Cheaper by the Dozen
This past weekend I took in the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, with my good friend, Milly Vanilly. It was an enjoyable, not terribly deep, movie of life with a large family. Milly comes from a large family and I have a large family, so we had an advantage that most movie goers don't have -- we have lived this chaos.
I learned a long time ago that if you expect a movie version of a book to be faithful to the book, you are in for a big disappointment. Since I didn't have that expectation, I wasn't disappointed.
Several things struck me about this movie. Despite the fact that it was mostly a positive portrayal of life in a large family and the love and loyalty that family members experience for one another, the message that our society views children as largely an encumberance and annoyance to be endured in limited numbers came through loud and clear. Even the couple who had all the children sort of apologized for the fact that they had so many because they lost their head one night after a few too many beer, and a set of twins snuck by before the vasectomy took effect.
In this movie version Dad takes a demanding job in a prestigious coaching position with a college. Mom writes a book and has to promote it on a book tour leaving Dad to manage the house alone. Things were chaotic enough as it was, but with Dad in charge, it rapidly got worse. The main conflict of the story was the question, "Can they do it?" Could a mother of many have a career outside the home and still have a family to come home to? Was a father of many able to hold down a demanding job that required more than typical hours of his time and still be available to his children when needed? In the end, the answer was no. This is pretty realistic. In the end, they chose the less tangible rewards of family life over the approval of the world. (Sorry if I have spoiled the ending for anyone who is intending to see it.)
You really do need a different mind-set and values if you raise a lot of kids. My kids have taught me not to love things any more. This is because things constantly break or get broken. I don't think I have a single intact knick knack in this house. I used to be quite sentimental about my knick knacks and special dishes that may have been gifts to me. Well, I have learned to keep the sentiment that prompted the gift close to my heart even as I sweep up the remains of the gift. I endure clutter a bit better than I used to. I doubt I shall ever completely overcome the neatnick monster that lurks inside of me. It is merely waiting to leap out in all its glory once the last child leaves home. And even then, it will probably be only a modified and fore-shortened leap as I expect I shall have grandchildren all too willing to beat it back in.
In a roundabout way, this sort of reminds me of that puzzling verse in I Timothy 2:15:
"Nevertheless she [a woman] will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control."
Some scholars say that this should read, "THE childbearing" meaning it refers to Christ's incarnation. Others say that this means that women are saved in their duties as mothers. I think there is a sense in which both are correct.
Women are saved through the only Son who was born who was and is capable of saving them. But there is a real sense in which the trials, tribulations, and sheer mundane tasks of motherhood have a real way of working out our salvation with fear and trembling in the lives of mothers.
Babies, toddlers, children, and teens have a way of demanding attention and needing care that requires a great deal of self-sacrifice on the parts of mothers if they are to be met at all in a competent way. Women give up their bodies and endure many discomforts during the gestating period. Then there is the pain of labor and delivery, afterpains, breastfeeding discomforts, sleepless nights, teething, dirty diapers, potty training, temper tantrums and childhood illnesses to get through, followed by the awkward hormonal teen years when a challenge to authority is likely to happen. Just when you get them to a stage where they are actually competent enough to be of material help to you, they either decide they don't want to cooperate, or they flee the nest.
Some of the worst pain one endures as a mother has nothing to do with physical trials or lack of sleep. It comes from holding your breath as you watch a child you have loved, taught and prayed for teeter on the edge of moral ruin in the face of your warnings and tears.
Sounds pretty grim, doesn't it? No wonder most of the world doesn't think children are worth the pain.
These petty annoyances (and they are petty in the grand scheme of things) are the means that God uses to strip away the self-centered, naval gazing tendencies in the lives of women. If we react badly to these common occurances, it is only evidence that there is a lot of sanctification that still needs to take place in our lives. We have layer after layer of ego and sinful pride that needs to be ripped off us as painfully as Eustace shed his dragon skin in C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicle, and very often our children are the means that are used for doing this.
Being a mother is an exercise in humility. It is knowing that despite all the best that medicine has to offer, a child won't survive or get well unless the Great Physician intervenes. It is knowing that each time your children deliver papers on their paper routes could be their last time if they are hit by a careless driver. It is knowing that unless the means of grace are made effectual in their lives, our efforts were in vain. In short, we are completely helpless despite our best attempts and we are driven constantly to the throne of Grace to find mercy in times of need.
Saved in childbearing? You betcha.
Monday, February 02, 2004
Homely Arts
If you do a scan of the centuries, one of the things that sticks out is the fact that the vast majority of the major pieces of art work, admired by the world, are done by men. Sure there are a few outstanding novels or paintings here and there by women, but most of the world's best music, sculpture, books, paintings, etc., were executed by men.
Hmmmm.
It would be foolish to conclude from this that women are not very creative. One only has to visit a local crafts' fair or think back to some of the things our own mothers did in the home to know that women are not at all without creativity and talent. My own mother did beautiful tole painted tin ware and there is one wooden chest that she painted that I have long coveted (hint, hint, Mom) because of the beautiful picture that decorates it. Mom was and is also a wonderful cook. I learned to like food far too well because of her talents in that direction.
My maternal grandmother made beautiful quilts that are cherished by all her offspring and grandchildren. She also knitted and crocheted up a storm of wearable art work.
A lot of the artwork women engage in belongs to the realm of the transient. It tends to be not only beautiful, but also practical and meant for using. Thus, it gets used up and passes out of existence. Most of it graces our walls, beds, sofas, and backs, but few of them make it into art museums. And so our art forms are more temporal in nature than that produced by men.
Or is it?
Though women may not make a splash in the arts' world of time and men, there is one piece of work that many of them are called to that is eternal in nature. God has given to women the awesome and holy task of being the vessels for His "knitting."
I probably won't be remembered after I am gone for my quilting, crocheting, or calligraphy. But by God's grace, when He makes up His jewels, I hope to have contributed a few to the number through my childbearing.
Little children, little children
Who love the Redeemer
Are the jewels, precious jewels
His loved and His Own
Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.
If you do a scan of the centuries, one of the things that sticks out is the fact that the vast majority of the major pieces of art work, admired by the world, are done by men. Sure there are a few outstanding novels or paintings here and there by women, but most of the world's best music, sculpture, books, paintings, etc., were executed by men.
Hmmmm.
It would be foolish to conclude from this that women are not very creative. One only has to visit a local crafts' fair or think back to some of the things our own mothers did in the home to know that women are not at all without creativity and talent. My own mother did beautiful tole painted tin ware and there is one wooden chest that she painted that I have long coveted (hint, hint, Mom) because of the beautiful picture that decorates it. Mom was and is also a wonderful cook. I learned to like food far too well because of her talents in that direction.
My maternal grandmother made beautiful quilts that are cherished by all her offspring and grandchildren. She also knitted and crocheted up a storm of wearable art work.
A lot of the artwork women engage in belongs to the realm of the transient. It tends to be not only beautiful, but also practical and meant for using. Thus, it gets used up and passes out of existence. Most of it graces our walls, beds, sofas, and backs, but few of them make it into art museums. And so our art forms are more temporal in nature than that produced by men.
Or is it?
Though women may not make a splash in the arts' world of time and men, there is one piece of work that many of them are called to that is eternal in nature. God has given to women the awesome and holy task of being the vessels for His "knitting."
I probably won't be remembered after I am gone for my quilting, crocheting, or calligraphy. But by God's grace, when He makes up His jewels, I hope to have contributed a few to the number through my childbearing.
Little children, little children
Who love the Redeemer
Are the jewels, precious jewels
His loved and His Own
Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Mind Over Matter
The following linked article supports other things that I have read in favor of the "placebo effect." I have often wondered why medicine hasn't tried to actually harness the power of the placebo effect before now, since it works so well for so many.
This article certainly seems to support the Biblical teaching about life and death being in the power of the tongue, and about joyful hearts being good medicine.
Mind over matter
By Kate Rew
Positive thought can be as effective as drugs in beating disease, studies show
PREVENTIVE medicine may soon mean more than just monitoring your vegetable intake and exercise levels, and include how many negative thoughts go through your head in a day.
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that a patient’s beliefs and hopes affect their prognosis. “One of the major contributors to maintaining health and removing disease is the attitude of the patient,” says Professor Oakley Ray, a psychologist from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. He reviewed 100 years of research on psychology and disease for a paper published in American Psychologist, and concluded that “words can have the same effect as drugs: thinking optimistically can change your whole biology”.
Ray quotes a wide range of evidence, including various studies linking mindset to heart disease: one such study, by Professor Laura Kubzansky, from the Harvard School of Public Health, established that optimism lowers the risk of heart disease in older men, while pessimism and hopelessness increase it. “There is strong evidence that patients with heart disease who feel hopeless about their condition do worse,” says Professor Alan Steptoe, a psychologist at University College London, “but whether this attitude can be changed is still an open question.” Indeed, large randomised trials have shown that the use of drug therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy to treat depression in heart-disease patients has failed to improve survival in the depressed group.
Ray — who has survived lymphoma against the odds — would have optimism inculcated in schools, so that no one faces illness with a “woe is me” attitude or has to shift years of ingrained negative thinking in response to an illness. He would also have teaching hospitals spend as much time on human relations as on neuroanatomy. Graham Archard, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, says that while this would make no difference to the way GPs treat patients, “a positive attitude of ‘I’m going to get better’ can affect prognosis”. People who give up don’t do so well or live so long, while some people who do everything can defy serious illness.
“This is why counselling and complementary therapies can be so good, and why GPs will suggest books and courses on relaxation and stress management. However, ten minutes per patient doesn’t give GPs much time to harness this response. In an ideal world we would double appointment times so GPs could address the biopsychosocial aspects of disease and how people could help themselves.”
Not all the evidence that Ray cites is of equal quality. “There are some good studies alongside bad studies in his paper,” says Professor Amanda Ramirez, who runs the Cancer Research UK psychosocial research programme at King’s College London. “The idea that ‘fighting spirit’ is important in cancer prognosis has, for instance, been discredited.”
“Furthermore, current best studies don’t support any link between stress and cancer. We can say with increasing confidence that there is no evidence that cancer is a response to your psyche.”
She adds that it’s important to remember that if you are ill, it’s only natural not to feel positive about it straight away. “There is a process you have to go through, and you may need to talk and cry and get depressed first. This is entirely normal and appropriate. What we’re worried about is people who go down and stay down, or people who don’t go down at all — that sort of positivity is so brittle that it’s likely to come unstuck.”
The following linked article supports other things that I have read in favor of the "placebo effect." I have often wondered why medicine hasn't tried to actually harness the power of the placebo effect before now, since it works so well for so many.
This article certainly seems to support the Biblical teaching about life and death being in the power of the tongue, and about joyful hearts being good medicine.
Mind over matter
By Kate Rew
Positive thought can be as effective as drugs in beating disease, studies show
PREVENTIVE medicine may soon mean more than just monitoring your vegetable intake and exercise levels, and include how many negative thoughts go through your head in a day.
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that a patient’s beliefs and hopes affect their prognosis. “One of the major contributors to maintaining health and removing disease is the attitude of the patient,” says Professor Oakley Ray, a psychologist from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. He reviewed 100 years of research on psychology and disease for a paper published in American Psychologist, and concluded that “words can have the same effect as drugs: thinking optimistically can change your whole biology”.
Ray quotes a wide range of evidence, including various studies linking mindset to heart disease: one such study, by Professor Laura Kubzansky, from the Harvard School of Public Health, established that optimism lowers the risk of heart disease in older men, while pessimism and hopelessness increase it. “There is strong evidence that patients with heart disease who feel hopeless about their condition do worse,” says Professor Alan Steptoe, a psychologist at University College London, “but whether this attitude can be changed is still an open question.” Indeed, large randomised trials have shown that the use of drug therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy to treat depression in heart-disease patients has failed to improve survival in the depressed group.
Ray — who has survived lymphoma against the odds — would have optimism inculcated in schools, so that no one faces illness with a “woe is me” attitude or has to shift years of ingrained negative thinking in response to an illness. He would also have teaching hospitals spend as much time on human relations as on neuroanatomy. Graham Archard, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, says that while this would make no difference to the way GPs treat patients, “a positive attitude of ‘I’m going to get better’ can affect prognosis”. People who give up don’t do so well or live so long, while some people who do everything can defy serious illness.
“This is why counselling and complementary therapies can be so good, and why GPs will suggest books and courses on relaxation and stress management. However, ten minutes per patient doesn’t give GPs much time to harness this response. In an ideal world we would double appointment times so GPs could address the biopsychosocial aspects of disease and how people could help themselves.”
Not all the evidence that Ray cites is of equal quality. “There are some good studies alongside bad studies in his paper,” says Professor Amanda Ramirez, who runs the Cancer Research UK psychosocial research programme at King’s College London. “The idea that ‘fighting spirit’ is important in cancer prognosis has, for instance, been discredited.”
“Furthermore, current best studies don’t support any link between stress and cancer. We can say with increasing confidence that there is no evidence that cancer is a response to your psyche.”
She adds that it’s important to remember that if you are ill, it’s only natural not to feel positive about it straight away. “There is a process you have to go through, and you may need to talk and cry and get depressed first. This is entirely normal and appropriate. What we’re worried about is people who go down and stay down, or people who don’t go down at all — that sort of positivity is so brittle that it’s likely to come unstuck.”
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Advice for Young Maidens
Early Thoughts on Marriage
by Nathaniel Cotton (1705-1788)
Those awful words 'Til death do part'
May well alarm the youthful heart:
No after-thought when once a wife;
The die is cast, and cast for life;
Yet thousands venture every day
As some base passion leads the way.
Pert Sylvia talks of wedlock-scenes,
Though hardly entered on her teens;
Smiles on her whining spark, and hears
The sugared speech with raptured ears;
Impatient of a parent's rule,
She leaves her sire, and weds a fool;
Want enters at the guardless door,
And Love is fled, to come no more.
Attend, my fair, to wisdom's voice,
A better fate shall crown thy choice.
A married life, to speak the best,
Is all a lottery contest:
Yet if my fair-one will be wise,
I will ensure my girl a prize;
Though not a prize to match thy worth,
Perhaps thy equal's not on earth.
'Tis an important point to know,
There's no perfection here below.
Man's an odd compound after all,
And ever has been since the Fall.
Say, that he loves you from his soul,
Still man is proud, nor brooks control.
And though a slave in love's soft school,
In wedlock claims his right to rule.
The best, in short, has faults about him,
If few those faults, you must not flout him.
Early Thoughts on Marriage
by Nathaniel Cotton (1705-1788)
Those awful words 'Til death do part'
May well alarm the youthful heart:
No after-thought when once a wife;
The die is cast, and cast for life;
Yet thousands venture every day
As some base passion leads the way.
Pert Sylvia talks of wedlock-scenes,
Though hardly entered on her teens;
Smiles on her whining spark, and hears
The sugared speech with raptured ears;
Impatient of a parent's rule,
She leaves her sire, and weds a fool;
Want enters at the guardless door,
And Love is fled, to come no more.
Attend, my fair, to wisdom's voice,
A better fate shall crown thy choice.
A married life, to speak the best,
Is all a lottery contest:
Yet if my fair-one will be wise,
I will ensure my girl a prize;
Though not a prize to match thy worth,
Perhaps thy equal's not on earth.
'Tis an important point to know,
There's no perfection here below.
Man's an odd compound after all,
And ever has been since the Fall.
Say, that he loves you from his soul,
Still man is proud, nor brooks control.
And though a slave in love's soft school,
In wedlock claims his right to rule.
The best, in short, has faults about him,
If few those faults, you must not flout him.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Tribute to a Queen Amongst Friends
My Friend
by Vida I. Poutz
"This is my friend," I heard her say,
And in her voice I heard
A certain something then relay
That friend is no small word.
It seemd to pack a sort of pride;
She wanted all to know
She had someone to stand beside,
Someone in time of woe.
I heard her say, "This is my friend,"
And that encompassed all --
Someone on whom you can depend
To answer any call,
A certain sort of bond that held
Through trouble and through strife,
Two common spirits closely bound
In friendship all through life.
Deep inside a glow began
And spread to warm my heart --
A feeling of deep gratitude
For making me a part.
When she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew she meant it too,
For in my heart she'd always held
A space reserved for few.
Through the years true friends are made;
You cannot beg or buy one.
But life has ways of sorting out,
And life has tricks to try one.
