The 1620 Project Interview

 Your American Heritage January 16, 2021
 Link to broadcast audio

Show Notes:
Let me run by the Talking Points for today:

Cancel Culture, the silencing of a culture
Our American History being twisted. 

             Bill Federer: A country that loses it’s history, is like a man that loses his memory. Dementia.
       I say when a nation is convinced it’s history is not as they remember it, they are being                            “Gaslighted” (Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, and 18-year-old Angela Lansbury)

Joining us today is Peter W Wood,
(Not to be confused with Peter H Wood!: "I am sorry to say that I am NOT that Peter Wood, so I suspect you would not want me on your show.  In contrast, I am a serious and professionally trained historian of early America, now retired.")

Peter W Wood is the President of the National Association of Scholars. Dr. Wood is an anthropologist January 2009. Before that he served as executive director (2007-2008), and as provost of The King’s College in New York City (2005-2007).

Dr. Wood was a tenured member of the Anthropology Department at Boston University, where he also held a variety of administrative positions, including associate provost and president’s chief of staff.

He received his Ph.D. in anthropology in 1987 from the University of Rochester. His undergraduate degree is from Haverford College (1975) and he has a master’s degree in library science from Rutgers University (1977).

Dr. Wood is the author of A Bee in the Mouth: Anger in America Now (Encounter Books, 2007) and of Diversity: The Invention of a Concept (Encounter Books, 2003) which won the Caldwell Award for Leadership in Higher Education from the John Locke Foundation. These books extend his anthropological interest in examining emergent themes in modern American culture. And most recently 1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project

In addition to his scholarly work, Dr. Wood has published several hundred articles in print and online journals, such as Partisan Review and National Review Online, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Cancel Culture:

What to Worship, How to Obey: The New Rules of Cancel Culture

“unless you do what we want, we won’t participate.”

“Or, if you use the title “doctor” mainly for a medical practitioner and are suddenly thinking that maybe you should address the recipient of doctorate in education with the same august title, you are bowing to compliance.”

refer to "Dr." Jill Biden, and "Dr." Matt Gibbs (who prefers SSgt to Dr.)

“Historically, we are fortunate that Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t subscribe to the “new anger” formulation, in which a volatile temperament licenses itself to boil over whenever it meets an aggravation.”

1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project:

“Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project’s chief editor and lead writer, received a Pulitzer Prize for her efforts, and the Pulitzer Center partnered with the Times to roll out a 1619 curriculum suitable for the nation’s schools.”

The nation's template was The Plymouth Colony (1620) , not Jamestown (1619).
Massachusetts's Bay Colony was slave free.
The slaves landed at Jamestown were bartered off as slaves by the pirates, but were treated as indentured servants by Jamestown as chattel slavery had not beeen established yet. 

Happy Labor Union Day!

Like Memorial Day, Labor Day has devolved into a day to mark a limit of summer with barbecues and outings.

But it began as a day to mark support for labor unions, an organizing arm of the Democratic Party.

I am a benefitee of union benefits.

My skilled trades training and certification were based on union negotiation.

However, I almost was screwed out of skilled trades by a committeeman who was denying me points I had been assured I would receive, based on service related experience.

This to get someone he favored into the coveted position.

I went into his office and threatened to sue the union and him personally should I not be accepted.
It wasn't long after that I was informed of my apprenticeship.

After the plant closed and I was recruited for various positions over the years, I would occasionally be told that it was a union position, which I would decline.

When asked why, I would reply that I did not want to work in an environment where I work to my aspirations and be held back by a union contract, making no more than the least competent employee in my group. 

I once accepted an offer of Plant Manger (a position I had held before) only to find on arrival it was a union shop.

That meant I could not pick up a tool or assist in any labor.

I walked out the door and took another offer as a maintenance technician.

That's what I think of unions,

Your Knee Is On My Neck. I Can't Breathe!

We are being oppressed by our local and state governments.

They are telling us we cannot worship in assembly.

We cannot conduct business as we have for centuries.

We cannot congregate.

Our voice in the public square is being suppressed.

