Psalm 116
He stoops to listen when I'm a muttering mess - more than tolerating my frail humanity. I wish I listened as intently to Him or to anyone.
Let’s Associate Ourselves with Causation
So, yesterday I asked for a ceasefire on false dichotomies. Today, I'd like to discourage a myth of responsibility in the upcoming election. Here it goes again: If you don't vote for Candidate-X, you're voting for Candidate-Y. Maybe you didn't fall for the whole false dilemma thing from the last post. That's fine. Let me tell you a story. It was 15 years ago, and I was picking up my notebooks and shoving them into my polyester messenger bag. (I didn't say it was an interesting story.) Class had ended, and all the graduate students were engaged in the liturgy of leaving the classroom. I was wondering about coffee when my Philosophy professor interrupted the exodus. "Don't confuse causation with association!" He offered it as a valediction. Since it was the last…
Please Stop: False Dichotomies
A false dichotomy is a powerful tool, one that our old fiction friend Jack Bauer often used. "You only have two choices here: let me torture him mercilessly or let the world explode..." or something to that effect. There are true dichotomies. If you only have a standard light switch in the room it's either on or off. No cuts, no buts, no coconuts. It's even helpful at times to point it out - especially to children who like to play with light switches: "It's either on or off!" But political decisions (or most complex decisions) are not so clear-cut. For the most part when it comes to politics there are a multitude of options. Don't give into the false dichotomy. The person using this logical ploy is trying to…
Psalm 115
My plans and solutions seem solid and seaworthy. They are born up by the extensive mass of an ocean of grace.
What is Birtherism and Why is it Important to Trump?
Getting to the bottom of Trump's comments on President Obama's birth certificate will lead you down many dark corridors, so let me spare you the trip. Birtherism is a movement that was started by political opponents of Barack Obama during his presidential run. The basic assertion and force of the movement was a claim that Obama was not born in the US, since there was no evidence of a "birth certificate." Since Birtherists assumed that this was true, the movement called for Barack Obama to quit the presidential race (and later the presidency) as an illegitimate candidate. Donald Trump jumped on the bandwagon sometime in 2011. He insisted that President Obama should step down or produce a "real" birth certificate, claiming that the certificate of live birth Obama produced in…
Psalm 114
When I bow up, think of myself as a mountain, immoveable, I should be just as willing to bow. https://ref.ly/Ps114.7;niv
Tiny Lessons in Fear
He has a tottering walk. My two-year-old on the stairs is a wafting plume of possibility. Each step is a smelting furnace as panic stokes the coals to blue, "Ore is useful enough. Who needs iron?" But leaving the forge to work means a little boy descends the terrifying didn't-happen, and becomes a walker.
Why Are We Afraid?
I watched the debate last night. Did you? What did you see? Maybe you saw the wrangling for influence or the shouting match or the occasional "point well taken." I saw fear. The candidates weren't necessarily fearful. Though there were a few moments I thought Secretary Clinton was a little startled by Mr. Trump's "winning personality." I saw fear being dispensed. It was absolutely free, though! If you were in the mood for fear, there was plenty...on the house! But I wasn't in the mood for fear. I, like Governor Johnson, was in the mood to be inspired. That never happened. There was a moment where it could have happened - where Secretary Clinton could have inspired me to see a way forward in the matter of race relations in…
Psalm 113
Maybe there's more than one god interested in upcycling humans. But what God takes the least, sits them down with the best, and calls them "Home?" https://ref.ly/Ps113.1-9
Psalm 112
Respect makes you gleam like a coal in a dying campfire. The light warms some but kindles devious dreams in others. https://bible.faithlife.com/bible/niv2011/Ps112