to work strictly off power, productivity, etc. It is a heartless form of government with no foundation of any kind except random, illegitimate authority….

That is why it is so offensive to the human spirit, because even the human spirit recognizes the need for spiritual grounding in government. And that leads us to tomorrow’s post: The Culture Of Heaven….

Finday, Jāseph 30th, 7703 (Friday, 02-04-2011; 3FA Post #8: A Prayer Of Identity

2011-02-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

“Thus says YWHW (Blessed be His Holy Name),

‘Stand at the crossroads, and
See & ask for the ancient paths — where the good way is — and walk in it;

And You will find rest for Your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it...’.”

(Jeremiah 6:16)

Lots of people have asked me for the various rituals i have employed in my family over the years. So, i'm going to use Fridays (for a while and also while reserving the right to comment about something else anytime i want) to post some of the things i have created to Bless, instruct, remind, or otherwise impact my family. For today's post, i am going to post a prayer that i attempt to pray most every day before i leave my house. It is my way of trying to remind myself of who i am and align myself with my divine family.…

A Prayer for Abraham’s Family

Holy Father Abba, Holy LORD Y’shua, & Holy Spirit of Truth...

i Love You

Please Grant us Favor with You, and

Please Extend that Favor we have with You as Your sons & heirs

into the Relationships with which You Bless us so that

we May be a Blessing to Others from You

For i submit myself to You today — both for Your Glory, Holy Father, and also for the Benefit of Those with whom

You ordain to put me into Contact

Holy YHWH (Blessed be Your Holy Name),

You show great forbearance and patience to me, and

it is Your unmatched & exceeding kindness that leads us to repentance, so i submit my whole being to You today — Spirit, Soul, & Body — for Your conversion of me to Your Thoughts & Your Ways in order that my motivations & my practices may be aligned to You

Indeed, LORD Most High, i submit to You

my Entire Identity & Purpose & Destiny, for

Truly — in You — do we Live & Move & Have our Being

Abba, as Your Consecrated, Sanctified, & Wise Son,

i receive Your Correction as my Delight that Brings me Your Joy,

i acknowledge Your reproofs as

the path to Righteousness & the Way of Life, and

i embrace Your Paternal Discipline as a sign that

You Love me as Your Legitimate Child & Heir

Bless me Today, Almighty Creator, to bear much fruit for You,

so that Your Appointment of me may

Result in a Pleasing Testimony for You, and

May You find faith in me as

i walk in a Manner Worthy of the High Calling…

The calling which You have Entrusted to me

in LORD Y’shua the Anointed

May i Thrill You as Your BeLoved Son

in Whom You are Well-Pleased, so that

You May be able to say to those around me,

“This is my BeLoved Son! Listen to him…,”

and that when You call me home with You,

You may greet me at the reckoning by saying,

“Well Done, My Good & Faithful Servant”

God of Abraham (our Father),

Isaac (the Promise), &

Jacob (Israel – who walked with a limp),

Men who lied, whined, & cheated while

being afraid, selfish, & deceitful in their immaturity,

You alone, O God Most High, are Good…

Your Lovingkindness is everlasting…and

You are faithful to all generations

Blessing us with Your Life to share in Your work

Speak to me and i will listen — Speak to me and i will Live…

if You will but only give me

Your Eyes to Both See & Perceive and also

Your Ears to Both Hear & Understand...

Selah & Amen

May You be richly Blessed in Your use of this prayer....

Gräsday, Jāseph 29th, 7703 (Thursday, 02-03-2011); Personal Post #8: Isolationism

2011-02-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

“The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters…”.
(Friedrich Nietszche)

“When You close Your doors, and make darkness within,

remember never to say that You are alone — for You are not alone;

Nay, God is within, and Your genius is within.

And what need have they of Light to see what You are doing?”
(Epictetus)

“Language has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone, and

the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone…”.
(Paul Tillich)

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty…”.
(Mother Teresa)

“The surest cure for vanity is loneliness…”.
(Thomas Wolfe)

There’s a lot of talk these days about “protectionism,” “isolationism,” “nativism,” and like terms. Part of that is due to President Bush discussing these thing on his recent book tour, part of it has to do with the ongoing immigration debate domestically, part of it has to do with the current global financial crisis and the True-color tendencies it normally evokes in people, part of it has to do with the unrest in Africa & the Middle East, and there are other factors, too. In any case, i want to discuss today what i call “personal isolationism.”

