"Superfast Reader" at "Reading Is My Superpower" praises West Oversea to an extent that almost embarrasses me.

But not so much that I won't share it with you.

Oh, I want me one of these.

I mean, aren't there more productive things to do than read novels or short stories?

I was trying to figure out why I feel so depressed today, and then I remembered that Al Franken is going to be my new senator.

In related news, the official Minnesota State Accessory is now the red rubber clown nose.

I decided to try reading a mystery by Steven Saylor on the recommendation of James Lileks (not, I probably ought to add, a personal recommendation, but one heard on the Hugh Hewitt Show). I’m glad I did, and I’ll be reading more. But they’re odd books.

The hero of The Venus Throw is Gordianus the Finder, an established private detective in Rome in the time of Julius Caesar. This story takes place in the year 56 BC, and is based on actual events.

Gordianus is visited, unexpectedly, by an acquaintance from the past, an old Egyptian philosopher named Dio, with whom he used to have informal dialogues when he lived as a young man in Alexandria. Dio explains that he is part of a delegation from Egypt which has come to petition the Roman Senate. One by one or in groups, most of the original 100 emissaries have been murdered or scared off. Dio asks Gordianus for just one favor—to do a sort of security check on the house where he is staying, so that he can eat the food without fearing poison.

Gordianus, very regretfully, has to refuse. Not only does the case involve political risks, but he is leaving on a trip to visit his oldest stepson (a soldier of Caesar’s in Gaul) the next day.

On his return from Gaul, Gordianus learns that Dio was murdered that very night. Read the rest of this entry . . .

Tim Challies says he was drawn in by a blurb.

Polishing God’s Monuments was an unexpected surprise. A book that arrived (as do so many others) without any fanfare, I quickly skimmed the four endorsements and paused only when I saw Bruce Ware’s name and his claim that this title is “so gripping and moving and inspiring that one cannot put the book down.” Based on my respect for Bruce Ware, on the enthusiasm of his endorsement and on the track record of the publisher, Shepherd Press, I decided I should at least give the book a try. Am I ever glad I did!

Thomas Sowell argues that proponents of government medical insurance use a lot of marketing language and make few arguments.

A cynic is said to be someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. If so, then it is political cynicism to point to other countries that spend less on medical care, including some countries where there is "universal health care" provided "free" by their governments.

...

There are more than four times as many Magnetic Resonance Imaging units (MRIs) per capita in the United States as in Britain or Canada, where there are government-run medical systems. There are more than twice as many CT scanners per capita in the United States as in Canada and more than four times as many per capita as in Britain.

Is it surprising that such things cost money?

I was surprised and irritated when I heard the president say he could cut wasteful spending in Medicare by eliminating unneeded tests like MRIs and CT scans. The scans he said were wasteful were those that came back negative. So if a problem wasn't found, the test was a waste of time?

The real solution to this is to put all the decision making in the hands of doctors, patients, and Christian neighbors who would be willing to help people pay for the care they need.

With Independence Day coming this weekend, I want to share a bit of history I just read in David Elton Trueblood's 1973 book on Abraham Lincoln. In a chapter on Lincoln's habits of prayer, Trueblood reports:

The fact that the prayers of the North and South obviously conflicted lent credence to a story in which President Lincoln took unusual delight. According to the common version of the story, two Quaker women, riding together on the train, began to compare the two Presidents.

"I think," said the first, "Jefferson will succeed."

"Why does thee think so?"

"Because Jefferson is a praying man."

"And so is Abraham a praying man."

"Yes, but the Lord will think Abraham is joking."

Of this, Lincoln said that it was the best story about himself that he had ever "read in the papers."

Our friend and commenter S. D. Smith has changed his blogging digs from The Maple Mountain Story Club to a blog simply (and modestly) called S. D. Smith. No explanation is given for this change, nor any apology for the inevitable disruption and social chaos certain to ensue.

Update: Actually he does give an explanation. But it's pretty unconvincing.

Jared is offering copies of Christian George's Godology and a copy of his own "Your Jesus Ain't Too Shabby" (or something like that) for commenters willing to offer up a fun story about theology, like this one from Clinton:

My Son was working with the kids program at a local church and the youth pastor had an off-site bible study for the teens the same night. The youth pastor decided it would be fun to scare my son and had hid in the church. He had my wife phone my son and tell him there was an alert because an escaped murderer had been seen in the area. She told him to lock the doors and check to make sure no one was in the church. During the search, the youth pastor jumped out at my son and another leader, Matt, doing the search. Matt clocked the youth pastor in the head with the 2 by 4 he was carrying...twice.

OUCH

This just in: The Essential Man’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books Edition. Hey, where's G.A. Henty on that list? And I have to say up front, She and Ayesha are just not going to make my read-in-this-lifetime list. Maybe I'm missing out, but I think I'd rather read Patrick O'Brian and Wodehouse again.

Hey! Where's O'Brian on that list?

The Essential Adventure Library: 50 Non-fiction Adventure Books

(Due to popular demand, or at least my own demand not to have to come up with an idea tonight, here is the text of my talk at the 150th anniversary celebration of Hauge Lutheran Church, Kenyon, Minnesota, on June 28, 2009.)

