World, Do You Know Your Creator?
February 12, 2023 Leave a comment
The natural and the supernatural, separated into categories of science and faith since the times of Enlightenment, were not split apart in the ancient Near East worldview. Ancients believed that the gods were always active in the world in countless and often undetectable ways. The apostle Paul brought this into his dialogue with stoic and Epicurean philosophers at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31):
“In him we live and move and have our being,” (from Cretica, Epimenides, Creton poet, ca .600 BC)
“[It is with Zeus that every way has to do,] for we are also his offspring.” (from Phainomena, Aratus, Cilcian poet, 315-240 BC)
Psalm 104, a Hebrew Hymn of Creation with Parallels in Pharaoh Akhenaten’s Hymn, depicts ancient Israel’s cosmology. It may have been written during the times of David and Solomon. Its author is unknown, so let’s call him Naturalist Observer.
Naturalist Observer looked around at the known world at that time and ascribed its ordered functioning to God. He did so, apparently, with background knowledge of Genesis.
The psalm celebrates God’s creative function giving and care taking of the natural world. God is praised for creating a habitable world that continues day after day. Nature has a home to come home to, as God had promised.
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Gen. 8:22
Naturalist Observer has taken note of “the waters”, “the deep”, “springs”, “streams”, “the sea”. Water is contained and directed by God to function in support of life.
Water pours from the sky (vs.13) producing sustenance (vs. 14-16) within habitats of forest, valley and mountains (vs. 16-18)
Note: water is mentioned some 700 times in the Bible – from Genesis 1:2 (the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters) to The Revelation of John 21:1 (no longer any sea, i.e., no more chaos, no more scary deep, no more fear of the unknown)
Verses 19-23 are about time. (For Jews, each 28-day lunar month started with a new moon. Each new day started at 6 o’clock each evening when the sun goes down.)
Naturalist Observer reflects with awe at the breadth of God’s works (vs, 24-26).
Naturalist Observer records (vs. 27-30) God’s involvement in the cycle of life. The breath of every living thing depends on God (vs. 29-30). (Note: death before the Fall.)
Naturalist Observer ends his mediation (vs. 31-35) by recounting some of the means God has used to have humankind focus on the purpose of His creation – a sacred place where God dwells with man.
Earthquakes and volcanoes (vs. 32), speak of God’s awesome power to disrupt things and thereby get people’s attention (Ps. 97:4). And once God has their attention, He gives them his terrifying-but-mediated presence and the means to live in his presence (Ex.19:18). God, who touches the mountains and they smoke, is petitioned (Ps. 144:5-6) to come down, show His power, and put fear into the enemies of his people.
Consider that several ancient Near East accounts of a devastating flood were understood as a god using force to reset order in the world. See Genesis 6-9 for the theological interpretation of the mythic flood. (See also Genesis and the Flood: Understanding the Biblical Story – Article – BioLogos)
The wicked, as they ignore God and live according to their own ways – exchanging the natural for the unnatural (Rom. 1;18-32), bring disorder to what God called good or functioning as purposed. Naturalist Observer, having taken account of God’s ordered creation and knowing from history the disruption man’s wickedness brings to it, intreats God (vs. 35):
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more
Here, Naturalist Observer appears to be thinking of Elijah, the prophets of Baal, and fire from heaven (1 Kings 18).
We would do well, as Naturalist Observer has done, to spend time observing our sacred bio-space and meditating on the work of God’s hands. I do this while walking.
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts. – Søren Kierkegaard
We would do well not to polarize science and faith and make them adversarial, as both function in God’s ordered realm. At certain points, one may view science and faith in conflict. But that’s why study, reflection, and meditation are required – you don’t have all the information. Denying one and accepting the other says that you don’t think God has set up an ordered and functioning cosmos.
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. – Soren Kierkegaard
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
― Sarah Williams, Twilight Hours: A Legacy Of Verse
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Psalm 104
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent;
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters;
you make the clouds your chariot;
you ride on the wings of the wind;
4 you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8 They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys,
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
11 giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
and plants for people to cultivate,
to bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16 The trees of the field are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work
and to their labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, great and wide;
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you
to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
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Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?
Seek Him in the heavens;
Above the stars must he dwell.
–Ode to Joy (1785) by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, as adapted in the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
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Below are three short videos from a series of Oxford Conversations with Oxford Professor Andy Gosler.
Professor Andrew Gosler | Department of Biology (ox.ac.uk)
Professor Andrew | Mansfield College (ox.ac.uk)
The Ethno-ornithology World Atlas | people • birds • place (ewatlas.net)
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Green Energy, Digital Technology = Eco-adverse:
“As rare metals have become ubiquitous in green and digital technologies, the exceedingly toxic sludge they produce has been contaminating water, soil, the atmosphere, and the flames of blast furnaces.”
