Finished "The History" by Herodotus

I didn't finish the whole book, only the three pieces that were listed this time from my Great Books reading list; namely, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope.

I love reading Herodotus. Remember the movie 300? It's like reading the book, one battle after another and what this king said, or what that city tried to do. It's exciting.

Mardonius, one of Xerxes generals, says, "It were a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving the Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Asserians, and many other mighty nations, not for any wrong that they had done us, but only to increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us such wanton injury, to escape our vengeance. What is it that we fear in them? - not surly their numbers? - not the greatness of their wealth? We know the manner of their battle - we know how weak their power is; already have we subdued their children who dwell in our country, the Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians."

The Persians were a warring people. According to the Greeks they were barbarians. They were pretty stinkin' fierce from what Herodotus writes. I'd like to read more about them from their own perspective and see how these same battles were portrayed differently. I've read before that if the Persians had taken over Greece (more than they did), things would be a lot different today. Most of our western heritage stems from Greece but if the Persians had won, maybe that history would be different. I know that they got pretty far in "conquering the world" and that they did some pretty heavy damage to Greece and Athens, but what was the turning point? What happened that made the Persians leave the area?

Finished "1 Chronicles"

"So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse." 10:13-14

This was my only note from this book. It's come up a couple times in my life, recently because I watch "The Long Island Medium" on tv and I love her character. She's professes to believe in the God of the Bible and she seems to be a kind and loving person. The things she tells people seem legitimate and helpful. But the Bible is clear on the point of mediums.

The truth I see is that she is real. She does speak to the dead (in a way), but God clearly doesn't want us to do that. God wants us to come to Him for guidance. Speaking with a medium or a spiritualist is asking for trouble. It's a way for Satan to creep in with his demons to drive us away from God's light.

Here's my take. When we die, we "sleep" until the end of times when God reconciles all. He lives outside of what we think of as time, Einstein's time. Once we die, we are also outside of that time so there is no way for a medium to talk to us and tell our loved ones what we are thinking about. But Satan takes that love we have for our dead and gone and twists it. He has the ability to use our thoughts and confuse us. His goal is to keep us from God.

Sometimes when we consult a medium, we get positive feedback, something we think we can use to make us happy but it won't work for long. God wants us to go to Him and take comfort there.

Finished "The Right-Brain Business Plan"

I've been thinking a lot about starting my own business the past year but I wasn't sure where to start, or that I could even really do it. My friend recommended this book and it looked interesting. I thought I'd get it and read it and then pass it along. After reading it, I'm still not sure if I want to start a business but not because I don't think I could plan it. This book has some great ideas and ways to implement business plans without stifling your creative side. I think my problem is that my creative side needs help! I just can't imagine anything I could make a business with.

Thoughts on Learning & History

I had an epiphany this morning and quickly conveyed my vision to my youngest son. That's the best way for me to remember an idea, relaying it to another person.

I was listening to a podcast of the Tom Woods Show and he was talking about history, economics, and education. The usual topics. They were were lamenting the way schools teach history with just the memorization of dates, names, and places. That is the way you'd have to teach history if you are going to test and quantify it. But it isn't the best way to understand or use history in your life. In fact, learning it that way is so dull that no one enjoys it or believes it to be relevant to the present at the end of a course.

My vision was a box of puzzle pieces with a picture on it or not. You open the box and pull out a piece. It's green. You put it on your table and pull out another piece. This one is red, completely unrelated to the green one. The next piece is different. It has a straight edge and the next one is straight edged and green, like the first piece. Eventually some pieces look similar and you pile them together. Some pieces start to fit together and you can see part of the picture. And finally, after hours of work, you can see the whole thing and you stand back and admire it. Maybe you seal it up and hang it in a frame on your wall to beautify your office.

That's how learning works. You read one book, a website, an article, or a magazine. You watch a tv program, talk to a relative, see a movie, or listen to concert. You visit an amusement park, a museum, or a park. You play a game. All of these things seem completely unrelated but your brain sorts information like pieces of a puzzle. You start to see how parts of one thing can be related to another and you begin to put them together and see parts of the picture, the real story. And after years of experiences you begin to realize that more and more pieces connect in some way. They form bigger pictures that spread out and take shape. They transform into a body of knowledge and a world view that you can keep and beautify you life with.

Everyone does this, babies, children, teens, and adults, if you let them.

Finished 2 Kings

Another long listing of the kings they had and how they fell farther and farther from God.

The only note I wrote down was about how interesting it is that they commonly note important people's Mother as well as their Father. I know they had multiple wives, maybe that's why.

Finished "Snow-Bound - A Winter Idyll"

In another book the character said his Mother read this to them when they were little. Of course, I can't remember what book that was, but I had added it to my reading list long ago and I'm glad I did. I add things like this on my Kindle because then I always have a reading list to pull from when I'm unexpectedly stuck somewhere. This time it was at the theater. The boys have things to do and people to chat with, I'm just sitting there. What better way to spend a half hour, that reading poetry, right?

