Classical Christian Self-Ed: 2009

Etymology of righteousness

A little etymology from our Men's bible study this morning.

Based on the following meanings (from http://www.etymology.com/), is it possible to be right, upright, or righteous, without having an objective external reference - something to be right with respect to? In a physical sense, upright only makes sense with respect to gravity (think aikido and judo). You can't be upright floating in space. In a moral, spiritual sense, righteousness only makes sense with respect to Christ (see Hebrews 1, especially v8 and following.) You cannot be righteous in the absense of Christ.

right (adj.)
"morally correct," O.E. riht "just, good, fair, proper, fitting, straight," from P.Gmc. *rekhtaz (cf. O.H.G. reht, Ger. recht, O.N. rettr, Goth. raihts), from PIE base *reg- "move in a straight line," also "to rule, to lead straight, to put right" (see regal; cf. Gk. orektos "stretched out, upright;" L. rectus "straight, right;" O.Pers. rasta- "straight, right," aršta- "rectitude;" O.Ir. recht "law;" Welsh rhaith, Breton reiz "just, righteous, wise"). Cf. slang straight "honest, morally upright," and L. rectus "right," lit. "straight," Lith. teisus "right, true," lit. "straight." Gk. dikaios "just" (in the moral and legal sense) is from dike "custom." The noun sense of "just claim" was in O.E. and P.Gmc. As an emphatic, meaning "you are right," it is recorded from 1588; use as a question meaning "am I not right?" is from 1961. The phrase to rights "at once, straightway" is 1663, from sense "in a proper manner" (M.E.). The sense in right whale is "justly entitled to the name." Phrase right off the bat is 1914, earlier hot from the bat (1888), probably a baseball metaphor; right stuff "best human ingredients" is from 1848, popularized by Tom Wolfe's 1979 book about the first astronauts. Right on! as an exclamation of approval first recorded 1925 in black slang, popularized mid-1960s by Black Panther movement. Right of way is attested from 1768.
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righteous
early 16c. alteration of rightwise, from O.E. rihtwis, from riht (see right) + wis "wise, way, manner." Suffix altered by influence of courteous, etc. Meaning "genuine, excellent" is c.1900 in jazz slang.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Ending 1st Peter

Yesterday we finished 1st Peter and next week we'll be starting into Hebrews chapter 1. It's not entirely clear the exact order these 2-3 books were written, so I figure to do Hebrews next so that our Bible study will synch up with the Missions Conference theme (Heb 12:28-29):

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

Where we found James to be a very pragmatic book about Christian faith, we found 1Peter to be about the hope that is associated with that faith (1Pet1:3, 1:8, 1:13, 1:21, etc...). But 1Peter also deals with pragmatic, how-to-live issues. See 1Pet1:13f, 2:11f, 3:1-7, 3:15, 4:1ff, etc...). 1Peter concludes with an exhortation to the elders in particular regarding their performance of their duties (1Pet5:2-3) and regarding their faith and hope (1Pet 5:1,4).

I found it very interesting that these two books, James and 1Peter, being two of the first NT texts to be written, both quote (1Pet5:5, Jas 4:6) the same pasage of the OT as justification for their exhortations - Proverbs 3:34:

I also thought it interesting that they both tell Christians, "submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (Jas 4:7) and "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God... Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1Pet 5:6f)

Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

Faith... Pragma... Hope... Submission... Resistance...

Makes you want to go back and re-read James AND 1Peter again!!!

I'll look forward to seeing y'all this Sunday at Church, and again next Tuesday. Since were'starting a new book (Hebrews) this would be a prime time to invite some of your buddies to join us.
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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Vampires, aaarrrgh!

In the previous post, I mentioned several generes that I love. Now I have to mention one I hate with a passion.

I am so thoroughly tired of the gothic horror genere that I could scream! I was telling my wife the other day that if I never see another vampire movie or book, it'll be too soon. As it is, you can't go to a movie without seeing a trailer or ad for Twilight or some such inane crapola. The vampire genere is so tired that they decided to try to spice it up by throwing in a bunch of werewolves - bah! The most interesting, creative vampire flick that has come out in a long time was Van Helsing, and even it was barely tolerable.

But it's not even just the most recent rash of sexy teen vampire flicks that has tired me. The Anne Rice books and films were intensely popular when I was in college, and I read a handful of them before I realized what an incredible waste of time they were. Of course I had to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it was tedious. And then there were the Blade movies... Aaargh!

