The Christmas Spirit

I have seen several exhortations for me to “get into the Christmas Spirit”.  This phrase seems to carry different meanings in different situations.  From the context, it seems for some it means to make a purchase at a particular store, eat at a particular restaurant, or give to a particular charity.  In other instances it seems to have a meaning regarding how you treat people, animals or plants.

From a horrifying report in the NY Post, it seems the Christmas Spirit is the spirit of the savage.  The crush to get into a Long Island Wal-Mart was so great, a worker was trampled to death by the mob.  In one report, it also mentioned a pregnant woman was knocked down, trampled and miscarried.

This event sickens and saddens me.  Instead of a celebration of the Advent of our Savior, this time has become an opportunity for gross consumerism and materialism.  The god of getting and having things becomes more important than the God of all, so His 6th and 10th commandments are scoffed at so things may be obtained.

And to those who may wish to argue this is an isolated incident with extenuating circumstances and the death was a very freakish occurrence, I would remind you that the 10th commandment is violated in every store and the majority of purchases being made.  Through the catalogs and commercials bombarding us, we teach our children to violate the 10th commandment.  And we give them an example not better than the savages at the Long Island Wal-Mart.

The day after we should be giving thanks for what we have, a display of greed and cruel avarice reminds us of what we are without Christ.  May we all enter a season where we entreat our God to have mercy upon this nation for what we have become.  Let us confess and repent and pray we may avoid God’s judgement for this awful state in which we find ourselves.

Focus, Stupid

My name is The Mad Monk and I have a problem.

Not the kind that requires a 12 step program.  But a one kick program.  Put one swift kick on my backside, and maybe I’ll get it.

Too easily things that don’t matter crowd out those things that do matter.  And worse, sometimes I forget that the unimportant has supplanted the important.  And worse still, I am unaware of the effects of an earlier stupid act.

Fortunately, God in His graciousness shows me how stupid I can be and allows me to make amends.  Tonight was one of those times.

We’ve had some cool, dry weather blow in.  The kind that begs for an evening walk.  And since we have a couple of good sized dogs (45 pound black lab mix and a 100 pound chocolate lab) a good walk with the dogs sounds like a great idea.

So I ask Sis to take the little dog and join me on the jaunt.  But she’s playing with LiverPie.  So I ask Liv to come along.  And that’s when it hit me.  Liv looks at me with sad tear-filled eyes and said, “I can’t come.  You told me I couldn’t take another walk with you because I can’t keep up”.

And I wanted to deliver the swift kick to myself.  I apologized to Liver, put the dogs on leashes and even loaded up LittleBit in her stroller.  So I took Harley, Liv had Pepper and Sis commanded the stroller.  The walk wasn’t the usual calorie burner I like.  But oh what conversations we had!

Beautiful stars and a shining moon.  A hint at what we would be learning tomorrow during family worship.  And how much I love all my girls.

Please, Lord, help me not be so stupid in the future.  And thank you for reminding me nothing beats a cool evening walk with my girls.

Campaigns and Character

Campaigns were once an opportunity to find out about a candidate.  The travels of the campaigns were an opportunity for the voters to meet those who aspired to public office.  They would get to know them and make their decision.

Today, campaigns are sanitized and scripted to portray the message so what is projected is not the candidate, but the message the candidate wants you to hear.  A message more often than not crafted not on prinicple, but on what the candidate thinks you want to hear.

And then occasionally character will break through.  In a recent swing for the McCain-Palin campaign, a family with a Down syndrome child were holding up a sign proclaiming their love for Down syndrome children.

The candidates had one of their Secret Service agents call the family over and they met personally with them.  This kind of personal and heartfelt touch demonstates that for McCain-Palin, the family is not a pawn to be used to win an election.  She truly loves and appreciates special needs children and that love and compassion expressed itself in a kind and gracious moment at a campaign stop.

The story was told on the Rush Linbaugh show and the details, with pictures, may be found here.

When Politics Was Fun

I feel extremely fortunate, politically speaking.  I came of age to vote in 1980.  I was already conservative both socially and economically.  I learned conservatism from the Regan Revolution. 

I learned the importance of having firm convictions and fighting for those convictions.  President Reagan did and said many things that made the political pundits around him cringe.  The famous “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” line stands out as one of those instances repeated to this day. 

I also saw the need to compromise when necessary. I learned you may still be principled and still work with those with whom you disagree.  I remember everything President Reagan gave away to achieve tax cuts.

And I learned that sometimes your party leaves you and you must go elsewhere.  In those days, many conservative Democrats changed party affiliation and joined the Reagan Revolution.

