Monday, April 15, 2024
Pathways
Friday, March 1, 2024
Sunny Days
Rodney Dangerfield dopplegänger? |
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Downfall of Our Forebearers
Cicero Denounces Cataline --Cesare Maccari, 1889 |
Saturday, July 1, 2023
Saturday, June 24, 2023
More Ducal Branding
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Groucho for Better Thinking
Friday, July 1, 2022
Patriot of Another Country
July, of course, celebrates American Independence Day. Demonstrations of patriotism will abound. If you wish to see old July 4th related posts on this blog, please choose the "Fourth of July", "patriotism", or "politics" links on the left sidebar (on the desktop version).
- That which is imposing here on earth has always something of the quality of the fallen angel who is beautiful but without peace, great in his conceptions and exertions but without success, proud and lonely.
- Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.
- A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one.
Saturday, June 25, 2022
What the Heck?
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
More Choices
Friday, December 3, 2021
Quote from St. Nick
Friday, October 1, 2021
Birds' Nests
"Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided. But because we cannot keep birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them build a nest in our hair." -- Martin Luther's Large Catechism, "Explanation of the Sixth Petition" ("Lead us not into temptation.")
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Unity
Culture Wars
"I think there’s an adrenaline rush or dopamine hit from engaging in full-fledged culture wars that otherwise thoughtful souls on both sides of the political spectrum can find intoxicating. For some, life is worth living only when ‘the soul of America’ is at stake. So the soul of America is ALWAYS at stake."
--Phil Vischer, creator of the Christian cartoon series VeggieTales, on evangelical Eric Metaxas, whom he once employed as a writer.
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Exceptional?
What's the point in arguing about the term "American exceptionalism?" We're a nation of imperfect people, founded on some amazing ideas of a democratic republic, enshrined in our Constitution. We've done some very noteworthy things; we've done some things that were stupid and even cruel. Accepting all these facets doesn't make us [1] less American, nor [2] less willing to accept or work on problematic parts of our past. Can we unify on this, too? --Marie Byars
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Try a New Tool
It's well past time for the "sides" [mostly referring to the culture wars] to think they can use the political system as a sledgehammer to "smash" their opponents into oblivion.
No one's going anywhere, folks. You're wasting a lot of energy, a lot of political capital, and a lot of your ability to try persuasion, instead. --Marie Byars
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Sunday, August 2, 2020
The Second Coming
*Widening gyre: cycles or circular motions; Yeats was referring to his belief in cycles of history. He felt that an orderly one that came with the birth of Christ was about to give way to chaos. [This writer, looking at history, would not agree it had been all that orderly since Christ's birth.] The times just after First World War, with the concurrent 'flu pandemic, brought a lot of "apocalyptic" thinking about. The devastation of those two events was enormous.
**"The center cannot hold" is taken by some political scientists or laymen to suggest that a third, centrist party cannot take off in places like the United States. The touchstone for the metaphor may actually be military: The center of a battle line being broken through. It may also be Yeats' sense that society's ties to religion or other traditional cultures or worldviews are being torn apart. In this sense, it would be things that "center people" rather than a Centrist view.
However, in our current tribalistic political times, it's sad thing that a Center once created by compromise cannot be heard. It's not totally gone (though it seems more and more people are taking sides, and the rude voices try to drown the Center from both sides), but it doesn't have voice in our current society. Note, also, Yeats saying the worse are "full of passionate intensity."
(I would argue that our "First past the post" election system, the winner takes all idea, is a big part of the problem. With ranked choice voting, more people risk voting for others in multi-party systems, not feeling they're going to "throw the vote" to the candidate they really DON'T like. They put that person 2nd, and if their preferred candidate is taken out of competition, their #2 vote still counts for something. And it can go beyond #2, as far down as ranking is deemed feasible.)
***Spiritus Mundi: spirit of the world; the collective spirit of humankind. According to Yeats, it is a mystical concept, ''a universal memory and a 'muse' of sorts that provides inspiration to the poet or write."
****Apparently the AntiChrist, trying to mock and mimic Christ with its birth in a figurative Bethlehem. Interesting, how is it slouching before birth? Is this an accidental oversight? Or is this a description of something so horrific it forces whatever its maternal creation is to slouch off in an evil journey before birth that mocks the holy one of Mary (pregnant with Jesus) and Joseph? [Thoughts of Voldemort in Harry Potter, before he gets his body back. come to mind. Also, a shadowy Tash overtaking Narnia in the last of the Chronicles of Narnia.]