The lone exception in this dreadful genere is Shadow of the Vampire - a true classic starring John Malkovich and Willem DaFoe. I would recommend this one vampire movie to anyone and everyone as a must-see for the Haloween season!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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The Next Great American Novel

Photo courtesy of Flowery Luza

I am a writer. I write both professionally and as an amateur. I have written longer (hundreds of pages) pieces and I write shorter (~500 words) blog posts almost every day. I've done fiction, non-fiction, and technical. I've been paid to write and I've won prizes for my writing. I even enjoyed the thesis and dissertation components of grad school much better than I liked the make-work nonsense that is greater than 50% of undregrad.

Since I was a child, barely old enough to understand that people made books, I have wanted to be a career novelist. I love soft (humanistic) sci-fi and sweeping sci-fi epics like Herbert's Dune. I like classic fantasy like Tolkien and Peake. I love creepy horror like Lovecraft and true crime and mystery and I especially love westerns - particularly Lamour's. So, what has kept me from writing the next great American novel?

I can't lie. Part of it has been the simple fact that I have not devoted the time to doing the writing that it takes to develop the craft. But I also have a couple of hang-ups that I have not yet been able to overcome.

One is the apparent necessity in modern fiction writing to include the obscene . I don't think I could (and I don't want to) write about sex - especially the deviant sexuality that I see in much of what people buy and sell and read now. For instance, I'm into the second book of John Scalzi's Old Man's War right now. Utterly fascinating space opera with tons of thought-provoking technological twists and a good story line too. But the sexual promiscuity is over the top. Not that it isn't realistic in the universe that Scalzi has created. It's a reasonable part of that created universe, but that doesn't make it less obscene (literally, something that should not be seen, or which should be off-stage). Sex writing is one of my hangups that I haven't overcome.

Another hurdle is a technical skill - a part of the novelcraft that I haven't developed, which is the ability to expand or condense time. Like in an epic fantasy, there might be journeys that take months or years (or generations) that some masters will cover in a few pages. But on the other hand, there might be an encounter that lasts minutes or seconds (or less) that deserves to occupy many, many pages. I haven't developed that ability sufficiently yet.

But my life is not over, so watch out! I still dream of being a career novelist when I grow up, so you never can tell when I might release the Next Great American Novel!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Takeaway points: James' Epistle

This week we finished up with James. There are several take-away points:

James' Epistle was the first NT text written. It was apparently penned sometime between AD44 and 60, as early as 15 years after the Crucifixion and perhaps as early as 15 years before the first Gospel. As such, it represents a link between the OT and the NT. It is very representative of Job and Psalms and Ecclesiastes, while also being perfectly in accord with Jesus teachings in the Gospels and Paul's NT teachings.
Also, because it came first, it filled a need for direct, practical teaching on Christian living in a time when everyone was still trying to figure out what Christianity was all about and how to go about being a Christian.
The central theme of the book appears to be expressed in Jas 1:22f and Jas 2:14f - the idea that we are to be doers of the word instead of mere listeners because faith without works is dead (not real faith at all). We are to live Christianity rather than simply professing or confessing Christianity.
James seems to cover numerous topics other than this central theme of listening vs. doing. James discusses diverse topics including faith, patience, suffering, trials, blesing, self-control, wisdom, worldliness, money, and prayer.
James appears to jump back and forth between these topics in a disjoint, almost random manner, as if he didn't have an outline of what he was writing. The disjoint appearance of the book can give the initial impression that James might have been either uneducated or senile, but a more likely reason is that he was just trying to cover a lot of material and didn't think he had much time or space to fit it into. This seems likely because it was the first and only instruction of its kind and because of the persecutions that he mentions.
Though it was the first NT text written, James was one of the very last to be fully accepted into the canon of scripture. For years it was considered antilegomena (lit. "spoken against"), almost second-rate or apocryphal by church leaders including Martin Luther. However, James was accepted and confessed to be inspired, apostolic in origin, and canonical at Westminster, which we use as our denominational standard, so It does us far more good to dig in and study James than to gripe about the form of it or to try to diminish its importance.

Next week we will be beginning 1st Peter at chapter 1. Even the first reading of 1Peter makes it clear that it was written by someone very different from James, but we'll be that 1Peter and James are very much concerned with the same message. See for example, Jas 4:6 and 1Pet5:5, which quote the same OT passage.

