Readings and ideas for the weeks of September 8 and 15, 2024

Note to myself: Two weeks of readings and ideas combined into one post.

Sermon Notes (listened to on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024)
Acts 2:37-47, Douglas Wilson
The response to Peter's preaching:
- random residents of Jerusalem were attracted to a spectacle
- the message of the gospel went right to their heart and they asked what they should do
- Peter answered that they should repent, be baptized and the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given
Peter was preaching to actual murderers of Christ and he offered free and total forgiveness for them and their children. He told them that the destruction of the city of Jerusalem was for certain and that needed to save themselves from the coming judgement.
3000 souls were converted and baptized, and continued in four things:
1. apostolic teaching
2. the breaking of bread
3. prayer
4. fellowship
The believers were devoted to share with one another in meals and goods, in turn they received favor from others who also feared them. God kept adding to their numbers.
At the pool of Siloam on the southside of the temple complex, the pilgrims first cleansed themselves, then went on up to the temple where they cleansed themselves again in the smaller baptistry areas called mikvahs built around the temple area.
The local believers sold their property and goods perhaps understanding the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the impending loss. The out-of-town pilgrims would have needed to be accommodated as they stayed longer in Jerusalem then perhaps they first intended.
What did Peter mean 'for you and your children'?
Luke 18:15, infants were brought, carried to Jesus as part of those who God promised His covenant to.
Deuteronomy 5 and 7 describes God's kindness to 'thousand generations' but the O.T. record of family generational faithfulness was poor. But God did not give up on His promises.
The new converts steadfastly devoted themselves because they had new life and needed nourishment. (Newborn babies are born hungry)
Four pillars of the 1st century church reiterated:
1. apostolic teaching- The Didache
2. fellowship - koinonea- intertwined lives
3. breaking of bread - likely communion/eucharist
4. corporate prayer
The point of Biblical rhetoric is to leave everyone without an excuse, but it is not for everyone to believe and agree to. The preaching of the gospel brings division, some believe and some unbelieve or remain 'undecided'.
The gifts of the Spirit are distinct from the fruit of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 1:7 - the church had all the gifts
1 Corinthians 3:1 - all the gifts, yet no fruit, because they were unspiritual.
Do not confuse a gift with fruit. Being a great teacher but without Christian character is not having the Spirit.
Gladness and simplicity of heart were results of the converts activity.
God exempts no one from the worship of Him. All are commanded to worship Him.
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"Towns produce vicious men because they produce corrupted men. The mountains, the sea, the forest produce men of the wild; they develop the wildness in them, but often without destroying their humanity." Les Misérables, Victor Hugo (p. 80)

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"Reading nonfiction prose well rewards us by helping us understand the context of ideas common to humanity."
...
"Reading poetry and other imaginative literature rewards us by helping us experience vicariously not only the way other people think, but also the way they feel as they think. We learn to see with the eyes and heart and mind of others..." How to Read Slowly by James Sire, p. 69

"The good reader does not begin by finding what he is looking for, but by finding what is there." p. 73
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From prep for our first upcoming Sunday School class on Matthew 1:
"If you look at this list of people very carefully you see some famous names. But you will also see that they are all sinners. How could sinners be in such a list? This is the list of the ones from whom Christ was born! This is just what is so wonderful, children. You know that there is a list also now that keeps on going. And your name is on that list for you are a covenant child. You too, belong to God. We know that we are sinners, but we know that sinners can be on that list, for Christ came to save sinners.
...
He was like unto His brethren in all things, sin excepted. He became one of us so that He might take our sins upon Himself and die for them. So when you read this list of sinners, remember that the list goes right on and we are on it. A list of those whom Christ was willing to call brothers."
(Covenantal Catechism, Book 4, The Gospels by Harry Van Dyken)
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"We are not our own; but God, who has given us life, and whose we are, has planted within us Conscience, to remind us continually that we owe ourselves to Him, and must order our ways to please Him, and that He is the Judge who will visit every offence surely and directly, if not today, then tomorrow." (Ourselves, Book 2, Charlotte Mason, p.6)
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John Calvin on Ezekiel 1
"He also prophecies against heathen nations, like Jeremiah, especially against the children of Ammon, the Moabites, the Tyrians, the Egyptians, and the Assyrians."
-to prophecy against a heathen nation is to require all nations to serve God. There is no room for pluralism. God calls people everywhere to worship Him. 
in the closing prayer from Lecture 1, he used the phrase "recall it to life"
It is very close to the phrase, Dickens uses repeatedly, in A Tale of Two Cities: "Recalled to life"
also in the prayer: "gathered into that happy kingdom"