Our lives are threatened by rioters and the rioters are protected.

Hey government! Your knee is on my neck I can't breathe free.

How long will a populace have their rights trampled by a governess who clearly acts in an illegal manner, uncontested by their duly elected representatives or the judiciary?

When will they have had enough and rise up to take matters in their own hands?

When will the masses realize they have been conned, driven by an unwarranted fear to submission to a dictator?

On Your American Heritage I talked with historian and author William J. Federer.

We discussed his latest book "SOCIALISM - The Real History from Plato to the Present: How the Deep State Capitalizes on Crises to Consolidate Control"

It's fascinating and engaging. And his discourse on the Jacobins and Antifa and the attempt to overthrow our civilization to remake it in their own image, socialist hell, is worth it.

But the insight on the influences of our founding is eye-opening.
I thought I knew a lot of this stuff, but learned much more.

You can listen to the conversation here: Your American Heritage 8 8 2020 

Government Licensing and Regulatory Handicaps

My friend Joe had an AC problem.
He called an HVAC company.
They told him he needed a new furnace, that his was unsafe and they locked it out.
If he hadn't called them, he would at least have the same amount of heat he did the day before.
Then they quoted a new furnace/AC unit as if they had him over a barrel.
And I'll bet that he could not buy the simple heating system (less than 95% efficient) but instead was quoted the new fuel saving, global warming preventing unit the regulatory agencies approve.
The ones that never recover the cost increase of purchase and installation.

I'll be frank. I am not a licensed HVAC tech.

I have installed a number of furnaces and repaired a number of AC units.
I have been a maintenance tech and maintenance manager.

It's sad the way it works.
Say you have a cracked heat exchanger.
Your AC is probably good.
They always sell a new AC with the new furnace because they refuse to just replace the heat exchanger.

My heat exchanger went bad a couple years ago.
The way I knew was because a sensor that detects that condition kept shutting my furnace off.
It's called a flame roll-out sensor.
I plugged the gas orifice to that portion of the heat exchanger and had heat the rest of the winter.
I pulled the heat exchanger out in the summer.
The part was still under warranty, but no one would do the labor! They had no interest in the work!

I paid a guy under the table $100 to exchange my heat exchanger because you need a license to do so.

I pulled it out and I put it in. It wasn't particularly hard. Or dangerous.

"But your furnace is 20 years old!"

So's my truck, What's your point?

So the State of Michigan under the dictatorship of Governess Whitmer has yanked the license of a 77 year old barber who refused to stay closed under the Chinese-style lockdown.

Why is he licensed? Is it to guarantee his skill level?
Or to gather revenue and keep him in line? That was a rhetorical question.

When I interviewed Michigan State Rep Karen Whitsett, it turned out that a large number of her constituents had no appliances.

You hear often of families dying of carbon monoxide poisoning or even of burning to death because they rigged heating systems (including fire barrels) trying to get through the winter.
They can't afford a new furnace! So they make do as best they can until they die.

Why do you have to prove proficiency in cooling systems in Michigan to repair heating systems?
Why do you have to upgrade from a lower cost furnace to the next generation?
The new 95%+ efficiency furnaces are a nightmare to maintain and keep families from the heating systems they need. They are not simple to maintain.

Why do we let our government do this to us?

Was Flynn Unmasked?

At about the 43 minute mark, this gets real interesting.

Dan Bongino is making a case that Flynn wasn't unmasked.

Provides testimony and dates.

Flynn was targeted. Not a byproduct.

Either our IC did it or a foreign agency that gave it to the Obama team, which is using unmasking to cover up.

Makes a good case.

That is REALLY against the law.

Orson Welles Was Good...

And, this is John Adams on quarantine:

Dealing With Staying At Home

Learn Who The Enemy Is and Act Accordingly
I'm pretty much enraged a lot lately.
The stupidity and the malice of the perpetrators of this attack on our freedoms and prosperity make me want to lash out.

I try and modify that behavior when on line and appear gentlemanly.