I look forward to seeing any of y'all that can make it on Tuesday mornings to help me with this study.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Worthwhile memory verse

A very precious promise (as Peter calls them - see 2Peter1:4) - worth memorizing:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:7-8)

Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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The logical form of James 3

James, in his third chapter discusses taming the tongue and striving for heavenly wisdom instead of earthly wisdom. It seems to me that most of the first part of this (taming the tongue) is an extended example of men not being perfect. It takes the form...

IF there were any perfect men then they would be able to perfectly control themselves (Jas 3:2)
BUT no man can even control his tongue (Jas 3:5-3:12)
THEREFORE we are imperfect and should think twice before presuming to teach our folly to others (Jas 3:1)
AND if you are really knowledgable, you'll seek heavenly wisdom instead of earthly (Jas 3:13-18).

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Clint Eastwood and James, Brother of Jesus

If any of y'all like Clint Eastwood movies, you might like to watch his new one, "Gran Torino." The language is rough, but the movie does a pretty good depiction of inner-city violence, prejudice (James calls it 'partiality' in chapter 2), redemption, and in the end, sacrifice.

Acting "as if..."

Another way of thinking about this supposed controversy between faith and works is this. In many situations, you can begin changing your life or by "acting as if..."

You know, if you're depressed, get up and go for a walk. If you want to be more professional, then start dressing and acting as if you were more professional. If you want to have stronger faith, do the things that faithful people do.

Sola fide, BUT ALSO ora et labora!

Go and work out your salvation (Phil 2:12f). Start acting as if by being a doer of the word (Jas 1:22f) like Abraham and Rahab did (Jas 2:20f).

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Learning and faith

There is a definition in education circles now that says the purpose of "learning" involves changing your life for the better. In this line of reasoning, if you are learning then you are changing your life. If there is no life change going on then there is no learning going on.

James is saying the same thing in chapters 1-2. Faith without works is not really faith at all because works are the natural consequence of faith. If there are no works there is no real faith. The Reformation Study Bible has a great essay on Faith vs. Works that delves deeper into the idea of superficial (intellectual) faith vs. real faith, if you want to go check that out.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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James and the Great Commission

You know, it seems like a really superficial reading that leads folks to the James vs. Paul, Faith vs. Works issue. Compare Jas 1:22f and Jas 2:14f with Mat 28:16f (red-letter words of Christ).

You'll notice that in the Matthew passage, the disciples are having a crisis of faith, and what does Jesus tell them? He reassures them in their faith (v18, v20b) but he also tells them a bunch of verbs, "Go... evangelize... baptize... teach... observe..." Christ is saying, Have faith, but go and do good works too." This is almost verbatim James' message in the controversial passages. James is right in line with Jesus teaching with respect to the Great Commission.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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How I do Bible Study

Photo courtesy of eye2eye

I'm not going to tell you how thou shalt do Bible study, but I thought I'd let you know how I generally go about mine. I usually alternate OT and NT books but right now I'm doing Non-Pauline epistles in approximate chronological order starting with James. I do one chapter per week in the following manner:

Always start out with a prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit - a prayer for understanding and tutoring.
Read the entire chapter each weekday.
By about the 2nd or 3rd day, start chasing down cross-references. I subscribe to the idea that you want to "let scripture interpret scripture," thus cross-references are better than commentaries.
Note any cross-refs or connections that occur to you but are not in the list.
By about the 4th or 5th day, maybe look through the commentaries.
First cross-references, then commentaries, then word study. It is too easy for me to go off on a tangent when I get to as microscopic level as word study.
Read the whole book (or several chapters) every weekend. This way, you get a broader view of the topic and the structure of the book makes more sense.
Make notes in the margins. Underline. Write your own commentary.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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James' Epistle as a missing link

The first chapter of James is sort of an expanded introduction to the rest of the letter. In the first chapter he foreshadows much of the rest of the book.

James 1:2f points forward to James 5
James 1:9f points forward to James 2
James 1:26f points forward to James 3

At the same time, James 1 points us back to the OT (The only inspired scriptures available at the time James was writing)

James 1:2f reminds us of Job
James 1:9f reminds us of Ecclesiastes
James 1:21f reminds us of Micah 6:8

And what's more, I think you'll find that James 1-2 is largely parallel with Matthew 7 (which would be written later) - so in a sense, it seems James foreshadows the later NT texts. This makes sense, because as a part of the canon, James would have to be consistent with the rest of the Bible.

