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Morning News, August 7: Firsts and lasts

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Scripture for today: Romans  8:15:  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” To match with I Timothy 1:7:  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.   Need I write more? Why is fear paralyzing us? Fear over everything and so many things that do not seem worthy of it?  My granddaughter turned 7 months yesterday! I had to stop by to see her during a frustrating (due to traffic) trip to Chattanooga from Dalton and back. She was experiencing a new thing: playing with oatmeal.  It was her first experience with oatmeal, which had no sugar or salt. That sounds unappealing but I understand the reasoning. For her, it was more about the texture and swallowing. She actually did swallow a little bit of it, but more was on her and the little desk of her high chair. Her parents were letting her feed herself; I think I was a bit more pushy with her
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Morning News, August 5: Olympics and Normal People Biblical Studies

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The school year has begun for millions of teachers, administrators, and students.  You are prayed for.  I have seen many commercial for the Olympics on NBC, and they run this way:  "You will never see an Olympics like this....with very special guests" followed by a clip of Snoop Dogg.  When did he become a "very special guest"? I would expect someone like an Olympic athlete of the past who accomplished other things (not surnamed Jenner).  I don't see Snoop Dogg as having much to do with the Olympics, athletics, or healthy living.  I visited the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum in downtown Carrollton, GA, last week. If you are in the area, I recommend it if you have an interest in the industrial history of the region or in quilting. I will have a podcast episode about it soon. I also visited the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  Amazing place, also a podcast. If I were smart, I would incorporate and get some kind of tax write off on these trips
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Morning News, August 2

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 Well, it's still morning on the West Coast.  Romans 5:6ff For when we were still without strength, [ d ] in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. I think we overlook, or rush over, the word "demonstrates" in verse 8. Some translations have it as "shows," which is inadequate as translation.  Here's one explanation:   In the Bible, the word “commend” holds mul
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Morning News, August 1

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His mercies are new every morning.  Lamentations 3:22-23. My contract starts today, so off to work I go.....as if I don't work every day as a professor and administrator. But I have to stop the flexibility and remote work. I am ambivalent about working from home; good in some ways, not good in all ways. It would be nice if my worlds could be separated. But it is nice to save money on gas and time driving and "getting beautiful" every morning.  We are reading the New Testament through the year at our church, and I am more or less on target. Today I'm on Romans 5, but, you know, I just couldn't get past the first five verses.  Therefore, having been justified by faith, [ a ] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces [ b ] perseverance; 4  and
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Morning News, July 29

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Some random observations: 1. The Olympics opening ceremony has set off a stir with some kind of drag queen tableau seeming to parody da Vinci's painting The Last Supper . Lots of people are angry and offended. Well, it's the French. That's a flippant remark, but would we really expect respect for religious iconography from them? Or respect for much of anything except their language and food?  To be honest, though, da Vinci's sort of had the depiction wrong anyway.  The disciples and Christ would not have sat at a table with a white cloth in a perfect geometrical arrangement, on only one side.  Update, 8/3/24: The artist in charge of the design said it was based on another painting depicting the gods on Mt. Olympus.  Whatever. It was still vulgar and inappropriate.  Of course, Facebook has lots of opinions. One lady posted something from a pastor who tried to put a good face on it, saying we should understand and have compassion on those who would do this because they ar
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The Romantic Scottish Myth

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               I am thinking a lot about Scotland lately.             I have been there, I am pleased and proud to say. In1997. That is a long story in itself, not for here, but all I can say is I felt perfectly at home. One could argue I had no right to; it wasn’t my home or my country and I’d never been there before. No matter. I belonged.             Scotland has been in my thoughts for several reasons. First, I am working on a long essay, which might turn into a book, about my response to JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy.   In that book, Vance seems to have an obsession about the Scots Irish, which, as that unimpeachable source Wikipedia states, can be identified as:     The Ulster Scots people are an ethnic group [6] [7] [8] [9] descended largely from Scottish and English settlers who moved to the north of Ireland during the 17th century. [10] [11] [12] There is an Ulster Scots dialect of the Scots language . Found mostly in the province of Ulst
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Morning News, July 26

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  I started this a week or so ago.     It was a sparkling morning. After weeks of dryness with browned grass and wilted flowers, two periods of heavy rain yesterday covered the thirsty trees and shrubs with drops that caught the emerging sunshine that 7 a.m.   Everything looked and felt refreshed and new. The air, damp and promising dense humidity and heat later on, still had a coolness and slight breeze that reminded me the Georgia heat does lead to autumn breathability.   Crepe myrtles. How I love those. Are they shrubs, or trees, or are there variations of both? Who invented them? How did they come to surround us in July in the East? They do not look natural, really, because they are so orderly. The oaks and pines around here, and even maples, are arbitrary in their placement and size. The crepe myrtles stand on display where humans wanted them; borders to property, landscaping, along picturesque roads. I remember thousands of them in coastal Virginia on the way to the bridge th
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