This is the last in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it, and now Thanksgiving Day is here. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced have not necessarily been in any particular order. I hope the series has been of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic has taken a swan dive.
It just occurred to me now that there is a small irony to this 20th and final post in this series. The topic being Vision. 20/20. Get it? Eh? Anyhow…
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained….
I think a lot about vision. It truly is amazing what it means that God has given us eyes to see. My grandfather who I never met (not the one I wrote about here) was stricken with macular degeneration and lost his eyesight in his later years. His son Jack – my mom’s half-brother – made a remarkable story of his life despite his own blinding handicap.
You don’t know how many times I have been reminded of the genetic inheritance of this condition. Without genetic testing, I have no way of knowing whether I might be affected someday. It seems less likely as time passes. Despite all my physical foibles, I have been blessed with remarkable vision. More than once have I taken pride in reading the sign from a distance that no one else could.
But then I realize what indeed it is: pride. Am I the only one who battles with pride on the silliest, most trivial things? (more…)
Thanksgiving Day is here tomorrow: A time to count our blessings and reflect on the faith of our forefathers OR a time to engage in ridiculous, politically-correct posturing at the expense of schoolchildren (H/T Michelle Malkin)? I’ll take the former, thank you very much.
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
America’s pastime. Come November, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd seem distant memories. But hope springs eternal in the heart of the baseball fan.
For the 19th and penultimate edition of this thankfulness series, I want to express my gratitude for a game – yes, but not just any game. And I want to do so by cheating, perhaps … quoting a couple excerpts from a column I penned for the Hillsdale Daily News on April 2, 2002, titled “Ernie Harwell reminds us what baseball is about”: (more…)
Tune in at 9 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the second edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, as Joshua, El Presidente, Night Twister, and I work to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump (also known as proving “you may be right, we (really) may be crazy.“)
Special guest is slated to be Red County’s Michael Kerr from the great Pacific Northwest. Perhaps Michael can cite experiences from King County, Washington, to shed light on the current recount in Minnesota.
Don’t forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus.
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
Two days to go until Thanksgiving, I would be remiss not to mention one of the things I’m most thankful for: my parents. It’s true that you don’t fully appreciate them and what they do until you have children of your own.
My parents aren’t perfect. I’d obviously be lying if I glossed over them as something better than what they really are: two hard-working, Christian people who provided for my physical needs, along with a stable home environment with good discipline and opportunities to learn and grow.
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Powerline has the latest update on the Norm Coleman-Al Franken recount saga. Not exactly the grand Florida melodrama of eight years ago. Nor does the angry, foul-mouthed comedian seem to have much reason to be less angry than usual. As I write this, Coleman’s pre-recount lead of 206 now stands at 210 with 77 percent of the ballots totaled.
According to Powerline, though, many of the untallied votes will come from Minneapolis precincts. Stuart Smalley Al Franken has to hope that some of the Twin Cities’ deceased cousins in Chicago, Philadelphia, or King County, Washington, might have made a last-minute trek there to cast a vote for him from beyond the grave. (“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and darn it, dead people like me.”) Maybe a box full of Al Franken votes might show up in a downtown dumpster? Or he could just rely on the brilliant regression analysis of Nate Silver.
It can’t hurt to bone up on some perennially timely reading material.
Norm Coleman and Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss – who faces a very important runoff election next Tuesday, December 2 – are needed to form the firewall against the costlier, Left-leaning impulses of President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. If you’re inclined to help Saxby, please do so.
Quite simply, the people of Colorado deserve open, accountable, and transparent government. Not the kind where you as a taxpayer walk into the school district admin building, get a barrage of questions for asking for a copy of the district’s credit card transactions, and have to pay $75 from your own pocket just to see how your money is being spent. That’s Natalie Menten’s story with Jeffco Public Schools, and you can hear it on an iVoices podcast:
Shouldn’t it be easier for citizens to access this information? Is creating a comprehensive, user-friendly, online searchable database asking too much of our governments? In these tumultuous economic times, placing the public eye on government spending should help ensure that money is spent more prudently and appropriately.
This issue is only going to get hotter and hotter down at the State Capitol. Bookmark the Independence Institute’s new Colorado Spending Transparency blog to stay on the cutting edge.
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
I have appreciation for many different kinds of music. Today I express my thanks particularly for the grand elevating pieces of music that lift the human heart upward, hopefully in expression of praise to the Creator: from Handel’s Messiah to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The chorus at the end of the latter provides one of the most sublime moments in the world of music, in the hushed stillness that anticipates and quickly crescendos into the full “Ode to Joy” theme sung by the complete choir and supported by the full orchestra.
In every year but one since I’ve been in Colorado, my wife and I have made the Boulder Messiah Singalong a tradition, and we will likely attend this year, too. There’s nothing like being surrounded by a couple hundred strangers in a small church and soaking in the words of Scripture through the musical genius of Handel’s score. And, if you dare, you can sing along, too. The best part is the reprise of the Hallelujah Chorus at the end. Close your eyes, and you begin to realize a small foretaste of the sounds of heaven.
These two pieces only scratch the surface of an abundance of grand, sublime music that God has left us through the untouchable genius of many composers today and in times past. It’s wonderful to have the soul stirred, the heart lifted, and the mind elevated – even if for but a brief moment.
Around our household the tradition is that the Christmas music can’t start until after the Thanksgiving feast. Otherwise, we’d overload ourselves with a wide array of great songs too early. But I truly love that final month of the year for its musical value. Thankfully, it will be here soon.
Lately I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of refereeing and discussion about the libertarian-social conservative debate. Along those lines, I believe my readers would gain a lot of insights from this American Thinker essay by libertarian Randall Hoven:
Social conservatism is taking a beating lately. Not only did it lose in the recent elections, it is being blamed for the Republican losses. If only the religious right would get off the Republican Party’s back, the GOP could win like it is supposed to again. I beg to differ.