I'll just give you the review I gave it on Amazon.

"What A Vision - I love the scenes these words paint! From my warm climate, 150 years later, I shivered, smiled, and sighed transported."

Finished "The Revelation to John"

This book is a little too figurative for me to really like. The images are awesome to think about but I can't get my brain to hold onto anything concrete.

Here's something that my sons and I were just talking about yesterday. "He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death." end of 2:11

The second death. The word die can mean a lot. I think it means something different to God. Everyone's body dies, but our soul, what we are in the realm of God, is different.

Will those who did not get a chance to know Jesus (either because they lived before His appearance on earth or in an area that did not hear the Gospel yet) have a chance to accept Him as their savior? I think they will. Our bodies die and we are reborn, so to speak. That realm has no time. It just is, always, like God. When we perceive that place we are already at the Judgement. It's hard to write about on the fly like this. It's something we talk about and think about a lot.

Finished "Isaiah"

Loads of great prophecy in Isaiah. I love seeing Jesus foretold in these passages!

Something I wrote in the margin by 1:10-15; God doesn't want sacrifice. He wants our hearts. If we say we are believers and then act in defiance of God's Word, He knows the difference.

You can sacrifice all you want. You can fast. You can pray. You can go to church every Sunday. But you can't fool God. You can't hide your heart from Him.

8:19 "When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

God is the Living God. He is not ruler of the dead, but of the living. Something to think about when we believe we are talking with the dead through ghosts of mediums. Who are we really talking to? I'd say we're consulting with the ruler of the dead, those who are forever separated from God, not our loved ones.

14:12-14 " How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'"

The fall of Satan.

And my very favorite at the end, "That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom. For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;" 66:11-13

This is directed at Jerusalem but I love the mothering imagery. You always hear about God being "the Father", Jerusalem as the Mother is beautiful. I don't believe that Isaiah is speaking literally about the city but about God's people. The whole family image just moves me.

1 Kings

From David to Jehoshaphat, that's a lot of years. But you know what the common theme is? Kings get power and then fall away from God. What in the world? It seems no matter how clear the message is from God, even straight from His own mouth, God's chosen people can't seem to follow the rules He gives them. It's just crazy.

One of my favorite verses from this book is 19:12, "After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing."

The Lord passing by was the gentle blowing, not a big overwhelming event, not an attention grabbing moment, but one you would only feel if you stand still and wait.

Finished "Prometheus Bound" by Aechylus

This book marks the first of the third year of reading "The Great Conversation". I can't believe I've finished two years of reading. I feel like I've accomplished something great by only reading, noting, and writing for about an hour a day.

I love this story! Prometheus bound to a rock and tortured forever (because he's immortal) by Zeus, the tyrannical new king of the gods, because he gave humans tools to become independent and self-reliant.

He gives the prophecy of Zeus' fall along with the Io's future. He could repent and be freed. Some of the other gods are willing to try and changes Zeus' mind but he refuses to back down to a young tyrant. Potent stuff, all the more because Prometheus is immortal and must endure his punishment forever.

These ancient stories show us how much we have in common with ancient people, how little the human race (what it means to be human) has changed over thousands of years.

Finished "2 Samuel"

More on the reign of David.

There are a lot of why questions for me in this book.

Why did David treat Saul with such respect and awe when he was so cruel to him? Was it because David knew Saul was not in his right mind?

The issue with Bathsheba and having her husband killed. What? Why would someone like David even think that would all work out ok?

And when their child died he was no longer in constant prayer. "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.' But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." 12:22-23

At first I figured this was the best way to react to the death of a child but then, doesn't that mean you don't believe that God could do anything? I'm not sure what to think here. Thinking about it, I wonder why God would punish the child and not the man who had sinned? But then, dying is not punishment but reward in Heaven with God. It only pains those that have to go on in this world without the one who died.

"The Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head." But the king said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" 16:9-10

I was just reading the other day about the truth and how it stands up to tests. We don't need to suppress anyone's speech or thoughts because the truth will be told. If it is false, speaking it and arguing it will test it's validity and it will fail. If it is true, speaking and arguing it will give us more knowledge to live on. It's the same with the Lord's Word.

At the end of the chapter, David numbers his people and it's considered wrong? I've seen that before. Why is it such a big deal to take a census?

And my very favorite in this chapter is this.

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;
My savior, You save me from violence."
22:2-3

Finished "On Liberty" by J.S. Mill

I really enjoyed reading this book. There were loads of great quotes that really resonated with me, especially regarding what seems to be happening in our country recently.

Individual liberty was the theme through this book and I was pleasantly surprised to find much that I could agree with. I recently had heard an interview with a woman that wrote a book about Mill and that he wasn't the warrior for liberty people think he is. I plan on reading that book someday, but it's a bit pricey! It's called "John Stuart Mill and the Religion of Humanity "
by Linda C. Raeder.

