Migrated, yet again

Passwords, passwords! The bane of my existence. Meanwhile I'll post what I put together yesterday here and on the server space I rent.

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Proverbs 5

The Peril of Adultery


My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
Lend your ear to my understanding,
That you may preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of hell. (or Sheol)



Just a quick comment on the Proverb. I read recently a commentary on the ten commandments, and the notes on adultery were not so much on the straightforward sinful act of taking a man or woman, not your mate, but on adulterating your "Chief End." In Proverbs 4, the Chief End of man would be to seek Wisdom. So in Proverb 5, in addition to the direct meaning, there is an undertone of not adulterating the search for Wisdom and her sister; Truth, Justice and Beauty.

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Sometimes as I cruise the internet, I see things that excite me and I want to share them. Today I found a couple essays that have taken me several hours and phone calls to read through. They excite me so that I cannot sit still but must walk about a bit and let the ideas slip slowly into my consciousness, savoring every morsel as they go.

The first is an Essay that appeared in The Atlantic in the 1930's. Albert Nock, the author is long gone, but the essay, Isaiah's Job thankfully lives on. It's not a particularly hopeful essay, it looks to the seed that rebuild a civilization after it has fallen. Yet I found it wonderfully hopeful.

In the year of Uzziah's death, the Lord commissioned the prophet to go out and warn the people of the wrath to come. "Tell them what a worthless lot they are." He said, "Tell them what is wrong, and why and what is going to happen unless they have a change of heart and straighten up. Don't mince matters. Make it clear that they are positively down to their last chance. Give it to them good and strong and keep on giving it to them. I suppose perhaps I ought to tell you," He added, "that it won't do any good. The official class and their intelligentsia will turn up their noses at you and the masses will not even listen. They will all keep on in their own ways until they carry everything down to destruction, and you will probably be lucky if you get out with your life."

Isaiah had been very willing to take on the job – in fact, he had asked for it – but the prospect put a new face on the situation. It raised the obvious question: Why, if all that were so – if the enterprise were to be a failure from the start – was there any sense in starting it? "Ah," the Lord said, "you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it."

This is toward the end of the first of four sections, and the essay is a discussion of the Remnant, a powerful concept. I found the essay however by following a link in another essay. From Bill Whittle who is an amateur writer who has made it to the house of Buckley now, an essay that just makes me glad to be alive in this day and time. You Are Not Alone (Part 1). He begins,

"Folks, you are about to be hit with a BIG IDEA.

It’s not entirely my big idea, but I’m willing to hang some tinsel on it and take credit for it."

A photo of the day... birds... trying always trying to get a decent bird shot.


And a quick video for a grin... JibJab do it again.