Ezekiel 2:6- "do not be afraid of them or their words... do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them"  
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"He really did not know where he was any more. Like an owl that might suddenly see the sun rise, the convict had been dazzled and, so to speak, blinded by virtue. (emphasis mine, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, p. 105)
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how went the funeral

Musings on a French-Canadian funeral
Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Patricia B. mother of Marise R., Gordon R.'s wife, Shane's first cousin
Because of Shane's work schedule, he could not attend, so the girls and I went in his place.
The funeral was held at a funeral home in Dieppe, NB and the parking lot was jammed full, so we followed others parking on the grass.
We went through the main entrance but amongst the arriving crowds we couldn't find a seat. We went back out the door and reentered through another entrance which took us to the reception area, bathrooms and a view of the main chape room. No seats were available.
The girls and I ended up sitting on a cushioned bench in the columbarium part where we could hear the service, but not see the platform or any of the service.
And the entire service was in French.
Others were sitting in this overflow area but could see the platform.
It became very quiet and then suddenly the service opened with a very unexpected musical selection, I Feel the Earth by Carol King. It was played at a boisterous volume and a few time-keeping hand-clapping kicked in for little bit before tapering. Apparently a relative got up and danced a few steps before sitting back down.
It was amazing and that spirit of life and joy was matched by the Master of Ceremonies, the deceased's husband who spoke to those in attendance with emotion and apparent humor as many of the different times he spoke in French elicited laughs. Many laughs.
There was a Catholic priest who also led the service through a funeral rite of sorts which included prayers in which those in attendance stood several different times. And two different congregational recitations occurred, one of which was undoubtedly The Lord's Prayer. Also another instance in which the congregation gave a repeated response to the priest's speaking.
Other pop hits were played included James Taylor, You've Got a Friend and two songs sung in French all pre-recorded. The last song was a solo recording on a guitar by a man. When the song ended, everyone clapped and gave the recorded performance, a standing ovation.

As a Catholic-Christian funeral, it was truly unusual for me. The laughter from the eulogies and master of ceremonies, the selection of music played, and the overall enjoyment of being together was provocative.
Why are funerals so somber and filled with pietistic silences, broken by whispering coupled with bad hymns and dirge-y organ music?
If Christians are the victorious ones, why are our funerals dismal and boring?
Why are our favorite songs not played even if they are not hymns?
Why is laughter not more common at a funeral service?
Do non-Christians honor their dead better than Christians who believe in the Resurrection?

Kitty at sunset

Readings and Ideas for the month of August

Spent most of the month planning Laura's Year 10, reading and researching books for her to read. I found so many ideas and historical references to learn more about. Another year of learning for me too!

..."a coin placed in the mouth of the deceased to pay Charon, ferryman in charge of the passage across the underworld's river Styx." (Resurrection of the Son of God, N.T. Wright p. 38)
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"There's matter in these sighs. These profound heaves.
You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them." (Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 1)
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"You have no record of standing up for anything that would require courage, character or any level of defiance." (unknown)
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Research Jacobite versus Jacobin from Online Etymology Dictionary
Latin - Jacobus
Late Latin - Jacomus - Middle English vernacular form - James
Old French - James, Jacques, Iacobus - diminutive (Jack)
Spanish - Jaime, also Diego
Italian - Giacomo
Welsh - Iago
Cornish - Jago
Greek - Iakobos
Hebrew - Ya' aqobh
Anglo-French - jake, jaikes
Middle English - Jakke, Jacke (Jackie)
Scottish - Jock 
Side note: Jack and Jill, Iakke and Gylle, Ienken and Iulyan

