Rationalizations

February 18, 2019

Year 4, Day 49 | No Comments

Section of The Crucifixion, Pedro Orrente, ca. 1625–30

Every good thing (like family) in our lives is dogged by shadows that can distort the good thing (like family) to something bad (like family). We need to remember that everything bad is not bad-bad. Much that is wrong is mild, even humorous, except that the accumulation adds up to unsatisfactory results – sometimes serious to life. I just finished a conversation in which my caller reminded me that he had remembered the principles of effective debate we had reviewed long ago. He was thankful that we had reviewed the difference between rationalization and being rational. To rationalize was to take good rules of discovering the best thought and action, and distorting them to find what we wanted in the… Read more

Opinions

February 17, 2019

Year 4, Day 48 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Woman of Samaria, Benedetto Luti, 1715-20

Opinions are important, important to personal and social life. We need to find place for them as early in our lives as our maturity can manage them well – both for our own and the opinions of others. We need to sense in our understanding the variant values we offer to so much of human concern: What is bad, fair, average, excellent (cum laude), superior (magna cum laude)? In the course of a life to elderly status there will appear in both self-generation and that visited upon us from others, all the categories. Those persons insightful so to extend upwards from failure to superior will likely register the most fulfillment in their lives, and impact their families and society to… Read more

Life Follies

February 16, 2019

Year 4, Day 47 | No Comments

Section of Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger

A main folly of the general society is the disregard for human depravity as a major factor in the knowledge, understanding and developing orientation (wisdom) for life. The secular world refers to it as a frailty of human nature, or lack of maturity, or other terms that represent what is seen as a self-defeating characteristic that causes persons to violate excellence of thought and behavior. The negative characteristic (labeled the sin nature in biblical terms) leading to negative motivation seems obvious. If it were not true and present our paradigms for personal and social contexts would be different than they are. Scripture, whether in experiential or parable word presentations, goes to the core of human imperfection to focus the point… Read more

Happiness

February 15, 2019

Year 4, Day 46 | No Comments

Section of The Infant Jesus and St. John the Baptist, Guido Reni, n.d.

For some weeks after a baby is born there is an adjustment period that is strongly physical. The baby is adjusting and closing off the gestation period for outer nature. Most of the time is spent in sleeping, so permitting the organs of the body to adjust to an independent environment from the body of mother. The beginning of muscle tissue is fed through wriggling, flailing of arms and legs. Diet is highly restricted, but magnificently nutritious, best if provided from the body of the mother who so recently had provided the fuel for life within her own biological system, now continued in a transitional function. That feeding system is preparatory also for the mother to turn back to the… Read more

Heaven

February 14, 2019

Year 4, Day 45 | No Comments

As Genesis, likely offered from the pen of Moses, is entirely appropriate as the opening book of Scripture, commonly identified as the Bible, so is The Revelation, given to us from the pen of the Apostle John, the fitting narrative closing the canon of Scripture. John makes clear that his message is not something from his own search in learning, but something given to him from God. It is up to the reader to interpret and generalize from the document to round out the understanding of the denouement of the story of the plan of God for the redemption of those electing his plan. It has a happy ending for those embracing the promises of God. His script was generated… Read more

Integrity

February 13, 2019

Year 4, Day 44 | No Comments

Section of The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1435

On this date a year ago I summarized my own five years of professional relationship with Billy Graham, the eminent evangelist, for the purpose of illustrating my opinion on the most striking factor about him as I knew him. That related to his spiritual integrity, illustrated in Scripture with the magnificent concept that Christians should follow the model of Christ for their lives. He did that well, and emerged as the most admired (appreciated) of all persons in his field during his lifetime that held up long after his age and health closed down his activation. For many years he emerged among the ten most admired persons in the World, often among the first three or four named. I have… Read more

Ol’ Folks Song

February 12, 2019

Year 4, Day 43 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Adulteress, Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop, ca. 1545–50

I have consciously followed the issues of human life in that I believe life is the evidence of God (in his person); of love in that I believe that love is evidence of the nature of God (in his nature); and, service (in his ministry) in that God is a worker (in his creativity and sustaining power) – in his universe for good. The fulfillment of that pattern of which mankind is a part relates to family, which in its ideal is a special context of love and fellowship. In our life context with God, he is building his Kingdom with citizens who are members of the Family of God. In that context, those who ask to be his children… Read more

Heart Form

February 11, 2019

Year 4, Day 42 | No Comments

We often refer to some human remark or conduct as being in bad taste – or we are impressed that it is in good taste. Either may be bad or good. The matter is usually recognized in acts of bad taste. Like anything else in human thought and conduct there are variances in the intensity of expressions related to taste so that some instances the conduct has mild effect and sometimes deep and lasting influence both on the author(s) and receiver(s). Formal education in our era does not deal seriously with this issue, and parents seem not to take it seriously enough to alert their children to the importance of it so to suggest that kindness and respect may be… Read more

Life Artistry

February 10, 2019

Year 4, Day 41 | No Comments

Section of Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo, 1508-1512

For several decades the Sallman painting of Christ was popular with American Christians. It was painted by a Christian of undoubted faith. Who was depicted? Here is a handsome Caucasian man, with a well-manicured beard, and flowing hair, also well combed. There is no jewelry, the robe is dimpled, but plain, clean and appropriate for grooming, and the lighting seems to be from electricity. I enjoyed the rendition in its western handsomeness, but wonder if it is really art at its most realistic to life? Was this a facsimile? Does this characterize Jesus? Was Jesus groomed for the painting? Is the depiction more distant than the ones that offer a darker skin? Was this the matured cherubic baby we see… Read more

Serving

February 9, 2019

Year 4, Day 40 | No Comments

Section of The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio, 1602

How do we prove any theory, any belief or fact? Proofs often change in meaning with the changing orientations of the analysts. Is free trade among nations a good policy? It is, and it is not. Whether it is or is not may depend upon the emphasis the debater wishes to take. Because free trade implies freedom of movement for suppliers it carries with it the concept that the company in trading must meet competition. To do so the company will tend to move production in the direction of nations with low-cost labor. Jobs are lost in the advanced countries with higher wages and fall to developing countries. But that means the loss of jobs in the advanced country so… Read more

Monthly Archives: February 2019