day no. 17,235: the annual Van Voorst family poem(s) for 2025

New Year’s Eve Poem, 2025

by Penelope Page Van Voorst

This Poem is simple. The idea is short, so I’ll try to make this poem the same.

So everyone here will be mentioned in short, but with someone else linked to their name.

So each of us here with another is paired, another from some other tome;

Our counterparts found in the stories we hear, the comparison made for this poem.

Now please do excuse all the poor acronyms, as the spelling does not always match.

I did try my best, but the letters, you see, were all hard to pin down or to catch. 

So here is my poem, my book-flavored toast, a toast to our year and our life,

And if the comparisons seem a bit stretched, then you may stick them in your eye. 

D is for Trufflehunter, stalwart and brave, and a creature of habits for sure.

He is loyal and careful and deliberate and firm, his means and his motives are pure.

He’s careful in loyalty, but once determined, he’d give up his all for the right.

He’s wise and determined, his face is all furry, with fur that is black striped with white. 

M is for Marmee—well that one lines up—whose days are all busy and full.

She manages children and cooking and schoolwork and life, as she says, isn’t dull.

She’s patient and loving, and works on a budget; she’s Dutch in her use of her funds.

With Marmee around, life is never a bore, and she’s always on hand to have fun. 

A is for Monte, the Christo-ish kind, the kind with the money and guns.

The kind who likes everyone getting what’s owed, especially when justice is done.

The kind who experiments lightly with gore, then decides that that’s going too far.

The kind of explorer who wants to go somewhere, do something that gets him a scar.

P is for Oskar N. Reteep, a collector of books and of tales. 

She’s maybe a bit timid, and perhaps a bit slow, but in mind-work she quite rarely fails.

She likes to do puzzles and quote random books and try not to go out in the world. 

She does love her comfort, and regular eating, and she might be a little bit rounded in the middle from eating all the time…

F is for Borimir, strong and determined, who follows his own winding path. 

His love for his friends is unbounded and fierce, but unbounded and fierce is his wrath.

He’s boisterous and loud and a warrior of strength, and his power is like a volcano. 

He’s brave and defiant and one of a kind. (Though I don’t think Borimir’s a soprano.)

L is for Lucy—See! That one lines up!—the Pevensie loving and kind.

She’s tiny and charming and looks in a wardrobe ‘cause she doesn’t know what she’ll find. 

Her size is no hindrance to her many talents, on her you can always depend. 

She’ll make you her friend whether you want or not, and so everyone now is her friend.

R is for Little John, stalwart and brave, with a life that is daring and wild. 

He’s loyal and staunch with fidelity too, and he isn’t very easily riled.

He’s loud and exotic, he’ll wrestle with anyone, and if he does, he will then win. 

He’s faithful and loyal, he’d die for his friends, the best henchman there ever has been.

C is for Pippi, with Stockings all Long, who lives in her own little home. 

She cares like a mother and reads to her baby and cleans up her own little room. 

She’ll go on adventures and even to school, she’ll hold her own (and her own toys.)

She’s careful and tasteful and does her own hair, and she isn’t afraid of no boys. 

J is for Anne, of Green Gables, that is, who is feisty and loves reading books. 

She’s quite independent and speaks out her mind when anyone pokes fun at her looks. 

She likes to go out on her own when she can, but she’ll follow her dear bosom friend. 

She’s perky and funny and sharp and determined, and her will is what no man can bend. 

O is for Ralph S Mouse, the fearless, who goes on where other men faint. 

She’s great at facing all kinds of adventure, but her survival instincts aren’t great…

She’s tiny and quick and likes to go fast, but her heart is as large as her eyes. 

She won’t ever settle for less than she’s owed, and her will is quite large for her size.

K is for Hurree, the Babu, of course, who is chubby and careful and brave.

He can always be counted on when in a pinch, though he’ll tell you he’s nobody’s slave.

He loves to add drama and flair when he can, and wipes away tears on occasion.

He likes to do things on his own when he can, he’s inquisitive, loves mild exploration.

E is for Mary, the Miss Quite Contrary, determined and brave, a bit proud. 

She has strong  opinions about what she thinks, and the things that she thinks are quite loud. 

She doesn’t have time or the patience for pity, she’ll bring out your best and your strength. 

She’ll get what she wants if she’s willing to scream, and her screaming can reach quite a length.

So here is my poem, my ode to my family, the best family that there could be.

If we are imperfect, then I wouldn’t change it. I love every one of you, you see.

So let’s raise a glass, all full of good cheer,

‘Cause 2025’s been an excellent year!