I've been writing about the book as I read because there was so much to talk about. Here is the last quote I found, "a State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes - will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished;"

What makes mankind great is adversity. The decisions we make, the lessons we learn from those choices is what makes us stronger and on a larger scale, a better nation. If we, as a nation, attempt to take away all the danger, make it so that only the safe choices can be made, we lessen ourselves. And who decides what is right and safe for who? What makes one group better able to make those decisions than another?

Depth

I had an epiphany yesterday while listening to a lecture from my leadership class on Coursera. He was talking about seeing things from other people's point of view and it hit me.

You know how your eyes work? You see one picture with one eye and another with the other eye and your brain puts them together as one and gives us depth. It similar with different people's point of view. Everyone has their own point of view, how they see the world, and it is influenced by the way they were raised, their education, their culture, etc. Each person's view is completely valid and real to them. They each have something to add.

So I have my point of view and if I reach out and validate another persons point of view, my brain combines the two into one picture and I have a depth of understanding in this world. The more people you connect with and reach out to understand, the deeper your understanding goes.

Just like your eyes, even people who live and operate very close to you have a slightly different take on things that, if you connect with them, can change your depth perception of reality.

If more people could come to the realization that everyone has their own story to tell and that everyone has their very own point of view that is completely real, valid, and influences their decisions, there would be a lot more peace in this world.

More from "On Liberty"

I got this quote this morning. It's one that brings me comfort, knowing that the struggles we have today are essentially no different than those humans have been working over for thousands of years.

"...in the United States - the feeling of the majority, to whom any appearance of a more showy or costly style of living than they can hope to rival is disagreeable, operates as a tolerably effectual sumptuary law, and that in many parts of the Union it is really difficult for a person possessing a very large income to find any mode of spending it which will not incur popular disapprobation."

"It is know that the bad workman who form the majority of the operatives in many branches of industry, are decidedly of opinion that bad workmen ought to receive the same wages as good, and that no one ought to be allowed, through piecework or otherwise, to earn by superior skill or industry more than others can without it."

Jude

"But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed." 1:10

Instincts are not always positive. We were given reason for a purpose. I believe it, our free will, is what makes us "in the image of God".

"Zorba the Greek" by Nikos Kazantzakis

I had to get the book after he last time I watched the movie. It's one of our favorite movies and I've seen it several times. There are scenes that I don't understand though. It's like there is information missing, like maybe the director thought it would be understood and just skipped it. So I thought the book would shed some light on those scenes. It didn't. Maybe I'm just not understanding the culture that they are in.

It was still a great book though. I think I may have liked the book more because of the movie. How's that? Usually you read a book and then see the movie and think, "WHAT?!" but to me, the movie was just like book. I'm not sure if it's because I saw the movie first or what. There were no big scenes or themes left out of the movie. There were some omissions, but they didn't change the story. I liked the way the movie ended better than the book. The book goes on after they part ways in Crete and it made me sad.

I didn't understand the story teller's obsession with Buddha. I thought he was a Christian, but he writes a lot about getting through what Buddha wants from him. I loved Zorba's lust for life and wondered if he were entirely sane. The book gives reasons why he comes off that way at times.

There were little lines that I loved, like this one, "God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises." and "You understand! and that's why you'll never have any peace. If you didn't understand, you'd be happy! What d'you lack? You're young, you have money, health, you're a good fellow, you lack nothing. Nothing, by thunder! Except just one thing - folly! And when that's missing, boss, well..."

I think I like this...

I'm really enjoying this book, "On Liberty". Usually I wait to post about the whole book at once when I finish it, but these little gems keep coming up and I think it would take too long to write one big post, so I'm posting as they come up.

Here's one from today.

"But independence of action, and disregard of custom, are not solely deserving of encouragement for the chance they afford that better modes action, and customs more worthy of general adoption, may be struck out; nor is it only persons of decided mental superiority who have a just claim to carry on their lives in their own way. "

Everyone deserves to live and make choices as they see fit, regardless of their position in society. I'm not sure Mill really believed that though, but maybe he did when he wrote this and changed his mind later in life. I'm going to take it as it is here though.

I grow weary sometimes of people who believe some people can home school but some should not. I'd rather encourage everyone to educate themselves and their own children, regardless of where they stand right now. Some people should be able to choose where they live and what to eat, but some just don't have the capacity to make the "right" choices. There are no right choices.

"The spirit of improvement is not always a spirit of liberty, for it may aim at forcing improvements on an unwilling people; and the spirit of liberty, in so far as it resists such attempts, may ally itself locally and temporarily with the opponents of improvement; but the only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centers of improvement as there are individuals."

