More on Milton

I am zipping along in my listening to Paradise Lost, and have enjoyed some discussion of Milton from a previous post. This put me in mind of how I use some other poetry by Milton in my composition class.

One of the things I do is teach through the progymnasmata in about three semesters, including the exercise of comparison. In comparison, of course, we pit two people or things against each other, discussing their similarities and differences, comparing their strengths and weaknesses, praising them for virtue (encomium) or blaming then for vice (invective). I use Milton's companion pieces (which may have, indeed, been formed by this experience of writing comparisons), L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, and we do a variety of things with them: first, we endeavor to understand the meaning behind the beauty of the language and the richness of the allusions, then we write essays that present the same ideas in prose, and finally write a comparison between the life of sociability and the life of contemplation. What fun!

If you like the idea of comparison, you can see the text and examples from the medieval grand-daddy of all rhetorical teachers, Aphthonius, here, and read his comparison of Achilles and Hector, along with his examples of the other progym exercises. Don't miss his invective on Phillip of Macedon: there is definitely no love lost there!

Wednesday Without Words

Sabbath Sentiments: Jeremiah Burroughs

"To be skilled in the mystery of Christian contentment is the duty, glory and excellence of the Christian. It is an art which must be learned. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition."
~ Jeremiah Burroughs,

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Hicks on Teacher/Student Relationship

"Classical education challenges both teacher and pupil: the one to justify his superior wisdom and intellectual skill; the other to win his teacher's praise by matching his performance. The personal element in their learning compensates for the lack of educational psychology, teaching aids, and learning paraphernalia. The pupil becomes a part of his teacher's own studies, his intimate relationship with the school teacher making him, perforce, even more than an observer—an assistant and participant in the ongoing inquiry. A lively dialectic arises, educating both. In truth, such mutual learning is the unavoidable, happy consequence of a profound and intimate relationship between the teacher and his pupil." (D. Hicks, Norms and Nobility, pg. 42)

Paradise Lost

Today as I took my walk, I began listening to an audio version of John Milton's "Paradise Lost". I have a new Mp3 player, and this is my first time to try it out. it made for a very enjoyable journey on this sunny, warm February morning!

Listening to the audio version while walking has the disadvantage of keeping me from running to my reference books to mine the treasure trove of Milton's allusions. I am pretty good at identifying the biblical allusions, but the myriad of classical ones leave me feeling pretty ignorant. The advantage to this is being forced to enjoy the language and the "big picture" of the themes orally. And while I don't think (after just Book 1) that I will be turning to Milton for theology, what language! I need to read more Milton, just for his beautiful and masterful use of language.

On of the quotes that really struck me for its clever wording and it's truth was this:
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n. (lines 254-255)

Isn't that the truth? I can manage quite completely to make a hell of this very blessed time or place in my life, despite the blessing. Or, I can take a miserable time and lift it to the Lord and sense his care even in the midst of struggling. What truth packed in two small lines!

And I like Gustav Dore's illustrations, btw.

Good News for Valentine's Day

As I posted the e e cummings poem below, I was listening to today's new testament reading from Matthew 27: the crucifixion of Christ. What an interesting juxtaposition! To be copying words that talk of carrying one in the heart, and then hearing words of how that carrying was played out on the cross by my Lord! I reread the cummings poem as if I were speaking to Christ, and then it occurred to me, it would be more like Christ speaking to me...He carried ME in his heart on that cross: he bore MY sins, paid MY penalty, and bore MY shame. And yet He does call me his dear, his darling, his beautiful. And that lead me to sing in my heart a real song for Valentine's Day:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself, so great his love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

~ Charles Wesley

Happy Valentine's Day

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)


~e e cummings

A Sobering Movie

Last night we viewed the movie, "Hotel Rwanda". I have not studied the historical facts that this movie portrays, but know enough of the history of Africa to hear the truth is offers. It is a heart-breaking truth. I was reminded again of the former Zambian pastor Derek Carlson, who spoke at our church of the atrocities of the Mugabe government, or the more current situation in Kenya. I am reminded of the way Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, when he said, "How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!" (Matthew 23:37) I feel that sense of lamentation, and I wonder at how much God's heart must ache for His people in Africa.

