Today's Puzzler

If Christ paid our debt to the Father, don't we now owe Christ?

Please, Please, Please Have a Look...

at s-p's latest cartoon here and have a good laugh - and/or a good cry.

Kids Draw the Darndest Things

Sydney made a story book about the family going to Disney World.  On the front cover of it, she drew herself, her new baby brother, and her father.  I said I loved the picture and would like to keep it.  Sydney gave it to me, but first insisted upon adding shirt and trousers to the drawing of her father, which originally was drawn just like the baby only larger.

(Since little Jackson arrived, Sydney always signs both their names to her work.)

Apocalypse

As the events in Japan appear to go from horrifying to worse and still orders of magnitude worse than that, we have to wonder what is God thinking, to permit these things to happen?  First, the earthquake, then the tsunami, whole towns afire, the volcano erupting in the south, and now the threat of total nuclear meltdown at no fewer than three reactors.

I suspect there is no human "explanation". We can say this much:  had man not sinned, he might by now have reached theosis, deification, and have become a sharer in God's own Immortal Life. That means he might not have been vulnerable to any natural disaster (and there wouldn't be any man-made ones).

So in that sense our sins bring it upon us.

I think we also have to remember Jesus' words when he said the 18 victims of a tower collapse were no more sinful than anybody else. "But unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish." We all sin, which is another way of saying we all die, since to sin is to cut off our Life.

So those may be some hints. Ultimately, though, I suspect the only "answer" we are going to get this side of the grave is the one God gave to Job, after all his incredible suffering. Here is the beginning of the dressing down, from Chapter 38:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
​
2 ​​"Who is this who darkens counsel
​​By words without knowledge?
3 ​​Now prepare yourself like a man;
​​I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
​
4 ​​"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
​​Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 ​​Who determined its measurements?
​​Surely you know!
​​Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 ​​To what were its foundations fastened?
​​Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 ​​When the morning stars sang together,
​​And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
​
8 ​​"Or who shut in the sea with doors,
​​When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
9 ​​When I made the clouds its garment,
​​And thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 ​​When I fixed My limit for it,
​​And set bars and doors;
11 ​​When I said,
​'​This far you may come, but no farther,
​​And here your proud waves must stop!'
​
12 ​​"Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
​​And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 ​​That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
​​And the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 ​​It takes on form like clay under a seal,
​​And stands out like a garment.
15 ​​From the wicked their light is withheld,
​​And the upraised arm is broken.
​
16 ​​"Have you entered the springs of the sea?
​​Or have you walked in search of the depths?
17 ​​Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
​​Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 ​​Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
​​Tell Me, if you know all this.
​
19 ​​"Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
​​And darkness, where is its place,
20 ​​That you may take it to its territory,
​​That you may know the paths to its home?
21 ​​Do you know it, because you were born then,
​​Or because the number of your days is great?
​
22 ​​"Have you entered the treasury of snow,
​​Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23 ​​Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
​​For the day of battle and war?
24 ​​By what way is light diffused,
​​Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
​
25 ​​"Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water,
​​Or a path for the thunderbolt,
26 ​​To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one,
​​A wilderness in which there is no man;
27 ​​To satisfy the desolate waste,
​​And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?
28 ​​Has the rain a father?
​​Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 ​​From whose womb comes the ice?
​​And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?
30 ​​The waters harden like stone,
​​And the surface of the deep is frozen.
​
31 ​​"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
​​Or loose the belt of Orion?
32 ​​Can you bring out Mazzaroth [a constellation] in its season?
​​Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
33 ​​Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
​​Can you set their dominion over the earth?
​
34 ​​"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
​​That an abundance of water may cover you?
35 ​​Can you send out lightnings, that they may go,
​​And say to you, 'Here we are!'?
36 ​​Who has put wisdom in the mind?
​​Or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 ​​Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
​​Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
38 ​​When the dust hardens in clumps,
​​And the clods cling together?
​
39 ​​"Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
​​Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 ​​When they crouch in their dens,
​​Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?
41 ​​Who provides food for the raven,
​​When its young ones cry to God,
​​And wander about for lack of food?