Some believe that if we only had this style of government or another, then everything would be good, everyone would have what they need. That just isn't true. People who believe that the most liberty is best, don't believe that if we each had maximum liberty then we would be living Nirvana. We believe that if we have the highest individual liberty possible, then we each have a higher chance of making the right choices for our own person at the right time for us. No one knows me and my needs better than I do. And no one is more responsible for my decisions than I am.

3 John

Another very short one! Here's something I found interesting, "I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say." 1:9

Funny to think of the early church arguing among themselves about what they should or should not do.

2 John

I found a nice commentary here.

This is one of those short books that I wonder about. Why was this letter so important to have in the canon? Who was it to and why?

From the commentary linked above I found this, "family imagery also underscores that it was not by the children's initiative that this family came into existence."

How's that for an image? Many of the parenting principles that I've used with my children are based on that very idea. These children did not ask to be here. They were brought into this world by us and we are charged with caring for them and helping them be what they want to be until they are capable of striking out on their own.

In a similar way, we did not ask to become God's children. He created us and is there to support, guide, and love us on our path. I love that image of God. He could have created beings that would automatically worship Him and do everything He told them to do. We can't create children like that, although current parenting philosophy tends to treat children as if we can. God created us "in His image" and I believe that our free will is what makes us like Him.

I'm just loving the analogy and having a hard time putting what I'm feeling and thinking into words best to describe it to others.

More from "On Liberty"

"It is not by wearing down into uniformity all that is individual in themselves, but by cultivating it, and calling it forth, within the limits imposed by the rights and interests of others, that human beings become a noble and beautiful object of contemplations; and as the works partake the character of those who do them, by the same process human life also becomes rich, diversified, and animating, furnishing more abundant aliment to high thoughts and elevating feelings, and strengthening the tie which binds every individual to the race, by making the race infinitely better worth belonging to."

I'm really enjoying reading this book. My only problem with it is that the author ultimately believes these ideas belong to certain classes of people; women, children, and barbarians excluded. I just can't see how you can believe that allowing people to strengthen themselves through liberty will bring those at a lower level up by association, but that it doesn't apply across some boundaries. Won't anyone who associates with liberty be brought closer to that ideal?

The quote above is another that stuck home with me regarding education (my favorite subject). It's what I believe the system of education we use in the United States public schools does to people, "wearing down into uniformity". It isn't the way humans develop.

1 John

This is one that has some nice quotes in it!


"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 2:15


The "love of the Father is not IN him." Not that the Father does not love him. He still loves you, it's just that you haven't grasped the full idea of worshiping the creator, not the created. Something I think some National Park people need to think about.


"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 4:10-11

That's why we are supposed to love one another. God forgave our sins, and nothing we can do to each other is worse that what we do to God. We can forgive others who sin against us.

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him." 5:14-15

He's listening. He wants to help. Have faith.

1 Samuel

The stories of Samuel, Saul, and David.

I love in Chapter 2, Hannah prays for a child and promises him to God if she gets one...and then she does give him to serve God in the Temple. For this she was blessed with many more children. Don't make false promises when praying for God's help.

Chapter 8:10-22 Israel demands to have a king over them, as if the Lord in the midst is just not enough. Samuel warns them what a king will do. Sigh.

And my favorite in Chapter 10, Samuel tells them that God is not happy about this king idea but will give them what they want because they are stubborn...they rejoice over their new king. Kind of like when you tell your child asks you for something you know is bad for them, they've had before, and you warn them how sick they will be, or pull the old "I'll give it to you, but I'm so disappointed you won't take no for an answer." face, and they skip off with the request happy as can be, oblivious to your dissatisfaction.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord Looks at the heart.'" 16:7

Yep.

"Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him." 16:14

What? God uses evil spirits? I'm not sure what the reason was or why it had to happen this way. To show that David was determined to follow God?

Thoughts on "Equal Protection"

We need to stop and think about "Do unto others as you would have them do to you."

One person sues a business because they won't print their shirts for a gay pride parade. The business says they believe that homosexuality is against their religion and they do not want to support that act.

First of all, why would you (the person wanting the shirts printed) want to give your money to a business that thinks you are morally wrong. You think they are wrong. Why do you want to force them to take your money?


When this is turned around, will you want to be forced to serve someone? Will a black shop owner want to print the flyers for a "white pride" event? Will a gay baker want to make a cake for the church event that helps young men suppress their homosexual tendencies?

If we have equal protection in this country, doesn't it stand to reason that these cases will turn out the same way?

Equal protection "under the law" applies to the state, not individuals. I believe I have the right to serve or not serve whom I please, regardless of my reasons, but the state cannot make laws that treat one group of people different than another.

So the court ruling the religious baker bake the cake for the gay wedding has to rule that the gay baker bake the cake for the religious meeting, right? But in my opinion, they shouldn't be ruling on this at all.