But while I sit here and read and type and try to throttle back the frustration and ire, somebody I love dearly is trying to talk to me, or does or says something that I find irritating.
(Fortunately I never have that effect on others. I'd hate to think I did.)

And in that moment, or should I say, a few moments ago, it caused a problem.
Imagine that.

So we sat down to talk about it.
I realized I was very upset and offended by something she said and I was hostile to her.
I wasn't loving her. I was violating the Great Commandment.
And I did something I don't do often enough.
I prayed (inside my head) that God would love my wife through me, since I was incapable at the moment and He expected it of me.

And something amazing happened.
Very briefly, I saw the plan of attack, and it wasn't my plan, and it wasn't His.
We were under attack, and I could see one of the vectors, and when I started to formulate a response I foresaw the next thrust and I saw the answer to that.
It was like playing three moves ahead in chess. And I don't do that!

And it worked. We talked it through.
It brought tears to my eye that I have a Father who would help me when I needed it.

Tests don't come from the Lord.
Test answers do!

What's so Good about Good Friday?

When they take the Son of God and put Him to death, why is that considered good?

Because when He died that horrific tortured death on Calvary, He took the punishment due us for our rebellion against God.

It was good for us. Was it good for Him?

When He arose from the dead on Easter, He proved that what He said was true. He had been predicting these moments to His followers for a couple years and they did not believe Him.

Until He did it.

The Bible says, "… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 2:2).

So if Jesus came down from Glory, endured the cross, and went back to Glory, what was His net gain?

Us.
We were the joy set before Him.

We are the bride He travelled to a far land to obtain (like Jacob did, among other examples).
Granted we're not the finished product, yet, but if we cooperate with His plan, He sees something in us He wants to spend eternity with.
I'm good with that. That's good.

I want to share a cool thing with you.
If you're not a Christian, please read anyway, because it never hurts to have a little information about what those whackos around you believe.

A few people know that Psalm 22 is a description of the crucifixion of Jesus that was written hundreds of years before the event.
David saw it in a vision and it shakes him up so much that he starts out with:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Many Christians have been taught that, as He was crucified, Jesus was crying this out to His Father in heaven, because the Father could not bear to look on Jesus, our scapegoat.
That He was separated from the Father.
That Jesus was accursed (and the Father could not be in fellowship with Jesus because it would violate His holiness) because Jesus was carrying the penalty of the sins of the world.

Give me a break.

<< 1 Corinthians 12:3 >> Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed.

Jesus and the Father had this worked out since before the universe was created, and at the last minute The All-Powerful Ruler of More than the Universe flinches?
No.
If the Father and the Son (who with the Spirit are referred to as the "Godhead" in perfect unity) ever separated, I believe the universe would crumble.

As you read the gospels, particularly John's, you see that the Pharisees (some of them, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, were good guys, by the way) were asking Jesus for a sign that he was the Messiah. He continually answered them that when they saw Him lifted up, that would be their sign.
Here He is, lifted up in front of them. He's surrounded by "strong bulls" (prison slang for guards), and the crowd is taunting Him. It's the scene predicted in Psalm 22 .
Then He quotes the first verse of Psalm 22.

This is called a "Remez". It's a teaching tool Jesus had used for 3 years.

When they hear this verse, they remember the rest of the Psalm.
The Pharisees had asked Jesus for a sign.
He said that they would have it when the Son of Man was lifted up.
(Remember that joke, "Here's your sign."?)
Can you imagine the look on their face when they get it?
This death on this cross by this man was predicted hundreds of years ago.
Here was their sign.
The ramifications are huge.

Do you get it?

These people did:
https://stream.org/did-god-abandon-jesus-on-the-cross/

As We Enter Holy Week

John 14:
1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Jesus was talking to His disciples at the Last Supper.
He was trying to give them a heads up as to what was about to transpire.
What he was preparing for them. Where He was going.

Many people have preached (praught?) about those mansions.
Sing about them as if Jesus was talking about our heavenly dwelling:



"Mansion" in the King James came from the French word for "dwelling place".
It does not imply wealth.