At 10 o’clock on the evening of November 22, the bailiff came and delivered to me the provincial government’s order to read, which said that I should, under strict guard… be transported to Christiania…. The bailiff brought only his servant along and drove me to Christiania. He expressed his opinion that I would either be imprisoned in Munkholmen [prison] or exiled to the islands of the South Seas, so that I must not expect ever to see any of my faithful friends again. I answered him that as long as there is life there is hope of better things; and that if his prophecy should be fulfilled, my God would certainly take care of me, and “I am in His hands and satisfied to accept whatever tribulations He wills that I encounter.” With such thoughts and words I kept my courage up, and since the bailiff, as I experienced, did not care for my religious conversation, I spoke mostly with him of various projects for the public good of which I, here and there in the country, had been the initiator, of which I said, “It is sad to think that they should all be shipwrecked. Many will thereby lose their livelihoods. But even concerning that I will be at peace, if only I am myself satisfied that I have done what I could for the benefit of my homeland and my fellow men’s benefit, both temporal and eternal.”

These are Hans Nielsen Hauge’s own words, from his account of the arrest in 1804 which led to his long imprisonment. I read them here because they express something we sometimes forget about Hauge. He lived his message. He preached, first of all, that the gift of salvation must be received in the heart, and secondly, that true salvation must lead to good works. And he demonstrated that teaching by doing good—getting his hands dirty, sharing useful information and ideas, and building businesses that provided jobs.

It’s interesting that, while early critics of Hauge and his followers accused them of being shiftless, superstitious vagrants, later critics accused them of the exact opposite—they worked too hard, studied too much, were obsessed with money and profit. They didn’t have enough fun, and tried to spoil the fun of others.

These changes in criticism are really testimony to Hans Nielsen Hauge’s tremendous success. He changed the very character of his country. When Hauge was born, the best the average Norwegian could hope for was to be just what his father had been—and that was only if he was lucky enough to be the firstborn. If he wasn’t firstborn, he was lucky to make a living at all.

After Hauge, all Norwegians knew they had a multitude of possibilities. They could go into business. They could be teachers or pastors. They could write for a newspaper. And many of them did what was perhaps the most Haugean thing of all—they emigrated to America, where there was no class system and no state church, and no law prevented anyone from improving his situation and “edifying” his fellow men. Read the rest of this entry . . .

How long would you have to stir a large bowl of vegetable soup to get a string of noodles which spell out, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth"?

Feel free to add your question in the comments.

My interview this morning with Stacy Harp of Active Christian Media can be downloaded here.

What do you think about a new sci-fi movie called "District 9"? You can watch the trailer in several places, one of which being this blog from one of the movie aliens. You have to click a button to translate his posts into English. It looks as if the story focuses on the politics of modern day illegal aliens or undocumented workers. In fact, a YouTube video I saw in which someone shouts, "Do your part. Marry a non-human," makes explicit the illegal aliens angle. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good story or that there isn't plenty of truth in it. Hopefully, it won't boil down to a plea for everyone to just get along.

You can see some back-story for the movie on this official site. I have some thoughts on American's immigration problem too. Perhaps I should write on them here. Conservatives need to raise their voice on this, b/c the opposition isn't going to lead us anywhere healthy. Look at the rotten sewage the House passed in the name of environmental progress. Help us.

Hone your writing skills with one or more of these websites. I've used Ask Oxford in the past, and I've needed help with my headlines for a long time. Do you use any of these resources? Do you dislike any of them?

Today and tomorrow, I’m doing something I’ve done many times over the years, but there never used to be a name for it –“Stay-cation.” Tomorrow morning I’m supposed to be interviewed by Stacy Harp over at Active Christian Media, so I figured that, since I’d certainly take that morning off rather than do it on the job, I might as well take Monday too and make it a long weekend.

Yesterday was the 150th anniversary celebration of my home congregation, Hauge Lutheran in Kenyon, Minnesota. This was a special edition of the annual service held at the Old Stone Church, our original building out in the country. This is how it looked.
Read the rest of this entry . . .

The Vatican has made public the oldest known portrait of the Apostle Paul. It's Fourth Century, so it's not exactly contemporary, but it does conform to the traditional description.

Vatican archaeologists have uncovered what they say is the oldest known portrait of St Paul. The portrait, which was found two weeks ago but has been made public only after restoration, shows St Paul with a high domed forehead, deep-set eyes and a long pointed beard, confirming the image familiar from later depictions.

As I understand it, we do have (unlike in the case of Christ) a physical description of Paul which is very probably authentic. Not a photogenic fellow. Short, bow-legged, bald, with a prominent nose and thick lips.

Update: It must be St. Paul week in Rome. They have also announced authenticating bones found under the Vatican as being Paul's.

Tip for both stories: Archaeology in Europe.

Frederick Buechner on "The Stewardship of Pain."

Pain can become a treasure if we treasure it to the point where it can become compassion and healing, not just for ourselves, but also for other people. If you want to see that sort of thing in operation, the treasuring of pain, the using of pain to the healing of yourself and others, someday attend an open meeting of AA or any of the related groups. That is exactly what those people are doing, sharing their hurts, their experiences and their joys.

And remember the cross. It seems to me that the cross of Christ in a way speaks somewhat like this same word, saying that out of that greatest pain endured in love and faithfulness, comes the greatest beauty and our greatest hope.

David Marcoe at Modern Conservative has a few words for feminists, about men:

Women are not men. Men are not women. Each half supports the other, having interdependent strengths that balance the whole. If you think you could replace them, keep dreaming, because you can’t be men, just as we can't be women. No matter how hard you rage and storm, no matter how badly you wish it, you can’t change that, nor should you, for attempts to do so have created man-children without virtue, who use women as objects, and women who've become ugly caricatures of men and allow themselves to be used and cheapened; the sexes alienated from one another in discord and hostility. In this attempt to deprive this world of a harmonious variety of form, it reduces everything to a tyrannical homogeneity and stamps upon the beauty and adventure of romance that has quickened us since the dawn of the human race.