Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Burgers for the White Knight
When my man defends my honor I feel the least I can do is to make him a special dinner. Last night, unfortunately, his burger was already burning in the pan when he walked in the door. Well, at least it was a Black Angus steakburger and as it turned out he likes his burgers blackened. We had onions, tomatoes, the usual condiments plus steak sauce, sea salt (the best kind) and cheese slices.
The burgers I cooked last night I bought pre-made because I got a deal on them. However my usual way of making hamburgers is a lot more complicated.
I mix bread crumbs with the meat so that the finished burger is not gorgly. Then I form the patties with a very large circumfrence and as thin as as they can exist without falling apart. Two of these super thin patties will go on each bun, with my special burger mix cooked between them.
The mix is as follows: chopped fresh cilantro, thin-sliced mushrooms, crumbled feta cheese (I always crumble my own feta) and green onions slices. I find I can either toss these in a bowl with catsup or place each ingredient in painstaking layers on the bottom patty, squirting the catsup over the whole. It really turns out very similarly in either case.
Once my two patties are in the pan, one on top of the other with the mix between them, I have to cook them slowly with water in the pan. This is to make sure that the stuff in the middle is thoroughly cooked, so it's safe.
I also toast the bun in the toaster oven or briefly sear the insides in hot butter in a frying pan.
My guests always rave about "my" burgers. Maybe later I'll talk about "my" tacos. Having a few good dinners up your sleeve is always a good idea when you are married to Sir Galahad.
The burgers I cooked last night I bought pre-made because I got a deal on them. However my usual way of making hamburgers is a lot more complicated.
I mix bread crumbs with the meat so that the finished burger is not gorgly. Then I form the patties with a very large circumfrence and as thin as as they can exist without falling apart. Two of these super thin patties will go on each bun, with my special burger mix cooked between them.
The mix is as follows: chopped fresh cilantro, thin-sliced mushrooms, crumbled feta cheese (I always crumble my own feta) and green onions slices. I find I can either toss these in a bowl with catsup or place each ingredient in painstaking layers on the bottom patty, squirting the catsup over the whole. It really turns out very similarly in either case.
Once my two patties are in the pan, one on top of the other with the mix between them, I have to cook them slowly with water in the pan. This is to make sure that the stuff in the middle is thoroughly cooked, so it's safe.
I also toast the bun in the toaster oven or briefly sear the insides in hot butter in a frying pan.
My guests always rave about "my" burgers. Maybe later I'll talk about "my" tacos. Having a few good dinners up your sleeve is always a good idea when you are married to Sir Galahad.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Desired
Statistically, 100% of visitors to this blog who registered their presence as of today wish they had married me.
(See the bottom of the blog.)
(See the bottom of the blog.)
Apple Cider
After simmering for about twelve hours, the powdered spices have taken on the heaviness of the liquid; just enough heat is ascending from the bottom of the saucepan to the top that you can observe a continual seductive revolution of the pulp of the apple cider mixed with the cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The orange peel is by this time laden so full it sits on the bottom; only its aroma and taste mixes with the rest. The red sugar crystals dissolved long ago leaving their rich color and sweetness behind. Your guests or children will be coming in out of the cold in about five minutes. Add a few drops of wine.
Hot Spiced Apple Cider is one of the best things about Fall.
If the cider comes straight from the press at one of these country road-side orchards, all the better. Also, spending a little more money on the spices is worth it. I recently upgraded from 99 cent Wal-Mart cinnamon to McCormick's Saigon Cinnamon (about four dollars). Everyone who comes over now has to sniff at the shaker bottle. It's heavenly. It's like growing up on Renee Flemming's staunch warbling and suddenly walking into a room where Kathleen Battle is in full flight.
Hot Spiced Apple Cider is one of the best things about Fall.
If the cider comes straight from the press at one of these country road-side orchards, all the better. Also, spending a little more money on the spices is worth it. I recently upgraded from 99 cent Wal-Mart cinnamon to McCormick's Saigon Cinnamon (about four dollars). Everyone who comes over now has to sniff at the shaker bottle. It's heavenly. It's like growing up on Renee Flemming's staunch warbling and suddenly walking into a room where Kathleen Battle is in full flight.
Friday, August 24, 2007
"The Kingdom of God Is Within You"
by Francis Thompson
O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Coming On
For me there is often a defining moment that marks the change between seasons. Usually it has little congruity with the calendar.