“Mining requires the extraction of solid ores, often after removing vast amounts of overlying rock. Then the ore must be processed, creating an enormous quantity of waste – about 100 billion tonnes a year, more than any other human-made waste stream.
Purifying a single tonne of rare earths requires using at least 200 cubic meters of water, which then becomes polluted with acids and heavy metals. On top of that, imagine the destruction and energy required to obtain these essential metals:
- 18,740 pounds of purified rock to produce 2.2 pounds of vanadium
- 35,275 pounds of ore for 2.2 pounds of cerium
- 110,230 pounds of rock for 2.2 pounds of gallium
- 2,645,550 pounds of ore to get 2.2 pounds of lutecium
- Also staggering amounts of ore are needed for other metals.”
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Climate Activism Has a Cult Problem (thefp.com)
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This is what digital technology is leading to – for your “safety” (a la COVID digital tracking):
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We are under attack. You need to read this . . .
Fifth Generation Warfare:
“. . . the war I’m talking about is an even broader war. A war that is taking place everywhere on the globe, even as I write, and that involves virtually everyone on the planet, young and old, male and female, military and civilian. It is the war of every government against its own population and every international institution against free humanity. . ..
We have a choice. Either we continue going into this technological, corporate matrix—which involves even things like buying the next generation of iPhone, which they’re already saying is going to have its own fingerprint scanning technology, and all of these corporate, military, Big Brother elements to it that we’re willingly signing up to every day of our lives, and actually paying money for—or we start to create alternative structures which don’t rely on that system. It’s a choice that we have to make in our lives, I would say more quickly than has been apparent at any other time in human history. . ..”
what I am proposing here: the creation of a parallel society.
Your Guide to Fifth-Generation Warfare (substack.com)
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In sum, we are living in anarchy, as institutions themselves have become nihilistic and weapons of the revolution. The Left, in viral fashion, took over the DNA of America’s institutions, and used them to help destroy their creators.
If we are bewildered why Harvard law-graduate prosecutors let out violent criminals just hours after their arrests; or why hyper-rich, pampered athletes who live in near-apartheid enclaves insult the flag, ignore the National Anthem, and sloganeer woke platitudes, it is because they were taught to undermine the status quo by fundamentally becoming it.
Anarchy, American-Style › American Greatness (amgreatness.com)
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Informed Dissent:
Ending the USG COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (substack.com)
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The reason Left Behind: Separating Fact from Fiction is being reprinted is because the Left Behind film franchise was renewed in 2023. Kevin Sorbo stars in “Left Behind: Rise of The Antichrist” with the tagline, “What Happens After the Rapture?” “I think it’s perfect for the time we are living in right now. You see the craziness of what governments are doing around the world right now. The fear, the pandemic, the anger, the hate, the cancel-culture and wokeness,” Sorbo stated in an interview. “If the rapture hasn’t already happened, it feels like it’s on the way.” How many times have we heard that the “rapture” is “on the way”? It was the tagline for most of the 20th century. It’s been more than 50 years since Hal Lindsey’s prophecy blockbuster The Late Great Planet Earth was published and intimated that the “rapture” would take place before 1988. A lot has happened since that false prediction has long been forgotten. I suspect that most people who will watch the new Left Behind film have no idea how inaccurate the prophetic speculators of a previous generation were. . . .
The promised false hope is that Christians will miraculously escape this soon coming “Great Tribulation” that the latest reiteration of the Left Behind film franchise depicts. Watch it, the tagline tells us, so you won’t have to experience the horrors of the Great Tribulation and possibly go to hell! But what if the entire Left Behind approach to Bible prophecy is more fiction than fact? That’s what this book is about.
Separating Fact from Fiction – The American Vision
Cindy Wity 
Name Games
February 19, 2023 Leave a comment
Jenny, Jenny, Bo-benny,
Bonana-fanna fo-enny
Fee fi mo-enny
Jenny!
Name games. There’s no shortage of them.
There are Democrat initiated bills that are titled one thing and do the exact opposite of their label when enacted. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act that won’t reduce inflation and inflates government instead and the unaffordable government-growing Affordable Care Act.
There is no end to the fraud or deception perpetrated by shifty pols who shift conspicuous things to hide something else – the name shell game. And just as countless, there is no shortage of labels and vitriol applied to those who do not want to play the name shell game. Those of us questioning the ‘games’ played by those in government are now deemed as being “the biggest threat to American democracy today” – another label that, here, shifts conspicuous meaning so as to hide something else what’s going on underneath. The label barrage continues.
In Biden regime terms, we are “extremists” – [We] embrace anger, thrive on chaos and live not in the light of truth, but in the shadow of lies, per Biden’s “Soul of the Nation” harangue.
If we don’t vote for Democrat massas, we are “not black”.