As a human being, i am not any more immune to hurt, betrayal, injury, or any other emotional experience than is anyone else. As a normal person, i am not any less defensive, protectionistic, or guarded than is anyone else. All of us have conditioned tendencies to keep people “at arm’s length” or at a distance. It’s partly human nature and partly conditioned response, but we tend to believe that to be more alone is to be more safe — at least as it regards other humans. We know intuitively that we may not survive the lions and pythons and alligators, but at least we won’t die by gunshot. So, we wall ourselves up, amass ammunition, devise strategies, & restrict access to ourselves in an attempt to make ourselves safe. It’s basic Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs type stuff….

i am committed to not doing that any more than i absolutely have to do. Obviously, there is a balance between the need for safety and the need for exploration. Of course there is a balance to that, but there is also a danger in drawing Your circle too tightly….

Many of You may either doubt or outright disagree with this next statement, but i am an introvert. i have always required several hours a day of being alone in quiet to function properly, and i have a great deal of that now that i am divorced. A friend of mine said to me the other day, “You seem “better” than You have been in a long, long time…”. i thanked him and said that i feel “better” than i have in a long, long time. There is a healthy affect (at least for me) that comes from acknowledging my introvert personality and honoring that by being quiet. my favorite days are days when i wake up and don’t speak until well into the afternoon; i Love those days. my favorite times are when i can just be alone for hours upon hours studying or writing or shooting baskets or whatever. When i don’t get enough time by myself, i get cranky, frazzled, and lose my way.

However, there’s also a danger to being alone too much — especially for an introvert like me. While i genuinely enjoy people and the mutual, contributive, & interactive exchange we have when i’m with them, i have learned about myself that i can come to depend on that interaction (and, therefore, on them as people) too much. i do enjoy people and social situations, as long as i don’t feel out of place, unvalued, or uninterested by the circumstances. The fact that i enjoy people (although not as much as being alone) has caused some trouble for me in my Life. Friends have remarked to me all my Life how intense i am relationally and how much energy it takes for them to engage with me in a friendship, partnership, or other kind of relationship. Although it seems to me most of the time that they testify to being more invigorated by our relationship than drained, i know that i require a lot of people. And, generally speaking, i give them all i have of myself, which requires a lot of me, too. While i wouldn’t have it any other way, i have had people who dearly Loved me (and still do) choose to walk away from me just because they couldn’t handle the level of mutual investment that is exchanged. Even as an introvert, i am a human being and, therefore, a social creature who needs social interaction with others to thrive physically, emotionally, & spiritually.

i am writing this today to let You know a couple of things: 1) i need time with You, 2) i need time away from You, and 3) i need, most of all, You. For example, this Blog has been a tremendous Blessing due to the interaction it brings me through comments, personal emails, and other forms of interaction. Thank You for participating in my ChristLife and giving me the chance to participate in Yours. It means a lot to this old introvert….

Crēday, Jāseph 28th, 7703 (Wednesday, 02-02-2011); Theological Post #8: Acknowledging The Tools Of God's Redemption All Around Us

2011-02-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

“For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience,
in order that He might show mercy to all.

O, the depth of the riches & the wisdom & knowledge of God!

How inscrutable are His judgments! How unsearchable are His ways!

For, “Who has known the mind of the LORD? Who has been His counselor?”

Or, “Who has given Him anything and made Him pay it back?”

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever! Amen…”.

(Rabbi Paul, Paul’s Letter To The Roman Ekklesia, Chapter 11:32-35)

i should probably just apologize now for repeating myself in theological posts. Everything has been distilled down for me in the previous recent years to just a handful of important grasps, and one of those is the diamond of redemption. i use the description “diamond,” because all of God’s dealings with humanity are like diamonds: they are beautiful, but they are uniquely so when viewed from any of an infinite number of angles. For example, You can set a diamond in the middle of a room, and everywhere You walk will yield a different view of its beauty — because of the different refractive angle of the Lighting in that position — than anywhere else in the room. So it is with YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name).

So, i’m going to apologize now for constantly mentioning in this Blog the matter of redemption (along with several other themes) that have become the basis for my understanding of the Almighty and my relationship with Them. Hopefully, You will be able to gain something from my posts anyway….

This week, i started dabbling with reading the condensed version of The Search For Significance by Robert McGee. It is a great book, and it has come highly recommended to me over the years from numerous people whose opinions i trust. Even so, i’ve never read it until now. When people give me a book, i wait. i wait until Abba prompts me to read it, and — when i do read it in His timing — it is usually incredibly poignant and profoundly impacting. In the past few years, i have stopped deciding what to read, and now i just let Him decide that for me. So, in case any of You ever give me a book, don’t be offended in any way if i don’t immediately read it. i wouldn’t normally open a bottle of precious wine right away, either, but — rest assured — it will be consumed….