This movie also reminded me of the older movie, "Tears of the Sun", also moving and difficult to watch, but perhaps a worthwhile reminder of what sinful men do to each other. And perhaps, by contrast, a reminder of the gratitude we owe to our Heavenly Father for his restraining influence in our world...without which we would all live in the tragic circumstances of a Rwanda, or a Zimbabwe, or a Kenya.

Wednesday Without Words

On Godly Friends

I just ran across a post here that has me thinking hard this morning. It lists tough questions godly friends should ask each other. I promptly thought of the friends I most count on to function in this way and e-mailed it to them. While vulnerability in our lives is often uncomfortable, the type of community where these types of questions can be honestly asked and appreciated is vital to our growth as believers! May we each have such friends who will love enough to inflict what the book of proverbs calls the "wounds of a friend". I am certainly blessed by my friends!

Union University

We have several friends among the faculty, students, and community members in Jackson, TN, where last week a devastating tornado destroyed much of campus. Below is an eloquent statement of purpose and faith by Union's President, Dr. Dockery. Pray for the folks at Union.

The disturbing question of fetal pain

Here is an interesting article in the New York Times from yesterday, regarding the question of when, developmentally speaking, a fetus feels pain. There is much disturbing information in this article, and it raises many important questions. It reveals, for instance, that doctors used to perform open heart surgery (and other surgeries) on newborns without anesthetic based on their "medical" opinion that the nervous system of the newborn was not developed enough for them to "feel" pain. It also shows, I think, the motivation by the pro-choice movement to suppress the facts, as well as the investment in the medical community to maintain the status quo.

Any mother knows that newborns experience pain. It is a frightening world...

(Thanks to challies.com for mentioning this article...)

Sunday Song

Before the Throne of God Above
Music by Vikki Cook
Original lyrics by Charitie Less Bancroft

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless, Righteousness
The Great unchangeable I AM
The King of Glory and of Grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God


© 1997 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).

Wednesday Without Words

Miscellany

I thought that from time to time, I might post some of the fun or interesting or convicting things I am reading or running across on the information highway. As I thought about entitling such posts "miscellany", I thought it might be fun to picture some actual corner of my abode, and give you a feel for the miscellany I live with. Yes, I am actually working in this space: the computer desk in my bedroom. If you think this is a mess, you should be glad you can't see inside my mind...

Anyway, a few interesting, if unrelated, things:

• An excellent and convicting article from Ligonier on the dangers of cynicism by John Sartelle.
• Another excellent and convicting article from the folks at Desiring God regarding the need to be kinder Calvinists.
• A fascinating article from Christianity Today by Michael Ward on Lewis and his view of the planets as spiritual symbols.
• A fun CD of music by Jason Gray that I am enjoying getting to know.

So much to read, and so little time...especially when you read as slowly as I do!

A Wonderful Calvin Quote

I just ran across this quote, and HAD to share it...

“I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels”
~John Calvin

The Death of Pan

Here is one of my favorite short poems written by my ds Ben. Perhaps this shows a little of his Hopkins stage...

The Death of Pan

In a stunning stroke
executed with flawless form
the child fell
lifeless at the feet of experience.
Maturity, at the last,
triumphs, though less cruel than innocence,
and the brief brutality
of growing up
shapes shattered children
(with skilled, if cruel,
hands and immaculately
manicured, sharp nails)
into new knowledge.
Youth crucified redeems
the life of a man (provided
he still duels pirates
and can fly).

Roper on recognizing talented writers...

...We thought of the friends who had been the best young writers we knew: one could tell what they had been reading because their letters suddenly started sounding like Faulkner or Austen or even Beckett. They went on to have their own voices, but at some crucial stage after first fluency and before a fully developed prose, they imitated their way to good writing, strong writing with a supple, complex, alive voice. in other words, they had read carefully and deeply, apprenticing themselves to the marvelous writers they were encountering.
Could I teach this?...