In politicized DOJ terms, we, as groups of parents, are characterized as “extremist hate organizations” for showing up at school board meetings, our protests categorized as the “equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” In other words, we are “domestic terrorists” for accepting what has always been accepted up until Democrats with stolen power said only certain things are acceptable.
In terms of the CDC, big pharma, the media, and the untested gene-altering mNRA vaccine, we are the “strongly hesitant”, “hesitant” or “hesitant” and unsure” for not embracing “the science” and becoming lab rats in a hugely suspect and, as it turns out, a hugely profitable medical experiment.
In terms of the COVIDian politicians, we are “public health” and as such we are to be managed via social experiments that include lock downs, useless masks, life-wrecking mandates, and vaccine passports.
In terms of those who spend and spend and spend, we are “taxpayers” who are obligated by law to pay “our fair share” (despite over half the nation not paying taxes). But you won’t hear this label used for us: full faith and credit – a phrase used to describe one entity’s unconditional guarantee or commitment to back the interest and principal of another entity’s debt.
Those of us who pay taxes are the surety behind the U.S. debt that pledges to fulfill its payment obligations in a timely manner. And yet the ruling class treats us like dirt, e.g., sending $100 BN of hard-earned taxpayer money to protect Ukraine’s border and leaving the southern border wide open to all kinds of opportunists (they are NOT refugees).
The ruling class, with its name shell games, continues to syphon money from us through taxation. And they also tax us with the high inflation they’ve created with their new shell game the Green New Deal. Wealth redistribution is the name of the game.
The labeling salvos continue in the media, in colleges and universities, and in social media. We are everywhere labeled “homophobic”, “transphobic”, “xenophobic”, “racist”, “white supremist”, “science denier” and on and on. The intelligentsia (not the intelligent, idealogues) will use labels to defend their projects from critical examination, e.g., one is “racist” if one disagrees with the myopic 1619 Project or the racism invoking CRT.
It’s easy to see what’s behind the pernicious labeling. There is projection, condescension, fear, insecurity, and bullying (they’ll denounce it in the school yard and dispense it in the classroom and media). Labeling is used for leverage as in a form of self-righteousness fostered by the social justice religion that gives purpose to an otherwise pointless life. A rush to judgement, ubiquitous today with the help of anonymity, is often followed with labeling.
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Who are “we”?
We are ordinary “salt of the earth” people. We are simple folk. We do what we have to do and do it every day. We work. Many of us do hands-on Dirty Jobs (and so we are looked down upon by the intelligentsia ruling class).
We avoid drama and delight in simple things, like a meal with family and friends.
We do what is needed and do so without fanfare, without tweets and Instagram posts, without calling attention to ourselves.
We don’t involve ourselves in self-deception and denying the truth for a crust of bread.
We speak truth in love to our neighbor.
We pray for our neighbors and not talk about them behind their backs. We don’t scold them with labels.
We relish the good and beautiful and moments of Gold in Sand:
Gold in sand: That is what true happiness is like. It occurs at ordinary moments and does not call attention to itself, much as Dolly does not call attention to herself. And yet it is moments like these that make a life meaningful.
In novel terms, we are not the narcissistic romanticist Anna Karenina. We are Dolly Oblonsky. whose everyday goodness, ceaseless efforts for her children, and fundamental decency attract no attention, but are the most meaningful of qualities, exemplifying religious virtue and “living for the soul”.
We are the Full Faith and Credit and “Soul of the Nation”. It goes without labels.
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“Living for the Soul”: Dolly’s Heroism in Anna Karenina
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Some DEIs are more equal than others:
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Informed Dissent:
Dr. Harvey Risch on CDC Plan to Code the Unvaccinated
No code for the vaccinated?
“We’ve seen three years of the government lying to us.”
“It’s been two years of propaganda . . . it’s been a psychological opp . . .
control by fear-based decisions.”
“Limited hospital resources are not grounds to deny human rights.”
Ivermectin
Dr. Harvey Risch on CDC Plan to Code the Unvaccinated (rumble.com)
Citizen Free Press on Twitter: “Jimmy Dore is wide awake: “Big Pharma has captured the FDA, captured the CDC. Fauci is a pathological liar and criminally corrupt, that’s why he’s been able to have that job for 43 years. He makes almost half a million dollars a year. In government!” https://t.co/YgYiJmhL21″ / Twitter
“ . . .more evidence of immune system damage and dysfunction following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.”