------

New Year’s Eve Poem

Van Voorst Family Year in Review

December 31, 2025

Tonight, we are gathered to count all our blessings

In gratitude giving our thanks and confessing

That life is much better than we could deserve

And God gives us grace, not what we have earned

So, let’s take this moment to pause and say, “Thanks!”

To look back on all of the goodness Christ gave

For this bounty of blessings and length of our days

Let’s fill up this place with the fullness of praise

I’ll start at the top and work my way down

Beginning with me the most experienced clown

So, just wait your turn and you’ll hear your name

Patience, my friends, is the name of the game

My year began with a humbling offer

To join the church session as one of its elders

At first I had doubts, but at last I agreed

And Monday thru Friday I post all the memes

Meanwhile, you mom has been busy with school

And teaching you all how to avoid being fools

She made fire cider and made a few bucks

She set up a red light and read a few books

Atticus began driving Goldie at night

He’s building an arsenal and drawing at night

He listens to podcasts and works on his manga

He works on the farm and he’s getting much stronga

Penelope passed all the clep tests she took

She’s wrote a few songs and then wrote a few books

She began babysitting and still drinks her eggs

She salts all her water and bugs bite her legs 

Finneas had fun with his new church friend, Willie

He smoked some cigars and found time to be silly

Joined Third Friday movies and did two years of school

He’s funny and firm and exceptionally cool

Laurelai grew in some friendships at church

She plays Administration and reads in her nook

She likes to draw pictures and helps with the mopping

She likes to smile and has no plans of stopping

Rocco has learned to come out of his shell

He runs and he screams and he dances and yells

He created High Power and wrestles his neighbors

He jumps off the bed and sleeps in his boxers 

Callista’s a mini-mom who runs a tight ship

If something’s a mess, she is sure to clean it

She likes Bible stories and songs about verses

She likes girly things like earrings and pink purses

Juniper is an eleven incarnate

She laughs and she cries like a bee’s in her bonnet

She loves to give hugs and to pick up the babies

She sits on my lap and let’s others too… maybe

Ophelia is just the funniest lady

She likes to tell jokes and act like she’s crazy

She calls bacon “sausage,” Her eyes are two worlds

She likes to eat ice and wear dresses that twirl

Knox is the chubbiest bubbiest boy

He makes funny sounds as he plays with his toys

His belly is big and his guys are his wows

He used to drink goat milk, but now its from cows

Eulalie’s the stringiest beaniest gal

She likes to be held… at least for a while

She’s muscle and hustle and hungry for more

She’s always an adventure and never a bore

So that is our family and that was our year

The world may be changing, but we’re still right here

So here’s to our family and here’s to our friends

Next year we will do this all over again

To be a Van Voorst is, of course, a delight

And to be full of joy is to join in the fight

For this feasting's a foretaste of where we are going

A land rich with milk and with honey o’erflowing

So tonight we say, “thank You” and look forward to more

And tonight we say, “cheers!” like we’ve been here before.

So here’s to the year and to many more like it

So raise up your cups and your spirits just like it

By this time next year, in a brand new December

We’ll have more things to praise and new things to remember 

We’ll have more things to list and more grace to applaud

More memories, more bliss, and more blessings from God

So, here’s to our God and the fun and the fight

And here’s to our Lord for there’s no King but Christ!

day no. 17,234: the end of the beginning (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

The End of the Year Exhortation

December 28, 2025

The End of the Beginning

THE TEXT

The text this morning is from Proverbs 27:1, these are the words of God.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

TOMORROW WORLD

It is that time of the year when we collectively agree to ignore the wisdom of this verse. Many are boasting about that time just around the corner where they will be a little bit thinner, a whole lot richer, and much better read. But saying, “This is gonna be my year,” is much easier to say than, “That was my year.” And that is because It is easier to be a better person in your imagination than it is to be one in your reflection. Imaginary weights are easier to lift and imaginary books are easier to read. Besides, future you can be your hero even if the current you is the villain who stands in his way. On days like today, however, we are more open to the idea of making a change instead of doing the same things again next year and hoping for a different result. That is because events like birthdays, funerals, and new years have a way of making us more contemplative and open to reform. So, since January 1st is just around the corner, let’s capitalize on that and look at three tools God has given us to evaluate our lives.