So asks Gregory Roper in The Writer's Workshop: Imitating Your Way to Better Writing". And I say amen and amen! I'm just reading the introduction so far, and I am already tracking seriously with Dr. Roper, and hoping the rest will make good on his purpose.

I have observed this with students, and particularly with my man of letters son. He had distinct "periods", and as a young graduate student, still does to some extent: we had a Dickensian stage, then Conrad, then Dostoevsky, then T. S. Eliot, and e. e. cummings. And I recognize that this is what he was doing. And in my students, it is the ones who sound like Washington Irving when we are imitating him, and sound like L. M. Montgomery when you find out they have been reading about Anne, that are the most natural, effective writers. The ancients, after all, chose imitation not because they pulled it out of their imaginative hats and decided it was so (like so much that surrounds us in progressive education), but because they observed that it worked. Like ancient rhetorical theory, their observations made the basis of their "rules", and for hundreds of years these methods succeeded in teaching writers their craft. What arrogance for educators in the early twentieth century, armed with Darwinian theories of progress and goals to remake schools into factories, to discard such wisdom!


I'll post more from this book as I continue reading!

A Sunday Song

My favorite hymn is one with beautiful words, written by Isaac Watts. It makes for excellent meditation any day of the week.

How Sweet and Awful Is the Place

1. How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

2. While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
"Lord, why was I a guest?"

3. "Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"

4. 'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

5. Pity the nations, O our God,
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

6. We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

Sabbath Sentiments

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors."
--Romans 8:12

As God's creatures, we are all debtors to Him: to obey Him with all our body, and soul, and strength. Having broken His commandments, as we all have, we are debtors to His justice, and we owe to Him a vast amount which we are not able to pay. But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God's justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love. I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!" and by that He meant, that whatever His people owed was wiped away for ever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise. Christian, pause and ponder for a moment. What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to His disinterested love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to His forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts He loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to His power; how He has raised you from your death in sin; how He has preserved your spiritual life; how He has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on your way. Consider what you owe to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast--yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.

~Morning and Evening by C. H. Spurgeon, "Morning, February 3"

Lewis and the Planets

Michael Ward has just published an new book on Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, entitled Planet Narnia:The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis. Ward gave a presentation on these ideas a few years ago at Hillsdale College, where eldest ds Ben had the pleasure of dining with him, showing him around campus, and introducing him for the lecture he gave. Ben's assessment is that the gentleman is personable, brilliant, and dead-on in regards to his analysis of Lewis in the Chronicles. And apparently Philip Ryken agrees. It sounds like an interesting premise. Now to wait for Oxford University Press to run some kind of special....

Winter Reading Challenge Update #3

Well, I am moving slowly along in my reading titles, with three more completed and ready for report.

The Mother in Law Dance: Can Two Women Love the Same Man and Still Get Along by Annie Chapman is a quick read with lots of good information. It is not in artful prose or novel ideas that Mrs. Chapman hits her mark, but in lots of useful reminders and ideas given in a short, straight-forward way in a few pages. It brought many things to the conscious-level that I know from my experience as a daughter-in-law, but may not have thought about in my new and expanding role as mother-in-law. Many real-life stories and advice are given. I laughed at some stories, felt anguish at others, and picked up lots of good tips. I particularly liked the advice that the automatic response to anything the son and his wife say should be one of three words: "Wow." "Really?" or "Interesting..." That is useful! I recommend this to anyone entering the mother-in-law stage, and hoping to do so with some modicum of grace...

Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass by
Theodore Dalrymple is a fascinating collections of essays by a practicing
psychiatrist from inner-city London. He covers the horrifying realities
of life in a large urban environment among the "lower" classes, the intellectual
ideas that hold them captive there, and the causes of crime and moral
disintegration. He divides his book into two parts: Grim Reality, and
Grimmer Theory. In a writing style that is lively, engaging and clear,
Dalrymple communicates and convinces the reader (at least THIS reader)
of his grasp of the follies of human philosophies that trivialize reality and
are created by those who cannot be affected by their ideas. Dalrymple is simply brilliant, and though these true-life stories are harder to take than the Jerry Springer Show at times, I highly recommend this book, and intend to read more by him in the future.

