Today's Readings and stuff -- Wednesday, 12 March 2014

yesterday was a nice quiet day, temp was all the way up to the lower 50's.  But the temp right now is the high for the day, we're expected to hit +4 degrees tonight and have a decent size winter storm hitting pretty soon.  Revised to late afternoon through around 2 a.m.  and with an expected snowfall of 2 to 4 inches.  And then be back in the high 40's by Friday and nearly 40 tomorrow. Welcome to Ohio weather.  Did get some work done outside around our little hovel, hope it helps with the storm heading our way.  Hope so.  Just not up to lying out on wet ground or ice when it is 12 degrees or below. 
     Dear Wife is still knocked down.  Giving her heavy-duty antibiotics couple times a day and special antibiotic eyedrops every 6 hours.  The eye looks a teeny bit better, but I suspect that there's been a scratch on the cornea from all the gunk.  Hope not but seems real possible.
    And I "get" to go to the dentist Friday.  Haven't said much, but I have a couple of busted teeth.  Tried to get it remedied more than a year ago, but had to cancel appointments when I was "asked" by my then-employers to "just for today" make an appearance at a customer-type facility to deal with some sort of issue perceived to be Just Awful.  That 'just for today" lasted until my August retirement last year, at which point I lost all insurance coverage until about 3 weeks ago.  The result of that was that we had to put the emphasis -- meaning money -- on what was needed to keep Dear Wife alive.  Don't regret that, but do confess to more than a bit of resentment to the way my employer rewarded dedication and hard work: not at all.  So Friday morning we shall see how things turn out.


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Our Old Testament reading today is chapters 17, 18, and 19 in the book of Deuteronomy.  Moses is doing his very best to make sure that the people he is about to leave after leading them for more than 40 years will carry on as the Lord has ordained.  A swan song if you like, or a dying oration, or a last will and testament. 

Deuteronomy 17

1	Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
2	If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
3	And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
4	And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
5	Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
6	At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7	The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
8	If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;
9	And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment:
10	And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
11	According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12	And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
13	And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14	When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15	Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
16	But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17	Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18	And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19	And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20	That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Deuteronomy 18

1	The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
2	Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3	And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
4	The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.
5	For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.
6	And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose;
7	Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the LORD.
8	They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9	When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10	There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11	Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12	For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13	Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
14	For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15	The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16	According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17	And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18	I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19	And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20	But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21	And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22	When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 19

1	When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
2	Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
3	Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
4	And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;
5	As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
6	Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
7	Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.
8	And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;
9	If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:
10	That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
11	But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:
12	Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13	Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
14	Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
15	One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
16	If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17	Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18	And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19	Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
20	And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
21	And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

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The New Testament reading here is verses 1-25 from Mark chapter 14.  You recall that the last few days' readings are set in the period between the Triumphal Entry that we call Palm Sunday, and the Crucifixion.  A period of great intensity it seems to me.  Here we get up to the Last Supper.

Mark 14:1-25

1	After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
2	But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
3	And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
4	And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
5	For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
6	And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
7	For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
8	She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
9	Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
10	And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
11	And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.
12	And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
13	And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
14	And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?
15	And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
16	And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
17	And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
18	And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
19	And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?
20	And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.
21	The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.
22	And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
23	And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
24	And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
25	Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Today's Reading -- 22 April 2009

Good day to you.

I am remiss in not pointing out that yesterday was San Jacinto Day, the commemoration of the final battle the Texas Revolution. Congratulations to our friends in Texas. And congratulations to their governor who recently reminded the dimwits in D.C. about the terms and conditions under which Texas entered the Union. Makes one want to move to Texas.

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This morning's reading is chapters 4, 5, and 6 of 2nd Samuel. David is, slowly, starting to take control. Unhappily, some people around him are engaged in some vile forms of behavior in attempting to curry favor. Some things never change: that sort of thing is not unknown in certain corporate offices today (ask me how I know) and certainly in the Middle East to this day. The vile demon-besotted child molester named Muhammad did not invent these behaviors, they are the stock in trade of the Allah-demon that has roamed that area for millenia. And certainly did at the time of David.

