Don’t look away.

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Iranian leaders have denied the legitimacy of the internationally recognized sovereign state of Israel at every UN meeting they have ever attended, and called for its destruction.

Today, they called the leaders of a terror group that has killed hundreds of Americans (and thousands of Lebanese and Syrians, and which, within recent weeks, internationally targeted 12 Druze children for the crime of playing soccer in Northern Israel), “our martyrs,” and attacked Israel in “retaliation” for their assassination.

In doing so, Iran explicitly identified with a military organization, Hizbullah, that is currently engaged in an active campaign to drive the Jewish people living in Israel from their homes. It amounts to an open declaration of war, and proves that their commitment to the destruction of Israel is more than just words.

If Israel is to survive, it has no choice but to address the immediate, existential threat posed by Iran.

Tyranny of Tyrannies

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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology

ADHD

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The world is really simple – and that makes everything complicated. Lots and lots – billions – of simple pieces – very simple pieces – all moving around and interacting at the same time. It’s very complicated.

I hate playing chess. I used to think I was smart, but then I realized how simple chess was, and how bad I was at it. I want chess to be something that smart people can just be good at – but it’s a skill, like everything else – so I’m not good at it, which means I’m not a smart as I thought I was, because I can’t just pick it up, look at it, and figure it out. So I hate it.

Everything is like that. The things that were made by smart people, for smart people, usually end up getting mastered – and taken over – by stupid people who want the benefits of playing the same closed games we smart people invented in order to keep them out. And then it isn’t fun anymore, because before long, the stupid people get to be smarter than the smart people, and we have to find something else to do.

It’s like the rubiks cube. I tried to figure out how to figure out how to solve it – without algorithms. I don’t want to memorize a set of steps, I want to see how smart I am. But after I solved it a few times, I started to realize that there are certain sets of steps you can follow that work every time… and then it got boring, because all I was doing, at that point, was memorizing a set of steps.

Everything eventually becomes a science – which means that the more magic you practice, the less magic there is in the universe. At some point, all the magic in the universe will just become science and then life won’t be worth living anymore.

If you really want to be special you have to invent something. A religion, a martial art, a bit of software. A book. To be the first one – but, even then, it’s not guaranteed. Even if you’re the first one, someone else with no talent can come along and sell your thing and take all the credit.

You also have to be careful not to fall into the trap of mass producing other people’s inventions for money – artists end up drawing the same pictures, again and again – software developers inevitably find themselves “specializing” in writing and rewriting the same application, again and again, in different languages and for different companies. At some point, you stop inventing altogether and become a full time salesman – someone with no talent selling other people’s ideas and taking all the credit. But if it puts food on my children’s plates…. ?

Here’s another thing that happens when you are a creator. An idea gets into your head, and it won’t go away. Most of the time you can drink another cup of coffee, or hit the weights again, or watch another YouTube video, or go for another walk, or smoke another cigarette, or… and then, after all that, if the idea still won’t go away, so that you can sit down and get busy doing whatever it is you’re really supposed to be doing, for whoever is paying you to do it, what then?

If I have to write one more paragraph about the election, or one more RESTful CRUD service… draw one more couple holding hands in front of a sunset on the beach… or stand in this horse stance for one more minute…

I had a melt-down last night. They’ve been happening more and more frequently.

Maybe I should stop drinking so much coffee.

What are you protesting?

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Imagine a world where there was a group of people who decided which ideas were “correct,” and made an example out of anyone who expressed dissent.

Imagine a world where people were not permitted to organize around a shared set of spiritual beliefs, or to share those beliefs with others.

Imagine a world where you had to surrender yourself as a slave to those who had access to the goods and services necessary for your survival, instead of engaging with them in an equitable, voluntary system of exchange.

Imagine a world where, once you had spent your time – which is your life – to earn money, that money and the things you bought with it could be taken away from you by people who you had no say in appointing.

Imagine living in a world where others could determine your status as a person, based on arbitrary criteria designed specifically to exclude you.

Being American means being willing to give your life to prevent that from happening.

And being against Israel means support for those who are willing to kill and die to ensure it happens to the Jewish people.

Freedom of Thought in Israel and the West

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It actually makes sense that some Jewish people support “Palestine,” and here’s why. Jewish people follow a set of teachings and belong to a community where compassion and justice are highly valued. Jewish people have a long history of standing on the side of those who they see as having been oppressed, “because we know what it’s like.” In addition, Jewish individuals are generally free to – no, they are encouraged to – think for themselves and support whatever causes seem the most reasonable. This is actually an idea that “The West” copied from Judaism (indirectly, by way of Protestant Christianity).

Now I’m going to Google to see how many activist groups I can find with names like “Muslims for Israel,” or “Zionist Qataris,” or “Gazans against antisemitism.” Wish me luck. 🙂

Be sure that the Lord, Jehovah, does nothing…

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… until He has revealed His secret to His servants, the prophets.” — Amos 3:7

I’m learning that in the old days, before the Bible was written, Jah transmitted His infallible truth through the mouths of the prophets. Those very prophets wrote down whatever He told them to, and it became the Bible. Now, that Bible has become the final source of God’s authoritative word for us.

I’m pretty sure there were other prophecies, too, that weren’t meant for us; but everything that was, can now be found in the scripture.

Another thing I’m learning is that the Lord has specific, significant things that He is still planning to do in the future; “secrets,” if you will. That doesn’t mean He necessarily told the prophets what I’m going to have for breakfast tomorrow, or how many children I’m going to have, or even necessarily what they (or I) should do for a living.