It was days ago now that I stopped suddenly on my way to my car in the grocery store parking lot to look at some geese flying south. That is when I noticed the haze that embraced the air, only slightly more substantial than the air, and that sense enveloping my arms as if a pendulum were hovering at the ultimate end of one swing and were about to groan into a change of direction.
These things mean something. There is something in them that is shared by other things. The other things may have different identities than the things but they share this something. So when you look at the things, if you read them rightly you gain an idea that is the key to the other things. And the other things might be very very important things. Or they might not.
I love Autumn. She is a tall elegant lady with hair flaming red in the sunlight at the tips and coming out brown at the roots. When she moves everything around her moves and all who see her sigh without knowing why.
Autumn is also like a tire swing with a wide arc; and like a the campfire when it roars no longer and only half the people are still sitting around it telling favorite stories; and like a thunderstorm that you see coming over the field at you while the sun is still warming your back.
It was days ago now that I stopped suddenly on my way to my car in the grocery store parking lot to look at some geese flying south. That is when I noticed the haze that embraced the air, only slightly more substantial than the air, and that sense enveloping my arms as if a pendulum were hovering at the ultimate end of one swing and were about to groan into a change of direction.
These things mean something. There is something in them that is shared by other things. The other things may have different identities than the things but they share this something. So when you look at the things, if you read them rightly you gain an idea that is the key to the other things. And the other things might be very very important things. Or they might not.
I love Autumn. She is a tall elegant lady with hair flaming red in the sunlight at the tips and coming out brown at the roots. When she moves everything around her moves and all who see her sigh without knowing why.
Autumn is also like a tire swing with a wide arc; and like a the campfire when it roars no longer and only half the people are still sitting around it telling favorite stories; and like a thunderstorm that you see coming over the field at you while the sun is still warming your back.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Thank You
I don't know if my friends from Remonstrans ever drop by over here, but if anyone sees this, I thank you all for sticking up for me. To everyone who was willing to say my name with understanding, whether you fully agreed or not: your kindness is prized.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Prayer. To Be Chanted.
Lord, Defender
In the days of your corruptible flesh
You suffered all
Passing through shame like a sickness
Pain like a fire
Passing among the shadows of death
Into death's mouth.
Now out of death have You come, Incorruptible!
Now You captain the ship of our salvation.
Made like us,
Pity our plight.
Guard us from folly
And folly's end.
Guard us from slander
And slander's sting.
Guard us from hatred
And hatred's loss
Guard us from pretense
Guard us from the trap laid by falsehood.
Hear us, O Lover of Men.
Hear us, O Ruler of All.
Made like us,
Make us like You.
Guard us from idols;
Keep us in the love of God.
Hear us, O God-loving Man;
Hear us, O God, loving man.
Blessed is He who comes
Named with the Name of Jehovah.
We Bless you, Adored of the Father.
We bless you, Father
and Son consubstantial
And Spirit coequal.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
In the days of your corruptible flesh
You suffered all
Passing through shame like a sickness
Pain like a fire
Passing among the shadows of death
Into death's mouth.
Now out of death have You come, Incorruptible!
Now You captain the ship of our salvation.
Made like us,
Pity our plight.
Guard us from folly
And folly's end.
Guard us from slander
And slander's sting.
Guard us from hatred
And hatred's loss
Guard us from pretense
Guard us from the trap laid by falsehood.
Hear us, O Lover of Men.
Hear us, O Ruler of All.
Made like us,
Make us like You.
Guard us from idols;
Keep us in the love of God.
Hear us, O God-loving Man;
Hear us, O God, loving man.
Blessed is He who comes
Named with the Name of Jehovah.
We Bless you, Adored of the Father.
We bless you, Father
and Son consubstantial
And Spirit coequal.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Authority
Authority is a far broader concept, I suppose, than the one we grew up with. In the Gothard/Dignity model, the right to be obeyed absolutely descends unchanged in force from God in a direct line through whomever God appoints, and whomever the appointee appoints, and whom the apointee-apointed appoints, and so on to infinity.
Sometimes the authority was not, in theory, absolute - one could refuse obediance only if the scripture were explicitly contradicted. Given that the people with authority were intrerpreting the scriptures for us, that didn't help much.
Thus it is, among other causes, that pastors can prevent people from reading the scriptures in a translation they will understand, that families wronged by their pastors, with no redress, are afraid to leave their local church for a different one, and that children are forced to sing songs laced with the name of God that the children instinctively know are "stupid." And a multitiude of other things.
I wish I knew more about the true concept of authority, but I perceive that rather than the right to demand obedience authority is more like the ability to compel it, and not by outward force, but by some consistency of credibility, with legitimacy. I need to explore what this means. I believe it is this that has been lost, as much as people's ability to percieve authority when they do see it.
