I dropped my Mac.  Ruined the serene.  It's in Re-hab.  Won't post before next Friday.

I am finally going to leave the dark ages of writing checks, stamping and putting a return label on an envelope.  I am going to do my banking on line.  I think I must be the last living dinosaur.  I tried to set it up myself.  That was amusing.  All I did was prove that I couldn't get it done.  I have three people lined up to help me.  I'll take the first person I can get.  Big step for me.  I've been reluctant to do this with all the hacking going on.

My music director, (Jerry Miller) who is also the director at teacher's meeting, just finished leading the music at a revival.  He came back with something he learned and shared it with me.  Something that he said he had never thought of.  It turns out that I hadn't either.

We know the stories in the New Testament about Jesus' miracles.  And remember that when he preformed a miracle among the Jews--who were trying to trap and kill him--he would tell the person who was healed not to tell anyone about it--about what he, Jesus, had done.  Because he didn't want to arouse any more irritation among the Pharisees or the priests--those who were plotting to kill him for heresy.  Healing the sick wasn't the thing he came for--he still had a much greater mission to preform.  He was on his way to the cross to die for our sins.  

But when Jesus cast the demons out of the man who was possessed, (and cast the demons into a bunch of pigs), Jesus told the man who was cured to go home and tell everyone what he, Jesus, had done, and what had happened.  (That the man was free from demons.)  Of course, his friends and family would know immediately something had happened since the man had been crazed and cast out of town years before and forced to live in a graveyard.

The question is:  Why did Jesus tell that man that he should go and tell about Jesus, and not the others?  What my director said was maybe it was because the man possessed with a demon was a Gentile.  And this was a way for Gentiles to learn the good news that Jesus--the Jewish Messiah--had come to save everyone.  Not just the Jews.  The good news of salvation is for all of us.  Jesus had no fear of the Gentiles doing him harm.  I had never put that together or thought about why Jesus told that particular man to go and tell his friends.

As for the man who owned the pigs which ran over a cliff?  I'm sure he wasn't very happy.

I am reading the biography of Ulysses Grant, by Ron Chernow--the Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote "Washington," and "Alexander Hamilton.  It is interesting.  But a challenge  to read.  Chernow writes beautifully, but he uses words that I have never heard before.  So I decided to record,  and look up every word I didn't know in the dictionary--to find the meaning.  Which I did.

In one hundred pages, I listed over forty words I didn't know, and subsequently looked up.   I will probably learn the meaning of a bunch of new words before I finish--since there are 965 pages in the book.  Now, the thing I need to do is remember them.   However, if I remember any of them it will be an accomplishment.  Here are a few of over three hundred words I didn't know:

imprimatur--person's guarantee that something is a good standard
peroration--conclusion of a speech intended to enthuse
fillip--stimulus
bruited--spread
fortnight--two weeks
interregnums--a period when normal government is suspended

I should have known "fortnight."  I didn't.  I had heard it but didn't know exactly what it meant.  I did know it was a time period, but didn't know for how long.

One thing I did learn from the outstanding imprimatur (!) that Chernow wrote about Grant's life.  Grant was unfairly branded by history--eclipsing his sterling qualities.  This book gives an account of his life--from birth to death.  I recommend it for anyone who is interested in history.  It is excellent.  I have a much better concept of the political events of the Civil War.  As well as the battles.

I won't remember that word "imprimatur" in the morning.  I guess that's why Chernow won a Pulitzer prize in literature.  His command, and use, of the English language is exceptional.

As soon as I finish "Grant," I'm going to read something easy.  Something in which I know most of the words.  However, there's nothing wrong with stretching your mind a little bit.

There is really only one question that a person must ultimately come to grips with.  And that is: does he think the world--and all that is in it--is the result of intelligent design, or happenstance.  A person must, along with Descartes, conclude one or the other."

Descartes said, "I think, therefore, I am."  You can read the entire "Proof" of Descartes--which is pages and pages long.  He was a mathematician who set out to prove through "if/then" statements the existence of a supreme being.  I read the entire proof.  His logic is faultless.

"Intelligent design" is the current politically correct definition for anything that is not evolutionary in design.  The Cambrian period, in archaeological history, has upset the apple cart of evolution-theory, because there are no precursors for Cambrian life.  Which means that life in the Cambrian period just kind of "popped up" out of nowhere.  And there are eight or more totally different kinds of life in that period.  None of which have precursors.  No strata evidence.  Nowhere in the world.

I think, therefore:  Things don't just pop up out of nowhere.  You need natural selection from somewhere.  Something previous.  Or evolution of some sort.  Or you need a creative event.

Intelligent design would include these concepts: 1. That we came from some outer-space planet, or 2. That there is a Supreme being that designed all of the universe.  If we  came from another planet, who designed the people on that planet?  So ultimately, intelligent design has a name:  God.  But that word doesn't have a place in the current scientific community.

I've made my choice and I call it "God."   It is the one question that every person must answer.

Which brings me to the second question:  Is there life after death?  I've made my choice.  If Jesus was God--which I logically came to the conclusion that He was.  (Read my account on Thomas.)  Then, did he conquer death?  The resurrection accounts of dozens and dozens of people at different times and different places have been recorded and validated.

He arose.  He conquered death.  And we will live again with Him.  Forever.  Praise God.

