"Cynicism (is) the ability to point—as the fellow said—to the price of everything and the value of nothing" -- Douglas Wilson, God Rest Ye Merry
Cynicism can rightly see that everything costs something, but it cannot see anything being worth the price. It prides itself on sales resistance. It won't be anyone's sucker. So it opts to mock other's values at the expense of being unable to value anything. The only joy it has is mocking the joys of others.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Monday, June 6, 2022
day no. 15,932: sister soldier
"Mary overcame in the way women are called to conquer—by giving birth to conquerors, or by giving birth to daughters who will give birth to conquerors. And this explains how the Magnificat can have been composed by a woman and still be so gloriously militant. Godly child-bearing is militant. The seed of the woman has crushed the dragon’s head." -- Douglas Wilson, God Rest Ye Merry
David's mother, Nitzevet, raised a lion-taming, bear-besting, giant-slaying son. She had courage and faith to let him learn and practice those skills by being placed in those types of situations. She raised a boy beloved by God and by his people. She reared a young man who had faith in God and no fear of beasts.
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Satan is at war with mankind and women have a recruiting center at their center. They supply the infantry in this ground war.
1 Timothy 2:15
David's mother, Nitzevet, raised a lion-taming, bear-besting, giant-slaying son. She had courage and faith to let him learn and practice those skills by being placed in those types of situations. She raised a boy beloved by God and by his people. She reared a young man who had faith in God and no fear of beasts.
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Satan is at war with mankind and women have a recruiting center at their center. They supply the infantry in this ground war.
1 Timothy 2:15
[Women] shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
God's plan of redemption requires women to remain faithful to their post. They have been assigned the task of munition manufacturing. They cultivate beauty, nurture life, and make home by giving themselves body and soul to be a home for others.
1 Corinthians 11:12
For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
Woman was made from man, but all men have been born by women ever since.
Romans 16:20
The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
We are Jesus' hands and feet and one particular task He has called us to continue is the grinding of the serpent's skull by grace through faith in Him alone. God's peace is at war with Satan's chaos and through His church Christ will reclaim His earth.
For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
Woman was made from man, but all men have been born by women ever since.
Romans 16:20
The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
We are Jesus' hands and feet and one particular task He has called us to continue is the grinding of the serpent's skull by grace through faith in Him alone. God's peace is at war with Satan's chaos and through His church Christ will reclaim His earth.
Sunday, June 5, 2022
day no. 15,931: Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat.
“There are so many Russians, and our country so small, where will we find room to bury them all?” -- Anonymous Finnish soldier commenting in 1939 on the Winter War
This is the kind of mindset Christians are called to carry internally and exhibit externally. Though we appear to be surrounded by ever increasing darkness, we remember its circumference increases only as a result of an ever expanding diameter of light.
If the darkness can be felt in every direction, there is no direction in which our light cannot triumph.
"They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now! Now we can shoot at them from every direction.'” -- Chesty Puller
When surrounded by enemies, we can rejoice that we don't have to expend any of our resources attempting to hunt them down. They have all come to us. We are free to use all our energy on attacking them like Galaga.
Chesty Puller refused to call falling back a "retreat," preferring rather to call it, “attacking in a different direction."
We have been assured that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. As such, we should employ Mad Eye Moody's "constant vigilance." Every move is part of an attack strategy. We are not retreating or cloistering away and leaving the world to itself. God has not placed us here to leave the world alone. We are to manifest His Kingdom by moving in grace through faith expecting to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on His earth as it is in His Heaven.
Matthew 16:18
I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.
― C.T. Studd
By all hell's host withstood;
We all hell's host o'erthrow;
And conquering them,
Through Jesus' blood;
We still to conquer go.
-- Charles Wesley
...
Christus vincit.
Christus regnant.
Christus imperat.
Saecula Saeculorum.
Amen.
Christ conquers.
Christ reigns.
Christ rules.
World without end.
Amen.
This is the kind of mindset Christians are called to carry internally and exhibit externally. Though we appear to be surrounded by ever increasing darkness, we remember its circumference increases only as a result of an ever expanding diameter of light.
“Canaan was full of giants, and so is the unbelieving world today. The greatness of the opposition is part of the point. This must never be used as an excuse on our part for whining about how big they are. They are supposed to be big. They are giants. Instead of worrying about how big they are—too big to fight—we should be rejoicing in the fact that they are too big to miss.“ — Douglas Wilson
If the darkness can be felt in every direction, there is no direction in which our light cannot triumph.
"They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now! Now we can shoot at them from every direction.'” -- Chesty Puller
When surrounded by enemies, we can rejoice that we don't have to expend any of our resources attempting to hunt them down. They have all come to us. We are free to use all our energy on attacking them like Galaga.
Chesty Puller refused to call falling back a "retreat," preferring rather to call it, “attacking in a different direction."
We have been assured that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. As such, we should employ Mad Eye Moody's "constant vigilance." Every move is part of an attack strategy. We are not retreating or cloistering away and leaving the world to itself. God has not placed us here to leave the world alone. We are to manifest His Kingdom by moving in grace through faith expecting to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on His earth as it is in His Heaven.
Matthew 16:18
I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.
― C.T. Studd
By all hell's host withstood;
We all hell's host o'erthrow;
And conquering them,
Through Jesus' blood;
We still to conquer go.
-- Charles Wesley
...
Christus vincit.
Christus regnant.
Christus imperat.
Saecula Saeculorum.
Amen.
Christ conquers.
Christ reigns.
Christ rules.
World without end.
Amen.