God's reprimand to Job for questioning Him continues through Chapter 39 and most of 40. Here is some more, from Chapter 40.

1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said:
​
2 ​​"Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
​​He who rebukes God, let him answer it."

3 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
​
4 ​​"Behold, I am vile;
​​What shall I answer You?
​​I lay my hand over my mouth.
5 ​​Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
​​Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further."

6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
​
7 ​​"Now prepare yourself like a man;
​​I will question you, and you shall answer Me:
​
8 ​​"Would you indeed annul My judgment?
​​Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?
9 ​​Have you an arm like God?
​​Or can you thunder with a voice like His?
10 ​​Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
​​And array yourself with glory and beauty.
11 ​​Disperse the rage of your wrath;
​​Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.
12 ​​Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low;
​​Tread down the wicked in their place.
13 ​​Hide them in the dust together,
​​Bind their faces in hidden darkness.
14 ​​Then I will also confess to you
​​That your own right hand can save you.

The Kneeometer

We are just back from visiting children and grandchildren, and I have to tell you a some cute stories. This one is the story of Sydney and the Kneeometer.

A kindergarten classmate of Sydney's fell and broke her leg and came to class next day in a cast and wheelchair, garnering in the process a great deal of attention. That afternoon, Sydney took a minor fall at home, and groaning and wailing, told her mother, "You need to take me to Urgent Care right away, because I'm sure I have broken my knee. It hurts! OWWW!" And she went around limping for as long as she knew her mother was watching her, but walking normally when she didn't know Erin was looking.

Finally Erin said, "We'll wait until Daddy gets home because he has a kneeometer and he will be able to assess your injury."

When Daddy came home, he brought out his kneeometer from the garage, a device that looks remarkably like a giant wrench. This he placed either side of Sydney's knee and squeezed - only a little, of course.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"YES! OUCH!"

"That's good!" said Jeffrey. "That means it isn't broken, because if it were broken, you wouldn't be able to feel anything."

Sydney almost wept from disappointment.

Parker

My fellow wildlife rehabber, Gudrun ("Goodie") has a squirrel that failed to grow. He seems in otherwise good health, but he's a midget. Goodie is keeping him and I thought you might like to see pictures of him. Here he is, eating an apple and posing with his Beanie Baby counterpart. His name is Parker and yes, he's an adult now.

P.S. I myself am not rehabbing this year, as I won't have time to raise anything before leaving for Greece.

"Grant that I may Perceive My Own Transgressions..."

We aren't fully conscious of most of our sins, or of our true inner condition. This is (in part) because of God's never-ending mercy, Who will not allow us to perceive our own wretchedness in full, because it would crush us, send us reeling into despair.  God only shows us as much as He knows we can handle at any given moment - and that, barely, sometimes!

Most of the time, we don't even want Him to do that, do we?  We are reluctant to face the things we've done and failed to do; we persuade ourselves that our sins are really pretty trivial, after all. 

I remember once knowing a Catholic ex-priest, who must have weighed at least 400 pounds.  He suffered a heart attack and when I visited him in the hospital, he expressed his amazement that he was still alive.  Why, he wondered, had God allowed him to live a little longer?

"Probably for the same reason He lets all of us keep living," I said.

"And that is - ?"

"To give us time to repent!" 

"Repent?"  He looked genuinely bewildered.  "Repent of what?"

See?  Isn't that the attitude we all tend to adopt?  I'm a decent person, I pay my taxes, I try to help people when I can, I don't kick the dog, I don't need any repentance.

In reality, of course, most of us need to repent of virtually everything, but I laughed and only said to my friend, "For whatever."

Yet somewhere just below the horizon of our consciousness is the awareness of our sins, as a little niggling, nagging discomfort, such that when Christ comes to judge us, we will have to admit we knew all along everything He will tell us about ourselves.  As the Psalmist says, "Thou art vindicated in Thy judgment." 

Sometimes even a seemingly trivial commission or omission has appalling consequences we didn't think of or know about, or chose to ignore.