The White Witch by Elizabeth Goudge was an interesting novel. I can't say I really liked it, but I found it interesting, and I had no trouble finishing it. Like the only other book I've read by the author, The Dean's Watch, Goudge represents a charming picture of common folk in the England of her time period: here, the English Civil War. Not knowing much about this time period (sorry to acknowledge my own ignorance here), I found her obvious siding with the Royalists and hatred for the Puritans a bit irritating, particularly because she feigned an author's unprejudiced stance. But being ignorant of the time period, perhaps the Puritans of that time were truly arrogant, ungodly and harsh. I am predisposed to question this, based on my own reading of the Puritans from this time period (the second half of the 1600's). So, while the story and the characters were interesting and well-drawn, I remained a bit aloof and ambivalent to the end. It did whet my appetite to do some historical reading about that time period. Any one have some good suggestions for me?

The fallacy of "Stained-Glass saints"

This morning I ran across this excellent little meditation by John Mac Arthur at Pulpit Magazine. It hit home for me, and encouraged me. How about you? Here is just a sampling for you:

Do you ever become discouraged and disheartened when your spiritual life and witness suffer because of personal sin or failure? We tend to think we’re worthless nobodies—and left to ourselves, that would be true! But be encouraged—worthless nobodies are just the kind of people God uses. If you think about it, that’s all He has to work with!

But have you ever stopped to consider why that’s true? Listen to this: God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there’s never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world. It’s not the man; it’s the truth of God and the power of God in the man. Next time you’re reading through the gospels or the book of Acts, take a few minutes to consider the work of God in the apostles. They were slow to believe, slow to understand, and had horrendous memories! Sound familiar?

Don’t worry—that is perfectly consistent with the way the Lord always works. 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 says, “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” That is the very reason there were no philosophers, no brilliant writers, no famous debaters, no distinguished teachers, and no men who had ever distinguished themselves as great orators among the twelve Christ chose. They became great spiritual leaders and great preachers under the power of the Holy Spirit, but it was not because of any innate oratorical skill, leadership abilities, or academic qualifications they had. Their influence is owing to one thing and one thing only: the power of the message they preached.

I Can't; He Will

I don't know if this is an anonymous internet item, or original with Dr. Grant, but this is a good reminder on busy and overwhelming days...

I Can't; He Will

You say: "All this seems impossible."
God's Word says: "All things are possible." (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I am just too tired."
God's Word says: "I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "I cannot go on."
God's Word says: "My grace is sufficient." (2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I do not know where to turn."
God's Word says: "I will direct your steps." (Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: "I cannot do it."
God's Word says: "You can do all things in Christ." (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I know I am not able."
God's Word says: "But I am able." (2 Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "I cannot see the purpose in all this."
God's Word says: "All things work together for good." (Roman 8:28)

You say: "I simply cannot manage"
God's Word says: "I will supply all your needs" (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I am fretful, fearful, and unsettled."
God's Word says: "I have not given you a spirit of fear." (2 Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I am worried and frustrated."
God's Word says: "Cast all your cares on me." (1 Peter 5:7)

You say: "I cannot figure all this out."
God's Word says: "I will give you wisdom." (1 Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel that I am all alone."
God's Word says: "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

Some thoughts from Turkey

A couple of springs ago, my ds, Ben, traveled to Turkey. He spent 3 weeks or so traveling the length and breadth of its wonders, and it all resulted in some interesting and beautiful pictures and poetry. I thought it would be fun to post some here. Enjoy!










Anzac Cove, Gallipoli

Here,
beneath the mud
and soggy turf and
in the spring
flowers between the stones--
here rest
two hundred and fifty men
and boys
(Private, seventeen
dedicated by his beloved mother
the Lord hath given
the Lord hath taken away)
two hundred and fifty
laid down to rest,
bloodied after a short run
up a hostile hill
that did nothing for them
or for their purpose, in the end.
(Trooper, twenty-one
glad to live
gladly died, nobly
for a noble cause)
Two hundred and fifty,
a mere fraction of
the shattered sweethearts
and mourning mothers
(This Muslim soldier
lies here in honor,
facing souteast,
sideways to the rest)
the rest are elsewhere.
Here, though,
they sleep in the bosom of a now-friendly
land, covered over with
its mud and in the spring
its drooping flowers.