McGee writes in the first chapter (i’m reading the condensed version) that he came to a point where acknowledging the hurt in his existence is what allowed God to provide him with the comfort he needed. What a great example of redemption and so many other things from God, and — when i read that this week — it hit me again how grateful i am to Abba for how He treats me. Maybe the only thing worse than not having access to something You need is not even knowing the thing to which You need access….

For me, i went for years coping with my circumstances instead of entrusting myself to Abba. What do i mean by that? Well, let me unpack it a bit for You….

As someone who counsels people and receives regular affirmation from them that my counsel is insightful, helpful, & profound, let me say here that i know about coping. i am familiar with all kinds of coping (both in others and in my own self): the development of various coping “mechanisms” to handle certain types of situations, the preference of certain kinds of postures to navigate different kinds of interpersonal interactions, the dependence on a number of activities, substances, or other distractions to mask the voids in our personal reservoirs, etc., etc. In fact, in my own Life, i have come to a place where i no longer view myself as either “high functioning” or “highly capable.” Instead, i now describe myself — in my natural abilities — as “highly adept at coping.” What i mistook all of my Life for a good thing (the natural capability to function reasonably well no matter the situational circumstances) has now become apparent and known to me — in my opinion — as my greatest personal weakness. i know that we are all taught to aspire to suchness, but i believe this to be an evil thing: the ability to function "well" (as defined by society) without depending on God and instead while depending on ourselves. That, to me, seems clearly now to be what i have done most of my previous existence.

By contrast, my Master (Y’shua, the Savior of humanity) never depended on Himself and certainly not instead of depending on Abba or the Holy Spirit. A large part of what i think LORD Y’shua intends to teach me on this next leg of our journey together is how Live out His ChristLife in me while i learn to — by a new nature — default to depending on Him instead of defaulting (in my old nature) to depending on my own coping skills. It is not something to which i look forward in terms of the suffering involved, but it is something to which i look forward in regard to glorifying Abba, maturing as His son & heir, pleasing my Master, and being useful to others.

One of my favorite passages in the New Covenant reads thusly: “For You have been called for the purpose of doing right & then suffering for it, since Christ also suffered for You thereby leaving You an example to follow in His steps: “He committed no sin nor was any deceit found in His mouth,” and — while being reviled — He did not revile in return and — while suffering — He uttered no threats, but rather He kept entrusting Himself to the One Who judges righteously…” (1^st Peter 2:21-23, NAS).

This passage has been affecting me for all of my Life, but never more so than in the past few years as my Life has taken a turn toward maturity and the commensurate suffering that must accompany such a movement. i was taught all my Life — as a part of the conditioning of the world upon me with its free education in coping mechanisms and the incessant pressure of its structural systems and the cultural labs in divination-oriented protocols of manipulating people and on and on — that suffering was to be avoided at all cost. Now, i am finally aware of those indoctrinations, and i know why my enemy taught me so and conditioned me thusly as a child: so that, as an adult, i would not be familiar with the very weapons that could undo his hold on me. Those divine weapons are both defensive antidotes and, simultaneously, offensive destroyers: Truth, dependence on God, Love, suffering while practicing righteousness, hope, communion with Abba (sometimes called “prayer”), receiving discipline from my Father, acquiring the mind of Y’shua Christos (or, in other words, what King David called learning God’s thoughts & ways), rest from works of my own, gardening with the Holy Spirit (to, of course, cultivate His fruits in my ChristLife instead of the weeds of the world for both others to enjoy and to sustain me), and many more (like understanding destiny, learning to navigate creation as a steward instead of a user, etc.). i never heard any talk of these things in any substantial way in the world, and the church didn’t discuss them in any meaningful way, either. And, yet, there it is — in black & white: “For You have been called for the purpose of doing right & then suffering for it…”.

But now, as scales are beginning to fall from my eyes and the Grima Wormtongue is being banished to rouse Theoden from his trance, i am beginning to understand the place of suffering. It is a tool that Abba uses to teach us to depend on Him — not in order to avoid suffering, but in order to endure suffering for His glory and for the benefit of others as we become not just conquerors but "more than conquerors." Knowing that i have been called for the purpose of doing righteously & then suffering for it used to greatly vex me, but no longer….