As I look back, she always rose
Far up above the rest,
And when she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew I'd stood the test.
My Friend
by Vida I. Poutz
"This is my friend," I heard her say,
And in her voice I heard
A certain something then relay
That friend is no small word.
It seemd to pack a sort of pride;
She wanted all to know
She had someone to stand beside,
Someone in time of woe.
I heard her say, "This is my friend,"
And that encompassed all --
Someone on whom you can depend
To answer any call,
A certain sort of bond that held
Through trouble and through strife,
Two common spirits closely bound
In friendship all through life.
Deep inside a glow began
And spread to warm my heart --
A feeling of deep gratitude
For making me a part.
When she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew she meant it too,
For in my heart she'd always held
A space reserved for few.
Through the years true friends are made;
You cannot beg or buy one.
But life has ways of sorting out,
And life has tricks to try one.
As I look back, she always rose
Far up above the rest,
And when she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew I'd stood the test.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Permission to Rest
I think one of the hardest things that I and many other mothers have to do is give ourselves permission to rest when we aren't feeling well. And it gets even harder to do if you happen to be a homeschool mother. Demons of guilt arise to torment one's self over dishes not done, too much PBS Kids while mom is comatose on the couch, chores done sloppily or not at all if mom is not there to supervise, Laundry Mountain left unscaled, and not least, the lack of directed reading, writing, and 'rithmetic that is occuring.
Oh Demons..... SHUT UP!
I'm off to bed with a hot mug of lemon water to keep me company.
I think one of the hardest things that I and many other mothers have to do is give ourselves permission to rest when we aren't feeling well. And it gets even harder to do if you happen to be a homeschool mother. Demons of guilt arise to torment one's self over dishes not done, too much PBS Kids while mom is comatose on the couch, chores done sloppily or not at all if mom is not there to supervise, Laundry Mountain left unscaled, and not least, the lack of directed reading, writing, and 'rithmetic that is occuring.
Oh Demons..... SHUT UP!
I'm off to bed with a hot mug of lemon water to keep me company.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION
Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it. Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system! Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass, a green leafy vegetable and a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.
Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?
A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal or mineral, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your vegetables.
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good.
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you mad?! HELLO ..... Cocoa beans .. another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around! Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. Have a cookie..One more thing... When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt.
Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it. Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system! Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass, a green leafy vegetable and a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.
Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?
A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal or mineral, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your vegetables.
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good.
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you mad?! HELLO ..... Cocoa beans .. another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around! Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. Have a cookie..One more thing... When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Pet Peeve
One of my pet peeves is the dearth of qualified women midwives. One of the biggest reasons for this dearth is the way the medical community has tried to create a monopoly on the delivery of babies, restricting it where they can to allopathic medical doctors. Most of these doctors are men.
I have nothing against men, provided they are kept in their place. But I don't believe that place is in the labor and delivery rooms of our nation, unless they are the husbands of the women and fathers of the babies.
Giving birth is the culmination of the most intimate act between a man and a wife. Traditionally, birthing women were attended by other women; a midwife, their mother, aunts, cousins, sisters, etc. Birth was a normal family centered event, not the medical catastrophe waiting to happen that it now tends to be. Since birth was taken over by the medicos and moved to the hospital, the traditional support system that saw a new mother nurtured, supported and mothered into her new role by her experienced friends and relations has now been laid upon the shoulders of her husband (who, unless he is exceptional as a nurturer makes a poor substitute for the women) and a bunch of strangers she has never met before. Worse yet, her typically male doctor rushes in at the end to "deliver" her baby and then rushes off when the baby is successfully caught.
I could sound off on a lot of things that I have problems with in this scenario, but the one I want to focus on right now is the way a woman has to endure the experience of having herself exposed before another man other than her husband. Not a few women come out of the experience of a hospital/medical birth feeling, not empowered, but humiliated and exposed. I had seven hospital births in a variety of hospitals before finding a woman midwife and had to endure the embarrassment of this exposure. I had to try and ignore the maleness of my doctor and set up a kind of refuge from what was really happening in my mind, just to get through and get that baby in the end. What a contrast to the dignity and respect I was treated with by my midwife who understood the need and desire for modesty!
Birthing is an extraordinarily vulnerable time for a woman. She labors at one of the most eternally significant things she will ever do when she brings forth life. What a shame to expose her to shame and violation at this time!
If there are any guys reading this blog, I hope you take it to heart to seriously consider the merits of a woman attendant when it is time for your wife to give birth. Men should be one of the biggest cheerleaders for women attendants for this very reason, imho.
One of my pet peeves is the dearth of qualified women midwives. One of the biggest reasons for this dearth is the way the medical community has tried to create a monopoly on the delivery of babies, restricting it where they can to allopathic medical doctors. Most of these doctors are men.
I have nothing against men, provided they are kept in their place. But I don't believe that place is in the labor and delivery rooms of our nation, unless they are the husbands of the women and fathers of the babies.
Giving birth is the culmination of the most intimate act between a man and a wife. Traditionally, birthing women were attended by other women; a midwife, their mother, aunts, cousins, sisters, etc. Birth was a normal family centered event, not the medical catastrophe waiting to happen that it now tends to be. Since birth was taken over by the medicos and moved to the hospital, the traditional support system that saw a new mother nurtured, supported and mothered into her new role by her experienced friends and relations has now been laid upon the shoulders of her husband (who, unless he is exceptional as a nurturer makes a poor substitute for the women) and a bunch of strangers she has never met before. Worse yet, her typically male doctor rushes in at the end to "deliver" her baby and then rushes off when the baby is successfully caught.
I could sound off on a lot of things that I have problems with in this scenario, but the one I want to focus on right now is the way a woman has to endure the experience of having herself exposed before another man other than her husband. Not a few women come out of the experience of a hospital/medical birth feeling, not empowered, but humiliated and exposed. I had seven hospital births in a variety of hospitals before finding a woman midwife and had to endure the embarrassment of this exposure. I had to try and ignore the maleness of my doctor and set up a kind of refuge from what was really happening in my mind, just to get through and get that baby in the end. What a contrast to the dignity and respect I was treated with by my midwife who understood the need and desire for modesty!
Birthing is an extraordinarily vulnerable time for a woman. She labors at one of the most eternally significant things she will ever do when she brings forth life. What a shame to expose her to shame and violation at this time!
If there are any guys reading this blog, I hope you take it to heart to seriously consider the merits of a woman attendant when it is time for your wife to give birth. Men should be one of the biggest cheerleaders for women attendants for this very reason, imho.
Crazy Cat
I own a dainty little puss we called "Suki." She is part Siamese and has the blue eyes and seal point coloring, but also a white streak on her nose and a few white patches on her paws.
Yesterday I had a client come for a visit and one of the tasks at hand was to grind up some valerian root for her in my coffee grinder so that she could make capsules from it. Now I don't know if you are familiar with valerian root, but it is the herbal equivalent of say, Valium, but has none of the side effects, is non-toxic, and non-habit forming. It is a great tonic for the herbs and a wonderful sedative for those who suffer from insomnia. It is also exceedingly smelly.
How smelly is it? Smelly enough that Suki could smell it through the closed and locked office door. She was soon scratching at the door wanting in, but I thought she just wanted to be sociable. She came in and leapt up on my desk where we were working, so I shooed her back out the door. Very soon my client left and I returned to some work I was doing on the computer.
In front of my computer monitor is a small space where I had been working to encapsulate the powdered valerian root. I had done this on a piece of paper to minimize the amount of herb scattered about. Suki scratched and fussed at the door again, and since my client was gone, I let her in. She was immediately back up on my desk and to my amazement she started going wild -- licking the paper with the remains of valerian dust on it, rubbing herself in it and then biting, licking and scratching at it and anything else that happened to have valerian on it. If you have ever seen the wild gyrations of cats with catnip, then times it by a factor of 5 for increased wildness. I never knew that valerian held such attraction for cats.
After spending a good 15 minutes wrestling with the herbed paper and attacking various things in the office, Suki settled down at my feet and I forgot about her as I returned to my work. My husband arrived home a little later and found my cat laying at my feet in a very deep herb-induced sleep.
I own a dainty little puss we called "Suki." She is part Siamese and has the blue eyes and seal point coloring, but also a white streak on her nose and a few white patches on her paws.
Yesterday I had a client come for a visit and one of the tasks at hand was to grind up some valerian root for her in my coffee grinder so that she could make capsules from it. Now I don't know if you are familiar with valerian root, but it is the herbal equivalent of say, Valium, but has none of the side effects, is non-toxic, and non-habit forming. It is a great tonic for the herbs and a wonderful sedative for those who suffer from insomnia. It is also exceedingly smelly.
How smelly is it? Smelly enough that Suki could smell it through the closed and locked office door. She was soon scratching at the door wanting in, but I thought she just wanted to be sociable. She came in and leapt up on my desk where we were working, so I shooed her back out the door. Very soon my client left and I returned to some work I was doing on the computer.
In front of my computer monitor is a small space where I had been working to encapsulate the powdered valerian root. I had done this on a piece of paper to minimize the amount of herb scattered about. Suki scratched and fussed at the door again, and since my client was gone, I let her in. She was immediately back up on my desk and to my amazement she started going wild -- licking the paper with the remains of valerian dust on it, rubbing herself in it and then biting, licking and scratching at it and anything else that happened to have valerian on it. If you have ever seen the wild gyrations of cats with catnip, then times it by a factor of 5 for increased wildness. I never knew that valerian held such attraction for cats.
After spending a good 15 minutes wrestling with the herbed paper and attacking various things in the office, Suki settled down at my feet and I forgot about her as I returned to my work. My husband arrived home a little later and found my cat laying at my feet in a very deep herb-induced sleep.
Monday, January 19, 2004
Cain and Abel Syndrome
Fratricide is not limited to the human race. Apparently this result of the Fall is also seen with regularity in the lives of eagles. Golden eagles will typically lay two eggs each season. Two eggs are an insurance policy to make sure at least one of them hatches. If both hatch, the parents feed both of the fuzzy little chicks until they are strong enough to duke it out to the death. It doesn't take long, and they are still downy chicks when they attempt to kill off their nest-mate.
While this form of behavior is a natural one that occurs with great regularity, it is also one that causes a sense of revulsion. There is something exceedingly unnatural about members of the same species doing one another to death, whether it is siblings killing one another, or fathers eating their young, as is the case with some fish. We may accept that this is the way things are, but at the same time, there seems to be a universal feeling of "something is wrong with this picture."This sort of points back to what the Apostle Paul said when he declared that "creation was groaning and travailing."
It will be an exceedingly glad day for all of creation when all the sons of God are revealed and it is released from the futility to which it is now subjected.
Fratricide is not limited to the human race. Apparently this result of the Fall is also seen with regularity in the lives of eagles. Golden eagles will typically lay two eggs each season. Two eggs are an insurance policy to make sure at least one of them hatches. If both hatch, the parents feed both of the fuzzy little chicks until they are strong enough to duke it out to the death. It doesn't take long, and they are still downy chicks when they attempt to kill off their nest-mate.
While this form of behavior is a natural one that occurs with great regularity, it is also one that causes a sense of revulsion. There is something exceedingly unnatural about members of the same species doing one another to death, whether it is siblings killing one another, or fathers eating their young, as is the case with some fish. We may accept that this is the way things are, but at the same time, there seems to be a universal feeling of "something is wrong with this picture."This sort of points back to what the Apostle Paul said when he declared that "creation was groaning and travailing."
It will be an exceedingly glad day for all of creation when all the sons of God are revealed and it is released from the futility to which it is now subjected.
Dainty Doodle
Elodie, aka Dainty Doodle, aka Punkadunk, is growing up. She is still a petite little miss, smaller than average, yet strong and hale at 19 mos. But oh is she sweet!
The other day Bethany was massaging my ears for me (which is a cool way to stimulate the entire body through the acupuncture points in the ear) while I was nursing Elodie. In the middle of nursing, Elodie stops, clambers up to kneel in my lap and then reaches up both of her little arms to pull and tug on my ears too. Then she held her little face up to me for a kiss.
She is also a clever imitator who knows how to unload or load the dishwasher, turn on the VCR, make my computer do (ahem) interesting things, and wash dishes by hand in the sink, after dragging a bar stool over to sit upon.
It was pure mental agony carrying her for those 10 longs months, but I haven't regretted a day since she slipped into my hands and heart.
Elodie, aka Dainty Doodle, aka Punkadunk, is growing up. She is still a petite little miss, smaller than average, yet strong and hale at 19 mos. But oh is she sweet!
The other day Bethany was massaging my ears for me (which is a cool way to stimulate the entire body through the acupuncture points in the ear) while I was nursing Elodie. In the middle of nursing, Elodie stops, clambers up to kneel in my lap and then reaches up both of her little arms to pull and tug on my ears too. Then she held her little face up to me for a kiss.
She is also a clever imitator who knows how to unload or load the dishwasher, turn on the VCR, make my computer do (ahem) interesting things, and wash dishes by hand in the sink, after dragging a bar stool over to sit upon.
It was pure mental agony carrying her for those 10 longs months, but I haven't regretted a day since she slipped into my hands and heart.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Uh... Thanks, Chris
Congratulations! You're Gandalf!
Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Congratulations! You're Gandalf!
Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
The Indignation of Children
My kids can be awfully hard on one another, despite many warnings, admonitions, exhortations and disciplining. But let some outsider do damage to one of them and it is amazing to see how quickly they close ranks and turn on the outsider.
The outsider today was the two year old daughter of one of my clients. While she was being looked after by her grandmother in my living room, she turned on baby Elodie and bit her hard on the cheek -- hard enough to leave a prominent set of teeth marks. Elodie's heart-rending sobs brought all the siblings running and one and all looked darkly at the offender who was hauled off by her horrified mother to the metaphorical woodshed in our bathroom. I had the feeling that they would have loved to have been the ones to administer the discipline.
So while I am sad that Elodie's cheek is decorated with a ring of teeth marks, I am at the same time gratified to see that my children do love each other, and baby especially, to the point that they will stand up for and defend one another.
This reminds me of an incident from my childhood. My sister and I were at odds a lot of the time. There were only the two of us and I was the elder. Our relationship was not the closest or most loving, especially as my sister took great delight in provoking me to the point of madness and retaliation in self defense, whereupon she would run to mother with a tale of woe over what I had done to her. This usually meant a spanking or some other form of discipline for me. I didn't cherish loving thoughts towards her most of the time.
One time we were being babysat by an aunt by marriage in an old apartment complex. One of the children across the way was envious of my sister's long, luxurious black hair that hung to her waist, and in a fit of jealousy yanked a huge chunk of it out of her head and left a bald patch. My poor sister cried her eyes out in pain and humiliation, and I cried my eyes out with rage. I was only about 8 or so at the time, but I remember having murderous anger in my heart for the perpetrator. How dare she do that to my sister? I wanted to do the same to her. Good thing she was out of reach.
My kids can be awfully hard on one another, despite many warnings, admonitions, exhortations and disciplining. But let some outsider do damage to one of them and it is amazing to see how quickly they close ranks and turn on the outsider.
The outsider today was the two year old daughter of one of my clients. While she was being looked after by her grandmother in my living room, she turned on baby Elodie and bit her hard on the cheek -- hard enough to leave a prominent set of teeth marks. Elodie's heart-rending sobs brought all the siblings running and one and all looked darkly at the offender who was hauled off by her horrified mother to the metaphorical woodshed in our bathroom. I had the feeling that they would have loved to have been the ones to administer the discipline.
So while I am sad that Elodie's cheek is decorated with a ring of teeth marks, I am at the same time gratified to see that my children do love each other, and baby especially, to the point that they will stand up for and defend one another.
This reminds me of an incident from my childhood. My sister and I were at odds a lot of the time. There were only the two of us and I was the elder. Our relationship was not the closest or most loving, especially as my sister took great delight in provoking me to the point of madness and retaliation in self defense, whereupon she would run to mother with a tale of woe over what I had done to her. This usually meant a spanking or some other form of discipline for me. I didn't cherish loving thoughts towards her most of the time.
One time we were being babysat by an aunt by marriage in an old apartment complex. One of the children across the way was envious of my sister's long, luxurious black hair that hung to her waist, and in a fit of jealousy yanked a huge chunk of it out of her head and left a bald patch. My poor sister cried her eyes out in pain and humiliation, and I cried my eyes out with rage. I was only about 8 or so at the time, but I remember having murderous anger in my heart for the perpetrator. How dare she do that to my sister? I wanted to do the same to her. Good thing she was out of reach.