Monuments

1. Hattushas Dreams

Stone;
a memory in
and of
stone. Here
there is a king
strutting costumed,
attended, among the many
accustomed gods. Here
soldiers with crooked
swords,
pointed hats; stone
a memory of stone.
A mournfully worn
lion guards a long-
dry fountain.
The mountain has long
overgrown and eroded
the fortress
(well-positioned, long-
held by the king's
fathers) and
the straight walls
in disarray--
a jumble of overthrown stone.
The king and his soldiers:
the dry lion stares with shallow
eyes on their ruin
and remembers.

2. Antiochus Crumbling

The sun is high,
casting short shadows
from tall stone columns, topped
with crumbling eagles,
the helpless, ineffectual
watchers over the grave
of the wife of the king.
The heads of the gods
are broken, set
in a row before the feet
of the shattered king
on the broken head of Nemrut,
Tons of broken rock
have protected his corpse
better that curse or eagle
or lion, tons of rock
slowly shifting downward
to bury and crush the gods.
The sun sets slowly,
blood-red rays
painting the un-bodified profile
of the proud ruler, the human god
whose death the mountain pictures,
the sun setting over
the broken temple of
a god turned to dust.

3. Underground City

Stifled ancient whispers
held with the smoke-residue
in the soft rock
softly sigh half-memories.
Dark, dusty storerooms
(empty now)
seem still to wait
for the time of trouble,
when once again
the fathers bring their
wives and prayers and children
into the cool safe of the dark.
Fifteen hundred years and
carved low halls
slowly crack underground.
On both hands
dark empty passages
stare dimly,
dimly whisper sighs
of dull un-echoed footfalls
and prayers for safety
made in the dark.
The liturgy of time
had worn the cross
from the domed recess
behind the crumbling
altar, but the imagination of scholars
has carved a new one.

Sabbath Sentiments

I thought I might try to give a great quote or snippet of great preaching, or other appropriate posting on the Lord's Day, or at least on those Lord's Days that allow me the leisure of posting. Today I bring you some excellent John Piper via YouTube.

Quilting

I love quilting. I love fabric. I love color and design. I am not very good at it, but I am slowly improving over time. It is a relaxing, creative outlet for me! After twenty-some years of quilting a variety of things and giving them away, I am finally going to try to start recording my creations.

Here are two of my most recent projects: first, a queen size quilt entitled "Florentine Famulus" which was made for Ben and Elsa's wedding:

And here is my most recent, just completed last night. It is entitled "Bobby on a Fence", and was made for my DDILTB, Nikki. She'll be celebrating her birthday in just a few weeks, and this will be going with her tomorrow to Canada.

If you would like to see some more of my projects (at least the ones that are still around here) you can look in my Quilt Gallery. I love to plan and piece, and am slowing with the sandwiching and piecing, so I have a lot of UFO's (UnFinished Objects). Maybe this will help motivate me to finish some!

LAPD

This morning I enjoyed the following list of top 10 science based predictions that didn't come true. (Thanks to T.C. for posting a link!) Living in a science community as I do (the national laboratory town of Los Alamos, NM), surrounded by amazing scientists, I am constantly amazed myself at how our culture has imbued prophetic proportions to the predictions of men, even when they are proved wrong over and over again. I am not against scientific discovery and argument, which is often of necessity a trial-and-error method, and but against the presumptuous attitude that all knowledge must be scientific knowledge, or it is no knowledge at all, or it is at the least vastly inferior to scientific knowledge. Our culture has made idols of these things.