So, James is not just an introduction to the rest of the epistle (and even the rest of the NT), but it serves as a link between the OT and NT.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Faith vs. works - James vs. Paul

Today we started our Tuesday morning men's group. We run this group in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. This year we'll be doing the non-Pauline epistles in roughly-chronological order.
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Today we got cranked up with the Epistle of James. James was the first NT text to be written, dated approximately 40-50 AD, which places it about 10-15 years post-crucifixion and 10-15 years before the first Gospel account. This means that James was the first inspired text in hundreds of years, and was one of the only good texts available to folks in the middle of the first century when people were still trying to figure out what Christianity was all about and how to be Christian.

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James is a highly pragmatic text, having been called "the Proverbs of the New Testament." Some of the Reformers, most notably Luther, contended that James was not inspired or apostolic. He cited several reasons, but they primarily boil down to the apparent contradictions between James and Pauline theology - the faith vs. works dilemma.

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Despite the objections of these reformers, James was retained in the New Testament and was confessed to be inspired and inerrant at Westminster. As such, it doesn't do us any good to moan about the tension in James. Rather, it does us much good to take ourselves through the material that led to the apparent James-Paul tension. As Adler points out in How to Read a Book...

The faithful reader of a canonical book is obliged to make sense of it and to find it true in one or another sense of "true." ... In any case, he is obliged to accept the resolution of the problem that is offered him. He reads essentially without freedom; but in return for this, he receives a kind of satisfaction that is possibly never attained when reading other books.

In other words, we know (or we have declared) both James and Paul to be true. Now we have to figure out in what sense they are both true. It is spiritually enriching to go through the process instead of resolving the tension by diminishing the importance of one or the other.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Doubt - a great movie!

Ooh! I just watched SUCH a great movie! DOUBT with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I can't recommend this movie highly enough both as a just-plain-great movie and as a discussion starter.

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Interested in buying the movie? It is available from Amazon...

My two biggest holes

Today I got to thinking about the two biggest holes in my Biblical knowledge (at least right now from my POV). And I figure to lay them out and set out to make some progress in these areas. So far as I can tell, my two biggest difficulties in studying the Bible are:

Chronology surrounding the Exile - This is due to the non-chronological nature of the history and the way it is spread out through several books of the OT. I think I know how to better organize this in my mind now.
Personal names - Good Grief, it seems like there were only about 5 common male names and perhaps that many female names. Seems like half the people you read about were named James or John or Mary. That confuses my small mind.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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The Paradoxical Commandments

Similar versions of this poem have been attributed to Mother Teresa and Dr. Kent M. Keith. I don't know who originated it, but read it anyway... Below the text is a video of Ted Nugent giving his own extravagant performance, complete with a extra commandment. Watch it anyway.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Remembering my prison sentence

Photo courtesy of Gipics

I have recurring dreams. There are two or three of them that recur every few years. One involves walking, then running, then losing contact with the ground and flying or leaping in huge, light bounds. Another of them involves a mad scientist using giant flies to turn the whole world into excrement. Not sure of the meaning (if there is any) to those dreams, but the subject of today's post is a third recurrent dream.

Every so often I have this strange, unsettling dream in which I remember being imprisoned as a teenager for a year for having gotten in a fight and hit the wrong guy - some VIP's son or something. The particularly disturbing part is the fact that the dream/memory is so vivid that upon waking it seems as if the memory remains. I dreamed this dream this morning, and when I woke I had to spend a couple of hours perusing my memories of those years trying to figure out if I'd really been in prison or not. Again, I'm not sure of any meaning to this dream, but it reminds me of Paul's constant reference to servitude and imprisonment, both corporeal and spiritual, throughout the New Testament. For example:

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Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16; ESV)
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For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1Corinthians 9:19f; ESV)
Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Practice these things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9; ESV)

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The first part of this citation (Phil 4:8) is so common and beloved that it overshadows the verse following it (Phil 4:9). In the second verse, Paul is saying (again!) to use him as an example - this
time an example of virtue. Bold man! But there is more! He is also saying not to simply think happy thoughts about virtue, but to actually do virtue - to be virtue just like Paul. Reminiscent of James:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22; ESV)

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How is it that Paul got to be so bold? He lets us in on the secret later in Philippians (another very popular and beloved verse):

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13; ESV).