Birthday Grrrrl
I turned 43 three days ago. Not that long ago I read an article that said that men and women approach birthdays quite differently. For women, birthdays are seen as celebratory events; a time for socializing and connecting with their family, friends, and important people in their social life. Men, on the other hand, tend to look at birthdays as being days of reckoning, where they look at their goals and either pat themselves on the back for a job well done or are reminded of all the things that they didn’t accomplish and the goals they missed. One of the ways this difference is seen is reflected in the timing of death for men and women. Many elderly women die soon after their birthdays because making it to the birthday and having a time to celebrate is important to them. Men tend to die before their birthdays as a way of avoiding that day of reckoning. Or at least that was the thesis of the article that I read.
This birthday has been a combination of the above for me. First, the celebratory part. I had a very wonderful birthday this year and it was reflected in the care and attention that was devoted to me by my family. First of all, I received a nice card and gift from my parents on Friday. This brought a tear to my eye and a feeling of warmth around my heart when I read what my mom had to say. I also received a gift of a fridge magnet, a CD from a Christian musical artist, some beautifully fragrant soap and a candle made with healthy ingredients from Chris, a friend of Ben’s and a sort of adopted family member, and his mother. Now that was totally unexpected!
The next segment of birthday gifts could almost be titled, “Queen of the Day Meets Lord of the Rings.” My dear husband, Marc, spent a great deal of time over the preceeding weeks trying to track down some collectible LOTR action figures and the soundtracks to all three movies. Some of the children chipped in to help pay for them. Trista got me A Guide To Middle-Earth daily calendar with all kinds of interesting notes on the LOTR and other writings by Tolkein. Marc also bought me a DVD of a live concert of Great Big Sea to listen to and watch. Tamara bought me a makeup kit, Sam gave me a gym jacket, and Bethany got me some chocolate. Ben and Hannah made me a cake that was, um, interesting. [Note to self – INSIST on baking my own cake next year.] Marc took me out for a meal (Steak Neptune – yum!), and I had a two phone calls from my sister and my daughter Patricia , who phoned to wish me many happy returns.
After the children headed to bed, Marc, Nathanael and I watched a Johnny Depp movie, “Bennie and Joon.” I didn’t know who Johnny Depp was until I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean” recently. Now I have watched two other of his movies, “Edward Scissorhands” and the above mentioned and am beginning to recognize certain characteristic mannerisms that he brings to his work. He is very talented and I am looking forward to seeing more of his work.
Now for the reckoning part. The time of reckoning at my birthday is actually coincidental and the result of several books that I am working my way through. The first book is “The Sedona Method” by Hale Dwoskin, which I have quoted in other parts of my blog. There is a natural psychology that exists in the world separate from the nonsense one finds in a lot of the stuff taught in universities. I believe the Sedona Method taps into some of it. It is enabling me to see that I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels in emotions that don’t serve to get me where I need to go. So I am taking stock of my emotional life and sorting out the stuff that is holding me back from the success I desire and working on making corrections to the often irrational thoughts that keep those emotions rolling. In other words, I am learning to take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ in a more intense way.
Another book I am working through is called, Smart Women Finish Rich, by David Bach. Lest you think that this book is just about money grubbing, one of the first things you are asked to do is to set down what your values are. Once you do that, you are asked to look at your spending/saving/investing habits and see if they are supporting your values or negating them.
One of the things I was surprised to discover about myself is that despite whatever talents and abilities I seemingly have, and despite the fact that these things should tend towards success, I am actually afraid of success. I never really realized this before, but it goes a long way towards explaining all the great ideas that never get acted on, the unfinished projects, and the lack of progress in certain areas. It also explains a diffidence I feel whenever I am working with people, especially when it comes to getting paid for my services. It’s like despite the fact that I know I have done something to help them, I feel I don’t deserve to be reimbursed for my time or abilities. I also feel inhibited in selling my services to people or recommending products that have solid scientific, clinical studies and from which I have personally experienced and seen others derive benefit from.
Okay, now that I know what some of the problem is, what about some solutions? Well, not surprisingly, when I did a test for psychological reversal on the topic of being successful, I was reversed. I then did some EFT to help correct the problem and a later test seemed to indicate that I had successfully cleared that mental/emotional block. The acid test for seeing if I had cleared my “success diffidence” came last night when I was at the gym. I ran into a friend I haven’t seen for some time and got caught up on his family news. One of his daughters is having some health related problems and he is quite certain that much of the problem is being caused by the drugs that she was put on by the doctors. I was able to share with him some of what I am doing and suggested with confidence that I thought I could help his daughter with some of her challenges. He expressed great interest in what I had to say and assured me that I would be hearing from his wife concerning setting up an appointment for their daughter. Even if he never follows through, I am encouraged that I have had that much of a break through with myself. Prior to this my heart would have accelerated and my respiration would increase as I would have nearly a panic attack when recommending myself to someone. None of that occurred last night and I was able to discuss it calmly, rationally, and with conviction. I am thrilled in a calm sort of way.
I guess I’ll be keeping you all up-to-date on the kind of progress I will be making in the days ahead, both in slaying personal demons and in clearing out the internal noise pollution of “should, must, have to” that seems to accompany everything I do.
I turned 43 three days ago. Not that long ago I read an article that said that men and women approach birthdays quite differently. For women, birthdays are seen as celebratory events; a time for socializing and connecting with their family, friends, and important people in their social life. Men, on the other hand, tend to look at birthdays as being days of reckoning, where they look at their goals and either pat themselves on the back for a job well done or are reminded of all the things that they didn’t accomplish and the goals they missed. One of the ways this difference is seen is reflected in the timing of death for men and women. Many elderly women die soon after their birthdays because making it to the birthday and having a time to celebrate is important to them. Men tend to die before their birthdays as a way of avoiding that day of reckoning. Or at least that was the thesis of the article that I read.
This birthday has been a combination of the above for me. First, the celebratory part. I had a very wonderful birthday this year and it was reflected in the care and attention that was devoted to me by my family. First of all, I received a nice card and gift from my parents on Friday. This brought a tear to my eye and a feeling of warmth around my heart when I read what my mom had to say. I also received a gift of a fridge magnet, a CD from a Christian musical artist, some beautifully fragrant soap and a candle made with healthy ingredients from Chris, a friend of Ben’s and a sort of adopted family member, and his mother. Now that was totally unexpected!
The next segment of birthday gifts could almost be titled, “Queen of the Day Meets Lord of the Rings.” My dear husband, Marc, spent a great deal of time over the preceeding weeks trying to track down some collectible LOTR action figures and the soundtracks to all three movies. Some of the children chipped in to help pay for them. Trista got me A Guide To Middle-Earth daily calendar with all kinds of interesting notes on the LOTR and other writings by Tolkein. Marc also bought me a DVD of a live concert of Great Big Sea to listen to and watch. Tamara bought me a makeup kit, Sam gave me a gym jacket, and Bethany got me some chocolate. Ben and Hannah made me a cake that was, um, interesting. [Note to self – INSIST on baking my own cake next year.] Marc took me out for a meal (Steak Neptune – yum!), and I had a two phone calls from my sister and my daughter Patricia , who phoned to wish me many happy returns.
After the children headed to bed, Marc, Nathanael and I watched a Johnny Depp movie, “Bennie and Joon.” I didn’t know who Johnny Depp was until I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean” recently. Now I have watched two other of his movies, “Edward Scissorhands” and the above mentioned and am beginning to recognize certain characteristic mannerisms that he brings to his work. He is very talented and I am looking forward to seeing more of his work.
Now for the reckoning part. The time of reckoning at my birthday is actually coincidental and the result of several books that I am working my way through. The first book is “The Sedona Method” by Hale Dwoskin, which I have quoted in other parts of my blog. There is a natural psychology that exists in the world separate from the nonsense one finds in a lot of the stuff taught in universities. I believe the Sedona Method taps into some of it. It is enabling me to see that I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels in emotions that don’t serve to get me where I need to go. So I am taking stock of my emotional life and sorting out the stuff that is holding me back from the success I desire and working on making corrections to the often irrational thoughts that keep those emotions rolling. In other words, I am learning to take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ in a more intense way.
Another book I am working through is called, Smart Women Finish Rich, by David Bach. Lest you think that this book is just about money grubbing, one of the first things you are asked to do is to set down what your values are. Once you do that, you are asked to look at your spending/saving/investing habits and see if they are supporting your values or negating them.
One of the things I was surprised to discover about myself is that despite whatever talents and abilities I seemingly have, and despite the fact that these things should tend towards success, I am actually afraid of success. I never really realized this before, but it goes a long way towards explaining all the great ideas that never get acted on, the unfinished projects, and the lack of progress in certain areas. It also explains a diffidence I feel whenever I am working with people, especially when it comes to getting paid for my services. It’s like despite the fact that I know I have done something to help them, I feel I don’t deserve to be reimbursed for my time or abilities. I also feel inhibited in selling my services to people or recommending products that have solid scientific, clinical studies and from which I have personally experienced and seen others derive benefit from.
Okay, now that I know what some of the problem is, what about some solutions? Well, not surprisingly, when I did a test for psychological reversal on the topic of being successful, I was reversed. I then did some EFT to help correct the problem and a later test seemed to indicate that I had successfully cleared that mental/emotional block. The acid test for seeing if I had cleared my “success diffidence” came last night when I was at the gym. I ran into a friend I haven’t seen for some time and got caught up on his family news. One of his daughters is having some health related problems and he is quite certain that much of the problem is being caused by the drugs that she was put on by the doctors. I was able to share with him some of what I am doing and suggested with confidence that I thought I could help his daughter with some of her challenges. He expressed great interest in what I had to say and assured me that I would be hearing from his wife concerning setting up an appointment for their daughter. Even if he never follows through, I am encouraged that I have had that much of a break through with myself. Prior to this my heart would have accelerated and my respiration would increase as I would have nearly a panic attack when recommending myself to someone. None of that occurred last night and I was able to discuss it calmly, rationally, and with conviction. I am thrilled in a calm sort of way.
I guess I’ll be keeping you all up-to-date on the kind of progress I will be making in the days ahead, both in slaying personal demons and in clearing out the internal noise pollution of “should, must, have to” that seems to accompany everything I do.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Ahhhh!!!! THAW!!!!
After temperatures that dipped down to -35 before you factored in wind chill, todays daytime temperature of zero degrees celsius is postively balmy! The other day I foolishly tried to open the door on my van with a bare hand and it was so cold my fingers felt burned by it.
In the course of my lifetime, I have lived with oil heat, steam registers, electric baseboards and a wood furnace. When it gets this cold, nothing beats a wood furnace. The wood is not only cheaper, it also dries the air out which makes it feel warmer in the house. When we used to live in the Vancouver area, I could never feel warm in the winter when it was raining outside with the gas heat on because of the high humidity. It was bone-chilling,raw, dreary cold.
I also like not having to depend on the gas company for supply. Lots of people have found themselves stranded without heat or a way of cooking when their gas supply was cut off for whatever reason. Then there is the cost factor. If you use natural gas or electric to heat your home, you are captive to the rates charged by the supplier. This year we were able to get a lot of wood for nothing more than the price of the gas to haul it. The only thing it needed was sawing into the right lengths. We didn't even have to split it as it was the scrap unusable part cut off logs when they are sawed into boards. It was pre-split, so to speak.
I remember the clanking of the steam registers in the old converted farm house I was raised in, in Massachusetts. I am sure that I would consider them an unsightly though necessary evil if there were in my house now. My sister has them in her house and while they keep it warm, they are also great for catching dust. However, I loved being able to sit on them when especially cold, and they were also a great place for drying out wet mittens in the winter.
After temperatures that dipped down to -35 before you factored in wind chill, todays daytime temperature of zero degrees celsius is postively balmy! The other day I foolishly tried to open the door on my van with a bare hand and it was so cold my fingers felt burned by it.
In the course of my lifetime, I have lived with oil heat, steam registers, electric baseboards and a wood furnace. When it gets this cold, nothing beats a wood furnace. The wood is not only cheaper, it also dries the air out which makes it feel warmer in the house. When we used to live in the Vancouver area, I could never feel warm in the winter when it was raining outside with the gas heat on because of the high humidity. It was bone-chilling,raw, dreary cold.
I also like not having to depend on the gas company for supply. Lots of people have found themselves stranded without heat or a way of cooking when their gas supply was cut off for whatever reason. Then there is the cost factor. If you use natural gas or electric to heat your home, you are captive to the rates charged by the supplier. This year we were able to get a lot of wood for nothing more than the price of the gas to haul it. The only thing it needed was sawing into the right lengths. We didn't even have to split it as it was the scrap unusable part cut off logs when they are sawed into boards. It was pre-split, so to speak.
I remember the clanking of the steam registers in the old converted farm house I was raised in, in Massachusetts. I am sure that I would consider them an unsightly though necessary evil if there were in my house now. My sister has them in her house and while they keep it warm, they are also great for catching dust. However, I loved being able to sit on them when especially cold, and they were also a great place for drying out wet mittens in the winter.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Is "Public" Education Always Bad?
I frequently read arguments by homeschoolers that the education of children belongs to parents because God delegated authority to parents and therefore it is solely the responsibility of parents to do all the schooling. I read such an article today and it prompted me to ask the following questions:
1. Are parents ever allowed to delegate tasks and still be doing their job of seeing their children are educated?
2. Is the only godly way to educate children in the home, or are parents allowed to form cooperatives or hire tutors who take direction from them and are accountable to them for what is taught?
3. I wonder if the problem is not so much one of jurisdiction (though I do not for a moment believe that the state/federal/provincial governments have not overstepped their bounds and treat parents as providers of room and board for the State's children) as it is one of the schools being run by the prevailing religious establisment in our nations, which is blatantly anti-Christian? IOW, would we be objecting so hard if the established religion of the land was the reformed faith and our children were being taught all the subjects under the sun from this perspective? Is it the institution itself we object to or the establishment that runs it?
4. Were our fore-fathers and mothers in the Faith all sinning when they sent their children to schools that were based on the presupposition that the Christian faith was true?
5. I also have in mind the Reformers like Knox and Andrew Melville who did much to institute and reform the schools and universities and thereby paved the way for their nation to become literate in a much more efficient fashion, thereby spreading the effects of Reformation quickly. Was this inherently sinful on their part?
I pose these questions because for a long time I gave the very knee-jerk response that I see a lot of others in the Christian homeschool movement give -- that truly godly parents homeschool and that this is always and forever the only godly thing to do. Anything less than homeschool is a dereliction of duty by these parents. I also believed that "public" education *as an institution* was from the pit of hell. I now question that belief.
I should say that I am familiar with Martin Luther's comment on schools. This strikes me as falling into the category of being an argument from abuse. Schools *might* and have fallen into apostacy. But we might as well argue against the institution of marriage because some men might beat their wives. If you eliminate marriage, no wives are beaten. Eliminate schools and no children are corrupted.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, my children are not in public school and I have no intentions of putting them there. (I have been homeschooling for about 21 years now.) I guess where I am coming from with all this is that, optimistic historicistic postmillenialist that I am, I forsee a time when not only our civil magistrates kiss the Son, but also our other institutions will do so. In that case, I don't know that I would have a lot of objections to parents choosing to send their children to a school.
I frequently read arguments by homeschoolers that the education of children belongs to parents because God delegated authority to parents and therefore it is solely the responsibility of parents to do all the schooling. I read such an article today and it prompted me to ask the following questions:
1. Are parents ever allowed to delegate tasks and still be doing their job of seeing their children are educated?
2. Is the only godly way to educate children in the home, or are parents allowed to form cooperatives or hire tutors who take direction from them and are accountable to them for what is taught?
3. I wonder if the problem is not so much one of jurisdiction (though I do not for a moment believe that the state/federal/provincial governments have not overstepped their bounds and treat parents as providers of room and board for the State's children) as it is one of the schools being run by the prevailing religious establisment in our nations, which is blatantly anti-Christian? IOW, would we be objecting so hard if the established religion of the land was the reformed faith and our children were being taught all the subjects under the sun from this perspective? Is it the institution itself we object to or the establishment that runs it?
4. Were our fore-fathers and mothers in the Faith all sinning when they sent their children to schools that were based on the presupposition that the Christian faith was true?