I really shouldn't place all the blame on our culture: some of the blame for this rests with the scientists themselves, of course. I am a happy member of a small, conservative church, where all 5 elders are PhD scientists in physics or chemistry or engineering. Hard to get more technically-bound than that! (Even the deacons are all scientists or engineers.) Each of these "doctors" went through a rigorous academic system that taught them to think carefully, analyze thoroughly, make sure conclusions, and defend them. Now, you want these guys on your side when the denomination is studying an issue like nuclear proliferation. But try getting ceiling fans installed by this group of men! Now, don't get me wrong: they are godly and humble fellows, and I love them one and all, but in order to install ceiling fans to move around the warm air in the summer, we had to calculate the max air flow rates in our space, determine the optimal amount of air flow that causes the sensation of cooling on a body, determine the size and noise-tolerance level needed, and then install one to experiment with the actual results. It took years. They have been trained to be skeptics and once they make a decision to stand by it. You can hardly expect them to leave this training aside in their every day lives.

I love this quirky town, and my quirky church. These men, my elders, many of them noted scientists in their fields, have learned to humble themselves before the creator of the universe, but they were built by that same God to be scientific sorts. Where else can you walk into a sanctuary after worship and find groups of men and children dispersed around the sanctuary doing an acoustics experiment, or overhear an actual conversation between two ruling elders over the barbecue grill about the difference in the mean density of hamburger versus steak, and how one would calculate the corresponding difference in cooking times? I have a friend here who describes these phenomena as "LAPD", which stands for "Los Alamos Personality Disorder." You can take the man out of the laboratory, but you can't take the scientist out of the man!

A day that will live in infamy...

No, I am not talking about December 7th, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and 2,403 men, women and children were killed, and another 1,178 were injured. I am talking about a day that began a process which has taken more than 46,000,000 lives over the last 35 years. I am talking about a day that a supreme court decision was rendered that will be remembered and judged in the same class as the infamous Dred Scott decision, which ruled that people with black skin were sub-human, and undeserving of their rights. I am, of course, referring to the Roe v. Wade decision, which put our country in the business of legalized homicide, largely for convenience and to escape the consequences of our actions. Today is a day of mourning.

Tolkien reads Tolkien

Again thanks to Dr. G. for his fine research into the archives of YouTube.

Vigen Guroian on the Virtues

“When the moral imagination is wakeful, the virtues come to life, filled with personal and existential as well as social significance. The virtues needn't be the dry and lifeless data of moral theories or the ethical version of hygienic rules in health science classes; they can take on a life that attracts and awakens the desire to own them for oneself. We need desperately to adopt forms of moral pedagogy that are faithful to the ancient and true vocation of the teacher -- to make persons into mature and whole human beings, able to stand face to face with the truth about themselves and others, while desiring to correct their faults and to emulate goodness and truth wherever it is found. We need to take greater advantage of the power in stories to humanize the young . . . .”

~Vigen Guroian, Tending the Heart of Virtue

The Inimitable G. K. Chesterton

...With many thanks to Dr. G., whose blog post put me onto this video.

Theodore Dalrymple on the Rush to Nonjudgmentalism

"Apologists for nonjudgmentalism point, above all, to its supposed quality of compassion. A man who judges others will sometimes condemn them and therefore deny them aid and assistance, where as the man who refuses to judge excludes no one from his all-embracing compassion. He never asks where his fellow man’s suffering comes from, whether it be self-inflicted or no: for whatever its source, he sympathizes with it and succors the sufferer…

"If the doctor has a duty to relieve the suffering of his patients, he must have some idea where that suffering comes from, and this involves the retention of judgment, including moral judgment. And if, as far as he can tell in good faith, the misery of his patients derives from the way they live, he has a duty to tell them so—which often involves a more or less explicit condemnation of their way of life as completely incompatible with a satisfying existence. By avoiding the issue, the doctor is not being kind to his patients; he is being cowardly. Moreover, by refusing to place the onus on the patients to improve their lot, he is likely to mislead them into supposing that he has purely technical or pharmacological answer to their problems, thus helping to perpetuate them…

"Experience has taught me that it is wrong and cruel to suspend judgment, that nonjudgmentalism is at best indifference to the suffering of others, at worst a disguised form of sadism. How can one respect people as members of the human race unless one holds them to a standard of conduct and thruthfulness? How can people learn from experience unless they are told that they can and should change? On doesn’t demand of laboratory mice that they do better: but man is not a mouse, and I can think no more contemptuous way of treating people than to ascribe to them no more responsibility than such mice.

