Pagan vanities. . .Hammer of Zeus

Greece lightning: Ancient Parthenon lit from above as storm breaks over Athens | Mail Online

Jupiter = Latin for Gr. Zeus, the national god of the Greeks. Mercurius = Gr. Hermes.

"And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker....which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people crying out. and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:12, 14, 15).

More Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers: "Do you have a room?" "Room" = "zimmer" in German. "Does your dog bite?" Just a bit of help with the dialogue.

Does your dog bite? - Maggie's Farm#comments

A must read about dogs is James Thurber's short story, "The Dog That Bit People" -- be prepared to laugh. It is also a superb piece of writing.

Psalm 93

"The LORD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded Himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting" (Psalm 93:1-2).

The LORD has come to begin His glorious reign over the earth. It is Jehovah the Son. He has a garment of majesty...a visible glory. "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord" (Hab. 2:14).

All this is future, but what a glorious future it will be!

Lincolnesque

Once on the road Lincoln was stopped by an old woman who informed him that he was just about the ugliest man she'd ever seen. He said, "Ma'am, I can't help my face." She replied, "No, I guess not. But you could stay home."

(Some days, me too!)

Chauncey Gardiner. . .

Amazon.com: Being There: Peter Sellers Oh, boy...stupid is as stupid does, somebody said -- Forest Gump wasn't it? I found the movie (Being There) agonizing--who could be that naive? And who could not see his naivete?

Peter Sellers is always a hoot to watch though, and in my mind's eye can still see his innocent, simple face as he plays Chauncey Gardiner. The movie is built on the premise that people see what they want, not necessarily on what is real.

The Bible says there is coming a man who will deceive the world. Daniel speaks of him: "And in his estate (the one destroyed in verse 20) shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceable, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries" (Daniel 11:21).

And the Apostle Paul tells us about him: "...that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

People will see what they want...but not see what is real. Let's not be deceived...keep reading the Book of Truth.

Psalm 40:1

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry."

Curmudgeons. . .

Five Best Books on Curmudgeons | By John Derbyshire - WSJ.com

Disaster can be our friend...

From David Warren:

A merciful God allows us to suffer the consequences of our stupidities, including especially our moral stupidities, even in this world. It does not always seem merciful at the time. But just as nature has a way of rectifying her imbalances -- painfully, perhaps, but effectively all the same -- so human nature contains the seeds of recovery. Disaster can be our friend.

davidwarrenonline.com - NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

Black Swan Theory

Black swan theory What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become Too Big to Fail.
No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains.
People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus.
Do not let someone making an "incentive" bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks.
Counter-balance complexity with simplicity.
Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning.
Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to "restore confidence".
Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains.
Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible "expert" advice for their retirement.
Make an omelette with the broken eggs.

"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." (written by Job, chapter 14:14, 1520 B.C.).

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (written by the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 59 A.D.)

Impossible? Nothing is impossible to God! Call it a Black Swan if you want, I call it Good News!

Must I not wonder?

"What good am I, if I'm like all the rest?"

What good am I, if I'm like all the rest
If I just turn away when I see how you're dressed
If I shut myself off so I can't hear you cry
What good am I ?

What good am I if I know and don't do
If I see and don't say, if I look right through you
If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin' sky
What good am I ?

What good am I while you softly weep
And I hear in my head what you say in your sleep
And I freeze in the moment like the rest who don't try
What good am I ?

What good am I then to others and me
If I had every chance and yet still fail to see
If my hands are tied must I not wonder within
Who tied them and why and where must I have been.

What good am I if I say foolish things
And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings
And I just turn my back while you silently die
What good am I ? - Bob Dylan

"I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul." (Psalm 142:4)

Conservatives and Libertarians

Conservatives believe that (limited) constitutional government is essential "to secure these rights"— to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Libertarians repudiate this insight of the Founding Fathers. They oppose all government, and they repudiate the need for social cultivation of the social bond, for public authority, and of legally enforced rules. They are opposed to the Constitution and to the American heritage. Indeed, libertarians repudiate essential elements of civilization as it has historically developed everywhere. To paraphrase Lord Keynes, they "repudiate all versions of the doctrine of original sin, of there being insane and irrational springs of wickedness in most men. [They are] not aware that civilization [is] a thin and precarious crust erected by the personality and the will of a very few, and only maintained by rules and conventions skillfully put across and guilefully preserved. [They have] no respect for traditional wisdom or the restraints of custom. [They] lack reverence . . ." They are a belated offspring of the eighteenth century Enlightenment, of rationalism in its most virulent form. They believe that we can do away with the perennial tension between the individual and the group by denying the legitimacy of any social authority.

United States v. Timothy Emerson, Potowmack Institute, amicus curiae, Appendix G

Diet. . .

Someone said this, and it is a great rule of thumb: “Eat food. Not much, mostly plants.”

Need encouragement?

"And David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (I Samuel 30:6b).

Freedom...

A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule. -Michael Pollan, author, journalism professor (b. 1955)

Nature was cursed in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 3:17). Blame our adversary Satan, who deceived Eve into biting that apple with the result of God's judgment causing the creation to be filled with weeds. We've been at war with the weeds ever since. And with the totalitarian rule of Satan, the 'god of this world.'

The good news is Jesus Christ defeated our adversary at the cross and we can now stand in glorious freedom. There is now an escape from the totalitarian rule of the evil one, and one future day creation will be loosed too (Romans 8:21). No more weeds! Alleluia!

So, as we wait: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). And get out that weed spray!

Exit

Alcoholism is a dark tunnel only the addict would understand. Its initial welcome is heaven itself.

The exit from the tunnel, if there is one, is filled with the hell of many cold turkeys and pitch black despair about everything.

Only God, as far as I’m concerned, can get us out of it.

If you don’t believe in God?

You’ll die from the addiction to alcohol. (- Michael Moriarty, Big Hollywood)

Olivia's Peonies

Olivia's bouquet to her Amma. They are delicate scented, not heavy to make you tire of them. I think they suit Olivia well. I know they suit me.

History Returns to Europe

Perhaps if everybody ends up about the same, regardless of effort or achievement, then life must be enjoyed mostly in the here and now. Why sacrifice for children, or put something aside for heirs, or worry over a judgment in the afterlife? The more the European Union talks about its global caring, the less likely its own citizens are to have children.
Victor Davis Hanson : History Returns to Europe - Townhall.com

Things we can't not know. . .

"...there are things we can't not know. We'd have to suppress our conscience not to know those things--and that's exactly what Romans 1 is talking about, that people may suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1: 18-19).

- from The Case For The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel, p. 238 The "Yuck Factor."

The "yuck factor" is when we don't even have to think through certain issues. We know immediately it is wrong. We'd have to suppress our conscience not to know.