Instead of addressing suffering or easing discomfort or altering unhappiness or any other thing i would desire to change by learning to cope even better within the confines of my own abilities, Abba wants to teach me to depend on Him whatever the circumstances and, in doing so, find myself glorifying Him as my Father and being beneficial to others who might be within a close enough proximity to somehow witness my ChristLife in action. A big part of that turn is acknowledging that everything around me — even the hurts, pains, deficits, and other markers of experiences of suffering that adorn my existence like cave drawings or tattoos or street signs mark a previous culture or reflect on the outside of a person what they hold valuable inside or show the correct route to take in order to arrive at Your desire destination, respectively — are just tools in the hand of a redemptive Creator to reveal destiny, clarify purpose, and draw us closer to Him in deeper intimacy, a more cherished closeness, and a more abiding security. The things that have happened to me, around me, in me, outside of me, through me, for me, against me, etc. — those things have not surprised God. They have not snuck up on Him and caught Him off His guard. They are not making Him nervous as He frantically scurries about to figure out how to handle this new revelation. No, on the contrary, they were accounted for long ago, before the enemy was even privy to Your coming or aware of the grace God would deposit into a broken world via Your journey & experience.

Paul writes, “For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that He might show mercy to all…”. His point is that mercy can only come when disobedience is made manifest, and God is neither afraid of disobedience or lacking in mercy. In fact, He relishes the chance to address one with the other. Indeed, redemption draws near when disobedience stirs up things. You can almost hear God mockingly say to our enemy, “Bring it, Luci. Stir things up! Incite whatever You want! I AM here to respond with a balm of mercy to Your wounds of rebellion and brokenness of disobedience!”

Let us be grateful to God for His great Love toward all of us. Let us acknowledge our circumstances as His personal playgrounds of grace. Let us embrace suffering as His key to becoming who He designed us and destined us to be. Let us mature in His kind salvation and bask in the severity of His Love. Let us share with each other our stories of diamond-like redemption that shine with the attraction of His warmth, photosynthesis, & Light, our experiences of literally watching bad morph into good before our very eyes in the presence of our God, our enemy, & our witnesses, and our journeys of perfectly paced rest that accomplishes more than all our combined works could ever merit when stacked in death next to the Life of our Master Y’shua….

Selah, and Blessings to You from the LORD Most High today….

Tuesday, 02-01-2011 (Ünday, Jāseph 27th, 7703); Cultural Post #8: And The Winner Is….

2011-02-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

“A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up. It's all a matter of pride…”.
(Nancy Lopez)

“It’s all a matter of pride…”. Indeed.

Well, the Grammys are coming up shortly and the Golden Globes have been awarded as the Oscar nominations have just been announced. The world is abuzz with awards…

A close friend of mine used to work at a sporting goods company that does the bulk of the trophies, medals, plaques, etc. for local schools, little leagues of various sports, and other groups. i remember him telling me one day how disgusted he was with parents who came in to order awards. Seems that parents were coming in to his store after the championship games and ordering their individual kids trophies that were larger and more gaudy than the actual championship trophies awarded to the actual winners of the league. Same thing with individual awards: parents were ordering medals or whatever was given to the MVP of the basketball tournament (or whatever), but they were ordering more ornate or impressive versions than the school sprang for on the actual awards. So, i asked him what i thought was a very logical question: “Well, but You don’t do them, right?” He answered, “O no, we make them. If they’re willing to pay for them, then we make them.”

Astounding....

Over the years, i have seen the nature of awards change. Now, there are awards that are only selected by the fans and devoid of any “judges” input such as the MTV awards. Then, there are mixed computations like that of Major League Baseball, where the fans’ votes count but can be augmented or figured alongside the All-Star Manager’s input. Of course, many of the older awards are still based on record sales or an Olympic panel of judges or on the evaluations of their peers in their respective industry or whatever, but it begs the question: Who decides what constitutes an award.

i remember a conversation i once had with an Ivy League official who was courting me to study in his graduate program. He was a department chairperson, and he was offering me a spot in his department with an eye toward a teaching position when i finished my Ph.D. When i asked about the entrance requirements and standardized tests, he explained that Ivy League schools don’t take standardized test scores. Later, he informed me that none of the Ivy League schools are “accredited,” because who — he wondered — would accredit them? In his words, all the people who have the expertise to advise the Ivy League schools work at them, so no one at an Ivy League school was going to listen to a panel of junior and community college presidents tell them how to teach. It was a fascinating conversation to me, and i learned a great deal that day about evaluation.

Then, there were the awards i got and didn’t get in school. As an elementary school student, i remember the outside competitions that we had with all kinds of activities from sprints to skills-oriented contests like punting a football to flying kites, and how we were generally awarded colored ribbons for first through sixth place and then everyone else (yes, everyone) got a purple “participant” ribbon. Even then, i remember being ashamed to receive such a mockery. Later, as a successful basketball player at all levels, i was among the highest-scoring players in Texas my junior & senior years and had numerous scholarships available to me for basketball. The funny thing was how political the awards were among the coaches. They took their player being selected to the all-state team (or some lower level) as a personal commentary on their coaching ability, and a player at a losing school wasn’t awarded no matter how good he or she was in relation to the other players.