It actually implies a room attached to a building like a spare bedroom.

Jesus was about to demonstrate the total irrelevancy of the Herod Temple by having it's curtain torn top to bottom during His Crucifixion.

The Temple was supposed to be the Dwelling Place of the Most High!
Where was He to dwell now on the earth?

In us.
And where were we to dwell?
In Him.

And he was going to prepare that place. The body of Christ. The "Church".

Ephesians 2
19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

1 Peter 2
4Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Why would you be satisfied with Just A Cottage Below?

And He is willing to clean up the room.
You are the room.
He is willing to clean up your life.
God knows, you can't.
You certainly couldn't do the job at it He can.

All you have to do is ask Him to.
Ask Him to get rid of that junk in your life that's killing you.

He doesn't kill you for offending Him.
That's Mercy.

He gives you stuff you could never deserve or imagine.
That's Grace.

Remember Charley In Willy Wonka? He thought he was getting a Golden Ticket, a lifetime supply of chocolate.

He repented of his "sin" and was given the kingdom!

My God is an Awesome God! Awesome!

My prayer this that you take advantage of the Life he gives.
Dwell in Him. Let Him dwell in you!

Revelation 3
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
How can you resist?

A Public Service Announcement

It has come to my attention that a number of people are not commenting here because they can't.

This happened with LL and I suggested that he create a new Google account to comment with because using Chrome, you can switch easily (one click) between accounts.

He did not have Chrome, he had Safari.

When he installed Chrome, it seems the problem went away.

I know Greybeard can't comment here, and Mustang tells me he can't comment someplaces, including here.

I just discovered Mustang is using Safari.

Is this the issue?

People avoid Chrome because Google.

There is a chrome based browser that is private: https://www.epicbrowser.com/
Much along the lines of Duck Duck Go


Let me know.

edward @ bonderenka dot com

The Patience of Job

I teach a Bible study,
A few years ago I taught on Job.
I got it wrong.
This is my penance.
I read what a number of people thought Job was about and introduced it to my group.
It wasn't bad, but for the last few weeks, my buddy Mike had been teaching Sunday School with the syllabus being on Job.
It got me to thinking.
Let's recap.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

So if, you recall, Satan challenged God, saying that Job would not be so faithful if God did not bless him so much. So God gave permission to Satan to put Job to the test.
Job lost his cattle, his children, his wealth and it got so bad that his wife challenged him to "... curse God and die."

Well, let's notice that it appears that God did protect Job from harm because He had to remove that protection from Job for Satan to be able to put Job to the test.

That implies that Job did earn God's favor.

What happens next is a long series of "rebukes" of Job from his friends.
These friends assume that Job has done something wrong to merit these misfortunes, similar to assuming Job (and themselves?) had earned God's favor with their good works.
It would seem that their assumption would be an easy one to make, given that God had given Job protection based on his being a "righteous" guy.

So, did something change? If so, what?
Why was it wrong of them to make a judgment of Job based on what they saw?

Let's fast forward to John 9:1–12.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

So, if the lesson of Job (we know the end, right?) is to not judge by what you see, why was it still so prevalent a practice in Jesus' day? Why was the lesson not learned?
Was the lesson obscured by another message? One of being patient? That Job was a one time test, a special case?

In chapter 23, Job does begin to complain about God's behavior.
Perhaps he's wearying, beleaguered by his friends' chastisements?
His patience is wearing thin?
His confidence in his own righteousness causing he himself to wonder what God is up to?
Chapter 27:  ​ And Job again took up his discourse, and said:
  “As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
  as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,   my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
  Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
  I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days..."

In chapter 32 a new character arrives, Elihu ("God of him") and begs to disagree with Job's friends.
Elihu prophesies, God speaks through him. This is not readily apparent except for the content of his words and the meaning of his name. He is standing in for God.
"For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.  
 Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent;  It is ready to burst like new wineskins.  
 I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer."

In chapter 33 he chastises Job, who needs correction, but then he says:
Verse 6: Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay.  
   Surely no fear of me will terrify you,  Nor will my hand be heavy on you."