So how often do you floss your teeth?  (Did you know that your chances of a heart attack skyrocket if you don't do it faithfully?)

Star With Royal Beauty Bright

Thanks to a link supplied by Alice Linsley over at Just Genesis, I’ve discovered what I find an absolutely fascinating blog devoted mostly to the subject of the Star of Bethlehem. Although I will summarize one of the articles here, I recommend you read the whole thing for a wealth of explanatory details.

It's written by Rick Larson.  First, Larson identifies nine characteristics of the Star we can glean from the biblical narrative:

1. The heavenly phenomenon the Wise Men saw must have had some association with birth.
2. It must somehow signify kingship.
3. It must show a connection with the Jewish tribe of Judah (and prophecies of the Jewish Messiah).
4. It must rise in the east and set in the West.
5. It must appear at a precise, identifiable time.
6. It must be a heavenly happening not immediately obvious to everybody, but only to experts. (Herod was unaware of any great celestial portent).
7. The phenomenon must take place over a span of time sufficient for the Magi to see it both from the East and upon their arrival in Jerusalem.
8. It must have appeared ahead of the Magi as they journeyed toward Bethlehem.
9. It must have stopped when the Magi reached Bethlehem.

Rick Larson describes a heavenly phenomenon (actually a combination of astronomical events) accounting, he believes, for all these biblical data.

In September of the year B.C. 3 (which I shall write from now on as -3), The planet Jupiter came into conjunction with the Star Regulus. Read the article for further discussion of why the year -3 was important; it has to do with the probability that Herod died in -1. Larson also discusses in detail why both Jupiter and Regulus were associated, in ancient times, with kingship.

Jupiter passes Regulus, well, regularly, every 12 years, so this is nothing unusual. That it should come into conjunction with Regulus (appearing, to the naked eye, to touch the star) was a bit more unusual, and would certainly have been noted by ancient astronomers (Magi). But it was what happened next that really grabbed their attention. Jupiter passed on by Regulus, leaving it behind, but then it entered into retrograde, meaning that because of our planet’s movement, Jupiter appeared to be moving backward. So backward it moved, and came into conjunction with Regulus a second time. And then Jupiter went forward again, leaving Regulus behind a second time, and then it went into retrograde again and formed a third conjunction with Regulus! It appeared that Jupiter was dancing around Regulus, forming a sort of halo, or crown. This triple conjunction of the King Planet with the King Star would have given our wise men the notion that a king was being announced.

There’s more. All this began on or about the Jewish New Year. And it all took place (over months, of course) in the constellation Leo. And guess what Leo, the lion, was associated with? You guessed it: with Judah, whose symbol was and is the lion. In fact, from the east where the wise men were, as they observed these conjunctions, they were facing Judea.  This bright conjunction was setting over Judea.  It made sense to the ancient star-gazers that a king of Judea was being announced in the skies.

Next constellation over from Leo was, guess what? Virgo. The Virgin. And things were so positioned then (September of -3) that at the “feet” of the Virgin lay a new moon, which over the succeeding days was “born” into crescent moon, then a quarter moon, and so forth. Remember the pregnant Woman clothed with the Sun, with the moon at her feet? Right.

Skip forward nine months, on the theory that all the foregoing announced a royal conception and nine months later comes the birth. We’re now in June of -2. Rick Larson tells it better than I can:

Jupiter had finished crowning Regulus. The Planet of Kings traveled on through the star field toward another spectacular rendezvous, this time with Venus, the Mother Planet. This conjunction was so close and so bright that it is today displayed in hundreds of planetaria around the world by scientists who may know nothing of Messiah. They do it because what Jupiter did makes such a great planetarium show. Jupiter appeared to join Venus. The planets could not be distinguished with the naked eye. If our magus had had a telescope, he could have seen that the planets sat one atop the other, like a figure eight. Each contributed its full brightness to what became the most brilliant star our man had ever seen. Jupiter completed this step of the starry dance as it was setting in the west. That evening, our Babylonian magus would have seen the spectacle of his career while facing toward Judea.