FIRST TOOL: YOUR AX

Ecclesiastes 10:10 “If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.” If your ax is dull and you do not take the time to sharpen it, you will have to swing harder, but sharpening your ax is a smarter solution. If you have been given the chore of chopping down a tree, a sharp ax is an asset, but a dull ax can drive you bonkers. It’s almost the right tool. And even if you happen to have a sharp ax, given enough time, you won’t. All work and no sharpening makes your ax dull, boy. Hard work wears things out. And when it does, you have two choices: you can stop chopping, take a break, and sharpen your ax or you can swing harder and sweat more. Translate that into your life. If you don’t like the way things are going, doing more of it is not going to change anything. Doing more of the same thing will not get you a different thing. It will only wear you out. Hard work can be good and godly, but it is not wise to make things harder than they have to be. Sometimes, hear me out, sometimes the answer is not work harder, sometimes it is work smarter. So, instead of working more IN your life, sometimes you need to take a step back and work ON your life. 

Imagine you are on a ship that is taking on water. For some of you, this is not hard to imagine. You might even say things like, “I feel like I’m drowning.” When that is the case, you are spending your time and energy pitching water overboard in order to keep the ship afloat. The goal is simple: don’t drown. A noble goal. But that means that the waves and the currents are in charge of where your ship is actually going. You aren’t putting any time or energy into navigation because you are spending all of your time on flotation. That is working IN your life, not ON it.

So, where are you working harder where you need to start working smarter? What things are you making harder for yourself by refusing to take a step back? When was the last time you reevaluated why you do what you do instead of just focusing on doing more of what you’re already doing? It is easy to get so busy in your life that you don’t take the time to work on it. But if you don’t know where you are going, getting there faster isn’t an improvement. If the progressive Left have taught us anything it’s that progressing toward a cliff is not progress; and if the conservative Right have taught us anything it’s that driving a little bit slower towards the same cliff will not actually conserve anything.

SECOND TOOL : YOUR OX

Proverbs 14:4 “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” If you do not have an ox, you do not have to clean up after an ox, but you also have to pull everything yourself and oxen are better at pulling than you are. So, if you want a clean barn, you cannot have an ox, but if you want a large harvest, you have to have one, and the mess that comes with it.

You will have to feed it, water it, and clean up after it. This will require a shovel, a strong back, and a strong stomach. For all of the ox’s strengths, tidiness is not one of them. Oxen do not pull their weight when it comes to cleaning. They do, however, more than make up for it by the weight they pull in the field. If you don’t like the idea of cleaning up after an ox you will have to get used to the idea of an empty barn. Sure, it’s clean, but it is also barren… and kinda boring. Oxen, on the other hand, are an adventure. They are not great for short term comfort, but they are just the right thing for long term conquest, which is its own kind of comfort.

Everything costs something. You cannot have kids without the messes that come with them. You cannot have a spouse with the messes they make. You are not owed a nice, tidy life. If you want that, do that opposite of what Chocolate Knox advises: “Stay single, don’t get married, don’t have any kids, and don’t baptize anything.” That said, while messes may be a given, that is not an excuse to be messy. That said, there is nothing wrong with cleaning up after yourself and expecting others to do the same. In fact, there is something very right about that, just ask your mom. But babies do not come with that built in. They do not help clean up, they just make the messes. And teaching them to clean up after themselves takes time and teaching them to do it with a good attitude takes even more time because that means you have to show them how.

So, are you walking into the barn each morning shocked to see that the oxen have made another mess? The problem, friend, is not with the ox, it is with you. Stop getting upset at the ox for making your life more difficult and start thanking God for the harvest the ox is helping you produce. Get your eyes off of the mess in the stall and get them onto the field that is bursting with fruit.

THIRD TOOL: YOUR PATH

Proverbs 4:26 “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” Think about your feet and the tracks they leave. Which way are they going? What are they pointed at? If you point your feet in the direction you want to go and watch your step as you’re going, there is no reason to think you won’t end up where you are wanting to go. The best indicator of where you will be tomorrow is what you are pointed at today. So, what do your tracks say about you? Review the game film. What path are you on? Direction always determines destination.

You can say all day that you want to end up over there, but if your feet are pointed over here, you are not going to end up over there… no matter how fast or how carefully you walk. You can say you want well-behaved kids, but if you aren’t raising them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, I can tell you what kind of kids you are going to end up with. If you want to know what your life will look like in five years, look at what you’re doing now and then add five years to it. 

So, where will you end up if nothing changes? Look back at your tracks. Which direction are your feet going? The future is not the place where we finally become the people we’ve always wanted to be. If we do not change who we are right now, we will not be different tomorrow. In fact, five more years of what you’re doing now will only make it harder and less likely to change then. It will never be easier to repent than it is today. It will never get any easier to change direction than it is right now. So,“look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16

CALL TO CONFESSION

Well, since we’d rather chug another Reign than get some sleep, and since we’d rather complain about our responsibilities than thank God for them, and since we’d rather assume the best about our worst habits than do the hard work of doing something about them, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess and repent of our sins. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.