Words.  They are the substance of our expression to each other.  The more words you know and understand, the better you can communicate.  But if your audience doesn't understand the words you are saying, you lose them.  I am always learning new words.  "Obfuscate" is such a word.  It means to render obscure, unintelligible or unclear.  But "bewilder" is a more common word we use to express that concept.  So I don't use the word "obfuscate" when I write.  I use "bewilder."

I am constantly replacing words when I write.  The purpose is to make what I have written clear--to a greater audience.  Most people aren't word-smiths.  Which brings me to the point of what I am trying to express.  I am currently lost in a world of words that I do not understand.  They are the words that have been created in the last twenty years at such a pace that they are obsolete--before I can learn what they mean.  Computer words--that sometimes aren't words at all--just letters.  I don't know where to start learning.  I am "Obfuscated" when it comes to the language.

CD-rom, or is it C drom?  Digital, analog, PDF, beta, the cloud, etc. etc. Thousands of words and letters that have appeared and then vanished.   I don't even know where to begin learning about them.  Or how to even ask about what I don't understand.  Words just turn up.  Everyone says:  "Get one of your grandkids to help you."  I tried that.  They used words I didn't understand to explain words that I didn't understand.

I am a sequential learner.  I need to start over at the beginning.  Where is that?  How do you start learning about this subject when the words evaporate--are discarded--almost as soon as you learn what they mean.  In my first computer class, we punched cards.  You know, 1101011, etc.

You have to go back to the beginning of the information explosion to try to understand what words came "next" and eliminated the need for the words that are no longer worth anything to the computer language.  That is so strange.  Most language builds on what came "before" and adds to the language.  Computer language seems to eliminate words from their vocabulary because they are no longer worth anything.  I am befuddled by it all.  In my life time, information has exploded.  It is mind boggling.

I hope they speak English in Heaven.

   

Wonderful news!  I took Squig back to the Vet last week and they have revised their theory of what is wrong.  He has lost four teeth around the one he broke and it left pockets in the bone which turned into cysts.  They are almost certain than he doesn't have cancer.  Praise God!  I gave him some fried chicken to celebrate.   I can't even express my joy.

I taught a lesson Sunday on a word that I had never thought much about.  (We are still in Exodus discussing Moses.)  The word is "glory."  What is it?  We talk about the "glory" of God, we sing about it, (Glory came down and heaven filled my soul).  We even have a national song that says, "Glory, glory hallelujah."

But what is it, exactly?

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God had them build a tabernacle (tent).  He was very exact about the details because they would have to strike the tent every time they moved--toward the promised land.  The pieces had to fit together exactly.  Dove-tail in every joint.

After they finished all the pieces and put them together, God came in a cloud and filled the tabernacle with his "Glory."  You could see it.  And when Moses communed with God, God's glory made Moses' face reflect Him.  It frightened the people.

I decided that the best way I could define the word was to refer to our flag.  "Old Glory."  When we see it waving, or being raised, or over a casket of a fallen soldier, we react to it.  Some of us more than others because of our relationship with the flag.  So I think I would describe the word "Glory" as something reflected (when we look upon it) that takes place in our hearts.

God's glory (reflected upon us) changes us.  He is the light of the world.  And we are to live so that we glorify Him.  Let others see "...Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Colossians 1:27

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven."  Matthew 5:16









old glory

Summer is over.  I've turned the heat on and got my down comforter out of the linen closet.  It's Friday, garage sale day, and it's too cold to go see what's going on out there.  Probably nothing.  I love to garage sale.  It's like looking for Easter eggs.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of sterling silver ear clips (clips date back to the 40's and 50's) inlaid with chunky turquoise--for a quarter.  They are worth more than $150 on the retail market.  That was fun.

I don't keep the stuff.  I guess you could call me a "picker."  I take it all to the antique shop--my daughter's booth--and chalk up the money I spend at garage sales to a day's entertainment.  It's cheaper than a movie.  I don't need more stuff.  I don't want more stuff.   Of course you have to know about "old stuff" to be able to find "old stuff" that others want to buy.  And since I almost qualify as an antique myself,  I know about "old stuff."

For years the market was for "Depression glass."  My Grandmother and Pops had a little grocery store in the 20's, 30's and 40's.  I remember that "Griffin's tea" gave away a green glass when you bought a box of tea.  Other brands did the same.  There were dozens and dozens of patterns of dishes, etc. given away at grocery stores--trying to get you to buy their brand.  After they quit doing that, young women would look for glass patterns in antique stores from the depression--Depression Glass.

My Gran had a lot of it because people would buy the product and not want the glass, or cup, or dish, and leave it on the shelf.  It wasn't worth anything.  Now, a green glass goes for twenty-four dollars--if you can find one.  But you can hardly sell it anymore because people want whatever their grandmother had, and the current trend isn't Depression Glass.  It is--tah dah--tupperware.  That's right.  Tupperware.  And if it is colored, well, that makes it even more collectable.

We buy memories.  Stuff that takes us back to a happy time.   Things that make us feel warm and fuzzy.  I admit, I have an entire set of Depression Glass.  Pink.  My pattern is "Waffle", sometimes called Waterford pink.  But I am missing one piece--a round butter dish.  I could buy it on E-bay for $350.00.  But what's the fun in that.  The reason it is round is because back then, you churned your own butter and shaped it with a round wood butter press.   I've pressed butter at Gran's house that way.   And churned butter.  Memories.  That's what we buy.