5. I also have in mind the Reformers like Knox and Andrew Melville who did much to institute and reform the schools and universities and thereby paved the way for their nation to become literate in a much more efficient fashion, thereby spreading the effects of Reformation quickly. Was this inherently sinful on their part?
I pose these questions because for a long time I gave the very knee-jerk response that I see a lot of others in the Christian homeschool movement give -- that truly godly parents homeschool and that this is always and forever the only godly thing to do. Anything less than homeschool is a dereliction of duty by these parents. I also believed that "public" education *as an institution* was from the pit of hell. I now question that belief.
I should say that I am familiar with Martin Luther's comment on schools. This strikes me as falling into the category of being an argument from abuse. Schools *might* and have fallen into apostacy. But we might as well argue against the institution of marriage because some men might beat their wives. If you eliminate marriage, no wives are beaten. Eliminate schools and no children are corrupted.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, my children are not in public school and I have no intentions of putting them there. (I have been homeschooling for about 21 years now.) I guess where I am coming from with all this is that, optimistic historicistic postmillenialist that I am, I forsee a time when not only our civil magistrates kiss the Son, but also our other institutions will do so. In that case, I don't know that I would have a lot of objections to parents choosing to send their children to a school.
Monday, January 05, 2004
Friday, January 02, 2004
Musings on the RPW
We have just successfully gotten past another Ho Ho season and I would like to take this time to reflect upon something that, no doubt, some of you see as an obsession that I have. It has to do with the regulative principle of worship, or RPW for short. In the providence of God, chapter XXI of the Westminster Confession of Faith was the topic of discussion at our Bible study yesterday, and so these thoughts are offered as the result of the discussion and the meditation I have had on this topic.
When it comes to the second table of the 10 commandments, people can see pretty clearly why we should not steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, dishonor parents or covet. These are sins that directly impact us when they are practiced against us. Hence the adage to do as you would be done by is one that we naturally concur with (unless we happen to be the offender, in which case, we often try to build a case for why it is ok for us to sin in this particular instance).
When it comes to sins that are direct offenses against God, the case is not so clearly seen or felt. Bolts of lightening do not fall upon our hapless heads every time we worship false Gods, profane and corrupt true worship, take the Lord's Name in vain, or profane the Lord's Day. We often don't see a direct connection between a particular sin against God in the negative providences that are visited upon us.
The most hardened atheist amongst us will talk of things being either "good" or "evil", or will stand for what he thinks is "just" or "right." When he does this, he refers to a standard that exists outside of himself and with which he knows that the person he is speaking to also acknowledges. If that presupposition did not exist, all references to things being "good" or "evil" would be nonsense, or else nothing more than a statement of preference on the part of the speaker. An atheist couldn't talk about child abuse or puppy mutilation as being something truly evil, but rather something that he prefers didn't happen. But he doesn't. He thinks and acts in terms of the belief that there is a standard that determines what is right or wrong that others also recognize and thereby betrays the fact that he knows the truth about God, but is suppressing that truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18)
God's existence, and the rightness or wrongness of actions and thoughts is built into the human psyche and is inescapable. Only fools deny this.
All well and good, but how does this relate to the topic of worship? Simple. Although we know by the light of nature that God exists and that we owe Him obedience, we do not know by the light of nature what constitutes good and acceptable worship of Him.
It is striking, if you go around the world and look at the worship practices of cultures, we often see some sort of sacrifice being offered to the god of that culture. It could be fruit or vegetables, drink offerings, animal, or even human sacrifices. We know that the "god" needs to be propitiated and appeased, but do we know how he wants this done? Is there anything in the light of nature that tells us how to approach the God of the Universe in a way that pleases Him? No. And that is the whole point behind the regulative principle of worship.
There are several ways of coming at the question of determining what is good and acceptable worship. The first way is to make it up as you go and hope that somewhere along the line you hit on something that is pleasing to God. This implies that man's judgement is capable of being reliable in determining what God wants by way of worship. Those who use this method rely on sincerity of intent to get them through. It also assumes that sin didn’t corrupt our judgement in this particular instance. This assumption is no where supported in Scripture.
A second way is to rely on special revelation, as being the only rule to direct us how we are to know and worship God. This is where most professing Christians look when they want to determine true and false worship, but even here we don’t see complete agreement, and the reason for this is because of the presuppositions that we all bring to Scripture.
The historic Reformed position espoused by the Westminster Divines states that “the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men or in any other way not presecribed in the Holy Scripture.” [WCF XXI.1]
This necessarily means that our worship will be limited to only doing the thing that God commands -- not adding to it or taking away from it. This is precisely the direction we find from God in His Word in Deuteronomy 12: 29-32.
"When the LORD you God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."
Here we have God specifically telling us not to look to the heathen for ways of worshipping Him. He takes great care in the books of the Law in laying out precisely what it is that is required so that they are not left in any doubt. Instituted worship is worship which has been augthorized, commanded, or required by him.
Let’s look at the example of Cain and Abel for the first illustration of this principle. Cain offers a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground to the Lord while his brother, Abel, brings a firstborn sheep of his flock. God rebukes Cain but accepts Abel’s offering. Why? Every theologian I know draws the logical conclusion that God had told them exactly what to do for worship. “If you do well,” God says to Cain, “will you not be accepted?”
If God demands a sheep, does that leave any room for fruits and vegetables to be brought?
The approach of some reputedly Reformed people is to do what is commanded, refrain from that which is expressly condemned or forbidden, and anything else not expressly forbidden is ok. In this view, it is wrong to offer strange incense like Nadab and Abihu, but nothing forbids you from having clowns and skits in your worship service, because this is not expressly forbidden. By taking this approach, many Protestants have adopted the hermenuetic of Rome who has multiplied ceremonies, symbols, activities and so-called holy days, like Christmas, not mentioned or specifically forbidden in Scripture. The difference between Rome and many Protestant churches is only one of degree, and not kind.
This kind of worship is vain. Here is what the Lord said in Mark 7:6-9:
“…Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men – the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do.’ He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’”
In other words, whenever we add anything to our practice by way of worship that is not expressly commanded by God, this is vain worship and demonstrates a heart that is far from God in obedience. Were not the Pharisees believing that they did God honor when they washed their utensils and beds for God’s sake? Yet the Lord calls this vain worship.
Let’s bring this a bit closer to home. We have a feast that we are commanded in Scripture to observe: The Lord’s Table. How many people do you know who put in the same amount of care, time and preparation for celebrating a feast we are commanded to keep as they put into observing Christmas – a feast no where commanded in Scripture? People agonize for months over what they are going to buy others. Weeks of shopping and cooking go into the preparations for said day. Do we spend even a tithe of our time preparing for the covenant meal? Are we not guilty of vain worship when we do this? Are we not elevating a tradition of man over the commandment of God?
In short, what we have here is a struggle between two opposing camps: One camp which holds to and espouses the complete Sovereignty of God in worship, and the other which espouses the sovereignty of man in worship.
May the Lord purify His Church in these matters.
We have just successfully gotten past another Ho Ho season and I would like to take this time to reflect upon something that, no doubt, some of you see as an obsession that I have. It has to do with the regulative principle of worship, or RPW for short. In the providence of God, chapter XXI of the Westminster Confession of Faith was the topic of discussion at our Bible study yesterday, and so these thoughts are offered as the result of the discussion and the meditation I have had on this topic.
When it comes to the second table of the 10 commandments, people can see pretty clearly why we should not steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, dishonor parents or covet. These are sins that directly impact us when they are practiced against us. Hence the adage to do as you would be done by is one that we naturally concur with (unless we happen to be the offender, in which case, we often try to build a case for why it is ok for us to sin in this particular instance).
When it comes to sins that are direct offenses against God, the case is not so clearly seen or felt. Bolts of lightening do not fall upon our hapless heads every time we worship false Gods, profane and corrupt true worship, take the Lord's Name in vain, or profane the Lord's Day. We often don't see a direct connection between a particular sin against God in the negative providences that are visited upon us.
The most hardened atheist amongst us will talk of things being either "good" or "evil", or will stand for what he thinks is "just" or "right." When he does this, he refers to a standard that exists outside of himself and with which he knows that the person he is speaking to also acknowledges. If that presupposition did not exist, all references to things being "good" or "evil" would be nonsense, or else nothing more than a statement of preference on the part of the speaker. An atheist couldn't talk about child abuse or puppy mutilation as being something truly evil, but rather something that he prefers didn't happen. But he doesn't. He thinks and acts in terms of the belief that there is a standard that determines what is right or wrong that others also recognize and thereby betrays the fact that he knows the truth about God, but is suppressing that truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18)
God's existence, and the rightness or wrongness of actions and thoughts is built into the human psyche and is inescapable. Only fools deny this.
All well and good, but how does this relate to the topic of worship? Simple. Although we know by the light of nature that God exists and that we owe Him obedience, we do not know by the light of nature what constitutes good and acceptable worship of Him.
It is striking, if you go around the world and look at the worship practices of cultures, we often see some sort of sacrifice being offered to the god of that culture. It could be fruit or vegetables, drink offerings, animal, or even human sacrifices. We know that the "god" needs to be propitiated and appeased, but do we know how he wants this done? Is there anything in the light of nature that tells us how to approach the God of the Universe in a way that pleases Him? No. And that is the whole point behind the regulative principle of worship.
There are several ways of coming at the question of determining what is good and acceptable worship. The first way is to make it up as you go and hope that somewhere along the line you hit on something that is pleasing to God. This implies that man's judgement is capable of being reliable in determining what God wants by way of worship. Those who use this method rely on sincerity of intent to get them through. It also assumes that sin didn’t corrupt our judgement in this particular instance. This assumption is no where supported in Scripture.
A second way is to rely on special revelation, as being the only rule to direct us how we are to know and worship God. This is where most professing Christians look when they want to determine true and false worship, but even here we don’t see complete agreement, and the reason for this is because of the presuppositions that we all bring to Scripture.
The historic Reformed position espoused by the Westminster Divines states that “the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men or in any other way not presecribed in the Holy Scripture.” [WCF XXI.1]
This necessarily means that our worship will be limited to only doing the thing that God commands -- not adding to it or taking away from it. This is precisely the direction we find from God in His Word in Deuteronomy 12: 29-32.
"When the LORD you God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."
Here we have God specifically telling us not to look to the heathen for ways of worshipping Him. He takes great care in the books of the Law in laying out precisely what it is that is required so that they are not left in any doubt. Instituted worship is worship which has been augthorized, commanded, or required by him.
Let’s look at the example of Cain and Abel for the first illustration of this principle. Cain offers a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground to the Lord while his brother, Abel, brings a firstborn sheep of his flock. God rebukes Cain but accepts Abel’s offering. Why? Every theologian I know draws the logical conclusion that God had told them exactly what to do for worship. “If you do well,” God says to Cain, “will you not be accepted?”
If God demands a sheep, does that leave any room for fruits and vegetables to be brought?
The approach of some reputedly Reformed people is to do what is commanded, refrain from that which is expressly condemned or forbidden, and anything else not expressly forbidden is ok. In this view, it is wrong to offer strange incense like Nadab and Abihu, but nothing forbids you from having clowns and skits in your worship service, because this is not expressly forbidden. By taking this approach, many Protestants have adopted the hermenuetic of Rome who has multiplied ceremonies, symbols, activities and so-called holy days, like Christmas, not mentioned or specifically forbidden in Scripture. The difference between Rome and many Protestant churches is only one of degree, and not kind.
This kind of worship is vain. Here is what the Lord said in Mark 7:6-9:
“…Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men – the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do.’ He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’”
In other words, whenever we add anything to our practice by way of worship that is not expressly commanded by God, this is vain worship and demonstrates a heart that is far from God in obedience. Were not the Pharisees believing that they did God honor when they washed their utensils and beds for God’s sake? Yet the Lord calls this vain worship.
Let’s bring this a bit closer to home. We have a feast that we are commanded in Scripture to observe: The Lord’s Table. How many people do you know who put in the same amount of care, time and preparation for celebrating a feast we are commanded to keep as they put into observing Christmas – a feast no where commanded in Scripture? People agonize for months over what they are going to buy others. Weeks of shopping and cooking go into the preparations for said day. Do we spend even a tithe of our time preparing for the covenant meal? Are we not guilty of vain worship when we do this? Are we not elevating a tradition of man over the commandment of God?
In short, what we have here is a struggle between two opposing camps: One camp which holds to and espouses the complete Sovereignty of God in worship, and the other which espouses the sovereignty of man in worship.
May the Lord purify His Church in these matters.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Get Blogging, YOU!
This is a notice to all the people whose blogs I typically read on any given day. You are all a bunch of lazies! I am tired of visiting your blog only to see the same old post that is over a week old. The only notable exception to this is Ginny, who has been posting long, lovely posts about her life almost every day.
No excuses now! Get busy!
This is a notice to all the people whose blogs I typically read on any given day. You are all a bunch of lazies! I am tired of visiting your blog only to see the same old post that is over a week old. The only notable exception to this is Ginny, who has been posting long, lovely posts about her life almost every day.
No excuses now! Get busy!
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Profound Thought for the Day
"Emotions are just emotions. They are not you, they are not facts, and you can just let them go...
"The first part, "Emotions are just emotions," may seem obvious, yet this is not how most of us live. We live in a culture that mainly deals with emotions on either end of a broad spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, we deny our emotions and the effect they have on our rational thinking processes, on our health or on our experience of life. On the other end, we deify our emotions, investing way too much importance on the supposed messages that they are here to deliver and what they mean about who we are.
"There are grains of truth in the perspectives of both acting rationally and of not denying our emotions. However, most of us lose ourselves, and our ability to choose, in each perspective. Depending on how our rational mind is interpreting our sensory input in the moment, we can often swing wildly between the two.
"Most of us tend to identify with our emotions as though they are who we are... We talk about "being angry" as opposed to "feeling angry." It is our identificationwith feelings that often makes it more difficult than it needs to be to let them go. We often cling to our identification with a feeling because we think, "It is who I am." We believe, "I feel, therefore I am."
"...I recommend that you examine this idea for yourself. See whether it is more accurate to notice that emotions come and go, while who you truly are always remains.
"... When you find yourself lost in identification with an emotion, you can ask yourself, "Am I this feeling, or am I just having a feeling?" This simple question can help you separate yourself from a false identification. ...
"As we explore the statement further, we come to: "They are not facts." Have you ever been sure of what you thought was a fact -- such as that someone you knew liked you -- only to find the opposite was true? Or have you ever been sure that something was about to go wrong only to have it go very right? These are just two examples of how we relate to the input that we get from our feelings. We live in a world of assumptions, thinking we are relating to facts. In some ways, our feelings are just stories that we have made up about a particular set of sensations. These stories often, if not always, come after the feeling has already arisen in our consciousness. We then use them to explain why we feel the way we feel.
"Treating emotions like facts can be a problem, because we often don't realize that we have made an assumption until it is too late. By then we have made what we thought was a rational decision, only to find out later that it was just based on an automatic emotional reaction.
"The final part of the statement focuses on what this whole book is about: 'You can let them go.' The more you accept and employ your natural ability to release [as in easing your grip on emotions or having them release their grip on you -- CG], the more every part of your experience of life will be transformed."
[Quoted from pages 102-104 The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin]
"Emotions are just emotions. They are not you, they are not facts, and you can just let them go...
"The first part, "Emotions are just emotions," may seem obvious, yet this is not how most of us live. We live in a culture that mainly deals with emotions on either end of a broad spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, we deny our emotions and the effect they have on our rational thinking processes, on our health or on our experience of life. On the other end, we deify our emotions, investing way too much importance on the supposed messages that they are here to deliver and what they mean about who we are.
"There are grains of truth in the perspectives of both acting rationally and of not denying our emotions. However, most of us lose ourselves, and our ability to choose, in each perspective. Depending on how our rational mind is interpreting our sensory input in the moment, we can often swing wildly between the two.
"Most of us tend to identify with our emotions as though they are who we are... We talk about "being angry" as opposed to "feeling angry." It is our identificationwith feelings that often makes it more difficult than it needs to be to let them go. We often cling to our identification with a feeling because we think, "It is who I am." We believe, "I feel, therefore I am."
"...I recommend that you examine this idea for yourself. See whether it is more accurate to notice that emotions come and go, while who you truly are always remains.