CORPORATE CONFESSION

Gracious Father, if You were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared. Called by You to the throne of grace, and confident in our great High Priest, we bow before You and confess that we have sinned against You and been unfaithful to Your holy covenant. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick, so that we often do what we hate, and neglect what we love. Out of our mouths we both praise You and curse our fellow men. You promised mercy to our fathers through the seed of the woman. Turn our hearts again, Father, to consider Jesus, who crushed the serpent’s head, and saved His people from their sins. Forgive, cleanse, and restore us for His sake. Amen.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Hear the Word of the Lord “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Such were some of you. At some point something changed. By the grace of God, you are not who you were. And by the grace of God, He will not leave you now. He will not stop short. I am sure of this, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ, for in Him, your sins are forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!

Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise.

day no. 17,233: warriors and thugs

“Marry, Sirs, if Merlin who was the Devil’s son was a true King’s man as ever ate bread, is it not a shame that you, being but the sons of bitches, must be rebels and regicides?” — C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength 

Merlin did not allow a questionable past to stand in the way of his future. He was true to the once and future King. How is it then that those of less shameful heritages have allowed them to become a stumbling block? Why is it that the sons of the Devil sometimes repent and the sons of bitches won't? Merlin was the King's man and he went to war for his sovereign. The rest are rebels and go to war with their King.

"A fight, by its very nature, is not delicate. This is true in spiritual warfare, and it is also true in the resultant political conflict. But at the same time, we must make and maintain an important distinction. There is always a great difference between a warrior and a thug. A knight and a terrorist both kill, and they both kill for political ends. But a vast distance still separates them." —Douglas Wilson, Warriors Not Thugs

Violence is not anathema, but pacifism is. There are few things more verboten than principled non-violence. Antithesis is inescapable. You cannot outmaneuver it by refusing to fight. The fight will find you.

Matthew 11:12

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

The kingdom is not a cake walk. There is nothing easy or passive about it. It is living and active. It is a fight. Passive-aggression is not aggressive enough. It is effeminate and impotent. 

"Every baptized churchman is by his profession a soldier of Jesus Christ, and is pledged to fight under His banner against sin, the world and the devil... Christian warfare is a great reality and a subject of vast importance. It is not a matter like church government and ceremonial, about which men may differ, and yet reach heaven at last. Necessity is laid upon us. We must fight. There are no promises in the Lord Jesus Christ’s epistles to the seven churches, except to those who 'overcome.' Where there is grace there will be conflict. The believer is a soldier. There is no holiness without a warfare. Saved souls will always be found to have fought a fight.

It is a fight of absolute necessity. Let us not think that in this war we can remain neutral and sit still. Such a line of action may be possible in the strife of nations, but it is utterly impossible in that conflict which concerns the soul. The boasted policy of non–interference, the 'masterly inactivity' which pleases so many statesmen, the plan of keeping quiet and letting things alone—all this will never do in the Christian warfare. Here at any rate no one can escape serving under the plea that he is 'a man of peace.' To be at peace with the world, the flesh and the devil, is to be at enmity with God and in the broad way that leads to destruction. We have no choice or option. We must either fight or be lost." — J.C. Ryle, Holiness

If you do not fight, you cannot win. If you will not fight, you will be defeated by those that will.

“The full value of this life can only be got by fighting; the violent take it by storm. And if we have accepted everything we have missed something – war. This life of ours is a very enjoyable fight, but a very miserable truce.” — G.K. Chesterton

Compromise is for cowards. Standing for something and fighting for it are the élan vital. The essence of life is fighting to stay alive and for what's worth living for.

"Some men fight because they love fighting. Others fight because they love what they are defending. With the former, we find malice and cruelty. With the latter, the attitude is chivalric. But chivalry in conflict is not pacifism, and it is not weak sisterism. The Christian faith does not require us to send off Little Bo Peep to slay the dragon. At the same time, the need for fighters does not ever justify thuggery, and the fact that Christian gentlemen must sometimes fight should not keep them from hitting hard. But how they hit is important." —Douglas Wilson, Warriors Not Thugs

Sometimes you must hit and when you do, it must be as hard as you can. If you never hit, you will miss out on good works which God prepared beforehand that you should fight int hem. If you never hit hard, you will miss out on the peace of having decided to try to win. You may lose, but you hit like you're trying to win and there is a peace in that which only a violent resolve can produce.