Saturday, June 4, 2022
day no. 15,930: a good ol' fashion feast fight
"The most significant thing about any citizen is his artistic attitude towards a holiday and his moral attitude towards a fight -- that is, his way of accepting life and his way of accepting death." -- G.K. Chesterton, Heretics
Feast. Fight. Laugh. Live.
With whom and how we feast and with whom and how we fight are the most important things about us. They reveal the order of our affections and their respective intensities. How we have a ball and how we have a brawl shed light on these. Properly ordered affections are, according to Augustine, the essence of all virtue. Just sentiments are good living. It is unjust when we either withhold affections owed or waste affections out of proportion.
The good, the true, and the lovely determine how we live and what we live for, how we fight, and what we die for. How we throw a party and how we throw a punch reveals our priorities. What we call a good night and what we call a good fight speak volumes about us.
Feast. Fight. Laugh. Live.
With whom and how we feast and with whom and how we fight are the most important things about us. They reveal the order of our affections and their respective intensities. How we have a ball and how we have a brawl shed light on these. Properly ordered affections are, according to Augustine, the essence of all virtue. Just sentiments are good living. It is unjust when we either withhold affections owed or waste affections out of proportion.
The good, the true, and the lovely determine how we live and what we live for, how we fight, and what we die for. How we throw a party and how we throw a punch reveals our priorities. What we call a good night and what we call a good fight speak volumes about us.
Friday, June 3, 2022
day no. 15,929: burden or burdener?
“Jesus does not take from us the burden God has laid upon us. But He makes the burden easier for us by showing us how we must carry it... A yoke is a burden itself, a burden in addition to all other burdens, and yet it has a peculiar way of making other burdens easier... We are well acquainted with the yoke of the draft animals. The yoke alone enables them to pull the heavy burden without feeling pain or torment in the process, and without getting sore skin from pulling it. Jesus wants to put us human beings under such a yoke so that our burden does not become too heavy for us.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom
Burdens are inescapable. You will have one. The question is what kind will you have? The yoke of Jesus is a burden. But it is the kind of burden that makes other burdens more bearable. It means being bound to Jesus, but it means being released from your sins. It ties you up in one respect and loosens the cords in another. The yoke of Jesus sets you free from frivolous work and sets your sights on the labor God has prepared for you beforehand.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
You will have a burden. Will it be light because it is being broad shouldered by Jesus on your behalf or will it be heavy because you're bearing it all by yourself?
Burdens are inescapable. You will have one. The question is what kind will you have? The yoke of Jesus is a burden. But it is the kind of burden that makes other burdens more bearable. It means being bound to Jesus, but it means being released from your sins. It ties you up in one respect and loosens the cords in another. The yoke of Jesus sets you free from frivolous work and sets your sights on the labor God has prepared for you beforehand.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
You will have a burden. Will it be light because it is being broad shouldered by Jesus on your behalf or will it be heavy because you're bearing it all by yourself?
Thursday, June 2, 2022
day no. 15,928: treacle matters
Treacle
n. cloying sentimentality or flattery.
Few things pose more of a potential stumbling block to us than our virtues. No one is proud of their vices. They may be proud of things you call vices, but they aren't proud of them if they agree with you. Whatever is considered a vice is not something which can considered a source of pride. But our virtues, those are our favorite things about ourselves. When another likes what they see, they're merely agreeing with what we've already decided. When they want to put their approval on us, they have to stand in line.
No one can flatter our faults. We wouldn't tolerate it. They can flatter our favorite parts, but sickly sweet sentimentality doesn't work on vices.
Philippians 3:7-8
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Faith is counting that which could be credited to your account as loss so that you have room to inherit all that Christ has done on your account.
n. cloying sentimentality or flattery.
Few things pose more of a potential stumbling block to us than our virtues. No one is proud of their vices. They may be proud of things you call vices, but they aren't proud of them if they agree with you. Whatever is considered a vice is not something which can considered a source of pride. But our virtues, those are our favorite things about ourselves. When another likes what they see, they're merely agreeing with what we've already decided. When they want to put their approval on us, they have to stand in line.
No one can flatter our faults. We wouldn't tolerate it. They can flatter our favorite parts, but sickly sweet sentimentality doesn't work on vices.
“The Christian life is not an exodus from vice to virtue, but rather from virtue to grace.” ~ Gerhard Forde
Salvation is seeing even your best as something of which to repent. It is scrapping your souvenirs and renouncing every sickly sweet sentimentality and flattery that excuses your depravity. It is calling treacle matters fecal matter and turning away from them entirely.
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Faith is counting that which could be credited to your account as loss so that you have room to inherit all that Christ has done on your account.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
day no. 15,927: harmonious hospitality
"Once men sang together around a table in chorus; now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason that he can sing better." -- G.K. Chesterton, Heretics
Singing is participatory. Choruses and harmonies are hospitable. They invite voices in. Listening to a specialist sing only makes you want to sing along. Some would urge you to be quiet in order to keep you from ruining it, but joy demands you sing along to keep from ruining it. One expert professional singing solo may delight the listener's heart, but the gratitude it produces desires to express itself by entering into the song.
Just because someone is better at something, doesn't mean that they should be the only one allowed to do it, it means that they are the best equipped to inspire others to join in despite their reservations and inadequacies.
Singing is participatory. Choruses and harmonies are hospitable. They invite voices in. Listening to a specialist sing only makes you want to sing along. Some would urge you to be quiet in order to keep you from ruining it, but joy demands you sing along to keep from ruining it. One expert professional singing solo may delight the listener's heart, but the gratitude it produces desires to express itself by entering into the song.
Just because someone is better at something, doesn't mean that they should be the only one allowed to do it, it means that they are the best equipped to inspire others to join in despite their reservations and inadequacies.
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