Perhaps more.
Sometimes the authority was not, in theory, absolute - one could refuse obediance only if the scripture were explicitly contradicted. Given that the people with authority were intrerpreting the scriptures for us, that didn't help much.
Thus it is, among other causes, that pastors can prevent people from reading the scriptures in a translation they will understand, that families wronged by their pastors, with no redress, are afraid to leave their local church for a different one, and that children are forced to sing songs laced with the name of God that the children instinctively know are "stupid." And a multitiude of other things.
I wish I knew more about the true concept of authority, but I perceive that rather than the right to demand obedience authority is more like the ability to compel it, and not by outward force, but by some consistency of credibility, with legitimacy. I need to explore what this means. I believe it is this that has been lost, as much as people's ability to percieve authority when they do see it.
Perhaps more.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Helpful Quote
We had a discussion on Remonstrans recently about the lack of godly fear. We all deplored it but were having trouble (in my opinion) putting our finger on what was wrong. Today I found this quote on an orthodox blog.
Fr. Hopko speaks of the fact that when one encounters holiness, if it is indeed holiness one is encountering, one will be filled with both fear and a desire to stay in the presence of that holy place, thing, or person at the same time. If one encounters something which causes all fear, or all attraction, then one knows that the thing is not holy. Ours is an age of überattraction. We want to be comforted and entertained at all times. It would seem that the reintroduction of fear would be the right course, but I am not sure that such a direct approach would work anymore. Our age has no vocabulary of rightly ordered fear, it offers instead only despair. One is either comfortable and entertained, or one is in despair, and when there is no way of getting out of despair, perhaps it is time to crush something up in the applesauce and go to sleep forever, or so the evil story goes. The best tactic, it seems to me, is to counter überattraction with farce and godly ridicule - make a spectacle of it - show it for what it is - thus the need for a Holy Fool. Once the überattraction begins to wobble and loose its balanced, calculated control on the soul, perhaps then right and godly fear can be reintroduced.
Incidentally, I am strongly reminded of Dissidens' strategy in this description of a "holy fool."
Apart from that I recognize this description and feel its truth.
Fr. Hopko speaks of the fact that when one encounters holiness, if it is indeed holiness one is encountering, one will be filled with both fear and a desire to stay in the presence of that holy place, thing, or person at the same time. If one encounters something which causes all fear, or all attraction, then one knows that the thing is not holy. Ours is an age of überattraction. We want to be comforted and entertained at all times. It would seem that the reintroduction of fear would be the right course, but I am not sure that such a direct approach would work anymore. Our age has no vocabulary of rightly ordered fear, it offers instead only despair. One is either comfortable and entertained, or one is in despair, and when there is no way of getting out of despair, perhaps it is time to crush something up in the applesauce and go to sleep forever, or so the evil story goes. The best tactic, it seems to me, is to counter überattraction with farce and godly ridicule - make a spectacle of it - show it for what it is - thus the need for a Holy Fool. Once the überattraction begins to wobble and loose its balanced, calculated control on the soul, perhaps then right and godly fear can be reintroduced.
Incidentally, I am strongly reminded of Dissidens' strategy in this description of a "holy fool."
Apart from that I recognize this description and feel its truth.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Two Things About Ian
Just as I wrote that Ian doesn't seem to need words, he's developed a fixation on aquiring names for things. I guess he figures that now he can run a little, and kick a ball, and hop, all before falling down, that it's time to move on to the next thing.
Poor little guy. So far he can only pronounce first consonants. And the three most important words in his infant lexicon begin with the letter 'B'.
Bottle.
Bed.
Ball.
At least with 'outside' I can catch an 'ah-DUH!' while he stares longingly out the window to make it especially clear. "Mamama" still hasn't been delimited to indicate me alone; it seems to be his expression of need or longing. "Dadada" refers to his Dad, to fun in general, and to all males, the mere presence of whom Ian seems to take as the manifestation of a miracle. (In Wisconsin he has five aunts and three great-aunts; but only two uncles and two great-uncles.)
But oh, those 'B' words.
"Buh" he says. "Buh. Buh." With an expression of intensest concentration. I look around in bewilderment. What does he expect of me?
"Buh. Buh. Buh. Buh."
"Ball?" I try. "Ball? Does Little Baby Ian want his ball?"
"nBUH! nBUH!"
"Bottle? Is that it, do you want your bottle?"
(Pumping arms up and down now.)
