Tag Archives: Jeremiah

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Let me just get this off my chest

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Reading a long book, and I have a heavy translation project to fill my hours. So, nothing to review. About what shall I write today?

I don’t want to write about the state of the world. I’m not very happy about the state of the world, or the nation, or the state, or the community. I’m not all that happy about the state of my house, either. One of my sinks just clogged up.

At bedtime, I’ve been reading Jeremiah. Appropriate, in a tragic way. There’s Jeremiah, this young man who loves God, and what job does God give him? “Tell the people to repent or they’ll be punished. They won’t listen to you, but tell them anyway.”

“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” The problem is, His idea of wonderful is different from ours. From mine, anyway.

If I didn’t have a strong impression (very likely wrong) that I have a Calling to finish my Erling saga before I die, I’d be strongly considering taking up an even more unhealthy lifestyle, just to avoid the disaster that seems inevitable now.

Anyway.

I did accomplish one thing. With my hands, for a change.

I built (with my brother’s extensive help) a Viking chest, some years back, for use in reenactments. The picture above (my chest is red with yellow decorations) isn’t a very good one, but it’s the best I can find in my collection. A Viking chest is wider at the bottom than at the top (prevents tipping) and the two end boards are longer than the rest, creating “feet” that keep the chest off the ground (or out of the bilge water). It’s a practical design. I used a lot of construction cheats to make it looked joined, though it’s actually all screwed together.

A while back one of the feet broke. It’s been breaking off again periodically, under stress, ever since. I’d been planning to fix it for some time, by running a couple long screws up inside the boards the long way.

Last week I drilled starter holes for the screws, but found that the holes were too short for the very long screws I’d found somewhere. I went to the hardware store for a longer drill bit, and the guy sold me one he swore was the right size. It was not. It was too wide; the screws barely bit.

So yesterday I unscrewed the screws (not very hard) and dumped some toothpicks into the holes, along with Elmer’s glue. Then I coated the screws with glue as well, and tightened it all down. Seems solid.

I needed some sense of accomplishment. Finishing my translation work will help with that too. Better get back to it.

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Jeremiah in winter

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The Prophet Jeremiah, by Leonard Gaultier. This man never lived in Minnesota in winter.

Welcome to winter. Not only is it cold up here in wind chill country, but I understand much of the nation is enjoying the opportunity to bask in the same hibernal pleasures we Minnesotans get to savor every winter.

Needless to say, I hate it, with a fiery passion which, though inadequate to warm the house, is nonetheless remorseless. One of the nice things about being retired is that there are sometimes days – like this one – when there is no mortal reason to leave the house at all. Except I had to take the garbage out. But I managed it without damage, in spite of some really icy spots on my driveway (have I mentioned my driveway slopes?).

I figure this is the worst part of winter, unless we get a major snowstorm later and the power goes out. And that thought puts me in a winter mood.

I’ve been trying to think of subjects to write about for the American Spectator Online. I’ve got several ideas. But the problem is, I don’t want to write – and nobody wants to read – an article as winter-bleak as my thoughts around now.

I remember reading a book about Thomas Jefferson when I was a kid. It was above my reading level, but one thing in there stuck with me – Jefferson’s belief about freedom of speech. The faith that if everybody gets their say, the truth will naturally win out because it’s stronger than lies. The answer to bad speech is good speech.

But when I appeal to that principle today, nobody even knows what I’m talking about. The Left has not only renounced that faith, they pretend they never affirmed it at all.

Somebody said, a while back, that the future had turned out not to be Orwell’s, but Huxley’s.

But it appears now that the future came in stages. Huxley first, immediately followed by Orwell.

So all I can think of to say, when I talk about current events, is something along the lines of Jeremiah.

At this point there’s always somebody to say, “Don’t you have faith in Christ? Don’t you believe that God will take care of us?”

Sure, just the way He took care of Jeremiah. Who was carried off against his will into exile, and then murdered by his countrymen.

When we say that God will take care of us, that does not necessarily rule out martyrdom.

Could be a reeducation camp, of course. Which would probably get awful cold here in Minnesota.