"... When you find yourself lost in identification with an emotion, you can ask yourself, "Am I this feeling, or am I just having a feeling?" This simple question can help you separate yourself from a false identification. ...
"As we explore the statement further, we come to: "They are not facts." Have you ever been sure of what you thought was a fact -- such as that someone you knew liked you -- only to find the opposite was true? Or have you ever been sure that something was about to go wrong only to have it go very right? These are just two examples of how we relate to the input that we get from our feelings. We live in a world of assumptions, thinking we are relating to facts. In some ways, our feelings are just stories that we have made up about a particular set of sensations. These stories often, if not always, come after the feeling has already arisen in our consciousness. We then use them to explain why we feel the way we feel.
"Treating emotions like facts can be a problem, because we often don't realize that we have made an assumption until it is too late. By then we have made what we thought was a rational decision, only to find out later that it was just based on an automatic emotional reaction.
"The final part of the statement focuses on what this whole book is about: 'You can let them go.' The more you accept and employ your natural ability to release [as in easing your grip on emotions or having them release their grip on you -- CG], the more every part of your experience of life will be transformed."
[Quoted from pages 102-104 The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin]
Monday, December 29, 2003
The Irony of Life
The glory of youth is their strength, cuz it sure ain't their wisdom! The young are too soon dumb and too late smart, and they don't even know it. Worse yet, they think they are the opposite. This, of course, is a generality. Some young people are exceptionally mature. Then there are tons of adults who never grow up in terms of responsibility or attitude.
Here is where the irony comes in. The longer I live, the more I see what a complete shambles I am and how completely hopeless I am at stuff and how un-together I am, which, conversely, is apparently the evidence that you are getting your act together.
It was Pastor Price who taught me the beauty of humility. (How could I not love and appreciate a man who is in so many ways better than I, but who humbly asks my pardon when he thinks he may have offended me? )
Last night I was at my daughter Trista's for supper with her husband and in-laws. Trista's mother-in-law and I go back a long ways and it was a pleasant evening visiting her. I was lamenting to Sue about all the mistakes and failures I had made along the way when I was raising my two eldest daughters. Trista broke into the conversation and said,
"Mom, there was one thing you did that always made up for the failures. You always came back to us and said you were sorry and asked us to forgive you."
Trista then related that this fact is what encourages her to do the same with her little daughter. Which made me glad.
One of the worst things about the Fall is the way our sin nature makes us spend so much time focusing and wondering and fussing over our selves. I think one of the things I most look forward to in Heaven will be losing that all-pervading sense of self that is always yakking away in the back of my head, distracting me from really getting down to doing something. I waste a great deal of time worrying about how I am perceived as a mother rather than actually being one. I worry about how I look in pictures to the extent that I won't allow them to be taken of me. I worry about what others think of my housecleaning to the extent that I fuss over that to the neglect of my children. So much of what I do, even the things I excel at, are tied into wanting my self to be seen in a good light. And really, I know it is quite futile. Because even if I am good at something, this generally isn't what makes people like me or want to emulate me. Often the things I am good at become stumbling blocks to others because they either think they can't do it and become discouraged, or else it provokes envy. I have noticed more and more that the times I connect the most with people is when I am admitting to weaknesses and discouragements. "When I am weak, then am I strong."
I think one of the reasons that people are attracted to eastern religion is because of the promise of losing the "self" in the great One -- in a sense, to become unconscious. On rare occasions I have had a taste of what I think heaven will be like -- not an unconsciousness, but an attention that is directed completely outward and undistracted by thoughts of self. It doesn't happen that often, and it isn't anything I can conjure up by trying really hard. Instead, it is a Gift that has been given to me that gives me a sort of holiday from the eternal chatter of the self. I wouldn't mind an eternity-long holiday of that sort.
The glory of youth is their strength, cuz it sure ain't their wisdom! The young are too soon dumb and too late smart, and they don't even know it. Worse yet, they think they are the opposite. This, of course, is a generality. Some young people are exceptionally mature. Then there are tons of adults who never grow up in terms of responsibility or attitude.
Here is where the irony comes in. The longer I live, the more I see what a complete shambles I am and how completely hopeless I am at stuff and how un-together I am, which, conversely, is apparently the evidence that you are getting your act together.
It was Pastor Price who taught me the beauty of humility. (How could I not love and appreciate a man who is in so many ways better than I, but who humbly asks my pardon when he thinks he may have offended me? )
Last night I was at my daughter Trista's for supper with her husband and in-laws. Trista's mother-in-law and I go back a long ways and it was a pleasant evening visiting her. I was lamenting to Sue about all the mistakes and failures I had made along the way when I was raising my two eldest daughters. Trista broke into the conversation and said,
"Mom, there was one thing you did that always made up for the failures. You always came back to us and said you were sorry and asked us to forgive you."
Trista then related that this fact is what encourages her to do the same with her little daughter. Which made me glad.
One of the worst things about the Fall is the way our sin nature makes us spend so much time focusing and wondering and fussing over our selves. I think one of the things I most look forward to in Heaven will be losing that all-pervading sense of self that is always yakking away in the back of my head, distracting me from really getting down to doing something. I waste a great deal of time worrying about how I am perceived as a mother rather than actually being one. I worry about how I look in pictures to the extent that I won't allow them to be taken of me. I worry about what others think of my housecleaning to the extent that I fuss over that to the neglect of my children. So much of what I do, even the things I excel at, are tied into wanting my self to be seen in a good light. And really, I know it is quite futile. Because even if I am good at something, this generally isn't what makes people like me or want to emulate me. Often the things I am good at become stumbling blocks to others because they either think they can't do it and become discouraged, or else it provokes envy. I have noticed more and more that the times I connect the most with people is when I am admitting to weaknesses and discouragements. "When I am weak, then am I strong."
I think one of the reasons that people are attracted to eastern religion is because of the promise of losing the "self" in the great One -- in a sense, to become unconscious. On rare occasions I have had a taste of what I think heaven will be like -- not an unconsciousness, but an attention that is directed completely outward and undistracted by thoughts of self. It doesn't happen that often, and it isn't anything I can conjure up by trying really hard. Instead, it is a Gift that has been given to me that gives me a sort of holiday from the eternal chatter of the self. I wouldn't mind an eternity-long holiday of that sort.
Good History!
I recently picked up and re-read a wonderfully engaging piece of historical biography by Otto Scott. The book in question is called James I: The Fool As King. Back when I was still a subscriber to Chalcedon Report, Otto was one of my favorite columnists. I was sorry when he and Rushdoony parted ways and he no longer wrote for CR.
If you want to gain a good understanding for the political arena of today, reading this book is one way of doing so. James I had a profound and negative impact on human government and in many ways is one of the prime architects of monolithic government intrusion. What is most interesting to me is that his views of government were formed deliberately to destroy the Reformation views he was taught by his tutor, George Buchanan, and to derail the personal liberty from government tyranny that the Reformation set in motion.
In addition to giving us insight into James I of England's life, Mr. Scott does a lot to strip Mary, Queen of Scots, of her glamour and mystique and reveals her as the conniving, murderous, and adulterous woman that she was. Elizabeth I is seen as the ultimate pragmatist who couldn't understand the religious passions or the logical outcomes of these passions led to. She was caught between the Vatican and pro-Catholic forces who would see her made illegitmate and de-throned in favor of her cousin, Mary Stuart, and the Reformed Christians who threatened the extent of royal prerogative by their insistence that the Crown govern only by consent of the people, and in subjection to God's Law. All in all, it was a fascinating read.
I recently picked up and re-read a wonderfully engaging piece of historical biography by Otto Scott. The book in question is called James I: The Fool As King. Back when I was still a subscriber to Chalcedon Report, Otto was one of my favorite columnists. I was sorry when he and Rushdoony parted ways and he no longer wrote for CR.
If you want to gain a good understanding for the political arena of today, reading this book is one way of doing so. James I had a profound and negative impact on human government and in many ways is one of the prime architects of monolithic government intrusion. What is most interesting to me is that his views of government were formed deliberately to destroy the Reformation views he was taught by his tutor, George Buchanan, and to derail the personal liberty from government tyranny that the Reformation set in motion.
In addition to giving us insight into James I of England's life, Mr. Scott does a lot to strip Mary, Queen of Scots, of her glamour and mystique and reveals her as the conniving, murderous, and adulterous woman that she was. Elizabeth I is seen as the ultimate pragmatist who couldn't understand the religious passions or the logical outcomes of these passions led to. She was caught between the Vatican and pro-Catholic forces who would see her made illegitmate and de-throned in favor of her cousin, Mary Stuart, and the Reformed Christians who threatened the extent of royal prerogative by their insistence that the Crown govern only by consent of the people, and in subjection to God's Law. All in all, it was a fascinating read.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Ho,Ho,Ho...
What a fiend we have in Santa
With his sled and jingling bells
And with all his empty banter
Leading pagan kids to hell.
Courtesy of Dr. F.N.Lee
What a fiend we have in Santa
With his sled and jingling bells
And with all his empty banter
Leading pagan kids to hell.
Courtesy of Dr. F.N.Lee
I DID IT!!!
Up until now, I have been an html quadrapelegic. That meant that I had to depend on Emeth to do any tweaking of my blog features. And Emeth is a very busy girl these days. So, my blog languished for want of tweaking, and the orange and green text and pale orange background made me feel bilious, not to say nauseated, every time I saw it.
Until today.....
I took my courage in hand, opened up the template, opened up Web Monkey so I could figure out which color codes to change, and voila! I am now an html parapalegic!
How do you like my new look???
Next thing to learn: How to post pictures. Anyone want to give me a hint?
Up until now, I have been an html quadrapelegic. That meant that I had to depend on Emeth to do any tweaking of my blog features. And Emeth is a very busy girl these days. So, my blog languished for want of tweaking, and the orange and green text and pale orange background made me feel bilious, not to say nauseated, every time I saw it.
Until today.....
I took my courage in hand, opened up the template, opened up Web Monkey so I could figure out which color codes to change, and voila! I am now an html parapalegic!
How do you like my new look???
Next thing to learn: How to post pictures. Anyone want to give me a hint?
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Return of the King
Saw it. Wanna see it again. I enjoyed the look of bliss on Gollum's face as he fell into the fires of Mount Doom. The thing I didn't like was the unintended comedy of Gollum strugging with an invisible Frodo before he bit off the ring. It kind of marred the seriousness of the moment.
Do I have to wait almost a year before I can see the extended version??? Wah.
Saw it. Wanna see it again. I enjoyed the look of bliss on Gollum's face as he fell into the fires of Mount Doom. The thing I didn't like was the unintended comedy of Gollum strugging with an invisible Frodo before he bit off the ring. It kind of marred the seriousness of the moment.
Do I have to wait almost a year before I can see the extended version??? Wah.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Strange Road Kill
We get all kinds of road kill in our neck of the woods, but none so strange as what we found on our own road the other day.
The four eldest children were driving into town with me after dark the other night and we saw what looked like a large animal with long hair lying motionless at the side of the road. We were in a hurry so we couldn't take the time to stop and investigate, but the way its "fur" was blowing in the wind made me think it was possibly a dog or wolf.
On our return journey, we stopped to see what it actually was, and to our surprise, we found an emu. Not exactly what you expect to see leaping out in front of your vehicle in the Canadian north!
Eagles, ravens and other carrion birds have not taken long to reduce said emu to a rack of ribs picked clean, feet and legs, and a pile of feathers. The funny thing is, they congregate in large numbers during the day to eat, but by sunset there is nary a bird to be seen except the remains of the emu.
If the bird had to go, I am thankful it chose to make its suicide run at this time of year. No bugs and no nasty smell!
We get all kinds of road kill in our neck of the woods, but none so strange as what we found on our own road the other day.
The four eldest children were driving into town with me after dark the other night and we saw what looked like a large animal with long hair lying motionless at the side of the road. We were in a hurry so we couldn't take the time to stop and investigate, but the way its "fur" was blowing in the wind made me think it was possibly a dog or wolf.
On our return journey, we stopped to see what it actually was, and to our surprise, we found an emu. Not exactly what you expect to see leaping out in front of your vehicle in the Canadian north!
Eagles, ravens and other carrion birds have not taken long to reduce said emu to a rack of ribs picked clean, feet and legs, and a pile of feathers. The funny thing is, they congregate in large numbers during the day to eat, but by sunset there is nary a bird to be seen except the remains of the emu.
If the bird had to go, I am thankful it chose to make its suicide run at this time of year. No bugs and no nasty smell!
Signs of the Times
This article details the signs of the times which are merely the logical outworking of a corrupt foundation when America was established.
Gary North was right. Pluralism is a myth. There is no such thing as religion vs. no religion, but instead which religion. If that is the case, then establishmentarianism is the only logical conclusion. There must be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, not many. Christians who refuse to acknowledge this are trying to live in an alternate universe that doesn't exist.
This article details the signs of the times which are merely the logical outworking of a corrupt foundation when America was established.
Gary North was right. Pluralism is a myth. There is no such thing as religion vs. no religion, but instead which religion. If that is the case, then establishmentarianism is the only logical conclusion. There must be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, not many. Christians who refuse to acknowledge this are trying to live in an alternate universe that doesn't exist.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Gerbil Population Control
About a year ago my daughter, Hannah, purchased a pair of young gerbils. Unfortunately, their nether parts were not fully developed at the time and we ended up with a male and female. As is the wont of the rodent world, it wasn't too long before two gerbils became 8. And then 18. In short, we had an embarrassment of gerbil riches.
Hannah tried mightily to give her gerbils to all the local pet stores. They were full up, no doubt with the offerings of other hapless gerbil owners. So several of her friends had gerbils bestowed upon them as birthday gifts or because the said children were successful in nagging their parents into getting some too.
When all was said and done, and Hannah had also bestowed three male gerbils upon a younger sister as a birthday gift, we still had too many gerbils and keeping the males and females separate was becoming something of a problem. The older males and females had been separated successfully, but sibling-like, they objected to sharing their living quarters with younger sisters or brothers. To the point of death.
To spare her younger brothers and sisters the trauma of gerbil fratricide, (and possibly to prevent them from getting any ideas of new ways to deal with sibling rivalry), Hannah decided to take things into her own hands. For a very brief time she considered letting the dogs eat them, but decided this was too gruesome an end for them. Instead, she placed several of the males who could get along in a kleenex box with some kleenex, food, and water, and took them out into the deeps of the woods, in the middle of our Canadian winter, with the idea that dying in the cold was a more merciful end than the quick snap of the jaws or a bonk on the head.
Imagine Hannah's surprise next day when she returned to the scene of pre-meditated euthanasia to find that the gerbils, deciding that they preferred to live free and wild instead of dying in fluff, had burrowed under the stump of a tree and dragged all the free bedding and food in after them. And so they continue to live. Hannah and the other children bring them free offerings of seeds, nuts and water on a daily basis and the gerbils continue to populate our woods and have even expanded their living quarters into a few tunnels to other parts of the country.
Thankfully, there are none of the fair sex with them so we won't need to host an annual gerbil hunt to keep down the population.
About a year ago my daughter, Hannah, purchased a pair of young gerbils. Unfortunately, their nether parts were not fully developed at the time and we ended up with a male and female. As is the wont of the rodent world, it wasn't too long before two gerbils became 8. And then 18. In short, we had an embarrassment of gerbil riches.
Hannah tried mightily to give her gerbils to all the local pet stores. They were full up, no doubt with the offerings of other hapless gerbil owners. So several of her friends had gerbils bestowed upon them as birthday gifts or because the said children were successful in nagging their parents into getting some too.
When all was said and done, and Hannah had also bestowed three male gerbils upon a younger sister as a birthday gift, we still had too many gerbils and keeping the males and females separate was becoming something of a problem. The older males and females had been separated successfully, but sibling-like, they objected to sharing their living quarters with younger sisters or brothers. To the point of death.
To spare her younger brothers and sisters the trauma of gerbil fratricide, (and possibly to prevent them from getting any ideas of new ways to deal with sibling rivalry), Hannah decided to take things into her own hands. For a very brief time she considered letting the dogs eat them, but decided this was too gruesome an end for them. Instead, she placed several of the males who could get along in a kleenex box with some kleenex, food, and water, and took them out into the deeps of the woods, in the middle of our Canadian winter, with the idea that dying in the cold was a more merciful end than the quick snap of the jaws or a bonk on the head.