Even in the pro sports now (which are the constant object of incessant talk radio), a great player is penalized for his team being poor. A great quarterback may not make the hall of fame if he didn’t win a Super Bowl, while an average quarterback is lauded for all-time if he wins but one and just doesn’t make mistakes as a game-manager. In baseball, a pitcher is judged on wins and not on his personal performance. It makes one wonder whether it is better to be lucky and be an average player on a great team or to be great and enjoy being great while serving a tightwad owner or finicky fan base or other less desirable situation.

In high school, i was a freshman on my school’s One-Act Play roster. We had a great group of amateur thespians, a hilarious play, a wonderful drama coach (like high schoolers need any coaching in drama), and a supportive administration. At the regional competition, i did my normal performance for which i had been awarded All-Star Cast every competition. When the judge came over to tell us we had gotten third and, therefore, missed the State meet by one place, he said something very interesting to us and then to me.

His first comment was, “Well, i couldn’t decide between You guys and one of the two other schools. i mean, clearly i think the best school was head-and-shoulders above the other two of You and that You two were head-and-shoulders above the other schools…but i just couldn’t really decide which one of You deserved to go on and which one didn’t. So, i flipped a coin, and You lost…”.

Honest to god, Dude — just shut the @!^% up. You get the “award” (pun fully intended) for “Most Likely To Sound Like A State Trooper” (since i’m talking about my high school days). Needless to say, i was appalled at this “judge’s” decision-making process. Then, he proceeded to go over the “notes” (as they are called) with our group of what he liked and didn’t like. Afterwards, he began his notifications to us of our individual awards, and he started by saying something to me. He said, “Mr. Kuhn, i want to start with You…”. my heart, i confess, began to beat a little faster, since i already didn’t like the putz….

“You,” he said, “are very gifted.” Hmmm…maybe this guy isn’t so bad, after all….

“i thought You were clearly one of the two best actors here, along with so-and-so (from the winning play). And, similar to Your school’s dilemma, i couldn’t decide which one of the two of You should get Best Actor. However, he’s a Senior, and this is his last year. You are just a freshman and will have three more shots at it, so i gave him Best Actor and You All-Star Cast. However, i want You to know i don’t make any distinction between the two of You and think both of You should major in drama in college…”. Yep, i knew it — a definite putz….

In the early 1980s, when skateboarding seemed to be taking off, and then later in the 1990s, when extreme sporting really hit big, ESPN began a competition called “The X Games.” In the 2000s, i served as a Board member for an outreach based on a skate park to help give kids productive ways to spend their time. One of my favorite things about the skating culture was the lack of competition and the mutual encouragement of the people who just wanted to enjoy one another’s company, fellowship, & skills without grading one another. They were each other’s biggest fans, and they Loved celebrating accomplishments without resorting to assigning rankings.

When i was a missions major in college, i remember my missions professor trying to convey to my class one day that competition is one of the great evils of the world. Of course, i couldn’t be bothered (at that time) with such nonsense! i mean, seriously, competition bad? Who thinks that? Funny, because now i totally agree with him. i see competition as a satanic form of devaluing humanity as opposed to how most people see it as a healthy way of recognizing achievement. O, You want proof? Yea, like i couldn’t see that one coming….

Well, i suppose my proof is in the damage done to people, but that’s anecdotal and i can already see the gnashing of teeth and hear the moaning of vicarion parents amongst the protests of the gifted children that such “stories” don’t prove anything. So, i’ll refrain from a debate on that, except to say that i doubt that Adam & Eve competed with one another, but i do remember a fellow named Cain being obsessed about it. Ring any bells? Yea, i rest my case….

Anyway, there’s a new book out called Tiger Moms, or something like that. And we can’t get anything done in this country, because we constantly jump from one election cycle to the next without taking a pause to govern in between. And art has been commoditized, commercialized, and confiscated so that it is now judged by record sales and page views and pop paparazzi coverage instead of by how much it moves us and how much it informs us and how much it provokes us to become better. And junior high kids are the subject of national rankings while Little Leaguers play on ESPN and preteens compete on Disney and fifth-graders who are abnormally average routinely kick the snot out of trailer park idiots with a host that can’t decide whether or not to go formal or hillbilly. And somewhere, a helicopter mom or dad is buying a trophy that’s bigger than the championship team trophy that says “1^st Place in our hearts” while it overtakes the room and dwarfs the homemade pottery made on a quiet Saturday by the family.