Come on! Who is this guy? He challenges the old guys, he's new on the scene. He has a radical point of view. And after gently correcting Job, he tells him he is Job's intercessor before God!

Hebrews 8:1 "We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens..."

In chapter 38 God drops the pretense. We hear no more from Elihu. We hear from God!
He starts talking and continues on from where Elihu leaves off.
Because Elihu was HIM! ELOHIM! :)

I don't want to analyse the contents of Job or of God's monologue.
I'd be here all day, and I may be wearing on your patience already.

Let me summarize:
The Law made certain promises of reward for good behavior.
The Law was superseded by Faith in Mercy and Grace.
Job is a type of the Church.
He exhibits Faith.
His friends are the Pharisee leadership of Israel who judged by the Law and by their eyes.
His true friend is Elihu, Jesus.
The church will suffer, it won't always look like it's on the winning side.
It will suffer attacks by the religious establishment.

In the end, after God appears, or should we say reappears, God will elevate His church.
He will restore to them that that they lost.
Did you lose family? God will give you family.
Did you suffer shame? God will exalt you.

And God asks you to pray for your attackers.
Job 42:7 "After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.  Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly."

We are to be intercessors as Jesus is our intercessor.

I've been thinking about this for a while and I know I have not done it full justice.
Please feel free to comment, correct or agree.

I just think that for a long time, the real message of Job has been missed and I wanted to share what I think is meant by the book.

Thanks for reading this far.

Send Her Back

I have something to say about the outrage over the Trump rally crowd chanting "Send Her Back!"


Send Her Back!

Send Her Back!

Send Her Back!

Ilhan Omar is most probably a perpetrator of election fraud.

I've been following this on Powerline Blog for a few months now.

DAVID STEINBERG: TYING UP LOOSE THREADS IN THE CURIOUS CASE

I haven't been posting anything on it previously because so many other good sources are out there, and in this particular case, there is so much not previously explained clearly.

Now it is.

She came to this country fraudulently under an assumed name (Omar).

Her brother (of course, now with a different clan name) had escaped Somalia to England.

She married her brother in England so that he could come to this country fraudulently.

Everything else, the tax fraud, the bogus marriages, is bonus.

She doesn't belong here, much less in Congress.

I wonder who coached her in this fraudulent activity.

Send her back.

Joe Biden Working With Segregationists

Joe (Sleepy) Biden recently came out complaining about the failure of congressmen and women to act in a bipartisan manner on issues of common concern.
He misses the ability to work together with political rivals without bitter attacks.
According to the New York Times, "Mr. Biden routinely characterizes that era and those relationships as more civil and functional, with less demonization of the other side, even amid vigorous clashes over explosive issues like race."

Joe has come under a lot of fire from fellow democrats for his reminiscing fondly of working with men who were well known for being segregationists.
Kamala Harris, Cory (Spartacus) Booker, et al are dyspeptic over Joe finding common ground with Herman Eugene Talmadge,  U.S. Senator from Georgia and James O. Eastland, U.S. Senator from Missisippi.

What I don't understand is why Biden remembers these guys across the aisle as Republicans.
Both these senators were Democrats as most segregationists were/are.

So instead of attacking Biden for trying to get work done in the Senate, perhaps they could attack him for another gaffe, a lack of memory of events and personages.

My first clue is that these guys were racists. I immediately wondered why they were characterized then as Republicans. Wiki is fairly clear as to their political affiliation.

Remember, Democrats are the party of slavery, Jim Crow laws, Bull Connor, Poll Taxes, etc, etc, etc.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Mad Jack posted about sleeping poorly.

It reminded me of something that happened this last week.

I wasn't sleeping through the night as I'd get up for the bathroom, and when back in bed, I'd lay awake thinking about stuff.
I told my doctor about it in passing and he gave me something "light".
Nortriptyline. (I just finally read the side-effects a few minutes ago).

It seems that the other night I slept through three police cars in my driveway and the cops knocking loud enough on the front door to wake a neighbor kid who told me about it the next day.
They wanted entry to my back yard to look for a break-in suspect.