Imagine Hannah's surprise next day when she returned to the scene of pre-meditated euthanasia to find that the gerbils, deciding that they preferred to live free and wild instead of dying in fluff, had burrowed under the stump of a tree and dragged all the free bedding and food in after them. And so they continue to live. Hannah and the other children bring them free offerings of seeds, nuts and water on a daily basis and the gerbils continue to populate our woods and have even expanded their living quarters into a few tunnels to other parts of the country.
Thankfully, there are none of the fair sex with them so we won't need to host an annual gerbil hunt to keep down the population.
Friday, December 19, 2003
TULIP, or The Five Points of Evanjellyfish Christianity
courtesy of Carmon and Mike Scruggs
T: Tolerance and relativity of beliefs.
U: Unthinking conformity to majority opinion (Is there a reason why God characterizes us as sheep?)
L: Liberty of conscience in all things -- to the point of violating every Law of God in the name of freedom.
I: Inequality is Evil -- No fair if you are smarter or prettier than me!
P: Personal Peace and Prosperity at any Price. Speaks for itself
Read more here.
courtesy of Carmon and Mike Scruggs
T: Tolerance and relativity of beliefs.
U: Unthinking conformity to majority opinion (Is there a reason why God characterizes us as sheep?)
L: Liberty of conscience in all things -- to the point of violating every Law of God in the name of freedom.
I: Inequality is Evil -- No fair if you are smarter or prettier than me!
P: Personal Peace and Prosperity at any Price. Speaks for itself
Read more here.
Presbyterians Do Not [SHOULD NOT! -- CG] Observe Holy Days
by Samuel Miller.
We believe, and teach, in our public formularies, that there is no
day, under the Gospel dispensation, commanded to be kept holy, except
the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath."
We believe, indeed, and declare, in the same formula, that it is both
scriptural and rational, to observe special days of Fasting and
Thanksgiving, as the extraordinary dispensations of Divine Providence
may direct. But we are persuaded, that even the keeping of these
days, when they are made stated observances, recurring, of course, at
particular times, whatever the aspect of Providence may be, is
calculated to promote formality and superstition, rather than the
edification of the body of Christ.
Our reasons for entertaining this opinion, are the following:
1. We are persuaded that there is no scriptural warrant for such
observances, either from precept or example. There is no hint in the
New Testament that such days were either observed or recommended by
the Apostles, or by any of the churches in their time. The mention of
Easter, in Acts 12:4, has no application to this subject. Herod was a
Jew, not a Christian; and, of course, had no desire to honor a
Christian solemnity. The real meaning of the passage is, as the
slightest inspection of the original will satisfy every intelligent
reader; " intending after the Passover to bring him forth to lie
people."
2. We believe that the Scriptures not only do not warrant the
observance of such days, but that they positively discountenance it.
Let any one impartially weigh Colossians 2:16 and also, Galatians 4:9-
11 and then say whether these passages do not evidently indicate,
that the inspired Apostle disapproved of the observance of such days.
3. The observance of Fasts and Festivals, by divine direction, under
the Old Testament economy, makes nothing in favor of such observances
under the New Testament dispensation. That economy was no longer
binding, or even lawful after the New Testament Church was set up. It
were just as reasonable to plead for the present use of the Passover,
the incense, and the burnt offerings of the Old economy, which were
confessedly done away by the coming of Christ, as to argue in favor
of human inventions, bearing some resemblance to them, as binding in
the Christian Church.
4. The history of the introduction of stated Fasts and Festivals by
the early Christians, speaks much against both their obligation, and
their edifying character. Their origin was ignoble. They were chiefly
brought in by carnal policy, for the purpose of drawing into the
Church Jews and Gentiles, who had both been accustomed to festivals
and holy-days. And from the moment of their introduction, they became
the signal for strife, or the monuments of worldly expedient, and
degrading superstition.
As there were no holy-days, excepting the Lord's day, observed in the
Christian Church while the Apostles lived; and no hint given that
they thought any other expedient or desirable; so we find no hint of
any such observance having been adopted until towards the close of
the second century. Then, the celebration of Easter gave rise to a
controversy; the Asiatic Christians pleading for its observance at
the same time which was prescribed for the Jewish Passover, and
contending that they were supported in this by apostolic tradition;
while the Western Church contended for its stated celebration on a
certain Sunday, and urged, with equal confidence, apostolic tradition
in favor of their scheme. Concerning this fierce and unhallowed
controversy, Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who wrote soon
after the time of Eusebius, and begins his history where the latter
closes his narrative; speaking on the controversy concerning Easter,
expresses himself thus: "Neither the ancients, nor the fathers of
later times, I mean such as favored the Jewish custom, had sufficient
cause to contend so eagerly about the feast of Easter; for they
considered not within themselves, that when the Jewish religion was
changed into Christianity, the literal observance of the Mosaic law,
and the types of things to come, wholly ceased. And this carries with
it its own evidence. For no one of Christ's laws permits Christians
to observe the rites of the Jews. Nay, the Apostle hath in plain
words forbidden it, where he abrogates Circumcision, and exhorts us
not to contend about feasts and holy-days. For, writing to the
Galatians, he admonishes them not to observe days, and months, and
times, and years. And unto the Colossians, he is as plain as may be,
declaring, that the observance of such things was but a shadow.
Neither the Apostles nor the Evangelists have enjoined on Christians
the observance of Easter; but have left the remembrance of it to the
free choice and discretion of those who have been benefited by such
days. Men keep holy-days, because thereon they enjoy rest from toil
and labor Therefore, it comes to pass, that in every place they do
celebrate, of their own accord, the remembrance of the Lord's
passion. But neither our Savior nor his Apostles have any where
commanded us to observe it." Socrates, Lib. 5, cap. 21.
Here, then, is an eminent Christian writer who flourished early in
the fifth century, who had made the history of the Church his
particular study; who explicitly declares, that neither Christ nor
his Apostles gave any command, or even countenance to the observance
of festival days; that it was brought into the Church by custom; and
that in different parts of the Church there was diversity of practice
in regard to this matter. With respect to Easter, in particular, this
diversity was striking. We no sooner hear of its observance at all,
than we begin to hear of contest, and interruption of Christian
fellowship on account of it; some quoting the authority of some of
the Apostles for keeping this festival on one day; and others, with
equal confidence, quoting the authority of other Apostles for the
selection of a different day: thereby clearly demonstrating, that
there was error somewhere, and rendering it highly probable that all
parties were wrong, and that no such observances at all, were binding
on Christians.
The festival of Easter, no doubt, was introduced in the second
century, in place of the Passover, and in accommodation to the same
Jewish prejudice which had said, even during the apostolic
age, "Except ye be circumcised, after the manner of Moses, ye cannot
be saved." Hence, it was generally called pascha, and pasch, in
conformity with the name of the Jewish festival, whose place it took.
It seems to have received the title of Easter in Great Britain, from
the circumstance, that, when Christianity was introduced into that
country, a great Pagan festival, celebrated at the same season of the
year, in honor of the Pagan goddess Eostre, yielded its place to the
Christian festival, which received, substantially, the name of the
Pagan deity. The title of Easter, it is believed, is seldom used but
by Britons and their descendants.
Few festivals are celebrated in the Romish Church, and in some
Protestant Churches, with more interest and zeal than Christmas. Yet
when Origen, about the middle of the third century, professes to give
a list of the fasts and festivals which were observed in his day, he
makes no mention of Christmas. From this fact, Sir Peter King, in his
Inquiry into the Constitution and worship, &c. of the Primitive
Church, &c. infers, that no such festival was then observed; and
adds, "It seems improbable that they should celebrate Christ's
nativity, when they disagreed about the mouth and the day when Christ
was born." Every month in the year has been assigned by different
portions and writers of the Christian Church as the time of our
Lord's nativity; and the final location of this, as well as other
holy-days, in the ecclesiastical calendar, was adjusted rather upon
astronomical and mathematical principles, than on any solid
calculations of history.
5. But the motives and manner of introducing Christmas into the
Christian Church, speak more strongly against it. Its real origin was
this. Like many other observances, it was borrowed from the heathen.
The well known Pagan festival among the Romans, distinguished by the
title of Saturnalia, because instituted in honor of their fabled
deity, Saturn, was celebrated by them with the greatest splendor,
extravagance, and debauchery. It was, during its continuance, a
season of freedom and equality; the master ceased to rule, and the
slave to obey; the former waiting at his own table, upon the latter,
and submitting to the suspension of all order, and the reign of
universal frolic. The ceremonial of this festival was opened on the
19th of December, by lighting profusion of waxen candles in the
temple of Saturn; and by suspending in their temple, and in all their
habitations, boughs of laurel, and various kinds of evergreen. The
Christian Church, seeing the unhappy moral influence of this
festival; perceiving her own members too often partaking in its
licentiousness; and desirous, if possible, of effecting its
abolition, appointed a festival, in honor of her Master's birth,
nearly about the same time, for the purpose of superseding it. In
doing this, the policy was to retain as many of these habits which
had prevailed in the Saturnalia as could in any way be reconciled
with the purity of Christianity. They made their new festival,
therefore, a season of relaxation and mirth, of cheerful visiting,
and mutual presents. They lighted candles in their places of worship
and adorned them with a profusion of evergreen boughs. Thus did the
Romish Church borrow from the Pagans some of her most prominent
observances; and thus have some observances of this origin been
adopted and continued by Protestants.
6. It being evident, then, that stated fasts and festivals have no
divine warrant, and that their use under the New Testament economy is
a mere human invention; we may ask those who are friendly to their
observance, what limits ought to be set to their adoption and use in
the Christian Church? If it be lawful to introduce five such days for
stated observance, why not ten, twenty, or five score? A small number
were, at an early period, brought into use by serious men, who
thought they were thereby rendering God service, and extending the
reign of religion. But one after another was added, as superstition
increased, until the calendar became burdened with between two and
three hundred fasts and festivals, or saint's days, in each year;
thus materially interfering with the claims of secular industry, and
loading the worship of God with a mass of superstitious observances,
equally unfriendly to the temporal and the eternal interests of men.
Let the principle once be admitted, that stated days of religious
observance, which God has no where commanded, may properly be
introduced into the Christian ritual, and, by parity of reasoning,
every one who, from good motives, can effect the introduction of a
new religious festival, is at liberty to do so. Upon this principle
was built up the enormous mass of superstition which now
distinguishes and corrupts the Romish Church.
7. The observance of uncommanded holy-days is ever found to interfere
with the due sanctification of the Lord's day. Adding to the
appointments of God is superstition. And superstition has ever been
found unfriendly to genuine obedience. Its votaries, like the Jews of
old, have ever been found more tenacious of their own inventions, of
traditionary dreams, than of God's revealed code of duty.
Accordingly, there is, perhaps, no fact more universal and
unquestionable, than that the zealous observers of stated fasts and
festivals are characteristically lax in the observance of that one
day which God has eminently set apart for himself, and on the
sanctification of which all the vital interests of practical religion
are suspended. So it was among the Israelites of old. As early as the
fifth century, Augustine complains that the superstitious observance
of uncommanded rites, betrayed many in his time, into a spirit of
irreverence and neglect towards those which were divinely appointed.
So it is, notoriously, among the Romanists at the present day. And
so, without any breach of charity, it may be said to be in every
religious community in which zeal for the observance of uncommanded
holy-days prevails. It is true, many in those communities tell us,
that the observance of holy-days, devoted to particular persons and
events in the history of the Church, has a manifest and strong
tendency to increase the spirit of piety. But if this be so, we might
expect to find much more scriptural piety in the Romish Church than
in any other, since holy-days are ten times more numerous in that
denomination than in the system of any Protestant Church. But is it
so? Let those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, decide.
If the foregoing allegations be in any measure well founded; if there
be no warrant in God's word for any observances of this kind; if, on
the contrary, the Scriptures positively discourage them; if the
history of their introduction and increase mark an unhallowed origin;
if, when we once open the door to such human inventions, no one can
say how or when it may be closed; and if the observance of days, not
appointed of God, has ever been found to exert an unfriendly
influence on the sanctification of that holy-day which God has
appointed, surely we need no further proof that it is wise to discard
them from our ecclesiastical system.
by Samuel Miller.
We believe, and teach, in our public formularies, that there is no
day, under the Gospel dispensation, commanded to be kept holy, except
the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath."
We believe, indeed, and declare, in the same formula, that it is both
scriptural and rational, to observe special days of Fasting and
Thanksgiving, as the extraordinary dispensations of Divine Providence
may direct. But we are persuaded, that even the keeping of these
days, when they are made stated observances, recurring, of course, at
particular times, whatever the aspect of Providence may be, is
calculated to promote formality and superstition, rather than the
edification of the body of Christ.
Our reasons for entertaining this opinion, are the following:
1. We are persuaded that there is no scriptural warrant for such
observances, either from precept or example. There is no hint in the
New Testament that such days were either observed or recommended by
the Apostles, or by any of the churches in their time. The mention of
Easter, in Acts 12:4, has no application to this subject. Herod was a
Jew, not a Christian; and, of course, had no desire to honor a
Christian solemnity. The real meaning of the passage is, as the
slightest inspection of the original will satisfy every intelligent
reader; " intending after the Passover to bring him forth to lie
people."
2. We believe that the Scriptures not only do not warrant the
observance of such days, but that they positively discountenance it.
Let any one impartially weigh Colossians 2:16 and also, Galatians 4:9-
11 and then say whether these passages do not evidently indicate,
that the inspired Apostle disapproved of the observance of such days.
3. The observance of Fasts and Festivals, by divine direction, under
the Old Testament economy, makes nothing in favor of such observances
under the New Testament dispensation. That economy was no longer
binding, or even lawful after the New Testament Church was set up. It
were just as reasonable to plead for the present use of the Passover,
the incense, and the burnt offerings of the Old economy, which were
confessedly done away by the coming of Christ, as to argue in favor
of human inventions, bearing some resemblance to them, as binding in
the Christian Church.
4. The history of the introduction of stated Fasts and Festivals by
the early Christians, speaks much against both their obligation, and
their edifying character. Their origin was ignoble. They were chiefly
brought in by carnal policy, for the purpose of drawing into the
Church Jews and Gentiles, who had both been accustomed to festivals
and holy-days. And from the moment of their introduction, they became
the signal for strife, or the monuments of worldly expedient, and
degrading superstition.
As there were no holy-days, excepting the Lord's day, observed in the
Christian Church while the Apostles lived; and no hint given that
they thought any other expedient or desirable; so we find no hint of
any such observance having been adopted until towards the close of
the second century. Then, the celebration of Easter gave rise to a
controversy; the Asiatic Christians pleading for its observance at
the same time which was prescribed for the Jewish Passover, and
contending that they were supported in this by apostolic tradition;
while the Western Church contended for its stated celebration on a
certain Sunday, and urged, with equal confidence, apostolic tradition
in favor of their scheme. Concerning this fierce and unhallowed
controversy, Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who wrote soon
after the time of Eusebius, and begins his history where the latter
closes his narrative; speaking on the controversy concerning Easter,
expresses himself thus: "Neither the ancients, nor the fathers of
later times, I mean such as favored the Jewish custom, had sufficient
cause to contend so eagerly about the feast of Easter; for they
considered not within themselves, that when the Jewish religion was
changed into Christianity, the literal observance of the Mosaic law,
and the types of things to come, wholly ceased. And this carries with
it its own evidence. For no one of Christ's laws permits Christians
to observe the rites of the Jews. Nay, the Apostle hath in plain
words forbidden it, where he abrogates Circumcision, and exhorts us
not to contend about feasts and holy-days. For, writing to the
Galatians, he admonishes them not to observe days, and months, and
times, and years. And unto the Colossians, he is as plain as may be,
declaring, that the observance of such things was but a shadow.
Neither the Apostles nor the Evangelists have enjoined on Christians
the observance of Easter; but have left the remembrance of it to the
free choice and discretion of those who have been benefited by such
days. Men keep holy-days, because thereon they enjoy rest from toil
and labor Therefore, it comes to pass, that in every place they do
celebrate, of their own accord, the remembrance of the Lord's
passion. But neither our Savior nor his Apostles have any where
commanded us to observe it." Socrates, Lib. 5, cap. 21.