"In any case, nonjudgmentalism is not really nonjudgmental. It is the judgment that, in the words of a bitter Argentinean tango, “todo we igual, nada es major”: everything is the same, nothing is better. This is as barbaric and untruthful a doctrine as has yet emerged from the fertile mind of man.”

~Theodore Dalrymple, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass

Movie Musings

A few notes on movies recently viewed:
Tim and my dad talked me into seeing I Am Legend staring Will Smith. This type of thriller/horror movie is not usually my cup of tea, and had I known more about the short story it is based on before I saw the film, I likely would not have been persuaded... However, go we did, and while it was intense and frightening, it was also remarkably redemptive, from the glimpse of a praying family on the edge of disaster, to real self-sacrifice, to hope. If you think you can take a post-apocalyptic zombie-vampire thriller, I recommend this one.



We also recently viewed the film Joyeux Noel. Even though this is a grossly Hollywood-ized version of the truth, it is an interesting and moving story. While the music element may not have happened in actual fact, and may be a sort of curtsy to art as a god in itself, it still made for a good story. The actors did a good job here, with the possible exception of the tenor, who didn't act well and who i thought had a less-than-stellar voice. However, the movie is worth it to hear the voice-over for Diane Kruger done by one of my favorite sopranos, Natalie Dessay. (And if you want further proof of her amazing talent, look here or here.) One warning: this film is rated PG-13, but I was a little shocked at the content of one scene between two lovers, and later read that it had originally received an R rating, that was changed after Roger Ebert and others complained and campaigned for a change. So take keep that in mind before viewing.

I enjoyed National Treasure 2: you just have to leave your knowledge of history and any worry about implausibility at the door. The acting was excellent, and it was just fun.

If you are looking for light, fluffy, dependable and fun, try this OLD Hepburn/Grant film. Holiday was pleasant to view in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate.




The Iranian film, Children of Heaven, was an interesting film well worth viewing. It is a simple, but inspiring story, and a glimpse of life in what must be a depressing segment of Iranian society. Its characters are engaging, and it was an affirmation that life is a precious thing even in precarious places, and little things make a big difference.

And lastly, here's one to avoid. Even Johnny Depp couldn't save this latest sequel to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie for me. Too weird, too many thin and implausible story lines, and nothing much good to say about it.

More about marriage

Weddings are on my mind a lot currently. This is, of course, partly because my family is busy with weddings-- my eldest son was married in December, and will be followed by my youngest next September, Lord willing. Additionally, many of their friends are getting married. It seems we barely got over the graduation rush, when we couldn't physically get to all the celebrations of graduates, and now we are in a wedding rush as our children, and friends' children, and children's friends are, many of them, marrying. And with weddings come showers, and with showers come devotionals. Below is another wedding devotional I gave: this one on the topic of faithfulness. May God make us faithful to Himself, and to our spouses!

Faithfulness

I thought we would open up our time with God’s Word to us in Proverbs Chapter 3, verse 3. This short verse is in a familiar passage that many of us have known since childhood, or have taught to our children as they have grown.
³Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

This verse starts with a command: let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. So let’s look briefly at this command with special emphasis on how we can be faithful and steadfast to our husbands as a reflection of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to us.

This Scripture isn’t just talking about some random idea of steadfast love or faithfulness. These refer to God’s attributes: His character of steadfast love and His faithfulness.

His steadfast love is His deciding to place His affection on something and causing His affection to remain for eternity. It is His mercy to us in promising to love us, though we don’t deserve it. There will likely be times, as hard as it is to imagine before we marry, when we will feel like our husband doesn’t deserve our love and service. In those times, you must remember God’s love to you, and your lack of deserving it, and then you can make the decision to love that man for God’s sake, and for the sake of God’s steadfast love for you.

And God’s faithfulness reflects the changeableness of that steadfast love. It is God’s truthful performing of what He has promised. God’s faithfulness doesn’t have to do with feelings: it has to do with commitment. There will likely be times when you are weary or hurt, and your emotions will tell you to give up or flee the situation. That is when you are called on to reflect God’s faithfulness to your husband, and remain faithful to your promises as God has been faithful to you.