From "On Liberty" by J.S. Mill

Usually I wait until I'm done reading a book before I comment on it, but this one has so much, I'm afraid I'll forget or it will lose impact if I put them all together in one book.

Here's my favorite quote from this today.

"I believe this view of the subject is mostly confined to the sort of persons who think that new truths may have been desirable once, but that we have had enough of them now."

Every idea was new at one point. Jesus and His ministry was totally new. People had to stop, read, discuss, and accept this new premise of who God really loved. If we believe He is the Son of God and the way to heaven, we need to be able to hear new ideas about God and compare them to our current beliefs and make the personal choice of what we believe.

2 Peter

Reading chapter 2, I believe that excess of sensuality was a recurring problem.

"For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." 2:18-19

When I was thinking about getting married (in the forever sense, not the temporary sense many of my young friends thought of it), I had one friend who was disappointed in me. She thought that committing to one person for the rest of my life was enslavement and that I should not tie my sexuality down like that.

Strange to see words like the ones I read today and think of that. She begged and harassed me about not getting married. She was outwardly hostile to me because women should not think they have to get married to be whole, women should be free, women shouldn't think they need one man to take care of her.

We aren't friends any more. We weren't really then either. She was enslaved to those ideas. She couldn't see that "getting married" didn't make me whole, committing myself to the love of my life and keeping it that way made me happy. I was free to choose this man, to become a partnership. It's sad for me to think that someone could think like that, find someone they truly loved and felt drawn to, and then walk away from that person because they were enslaved to the idea that they didn't need that to be whole.

1 Peter

"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation," 2:2

I know it's a fragment, but just this phrase is what interested me this time around. New born babies don't need to taught to want mother's milk, they have an instinct that longs for it and reaches for it when it is presented to them. When presented with a pacifier they don't take to it instantly, they need to be coaxed and taught, then they finally give up looking for the nourishment and pacify themselves.

I think we have that same longing for a relationship with God. Over time, we're given other things that we don't take to automatically but end up pacifying ourselves with. Or instincts lead us toward Him and that is what we need to follow.

Although I'm not satisfied with my reading of 2:13-20, I do like this one, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." 2:16.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 5:6-7

This reminds me of something I noted in "Zorba the Greek". The author says he was taught about the proper amount of time to take when he was a child. He found a chrysalis with a butterfly just emerging and he was to anxious to wait to watch, so he helped the bug and blew its wings dry only to watch the poor thing struggle and die. We too, need to wait for the proper time. Sometimes the struggle that God has given us is what prepares us to take flight in the next stage of our lives.

A thought on "Separation of Church and State"

From my Constitution class on Coursera.

This weeks lectures were on the First Amendment. I had many thoughts about the whole week, but I wanted to bring one up here.

They were talking about removing prayer from public schools in the 60's (which were only added in the late 40's and 50's) and people's reaction to it. "the Catholic cardinal of New York blasted the justices for crippling the 'very heart of the godly tradition in which America's children have so long been raised.' " I have a problem with that. In the past, parent's raised children, not schools. If you want to raise your children in a godly tradition (as I have chosen to do myself), then don't send them to public schools. Find a private school that teaches in your religion, or teach them yourself as people have done for thousands of years.

The problem is that secular state/government has taken over the role of parent. They've brainwashed everyone into thinking you need a professional trained by the state to educate children. It's just not true. If you can read, write, and do basic math, then you are perfectly capable of passing that along to another human being. With the internet and public libraries, there is no excuse for anyone not to that wants to. If you want your children raised a specific way, then raise them yourself. Don't send them off to a publicly funded institution and expect them to do things your way.

Some good ones from "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill

From Chapter 2, Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."

On silencing opinions, "If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of trough, produced by its collision with error."

How about those quotes? It's something I've been working on myself. When I see an article that I disagree with, I should read it and try to see their point of view. It may be wrong or right, but I need to really know it to decide.

"Judgement is given to men that they may use it. Because it may be used erroneously, are men to be told that they ought not to use it at all?"

This one made me think of the way we are raising our kids. I think we need to help our kids use their judgement, not judge for them. The only way to become better at making choices is to exercise your judgement. I know most people raise their kids making almost all choices for them until they are adults because they may make bad judgements. Don't you think that is dangerous? Wouldn't it be better for people to let kids make choices when they are younger, when they have the safety net and advice of a trusted adult? 

"James"

James has those lines that have bothered me because they go on about "works" along with faith, instead of faith alone. But, in light of the other recent book I read, I think I can put it into context.

Works alone cannot get you in God's graces. He needs your faith to tell you what works you should be doing. Sometimes all we need is faith and other times we need to add some works to show others our faith and bring them closer to God. And sometimes the works are just the fruit of our faith. It's not one or the other.

There are also some quotes that I find the hardest to obey or use in my life, like this one, "But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." 1:19-20

And this one, "For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement." 2:13

"And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." 3:18

Are you catching the theme here? These are just one of my weaknesses. I pray daily for help here.