II Samuel 4

1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
2 And Saul's son had two men that were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin.
3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)
4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
5 And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
6 And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
7 For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them away through the plain all night.
8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
10 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:
11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?
12 And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

II Samuel 5

1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.
13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.
18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
19 And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.
21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
23 And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.

II Samuel 6

1 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2 And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim.
3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.
5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.
7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day.
9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.
11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.
12 And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.
13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
17 And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
19 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.
20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!
21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD.
22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor.
23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

This evening's reading is verses 18 through 43 of the 18th chapter of Luke.

Luke 18:18-43

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

A Reminder -- Sanctity of Human Life

Just a reminder that many churches, ours included, will mark Sunday, January 18 2009 as 'Sanctity of Human Life' day. There will be other events over the next few days as we remember, with shame and sorrow, the detestable and utterly wrong Roe v. Wade decision that led to the slaughter of more than 40,000,000 human beings in the United States alone.
These will be get-together on the 22nd. I can not attend, and most people can not attend either. But you can, with a good internet connection, see what is going on with this link. This is provided by the Family Research Council.

Politics, and ''Strict Constructionism''

I've been engaged in some Internet wrangles here and there on the issues of the upcoming Presidential election. Generally, these wrangles get to be a whole lot like the old flame wars of Usenet, generating much more heat than light, and are of little benefit to any one or any cause.
Yet once in a while I get drawn in. probably foolishly.
One of the issues that's banging around here and there deals with the stands that various candidates might take. Some of those stands are principled stands, some of them are ''politico-speak'', meaning they sound like a strong stance for a principle but, when examined, are mostly fluff, or they don't mean what you think they mean.
One of these terms is ''strict constructionist''. Some of the Republican candidates, notably Rudy Giuliani, proclaim the intention to appoint ''strict constructionist'' judges should they be elected.
So, I wrote,

'.. we need to define ''strict constructionist''. A true-to-the-Constitution judge would recognize that the Court is supposed to be a passive referee, NOT the ''Lawgiver'' to the nation. And would recognize that 80-85% of federal activities are unconstitutional. Would immediately overturn Roe as wrongly decided, to heck with the pernicious bowing to stare decisis. Would keep the federal courts at ALL levels out of issues that properly belong to the States, or the Executive and Legislative branches. Would return to the proper, weak role, in other words.
Now, pause for breath. Does anyone really believe that's what he means?? Or does he mean ''we'll bow to existing bad decisions and attitudes, but promise to not get much worse very fast''?? 'Strict constructionist' seems to be politico-speak, sounds impressive but means little. I want Originalists. I don't trust Rudy to do that. Do you?

There was a posting on a great web site, the Evangelical Outpost, this week that got into just this issue. He was responding to a post and responded the link is here.

And this illuminates part of the problem Politicians use politico-speak because they perceive that by fogging some issues, that potential supporters will read the terms to mean what they hope they mean. The 'strict constructionist' phrase is a great example.
If you were to read the Constitution, and the debates and discussion that surrounded its creation and ratification, you would not find any support for the monstrosity that now squats astride our nation that is titled The Courts. None. The courts were envisioned as relatively passive referees. More a court of Common Pleas, with a few levels of Appeals courts. Not by any means the Court of St. James, not the creator of law, not the real Lawgivers. The weakest branch of government, in fact and in intent.
Fast forward about 225 years and what do we see? We see that national elections are now contentious in new ways, as the fight gets to be about who will be empowered to appoint and to confirm appointees to the Courts. As if our civil order had morphed into this: all our elections are simply to set in office a further level of Electors, who in turn appoint the real power in the land. Read the Constitution again. Find support for such a thing. Take your time. You'll be a while, because it's not there, has never been there, and such a thing was never contemplated.
And that is why the issue of ''strict constructionism'' gets to be an issue. Because we don't have good agreement about what the term really means. And it's important. It's important for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that it's about useless to attempt useful conversations when we don't have common understanding of the meaning of the words being employed. And because sometimes meanings are left vague in order to prevent that very clarity of meaning.
All of that being said, let me propose a term, and then describe its meaning.
Let me propose the term ''foundational'' and the phrase ''foundational judge''
As for the description, let's try these phrases:

• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that John Jay would agree with
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that both the Federalists and the anti-Federalists would have been in general agreement with
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that recognized the uniqueness of America, her history, culture, institutions, and laws, and rejects any and all attempts to modify this understanding through appeals to the laws, history, culture, and such of foreign nations. It also rejects such appeals to international law as superseding the US Constitution and US laws.
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that recognizes the limitations of the Courts, and recognizes that the basis of US law is the Constitution, the federal statutes, and that findings of a court in a particular matter do not outweigh the actions of the other two branches of government acting in concert.
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that defers to original intent, it does not presume to reinterpret the Constitution to be more ''relevant'', recognizing that this is the exclusive province of the Legislative Branch.
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that rejects utterly the foreign notion of 'Common Law' as superior or even equal to statute, that rejects the notion that the ruling of a court is in any way to be construed as law binding on any other parties other than those in a particular case.
• a foundational understanding of the Constitution and of Constitutional Law is one that promotes humility of sitting judges, and expects that their tenure on the bench should be limited, not a lifetime position.

Others may take issue with any or all of these, propose additions, or propose an alternate phraseology. They are welcome to do so. Invited in fact: I am a poor-but-honest engineer and amateur Bible teacher, not a jurist nor a philosopher. And certainly not the wisest person who ever lived. Yet it is clear to me that the current situation is insupportable.
Roe v. Wade, Kelo, and some others are just terrible and travesties, certainly not advertisements for the wisdom or legitimacy of the Courts. Unless and until they are both overturned, and safeguards put in place to prevent future egregious assaults upon the nation, the country is not safe.
As I have said elsewhere, the American Revolution was fought at great cost in large measure to remove us from the unaccountable rule of kings, princes, dukes, barons, and the like. We most assuredly did not do so, and then convene a Constitutional Convention in order to substitute instead the rule of judges at any level. Pretending otherwise is a lie, and pretending that the current state of events is proper and intended is a lie as well. We need to pitch it out.

Cost of illegal aliens updated 19Aug

You don't get much better than Mark Steyn so just go over and read this one. Speaking of sanctuary, where's ours?
It has been a long time since I crawled around any lawbooks. But I seem to recall that there are some offenses termed ''malfeasance'' and ''nonfeasance'', terms that describe those who in essence violate their oath of office and either use the office for personal agenda or who refuse to carry out the duties of that office. Seems to me that quite a number of persons occupying what we once termed positions of public trust have fulfilled the elements of those offenses.

Today's Reading July 4th

Good morning
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This morning we continue in Job, chapters 29 and 30.
Job spends chapter 29 looking back at the joy of his previous life, with longing
Chapter 30 is a recitation of his current situation with a great deal of imagery

25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

And if you haven't been there, hang on, you will be. We are nowhere guaranteed a life of ease and plenty. I don't care what the 'TV Preachers' say, it's just not so. There is a place for the ''blab it and grab it'' types, but you don't want to be there.
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This evening we continue in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12.
Persecution of the Church really begins (see above for perspective) starting with an execution. Peter is thrown into prison. But an angel gets him out, and Herod dies in a terrible way. And the result of all of this?

24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

A new phase begins. But James, the brother of John, is dead. Did that mean the Lord was displeased with him? Not at all. And see Job, above, for reference.