"BUH, BUH, BUH! nBUH, BUH, BUHbbbbbbbb!"
"Bed? Does Little Baby Ian want to go to Bed?"
Ian freezes; this is it. He smiles at me and very carefully puts out his arms.
Things were easier when he just fetched his bottle and crawled off toward his room.
***
Today I wrote Ian's name in big capital letters over the length of a piece of paper. "Ee - A - Nuh" I pronounced, pointing to the letters, then "EEEEAAAANNNN" and finally, "Ian. Ian." over and over. I don't think I've every seen more love in his face. He wasn't sure what I was doing but he knew the attention was very very personal.
Poor little guy. So far he can only pronounce first consonants. And the three most important words in his infant lexicon begin with the letter 'B'.
Bottle.
Bed.
Ball.
At least with 'outside' I can catch an 'ah-DUH!' while he stares longingly out the window to make it especially clear. "Mamama" still hasn't been delimited to indicate me alone; it seems to be his expression of need or longing. "Dadada" refers to his Dad, to fun in general, and to all males, the mere presence of whom Ian seems to take as the manifestation of a miracle. (In Wisconsin he has five aunts and three great-aunts; but only two uncles and two great-uncles.)
But oh, those 'B' words.
"Buh" he says. "Buh. Buh." With an expression of intensest concentration. I look around in bewilderment. What does he expect of me?
"Buh. Buh. Buh. Buh."
"Ball?" I try. "Ball? Does Little Baby Ian want his ball?"
"nBUH! nBUH!"
"Bottle? Is that it, do you want your bottle?"
(Pumping arms up and down now.)
"BUH, BUH, BUH! nBUH, BUH, BUHbbbbbbbb!"
"Bed? Does Little Baby Ian want to go to Bed?"
Ian freezes; this is it. He smiles at me and very carefully puts out his arms.
Things were easier when he just fetched his bottle and crawled off toward his room.
***
Today I wrote Ian's name in big capital letters over the length of a piece of paper. "Ee - A - Nuh" I pronounced, pointing to the letters, then "EEEEAAAANNNN" and finally, "Ian. Ian." over and over. I don't think I've every seen more love in his face. He wasn't sure what I was doing but he knew the attention was very very personal.
How to Drink Alcohol As A Christian
I'm here leaving aside the debate on whether this is possible, which even the fundamentalists are conceding in theory though they make sure to throw up enough practical obstacles to allow them to keep their precious prohibition.
Rather I'm discussing for those of us who already know that no thing is evil, and all are lawful, how it might practically be done.
First of all, in order to do anything at all as a Christian, one must develop Christian virtues. Every action in life requires a certain set of virtues, in various proportions.
Drinking requires the following: sobriety, moderation, self-denial, and charity.
The virtue of sobriety demands an awareness of one's surroundings and the meaning of one's choices, as well as a steady determination to follow one's chosen path without being tossed by giddy impulses. It is a sense of restraint and inhibition that protects a person from unconsidered actions.
The virtue of moderation is one that is common to almost all models of virtue. It forbids greed, gluttony (which the scriptures often list as a companion sin to drunkenness) and other excesses of the flesh. As a positive virtue it is related to sobriety and is a feeling for decency in one's pleasures and an instinct that to seek more than one needs leads to a clogging of the spiritual aspects of one's being.
Self-denial is a virtue that requires sobriety and moderation. Self-harm is going too far. For instance the early church had to forbid self-made eunechs from becomming clergy because there was way of thinking in which young men were so zealous to prove that they were morally spotless that they would mutilate themselves to remove any possibility of suspicioun. Our age is probably more self-indulgent than not; but certain personalities, usually those attracted to Bill Gothard and his ilk, find their temptations in a pseudo-religious urge to throw away vast amounts of good things unnecessarily. I believe the ability to deny oneself is more important than the excessive practice of it, though practice can help bestow ability. Self-denial must be a means to an end because enjoyment is itself a virtue when what one enjoys is good, and when one enjoys it within the hierarchie of goods.
And finally, charity. Love is the foundational virtue, the seed of which gives rise to all the others. Likewise it is the peak of virtue, the one at which a good man arrives, mature, when he has aquired all the others. Learning it is a life-long practice and it would appear in the list of virtues needed for any action in Christian life. Charity in the common speech is a sub-virtue to love; it is particularly the love that moves one to make room for one's fellow man. This will be the particularly Christian aspect of how to drink. Any decent person knows that the first two or three virtues are necessary; love is the especially Christian slant on this question.
