For Thanksgiving I had a Japanese friend over to eat with my family. I explained to him the origin of the holiday, of the pilgrims fleeing religious control and thanking God for help in a new land. He thought it was funny how our history only goes back a few hundred years. His extends back thousands--not only 43 presidents, but multiple dynasties of rulers.
In light of the relative youth of our nation, I can't help but feel optimistic in spite of current political circumstances (I'm a proudly staunch conservative). With socialism growling at our doorstep and the people poised to sell out to a hope-monger who votes in favor of infanticide, I see the future like a broad Kansas plain. Like any great empire before, the United States will change for good or for ill.
"The times they are a changin' " writes Bob Dylan.
Now, irony makes the conservative voice the radical in the media. Irony abounds when activists proclaim the cause of diversity then condemn a peaceful union of European pilgrims and Native Americans that has long been a foundation of our country. When the force of "hope and change" chants class envy and murder of innocents, irony spits in the face of tradition. When the people of California speak in peaceful democracy and the minor opposition violently and hatefully spray-paints their churches and threatens their safety, humanism reveals itself for the ugly monster it is.
Yet, America remains young. America, the land I love, my homeland is still the greatest nation on earth. I will fight for her, live for her, die for her. I do not seek to better my own circumstances, but secure America for our posterity.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Spaces
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation (rather heated but still not an argument) with some friends. We were having trouble talking about more than minor chit-chatty things and someone asked if Adam and Eve had belly buttons. Somehow or other, by pathways del oscuro, we came to the question of the origin of darkness.
Does God make darkness, or dwell within it?
Darkness isn't a thing, but an absence. An absence of light. So our conversation swerved to and fro between issues of matter and time, presence and absence, and parallels to darkness, like coldness, space, and evil.
Evil is the absence of God, right? That's what I have assumed, but how can there be anything outside of God? If God is light, what exactly IS the darkness? From where does it come? At the first creation, before the creation of the earth and mankind, when God first made something, be it angels or the heavenly temple, what was there?
Was it just God? Assuming Light and Dark are parallels to God and the absence of God, was there just light, or was there darkness too? I know that Evil is no match for Good, wherever there is light, darkness always loses.
Always.
So if there was only Light, where did the Darkness come from? On this earth, Light can never create darkness. In fact, Darkness can never be made. It is there when Light dies, or goes away. But the fact remains that if Light fails, Darkness always happens. It is absence.
One idea is that when God first created, He merely opened up voids in Himself. When He created the world, He made spaces between the matter. This theory has problems because it doesn't explain the origin of darkness and space, which is the true question.
In effect, we can never think in terms of Darkness. We only see the presence--the people, not the spaces between them.
Does God make darkness, or dwell within it?
Darkness isn't a thing, but an absence. An absence of light. So our conversation swerved to and fro between issues of matter and time, presence and absence, and parallels to darkness, like coldness, space, and evil.
Evil is the absence of God, right? That's what I have assumed, but how can there be anything outside of God? If God is light, what exactly IS the darkness? From where does it come? At the first creation, before the creation of the earth and mankind, when God first made something, be it angels or the heavenly temple, what was there?
Was it just God? Assuming Light and Dark are parallels to God and the absence of God, was there just light, or was there darkness too? I know that Evil is no match for Good, wherever there is light, darkness always loses.
Always.
So if there was only Light, where did the Darkness come from? On this earth, Light can never create darkness. In fact, Darkness can never be made. It is there when Light dies, or goes away. But the fact remains that if Light fails, Darkness always happens. It is absence.
One idea is that when God first created, He merely opened up voids in Himself. When He created the world, He made spaces between the matter. This theory has problems because it doesn't explain the origin of darkness and space, which is the true question.
In effect, we can never think in terms of Darkness. We only see the presence--the people, not the spaces between them.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Save your breath to cool your porridge.
Burning the roof of the mouth while eating a pastry or drinking coffee is one of the injustices of the world. The bitter irony is that this injustice is self-inflicted. I myself burn my mouth and effectively ruin the rest of my gastric delight. Thereafter, I speak funny, drink cold water, and curse the pocket of boiling jelly that caused this pain.
Perhaps the answer lies in eating only cold foods. I'm told the Italians boil their vegetables but serve them cold. Odd. I am not convinced that this is a good plan. Somewhere, Newton must have discovered the law that states, "For every degree lost while drinking coffee, the flavor declines exponentially." But this law only applies to coffee that began hot. Iced coffee is a different matter.
The worst food to eat cold is potato soup. Nasty.
Time. Time is the key to the perfect temperature. So, I'll blow on my soup and quickly eat my eggs. I'll eat my salad before my baked potato. But I won't wait too long. Look what happened to the three bears when they left their porridge unattended too long.
Perhaps the answer lies in eating only cold foods. I'm told the Italians boil their vegetables but serve them cold. Odd. I am not convinced that this is a good plan. Somewhere, Newton must have discovered the law that states, "For every degree lost while drinking coffee, the flavor declines exponentially." But this law only applies to coffee that began hot. Iced coffee is a different matter.
The worst food to eat cold is potato soup. Nasty.
Time. Time is the key to the perfect temperature. So, I'll blow on my soup and quickly eat my eggs. I'll eat my salad before my baked potato. But I won't wait too long. Look what happened to the three bears when they left their porridge unattended too long.
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