"The Bible Tells Me So..." by Peter Enns

I heard an interview with the author on The Tom Woods show and HAD to have the book! I'm so glad I did. It was an eye opener. There were some chapters that, even though I had plenty more time to read, I just had to put it down and let it roll around inside my head for awhile.

Only one tiny criticism though. There was one part about Israel and a lack of physical evidence to back up some of the stories. In my opinion, a lack of evidence is inconclusive. It doesn't mean those things could not have happened. It just means there is no evidence. I'm more likely to get behind evidence to the contrary to a biblical story, than a lack. Besides, just because I have no pictures of the birthday party, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I'm not going to go into details about this book, but I will give a few of my favorite general quotes. For one, "The Bible - from back to front - is the story of God told from the limited point of view of real people living at a certain place and time." Don't get him wrong. He isn't saying the Bible is a myth or fiction. We cannot ignore what is written there. We cannot pretend that some parts don't exist. And we cannot ignore what we know about history and science.

"But God seems to be in the habit of working through normal channels, and the Gospel writers were normal storytellers of that time and of any time - they offered their perspective. Maybe this isn't a problem to be solved or avoided, but just more evidence of how God rolls."

"Cramming the stories of Israel into a modern mold of history writing not only make the Bible look like utter nonsense; it also obscures what the Bible models for us about our own spiritual journey."

"Some call that unhistorical clothing myth, and that's a perfectly fine word - as long as we remember "myth" doesn't mean "silly things we made up while on acid. Myths were stories that were part of ancient ways of describing ultimate reality,..."

"I want to align my expectations with the Bible as an ancient text and accept the challenge of faith: letting go of how I think things should be and submitting to God. There's an irony: the passionate defense of the Bible as a "history book" among the more conservative wings of Christianity, despite intentions, isn't really an act of submission to God; it is making God submit to us."

Oh gosh, there is so much more and it's so much deeper than these quotes. I'll tell a personal story. When I was in elementary school we had "released time education". It was an hour each week for those that had permission from their parents to go to a trailer off school property and learn about God. You could choose Catholic or Protestant. I went to the Protestant one. It was they only church service I knew when I was a kid. They told bible stories, gave us a little bible, sang songs. To be totally honest about it, I went because it got me out of math lessons once a week.

But as I grew up, those stories didn't cut it anymore. I wanted more. I wanted the deeper meaning behind those stories and there was no one to give me answers, or even point me in the direction of discovery. Church going people that I asked only told me that the stories were history and to be believed without questioning. As a thinking and growing human being, that just wasn't enough. I ended up walking away from God for much of my young life. But then I met my husband and his wonderful mother. I saw their kindness, patience, and love. I saw their relationship with God and wanted to know more about it. I thank God for that every day.

Which leads me to my final quote from the book. "An unsettled faith is a maturing faith. Christians often get the signal from others that if they doubt or struggle in some way with the Bible, their faith is weak." And I think that is where many people walk away. Our free-will and questioning nature, our longing to understand and connect, I believe, is what makes us "in God's image."

"God may be pushing us to experience him more fully, with us kicking and screaming all the way if need be. Feeling unsettled may be God telling us lovingly, but still in his typical attention-getting manner, it's time to grow."

If you're on the fence about God. If you feel something lacking in your relationship. If you don't feel a connection with the Bible or God, read this book. God might be calling you out to play!

Finished "Ruth"

I have no quotes from this story, but I have always loved it. It's short and sweet and so hopeful. Ruth loved her Mother-in-Law so much she went with her when she went back to her native land. It was an ancient land and people did not look kindly on foreigners. It was a huge risk.

She believed that Naomi's God would do good for her and her actions brought her respect from kinsmen and a new husband.

It's just a beautiful story.

Thoughts from my Constitution Class Reading

"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties." - John Milton

And from my text book Chapter 6, "These cases, however, gradually introduced a new perspective on the value of free speech in a democracy, namely, the belief that truth is best reached by the free trade of ideas." (emphasis mine)

Free speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution. I didn't realize how much the idea of what free speech is has changed over the last 200 years. And dramatically over the last 80 years. One of my thoughts as I read the last line quoted above was, "Of course truth is best reached by the free trade of ideas!" I guess it is a matter of how you view government.

If you believe government is created to guide and protect the people, to control and move the people in better directions, then the free trade of ideas would be very bad. People may sway other people to follow them, or change the way they feel about something the government (in its infinite wisdom) is doing.

If you believe government is created to serve the people, then the free trade of ideas is very good. The people themselves need to bat around new ideas to see if they stand up to criticism. They may be better than what we have now and make us stronger. We could try on some new ideas for a while but find them unhelpful and discard them. But it is up to the people themselves.