Here, then, is an eminent Christian writer who flourished early in
the fifth century, who had made the history of the Church his
particular study; who explicitly declares, that neither Christ nor
his Apostles gave any command, or even countenance to the observance
of festival days; that it was brought into the Church by custom; and
that in different parts of the Church there was diversity of practice
in regard to this matter. With respect to Easter, in particular, this
diversity was striking. We no sooner hear of its observance at all,
than we begin to hear of contest, and interruption of Christian
fellowship on account of it; some quoting the authority of some of
the Apostles for keeping this festival on one day; and others, with
equal confidence, quoting the authority of other Apostles for the
selection of a different day: thereby clearly demonstrating, that
there was error somewhere, and rendering it highly probable that all
parties were wrong, and that no such observances at all, were binding
on Christians.
The festival of Easter, no doubt, was introduced in the second
century, in place of the Passover, and in accommodation to the same
Jewish prejudice which had said, even during the apostolic
age, "Except ye be circumcised, after the manner of Moses, ye cannot
be saved." Hence, it was generally called pascha, and pasch, in
conformity with the name of the Jewish festival, whose place it took.
It seems to have received the title of Easter in Great Britain, from
the circumstance, that, when Christianity was introduced into that
country, a great Pagan festival, celebrated at the same season of the
year, in honor of the Pagan goddess Eostre, yielded its place to the
Christian festival, which received, substantially, the name of the
Pagan deity. The title of Easter, it is believed, is seldom used but
by Britons and their descendants.
Few festivals are celebrated in the Romish Church, and in some
Protestant Churches, with more interest and zeal than Christmas. Yet
when Origen, about the middle of the third century, professes to give
a list of the fasts and festivals which were observed in his day, he
makes no mention of Christmas. From this fact, Sir Peter King, in his
Inquiry into the Constitution and worship, &c. of the Primitive
Church, &c. infers, that no such festival was then observed; and
adds, "It seems improbable that they should celebrate Christ's
nativity, when they disagreed about the mouth and the day when Christ
was born." Every month in the year has been assigned by different
portions and writers of the Christian Church as the time of our
Lord's nativity; and the final location of this, as well as other
holy-days, in the ecclesiastical calendar, was adjusted rather upon
astronomical and mathematical principles, than on any solid
calculations of history.
5. But the motives and manner of introducing Christmas into the
Christian Church, speak more strongly against it. Its real origin was
this. Like many other observances, it was borrowed from the heathen.
The well known Pagan festival among the Romans, distinguished by the
title of Saturnalia, because instituted in honor of their fabled
deity, Saturn, was celebrated by them with the greatest splendor,
extravagance, and debauchery. It was, during its continuance, a
season of freedom and equality; the master ceased to rule, and the
slave to obey; the former waiting at his own table, upon the latter,
and submitting to the suspension of all order, and the reign of
universal frolic. The ceremonial of this festival was opened on the
19th of December, by lighting profusion of waxen candles in the
temple of Saturn; and by suspending in their temple, and in all their
habitations, boughs of laurel, and various kinds of evergreen. The
Christian Church, seeing the unhappy moral influence of this
festival; perceiving her own members too often partaking in its
licentiousness; and desirous, if possible, of effecting its
abolition, appointed a festival, in honor of her Master's birth,
nearly about the same time, for the purpose of superseding it. In
doing this, the policy was to retain as many of these habits which
had prevailed in the Saturnalia as could in any way be reconciled
with the purity of Christianity. They made their new festival,
therefore, a season of relaxation and mirth, of cheerful visiting,
and mutual presents. They lighted candles in their places of worship
and adorned them with a profusion of evergreen boughs. Thus did the
Romish Church borrow from the Pagans some of her most prominent
observances; and thus have some observances of this origin been
adopted and continued by Protestants.
6. It being evident, then, that stated fasts and festivals have no
divine warrant, and that their use under the New Testament economy is
a mere human invention; we may ask those who are friendly to their
observance, what limits ought to be set to their adoption and use in
the Christian Church? If it be lawful to introduce five such days for
stated observance, why not ten, twenty, or five score? A small number
were, at an early period, brought into use by serious men, who
thought they were thereby rendering God service, and extending the
reign of religion. But one after another was added, as superstition
increased, until the calendar became burdened with between two and
three hundred fasts and festivals, or saint's days, in each year;
thus materially interfering with the claims of secular industry, and
loading the worship of God with a mass of superstitious observances,
equally unfriendly to the temporal and the eternal interests of men.
Let the principle once be admitted, that stated days of religious
observance, which God has no where commanded, may properly be
introduced into the Christian ritual, and, by parity of reasoning,
every one who, from good motives, can effect the introduction of a
new religious festival, is at liberty to do so. Upon this principle
was built up the enormous mass of superstition which now
distinguishes and corrupts the Romish Church.
7. The observance of uncommanded holy-days is ever found to interfere
with the due sanctification of the Lord's day. Adding to the
appointments of God is superstition. And superstition has ever been
found unfriendly to genuine obedience. Its votaries, like the Jews of
old, have ever been found more tenacious of their own inventions, of
traditionary dreams, than of God's revealed code of duty.
Accordingly, there is, perhaps, no fact more universal and
unquestionable, than that the zealous observers of stated fasts and
festivals are characteristically lax in the observance of that one
day which God has eminently set apart for himself, and on the
sanctification of which all the vital interests of practical religion
are suspended. So it was among the Israelites of old. As early as the
fifth century, Augustine complains that the superstitious observance
of uncommanded rites, betrayed many in his time, into a spirit of
irreverence and neglect towards those which were divinely appointed.
So it is, notoriously, among the Romanists at the present day. And
so, without any breach of charity, it may be said to be in every
religious community in which zeal for the observance of uncommanded
holy-days prevails. It is true, many in those communities tell us,
that the observance of holy-days, devoted to particular persons and
events in the history of the Church, has a manifest and strong
tendency to increase the spirit of piety. But if this be so, we might
expect to find much more scriptural piety in the Romish Church than
in any other, since holy-days are ten times more numerous in that
denomination than in the system of any Protestant Church. But is it
so? Let those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, decide.
If the foregoing allegations be in any measure well founded; if there
be no warrant in God's word for any observances of this kind; if, on
the contrary, the Scriptures positively discourage them; if the
history of their introduction and increase mark an unhallowed origin;
if, when we once open the door to such human inventions, no one can
say how or when it may be closed; and if the observance of days, not
appointed of God, has ever been found to exert an unfriendly
influence on the sanctification of that holy-day which God has
appointed, surely we need no further proof that it is wise to discard
them from our ecclesiastical system.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Thoughts on Making an Impact
One of the reasons that many Christians claim they celebrate Christmass is because they believe that the focus of this season forces the unbeliever to consider Christ at least once a year. I have noticed though, that most of the pagans seem to be really good at dodging a lot of what the season is aimed at. My ears have been assaulted with the sounds of Christmass songs in every store I go into, and not one of them has been one that focused on the so-called "reason for the season." Instead, there has been much of mistletoe and holly, walking in winter wonderlands, and chesnuts roasting by open fires. Reindeer, Santas, and elves people the malls and aisles of the stores with only an occasional nod to the shepherds and wise men.
If Christians were really serious about making an impact and visible statement on our culture about the primacy and rights of our King, then maybe they should consider keeping the Lord's Day a whole lot better than they do. After all, this is something we are commanded to observe, while Christmass is not. But like my other post on the dropping of standards, this is yet another place where Christians have fallen away.
It used to be in Canada, that no matter where you went, each province had a "Lord's Day Act" that forbade the opening of stores and businesses in order to honor the Christian Sabbath. God could have commanded that we worship Him two, three, or four and more days of the week leaving the rest of the week for our worldly business, but instead He asks only one day a week from us and allows us to go about our worldly employments and lawful recreations on the other six.
When I was still attending one of the local Baptist churches here in town, it was nothing for the pastor to tell the congregation in the course of the sermon that he intended to go home after the service to watch a basketball or football game on the TV. It is nothing for professed Christians in this community to go to malls, grocery stores, restaurants, or movies after they have "done their duty" in attending church.
I wonder....
Do you suppose that the Lord looks on all this activity and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,"? We Christians are good at keeping the traditions of men that God never required of us and in ignoring His actual commands, making them of no effect. (Mk. 7:1-9)
If you want to know why I don't observe Christmass, go here.
One of the reasons that many Christians claim they celebrate Christmass is because they believe that the focus of this season forces the unbeliever to consider Christ at least once a year. I have noticed though, that most of the pagans seem to be really good at dodging a lot of what the season is aimed at. My ears have been assaulted with the sounds of Christmass songs in every store I go into, and not one of them has been one that focused on the so-called "reason for the season." Instead, there has been much of mistletoe and holly, walking in winter wonderlands, and chesnuts roasting by open fires. Reindeer, Santas, and elves people the malls and aisles of the stores with only an occasional nod to the shepherds and wise men.
If Christians were really serious about making an impact and visible statement on our culture about the primacy and rights of our King, then maybe they should consider keeping the Lord's Day a whole lot better than they do. After all, this is something we are commanded to observe, while Christmass is not. But like my other post on the dropping of standards, this is yet another place where Christians have fallen away.
It used to be in Canada, that no matter where you went, each province had a "Lord's Day Act" that forbade the opening of stores and businesses in order to honor the Christian Sabbath. God could have commanded that we worship Him two, three, or four and more days of the week leaving the rest of the week for our worldly business, but instead He asks only one day a week from us and allows us to go about our worldly employments and lawful recreations on the other six.
When I was still attending one of the local Baptist churches here in town, it was nothing for the pastor to tell the congregation in the course of the sermon that he intended to go home after the service to watch a basketball or football game on the TV. It is nothing for professed Christians in this community to go to malls, grocery stores, restaurants, or movies after they have "done their duty" in attending church.
I wonder....
Do you suppose that the Lord looks on all this activity and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,"? We Christians are good at keeping the traditions of men that God never required of us and in ignoring His actual commands, making them of no effect. (Mk. 7:1-9)
If you want to know why I don't observe Christmass, go here.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Friday, December 12, 2003
Unseen Benefits
I had a new paying client the other day [yippee!] who intends to return with her children. Then I had a phone call from another lady I saw when I was doing my practicum and she is planning on returning with her children for allergy testing/desensitization as well. The homeschool network is starting to get the word out about me! Word of mouth will probably be the main means I use for developing my client base. I don't have the money to advertise, and I don't want to be so busy that I feel too squeezed by life. Life is plenty busy already with homeschooling seven, cooking, cleaning, etc. This nice steady trickle of one or two people a week suits me just fine.
One of the pleasures of doing my kinesionics work is that it allows me to spend time with people talking about a variety of things. Generally, the people I am seeing are professing Christians for the most part and this opens the door for discussing the Faith once delivered to the saints. The very best part of the discussion is when you know you made a measurable difference and that they are following up on something you said and press deeper into study of God's Word. I don't think anything else gives me as much satisfaction as this.
I had a new paying client the other day [yippee!] who intends to return with her children. Then I had a phone call from another lady I saw when I was doing my practicum and she is planning on returning with her children for allergy testing/desensitization as well. The homeschool network is starting to get the word out about me! Word of mouth will probably be the main means I use for developing my client base. I don't have the money to advertise, and I don't want to be so busy that I feel too squeezed by life. Life is plenty busy already with homeschooling seven, cooking, cleaning, etc. This nice steady trickle of one or two people a week suits me just fine.
One of the pleasures of doing my kinesionics work is that it allows me to spend time with people talking about a variety of things. Generally, the people I am seeing are professing Christians for the most part and this opens the door for discussing the Faith once delivered to the saints. The very best part of the discussion is when you know you made a measurable difference and that they are following up on something you said and press deeper into study of God's Word. I don't think anything else gives me as much satisfaction as this.
A Nice Phone Call
Ever since the girls left home in a precipitous way four years ago, I have had an extreme inferiority complex about my abilities as a parent.
My eldest son, Nathanael, is away visiting some friends on Protection Island, and mother-like, I had to check up on him by phone. The phone was answered by the school chum's father, and I made my inquiries.
"Whatever you are doing with your kids, keep on doing it!" was the enthusiastic reply of the father. It appears that Nathanael has impressed with his good-natured optimism, his polite demeanor, and his helpfulness and consideration. These are things that thrill a mother's heart and which I would love to take credit for. But I know that one of the reasons that Nathanael is like this is because he takes after my father in a lot of ways, and not because I am such a model of patience and virtue.
Ever since the girls left home in a precipitous way four years ago, I have had an extreme inferiority complex about my abilities as a parent.
My eldest son, Nathanael, is away visiting some friends on Protection Island, and mother-like, I had to check up on him by phone. The phone was answered by the school chum's father, and I made my inquiries.
"Whatever you are doing with your kids, keep on doing it!" was the enthusiastic reply of the father. It appears that Nathanael has impressed with his good-natured optimism, his polite demeanor, and his helpfulness and consideration. These are things that thrill a mother's heart and which I would love to take credit for. But I know that one of the reasons that Nathanael is like this is because he takes after my father in a lot of ways, and not because I am such a model of patience and virtue.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Pirates and Depravity
This past weekend, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 1/2 times. I have never seen Johnny Depp before, and I found his quirky mannerisms quite entertaining.
One of the surprising things that this movie did for me was demonstrate the compassion and mercy of God. Just think how horribly and infinitely worse this world would be if we didn't die! It was a merciful act of the Creator to make death the punishment of Adam's breach of the covenant. This has ensured that the evil we do in this life is limited and, moreover, restrained to a large extent.
This past weekend, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 1/2 times. I have never seen Johnny Depp before, and I found his quirky mannerisms quite entertaining.
One of the surprising things that this movie did for me was demonstrate the compassion and mercy of God. Just think how horribly and infinitely worse this world would be if we didn't die! It was a merciful act of the Creator to make death the punishment of Adam's breach of the covenant. This has ensured that the evil we do in this life is limited and, moreover, restrained to a large extent.
Too Casual?
One of the things Mom and I did when I was back home, was to go through the old picture slides that she and Dad still have of my sister and I when we were little. It was nice to revisit my childhood in this fashion.
And speaking of fashion, there were a number of photos of us or old friends we knew at church. How times have changed! Then we all wore nice "dress up" clothing to church, had hats, and gloves. It was almost a formal affair. Now, people slouch into church in jeans and sweatshirts and think nothing of it. I have also seen people dressed this sloppily at weddings and funerals. It appears that nothing is worth dressing up for, least of all worshipping God.
The lowering of standards in dressing up for going out is another reflection of the casual attitude that we seem to be taking towards so many other things: marriage vows, language, fraud: The list is endless.
One of the things Mom and I did when I was back home, was to go through the old picture slides that she and Dad still have of my sister and I when we were little. It was nice to revisit my childhood in this fashion.
And speaking of fashion, there were a number of photos of us or old friends we knew at church. How times have changed! Then we all wore nice "dress up" clothing to church, had hats, and gloves. It was almost a formal affair. Now, people slouch into church in jeans and sweatshirts and think nothing of it. I have also seen people dressed this sloppily at weddings and funerals. It appears that nothing is worth dressing up for, least of all worshipping God.
The lowering of standards in dressing up for going out is another reflection of the casual attitude that we seem to be taking towards so many other things: marriage vows, language, fraud: The list is endless.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Singing Psalms
On my recent visit back home for my maternal grandmother’s funeral, I had opportunity, with my parents, sister and her family, to visit my paternal grandmother in the nursing home she now lives at. During the visit, my sister and I gathered at the piano and Darlene played the music while we sang a few of the less doctrinally objectionable hymns that I could find in the hymnals.
It occurred to me, as I read the words to the hymns, that a lot of church wars over contemporary music versus traditional hymn music have been fought over a lot of second-rate verse and sentiments. I have spent the last 10 years or more singing Psalms only in corporate and family worship and there just isn’t any comparison to the lofty sentiments and pungent and robust expressions found in the Psalms. Moreover, the focus in the Psalms points always to Christ and the Godhead whereas a lot of the hymns are navel-gazing in nature.
I don’t think I will ever go back to hymn singing for worship. Psalms rule!
On my recent visit back home for my maternal grandmother’s funeral, I had opportunity, with my parents, sister and her family, to visit my paternal grandmother in the nursing home she now lives at. During the visit, my sister and I gathered at the piano and Darlene played the music while we sang a few of the less doctrinally objectionable hymns that I could find in the hymnals.