Remember, this is a cultural post. And i don’t like our culture — or at least certain parts of it. Here’s a suggestion, Sparky. Get Your kid off the couch and Love them whether or not they can dunk a basketball. Let them know that playing sports or getting all A’s has nothing to do with whether or not You Love them and that they have a place in Your home and heart both now and in the future. Take care of them when they need it, release them when You can safely let them roam, and make sure they can always look back and see You ready to rescue them. Threaten them regularly with the severest of kisses if they misbehave and only score 36 points in the hockey game instead of Your goal of 43. And maybe, just maybe, when they grow up, they won’t need prescription meds when You come to their mind….

i’m not overtly saying the points today as much as i am hoping You might get them without me having to spell them out, but — if You need me to spell them out — then just ask in the comments. Bottom line: God doesn’t want Your best — He wants You, because You’re His best….

01-31-2011 3P Post #8: Careful What You Wish For…

2011-01-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

“In Egypt today, most people are concerned with getting bread to eat.

Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.

If You want to move people, You look for a point of sensitivity,

and — in Egypt — nothing moves people as much as religion…”.
(Naguib Mahfouz)

“In Egypt, the Living were subordinate to the dead…”.
(Stephen Gardiner)

“Some dog i got, too. We call him “Egypt,” because in every room he leaves a pyramid…”.
(Rodney Dangerfield)

Well, today is Philosophical / Political Covday (Monday), and there is so much to discuss. However, i am going to address only three topics today, although i will spend most of my time on one issue.

First, in my post two weeks ago (entitled “01-17-2011 3P Post #6: The Cost Of War” from January 17^th, 2011), i mentioned Sun Tzu’s classic strategic instruction manual called “The Art Of War.” i have a friend named Brace Barber. Brace is one of the best people i know. Besides being a fabulous person, he is a West Point grad and a very strategic thinker. He has just written a new book entitled Sun Tzu's Pattern Of Power: The Art Of War Organized For Decision, and i wanted to let You all know that i will be buying it and reading it as soon as i am able — not just because Brace is my friend (in fact, not even really at all for that reason) — but because i believe Sun Tzu’s writing is a masterpiece that deserves to be on the best 10 books ever written list of classics and because it takes someone of Brace’s unique skill set to be able to unpack, explain, and employ Sun Tzu’s brilliance for everyday applications. i am very much looking forward to the experience, and i have no doubt that i will benefit greatly from it. Philosophy is only valuable to the extent that it reflects Truth and enables us to Live more beneficially for others as we glorify YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name). i have no doubt that Brace’s insights will greatly aid me in that pursuit….

Secondly, this past Tuesday was the 2011 State of the Union (SotU) Address by President Obama, although it seems like that was several weeks ago with all that is happening in the world right now (more on that in a bit). The crux of what i want to say about the SotU is threefold. Here are my personal observations…

i Love SotUs. Outside of inaugural speeches, they are my favorite presidential speeches. Of course, this isn’t because they are such awesome speeches (since they are usually boring and quite often just plain awful from a speechwriting perspective), but it is because they date a president. They put him on record at a given point in the graph of his presidency as reflected by the 3D coordinates of his assessment of the cultural pulse of the nation, his vision for what he wants to accomplish, and his political capital & standing to influence the country’s direction. SotUs are like EKGs…they tell You how aLive the president is politically at that moment, and that’s why i like them so much. Plus, i like the pageantry and the spectacle of it all. It’s like SuperBowl Sunday or the Grammys for me, which — regrettably — all happen in late January & early February. i get a big bowl of popcorn or ice cream and dig in to my couch to enjoy a night of expectations, rhetoric, & punditry….

my first observation about the 2011 SotU is that Obama was in a difficult position with regard to the delivery of the speech given its proximity chronologically to his Tucson speech after the shootings. Any president does better in an atmosphere of banding together in response to a tragedy versus pulling apart in response to political differences, but — even given that — i thought the speech was pretty skillful. Obama managed to put the Repugnicans behind the eight ball and really lay down the gauntlet on his policy objectives. Of course, the Repugnicans can respond either poorly and continue to waste the momentum from their trouncing of the president in the recent elections or they can step up and lead in order to regain that momentum, but i would guess they'll do neither. They'll probably do what they normally do, which is not a whole lot of anything.

Now, i also thought Paul Ryan and Michelle Bachman did well, too, in terms of laying out their positions and appealing to their constituents & supporters. However, for me it was a good night, because all three speakers put out their plans in pretty straightforward terms: Obama wants more spending despite the fact that we’re broke, Ryan wants less spending, and Bachman wants no spending. How can You ask for more than that?

