The Take-Away

Normally, I don't really like that term 'take-away.' I don't really know why. It's cheesy or something. But, for lack of a better term. Here is the take away from two awesome books I just finished. There will be a real review for these books on the Bookworm's Library Resources page. (One this week, and one next week) You'll probably be hearing a lot about books for a while. I'm in the middle of a very-little-fiction stage.

So, first. I just finished The Federalist Papers by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. At the end of the book, in the appendices, I also read, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of the Confederation, The United States Constitution, and the Constitutional Amendments up to Amendment 27. I must say, it was one of the best things I ever did. I 'took away' from it a renewed vision for patriotism. I absolutely LOVE my country. I am so proud to be an American. It was really neat to see how well the Constitution has worked over the years. We have not necessarily done everything, made every decision in keeping with the Constitution, but the Constitution has done what it was intended to do. These founding pillars of American policies and history, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, and the writers of the Constitution, had so much foresight.
The other 'take-away' from this book was a possible new-found love of political science. The book was fascinating. And if you knew me, that's saying a lot. Because while I believe in being a good citizen etc. I've never ever been one who enjoyed politics, current events, debate, law. At least, not very much anyway. But, it was just so interesting to see the explanation and reasons behind each part of the Constitution via The Federalist Papers. A review of this book will be posted this week.

The other book I just finished was UnPlanned, by Abby Johnson. Abby Johnson was the former director of a Planned Parenthood facility in Texas. She is now a prominent Pro-life leader. The thing I 'took-away' from this book was the way in which we can be misled. You can have all the right motivations, and still make the wrong decisions. It was a message that is always good to be re-enforced. The story of Abby Johnson is a clear example of what God can do with our wrong decisions. This book will be reviewed more fully next week. (Now, I'm in the middle of Joyfully at Home, by Jasmine Baucham. So, you might be hearing about that later on too.) Endure and enjoy with me!

Sir Percy

We got a dog.

His name is Sir Percy, named for Sir Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orzy. Unfortunately, computer is still being lame and won't let me upload pictures. He's a male, sable, collie. 10 weeks old. We got him from a very cool family up in Bellingham.

He is...adorable. He's got a distinctively mellow personality. We've had him since yesterday. At the moment, he's sleeping. In fact, he's been doing that for the last many many moments. Hours. He's got a floppy ear, a very wet nose, and a propensity for following people around. (When he's awake.)

If you want to see pictures, ask me via email. If you want to see him, come on over!

Here a Little, There a Little

Because I just love random facts and I heard/saw/read a few really cool/interesting ones this week.

Boston, Massachusetts had trouble because of molasses twice. The first time, England set a Molasses Tariff. It contributed towards beginning the American Revolution. It isn't often that tragedy centers around food, but Molasses had it twice. In 1919, a storage tank of molasses located in Boston and holding over 2 million gallons broke. A 30 foot tidal wave of molasses, traveling at 35 mph descended on the town. Known as the Great Molasses Flood, 21 people were killed and massive amounts of property was destroyed. Just imagine trying to clean your house after that!

Alright, here's the other interesting thing.

I love all the old guys in our church. One of the fun things about them is their stories/anecdotes/experiences. Few Sunday's go past without at least one.

Mr. R__ was telling us this week about the time he was stationed in the Florida Keys. One of his jobs was to keep a lookout for waterspouts. A waterspout, Mr. R__ says, is one of God's most amazing creations, albeit pretty dangerous.

Watch this video, or some of it, and then I'll tell you the amazing fact Mr. R__ revealed!

Are you ready for the fascinating fact? Here it is.

When Mr. R__ sighted a waterspout coming towards the shore, he would contact the correct people. A submarine would be sent out in between the waterspout and the land. The submarine's job was to bump the bottom of the waterspout. Doing this would turn the waterspout's direction!!!!!! Don't you think that is one of the most cool things ever!?

The Family Signature

Or maybe it's just my signature. But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

So, I cook dinner 5 nights a week. And, not to boast, I'm pretty good. But gradually there has crept in a new family joke. The Family Signature. It happens often enough to have merited a title.

Here's an example:

Dad sits down at the table: "What's for dinner?"

Me: "Um, "

(Dad: "We don't start every sentence with Um.")

Me: "Um...oops, didn't say that. We're having Ham and Noodle Cassorole, only we didn't have noodles so I used rice, and we didn't have ham so I used chicken. But the spices are the same!"

And then there's the time I made Baked Burritos, (A family recipe) The only problem was, I didn't bake them.

You see, the oven had been on earlier in the day. When I made dinner, the oven was still warm. That made me think it was on. But, it wasn't.

So, we sat down to eat, and...it was cold!

Or, there's the time I made up a recipe. (I'm getting better at those.) But when mom took a bite, she got a funny look on her face.

Mom: "What spices did you put in this?"

Me: "Oh, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano...and a little cardamom.

Mom: "Cardamom!!!"

Me: Well, I figured I've never used it before, so I might as well try it.

The dish wasn't bad. It just had a slightly...unusual flavor.

In fact, very few of the Family Signatures have tasted bad. So, if you come over to our house for dinner sometime, and are told you're having a signature, don't worry that it will taste bad, just keep in mind that it might have a few substitutions, omissions, or additions and won't taste anything at all like the recipe.

My Father

In the words of that time-honored song:

"My father is the best, my father is the best, best in the whole wide world my father's best!"

I love my dad so much. I really do think that he is the best. Best in the whole universe! (Beat that!)

