Maggie's Farm

This church was built around 1860 after the previous one burned down. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the harbor, and rings ship's bells instead of landlubber time. As you can maybe see, the pews are all curved so as to face the front.

The stained glass, relatively unusual for a Congo church, depict nautical scenes from the Bible. One of them depicts the Mayflower.

Where did that famous list of sins come from?

Wiki has the info about them. After all these years, it's still a good list. Pride, of course, is the mother of all sin because it puts self and worldly interests above God.

...whenever Christians actually dare to make political choices on the basis of those beliefs, then the enlightened gatekeepers of American secularism in the academy and in the media rise up in righteous wrath and rush to the barricades to defend us against the barbarian hordes of true believers who if unchecked will transform our republic into a "theocracy" and impose their intolerant bigotry on everybody else. And when the President himself is one of these religious fanatics, then the prospects for the republic and the Constitution are dark indeed—even the usually rational New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman whined after the election that he was depressed "because Bush's base is pushing so hard to legislate social issues and extend the boundaries of religion that it felt as if we were rewriting the Constitution, not electing a president." 

Despite its uselessness, squishy relativism remains a force in some sectors of society. It's dangerous because it makes people feel that they shouldn't evaluate anything. Dr. Bob explains the inherent contradictions. A quote:

I find it interesting that most every argument rejecting absolutes contains within its very language and structure, not to mention its premises, a framework of absolute assertions. And our subject does not disappoint: tossing around terms like “wise” and “fools” and “shame” and “credit”, qualitative words without meaning when there is no transcendent standard against which to measure them. What is shame if not the humiliation of rejecting an absolute good? Who is wise, and who a fool, if there is no standard of enduring and unchangeable wisdom by which to categorize one thusly? The lines of their straightedge are random and irregularly spaced — if there are measuring lines at all — yet they carefully measure and mark off “progress”, confident they have measured accurately. There is, of course, the inevitable rejoinder to all such foolishness which asks, “Are you absolutely sure there are no absolutes?” But beyond this childish rebuttal — childish, not in the sense of silliness or immaturity, but rather of unvarnished simplicity — there lies an even more evident and profound incoherence which can be discerned — from which a not-so-evident proposition emerges from the heart of anti-absolutism.

Read the whole thing.

From a Charles Simeon sermon, as quoted in a piece at Scriptorium:

Permit me, then, to address you as dying persons, and to ask what you will think of these things when standing on the brink and precipice of eternity? Now you can speculate, and dispute, and speak with confidence about the justness of your views. Now you can discuss these matters as if it were of little moment what your sentiments are, or what is the ground of your affiance. But if you hold fast any of the foregoing delusions, you will not find them so satisfactory in a dying hour as you now imagine. Doubts… will arise in your mind…

Would you but place yourselves where you must all very shortly be, on a dying bed, we should not find it so difficult to convince you that it is better to trust in the righteousness of Christ, which is commensurate with all the demands of law and justice and adequate to the wants of the whole world, than to be trusting in any respect to any poor defective righteousness of your own.

Life itself is a School of Humility. At some point, we all will need to get out of our own boats, and He will be there, waiting for us with open arms.

By coincidence, A Slower Pace posted this from Max Lucado on death and rebirth.

Matthew 14:22-33

²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” ²⁸Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

From Mary Eberstadt, at First Things. It begins:

That Humanae Vitae and related Catholic teachings about sexual morality are laughingstocks in all the best places is not exactly news. Even in the benighted precincts of believers, where information from the outside world is known to travel exceedingly slowly, everybody grasps that this is one doctrine the world loves to hate. During Benedict XVI’s April visit to the United States, hardly a story in the secular press failed to mention the teachings of Humanae Vitae, usually alongside adjectives like “divisive” and “controversial” and “outdated.” In fact, if there’s anything on earth that unites the Church’s adversaries—all of them except for the Muslims, anyway—the teaching against contraception is probably it.

To many people, both today and when the encyclical was promulgated on July 25, 1968, the notion simply defies understanding. Consenting adults, told not to use birth control? Preposterous. Third World parents deprived access to contraception and abortion? Positively criminal. A ban on condoms when there’s a risk of contracting AIDS? Beneath contempt.