Gandhi's 7 deadly sins

Yesterday I was reading something and saw Ben Franklin quoted as saying, "The best thing anyone can do for the poor is to make them unomfortable in their poorness." Thought that was interesting. Then today in my reading, I ran across this from Mahatma Gandhi - his list of seven deadly sins:

wealth without work

pleasure without conscience

knowledge without character

commerse without morality

science without humanity

worship without sacrifice

politics without principle

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Boldness was Paul's modus operandi

Photo courtesy of Lawrence OP

I mentioned in a post a few days ago that I was impressed with Paul's boldness in 1st Corinthians:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. (1Cor 11:1-2)

The thing that is so astoundingly bold is that Paul is saying to use him as an example of how to be like Christ! But boldness is Paul's M.O.:

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:29-31)
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Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. (2Corinthians 3:12-13)
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And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:14)

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Zero Tolerence=Zero Intelligence

...And while we're talking about skewed Industrial model education ideas that don't exist in the homeschooling environment, Zero Tolerence is for zeroes. Kids being expelled for accidently having a pocketknife with them when they come to school. Come on!

My older brothers and my father were all able to carry pocketknives (a really useful tool) with them everywhere they went - even to school. I didn't carry a pocketknife with me at school, but I don't think I would have gotten in trouble if I had. One of the elders in my church has told me that he took a shotgun to school in his backpack for show-and-tell. The membrane between the school environment and the rest of the world was extremely permeable, and did we have stabbings and shootings? Nope.

The first known school shooting in the U.S. (according to Wikipedia) was UT Austin in 1966, a terrible event with incredible casualty and mortality. It took until 1999 and Columbine High for any U.S. school shooters to surpass the 1966 Austin masacre. And while we're looking at the statistics, notice that the number of high-casualty school shootings in Europe (think rigorous gun control and liberal social policy) is nearly twice that of the US - and that is not even including the horrific Beslan Russia hostage crisis, in which government tanks and commandos killed 385+ people! But that is sort of a tangent.

My point is, we didn't have these problems before the 1960's, and Zero Tolerance certainly was not the protective agent. We have much tighter control of the interface between schools and society now, but much higher incidence rates of serious violence. Zero Tolerence is not the solution.

Zero Tolerence is just PC-speak for "We don't want to have to think about the circumstances and make a reasonable judgment on a case-by-case basis" Does it seem like a good thing to model unthinking, unreasoned behavior in our school officials?

Socialization in Homeschooling

One of the most frequent responses we get when people find out we are homeschooling our children is something along the lines of, "But what about socialization?" This is usually accompanied by a concerned frown, as if the speaker actually has our kids' best interests in mind and is concerned we are steering them wrong. They often look as if they are really saying, "You poor darlings!" What a load of malarkey!

First, most 'socialization' in both public and private industrial-model schools is actually 'anti-socialization', being taught the worst sort of wrong socialization practices (like interaction within a large, homogenous peer group with minimal supervision or accountability, accommodation to mediocrity, acceptance of relativist liberal dogma as fact, racism, etc...). There is always the exception to this rule - the public-schooled kid who excels and becomes an outstanding scholar and a fine adult, but such cases are so rare and noticable that the exception just proves the rule.

Second, it's easy to get positive socialization as a homeschooler. Our social activities include:

Church
All of our kids are participating as a group in judo, swimming, and baseball
Each of our kids is participating individually in either golf, tennis, or gymnastics.
All of these activities involve different types of social interactions in different contexts and different groups.
There is also an excellent homescholer's organization in this area. The group facilitates specialized classes (chess, Spanish, etc...) as well as field-trips and play days.

So, in summary, please stop asking me about the so-called "socialization issue" with homeschoolers. I'll put my homeschooled kids up against anyone in any sort of social situation!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Tacitus on Otho and Piso

Photo courtesy of Mharrsch

Here's more of Tacitus' delicious use of language - on the subject of the post-Nero Caesars.

Piso was in his thirty-first year. His reputation was better than his fortune. His brothers had been executed, Magnus by Claudius, Crassus by Nero. He himself after being long in exile was a Caesar for four days. Hastily adopted in preference to his elder brother, the only advantage he reaped was to be killed first.

and...

None of his murders pleased Otho so much as this. On Piso's head, as on no other, they say, he gazed with insatiable eyes. This was possibly the first moment at which he felt relieved of all anxiety, and free to indulge his glee; or perhaps, in the case of Galba and of Vinius, the recollection of his treason to the one and of his former friendship with the other troubled even his unfeeling heart with gloomy thoughts, whereas, Piso being an enemy and a rival, he considered it a pious duty to gloat over his murder. Their heads were fixed on poles and carried along with the standards of the cohorts side by side with the eagle of the legion. Those who had done the deed and those who had witnessed it vied with each other in displaying their bloody hands, all boasting of their share—some falsely, some truly—as if it were a fine and memorable exploit. Vitellius subsequently discovered more than 120 petitions demanding rewards for distinguished services rendered on that day. He gave orders to search out all the petitioners and put them to death. This was from no respect for Galba: he merely followed the traditional custom by which princes secure their present safety and posthumous vengeance.