When I was thinking about what I should say, I could only think how fitting it would be to talk about what is probably the top reason for which I admire my dad. (It was hard to pick though, there are so many things I for which I admire him)

Here we go then:

I honor my father because of his righteousness. 'Righteousness,' as he often says, 'is knowing the right thing to do, and choosing to do it, with the right attitude.' And here, I take the liberty of adding to that quote. Righteous is all that PLUS doing the right thing no matter what the personal consequences.

I have seen this evidenced in Dad's life many times over the years, both in his personal life, and his job.  I remember one time when there was a big decision to be made. It effected both his livelihood, and his personal life. If he chose to give in to the pressures of his job and conform to what was being asked of him, his family and job would have been blessed with 'security.' Artificial, but, 'security' nonetheless. On the other hand, if he quit his job, he would no longer have an income, no longer have a place to live, and we would have no immediate place to go to.

Dad chose the latter option. Now, to some, that would have seemed dumb. But, I am so proud of dad for doing that. I love my dad so much for choosing not to compromise on his principles. For being consistent. For 'walking the talk.' I've seen him do such similar things all my life. Thank you Dad! It means a lot!

A Quick Note

So, not knowing much about the Follower Button, and not knowing what it actually tells you, I'll tell you here.

If I post on the Home Page, it is more than likely that I have posted something new on one or all of the other three pages. (Most likely the Bookworm's Library Resource Page however)

That said, I'm have completed the three-part series stating my views on what a book review will be based/rated on. I will henceforth be writing reviews. Please take the time to read these three posts. (They're long-ish, but they're important) Please read them before reading any reviews.

Also, one last thing, keep in mind that the most recent post is at the bottom of the page on those other pages.

Thanks!

Father's Day post coming soon!

Fountain of Thoughts: Degrees of Sin? Part 3

We say there is no such thing as a little white lie, but do we live it? Do we think of that little lie we told as something about which to be horrified? I'm certainly not anywhere close to perfect in this area. Are you? we say getting a little mad sometimes is good to clear the system. If we say this, though, that means we're only murdering our brother an equally small amount, which must be equally good for clearing the system, right? To quote my brother, "Really, people? Really?"(See Matthew 5: 21-25)
I said this all the way in Part 1, which you can find here. And again in Part 2, found here.

Here goes for the long-promised Part 3; the last of the Fountain of Thoughts series (as such) and the last of the consistently long posts.

I think we would all agree that sin is sin. It cannot be dismissed or excused as something less than it is. So are there degrees of sin? You might be surprised to find that my answer is No, and then Yes.

First No, because I believe all sins are sins. Also, I think specific sins, such as Murder, is not a greater sin than a Lie.

But I answer Yes for the following reasons:

All throughout Scripture, and in many governments, a distinction appears to be made in the Punishment of Murder vs. the Punishment of a Lie or Stealing.

Exodus 21-23 is a great example. Exodus 22:1 says: (Paraphrase) If someone steals an ox, sheep, or other possession, and kills, sells, or breaks it, he must restore five oxen, or four sheep, or in other words, replace with interest.
Vs. 4 (Paraphrase) However, if the stolen item is found in the thief's hand alive and unharmed, he only has to restore double.

Here we see that stealing is a sin that ought to be punished. But we also see that the punishment is different in the above cases. Can we then conclude that there are degrees of sin? I think yes, sort of. It really might be better called: Degrees of Consequence. The sin is not any the worse or better depending on whether the stolen item is broken or not, but the punishment can be more or less.

I think this has everything to do with God's justice and mercy. In both the Old and New Testament, there are allowances for sinning through ignorance or sinning on purpose. Those who sin on purpose are punished more. (generally) Those who sin through ignorance have still sinned, but God through His mercy, gives them a lesser punishment, (usually).

So, since I love to read and interrelate my books with my posts, I have to use Martin Luther. I recently read a biography of Martin Luther "Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton" Martin Luther, as you may know, was a monk for a while. His purpose for being a monk was to achieve perfection by separating from the world. He soon discovered however, that in spite of being separate from the world and all by himself, that he still could not achieve perfection because he still sinned, although, as he said "I often couldn't even think of what I had done, but I had done it."

First Corinthians 4:4 explains it best: "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord" (NASB) Martin Luther discovered that although he knew of no sin that he had committed, he could still not obtain salvation because God knew that he had sinned, though perhaps in ignorance.

Was that a rabbit trail. Perhaps a little.

What I'm trying to say is, that though we sin through ignorance, or sin through purpose, it's still a sin, but God makes allowances when He deals out his justice. Since God is perfect, and perfectly just, He must punish all sin whether through ignorance or not. But in His perfect mercy, He gives grace.

Furthermore, there are often I believe, degrees of Responsibility. If I'm left in charge while my parents are gone, and I say my little brother can throw rocks at the house, my brother would be in trouble for throwing the rocks, but I would be in more trouble for giving him permission. Why? Because I'm older, and I know better. I have the greater responsibility for the sin.

This is dealt with by Jesus himself in John 19: 10: 11. "So Pilate said to Him, 'You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?' Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.' (NASB)

Now, I'm not a Theologian, so this is just my thought. I think that the words "the greater sin" are really dealing with the greater responsibility. All the Pharisees etc. and ultimately all sinners, have the greater responsibility for the sin of crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ. Pilate still sinned, but his responsibility was less because his authority, his role, had been given to him from above. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway I hope I've been clear here. This was all triggered by reading The Legacy of Cain by Wilkie Collins, The Life and Battles of Lt.-General Stonewall Jackson by R.L. Dabney, and Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton. Some of these books may be going onto the Bookworms Library Page, but not until I have time to review them.

My apologies to those who got an email saying that I had posted a new post. My computer randomly decided to post this while I was in the middle of writing it.