The second observation i will make is that Obama talked passionately about education, and i am glad about that. With the documovie that came out this year (“Waiting For Superman”), education is beginning to become a more vernacular issue and more germane to the 2012 campaign cycle. Education gets a lot of lip service as a topic in American politics, but it rarely matters in any meaningful way. i personally don’t know anyone who voted for or against either Obama or McCain based primarily on the issue of education.

However, education is beginning to sneak up on us as a more affluent political issue, and the reasons probably aren’t what You’d suspect. It isn’t because of people suddenly becoming passionate about the idea of public (or other types) of education or due to some civil rights issue or any of the other more sexy motivations of the past. No, this time it really comes down to a mix of competitiveness (the supposed theme of Obama’s SotU) in the global economy, fairness (to give kids an equal shot at succeeding), competency (Americans don’t like to feel like they are just absolute failures at anything, especially if they spend lots of money to fail — and, trust me, we are completely failing at education in this country by any metric), and the influence of unions on everyday American Life in a vein that we don’t usually discuss. During a week that saw the largest FBI set of arrests on organized crime in American history, the discussion of teacher’s unions seems almost ironic to me, but it also fits with the financial crisis (which i shall mention briefly momentarily) and all the state-payroll employees across the country….

The final SotU issue i will mention is that — in the same week as Japan saw its credit rating dropped, mind You (something that should serve as yet another reminder to us that we need immediate action in our country or we, too, are not immune to such consequences) and in the context of the global financial (World Economic Forum) meetings in Davos, Switzerland — the president showed his True colors: red & yellow, as in a tendency toward redistributive, collectivist ideals (red) and cowardice (yellow). He could have advocated for strong policies that would benefit poor Americans and ask more of rich Americans…he could have put himself in the political position which would have been the envy of every president before him and probably every one to come after him…he could have showed incredible leadership and exhibited great political courage…he could have set up his legacy to be one of the True greats and to fundamentally change the way the Demoncrats are perceived as a party and as presidents…and he decided to do none of that. Instead, he advocated increased spending (coded as “investment,” which it is), asked for almost no sacrifice, and tried to appear optimistic to invoke Reagan’s ghost.

The problem is this (and all of this, by the way, is my personal analysis — not any regurgitated analysis borrowed from any pundit…i don’t do that, just so You know): people don’t usually want to subject themselves to a general or a sergeant when they’re outside the military environment, but they do usually want a singular voice to obey in the middle of war. Obama punted, and that doesn’t really cut it when You’re the quarterback. It’s OK to punt — if You’re a punter. If You’re the quarterback and You punt, people begin to see You more in terms of Your posture as weak or visionless or scared or whatever instead of seeing You in terms of the role You occupy (such as quarterback). It was sad to watch someone who i know Loves America do so poorly in regard to adequately fulfilling the role he occupies.

The bottom line is this: America is in debt, and that debt grows increasingly unmanageable every day. If You think that what happened in Greece or Portugal can’t happen here…or that Ireland was somehow different with their peculiarities (in terms of their banking sector issues)…or that those are just extremes and we’re in more of a Britain kind of situation…or that we are not subject to the same economic principles as Japan…or that China is too close to us to allow us to fall…or that Turkey and other nations are too dependent upon us and that makes us “too big to fail” in a global sense…if You think any of that, then You’re just either kidding Yourself, plain stupid, flat-out ignorant, or downright incompetent. Sorry, just the facts, ma’am. Ask Chris Christie or Andrew Cuomo or John Kasich or Jerry Brown what they think about running budget deficits, and You'll know what You need to know very quickly: it is ruinous....

Obama could have used the SotU to show himself to be an insightful leader; instead, he used it to reveal himself as a pathetic follower. O, well — high hopes aside, there’s always 2012, i guess….

So, now to the main event: Egypt.

If You haven’t been paying attention, You should. Egypt, along with Persia (modern-day Iran), China, India, and the Jewish people are the five great remaining civilizations that all date back over 5,000 years (depending on how You view it). As a person descended from Abraham, i can’t say i really feel sorry for the Egyptians whenever they go through any kind of mess, but i do realize the stakes involved. With Egypt, the stakes are always high.

This matters to You greatly, unless $20 a gallon for gas isn’t important to You. It matters for other reasons, too. The face of the world is changing, and maybe in ways that don’t seem intuitive or predictable at first. If You understand that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union (along with the subsequent factual proof that Communism and socialism are bankrupt (literally) and untenable philosophies), that the religious theocracy movement in Iran in the late 1970s (and the subsequent boon that was to the burgeoning Islamic terrorist movement that had begun in the prisons of the aforementioned Egypt and took center stage with the hijacking of airplanes and the bombings that started most ostensibly with the Beirut Marines fiasco in 1983), or that the development of what i call “supernational” economic interests that began, at least in large part in my mind, with the establishment and despicable actions of OPEC (and the subsequent emergence of everything from the drug cartels in South America to the corporate bullies such as Microsoft and its founders that have become now the individual tyrants of the world) were major world moments, then You ought to understand that Egypt is a big deal — to You….