Dude had his political enemies killed, rose to power, then had the 120 people who claimed to be the assassins killed instead of rewarded! That's low!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Why organized church?

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. (1Corinthians 11:1-2; ESV)

I came across this in my reading the other day. Paul is saying to use him as an example of how to be like Christ. What a bold statement! But Paul knows he is not a perfect example, so he is saying to imitate him only so far as he imitated Christ. But how are they to know how well Paul imitates Christ?

The only way is by reading the scriptures (or by asking another apostle, but we don;t have any of those still at hand). But if we can just read it ourselves and imitate Christ via the scriptures, what do we need Paul's example for?

Because sometimes we just need a concrete example. The message is: Imitate other Christians in so far as they imitate Christ. Sort of reminds me of:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25; ESV)

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29; ESV)

Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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X-Files time warp

Photo courtesy of Nino Smile

It happened today - I turned old!

No, it wasn't a birthday or anything like that. I was watching X-Files with my kids and there was an interview with producer Chris Carter in which they mentioned that the original air date of this episode was in 1994.

That's fifteen years ago!

How did that fifteen years go by so fast? I guess it's no wonder that the most recent X-Files movie was so incredibly lame - with 10 some-odd years between the end of the series and the second film, how could they keep the momentum? But seriously! X-Files was 15 years in the past! And I first watched them when I was out of college!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Sleep safe, Sisera... Psyche!

Part of the way that the graphic violence in Judges lends versimilitude is that it violates your expectations for a story - just like real life does. For instance, When reading Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft, you can tell it's not real because it is one horrific thing after another, escalating to a climax. But in judges, the gruesome, detailed, violent story of Ehud and Eglon is followed by this:

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. (Judges 3:31; ESV)

Killed 600 men with an oxgoad!?!?!?! That is a story worth telling (and worth some gruesome detail), but they gloss over it when the temptation would be to embellish where no details exist. Ehud gets a couple of pages for killing one man and Shamgar gets a footnote for killing 600 - just like real world history! Then we are back to the graphic violence...

...all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, "Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say, 'No.'" But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. (Judges 4:16-22; ESV)

She hid him in comfort, tranquilized him with warm milk, then knocked a tent peg through his head while he slept!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Surprisingly violent women in Judges

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Judges is also surprising in how it describes great deeds done by women. Typically, we think of women as second-class citizens in the ancient middle-east (and in much of the modern mid-east). Doesn't seem like a plain-old history written by mysogynistic patriarchs would have lionized females, but sure enough...

Judges 9:53 - An anonymous woman saved her people by throwing a millstone down on Abimalech's head.
Judges 4 - Deborah, a prophetess, was calling the shots as her right-hand man (Barak) was chasing Sisera when...
Judges 4:9 - Jael (wife of Heber) brought swift, violent justice to Sisera with a tent-peg through the head

These are reminiscent of the Apocryphal story of Judith and Holofernes

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Hey Eglon, Surprise!

More surprises in Judges - This is surprising to me because of the graphically violent nature of it. Makes it apparent that the human authors of the bible did not pull any punches or censor the message...

...the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he commanded, "Silence." And all his attendants went out from his presence. And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he arose from his seat. And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, "Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber." And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they delayed... (Judges 3:15-26; ESV)

Did you get that, or did you self-censor it as you read it. The LORD raised up a deliverer in the form of an assassin, who knifed the king with an 18 inch dagger. The king soiled himself as he died and his servants, smelling it, thought he was toileting, so they left him alone, allowing Ehud to escape.

The details, though gruesome, give versimilitude to the story and credibility to the scripture.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Surprises in Judges

Photo courtesy of FranUlloa

I've been reading the Book of Judges, which can be pretty dry reading if you just skim over it, but parts of it can be surprising if you delve into it a bit. For instance,

Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. (Judges 2:1-4; ESV)

My initial impulse, upon reading this is to say, "You absolute idiots! What knuckleheads these people were to have seen what God had done for them but to still have disobeyed. But then again, It sounds totally like me (and you too, Dear Reader). How wayward and wilfully disobedient we are! What knuckleheads we are! What absolute idiots! Thank God that He never breaks his covenants with us.