"Nine times out of ten, the coarse word is the word that condemns an evil and the refined word the word that excuses it." — G. K. Chesterton 

Some are more offended by the term "sons of bitches" than they are by actual sons of the Devil. They attempt to work things out with snakes while throwing shade at those willing to catch Hell as they stomp on them.

"Do not give fair names to foul sins; call them what you will, they will smell no sweeter." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Do not faint at foul words. The wicked call good evil which means if you are good, you are going to be called some names. And the more the merrier. Better to be called a bastard by those who reject our Father in Heaven than to be called blessed by those who are cursed by God.

"Soft teaching produces hard hearts and hard teaching produces soft hearts." — Jim Wilson 

This may come as a tough pill to swallow, but a tough pill that settles the stomach is better than a soft one that leaves you nauseous. Tough talk stiffens spines. Sweet nothings come to nothing.

day no. 17,232: feminism is the white flag of feminine

“Feminism often means the refusal to be feminine.” — G.K. Chesterton 

No one hates a woman like a group of women. 

“In all legends men have thought of women as sublime separately but horrible in a herd.” — G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong With the World

Women apparently agree. They like being who they are and doing what they like, but all of them as a group have begun to despise what women were made for. They resent their biology and envy the livelihood of the man. Feminism is the confession that femininity has failed. It is a concession speech. It is the white flag of domesticity. At least, it would be white if someone would have stayed home to bleach it. As it is, it is a rather dingy yellow and looks as though it would make things dirtier by touching them instead of cleaner. In that regard, it is a good metaphor for feminism, which only makes beauty uglier while contributing no added strength to masculinity.

"There has happened a strange and startling thing. Openly and to all appearance, this ancestral conflict has silently and abruptly ended; one of the two sexes has suddenly surrendered to the other... the woman has in public surrendered to the man. She has seriously and officially owned that the man has been right all along; that the public house is really more important than the private house." — G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong With The World

Feminism has conceded that the workplace is the only thing that matters. While men used to work hard to provide for a wife and kids at home, the woman now insists on being next to him providing enough for them to pay some other woman to watch their kids.

"Feminism is a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands." — G.K. Chesterton

Feminism has so elevated the ability to make money that it has abandoned the feminine ideal of making home.

“The Feminist, I think, is one who dislikes the chief feminine characteristics.” — G.K. Chesterton

By the woman attempting to join — or in some cases take — the place of the man, no one is left to take the place of the woman. In this, everyone is agreed that no one wants to be feminine or subscribe to the feminine ideals. If a man sees the need and attempts to fill the void with his effeminacy, he does not succeed. Effeminacy is not femininity. A man cannot be wife. He is excluded from doing so by definition. He can do the dishes, change the diapers, and stay home with the kids, but he isn't a mother. He is not a homemaker. He cannot be.

day no. 17,231: i smell a demonrat

“84 percent of Black Christians prefer the Democratic Party.” — Caleb E. Campbell, Disarming Leviathan

Campbell brings this up because he thinks this is a good thing in general and that it proves his point that Christians have a wide variety of political opinions in particular. The point he misses, however, is how unified Black Christians are in their political allegiances and willing they are to be accomplices in their own demise by doing so.

"All I can think about here is the way that these Black Christians have compromised in a terrible fashion and are under a fearsome judgment. It was an honest charge against ungodly white slave owners that they would separate slave families, selling children down the river. But these Black Christians of America have sold their children to the slaughterhouse—and there is no excuse for it. The Democratic Party is the party of dismembering children and selling the pieces, and these Black Christians have been entirely good with the fact that a disproportionate number of those pieces were black. Campbell appeals to that 84% as though it means something, but he is appealing to those who have been cooperating with the genocidal targeting of their own people. And traitors and quislings don’t get to speak with moral authority about anything." — Douglas Wilson, Immigrations, Mormons, and Demoncrats

No one has been more devastating to the black community than the Democratic Party. Look at any major American city where Democratic policies have been in place for decades. Consider Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, East Saint Louis, etc... These are not safe places to visit because they are terrible places to live. They are terrible places to live because the policies under which they are governed are terrible. Their policies are terrible because their politicians are terrible.

“The abortion bus outside the DNC was one of the most macabre and grotesque displays of human perversity imaginable.” — Douglas Wilson, Why Your Vote Is No Sacrament

The Democrats are the death cult with ties and suits. They are the reputable face of disreputable practices.

day mo. 17,230: envasion

“At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child — miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.” — P.J. O'Rourke, Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer

The more the spoiled child gets what they want they less satisfied they are with what they have. Discontent cannot be cured by the danegeld. It keeps coming back for more. Envy cannot assuaged by olive branches. It resents the peacemaker's privilege position.