Thyroid problems post COVID-19 mRNA vaccination – new Japan study shows increased thyroid auto-antibodies after 2 doses & booster (substack.com)
Dr. Drew — I apologize to Naomi Wolf… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS
Unmasking Covid Claims: Scientific Review Challenges Claim that Masks Reduced Covid Transmissions – JONATHAN TURLEY
Nothing to see here:
FL Surgeon General Warns: Vaers Reports Are Up 1700% After Vax (independentsentinel.com)
Idaho bill to criminalize providers of COVID vaccines introduced | ktvb.com
Sudden (Coincidental) Deaths:
Belgian footballer Arne Espeel dies while playing for Winkel Sport B after collapsing on pitch | Daily Mail Online
HORROR: Pregnant 26-Year-Old Mother-of-Three Dies Suddenly After “Sudden Cardiac Arrest,” Unborn Baby Dead As Well (thegatewaypundit.com)
Damar Hamlin Refuses to Disclose the Official Reason Doctors Gave Him for His Heart Stopping: “That’s Something I Want to Stay Away From” (VIDEO) (thegatewaypundit.com)
12-Year-Old Football Player Dies Suddenly After Collapsing on the Field During Practice (VIDEO) (thegatewaypundit.com)
What Gives?
Jackson State Football Player Suddenly Collapses with Cardiac Arrest, Now in a Coma (breitbart.com)
Indiana:
INDIANA: Tell your Senator to kill SB4 or stick to simple solutions! | Stand for Health Freedom
INDIANA: BIG PUSH – Act again to stop public health expansion | Stand for Health Freedom
Illinois:
Incompetent and petulant Chicago Mayor dances to the beat of her DEI drum while city suffers:
Eric Matheny 🎙 on Twitter: “2278 murders in her city since she was elected mayor. https://t.co/Sut0c1jq5u” / Twitter
Fellow Democrat Condemns Chicago Mayor Lightfoot for O’Hare Airport Becoming a “Homeless Shelter” (thegatewaypundit.com)
Illinois Plans to House Illegal Immigrants in Shuttered Chicago K-Mart Store (thegatewaypundit.com)
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Boasts About $400M to Battle Soaring Crime But Study Reveal Little Progress | The Gateway Pundit
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Faces Restless Business Community as She Seeks Second Term – WSJ
Anatomy of MY Departure – John Kass (johnkassnews.com)
Ohio:
Nick Sortor on Twitter: “Even MORE proof that the EPA is LYING to the people of East Palestine. THIS WATER IS INSANELY CONTAMINATED. https://t.co/rNlNxxBTDd” / Twitter
Does Alfred E. Buttigieg have his head up someone’s ass?
“Where Is Pete Buttigieg?” – Ohio Residents Erupt at Town Hall Meeting on Environmental Disaster Following Train Derailment (VIDEO) (thegatewaypundit.com)
Simple Demonstration by JD Vance Shows How Polluted the Waters Are in East Palestine, Ohio After Toxic Train Wreck (thegatewaypundit.com)
CDC Updates Profile For Vinyl Chloride Days Before Ohio Train Derailment, And Removes Section On How It Affects Children | Evie Magazine
Biden Rejects Federal Disaster Assistance For Ohio Town Impacted By Toxic Train Derailment: Report | The Daily Wire
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Pathological Liar’s Economy:
Joe Biden insists US economy is ‘strong as hell’ as he munches an ice cream cone (nypost.com)
Wall St. Journal Report Says You Should Stop Eating To Save Money – Summit News
Panderer in Chief:
Rep. Thomas Massie taking it to the streets:
Thomas Massie — We should dismantle the Dept of Education… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano & the NWO State Religion
EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Vigano Responds to Tucker Carlson – Says It’s Time to Call Out New World Order and Hold Globalists Accountable for Their Crimes | The Gateway Pundit
Abp. Viganò: The globalist New World Order has the marks of the ‘antichurch of Satan’ – LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)
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Joe Biden and his cabinet should be governing in Portland, where being diverse and different is so important and where progress towards utopia has already started:
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Jen’s Proposed Tax Plan for America:
No one ever pays more than 10% of their income during their lifetime. Those honorably discharged, no more than 5% tax over their lifetime.
No corporation pays more than 10% tax on their profit during its existence.
No more IRS. 10% comes out of each paycheck direct to the federal and state treasuries. What is spent is delineated in yearly statements to the dollar sent to taxpayers. (Reverse accountability)
No more welfare programs. Communities and churches care for the poor.
No more federal education. No more Dept. of Education. Each community decides the school and teachers.
No more pork barrel projects.
Social security tax ends in 10 years. Balance due recipients is paid from monies allocated for Ukraine, climate change and pet projects.
No real estate taxes.
No sales taxes
10% total tax is divided as follows:
7% to state
3% to federal government. Of the 3% 1% goes to pay down U.S. debt.
Everyone pays 10%. No special assessments.
So be it.
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Filed under 2023 current events, Culture, nihilism, Political Commentary, Politics, Progressivism, social commentary, social engineering, social justice Tagged with culture, DEI, Diversity, East Palestine, Equity Inclusion, government, politics, social justice, taxes