July 8, 2008
Recently I was talking with a friend of mine about the unmarried people I see all around me. I’m noticing more and more people who seem unhappily (important) stuck in the stage of singleness that some think demands an explanation: attractive, socially active, emotionally stable, gainfully employed, and over 30 (or 22, depending on the mother).
I suggested to my friend that the culture at large, and even the culture within the Church, has perhaps made us overly picky, or otherwise given us unrealistic and overly narrow standards of mate selection that favor the fulfillment of all but arbitrary preferences over the objective goodness of marriage itself and its domesticating influence (my version of small talk–God help me and those who suffer to be my friends).
My dear friend then looked me straight in the eye and said, “Man, you don’t need to lower your standards. You need to wait for a beautiful, brilliant, believing girl who’s willing to lower hers.”
I love my friends. Well, at least as much as they love me.
Posted in Good Thinking, Personal 
2 Comments »
July 8, 2008
Psalm 31:19-20, 24
19 How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
in your dwelling you keep them safe
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Psalm 32:6-8, 10
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.
Psalm 33:5
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 33:11, 16-22
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 34:4-10, 17-19, 22
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Luke 7:28
28I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Movin’ on up!
Luke 7:37
37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
Posted in The Discipline of Hope No Comments »
July 7, 2008
Turns out that if you type “lovers and madmen poets” (no quotes) into Google, my site is the 5th site returned. Go ahead. Try it.
That makes me very happy.
Posted in Site News 1 Comment »
July 7, 2008
You will now see a “ShareThis” Button at the bottom of each of my posts. It seems pretty unobtrusive and highly useful. Let me know if it’s annoying.
Posted in Site News 1 Comment »
July 7, 2008
You refer to Eugene Peterson’s Message translation of the Bible with anything other than derision and contempt.
You make politically ambivalent statements like, “I’m not sure who I’m going to vote for;” “I’m an independent;” “I vote for the person, not the party;” and “I think the Republicans and Democrats should set aside their differences and work together.”
You blame George W. Bush for anything.
You claim that some other country is in anyway superior to the United States.
You tell me about the latest book on “leadership” that you’ve read.
You try really hard to be cool (doesn’t matter if you’re successful or not).
You claim to be “spiritual” rather than “religious.”
You think spending money on poverty will diminish poverty.
Your concern for “social justice” leads you to do anything other than change you.
Your metaphysics and your ethics are unexamined, logically inconsistent, or contradictory.
You settle for an easier, softer way.
You expect Government to fix any problem.
When you do these things, I judge you as stupid or morally deficient, itself more explicitly wicked than the most imaginative interpretation of the above things. God, grant me the willingness to surrender my lust for vindication. Give me more humility than I want, even if it comes via humiliation. Have mercy on me, a sinner.
Posted in Personal 2 Comments »
July 7, 2008
I would be less than nothing but for the unmerited favour of God.
Dr. Richard Hipp spoke these inspired words. He is much more famous for creating SQLite and giving it away for free to everybody. Read more about him here.
Posted in Good Thinking No Comments »
July 7, 2008
Psalm 22:27-28
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
Psalm 23:6
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Psalm 24:1
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
Psalm 25:3
3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
Psalm 25:12-13
12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
Psalm 25:14-15
14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
Psalm 27:1, 3
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
Psalm 27:13-14
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.
Sometimes I forget that God has good things for me this side of the grave.
Psalm 28:6-9
6 Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
8 The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Psalm 30:4-5
4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:11-12
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Luke 5:4-8
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
I relate to Saint Peter.
Luke 5:12-13
12While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
I relate to the leper, too.
Posted in The Discipline of Hope 3 Comments »
July 3, 2008
But what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert–himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt–the Divine Reason. Huxley preached a humility content to learn from Nature. But the new sceptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. Thus we should be wrong if we had said hastily that there is no humility typical of our time. The truth is that there is a real humility typical of our time; but is so happens that it is practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.
We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.
I’m an occasional victim of the new humility.
Posted in Orthodoxy No Comments »
July 2, 2008
Humility was largely meant as a restraint upon the arrogance and infinity of the appetite of man. He was always out-stripping his mercies with his own newly invented needs. His very power of enjoyment destroyed half his joys. By asking for pleasure, he lost the chief pleasure; for the chief pleasure is surprise. Hence it became evident that if a man would make his world large, he must be always making himself small. Even the haughty visions, the tall cities, and the toppling pinnacles are the creations of humility. Giants that tread down forests like grass are the creations of humility. Towers that vanish upwards above the loneliest start are the creations of humility. For towers are not tall unless we look up at them; and giants are not giants unless they are larger than we. All this gigantesque imagination, which is, perhaps, the mightiest of the pleasures of man, is at bottom entirely humble. It is impossible without humility to enjoy anything–even pride.
I think the reason that certain people and ideologies rail against distinguished accomplishment is not because they disdain pride, but because they disdain the humility necessary to look up at anything. I also believe this is why much of the world hates the United States–not for our flaws, but for our strengths.
Posted in Orthodoxy 1 Comment »
July 2, 2008
Psalm 14:3
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
Whew! I’m not the only one!
Psalm 16:10, 11
you will not abandon me to the grave,
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 17:6, 15
6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Psalm 18:1-3, 16-19
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 18:28-29, 30-36
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
36 You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.
Psalm 18:43
43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
you have made me the head of nations;
people I did not know are subject to me.
I love this verse! God gives me blessings I didn’t even know existed! What a beautiful picture of God’s Economy.
Psalm 18:46-48
46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
47 He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
48 who saves me from my enemies.
Psalm 20:4-5
4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.
God plants requests of my very own in my heart that He might grant them.
Psalm 20:6-8
6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Luke 3:6
6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.
A good reminder in dark times.
Luke 3:38
the son of Adam,
the son of God.
I just love seeing that in the Bible. I generally don’t think of God as my Father or myself as His son in the literal sense. This verse helps me remember the literal sense in which those things are true.
Luke 4:18-19
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Thank you, Jesus!
4:36
With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!
Posted in The Discipline of Hope 1 Comment »
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