Why? Well, mainly because no country exerts as much influence over the Arab world as Egypt (as just one reason among many, though). See, the Iranians are ancient Persia, and they aren’t really the main deal. Arab is a term, strictly speaking, that means someone from a Semitic background (i.e., a descendant of Abraham via either Ishmael or Isaac, although descendants of Isaac are more normally called "Jews" by lineage rather than "Arabs" by geography) that hailed from the ancient geographical area known as “Arabia” (as in Saudi Arabia today in the modern world). Persians aren’t really Arabs, and there is much of the Sunni/Shiite wrapped up in all of those kinds of distinctions. Suffice it to say that Egypt has much more influence in places like Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and elsewhere than the Iranians could ever hope to have….

Knowing that, the Carter-era Mideast Peace Accords that established peace between Egypt and Israel are a fundamental building block to any future “peace” agreements in the Middle East. Throw in the fact that Egypt has been a key U.S. ally in the war against Al Qaeda and Islamic terrorists, and the plight of Egypt becomes even more important. But those are just the beginning. There are multiple issues in play: the Suez Canal, the impact on the African continent from the Sudan to Somalia to Libya or surrounding regions (like Yemen), the impact on a nuclear arms proliferation the likes of which have only been seen in nightmares, etc., etc.

It is clear that Egypt is going through birth pains right now and will soon birth something. What Lives out of her disgusting belly in the future days will affect us all….

The Chinese have a term called “the mandate of heaven,” and it refers to the soft legitimacy or the consent of the governed that is so essential to every functional and embraced government. It’s not quite “divine right,” but it does recognize and acknowledge the role of divinity in any government’s authentic rights to rule. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s “president” and dictator, has now lost that legitimacy completely (as opposed to mostly which happened a long time ago). His reign will soon end in all likelihood or survive out of an even worse reality. It is yet another example for America to examine what i call its “strange bedfellows” approach to U.S. foreign policy.

The U.S. leaders ought to give serious consideration (in the long-term analysis) to whether or not they want to take us down the continued road of the “stability vs. democracy” debate. Democracy is not a good or bad thing — it is neutral and can be used for either bad purposes or evil purposes. It’s kind of like a gun, it can either kill in self-defense or kill in murder. While the U.S. has a history of propping up people like Saddam Hussein and then later wishing they hadn’t, someone should be thinking about how to not end up on the side of people like Mubarak or Hussein or Hamid Karzai or any of the many others that have turned out to be so disastrous to us.

i suppose the most frightening thing to most Americans — other than how little control and minor influence we actually have on all this, since we're a nation of control freaks when it comes to the behavior of others (just ask any liberal whether or not You should be allowed to eat at McDonald's and You'll know exactly what i mean) — is what form of government will emerge in Egypt: will it be Islamist theocracy like that of Iran, a more secular form of Islamicism like that of Turkey, or a more terrorist-oriented form like that of Hamas? These are the recent choices from history, but i think many people are worried that it will be an even more strident form unlike anything we have seen so far.

No matter what You think will emerge, Americans need to be careful about wanting to spread democracy. Democracy reflects — more than any other form of government — the nature of the people it governs, because they elect people to do their bidding and represent their views both domestically and also to the rest of the world. Democracy is indeed a "government of, by, & for the people," but it reflects both the best & worst of them. Hamas got elected; they didn't seize power. So, now, we have to deal with an elected enemy. That is a reality in Iraq, too, albeit much less so. Democracy is not the answer, and it never has been. The answer is a much more difficult discussion of how to export our values — not the form of government by which we choose to employ those values....

The most interesting debates broached by Egypt to me are things like the legitimacy of “self-rule,” the U.S. penchant to mock our own “isolationists” like Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan in the face of their being proven right over many years, the problems of modern-world nation-building, preemptive strikes, & global interdependence, cultural intelligence (or the lack of it, especially by Americans), the nature and proper valuing of order vs. chaos in government, the validity of a goal of exporting democracy as a form of government instead of a goal of modeling and then supporting the export of values that promote healthy human interactions between citizens & government, and a host of other issues. i think that i have written enough for today, but i’m sure we will get into some of these issues in the coming days. (Maybe some of You could suggest areas You would like me to address)….

Here’s hoping that, by next Covday, the world isn’t a much, much worse place….