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?