I’m anything but a social conservative. In nine presidential elections, I voted Libertarian in six. I am a hard core “limited government” conservative/libertarian; I want government out of my pocket-book and out of my bedroom. Concerning my religion, it’s none of your business, but I’m somewhere in the lapsed-Catholic-deist-agnostic-atheist spectrum; let’s just call it agnostic.
Having said all that, I have no problem with “social conservatives” or the “religious right” and their supposed influence on the Republican party. I base this not on the Bible or historical authority, but on the love of liberty and the evidence of my own eyes.
The provocative conclusion?
When the day comes that the only thing between me and liberty are some Bible-quoting know-it-alls, I’ll reconsider. But right now, there are a lot of things between me and liberty, and the “religious right” is not one of them. In fact, I see them voting for more liberty, not less. If the Republican Party ever decides it really wants to be the party of liberty, rather than the slower-road-to-socialism party, I’ll gladly join the religious right there.
The evidence is laid out in the essay. Judge for yourselves. I think Mr. Hoven makes some excellent, eminently rational points. Social conservatives need a little more humility, and libertarians need a clearer perspective. Together they should see much more in common than not from which to form an ongoing, truly conservative, political alliance that can lead the GOP back from the wilderness.
Susan Greene at the Denver Post scoffs at the idea of retiring U.S. Senator Wayne Allard serving as president of Colorado State University:
The National Education Association has graded him with an “F.” And the American Association of University Women has rated his work with a “zero.”
“Sen. Allard is a kind and humble man. But his voting record on educational issues has not received passing grades,” says former at-large University of Colorado Regent Jim Martin. “To appoint him would not be in the best interest of the institution or the state.”
Allard’s environmental record — most notably, his doubts about humankind’s part in climate change — also would besmirch the university.
In other words, Greene is hanging a sign on the door of higher education that says: “Conservatives need not apply”. Here’s the ideological litmus test:
- If you don’t kowtow to the teachers union lobby, you’re not qualified.
- If you have any concern about the extent of the federal government’s role in education, you’re not qualified.
- If you are joined by 31,000 scientists in applying rational skepticism to a scientific issue, you’re not qualified.
- If you’re not on board with Bill Ritter’s wildly oversold, command-and-control “new-energy economy”, you’re not qualified.
Now I’m not sure whether or not Wayne Allard would make a good president of Colorado State University. But the reasons Susan Greene gives have very little, if anything, to do with the quality of education provided by the taxpayer-funded institution.
The label of not having an advanced degree doesn’t apply to Dr. Wayne Allard, like it did to Bruce Benson, so there goes that argument. According to some cocktail party denizens, placing a conservative in charge of a state university would be positively gauche.
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
We have no guarantee of domestic peace and harmony for all time. I am thankful for the freedom of worship, but recognize that it may not be a permanent condition for my own lifetime.
American Christians have been remarkably blessed. The level of persecution faced by the most faithful here is small compared to brothers and sisters in the faith worldwide, past and present. Then there are those who have paid the highest price – from St. Stephen and early believers fed to the lions in Roman coliseums to the Christian victims of state-sponsored persecution in the Sudan. Their faith is incomprehensible.
These martyrs would acknowledge that even this faith is not “of themselves” but a product of the peace of God guarding their hearts. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul tells us:
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
A rock-solid promise. And one that really does surpass all comprehension. But it certainly does stir a deeper level of appreciation in my heart. I am thankful to God for the faith of the martyrs throughout church history, and ultimately for His matchless peace.
I’m late in getting to it, but now is a good time to acknowledge November 22, 2008, as Victory in Iraq Day. Zombie has details. It has been a long, hard slog over there, and we owe the men and women who served there more than we can repay. Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq most certainly have not died in vain.
Victory In Iraq: The Obamamedia may not notice for many, many weeks.
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
Did you think every entry in this series was going to be utterly serious? Well, first of all, you probably haven’t been paying attention. But even if you have, there should be little doubt left. I am very thankful for cinnamon – the tastiest, most succulent, appetizing flavor. Can I get an Amen?
Think of all the wonderful ways cinnamon makes life a little better: cinnamon rolls, cinnamon apple crisp, cinnamon apple sauce, cinnamon appel strudel, cinnamon bread, cinnamon butter, cinnamon candy, cinnamon muffins, cinnamon doughnuts, to name a few. I even learned from a college friend the advantage of stirring cinnamon into a spaghetti sauce concoction. Try it sometime.
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This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.
There is a divide between parenthood and non-parenthood that you don’t really get until after it’s thrust upon you. It seems to be one of those well-known secrets of the generations that doesn’t completely make sense to try to explain to the uninitiated. But I will weakly try to tag it as a unique combination of curious wonder and tremendous responsibility.
Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Anyway, I am very thankful that God has given the lovely Mrs. Virtus and me two beautiful children. God takes care to let us know the value of children and the gift they are. And indeed, we are to have gratitude for God’s gifts.
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This week’s two prime examples of self-serving guns on the Right pointing inward? On the one hand, Kathleen Parker caricaturing and lambasting me and millions of evangelical Christians:
To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.
Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party….
It isn’t that culture doesn’t matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party — and conservatism with it — eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one’s heart where it belongs. [emphasis added]
In other words: Shut up, social conservatives. Note, Parker doesn’t encourage SoCons to develop and apply a healthy, humble perspective that distinguishes religious faith from political action. She says to suck it in, be quiet, and quit embarrassing her. It would appear that Parker has spent too much time lately at Beltway cocktail parties, and perhaps is getting ready to publish a new book.
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