From same source:
Tory
"vaguely 'a conservative' or anyone who supports the continuance of established authority and institutions or has aristocratic principles (opposed to a 'liberal' or 'democrat')
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Anthony Esolen (X post from August 17, 2024)
"One of the things that Milton shows consistently is that evil makes you stupid. The converse, of course, is not true. Stupidity does not make you evil. It is still a vice, though, and it leaves you vulnerable. The devils are evil and stupid, though they have plenty of brains: they can out-talk the greatest of rhetoricians, and even out-talk themselves. But in their attempts to avoid the truth, they twist their brains into Gordian knots of self-contradiction. Milton SHOWS us these knots, expecting us to perceive them -- he does not ever tell us that they are there. That of course would spoil the drama and the fun. What kinds of people do the devils most resemble? Politicians, that's who: most of the time when we hear a devil talking, we hear somebody trying to persuade himself or others of what is not true, even while a great deal of truth may be tangled up in his speech. It is the precise opposite of Jesus's injunction, that our yes should be yes and our no should be no. Anyway, here's how Milton describes Beelzebub, after the council of devils seems ready to decide on a course that Satan does not approve: ... with grave Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed A Pillar of State; deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat and public care, And princely Counsels in his face yet shone Majestic, though in ruin; sage he stood With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear The weight of mightiest Monarchies; his look Drew audience and attention still as night Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake. I suppose the healthiest thing would be to admire true statesmen, of whom there are right now, in the United States, very few, and never to take the rest seriously, and sometimes to hold the silliest, vainest, slickest, and most ambitious up to ridicule. Every political commercial I have seen in NH, for local and state candidates of both parties, has persuaded me that I must be governed by ambitious buffoons of both sexes. But since you can't say, "That lady is a twit," without having everybody point at you, crying, "You're a bad man, you're a VERY bad man," the female buffoons are condemned to go without the occasional salutary dash of mockery, which might give them an occasional and fleeting glimpse of what they are. Anyway, between buffoon and buffoon, there's not a dime's difference. So you vote for the party you believe will do least harm, if only because it's the party that will do the least of anything at all..." Clarifying follow-up: "I don't mean that they did not have brains. They did -- plenty. But the evil twists those brains in knots. It doesn't mean that they can't conceive of things and achieve them. It means that they end up tangled in self-contradictions -- and blindness. Macbeth, Richard III..." ************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from ‘After Ten Years’ in Letters and Papers from Prison (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works/English, vol. 8) Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010. ) "Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances. The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being.  Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings." **********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"M. Myriel had to submit to the fate of every newcomer in a small town, where many tongues talk but few heads think." (Les Miserables, Fantine, Book 1, Chapter 1, An Upright Man, Victor Hugo)
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Especially for Kathleen: Isn't this almost every mother and son before son goes out to do something for the first time? 

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Psalm 106:24,25
"Then they scorned the Promised Land and would not believe His word,
But murmured in their tents and would not heed the voice of the LORD."

Speaking quietly to one another in their tents complaining about the dangers and problems of going into Canaan was a sign of unbelief and angered the Lord. Could He not deal with the armies of Canaanite nations the same as He dealt with Pharoah's army? Yet the people of Israel would not trust in the Lord.
Taking cues from the environment as opposed to believing God's Word has been a temptation for God's people for all time.
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"Traditions aren't just customs we follow, they're threads that weave our stories together." Glad and Golden Hours, Lanier Ivester and Jennifer Trafton
From my own experience of what tradition feels like, I would substitute the word "days" for "stories". Traditions are like threads that weave our days together. If I think about what last Tuesday was like, the traditions of each day hold the memories fresher in my mind. What we do in our house when we wake up and how the day progresses usually versus how it differs that particular Tuesday. In this case, last Tuesday, the girls and I drove to Dieppe for the funeral of a relative's mother on Shane's side of the family. The day started and ended in the same way because of the morning and evening traditions, but the activity of the day was a departure of what a typical day is like.

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Thinking further about a term someone made on X about foodstuffs having flavoring technology:
By making most of your own food and meals, you can avoid the addictive flavoring technology that makes you overeat what is often inferior calories.