Well after reading the side-effects, (none of which I've experienced, yet, thank God), I think I'll stop.

Judge Not

Somebody just admonished me to "Judge not".
(The only verse most people seem to know, and yet be totally ignorant of.)

This was in response to an article Franklin Graham had written about Pete Budegug (sp, I don't care, not gonna be around long enough for me to learn to spell).

I replied: "Geez, going through life with no good judgment sounds horrible."

Their reply was "Be real! Use your moral judgement not your political standing!"

My political standing is informed by my moral judgement.

My moral judgment is informed by the Bible.
If it wasn't, there's all kinds of behavior I would excuse in myself instead of asking God to help me overcome it.
If homosexuals were born that way, so were pedophiles.

It's no excuse.

Am I a "hater"?
Do I hate people?
In general, no.
Although on numerous occasions, had I the power (which God in His wisdom has not given me), Obama, Chuck Schumer, Eric Swalwell, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, and a number of tools I own (mostly hammers) would be roasting in hell right now.
Thank God.
I need those tools.

I'm reminded that the disciples once asked Jesus if they should call down fire on the inhabitants of a village that had treated them poorly. I didn't know they could do that.

Jesus rebuked them and told them they knew not the spirit they were of.
I think He kind of meant "that's wrong".
Funny, He didn't tell them they couldn't.
But if they knew not the spirit they were of, maybe He was saying they didn't know they were better than that.
That's encouraging.

On a serious note, my anger has been so swift at the images on my TV that I had already committed murder in my heart before I knew it.
I need to work on that.

I'm better than that.

Now I gotta act like it. Let God act through me.

Are You Ready?

Ready Player One, a Steven Spielberg film.


I saw this movie finally.
My oldest (40 something) told me I'd like it.
He was right.

There were so many cultural reference points in it that  got a kick out of spotting them, and I'm sure I missed many.
The plot is about a young protagonist who enters a simulated reality created by a reclusive and now departed computer genius.
But it's really about connectivity, of the human sort.

There's a lot of suspension of disbelief involved.
Like many of this genre (Inception and The Matrix comes to mind), you try and figure out how the real world is influencing the sim world, or vice versa.

But I found it to be an ultimately satisfying movie.

And I woke up the next morning, and as is my custom, I began to thank my Father in heaven for a new day and all the blessings I enjoy. After all, I did wake up.

Then I began to think of the intricate universe He created and I was reminded of the movie and the intricate simulated world that the recluse programmer (and I assume his team) created.
Throughout the movie, in order to win the contest, the hero investigates everything he can get his hands on  to understand the motives and intent of the creator in order to win.

I (and you) live in an intricately created world. It was given to us to live in.
And the clues are there for us to deduce a Creator.
He even gave us a book that describes the rules and His intent.
When the original players were put into the game, they broke the rule. One simple rule.
But that rule was the one that demonstrated their inability to follow the rules.
They broke the world.
Literally broke the world. (That's why we can't have nice stuff.)
And it's been broken since.
And the players have been trying to find the reason it was made.
Trying to win.
Trying to find the prize.

So few are willing to follow the rule.
So few are willing to read the instructions and if they do, fewer believe they apply.

But those who do, in the end, meet the Creator.
And like Willy Wonka, he gives them everything.
Everything.

All He asks, like most of us, is to be believed.

A Pearl of Great Price

From the New King James version:

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 
46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

These are two parables that follow the parables of the Sower,  the Wheat and Tares, the Mustard Seed and the Leaven.
They are followed by the Dragnet

These last parables are obviously related to the Kingdom of Heaven.
We can assume that the Treasure and Pearl parables also are.

What is the Kingdom of Heaven?
It is the Church, the band of humans who God rules.
Kingdom citizenship.
This is important to grasp.

It is often said that the Pearl and the Treasure are metaphors for the salvation experience, the Gospel, getting right with God, Christ.
That when you find the hidden secret of Salvation, you sell everything to get it.
And you don't tell anyone else so they don't get it first.