Today's Reading June 24

Good morning.
Today we change direction a bit, and begin in the book of Job. Job is interesting, one of my favorite books of the Bible. There are those who believe it may have been written down before any of the others, I have no idea of the correctness of that belief. The theme is an important one: why do the innocent suffer while the wicked flourish? Who among us has not asked that question? I have, certainly in the trials of the last few years. And yet, through it all, Job never, and I do mean never, loses his faith. He questions the circumstances, he doesn't like the situation, he is confused, but he never condemns God nor does he reject Him. Indeed, he clings ever tighter. A good lesson in itself. When his wealth was taken from him, and all of his children died in a disaster,

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

When sickness came upon him personally, and his own wife urged him to give up his faith,

9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

At most, he tells his friends,

25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

But he still held to the Lord. What else is there to do?

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Our New Testament portion continues in the Acts, chapter 7, verses 1 through 19. Steven, one of the first deacons, is on trial before the religious authorities of the day. He responds with a sermon, really, that begins with a recitation of the marvelous things that the Lord has done for his people, the leading and guiding, the very Presence in their nation and their nation's history. They knew this history of course, but Steven is going somewhere with it. They knew the history, and yet they did not truly understand it. They weren't the last to make that mistake.

Innocent Blood part 2000

One of the real distinctives of a Christian, as distinct from a ''progressive'', worldview has to do with moral differences. The more or less 'official' view is that we are, somehow, better people than our ancestors; that as a rule moral issues are products of conditions external to the individual, such as nutrition, poverty, literacy, inclusiveness, etc., and therefore we can of our own experience and wisdom create an ideal society. As one motivational type of years gone by had his adherents chanting, ''Every day in every way, we are getting better and better and better''. The Christian view is rather different. We believe that human beings are inherently flawed, that the flaws - we call the situation ''sin'' - are present by birth in every human being (the single exception being a rather extraordinary one) and that barring a miracle cure, this will be true throughout all human history. It's an old fight.

Sometimes something catches one's attention, something that leads to something very like despair at the human condition.

I've grown up in a society that regarded the Third Reich, the Nazi regime in Germany headed by Adolf Hitler, as being the worst society ever. We can compare bad ones later. We know, for example, that even before they took power, the society accepted some of their beliefs. Among those were that some lives were more worthy than others, and that some lives were better terminated. (If that sounds uncomfortably like Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood, it should. They were friendly.) And that led in turn, inevitably, to evaluation of children (and adults too) and decisions over whether to 'cull the herd'. This sort of thing became part of the list of charges in the Nuremburg Trials that sent several of them to the gallows.

Now I see in the Sunday Times out of London, an article titled ''Doctors: let us kill disabled babies'' which is a serious proposal from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology advocating in favor of ''active euthanesia'' for the ''overall good of families''.

I would have to suspect that Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Mengele - and Sanger - seem to have won that argument. Perhaps we owe an apology for that little gallows incident if we are seriously proposing to admit that their idea was a good one. Particularly if we go beyond consideration into full-blown acceptance, and thence to common practice. It will, I predict, be justified under some sort of ''for the good of All'' boilerplate, and opposing it will be considered some sort of 'hate speech'.

I've never cared much for the Catholic idea of classifying sins. That's a worthy subject for a whole series of posts, if not a book. But they're not totally wrong. The pattern they describe is pretty evident: pride, greed, lust, and envy. We seem to have them all through the history of our race, which brings me back to the worldview issue that began this post. The sins of human beings just seem to repeat. We don't have any fewer today than those that Calvin or Luther or Paul of Tarsus saw. Or Jeremiah for that matter. I'm not sure quite where the shedding of innocent blood falls in there, but it's at least as old as the worship of Baal and Moloch.

This isn't 'progress'' as I define it. It's just the same old thing come around again. The difference is that we have recent experience of where it leads, so we have not even the bad excuse of not knowing better.

I'll go out on not too much of a limb here, and predict that this does not please God. Then again, I doubt seriously that this was one of the objectives of those proposing this policy.