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• God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

  This quote is commonly attributed to various sources, but to my knowledge it belongs properly on the lips of Benjamin Franklin. Regardless of what Ben meant when he said or wrote this, it has come to mean particular things in the minds of particular people. My own supposition about his meaning is that - in response to people who tell others to simply watch and pray - Ben thought that you had to go out and get it, and if you took action, God would help you. This seems consistent with his way of life, and obviously reflects his Deistic theology. Did he believe that God would not help you if you didn't help yourself? Maybe. Deists can hold to that, and depending on how deeply he believed in Deism, he may have really believed that. I can only speculate. As for us, these days, there seem to be two distinct groups of meanings people associate with this phrase. The first is the totally Deistic approach: Unlike my background, my wife came from a church-going family. Soon after our marriage, we attended a family meal at my parent's house. I never remember saying grace over meals growing up, and my dad, perceptive as always, was sensitive to his new daughter-in-law's sensibilities. Before the meal, he asked my mother, somewhat rhetorically, if we shouldn't say grace before eating. My mother shot back with "Well why should we do that? We raised every bit of it ourselves." Technically, my mother was right; the vegetables came from our garden, and the beef from our cattle. Aside from the butter, flour, sugar, and tea, nothing was purchased. For that was my mother's religion--the old American canard that "the Lord helps those who help themselves." But my dad, raised in a Christian home, was rightfully shocked, recognizing the impart of my mother's words. She just looked at him, as if to say "well?" That is another similarity my mother shared with Mrs. Buckley--she never apologized for anything. [my own bold] This is the 'its ours/mine and no-one else's' kind of individualism which is used by those on the left to attack those on the right these days. It is in fact used to attack all manner of things, including capitalism, corporations, gun ownership, and so forth. It is a troubling position, certainly, and one which could inspire fear in those who are 'have nots'. But in my background, and in that of many others, the phrase means something quite different. Now, to be certain, this phrase does not appear in scripture. The sense in which it was originally said is - and I am not going out on a limb saying this - completely contrary to Christian teaching. God helps all, even the helpless. Nonetheless, here is my summary of what my mother told me some time ago: Pray like there is no human ability, and work like no prayers avail. We can fall into the idea that once we have prayed, or perhaps thought sentimental things about the goodness of God, we have 'done our part' and God will do the rest. As if! If Paul is correct in his calling he and Timothy 'co-workers of God' it means precisely that both of the following are true (both, and not just one or the other God helps those who help themselves And God is not a respecter of persons This is a way we approximate the truth of the matter; that is, we do not know the exact will of God in all things. We do know that participation in the divine nature is not inactivity or passivity; it is love. Therefore in consideration of our actions, we hope fervently in the mercy of God, but we work as though God, like with Abraham's prayers for Sodom and Gomorrah, is waiting for us to act before He will do His part. All of this besides, we all comprehend that when a gift is given, the recipient must receive. No matter how passive his reception is, reception is an act on his part. Even the most disabled person can do this act of reception; and therefore help themselves by receiving the gift. As that Fleetwood Mac song says: "If I could / Maybe I'd give you my world How can I / When you won't take it from

  0 Comments 38 days

• Cosmological Rhyme

  In the song, "A Murder of One", by The Counting Crows, the following rhyme is presented: "I dreamt I saw you walking / up a hillside in the snow Casting shadows on the winter sky / as you stood there counting crows One for sorrow / two for joy Three for girls / and four for boys Five for silver / six for gold and Seven for a secret / never to be told" This kind of relation might be natural to sevens, but consider the following: http://ping.fm/5TPP7 All early cultures were exposed to the night sky. The seven celestial objects visible with the naked eye (that moved in a way that clearly indicated they were not stars) worked their way into the myths and legends of most early cultures. Time was and still is easily measured by celestial events... We learn the following about this set of seven (Visible 'planets' - wanderers) Saturn's characteristic is that of sorrow, or mourning; Jupiter's characteristic is that of jubilation, or festal joy; Mars' characteristic is that of masculinity, and uniquely masculine pursuits (warfare for one) Venus' characteristic is that of femininity, and of uniquely feminine pursuits (child-bearing for one) The sun is the light-bringer, and ours (Sol) is yellow in color. The moon is the reflector of the sun's light, but is pale and silver instead. (The moon represents, among other things, virginity) And Mercury has the characteristic of being the messenger, which we should recognize is the primary function of the secretary, i.e, the keeper of secrets. (mercurial means 'inconstant'; 'angel' which means messenger, refers to the divine messengers who appear when God wills, which to us seems arbitrary and inconstant.) The question is, where do you think the rhyme in this song comes from? Do you think there is such a thing as a poetic coincidence?

  0 Comments 48 days

• This might be a Poem

  'Symbol' A painting I have seen Upon the rills and rocks The skies and sun and sea Within composed have been Not as the builder's blocks Or as a building be; It is not the play of mind Upon the trellis'd trees Nor the gilder's gloss Or the sculptor's grind Nor just for he who sees Is this 'thrown across' The world, a plot, a story, a frame The work of art, "the Light", His Name.

  0 Comments 223 days

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