And now to the particulars. Hopefully it will be obvious how these virtues might play out in the following guidlines. These are not rules but they are my opinions and I think they are good ones.
1. Drink with purpose. That is, don't get in the habit of walking in the door and grabbing a beer can on the way to the bathroom or sofa. Alcohol is good, but like all good things it has a purpose. Traditionally the purpose of alcohol is to cheer the heart; to assist in celebrations; to ease pain and discomfort; and for ceremonial uses. If you find yourself drinking too much it may be that you are drinking in an unconsidered (not sober) way. Josh and I try to save drinking for occasions. If we can't say what the occasion is it's not one. Dates are our main use but we can think of other possible uses.
2. Don't drink early in the day. It's just decent and has always been thought so to make sure that one's main responsibilities are past before one starts to drink. Even where there's no possibility of becoming intoxicated, drinking alcohol is a setting-aside of that sharp shade of awareness that any serious person knows they need during the day. This is a rule our culture understands.
3. Dilute. Much has been made of the fact that wine in the Bible times was greatly diluted. However well-mannered society of our own times also pays attention to how much alcohol is being consumed in ratio to consumption of food and water. If Josh and I share a cup of wine at a dinner date (probably 10% alcohol) we often drink about four times as much water as wine, in addition to the food. This, along with our other rules, prevents any noticeable intoxication. Another good choice is coolers. The last cooler I had was 3.4% alcohol. I still drank water with it.
4. Drink slowly. That half-cup of wine at dinner I mentioned earlier would still intoxicate if downed in a gulp. Wine is meant to savor. A tiny sip at a time is exhilarating just in terms of the taste. Coat your tongue; breathe in a little to get a fuller sense of the taste before swallowing. And thank God for this unique concoction. Then take some water and some food and talk a little before the next sip. This kind of moderation actually enhances the enjoyment because it makes what you are enjoying more rare.
5. Don't drink or talk about drinking in front of someone who could be troubled in their faith by seeing you do it. And here we have to make an excursion into the land of conscience-bending.
This is the nation of Prohibition; it hasn't even been a century yet. There is a lot of hyped-up stigma attached to drinking. This was created by social activists who thought they could prevent drunkenness and domestic abuse by making it unthinkable to drink at all. So you are going to run across two kinds of people who are offended in two different ways by your drinking.
The first crowd wears their offense as a badge in order to badger you into following their conscience rather than your own. This is not the weaker brother. They are strong. In what I don't know, but they are definately strong. They will do the same thing if they see your kid in a pair of socks with Disney's Mickey Mouse on it.
Then there are the people who actually have weak, that is, undecided, consciences. They would feel guilty about drinking, making it sin for themselves, but they might do it anyway if you encouraged it. Or maybe they are sober people who have decided not to drink because they feel it would become their weakness if they ever started. This is a description of one of my relations and I never try to win him over to my position. Better that he enjoys his virgin marys and his gatorade and his water and his grape juice and remains untroubled in his conscience than that I should excercise my liberty in his face.
To sum up there are very good reasons to drink and very good reasons not to drink. The only people we have no tolerance for are those who impose themselves and their progressivist rules on us. As G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown likes to insist, that's a Muslim rule, not a Christian one!
In the meantime, the excercise of these virtues in all the delights of the palate as well as other physical pleasure can make better people of us.
Does anyone else have good guidelines for drinking?
Rather I'm discussing for those of us who already know that no thing is evil, and all are lawful, how it might practically be done.
First of all, in order to do anything at all as a Christian, one must develop Christian virtues. Every action in life requires a certain set of virtues, in various proportions.
Drinking requires the following: sobriety, moderation, self-denial, and charity.
The virtue of sobriety demands an awareness of one's surroundings and the meaning of one's choices, as well as a steady determination to follow one's chosen path without being tossed by giddy impulses. It is a sense of restraint and inhibition that protects a person from unconsidered actions.
The virtue of moderation is one that is common to almost all models of virtue. It forbids greed, gluttony (which the scriptures often list as a companion sin to drunkenness) and other excesses of the flesh. As a positive virtue it is related to sobriety and is a feeling for decency in one's pleasures and an instinct that to seek more than one needs leads to a clogging of the spiritual aspects of one's being.