No one alive had ever seen such a conjunction. If the Magi only began their travel plans in September, when they saw this sight nine months later, someone may have shouted "What are we waiting for? Mount up!"

The idea then, is that the September -3 events correlate with the conception of the mysterious King of the Jews, while the June -2 display announced His birth.

Some months later (presumably) the Magi arrived first in Jerusalem, the logical place to inquire where the King of the Jews had been born. Herod sent them on to Bethlehem because the Scriptures said that was where Messiah would be born.

We don’t know how long it took the Magi to arrive in Jerusalem, but we do know that in December of -2, if you were traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus would have been ahead of you.

And then:

On December 25 of 2 BC as it entered retrograde, Jupiter reached full stop in its travel through the fixed stars. Magi viewing from Jerusalem would have seen it stopped in the sky above the little town of Bethlehem.

(The December 25 date is interesting, but by this theory Jesus would have been some 6 months old by then.)

Now I find this theory awe-inspiring and fun and to me, it seems to give scientific corroboration; it tells us the Star of Bethlehem wasn’t just some non-credible myth. This, even though we would never read into the stars what the ancient Magi did. So I rejoice to have found this information.

Demetrios, on the other hand, thinks we ought not to seek natural explanations for supernatural events. He says this theory contradicts “Orthodox theology”, which says the Star was an angel.
I think the angel bit is not theology proper, but a pious opinion.

We both agree that matters of faith do not require scientific confirmation. I think it’s always nice to have it, though.

If you read the article, I’ll be very interested in your point of view.

There are some companion articles in the same blog, one of which is about the heavenly and earthly occurrences that happened on the day of the Crucifixion. It’s very interesting, too.

Oh, and while I’m recommending things, check out this very good article by Fr. Andrew Damick on people who are “spiritual but not religious.”

UPDATE: Dr. Patrick Fodor has graciously provided a link you can use to see all these stellar movements in animation.

My Cousin Debbie Doing Her Thing

Or, The Suspended Senior Citizen

Okay, so she's actually my mother's cousin, but a year or two younger than I am.

Stuck in Prayer?

Don't know what to say to God?  Do you think about praying, but have no idea what to say? 

Well, you don't really have to SAY anything.  The main idea is just to be conscious of being in God's Presence. 

But a moment's thought will supply enough material for a very long prayer!

There's always the Lord's Prayer, for starters.  You can't go wrong with what Jesus Himself taught us to pray. 

There's always the prayer of the angels:  Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory.  Hosannah in the highest!

There's always, "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, to all the ages."

There's always the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy upon me, the sinner."  But this very powerful prayer, even more perhaps than the others, needs to be guided by a spiritual father or mother, and not attempted on our own.

And there are Orthodox prayer books chalk full of the most wonderful prayers, both for regular use and for special occasions or needs.

In a Protestant Sunday School, I learned the acronym ACTS, which stands for what you do in prayer.

A was for "adoration".  We acknowledge God's greatness, His glory, His love, and that He is our Creator and Redeemer, our very Life, our God, worthy of all worship.

C was for "confession".  We look back over our day (or week or life!) and scrutinize it carefully for any sign of anything that tends to come between God and us, and then we ask His help to overcome those barriers and free ourselves for fuller union with Him.  And it's quite shocking, how many such things we discover if we are very honest with ourselves.  How many times did I judge my brother or sister?  How many times did I think harsh or unkind or just negative thoughts?  How many of my words were abrupt or contemptuous?  We ask God to forgive us, and to help us forgive others, since forgiveness will be of no effect for us until we can give it, as well as receive it.

T was for "thanksgiving."  We count our blessings and give thanks for each one we can think of, and that alone will be enough to fill our whole life with prayer.  (And let us not forget, when thanking God for our families, to pray He will make us worthier spouses, parents, children, sisters or brothers, etc.)