Proverbs 27:4

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; 

but who is able to stand before envy?

Envy is more cruel than wrath and more outraged than rage. It is not merely zealous for itself, it is anxious for the destruction of others. It does not want to have as much as it wants to take away. It is less about self-promotion and more about the demolition of others.

"He would rather have the poor poorer provided the rich were less rich. That is the Liberal policy. Yes it came out. He didn’t intend it to but it did." — Margaret Thatcher

Envy does not want everyone to be rich, it wants no one else to have anything. It is not a matter of equity that drives its concerns, but a matter of disparity. It would prefer everyone to go without than any to go on. It rejoices when others weep and weeps when others rejoice.

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Envy is an inversion of the law of Christ. It cannot stand seeing someone else prosper and it delights in seeing others deprived.

1 Clement 38:2

Let not the strong man despise the weak, and let the weak pay regard to the strong. Let him that is rich minister to him that is poor. Let him that is poor praise God that he hath given unto him one by whom his want may be supplied. 

In a God-fearing economy, the weak praise God for the productivity of the strong and the strong do not despise the inability of the weak. The weak are taken care of and the strong are honored. In a perverse society, the weak use their weakness to abuse the strong and the strong surrender their strength to the whims of the weak. It is an enversion. 

"When you elevate victimhood as virtue, you will create a culture in which people are tripping over themselves to be oppressed." — Allie Beth Stuckey

When being oppressed becomes the new medal of honor, you will find the honorable opting out and the dishonorable receiving awards. That is a world where envy has invaded. That is an envasion.

day no. 17,229: sweet and salty

“This tells us that the fundamental law/gospel divide is not to found in the text of Scripture. It is found in the difference between regenerate and unregenerate man. For the regenerate, everything from God is sweeter than the honeycomb. All of it is grace. For the unregenerate, the whole thing is the stench of death, including the good news of Christ on the cross. All of it is law and condemnation.” ― Douglas Wilson, Mere Christendom

The law is sweet to the those who love Jesus.

1 John 5:3

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

The commands of Christ are not a cause for complaining for those who love Him. His Law is honey even when it is hard and His grace is fixed and firm even when it is comforting. 

2 Corinthians 2:15-16

For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The best news in the world smells like death to those who hate Jesus and the worst news in the world smells like life to those who love Him. The death of God on the Cross is despised by those who hate Him and delighted in by those who love Him. The same story is received differently by different hearts. The old man hates the death of Christ, the new man hates the sin that killed Him.

day no. 17,228: bright dungeons and dark castles

“A dungeon with Christ is a throne. A throne without Christ is a hell.” — John Owen 

Eternal life is where Christ is. If allegiance to Him leads you to jail, it becomes the most celestial of cells. If denial of Christ leads you to prominence, it is the most infamous fame one can acquire.

"God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing." — C. S. Lewis

It is better to be with Christ wherever faith leads you than without Christ wherever you preferred to go. Christ transforms the hardest times with Him into the most glorious refinement and He transforms the best times without Him into the most regrettable misery.

A Christless cross no refuge is for me; 

A Crossless Christ my Savior may not be;

But, O Christ crucified! I rest in thee.

— B B Warfield

If Christ is not crucified for you, no throne can provide you wotj rest. If Christ is crucified for you, no trial can rob you of comfort. A love of Jesus leads to bright dungeons and a hatred of Christ leads to dark castles.

day no. 17,227: keeping Christmas

“The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why.” — G.K. Chesterton, On Christmas

We know that every knee will one day bow and every tongue someday confess that Christ is King. This will be done from the heart and in earnest. Some will confess this reality as a concession and some will bow in reluctant deference, but none will stand in that court or declare his own acclaim on that day. Until then, many will sing songs that declare that He is the Lord of all. They will give gifts to friends and family on His birthday and they will have His name on their lips as they say, "Merry Christmas" to passers by. The grace of God is waking up as to why we are doing this. The reason for the season does not suddenly appear, it is realized all of a sudden because it has always been there. In that moment, the forms and functions are revealed for what they were and always have been. Christ does not need to be born again in Bethlehem or crucified again on a Roman cross. What He did, He did so perfectly and completely that it requires no sequel. When the reality of this dawns on a man, it is often accompanied by the sudden realization of how slow he was in realizing it.