That sounds kind of weird, doesn't it?

You cannot sell all you have and buy heaven or entry into it.
You might do that as a result of gaining the free gift of salvation, but that free gift is trumpeted loudly, it is not hidden.

So what then is the Pearl, or the Treasure?

Jesus had previously been discussing the construction of the Kingdom:
The invitation (Sower)
Some will reject, some will join and leave, and some will join and grow.
The composition and growth (Wheat and Tares, Mustard Seed, Leaven)
The citizens (wheat) will dwell among others and their numbers grow.
The leaven either refers to growth or sinners among the saved.
The birds in the tree are often thought to be sinners among the saved also.
The gathering (The Dragnet)
Sinners and saints have been occupying the same territory and are separated at the end, similar to the Wheat and Tares.

The Wheat is hidden among the Tares, the Treasure is hidden in a field, the Pearl in the market, the Good (and bad) in the sea.

Now we come to the purchase (Pearl and Treasure)
So Who purchased the Kingdom?
When you phrase it like that, it almost becomes obvious.
The sinner doesn't purchase Christ.
The Pearl is not Christ.

The Pearl is the Church. The Treasure is the Church.
Who purchased the Church?
Who gave all He had to purchase it?
"and buys that field."
He redeemed the earth to get the Treasure.

Think about that.
Jesus gave everything He had to purchase a Pearl of Great Price.
A Treasure.
"For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross."

The Guy telling the story, the One who is evaluating the purchase, is Jesus.
He sees our potential, something He wants.
He sees something in us we don't see, yet "through a glass darkly".
But we know that "we shall be like him".
I didn't write that, God did.

Me? I want to live up to that. I want to make the cut, I want to live for Him.
After all, He died for me.

What about you? Are you worth it?

[Insert witty post title here]

I have been very busy.
Some of my spare time, apart from my 50 hr a week job, is taken with agonizing over the newspaper. Emails, documenting, phoning, etc.
Some, working on my 2001 Ranger, home repairs, church repairs, repairing a couple air compressors.
Automating my buddy's production equipment.
Reading and commenting at other peoples blogs.
Or moderating a group on Facebook.
Or arranging interviews for the radio show.
Or watching Tucker Carlson and Bret Baier.

I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy Tuesday.
The anesthesiologist recommended that I insist they do the endo first as it might leave a funny taste if I had the colo first.
Everything came out alright in the end.

So, I've been wanting to cut loose from Comcast, or at least the tier I'm in, but to get Tucker, Baier or Gutfeld (my favorite show on television!) I had to take that tier.
BTW, Tyrus is one subtly brilliant person.

I've just signed up for YouTube TV. It has Fox News on it.
And some movies.
I'll be dumping the cable box.
I've got the hang of it now and actually prefer watching recordings of shows with the wireless mouse rather than the remote.
I can more accurately get through commercials with the mouse.
I might sign up for Turner Classic Movies.

Seriously, I'm dropping $100 a month and paying out $35 for a gain of $65.
And I'm sharing the account (up to 5 others) with my niece/daughter and my son (like I do my Netflix).

I'm happy.

This was a good one:

Mental Well Being

I read this in an article on "recovery", but I think it applies to everybody interested in their own mental well-being:

"... Then, with your new competent guide, you begin your journey of self discovery. Perhaps that is why thousands of years ago the great philosopher Socrates admonished us to know ourselves. Dr. Robert Mueller, one of my mentors who opened a school for children, included in is his curriculum three questions:

1 Why am I here?
2 What is my purpose?
3 Where am I headed?"

How would you answer these?
How do you know?

The Free Press

I thought Kid might enjoy this, but you are all welcome to it.

It's in the latest edition of The Courant. 

There's some other good stuff in there too.

And then we had a good radio show today.

"Join host Gary Wellings and Ed Bonderenka as they discuss President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, whether the FBI can be trusted as a reliable law enforcement agency and more fake news from the mainstream media"

I also want to say, in light of the Representative Franks controversy,
Five Million Dollars and I'll carry your baby.