Project 5782 | Day 22

Not as it Seems

Scripture Portion

Psalm 82

¹ God has taken his place in the divine council;
   in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
² “How long will you judge unjustly
   and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
³ Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
   maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;
   deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
⁵ They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
   they walk about in darkness;
   all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
⁶ I said, “You are gods,
   sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, like men you shall die,
   and fall like any prince.”
⁸ Arise, O God, judge the earth;
   for you shall inherit all the nations!

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Quote from Reading

“On the issue of slavery, it was essentially Western civilization against the world. At the time, Western civilization had the power to prevail against all other civilizations. That is how and why slavery was destroyed as an institution in almost the whole world. But it did not happen all at once or even within a few decades. When the British finally stamped out slavery in Tanganyika in 1922 it was more than half a century after the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, and vestiges of slavery still survived in parts of Africa into the twenty-first century.
“The unique position of the Western world in the history – and especially the destruction – of slavery need not imply that there was unanimity within the West on this institution. In addition to whites who defended the enslavement of Africans on racial grounds, or who opposed general emancipation on social grounds, there were many whites – and even blacks – who defended slavery as a matter of self-interest as slaveowners. Although most black owners of slaves in the United States were only nominal owners of members of their own families, there were thousands of other blacks in the antebellum South who were commercial slaveowners, just like their white counterparts. An estimated one-third of the ‘free persons of color’ in New Orleans were slaveowners and thousands of these slaveowners volunteered to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Black slaveowners were even more common in the Caribbean. In short, there were many defenders of slavery in the West, even in the nineteenth century – and, outside the West, slavery was too widely accepted to require defense.”

Sowell, Thomas, Black Rednecks and White Liberals, Encounter Books: New York, 2005, pg. 126-127

Provocative Language

from “Alone”

Have you ever
Sat in a room
Full of people
Yet never felt
So alone…

…

No acknowledgement
No conversation
No nothing.
My company,
My phone.

Bhathal, Ritu, Poetic RITUals, 2016, pg.

Project 5782 | Day 10

Matters of Fecal Matter

Scripture Portion

2 Chronicles 21.11-20

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

¹⁶ And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. ²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. – The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Quote from Reading

“DeMuth agrees that Sowell’s most important contributions are his writings on intellectual history and ideas. ‘Among his books, the vision trilogy influenced my own thinking the most, but the first book I read by him was Knowledge and Decisions, and it made a huge impression on me,’ he said. ‘When I read that, I thought, “This guy, he’s our Hayek.”’ Like Pinker, however, DuMuth suspects that Sowell has been pigeonholed in the intellectual world for his writings on cultural issues. ‘I can remember thinking once that the one black person I know who’s really been a victim of racial discrimination may be Tom Sowell,’ he told me. ‘If he weren’t black, people would realize what a great economist he was. But they put him in this category because he writes about race and he’s got all these contrarian views. And people don’t realize that there is this immense intellectual corpus that this man has written on a completely different subject. If he were a Jewish white guy at the University of Chicago, he’d be better recognized for what he is, which is one of the greatest living economists.’” – Riley, Jason L., Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, Basic Books: New York, 2021, pgs. 168-169

Provocative Language

“When the fecal matter finally hits the electric cooling device, the one with the rotating blades, two of the things that will not maintain their composure during such a time will be our old friends status and quo.” – Wilson, Douglas, “The Revolt of Normals, Part 2”, blog post (https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-revolt-of-the-normals-part-2.html)

Currently Reading | 28 September 2021

Hello everyone.

I hope this post finds you well! I wanted to take a moment just to share what I’m currently reading. I know many of my posts have been showing quotes from these books anyway, but I thought I would put them all in one place.

Feel free to drop some comments!

Have you read any of these titles?

What are you currently reading?

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0021/5210/3983/products/DSC_9736.jpg?v=1582562348

ESV Bible – just started a Chronological plan, so reading through Genesis and Job.

This last book has been really fun and I am enjoying it. I simply single this one out as a shout out to Ritu, who has been a great encouragement to this blog and to many others. Ritu, good job on this work. I still have to get the novel, but I am working toward that. Thanks for your work and for all your support. Blessings! P.S., I see where you got the name for your blog! Check her out here.

Project 5782 | Day 2

Amateurs, Arise?

Scripture Portion

Micah 7.18-20

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
(English Standard Version)


Thoughts:
It’s interesting how many people conclude that the God of the Old Testament was a radically different God than who we see revealed in Jesus Christ. No, He is not. He does not change and is always the same. He is always abounding in steadfast love and forgiveness!

Quote from Reading

“Sowell may be best known for his writings on racial controversies, but race isn’t a topic he initially set out to explore. ‘I never thought that just because I’m black, that made me an authority on race matters,’ he said. ‘I figured there were people who specialize in this stuff and they must know what they’re talking about. Then I started reading what they were saying, and so much of it was rubbish. I thought, “Good heavens, it’s time for us amateurs to get into this thing.”’” – Riley, Jason L., Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, Basic Books: New York, 2021, pgs. 9-10


Thoughts: I think this may be coming back again to the church as well. It is good to have well trained teachers and leaders, but too many of them these days are misleading us! It may be time for the “amateurs” to gain a strong voice again…but with great caution! Be careful what you teach (see James)! Also, if we are going to write, let us do so as informed and Thomas Sowell!

Provocative Language

I found this thought-provoking one-liner on page Following a Star.

“It is quite useless knocking at the door of heaven for earthly comfort; it’s not the sort of comfort they supply there.” – C.S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis (Dec. 3, 1959)

https://followingastar.wordpress.com/2021/09/12/on-heaven-and-earthly-comfort-with-cs-lewis/