"After every time of darkness, there comes a mixture of delight and humiliation. There is delight at finally hearing God, and humiliation at how long it took to listen. 'How slow I’ve been in understanding!' you’ll say. 'And yet, God has been saying it all these days and weeks.' If you feel only delight, it is doubtful you have heard him at all." — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

We are all a little bit slow. We have listened to things longer than we have heard them. We have celebrated Christmas in our homes before have celebrated them in our hearts, but rest assured, many who are keeping Christmas traditions today for cultural reasons will tomorrow be keeping them spiritual ones. Creeds come with the temptation to recite them without believing them, but they come with the benefit of giving one something to believe in when they realize what they have been so long in reciting.

Ephesians 5:14

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, 

and Christ will shine on you.

Someday we all will wake up to what we have done. 

day no. 17,226: what does my diploma say?

"We have forgotten God. We have turned our backs on Him, and so He has left us to our own devices. Kids are graduated from high school not knowing how to read their own diplomas. They don’t know who they are, and they don’t know why they exist. Periodically one of these kids, hopped up on drugs prescribed by the school nurse, shoots up the school. These are drugs that are sourced from the respectable cartels, and not the icky cartels." ― Douglas Wilson, Narco Boats and the Barbary Pirates

State schools are secular boot camps. The goal is not to nourish individuals, but to mass produce soldiers. The future infantry of the Left are the recruited children of the Right. The Left are not having their own kids, but they have access to the children of the Right because they continue to send them, voluntarily, to the secular boot camps for an "education" or "socialization."

Feducation is giving diplomas to kids who ask, "What does this say?" That, in a nutshell, tells you everything you need to know about the racket that is mandatory, state run and funded education. 

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Free thinking men and women is a distinctly Christian value. The Christian faith can stand up to criticism and welcomes dialogue. Iron sharpens iron. If you want to be free, you need Christian men and women educated in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. The secular standard has not produced better science, it has produced "pregnant" men and women without chests.

"“We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." ― C.S. Lewis

Once upon a time, we made men without chests by yanking dignity from them, not we make men without chests by cutting off a woman's breasts and calling her a "man." We castrate and call the geldings "women," and pretend that they can get pregnant. Only one catechized as a secular academic could concoct such a thing. That cauldron yields a corrosive that melts its containers. Whoever drinks that elixir is erased from the inside out.

day no. 17,225: sin rewards loyalty with betrayal

“He served his god so faithfully and well

That now he sees him face to face in hell.”

― Hilaire Belloc

We become what we behold.

Psalm 135:15-18

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see;

they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths.

Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.

Those who worship idols become like the idols they worship, because we become what we behold.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Those who worship God become like Him, because we become what we behold.

Everyone is becoming something and sooner or later they're going to be it. They will cease becoming and begin being. For those who worship idols, they will end as they are: dead, displaced, and under the never-ending wrath of God. For those who worship God, they will end as He does, unending in life, established, and under the never-ending waterfall of grace and mercy.

Isaiah 5:20

Woe unto them that call evil "good," and good "evil."

Sin is a cruel master. Demons do not reward "good" behavior. They can't and they wouldn't if they could. The devil does not have favorites. He hates his accomplices as much as they all hate God.

"In fighting those who serve devils one always has this on one’s side; their Masters hate them as much as they hate us. The moment we disable the human pawns enough to make them useless to Hell, their own Masters finish the work for us. They break their tools.” ― C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

Faithfully following evil is rewarded with faithlessness and loyalty is rewarded with betrayal. In the end, we get what we want, but some get more than what they bargained for. Those who want a world without God get that, but it is not what they thought it would be.

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done. '" ― C.S. Lewis

Those who insist on their own way get way more than they wanted. Sin always Sin takes you further than you wanted to go faster than you wanted to get there and keeps you longer than you wanted to stay while costing you more than you wanted to pay.

Sin rewards loyalty with betrayal.

Down to Gehenna,

or up to the Throne,

He travels the fastest

who travels alone.

— Rudyard Kipling

A good way to go to Hell is to go it alone. Go to church, get some friends, and get back on track. You cannot serve two masters. If you are devoted to God, He will be devoted to you. If you are devoted to demons, they will divorce you.