And as for John Milton's quote, well, I think people generally don't want this anymore. They may want to know truth, but they don't want to work towards it. They want it handed to them by someone else. It doesn't work that way. Truth and enlightenment should be one of our first goals in life, not something we try to get to if we have time after the dishes, the tv show, or baseball game. Is that just me?

Finished "Hebrews"

This must be one of my favorite books because there is a lot of writing on these pages! Here are a couple of my favorite verses this time around.

"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." 10:1 (emphasis mine)

This is the second time in the past couple weeks that I'm reminded of Plato's Cave. I think of the Law and the Bible itself, even this world, as a shadow on the wall of the cave and we're sitting there making up stories about what we think is going on in those shadows. Jesus is the man that goes outside the cave and comes back to tell us what reality is. We think he is insane and ostracize him or we misinterpret the words that he uses and miss the point entirely, or only vaguely understand that we can't see the real picture. I can't wait to see what the reality is with my own two eyes!

"Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" 10:28-29

Here's my interpretation. The Law of Moses was for Israel. The had the law, the kept the temple, they performed the sacrifice, they dealt out the judgement. But Christians are different. God is the law, the people are the church, Jesus/God performed the sacrifice, and THEY deal out the judgement. It is not for us to judge or condemn others for their choices. It is between God and them. Ours to show the love of Christ through our actions. Love them ask Christ loves us, whether they deserve it or not.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." 13:2

I remember reading about the Greeks doing this all time, like in the Illiad. You just never know if those men that knock on your door or ask for change at the grocery store parking lot may be angels waiting to tell you something very important.

"Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited." 13:9

This I read just this morning and it was so important for me to hear. I'm currently reading another book called "The Bible Tells Me So" by Peter Enns. I'm enjoying it very much and it is helping shed some light on scripture for sure, but sometimes I get wrapped up in things I read and take them as truth to build on before I search them out thoroughly. This verse reminded me to rely on my faith in God, not on man's words. I believe that goes for the Bible as well. God has done well to lead me to Him before I had ever really read the Bible. My Bible has helped me journey closer to Him and strengthen my understanding of Him, but my FAITH in Him is what builds the relationship. Every time I read, I pray that the words will bring me closer to understanding. The words are "food" I should not be consumed by.

Finished "Joshua"

Wars and genocide, taking over the land that God promised Hid people. Ick. I really don't like reading these stories. It's as if the God I know from the New Testament and my personal relationship is totally different than the one I read about here. It's always been a sticking point for me. Luckily, I found this very awesome author recently that wrote a book about these very same problems, and I'm not alone here. His explanations seem plausible but I'm praying for guidance while I read them. I'll write a post specifically about THAT book later!

Finished "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

I finished the book in about a week. It's an easy read, as in there aren't a lot of big words or difficult sentence structures to worry over. But the ideas in it aren't simple!

This is the first time I've read the book. A friend said she has read it several times in her life and each time it worries her that our society gets closer and closer to the world written in it. As I read it, I loved the story. I got sucked in. I could see some things that were similar to our current culture but I see what the big deal about the book was. I just didn't get it. Then this morning I watched something and it changed my perspective. It was like a curtain was lifted. Let me see if I can get this across here.

Conditioning. That is the word that has been going through my mind all morning. The society in the book has done away with the individual and family. Children are created in factories and raised in institutions until they are adults. When released into the world they are fully conditioned by the controllers to behave a certain way according to their class and the needs of the society. They are conditioned from conception to like certain things, wear certain colors, and thinks certain way. They are also fully aware that they have been conditioned. It isn't a secret. They believe (because of their conditioning) that they need this system to be ultimately happy and productive. That is what bugged me. If they know they are conditioned, why do they continue to condition others? Why do they perpetuate a system like this? Because they are conditioned to do so!

This morning I was watching one of the videos from my constitution class. It was about a public school in a national park getting a bill passed to fund it by the national parks system instead of the state like other public schools. The first part illustrated the problem the people had. The people that work in the park, live in the park while they work, so their children have a public school to attend. That school only has about ten students and state funding goes by number of students. It wasn't enough money to operate the school. The rest of the video explained the process of presenting a bill to congress and how that bill becomes a law. I'm already pretty familiar with that process, but what got me was something entirely different. Maybe because, for some reason, I was not conditioned properly?

I saw a small school with a problem that the people themselves could solve. There may be several solutions for those families that don't include making a federal law, but no one even went that way. They spent six years getting a bill passed to make the national park system pay for the schools that their workers wanted for their children. But why not do something different?

Conditioning. Those people are doing the same thing that the people in "Brave New World" were doing. It's like when I say to someone, "We homeschool.", the answer I get nine times out of ten is, "What about socialization?" What they mean is "Your kids aren't going to have the conditioning that all the other kids have. How will they be happy?"