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Wisdom from a Spiritual Source
The work of William Cowper (pronounced "Cowper"; 1731-1800) is featured on both my blogs this month. For more information, see the Christian Nature Poetry blog.
Below are some timeless quotes from Cowper. Source material provided when possible.
"Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour." --"The Timepiece", 1785; lines 606-607
"I am monarch of all I survey..." --Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Seldirk, 1782; line 1
"But still remember, if you mean to please, To press your point with modesty and ease." --William Cowper, John William Cunningham; “The works of William Cowper: Poems : with an essay on the genius and poetry of Cowper”, p.158 (1835)
"Absence of proof is not proof of absence."
"Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse, too." --“The Task: A Poem. In Six Books”, p.89 (1810)
"God made the country, and man made the town." --"The Sofa" line 749 (1785)
"Misery still delights to trace Its semblance in another's case." --“The Works of William Cowper: His Life, Letters, and Poems. Now First Completed by the Introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence”, p.446
“If the world like it not, so much the worse for them.” --Letters
"A little sunshine is generally the prelude to a storm."
"A life of ease is a difficult pursuit." -- “Poems”, p.290 (1815)
"No one was ever scolded out of their sins."
"When nations perish in their sins, 'tis in the Church the leprosy begins." --“Poems of William Cowper, Esq”, p.57 (1824)
"The darkest day, if you live till tomorrow, will have past away."
"Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God." -- "The Winter Walk At Noon”
"England, with all thy faults, I love thee still..." --“The Life and Works of William Cowper: His life and letters by William Hayley" (1835)
"No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach."
Ye therefore who love mercy, teach your sons to love it, too. --“The Poetical Works of William Cowper”, p.143 (1854)
"A fool must be right now and then, by chance." --"Conversation" line 96 (1782)
“Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much. Wisdom is humble that he knows not more.”
“Satan trembles, when he sees the weakest Saint upon his knees.” --“Olney Hymn 29: Exhortation To Prayer”
"Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will." --"The Winter Walk At Noon”
"A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his Creator."
"We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works die too." “The Works of William Cowper: Comprising His Poems, Correspondence, and Translations. With a Life of the Author”, p.83 (1835).
Cowper: Seasonal Poem, Christian Nature Poetry Blog
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Why Did That Chicken Cross the Road?
(Some of this is a bit behind the times, but you all still know the references.)
SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!
BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.
HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make why the chicken crossed the road.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.
AL GORE: I invented the chicken.
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross the road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.
NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way the chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2014, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2014. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Equal Balance
"I am a democrat [believer in democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government… The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows...
"I do not think that equality is one of those things (like wisdom or happiness) which are good simply in themselves and for their own sakes. I think it is in the same class as medicine, which is good because we are ill, or clothes which are good because we are no longer innocent… Legal and economic equality are absolutely necessary remedies for the Fall, and protection against cruelty...
But medicine is not good... When equality is treated not as a medicine or a safety-gadget, but as an ideal, we begin to breed that stunted and envious sort of mind which hates all superiority. That mind is the special disease of democracy, as cruelty and servility are the special diseases of privileged societies. It will kill us all if it grows unchecked. The man who cannot conceive a joyful and loyal obedience on the one hand, nor an unembarrassed and noble acceptance of that obedience on the other - the man who has never even wanted to kneel or to bow - is a prosaic barbarian. "But it would be wicked folly to restore these old inequalities on the legal or external plane. Their proper place is elsewhere...It is there, of course, in our life as Christians -- there, as laymen, we can obey – all the more because the priest has no authority over us on the political level. It is there in our relation to parents and teachers – all the more because it is now a willed and wholly spiritual reverence. It should be there also in marriage. We shall never be safe unless we already understand in our hearts all that the anti-democrats can say, and have provided for it better than they." --C.S. Lewis, "Equality"; The Spectator, 1943
C.S. Lewis on Equality and Our Core Misconception About Democracy
"Equality"; The Spectator, vol. CLXXI (27 August 1943), p. 192