Great Is Thy Faithfulness

This hymn is a core part of my being. I learned it as a small child and over my lifetime it has proved to be a rock for me, especially during times of grief and loss.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

For He Is Merciful

He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.

Psalm 102:17

Happy Thanksgiving to You!

Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good;

His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace."'

Numbers 6:22-26

Son Fun

I will never cease to be amazed... at the ravenous efficiency in which young boys can clean out a pantry.

Murillo, Boys Eating a Melon

I ran across this son fun at: The Crescat. Yep, I fondly remember my son and his friends' during those years well. They are lean mean eating machines at that age (insert Jaws theme music here). :)

Anxiety + Perspective = Rest In Christ

"Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ."

C. S. Lewis

"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

1 Peter 4:19

Saturday Snark

There ought to be one day–

Just one–

When there is open season on senators.

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Alleluia, Behold the Bridegroom Comes

Another Beautiful Eastern Orthodox hymn

St. Petersburg Chamber Choir

What Does Classical Education Look Like?

Victor Davis Hanson

Up until recently, I have had a vague understanding of what comprised a classical education curriculum with a sadness that I had not experienced much of it's benefits in my education after about the 5th grade (1966). Even entering college in my 40's and earning my BA was a disappointment. I did not learn half of the things I had hoped to learn. By the time I began university in the late 1990's, the classical approach to higher education had long been supplanted by the progressive/politically-correct view of education. Even if I had known how to ask for what I intuitively knew I needed, I doubt if my college advisors would have known how to help me. My few experiences with classes in philosophy and literature were with ultra-liberal professors that ended up being a drudgery of wasted of time and misspent money.

For the last 10 years, I have mainly focused on learning doctrine and hoping to form a Christian world-view. It has been both rewarding and frustrating. Many times, the resources I have used seemed flat or one-dimensional. Something inexpressible seemed to be missing and I have felt ill-equipped to deal with the age we live in. An aspect I have been plagued with is my inability to translate what I believe in a way that those around me can easily understand. I have found myself more and more vulnerable to an unwilling osmosis or accommodation to the shallow age we live in and now with the recent election of Obama, the progressive ideologies seem to be in a warp-speed extrapolation. It has been more than perplexing to understand how to deal with it all.

About 2 months ago, while under a steep learning curve on our national politics, I began running across online articles by Victor Davis Hanson (author, speaker, and professor - PhD in classical studies). He was one of the few authors where I began to find whiffs of a strong intellectual honesty and with the depth and breadth I was seeking from an author in the public square. Then, I began to run across videos of his lectures. In Victor Davis Hanson, I saw the world I vaguely remembered as a child. This is how I remember adults conversing about the secular world. I saw in VDH, the sharply-honed, fact-based reasoning developed by a classical education.

As I pondered Dr. Hanson's work, I began to wonder if the answer or part of the answer to my dilemma lies in applying myself to a classical education. I have begun to think that it will be a handmaiden to reinforce Christian faith, will play a role in helping me stand firm in the age we live in, and help me better communicate with those around me. Anywho, I've certainly been inspired to read Sophocles. I haven't read any of the Greek tales since I was a pre-teen and Sophocles sounds intriguing.

It has been a joy to see Dr. Hanson employ his classical skills to disassemble the propaganda inherent to the diverse ideologies in the public square. What a breath of fresh air to listen to a man address the age we live in from the clarity of a mind trained to cut through baloney. In his lecture: Where the University Went Wrong, I enjoyed the way he succinctly explained how higher education has changed. Here is the short lecture at the Hoover Institute with a Q & A session (48 minutes total) I found the Q & A fascinating:

More video lectures can be found here and here.

Articles can be found here.

Books can be found here.

BTW: His biography mentions that he is a protestant Christian, but I could not find any other information about his faith.

Tchaikovsky - Hymn of the Cherubim

This beautiful hymn is from the Russian Orthodox liturgy. I could not find the words, so if anyone knows the words, please email me. Thanks! :)

True Righteousness

Our righteousness is in Him, and our hope depends, not upon the exercise of grace in us, but upon the fullness of grace and love in Him, and upon His obedience unto death.

~ John Newton ~