We have been conditioned that the only way to be educated is to go through a grade system like the one our public/government schools are providing. If you look back through history, only up until about one hundred years ago, this was not the case. People educated their own children in the way they saw fit, be it books bought at home, apprenticeships, or private tutors. The government had nothing to do with it. Yes, as representative democracy we need an educated population, but is that what we have now after one hundred years of institutionalized learning? What we have are conditioning centers that teach our children the ways of a society that almost everyone can see is not healthy. But yet we continue to send our children there and we are expected to do so at a younger and younger age every generation.

I love that I can read, that I have given myself time to read and reflect. It's one thing wish more people would do. My ideas about this book may change through time due my personal experience and other things I've read or watched. But the ideas are mine. They are my links in my own life. I wish I could have started linking these things earlier. It's one of the big reasons I didn't send my kids to school. They were too busy learning and linking their own experiences to bogged down by that system.

Taking a Class on Coursera

I signed up for this a month ago and it started last week, "Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases". So far so good!

I finished the first weeks lectures and reading in time for this weeks stuff. That makes me feel good because I wasn't sure I could keep up. We homeschool our kids and so there is a lot of noise all day. I can't really focus on watching a video or writing well when there is much of a distraction. I can do it while video games are being played, but not during TV shows.

Reading is different. I need to do that when everything is quiet and still. I only have about two hours in the morning with that kind of an atmosphere. That would be plenty of time for the reading for this class, but I already read my Bible first, then a few pages of my current part of "The Great Books of Western Civilization". And then my husband is working on remodeling our bathroom in the morning before he goes to his room to work (he works from home), so the boys hear that and wake up a little earlier. They have been very helpful by keeping the TV off until at least 8am for me.

As for the class, I like it. I took a Constitution class through Hillsdale last year and it was not to my liking. It was more about worshiping the Founding Fathers and treated the Constitution as a holy document instead of a legal one. This class is a bit more objective so far.

The first lecture talked about how the Constitution that we have could have been construed as treason since they went to amend the Articles of Confederation and ended up scrapping them all together.

The other thing I never really understood was Originalism vs. Evolutionism regarding the Constitution and judicial activism. That has been fascinating. I have leaned toward keeping true to the original intent of the authors, but hearing the evolutionist side, I can see where they got their ideas. What bothers me about it is that it seems like one of those "slippery slopes" you hear about.

"Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals" by Kant

I'll admit that this book was pretty hard. I could read it but most of it went right over my head. At times there would be a line that would stand out to me and I could connect with it, but then the next sentence would lose me. Luckily, there is YouTube! I found a video series by a philosophy teacher, Gregory B. Sadler. His lectures gave me a basic understanding and when I read the text, I got more from it.

 I'm sitting here trying to put into a few words the basic idea of this book. I guess I would say it's the idea of duty and whether or not there is an innate idea of duty in humans. Kant seems to think there is. I think there is because we are rational beings and that rationality (or free will) is what makes us in the "image of God". We have the power to choose one way or another and that is what creates a duty to do certain things.

What makes us a rational human is the fact that we can use our free will to create laws for ourselves. We can make a goal for ourselves as individuals or groups. These ends can be subjective, or personal and shape our rules for our own impulses and desires. Or they can be objective ends, universal for all humans and absolute. 

There are strict duties and meritorious duties. Strict duties are things you should do because it is right to do so, not because you will get something from it. Meritorious duties are things they are good and you may get something out of it.

Like I said, I didn't fully grasp this text. I felt like he was talking over me, like another language you kind of understand so you only pick up words and phrases.

Here is something that really resonated with me though. The idea that each person has his own value. Each person is worth something, his being here on this earth is an end of itself. Even if that person were a lump on the floor that never chose to do anything, or couldn't, just them being here makes them have worth, dignity. He has an absolute value.

"Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own or that of another person, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end."

Wow. People are not tools. This includes yourself. Can you use yourself? Yes! If you refuse to use your free will to control desires or inclinations that are beneath you or lessen your dignity.

Everyone should be treated with dignity because they have free will and will be more likely to choose good if they are treated with respect. This is the idea behind Radical Unschooling. I always find it fascinating to read these philosophical texts and find ideas people consider "radical" even today. Everyone includes children. They aren't monsters.. How will they learn to respect others and act in a civilized manner, if they are never treated that way?

"Philemon"

I have no quotes from this letter. It seems so personal and I'm not sure why they would have this in the canon at all. Maybe I'll find more in it next time around.

In the beginning...

I thought that would be a funny start to a new blog!

I've decided to start posting about the books I've read and my thoughts on another blog linked to my family adventures blog.

Writing things down helps me organize my thoughts and remember what I've read. Sometimes I have thoughts that I'd like to publish and find some feedback on. I don't have a lot of followers online, but that's fine with me. I'm not trying to be a published author, just trying to move my own thinking forward and maybe take a few people along with me for the journey.

Who knows? Maybe I'll inspire others to read some of the books I do, or start their own learning journey. I wish I had started mine a LONG time ago!