And "S" was for supplication, asking God for the things we need, such as our daily bread.  Under this title, though, can also come intercession.  We can just look around us at how many families have members in grave illness, or whose loved ones have recently died, or people who have asked us for our prayer for whatever reason.  We can pray for all the readers of our blogs (by name, when we know these).  We pray for all our families and friends, for those who have set themselves against us, for the jobless, the homeless, the hungry, the widows and orphans, our spiritual fathers or mothers, past and present and even future, for the departed, for the Church, for those who have left the Church and those about to enter her, for peace in the world... the list is literally endless.

No, there's no lack of stuff to say in prayer!  There's no problem getting the words started; it's getting them to stop.  Because when everything has been spoken and all the words have run out and there's only stillness left at the verbal level, that (generally) is when deeper, unspeakable prayer begins.

Glimpse of Heaven

Yesterday in church, while  I was pondering my sins, a baby girl of maybe 6 months found my little finger and grabbed it in her tiny hand for a couple of moments.  I wiggled it for her, and she looked up at me with the broadest smile, the sweetest, radiant, innocent, wondrous, happy, loving smile!  I remembered what Jesus said, that we must become as little children to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, and then I thought to myself, "That's how everybody in heaven is going to look at us, and how we will look at them, when we behold one another's glory.  Only even better, far better."

Mud Run, Again

Okay, so I still don't know what a mud run is, but my daughter tells me she and some of her girlfriends competed in the same event (last June) and beat Jeffrey's team.  Here are pictures of the ladies.  (That's Erin at top left of first photo, and second from left in the second picture.)

I Don't Know What This Is, Only Who

It's Jeffrey, my son-in-law, and the caption is "USMC Mud Run ".  But I just thought it was a picture to be shared!  Apparently this is an event in which he recently participated; he's been out of the Marines for 7 or 8 years now.

Here's a photo of him with his team, obviously after the competition.

Hey, Marathon Man, do I start calling you Mud Man now???

Busy Week

For those of you who sometimes express worry if I don't post for a week, my apologies.  It's just been busy.

We bought our tickets to Greece this week and are very excited about that.  While we're there, I want to apply for Greek/EU citizenship.  No, I won't have to give up my U.S. citizenship or I wouldn't do it.  But this will simplify things by making me eligible for all sorts of things over there.  And who doesn't want to be at least an honorary Greek, anyway?  (Except on March 17, when everyone wants to be an honorary Irishman.) 

So then I had to dig up my birth certificate, marriage license, and so forth to submit for these proceedings.  I'd forgotten I took them out of the file cabinet and put them, for safekeeping, in a small fireproof box, so that meant going through my entire file cabinet for the first time in years... let's just say stacks of organized files are still sitting about, waiting to be put back.  In order, this time.

Meanwhile I found my children's birth and baptismal certificates, yes, the ones you've been asking about, my dears, but they're only copies, not notarized, so probably wouldn't have done you any good anyway.  Also found the letter from Met. Anthony of Sourozh to send to John.  (KONSTANTINA, if you are reading this, I've misplaced his/your e-mail address; help!)

Today was our annual Wild Animal Baby Shower in support ARK, the Area Rehabbers Klub.  It's our main annual fundraising event.  So I manned the registration desk, handing out information, registering people for door prizes, accepting donations, directing children to the animals and/or the face painting corner. 

The wild animals in attendance were:  an owl, a crow, an oppossum, a hawk (I think I saw), and two snakes.   Will post photos when I get them.

Demetrios has been planning the patio he wants to build outside our sun room in a part of the yard that is rather ugly right now, so he's been looking at paving options and measuring and getting opinions and estimates. 

He had a colonoscopy yesterday afternoon, so that kept us both busy (and hungry) all day.   In the afternoon? you ask.  Yes, because he couldn't get a morning appointment until long after we were already planning to be in Greece. 

And here's what happens when you leave poor Baby Brother alone for a moment with his Big Sister.

Very Important

If you are a U.S. citizen and you consider yourself a Christian (of any stripe), please read this post over at "The Daily Weaving."