Think about that and stay tuned for more surprises in Judges!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Be still ... I will

Today they were talking about this Psalm on Midday Connection on the radio. Impressive imagery, and a very precious promise (as per Peter). Also a martial arts connection, as the literal meaning of the pictogram for budo implies "stopping spears and weapons."

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (Psalm 46:9-11)

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still

Be still and know

Know that I am!

I will be exalted!

I will!

What does it mean to be still? From Albert Barnes' Notes:

The word used here - from רפה râphâh - means properly to cast down; to let fall; to let hang down; then, to be relaxed, slackened, especially the hands: It is also employed in the sense of not making an effort; not putting forth exertion; and then would express the idea of leaving matters with God, or of being without anxiety about the issue. Compare Exodus 14:13, “Stand still, and see the salvation of God.” In this place the word seems to be used as meaning that there was to be no anxiety; that there was to be a calm, confiding, trustful state of mind in view of the displays of the divine presence and power. The mind was to be calm, in view of the fact that God had interposed, and had shown that he was able to defend his people...

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Galba was old and ill_

Every so often my wife or I come across a writer whose style and sense of language is amazing. I mentioned Tacitus the other day, and the following is an example:

Galba was old and ill. Of his two lieutenants Titus Vinius was the vilest of men and Cornelius Laco the laziest. Hated as he was for Vinius' crimes and despised for Laco's inefficiency, between them Galba soon came to ruin.

What outstanding use of language! I am simply loving this history book! I could just roll around in passages like this!

A parallel between Job and Psalms

This week I am studying and meditating on Psalms 4&5 - the Evening prayer and the Morning Prayer...

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent...There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!" You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:4f; ESV)

This last line is usually taken to mean something like, you might as well rest secure, because God is responsible for your safety - that is, don't worry because you're in God's hands. But taken in the context of the preceeding lines, it seems to me that David is saying, "Sure, bad things happen to me that I don't like, but I'm not going to gripe at God about it (as if I could stand toe-to-toe with Him and demand justice). I am going to keep my peace, be silent, and get some sleep, because I am God's creature." A similar concept to the following passage from Job...

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:7f; ESV)

I can hardly wait to read Tacitus

Wow! What an amazing, tantilizing preface to a history book. Following is an excerpt from the Preface to Book I of Tacitus' Histories. Sounds to me like the first page of one of the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket!

The story I now commence is rich in vicissitudes, grim with warfare, torn by civil strife, a tale of horror even during times of peace. It tells of four emperors slain by the sword, three several civil wars, an even larger number of foreign wars and some that were both at once: successes in the East, disaster in the West, disturbance in Illyricum, disaffection in the provinces of Gaul, the conquest of Britain and its immediate loss, the rising of the Sarmatian and Suebic tribes. It tells how Dacia had the privilege of exchanging blows with Rome, and how a pretender claiming to be Nero almost deluded the Parthians into declaring war.
Now too Italy was smitten with new disasters, or disasters it had not witnessed for a long period of years. Towns along the rich coast of Campania were submerged or buried. The city was devastated by fires, ancient temples were destroyed, and the Capitol itself was fired by Roman hands. Sacred rites were grossly profaned, and there were scandals in high places.
The sea swarmed with exiles and the island cliffs were red with blood. Worse horrors reigned in the city. To be rich or well-born was a crime: men were prosecuted for holding or for refusing office: merit of any kind meant certain ruin. Nor were the Informers more hated for their crimes than for their prizes: some carried off a priesthood or the consulship as their spoil, others won offices and influence in the imperial household: the hatred and fear they inspired worked universal havoc. Slaves were bribed against their masters, freedmen against their patrons, and, if a man had no enemies, he was ruined by his friends.
However, the period was not so utterly barren as to yield no examples of heroism. There were mothers who followed their sons, and wives their husbands into exile: one saw here a kinsman's courage and there a son-in-law's devotion: slaves obstinately faithful even on the rack: distinguished men bravely facing the utmost straits and matching in their end the famous deaths of older times. Besides these manifold disasters to mankind there were portents in the sky and on the earth, thunderbolts and other premonitions of good and of evil, some doubtful, some obvious. Indeed never has it been proved by such terrible disasters to Rome or by such clear evidence that Providence is concerned not with our peace of mind but rather with vengeance for our sin.

Hesiod's Works and Days

Everyone has heard of Homer, The blind bard that gave us the Iliad and the Odyssey, But did you know that there was a poet, roughly comtemporary with Homer, whose works represent the other part of just about everything we know about ancient Greek poetry and mythology. His name was Hesiod. Following is a cool excerpt from Hesiod's "Works and Days."