Self-denial is a virtue that requires sobriety and moderation. Self-harm is going too far. For instance the early church had to forbid self-made eunechs from becomming clergy because there was way of thinking in which young men were so zealous to prove that they were morally spotless that they would mutilate themselves to remove any possibility of suspicioun. Our age is probably more self-indulgent than not; but certain personalities, usually those attracted to Bill Gothard and his ilk, find their temptations in a pseudo-religious urge to throw away vast amounts of good things unnecessarily. I believe the ability to deny oneself is more important than the excessive practice of it, though practice can help bestow ability. Self-denial must be a means to an end because enjoyment is itself a virtue when what one enjoys is good, and when one enjoys it within the hierarchie of goods.
And finally, charity. Love is the foundational virtue, the seed of which gives rise to all the others. Likewise it is the peak of virtue, the one at which a good man arrives, mature, when he has aquired all the others. Learning it is a life-long practice and it would appear in the list of virtues needed for any action in Christian life. Charity in the common speech is a sub-virtue to love; it is particularly the love that moves one to make room for one's fellow man. This will be the particularly Christian aspect of how to drink. Any decent person knows that the first two or three virtues are necessary; love is the especially Christian slant on this question.
And now to the particulars. Hopefully it will be obvious how these virtues might play out in the following guidlines. These are not rules but they are my opinions and I think they are good ones.
1. Drink with purpose. That is, don't get in the habit of walking in the door and grabbing a beer can on the way to the bathroom or sofa. Alcohol is good, but like all good things it has a purpose. Traditionally the purpose of alcohol is to cheer the heart; to assist in celebrations; to ease pain and discomfort; and for ceremonial uses. If you find yourself drinking too much it may be that you are drinking in an unconsidered (not sober) way. Josh and I try to save drinking for occasions. If we can't say what the occasion is it's not one. Dates are our main use but we can think of other possible uses.
2. Don't drink early in the day. It's just decent and has always been thought so to make sure that one's main responsibilities are past before one starts to drink. Even where there's no possibility of becoming intoxicated, drinking alcohol is a setting-aside of that sharp shade of awareness that any serious person knows they need during the day. This is a rule our culture understands.
3. Dilute. Much has been made of the fact that wine in the Bible times was greatly diluted. However well-mannered society of our own times also pays attention to how much alcohol is being consumed in ratio to consumption of food and water. If Josh and I share a cup of wine at a dinner date (probably 10% alcohol) we often drink about four times as much water as wine, in addition to the food. This, along with our other rules, prevents any noticeable intoxication. Another good choice is coolers. The last cooler I had was 3.4% alcohol. I still drank water with it.
4. Drink slowly. That half-cup of wine at dinner I mentioned earlier would still intoxicate if downed in a gulp. Wine is meant to savor. A tiny sip at a time is exhilarating just in terms of the taste. Coat your tongue; breathe in a little to get a fuller sense of the taste before swallowing. And thank God for this unique concoction. Then take some water and some food and talk a little before the next sip. This kind of moderation actually enhances the enjoyment because it makes what you are enjoying more rare.
5. Don't drink or talk about drinking in front of someone who could be troubled in their faith by seeing you do it. And here we have to make an excursion into the land of conscience-bending.
This is the nation of Prohibition; it hasn't even been a century yet. There is a lot of hyped-up stigma attached to drinking. This was created by social activists who thought they could prevent drunkenness and domestic abuse by making it unthinkable to drink at all. So you are going to run across two kinds of people who are offended in two different ways by your drinking.
The first crowd wears their offense as a badge in order to badger you into following their conscience rather than your own. This is not the weaker brother. They are strong. In what I don't know, but they are definately strong. They will do the same thing if they see your kid in a pair of socks with Disney's Mickey Mouse on it.
Then there are the people who actually have weak, that is, undecided, consciences. They would feel guilty about drinking, making it sin for themselves, but they might do it anyway if you encouraged it. Or maybe they are sober people who have decided not to drink because they feel it would become their weakness if they ever started. This is a description of one of my relations and I never try to win him over to my position. Better that he enjoys his virgin marys and his gatorade and his water and his grape juice and remains untroubled in his conscience than that I should excercise my liberty in his face.
To sum up there are very good reasons to drink and very good reasons not to drink. The only people we have no tolerance for are those who impose themselves and their progressivist rules on us. As G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown likes to insist, that's a Muslim rule, not a Christian one!
In the meantime, the excercise of these virtues in all the delights of the palate as well as other physical pleasure can make better people of us.
Does anyone else have good guidelines for drinking?
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Explanation of Josh's Post
Ladies and Gentleman, yesterday I posted "Great Powers, Introduction," written by Josh. That post is the background for an upcoming series that will be very enjoyable. He is going to make predicitions about what will happen in world events and then we will all watch them come true. I've already experienced this outside the blog and I promise it will be fascinating.