And as the years went by, I understood why those Democrats switched parties as the Republicans lost their moorings and drifted farther and farther left.  I no longer call myself a Republican.  I’m a conservative Independant.

And I now believe I understand why those Democrats switched parties.  Sarah Palin is having an amazing effect on conservatives in and out of the Republican party.  As I have learned more about her, I have become more excited about the potential future of the Republican party.

She is pricipled.  I have heard that anywhere from 80% to over 90% of Down syndrome babies are aborted.  Priciple won out over convenience in her life.

She is charismatic.  The speech she delivered at the convention was electrifying.  Given with wit and bite, it was devestating to the Democrats and stirred the Republican base.

She has made politics fun again.  It’s the 80’s and conservatism is on the rise again.  I’m hoping the Republicans see where they have erred and will return to their moorings.  In the meantime, though, at least we’ll have a fun election.

Thanks, Sarah, and keep up the good work.

The Politics of Palin

After having not posted for a long time (and, frankly, deciding I would never post again), I feel compelled to make a comment on Sarah Palin, John McCain’s selection to be his running mate in the current presidential election.

I know very little about her. From the news we know she was governor of Alaska, long ago was a Miss Alaska runner up, she has 5 strangely named children and not much else.

From blogs I have read, I find she is evil and wicked and vile because she is in government. It seems some of the far-right hyper-patriarchal types are upset that a woman is on the ticket. Her place, they claim, is not in the White House, but in her house. She has some small children, including a special needs child, and needs to be at home watching over them.

Th verses most often used to drive the point home are Isaiah 3:12 and 1 Corinthians 14, sometimes citing John Knox’s work The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women where he speaks of the curse of women rulers in England.

While I have seen the Isaiah passasge used, I have never seen it exegeted in context with a proper application based on that exegesis. Just warnings about women rulers. Would this warning apply to Deborah and Esther? If not, why not? Would this mean the administrations of Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meier were evil? And since it is God who raises up leaders and brings them down, and He has done so throughout history, how does that apply to a woman running for office? Until these questions can be answered biblically, I’m afraid I’m going to have to reject the Palin detractors using Isaiah.

The passages from Corinthians are even weaker. The context clearly has to do with authority within the church. The church does not have the authority to dicate requirments for office to the government. We are electing leaders of our government, not the church. These passages that apply to the church cannot be extened to the goverment without damaging the meaning and altering God’s Word.

As for the John Knox argument, it was based upon the fact that the English Monarch was also considered the head of the Church of England. In that case it would not be proper to have a woman as the head of the church.

And finally, along with the weak arguments, I have another issue with these pundits. They need to keep their noses out of somone else’s household. If they can demonstate that Mr. Palin objects to the candidacy of his wife, then I might listen. But it’s his house and his wife and he has the authority and responsibility to run that house according to God’s Word. If he is in error, the missives should be directed to him. The hyper-patriarchs especially should be aware of that.

I’ve had my rant. I’ll disappear into my hole again.

I Never Learn

There are certain things I never seem to learn. I just seem to have too much stupidity to grasp some lessons long term.

Sure, I learn the lesson. But over time, the importance of the lesson fades, and I return to my folly.

And here I sit, alone and lonely. And it happens every year at this time. What causes this annual angst?

General Motors. My sister-in-law, you see, works at the local GM plant. And every year, they close the plant for re-tooling. And she asks my wife if she wants to go visit their mother in Tennessee. And I say, yes, take the girls and go enjoy yourself.

And about three days into the trip I rue my decision. At the time, it seems clever. MadMomma and the Monk-lets gone and TheMadMonk has peace and quiet.

And outwardly, it appears peaceful and quiet. But inwardly, the restlesness of my lonely heart and the vociferous bellow of my moaning at missing my wife and little girls tells the truth of my plight.

My only respite is the knowledge that tomorrow they will begin the journey back. And the clamor and noise will bring peace and quiet.

Harvey Korman Dies

Growing up, I remember my family would never miss the Carol Burnett Show.  We especially anticipated those skits where Harvey Korman would attempt to keep from laughing at the antics of Tim Conway.

Harvey Korman has died, but his work, thanks to YouTube, is available for viewing. 

Please enjoy the clips below.

 

 

Challies May Give Away

Don’t miss this one. The big prize is $200.00 from Monergism Books and a 5 Solas t-shirt.

Whistle While You Work

I am a programmer. There is a reason I am not in any type of construction. If I were in construction I would be in every scene of the video below.

What Every Pastor Should Know

This should be required viewing before a man may preach his first sermon.  My pastor, of course, does not have this problem, but I know your does.