To you, foolish Perses, I will speak good sense. Badness can be got easily and in shoals: the road to her is smooth, and she lives very near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed the sweat of our brows: long and steep is the path that leads to her, and it is rough at the first; but when a man has reached the top, then is she easy to reach, though before that she was hard.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Kingdom of God

This morning I was surprised at Sunday School by one of those "slap yo' forehead and say 'duh!'" moments. We're starting a series on the "Kingdom of God," and the leader quotes some scholar as saying that the Kingdom of God" was the central theme of Jesus' ministry. How'd I miss that one? For instance,

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:1-2; ESV)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15; ESV)

As an exercise, do a New Testament search on e-sword or Bible Gateway for the phrases, "Kingdom of God", "Kingdom of Heaven", and "kingdom." It seems that it's not unreasonable to say that this concept is central to the message. Following is an excerpt from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia...

The “kingdom of God” is one of the most remarkable ideas and phrases of all time, having begun to be used very near the beginnings of history and continuing in force down to the present day...Its use by Jesus is by far its most interesting aspect; for, in the Synoptists, at least, it is His watchword, or a comprehensive term for the whole of His teaching. Of this the ordinary reader of Scripture may hardly be aware, but it becomes evident and significant to the student.

What am I doing here?

For several years I have had three blogs - Mokuren Dojo (my martial arts blog), Self-Education of Pat (my book blog), and Presbyterian in McComb (my religion blog). The first one has been hugely successful, but my book blog and my religion blog have had mediocre reception in the blogosphere. Much of that is my fault for sporadic posting on both of those blogs.

I started all three because I wanted to keep my martial arts blog tightly-focussed and on-topic, but also because I didn't want to subject the martial arts world to my religious beliefs. I have long felt uncomfortable with that division of my mind and my self. Splitting my effort and my soul across three blogs resulted in too little material for consistent posting, and I have spent long periods of time demotivated about posting on those two blogs.

So, I am combining my Self-Education blog and my religion blog and I am broadening and tweaking the focus a bit. This will be a blog on my reading and self-education,as well as our family's classical model homeschooling of our children. Religion and theology, as the mother of all of academia, is a fitting part of this blog niche - but you will also see posts and reviews on a broader selection of things that I'm reading.

I will be leaving the Presbyterian in McComb blog active as a resource page and for occasional tightly-focussed posts that may not fit here, but (nearly) all of its' older content will be moved here. Please, if you are subscribed to Presby in McComb, direct your feed reader here. to stay up to date.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? ... (Isaiah 43:18-19; ESV)

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Today was a National Day of Prayer

I don't know how these National Days of Prayer get designated or if they are they are the same days each year or how often they recur, but today i did an acrostic prayer. This is a prayer that hearkens back to Old Testament times, when the Psalms were written, some of the authors started each successive line with the successive letter of the alphabet. Here's some of what I prayed for today:

A: Albania, the U.S. Army
B: Barack Obama
C: Hillary Clinton
D: My dog, Daisy
E: Estonia
F: Freedom
G: Greece
H: Howard Industries
I: Idaho
J: Justice
K: The Keller family
L: our pastor, Lane
M: Mothers, The Frank Melton family
N: Nigeria
O: Oprah
P: the Parker family, Somali Pirates, Peace
Q: Quin Parker
R: Renters
S: Sailors
T: Tailors, Tangiers
U: Uruguay
V: Violence, Valentines
W: War
X: Xavier University
Y: Youth, the Young family
Z: Zimbabwe

This is a useful prayer tool for when you feel too scattered to pray - start at A and pray about the first thing that comes to mind, then move on to B. Instead of getting stuck, just move on and keep praying the first thing that comes to mind starting with that letter.

Samuel ministered to the LORD

Curious. I've always thought about the purpose of a 'minister' being to minister to the needs of the Lord's people. But 1st Samuel points out a purpose that has precidence over ministering to people (emphasis and annotation mine)...

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy [Samuel] ministered to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest. (1Samuel2:11; ESV)
.
Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod.(1Samuel2:18; ESV)

You have to get yourself right with respect to God before you can be of use to your fellow man.

Her face was no longer sad.

Photo courtesy of Sgrace

What a great example of the scriptures tying together. Following is an excerpt from 1st Samuel (emphasis mine).

As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, "How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you." But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him." And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your eyes." Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. (1Samuel 1:12-18; ESV)

That illustrates so well what Paul is talking about in Philippians...

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7; ESV)

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