In today’s first reading, we bring a week of Hosea to a close. The choice of readings paints an image of life with and without God.
Monday: God spoke words of faithful, loyal love.
“I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.”
In today’s first reading, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is being warned about the choices they have made and are making – and the consequences of those choices should they continue. As a whole, Hosea accuses Israel of three sins in particular. Instead of putting their trust in the Lord alone, the people break the covenant: (1) by counting on their own military strength, (2) by making treaties with foreign powers (Assyria and Egypt), and (3) by running after the Baals, the gods of fertility. Israel thus forgets that the Lord is its strength, its covenant partner, and giver of fertility. Continue reading
Did you know that you have a constitutional right to become a government-sanctioned pirate? I present for your consideration Article I, Section 8: Clause 11, War Powers – To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water. This means that, with Congress’s permission, private citizens can weaponize all manner of watercraft, put out to sea, capture enemy vessels, and keep the booty. Rather than fly the Jolly Roger, you’d proudly fly the Star-and-Stripes. And even more, rather than taking on the name “pirate” although that has a certain cache to it, you might go by the title “privateer.” But I must admit that “Pirate Jack” sounds a fair bit more daunting than “Privateer Jack.” Continue reading
Like other major metropolitan cities, e.g., London, New York City considered implementing a fee to drive into Manhattan. The system was all set to implement – technology and all – when the mayor decided not to implement (perhaps delay?). Not sure of the reasons why. I was curious about the estimated annual revenue that was expected as the proceeds were to be directed into a subway improvement fund. Monday would have been the first day the tolls would have been in place. Continue reading
From the good folks at Merriam-Webster: To be called a patriot is today considered an honor, but it wasn’t always this way. For much of the 17th century, to be deemed a “good patriot” was to be a lover of one’s country who agreed on political and/or religious matters with whoever was doing the deeming. British loyalists applied the word like a badge to supporters of the ruling monarchy, but then the word took on negative connotations as it was applied first to hypocritical patriots—those who espoused loyalty to the Crown but whose actions said otherwise, and then to outright anti-royalists. But in the 18th century, American writers, including Benjamin Franklin, embraced patriot to refer to colonists who took action against British control. After the American Revolutionary War, patriot settled back into more neutral use, but to this day writers of all and various political stripes grapple over who is deserving of the word.
When the Fourth of July comes around each year it is quite common to hear quotes, passages, and speeches that invoke the name of Thomas Jefferson the American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and later served as the 3rd president of the United States. He wrote a plethora of letters, essays, and more over the course of his life. As you might expect he is a quotable person. Continue reading
If you lived in the northern part of Israel some 750 years before Jesus, you were living during the reign of King Jeroboam II. The economy is good, the neighboring countries are envious of your peace and prosperity – life is good. There is only one problem: the rabble rouser Amos. Have you heard his doom and gloom so-called prophecy? You’d think the enemies were at the gate and the dreaded day of the Lord would be turned upon Israel instead of our enemies. Not sure what he thinks he accomplishes other than to disturb my peace. Continue reading
Today is the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. The gospel reading is taken from Luke and describes the scene when the child is born and, against the custom of the day, receives not his father’s name, but the name “John” as earlier commanded by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:13. Scripture is clear that John was to be the herald of Messiah. The angel Gabriel also announced to Zechariah that his son, “…will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” Continue reading
The question: at what temperature does water freeze? Today the outside temperature is in the mid-90s (degrees F) and so naturally one might begin to think about an ice-cooled drink. Which leads one to think about ice. If you don’t have an ice maker in your refrigerator and someone forgot to refill the ice cube tray (or even worse, returned it empty to the freezer), perhaps you wonder how long it will take until ice cubes are ready. Perhaps you are overly anxious about it and when you check the cubes are part solid-ice, part water, and part a thin layer of almost-ice crusting the top of the tray. What can you do to speed up the process…. apart from shut the freezer door and be patient? This is where it pays to be curious. Continue reading
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