If you align yourself with defiance, you will be crooked.

day no. 17,224: modern cosmology

"The Christian faith flat contradicts the truncated cosmology of moderns. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." ― Douglas Wilson, A Star From Jacob

The Heavens declare the glory of God not the majesty of man. A telescope does not testify to the ingenuity of man as much as it does to the genius of God. There are things to see because He made and because He made eyes. The medieval cosmology is far more consistent with an appreciation for the handiwork of God than the modern void that we call "space." We imagine a cold, dark nothingness that is as expansive as it is empty. But that is the universe the Lord created. He did not whisper, "Let there be light!" He spoke into the formless, empty, void and brought forth light, life, form, and function. The earth is the Lord's the fullness thereof, but so is the universe and the fullness there as well. There is no emptiness anywhere. All matter is infused with meaning. All the molecules matter and none of them has been orphaned or quarantined to cold, forgotten obscurity. The spheres do not have value because we found them, they had value before we saw them, and they will have value when we can see them no more.

“'In our world,' said Eustace, 'a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.' 'Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.'” ― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Heavens are full of life, not death punctuated by a fire ball here an there. The night sky is full of twinkling reminders that the light of the world sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty an that in Him all things hold together and shine at their assigned times and seasons.

day no. 17,223: the means of production as the means of corruption

“The control of the production of wealth is the control of human life itself.” ― Hilaire Belloc

Property rights are human rights. A means of production and the ability to increase is an essential component of the rights God gave us summarized as life, liberty, and property. If a man does not possess the ability to produce something, he is being controlled by someone else.

“If we do not restore the Institution of Property we cannot escape restoring the Institution of Slavery; there is no third course.” ― Hilaire Belloc, The Servile State

If a man does not own his time and is prohibited from owning his home, he is a slave.

“Taxes reduce the production of what is taxed: industry, profitability, thrift, and investment. Subsidies increase the production of what is subsidized, and in the redistributive society that means idleness and parasitism.” — Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction

Communism does not produce anything other than lazy grifters on one end and lazy slaves on the other.

"Centering an economic worldview around consumption is man-focused in the most trite and simplistic of ways; but developing an entire ecosystem of thought and action around production, well that honors the human person, and opens the door to a sustainable, soul-giving eradication of poverty." — David L. Bahnsen, There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths

Free room and board sounds good until you consider the cell in which those are served. Prison gives a man a place to sleep and something to eat, but it does not give him much else.

"Properly understood, the case for capitalism is not a case for license or for laissez faire. It is a case for national wealth as a moral good; for the interest of the mass of consumers as the guide of policy; for clear and uniform rules of competition imposed upon all; for letting markets set prices, letting buyers make choices, and letting producers experiment, innovate, and make what they think they can sell -- all while protecting consumers and punishing abuses. It is a case for avoiding concentrations of power, for keeping business and government separate, and for letting those who can meet their own needs do so. It is a case for humility about our ability to know, and therefore about our capacity to do." — Yuval Levin

Allowing a man to make and spend his own money in order to feed, cloth, and house himself is the best for everyone in the world. A man in this position can make enough to take on a wife and kids. A man who cannot provide for himself cannot carry the load of another. He cannot be trusted to shoulder the weight of other's stomachs if he cannot meet the needs of his own.

"Each of the moral aspirations we hope for about our society, and each of the economic objectives we have in a free enterprise economy, are undermined by an overly cozy relationship with business and government, where the collective power of the state is allowed to pick winners and losers. Our case for a market economy is a noble one, but it is undermined from start to finish when we fail to condemn the insidious effects of crony capitalism." — David Bahnsen, There's No Free Lunch

Crony capitalism is the illusion of freedom. It high jacks the language of liberty in order to enslave men in a pseudo-socialist state of affairs.

“The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” — Margaret Thatcher

If men are not permitted to own the means of production, eventually you exhaust the means you have. Like the mongols or the locust, you can consume another society's production, but you cannot sustain a society. You leave the shell without planting the seed and you end up starving next winter or moving on to another productive place where you can rape and pillage its produce.

"Property rights are human rights." ― Douglas Wilson, 3 Reasons Why Socialism Should Not Be Considered As The Butterfly's Boots

Thou shalt not steal is not a suggestion, it's the law. Honoring another man's stuff, including his ability to make stuff, is how we honor our Father in Heaven and see His kingdom come here on earth as it is in Heaven.

"The reason why socialist governments have such an untrammeled record of abusing human beings is that they begin the entire process by denying one of the foundation stones of human rights, which is property. Pure and simple, without a deep respect for property that the government cannot touch, human rights declarations are nothing more than the flattering words that turkey farmers offer to the turkeys in the run up to Thanksgiving." ― Douglas Wilson, 3 Reasons Why Socialism Should Not Be Considered As The Butterfly's Boots

You cannot rob men of their right to own property without robbing that man's property. You cannot steal his dignity without stealing his productivity. Those who imagine themselves masters have no difficulty making slaves of their neighbors.