Our job as wives, then, is not to “invent” love and faithfulness, but to reflect God’s love and faithfulness to us into our relationships with Him and with our husbands. As the moon reflects the light of the sun, we need to reflect the steadfastness and faithfulness that God shines upon us.

But how do we, mere creatures that are sinful and fallen, reflect the Creator’s attributes of steadfast love and faithfulness? How do we practically do this? We begin by having integrity in our promises regarding where we place our affections: primarily we have integrity in our love for God, always keeping our relationship to Him our top priority. And our love for our husbands comes next in God’s hierarchy. But how are we supposed to keep love and faithfulness from leaving us? Proverbs 3:3 tells us how.

• First, we are to “bind them on our neck”: that means to adorn ourselves outwardly with them. This refers to the realm of our actions and our words. It means looking for ways as wives to affirm and respect and serve our husbands, instead of criticizing and tearing them down. It means guarding him in our words to others, and supporting him.
• Secondly, we are to “write them on the tablet of our hearts”: this is talking about inwardly guarding our motives, thoughts and emotions. Being faithful inwardly to our husband means always giving him the benefit of the doubt rather than jumping to the worst possible conclusions, or even sometimes the most likely conclusion! Inward faithfulness requires us to guard the way we think about our husbands, always remembering that God thinks on us with love and kindness even when we least deserve it. It means telling ourselves the truth when our emotions would run away with us and indulge us in self-pity.

I know that as a young couple you have already seen abundant evidence of God’s faithfulness in your life, and in your relationship. And now I pray for you, that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness would be reflected in your relationship first with the Lord, who is both the author of steadfast love and faithfulness, and the author of the good work He has begun in you. And secondly, that His steadfast love and faithfulness would be reflected from your heart, where it was received from our Great God, into your relationship, that you may bless Caleb as the Lord has blessed you, and reflect in your marriage that integrity of steadfast love and faithfulness that has been God’s gift to you.

Winter Reading Challenge Update #2

I completed my Tolstoy tome. It was interesting...

The story of Resurrection revolves around a rich Russian prince who seduces a young serving girl, beginning a cycle of abandonment and despair for the young woman. The moment of irony comes when the Prince is placed on a jury trying this woman for a crime she didn't commit, and the prince faces the results his past actions have brought about. Long narratives detailing the squalor, injustice and cruelty of the Russian legal and penal systems ensue. Some of these passages reminded me of Dickens's Bleak House, but without any of those Dickensian characters which make the despair bearable. As the prince follows the girl to Siberia, he searches his own soul and the heart of man, and finds both wanting. He experiences a kind of conversion experience, but far from being some orthodox religious experience, this is a man-centered Utopian endeavor which stands in stark contrast to Christianity. The tenets of this new "faith" are driven home rather mercilessly, and most particularly in a long passage where the prince reads the Sermon on the Mount, and interprets it for us as teaching a variety of things I have never found there. They include but are not limited to:

• Man must not only avoid murder, but must never be angry
• Man must avoid the enjoyment of the beauty of women
• Man must forgive any and all offenses and never refuse anything another asks of him

Additionally, the prince sees this passage as justification for doing away with the court and penal systems wholesale, and allowing men to live as brothers without committing cruelty in order to repress cruelty. There are so many practical and theological questions here, I won't even get started.

That aside, Tolstoy draws stark and often beautiful pictures, but this book tends towards the preachy a bit, and that with a Marxist/Hegelian type of slant. His political prisoners are all thoughtful, compassionate and correct Communists, and the pharisees running the courts and prisons are all Orthodox Church, upper-class and establishment. I also found myself with the nebulous feeling that I had when I read the translation of Les Miserables, that the language was likely beautiful in the original, but somehow just didn't translate well. I can't imagine Shakespeare, or even Dickens, would be the same in Russian...

I am glad I read the book, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. That is mostly because I found the ending disappointing, and the theology and politics irritating. Perhaps one is better off just going ahead and tackling War and Peace, and having done with it.