It occurred to me, as I read the words to the hymns, that a lot of church wars over contemporary music versus traditional hymn music have been fought over a lot of second-rate verse and sentiments. I have spent the last 10 years or more singing Psalms only in corporate and family worship and there just isn’t any comparison to the lofty sentiments and pungent and robust expressions found in the Psalms. Moreover, the focus in the Psalms points always to Christ and the Godhead whereas a lot of the hymns are navel-gazing in nature.
I don’t think I will ever go back to hymn singing for worship. Psalms rule!
Saturday, December 06, 2003
Suffer Little Children
The quote that comes below my own comments is from the blog of a cyber acquaintance whom I have come to enjoy reading. I am posting it here because it is one of the things that has been on my heart and mind lately: what to do with the children on the Lord's Day.
For those of us who desire to observe this day as being a day of rest from our worldly employments and amusements, it is too easy to make it a day of drudgery for our children if we are not careful. We live in a world that is oriented to work so that we might play rather than playing so that we might work. Given that fact, and the fact that, try as we might, it is nearly impossible to be completely free from this influence, the temptation is to really crack down on the kids and to apply the "stick" and neglect the "carrot."
I think it is fair to say that I and most in my congregation have gathered together after our congregational worship to visit with each other and left the children to play. Some of the parents keep their kids inside, but this is easier to do with little kids than it is with the teens. The result has been a tendency on the part of the teens to get into trouble with foolish talk. This then nets rebukes and frowns and clicking tongues which in turn makes the young people feel even less inclined to spend time around the adults.
I think the time has come to be pro-active in how we approach this. Just recently, at a Bible study, we decided that we would do things *with* the children after church is done -- things like Bible games and quizzes, sword drills, catechizing, etc. This will keep us involved with them, limit the opportunity for foolishness, and allow all of us to become better acquainted with the children. It is easy to regard them as a herd in need of corralling or controlling instead of as individuals that we are to love and care for as a covenant community.
If anyone has any ideas of other edifying and interesting things that could be done as a group, please leave a comment.
Here is the quote:
With the Children on Sundays: Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul, by Sylvanus Stall.
"In some households Sunday is looked forward to with anticipations of pleasure throughout the entire week. In these homes, the father does not come down stairs on Sunday morning and say: "Now, children, gather up those flowers, throw them out of the window, pull down the blinds, get down the Bible and we will have an awful solemn time here to-day." neither is the day given to frivolity or the home to demoralizing influences. From morning until night there are two great principles that govern; first, the sacredness of the day, and second, the sacredness of the God-given nature of childhood. The day is not spent in repressing the child nature by a succession of "don't do that," "now stop that," etc., that begin in the morning and continue throughout the day, and end only when the little ones los consciousness in sleep on Sunday night. In these homes, the parents recognize the fact that the child nature is the same whether the day is secular or sacred. On Sunday the child nature is not repressed, but the childish impulses are directed into channels suited to the sacredness of the day. In such homes the children, instead of being sorry that it is Sunday, are glad; instead of regretting the return of the day with dislike and dread, they welcome it as the brightest, the cheeriest and the best of all the week."
Also:
"The absence of the children from the services of the sanctuary is one of the alarming evils of our day. There are but few congregations where children can be found in any considerable numbers. No one will attempt to deny the sad consequences which must follow at the inevitable results of such a course. The children at eight years of age [from infancy! ~Carmon] who have not already begun to form the habit of church attendance, and are not quite thoroughly established in it at sixteen, will stand a very fair chance of spending their entire life with little or no attachment for either the Church or religious things. The non-church going youth of this decade will be the Sabbath-breakers and irreligious people of the next."
The quote that comes below my own comments is from the blog of a cyber acquaintance whom I have come to enjoy reading. I am posting it here because it is one of the things that has been on my heart and mind lately: what to do with the children on the Lord's Day.
For those of us who desire to observe this day as being a day of rest from our worldly employments and amusements, it is too easy to make it a day of drudgery for our children if we are not careful. We live in a world that is oriented to work so that we might play rather than playing so that we might work. Given that fact, and the fact that, try as we might, it is nearly impossible to be completely free from this influence, the temptation is to really crack down on the kids and to apply the "stick" and neglect the "carrot."
I think it is fair to say that I and most in my congregation have gathered together after our congregational worship to visit with each other and left the children to play. Some of the parents keep their kids inside, but this is easier to do with little kids than it is with the teens. The result has been a tendency on the part of the teens to get into trouble with foolish talk. This then nets rebukes and frowns and clicking tongues which in turn makes the young people feel even less inclined to spend time around the adults.
I think the time has come to be pro-active in how we approach this. Just recently, at a Bible study, we decided that we would do things *with* the children after church is done -- things like Bible games and quizzes, sword drills, catechizing, etc. This will keep us involved with them, limit the opportunity for foolishness, and allow all of us to become better acquainted with the children. It is easy to regard them as a herd in need of corralling or controlling instead of as individuals that we are to love and care for as a covenant community.
If anyone has any ideas of other edifying and interesting things that could be done as a group, please leave a comment.
Here is the quote:
With the Children on Sundays: Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul, by Sylvanus Stall.
"In some households Sunday is looked forward to with anticipations of pleasure throughout the entire week. In these homes, the father does not come down stairs on Sunday morning and say: "Now, children, gather up those flowers, throw them out of the window, pull down the blinds, get down the Bible and we will have an awful solemn time here to-day." neither is the day given to frivolity or the home to demoralizing influences. From morning until night there are two great principles that govern; first, the sacredness of the day, and second, the sacredness of the God-given nature of childhood. The day is not spent in repressing the child nature by a succession of "don't do that," "now stop that," etc., that begin in the morning and continue throughout the day, and end only when the little ones los consciousness in sleep on Sunday night. In these homes, the parents recognize the fact that the child nature is the same whether the day is secular or sacred. On Sunday the child nature is not repressed, but the childish impulses are directed into channels suited to the sacredness of the day. In such homes the children, instead of being sorry that it is Sunday, are glad; instead of regretting the return of the day with dislike and dread, they welcome it as the brightest, the cheeriest and the best of all the week."
Also:
"The absence of the children from the services of the sanctuary is one of the alarming evils of our day. There are but few congregations where children can be found in any considerable numbers. No one will attempt to deny the sad consequences which must follow at the inevitable results of such a course. The children at eight years of age [from infancy! ~Carmon] who have not already begun to form the habit of church attendance, and are not quite thoroughly established in it at sixteen, will stand a very fair chance of spending their entire life with little or no attachment for either the Church or religious things. The non-church going youth of this decade will be the Sabbath-breakers and irreligious people of the next."
What to Do Now?
Last night I finished the last portion of the "behind the scenes" stuff from the extended version of The Two Towers. I eeked it out as long as I could because I didn't want it to end. So for the past week, every night I would watch a little bit at a time in order to savour it as much as possible.
I think I probably enjoyed the peek behind the scenes as much as I did watching the movie itself. It would have been just an incredible experience to be involved in the making of this movie. I especially enjoyed the segments that dealt with the Weta Workshop and all the props that they made. The sheer beauty and intricacy of the many costumes and weapons and buildings was just breath-taking.
I tend to be a very driven, focused person, particularly when it comes to getting work done. Movies like Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers and Return of the King remind me that play is just as important and necessary to life and that it can be done seriously and well to God's glory. I don't know if Peter Jackson or any of the other who worked on this film are Christians, but their work is certainly a testimony to the fact that we are stamped with the image of the Creator.
Last night I finished the last portion of the "behind the scenes" stuff from the extended version of The Two Towers. I eeked it out as long as I could because I didn't want it to end. So for the past week, every night I would watch a little bit at a time in order to savour it as much as possible.
I think I probably enjoyed the peek behind the scenes as much as I did watching the movie itself. It would have been just an incredible experience to be involved in the making of this movie. I especially enjoyed the segments that dealt with the Weta Workshop and all the props that they made. The sheer beauty and intricacy of the many costumes and weapons and buildings was just breath-taking.
I tend to be a very driven, focused person, particularly when it comes to getting work done. Movies like Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers and Return of the King remind me that play is just as important and necessary to life and that it can be done seriously and well to God's glory. I don't know if Peter Jackson or any of the other who worked on this film are Christians, but their work is certainly a testimony to the fact that we are stamped with the image of the Creator.
Friday, December 05, 2003
Sick Humor
For those of you who enjoy Homestar Runner and Strong Bad, you will probably also enjoy this.
For those of you who enjoy Homestar Runner and Strong Bad, you will probably also enjoy this.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Sunday, November 30, 2003
The Taste of Death
I have discovered that death leaves a "taste" in me that I don't care for. I was just starting to forget some of that taste when we got the call about Tim last night. One can hear about the death of others that aren't personally known and feel a sort of intellectual sorrow that doesn't really touch the heart. But let it be someone that you know personally, or a close friend or family member, and the flavor seems to overwhelm everything else.
The taste is a mixture of various flavors. One of the flavors of sorrow is that of grief for the eternal destiny of the person lost, particularly if you aren't absolutely sure that they were saved. Tim was a professing Christian, but the fruit of his life was not a testimony of redeeming and sanctifying grace. If one verse of Scripture could sum up Tim's life for me, it would be the one in James that talks about a double-minded man being unstable in all his ways. Tim had a lot of raw talent and potential, but alas, it was all wasted because he never stuck with anything long enough to see it through to completion or to weather the occasional storms of life. He had a habit of running headlong with great enthusiasm down a particular path and burning bridges behind him as he went. This was true of how he dealt with churches and people. He left his wife Marilyn, probably because she didn't appreciate and support him the way he thought he deserved, and he took up with another woman young enough to be his daughter.
Marc commented to me that "at least we can be sure that he was a Christian." Can we? Profession of Christ and confession of Him are two very different things in my mind. When we die, there should not be any doubt in the minds of those who knew and observed us as to where our faith was placed. Tim professed Christ. To my great sorrow, I am not at all confident that he confessed Christ since he was an unrepentant adulterer. When I consider where he likely is at this moment, I weep.
Tim and I had a sort of love-hate relationship. He really was Marc's friend, but I found he could be very enjoyable and entertaining company when he was in a good frame of mind, and it was easy to get caught up in his enthusiams. OTOH, he didn't like me because I tended to put the brakes on more than he liked and he also didn't like it when my opinion of him or his projects didn't coincide with his. He knew that we did not like what he had done to Marilyn or what he was involved in so we saw and heard less and less from him in the past few years.
Tim was a diabetic. I think he had type I diabetes and so insulin was a necessity for him. About 15 years ago, Tim was attending a charismaniac church where he went to a "healing" service. In faith, he decided he had been healed and acted upon that healing by stopping all his insulin. He went into a diabetic coma and almost didn't come out of it. You would think he would have learned, eh? Well he did the precise same thing this time. He attended a healing service, went off his insulin and five days later had a cardiac arrest. They started his heart 4 times altogether but after the last time, there was no brain activity, so they let him go.
Marc spoke with Marilyn, his wife, and he thinks that it is quite possible that Tim knew exactly what he was doing and followed this course knowing what the outcome would be. He always had big dreams, and when he reached the middle to late 50's and none of them were realized, it is quite likely that this was a face-saving way out of the disappointment and humiliation of having wasted most of his life and never making it to where he thought he should have been by now.
The other flavor of sorrow that comes through for me is one of anger. Anger directed at false and blind shepherds who lead blind people into the ditch. These so-called healing services are nothing short of murderous if this is what the effects of them are. I am angry with those who give false comfort to comfortable pew sitters who are on the broad highway to hell -- who sell the truth for popularity in the pulpit and who count mere numbers as evidence of success. When religion is safe to practice, hypocrisy and self-deception grow. Oh that the Lord would cleanse the Church and our hearts! Oh that many would be awakened from their deadly stupor!
I have been grieved by the state of the visible, professing Church for a long time. But when it really hits home when one of the victims of apostacy was a friend.
I have discovered that death leaves a "taste" in me that I don't care for. I was just starting to forget some of that taste when we got the call about Tim last night. One can hear about the death of others that aren't personally known and feel a sort of intellectual sorrow that doesn't really touch the heart. But let it be someone that you know personally, or a close friend or family member, and the flavor seems to overwhelm everything else.
The taste is a mixture of various flavors. One of the flavors of sorrow is that of grief for the eternal destiny of the person lost, particularly if you aren't absolutely sure that they were saved. Tim was a professing Christian, but the fruit of his life was not a testimony of redeeming and sanctifying grace. If one verse of Scripture could sum up Tim's life for me, it would be the one in James that talks about a double-minded man being unstable in all his ways. Tim had a lot of raw talent and potential, but alas, it was all wasted because he never stuck with anything long enough to see it through to completion or to weather the occasional storms of life. He had a habit of running headlong with great enthusiasm down a particular path and burning bridges behind him as he went. This was true of how he dealt with churches and people. He left his wife Marilyn, probably because she didn't appreciate and support him the way he thought he deserved, and he took up with another woman young enough to be his daughter.
Marc commented to me that "at least we can be sure that he was a Christian." Can we? Profession of Christ and confession of Him are two very different things in my mind. When we die, there should not be any doubt in the minds of those who knew and observed us as to where our faith was placed. Tim professed Christ. To my great sorrow, I am not at all confident that he confessed Christ since he was an unrepentant adulterer. When I consider where he likely is at this moment, I weep.
Tim and I had a sort of love-hate relationship. He really was Marc's friend, but I found he could be very enjoyable and entertaining company when he was in a good frame of mind, and it was easy to get caught up in his enthusiams. OTOH, he didn't like me because I tended to put the brakes on more than he liked and he also didn't like it when my opinion of him or his projects didn't coincide with his. He knew that we did not like what he had done to Marilyn or what he was involved in so we saw and heard less and less from him in the past few years.
Tim was a diabetic. I think he had type I diabetes and so insulin was a necessity for him. About 15 years ago, Tim was attending a charismaniac church where he went to a "healing" service. In faith, he decided he had been healed and acted upon that healing by stopping all his insulin. He went into a diabetic coma and almost didn't come out of it. You would think he would have learned, eh? Well he did the precise same thing this time. He attended a healing service, went off his insulin and five days later had a cardiac arrest. They started his heart 4 times altogether but after the last time, there was no brain activity, so they let him go.
Marc spoke with Marilyn, his wife, and he thinks that it is quite possible that Tim knew exactly what he was doing and followed this course knowing what the outcome would be. He always had big dreams, and when he reached the middle to late 50's and none of them were realized, it is quite likely that this was a face-saving way out of the disappointment and humiliation of having wasted most of his life and never making it to where he thought he should have been by now.
The other flavor of sorrow that comes through for me is one of anger. Anger directed at false and blind shepherds who lead blind people into the ditch. These so-called healing services are nothing short of murderous if this is what the effects of them are. I am angry with those who give false comfort to comfortable pew sitters who are on the broad highway to hell -- who sell the truth for popularity in the pulpit and who count mere numbers as evidence of success. When religion is safe to practice, hypocrisy and self-deception grow. Oh that the Lord would cleanse the Church and our hearts! Oh that many would be awakened from their deadly stupor!
I have been grieved by the state of the visible, professing Church for a long time. But when it really hits home when one of the victims of apostacy was a friend.
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Thursday, November 27, 2003
"Cheryl Defined"
From a friend in an email sent to me today:
"Cheryl... very colourful and interesting lady...
She makes her own herb capsules...
she's trim, neat, smart and spruce (at least some of the time )...
she sometimes falls asleep at the computer or during family worship...
she likes groovin' music...
she uses EFT on herself and others...
she wants to get a zapper...
and she thinks she has a pretty good road map for figuring out life's perplexities.
Hmmm... you could define her as a dapper capper, mapper, napper, rapper, tapper and zapper.
Just be glad I didn't include "flapper" in that definition... "flapper - a young girl considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress." Unconventional, yes, but bold?..."
From a friend in an email sent to me today:
"Cheryl... very colourful and interesting lady...
She makes her own herb capsules...
she's trim, neat, smart and spruce (at least some of the time )...
she sometimes falls asleep at the computer or during family worship...
she likes groovin' music...
she uses EFT on herself and others...
she wants to get a zapper...
and she thinks she has a pretty good road map for figuring out life's perplexities.
Hmmm... you could define her as a dapper capper, mapper, napper, rapper, tapper and zapper.
Just be glad I didn't include "flapper" in that definition... "flapper - a young girl considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress." Unconventional, yes, but bold?..."
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