But the prophecies recorded in the Bible do have something to say about my life specifically, and about the course that human history is going to take in general. There are specific plans that He wants to share with me, and specific things that He wants to make me aware of, at specific points in time.

This is where modern “born-again’s” get the idea (and I have to apologize, but “born-again” will have to do until I can think of a better shorthand for referring to my chosen spiritual path) – but, it’s where we get the idea of finding “promises” in the Bible, or of getting directions from God’s Word that extend beyond its explicit, general wisdom, moral teachings, and lore.

What I’m describing here isn’t bibliomancy; it’s a process of trying to discern the voice and direction of God, guided by Spirit (you know – the One He promised to pour out on all flesh?), and the prophecies He instructed His prophets to record for us, their sons and daughters.

By immersing ourselves in those ancient writings, we can be convicted of sin. We can learn sound doctrine, transcendent wisdom, and Jewish and Christian history and heritage; and, we can learn God’s general (and specific!) will for our lives.

Protestants love to talk about “biblical” things – biblical teaching, biblical morality, biblical living. I’m going to coin a new phrase, and start talking about things that are “Bible-informed,” instead. Scripture wasn’t meant to be treated like a creed or a text book; it wasn’t meant to serve as the basis of a new sect of Christianity. All it is, is a collection of infallible prophecies – recorded in the past – to which we can refer for insight into what God wants to say to us now – always with a full understanding that, unlike what was transmitted in writing by those ancient prophets, our own apprehension of God’s message will never be perfect.

I want to allow scripture to shape the way I think and the way I relate to God and my fellow humans. I want it to transform me in subtle ways, as I am cultivated by it into a branch, with deep roots in the Vine, that can eventually begin to produce Spiritual fruit.

This is the deep spirituality I have been searching for all my life. This scripture – this prophecy – is the water I have been longing to swim in.

Now, I am finally home.

Psalm 17

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Hear what is just, O Jehovah; listen to me.
Give ear to the prayer of my unfeigned lips.

Let my sentence come out of Your presence;
Let Your eyes see what is right.

You have examined my heart.
You have visited me in the night.
You have tested me and found nothing.
I have resolved that my mouth will not transgress.

As for the deeds of men –
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept myself
From the ways of the violent.

May my steps remain in Your paths;
Then my feet will not slip.

I have called on You, for you will answer me, O God.
Turn Your ear to me; hear my speech.

Show Your marvelous loving kindness –
You, Who, by Your right hand,
Save those who trust in You
From those who rise against them.

Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

From the wicked who oppress me,
From my mortal enemies who surround me.

They have walled themselves in with comfort;
With their mouths, they speak proudly.

They have surrounded us in our steps, now;
They have set their sights, crouching on the ground,

Like a lion greedy for his prey –
Like a young lion, lurking in a thicket.

Rise up, Jehovah; deter him –
Bring him low.
Deliver me from the sword of the wicked one –
From the hand of worldly men, O Jehovah –

Whose portion is in this life;
Whose bellies are filled with their due;
Whose children will be filled with it;
Who leave the rest to their little ones.

But I –
I will see Your face in my innocence.
I will be satisfied,
When I awake, to visions of You.

a paraphrase

Hamas Charter

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If you are pro-Palestine, you should educate yourself on what it is you are supporting. In particular, have a look at this quote from the Hamas Charter (which, as agents of Hamas will insist, is not available anywhere due to its having been taken down as part of a secret conspiracy between the Jews and the US Government to oppress the Palestinian people, and which is actually publicly available online at Yale University):

“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.”

Notice that this paragraph does not say, “our struggle against Israel.”

Again, I recommend you read the whole charter; particularly if your information about this subject comes primarily from news sources or from Palestinians, who in spite of allegedly being confined in an “open air prison” and unable to leave, have, inexplicably, began streaming into the United States and western Europe by the thousands, each parroting identical talking points.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp

You should also probably save a copy for yourself for when it inevitably gets taken down. 😉

I can create anything

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Even the mind has limits. But as soon as I mention “limitlessness,” I create a referent to what is just outside my reach. I capture the unquantifiable inside Christmas wrapping paper. Shake it, feel the packaging with my fingertips. Give myself something to talk about.

The mind isn’t “limitless,” but the mind can contain it; that’s the authority of words.

Today I’m experiencing a sensation I haven’t felt in years. Pain has a way of sweeping a whole rainbow of emotions through you in a single moment. Like trying to remember who it was that enjoyed that song the first time you heard it, or finding that old hoodie at the back of your closet.

What kinds of things do you do to silence your unease? You know it’s going to catch up to you, but you just need a few more minutes. A few more hours. You’re in traffic – much too busy to deal with anything that could rock your world.

It’s time to start a silence habit.

Sensory Deprivation Chamber – 21st century, we call it, “recreation.” A luxury. 1000 years ago, it was a form of torture. Few minds could survive it.

“I will strike you with madness, blindness, and confusion” (Deut. 28:28).

I go for a run, or listen to music. I have a life to live – bills to pay. No time to notice the time I don’t have to notice. No time to realize that time was all I ever had.

“On the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” And I did – and I have been, ever since then.

But enough about me. How cold was it when you first came out that door? Morning joy hurting your eyes; the unceasing tide, blue skies? Living in and preparing for the future – when did it pass you by?

Now I’m hovering over the waves, wings spread. Serenity. Is it the moon, the endless, snow-peaked ranges, dotted with tall, ever-green cliches? Pores open, to let the wind pass through. If you were nothing, invisible, absorbed into nature, then you could continue to ignore all these questions… for just a little while longer.