Modern contraceptive practices had a huge impact, and yet sex was not invented in the 1960s, and the ancient Egyptians and Greeks used contraceptives. Does sexuality have anything to do with Judeo-Christian morality? Read the whole thing.

A re-post from our archives:

Excellent piece in the CS Monitor on the condition of religion in Europe by Peter Ford. In it he quotes Grace Davies, who notes that the Enlightenment led in different directions in the US and Europe - here, we tend to view, as did the Founding Fathers, religious belief and practice as something that needed protection from State power, while in Europe they tended to see the State as protecting the people from powerful religious institutions.

It's an interesting difference in the role of the State in relation to religion, and I wonder whether it reflects a larger difference in the view of individual rights in general - whether they are seen as being provided by the State, as if from a King, or whether they belong to the individual by virtue of being human, in other words, granted by God or by Natural Law rather than by the State.

I wonder whether different expectations of the State derive from this.  If the State is seen as the provider of rights, then why not a provider of everything? After all, you can contort the concept of freedom rights and label anything a "right" if you want to, including a right to watch TV in jail, a right to a driver's license, or a right to a stress-free life. But if the State is an organization we have created to protect the freedoms we own anyway, will we not be less inclined to view the State as a benevolent, loving, parental provider in general? 

The liberals/progressives have already transferred their dreams and hopes and faith to the State. Their fascistic/statist undercurrent has been apparent for a long time - there will never be enough government to satisfy them.

The piece is a good update on European attitudes towards God, with some surprising findings:  What place for God in Europe? | csmonitor.com

Triathlon: The Hoyts - Dad and his disabled son -

Let me use disappointment as material for patience;
Let me use success as material for thankfulness;
Let me use suspense as material for perseverence;
Let me use danger as material for courage;
Let me use reproach as material for long-suffering;
Let me use praise as material for temperance;
Let me use pain as material for endurance.

- from a prayer by John Baillie

Psalm 119

¹Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
²Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,
³who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.
⁴You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
⁵O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
⁶Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
⁷I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.
⁸I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

⁹How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.
¹¹I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
¹²Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.
¹³With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.
¹⁴I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.
¹⁵I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

¹⁷Deal bountifully with your servant, so that I may live and observe your word.
¹⁸Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
¹⁹I live as an alien in the land; do not hide your commandments from me.
²⁰My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
²¹You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments;
²²take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your decrees.
²³Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
²⁴Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.
²⁵My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word.

I'll begin with the hopeful message of Jeremiah 29:11-14 (which is not from today's Lectionary), regarding the dispersal of the Jews and their 70 years of captivity in Babylon. God does not like false prophets. As Matthew Henry's Commentary on this part of Jeremiah says: "Let men beware how they call those prophets whom they choose after their own fancies, and how they consider their fancies and dreams to be revelations from God. False prophets flatter people in their sins, because they love to be flattered; and they speak smoothly to their prophets, that their prophets may speak smoothly to them."

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Here's the reading from today's lectionary, with the context of Jeremiah 28:

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” ⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; ⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. ⁷But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

¹⁰Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. ¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way. ¹²Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them! ¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals. ¹⁵And the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.” ¹⁷In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Image: The Prophet Jeremiah (1311, Siena)

Losing the poetry is losing the soul.

Neoneo on how the modern translations of the Bible drain it of vitality, and turn it into a Hallmark card. I rarely use the King James here, even though it's my favorite.

Psalm 17

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
²From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.
³If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.
⁴As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
⁶I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
⁷Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
⁸Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
⁹from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me.
¹⁰They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
¹¹They track me down; now they surround me; they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.
¹²They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
¹³Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them! By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,
¹⁴from mortals—by your hand, O Lord— from mortals whose portion in life is in this world. May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them; may their children have more than enough; may they leave something over to their little ones.
¹⁵As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. ²He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. ³He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. ⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. ¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹²So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26

9:9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me."  And he got up and followed him.

9:10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples.

9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

9:12 But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

9:13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'  For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

9:18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live."

9:19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.

9:20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak,

9:21 for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well."

9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." and instantly the woman was made well.

9:23 When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,

9:24 he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping."   And they laughed at him.

9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Matthew 7: 21-29

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ ²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” ²⁸Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.