As Josh said, stay tuned.
As Josh said, stay tuned.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Great Powers, Introduction, by Joshua S. Roberts
Alana has persuaded me to write a few of my thoughts on the workings of the Great Powers in our time. Before one can fully understand what I’m talking about, one should read The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. However, as most of you won’t, I will give some faint, sketchy foundational concepts before I get into the good stuff.
The Definition of a Great Power
A Great Power is essentially a country that possesses the ability to defeat in war and/or impose its will on, or over, any other country but its equals (that is, other Great Powers). The number of Great Powers varies from era to era, but their number has never exceeded ten. When one country has risen so far above all of its rivals that it is able to dominate them, then it is called a Super Power. There can be only two Super Powers at a time. After WWII the US and USSR were the only Great Powers left standing, really, so they were called Super Powers. After the fall of the USSR and the temporary weakening of Russia , the US was the lone Super Power.
The Definition of a Great Power
A Great Power is essentially a country that possesses the ability to defeat in war and/or impose its will on, or over, any other country but its equals (that is, other Great Powers). The number of Great Powers varies from era to era, but their number has never exceeded ten. When one country has risen so far above all of its rivals that it is able to dominate them, then it is called a Super Power. There can be only two Super Powers at a time. After WWII the US and USSR were the only Great Powers left standing, really, so they were called Super Powers. After the fall of the USSR and the temporary weakening of Russia , the US was the lone Super Power.
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Since WWII, the qualifications to be a World Power are thus: Economic/Industrial suzerainty (this can take several forms), Military power, Nuclear arms, Strategic Geographic position, and Technological Superiority. A seat on the UN Security Council doesn’t hurt either.
List of Current and Potential Great Powers
At this moment there are four Great Powers and two potential Great Powers.
List of Current and Potential Great Powers
At this moment there are four Great Powers and two potential Great Powers.
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The US is the first and greatest of the Powers, but is no longer a Super Power.
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China is fast growing, and has achieved in the past ten years the coveted status of Great Power.
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Russia , while still a shadow of its Soviet and Imperial former selves, has just enough bases covered to remain in the Powers, and is deliberately increasing its strength in several key areas.
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Last, but not least, is the European Union (or EU). Composed of nearly all the countries of Western and Central Europe, the EU has enough combined power to blast the rest of the world into oblivion (without nukes, although they have plenty of those, thanks to Britain and France) if only they could agree on which direction to aim. The EU tops just about every category, but is heavily fragmented and the official EU military is very small. However, if their new constitution is approved, there will be a United States of Europe.
The two potential powers are Japan and India .
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Japan has technological superiority and its economy is second only to the US . As an island, it is relatively secure from land-based attack. However, its military, while state-of-the-art, is tiny and limited by its post-WWII constitution. Japan ’s population is crowded, and its native resources are about nil. It also has no nuclear weapons (also banned in its constitution), but to be fair, it has an extensive network of nuclear power plants, advanced rocket technology and the expertise to convert to a nuclear power within the maximum of several months. Due to a number of factors, such as the oil crisis (they import all of their oil) and the threat of a nuclear armed North Korea , Japan ’s Prime Minister is seeking to change the constitution and expand the military, and talk of “going nuclear” is growing.
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Meanwhile, India is close to Power status as well. Unlike Japan, India has vast resources, and its population is very close to surpassing China ’s. India is a nuclear power, has an immense army, and its economy is booming. However, its level of technology is second-rate, and its military suffers from that. Also, India , while shielded by the Himalayas in the north and the Burmese jungles in the east, has a nuclear armed second-rate power Pakistan on the west. Pakistan is well-connected diplomatically and will side with whichever Power attempts to thwart India ’s national aims. India has several border disputes with China as well.
I will expand on the mechanics and prospects of each Power and potential Power in further posts, as well as commenting on relevant news related to the Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Stay tuned…
I will expand on the mechanics and prospects of each Power and potential Power in further posts, as well as commenting on relevant news related to the Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Stay tuned…
Literary Updates
One of the finest examples of fantastical literature I've ever read is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
For people who love history books, this is one of those that, like The Lord of the Rings, imitates a historical style. One very long footnote that I recall in particular renders three opposing accounts of an obscure event in Faerie: a Faerie King's offer to a visiting English Magician of a pair of old shoes and a long, odd speech. I laughed immoderately.
Ms. Clarke created an imaginary world in which Christianity co-exists with and stands above a whole lesser realm of things ordinarily considered superstitious. It's flawless and seamless and set the stage for a story of staggering originality and delight.
Other virtues:
An Englishwoman's unabashed love for things English, which she succeeds in communicating to her audience. Her world of magic is so eminently an English world of magic.
A writer's imagination that creates clever, vivid details and with them forms a story whose shape resembles the shape of reality. Her characters are both believably idiosyncratic and transcendantly typical.
An ending that stays true to the world she's set up; that ties all loose ends and gives space for the triumph of justice; and that enlarged my feeling for the ideals of kingship and the awe in which a person worthy of such authority must be held.
Her excellent, deeply involved plot involves many people of various stations and both sexes. But it centers on two protagonists - Jonathan Strange, an arrogant young man in love and Mr. Norrell, a peevish old gentlemen torn between the desire for notoriety and the desire for privacy.
Mr. Norrell mentors Strange, while he himself is almost undetectably rendered more human by the contact with his pupil. They do many great and brave and witty things, including reinventing Modern Magic in England and dooming a number of their loved ones to dance nightly at a wicked Faerie's Ball. Oh yes, and they help to defeat the French under Napoleon. What more could one ask of an English hero?
Eventually they quarrel and go their separate ways. However, at nearly the last moment these men, by collaborating on the most heroic effort of which they are capable, reveal that they are not really the Heroes at all - there are two other men to whom that is reserved, one an Ancient King and another a black servant who functions as his type.
I will not tell you who the villain is, because although this is not a book of suspense, and the villain operates in plain sight the whole book long, it requires a certain amount of moral sense to detect him and that is half the fun of the book.
These highlights, I am unashamed to say, were carefully selected by me to make the book appear most appealing to my husband, who has not yet read it.
And now a note on the Harry Potter predictions. I was supposed to call myself to account after reading the book but I am holding back because Josh is still working on Half-Blood Prince. Let's everybody cheer him on.
Ian and I will be alone this weekend as Josh is going to his first monthly drill since returning from basic training. Everyone is invited to a large, noisy, party that will start Saturday morning and continue into the wee hours.
(Just kidding.)
For people who love history books, this is one of those that, like The Lord of the Rings, imitates a historical style. One very long footnote that I recall in particular renders three opposing accounts of an obscure event in Faerie: a Faerie King's offer to a visiting English Magician of a pair of old shoes and a long, odd speech. I laughed immoderately.
Ms. Clarke created an imaginary world in which Christianity co-exists with and stands above a whole lesser realm of things ordinarily considered superstitious. It's flawless and seamless and set the stage for a story of staggering originality and delight.
Other virtues:
An Englishwoman's unabashed love for things English, which she succeeds in communicating to her audience. Her world of magic is so eminently an English world of magic.
A writer's imagination that creates clever, vivid details and with them forms a story whose shape resembles the shape of reality. Her characters are both believably idiosyncratic and transcendantly typical.
An ending that stays true to the world she's set up; that ties all loose ends and gives space for the triumph of justice; and that enlarged my feeling for the ideals of kingship and the awe in which a person worthy of such authority must be held.
Her excellent, deeply involved plot involves many people of various stations and both sexes. But it centers on two protagonists - Jonathan Strange, an arrogant young man in love and Mr. Norrell, a peevish old gentlemen torn between the desire for notoriety and the desire for privacy.
Mr. Norrell mentors Strange, while he himself is almost undetectably rendered more human by the contact with his pupil. They do many great and brave and witty things, including reinventing Modern Magic in England and dooming a number of their loved ones to dance nightly at a wicked Faerie's Ball. Oh yes, and they help to defeat the French under Napoleon. What more could one ask of an English hero?
Eventually they quarrel and go their separate ways. However, at nearly the last moment these men, by collaborating on the most heroic effort of which they are capable, reveal that they are not really the Heroes at all - there are two other men to whom that is reserved, one an Ancient King and another a black servant who functions as his type.
I will not tell you who the villain is, because although this is not a book of suspense, and the villain operates in plain sight the whole book long, it requires a certain amount of moral sense to detect him and that is half the fun of the book.
These highlights, I am unashamed to say, were carefully selected by me to make the book appear most appealing to my husband, who has not yet read it.
And now a note on the Harry Potter predictions. I was supposed to call myself to account after reading the book but I am holding back because Josh is still working on Half-Blood Prince. Let's everybody cheer him on.
Ian and I will be alone this weekend as Josh is going to his first monthly drill since returning from basic training. Everyone is invited to a large, noisy, party that will start Saturday morning and continue into the wee hours.
(Just kidding.)
