The Cure for Bereavement

To say, “Time heals all wounds” Is trite

      When the heart is in its anguish,
                   But there is no
          Cure for the bereavement
                       But time.

               The Death lies quiet,
               But the living greave
                  The dissolution
           Of what could have been.
                   Why, oh why
           They ask again and again.

             A question with no answer,
                    The loss remains.
                   And, unexplained,
                     Life will go on.
                 Hard though it may be
                    For the bereaved.

                       Until time
                 Has came and gone.
                Time to, if not heal,
                   At least adjust
                 To a life without,
        And time to find a new meaning.

                     Not to forget,
              For that is not in the cards,
               But to remember the joy
                  Without it being
             Drowned by the sadness
                   Of the passing.

             A quietus will be found,
            Not today, not tomorrow,
               But a time will come
                 And bring with it
               The strength needed
    To pick up the pieces and move on.

© Rexx

Navagation and Wobble

I’m sure many people know this, but a “great circle” is a circle that goes clear around the entire globe, and whose center is at the center of the globe. A “meridian”, on the other hand, is a great circle that passes through the poles. Lines of longitude are meridians, for example, while the Equator is a great circle. And the “Prime Meridian” is the line of longitude that goes through both poles .. and right through the Greenwich Observatory.  On the other side of the planet is the Prime Meridian also called the “International Date Line”.

If you know the exact time the sun rises where you happen to be, then you know which line of longitude you are on. Easy as that (with the usual caveats, refraction, etc.) … but only if you know exactly, to the second, what time it is. And that was why lots of seamen died before John Harrison invented his chronometer … they didn’t know what time it was, so they didn’t know where they were.  The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude.  Harrison's invention of a clock that could keep correct time, while at sea, and the concept that time equaled longitude won the £20,000 (worth well over a million dollars in todays money) for a method that could determine longitude within 30 nautical.  

To use time to determine the longitude of a ship a map of the world is divided into 24 segments, each representing one hour.  The clock on board the ship was set to the same time at Greenwich, now called Greenwich Mean Time, then as the ship sailed east or west of Greenwich to determine their longitued they had only to find the local time using a sexton.  To do this they use the noonday sun and the horizon of the sea, when it was getting near noon the navigator would start measuring the angle between the sun and the horizon.  He would keep taking the measurement until the angle stoped increasing and started to decrease.  That point was local noon.  Then all he had to do was to count the hours, minutes, and seconds on his chart from Greenwich and that point was his longitued.  For the latitude he had to wait until dark and use either the North Star or the Southern Cross is depending which side of the equator he was.  The further north the ship went the higher went the North Star from the horizon.  So in those days a sailor could only know where he was precisely east to west in the world once a day, the rest of the day was guess work called dead reckoning.

The Greenwich Observatory back in the days before radio they needed to be able to pass an accurate time signal to anyone in the Thames. To do that, they mounted a big red ball that can slide up and down a pole, viz:  A few minutes before 1:00 they raised the ball up to the top of the mast, and then at exactly 1:00 they dropped the ball … and all of the navigators on vessels up and down the Thames could set their Chronometers to the exact second.

To close this post I would like to talk about the earth's wobble.  Throughout the year the earth wobbles on its axes as it goes around the sun, with the results that the sun appears to set way down in the south in the winter. As it goes south each day gets shorter  while each night gets longer, when it get as far south as it will go we have the longest night of the year, and that night is called the winter soloist.  After that night it starts its moves to the north for the summer with each day getting longer and each night getting shorter, when it gets as far north as it will go we have the longest day of the year which is called the summer soloist.  Then it starts on its journey back to the south.  On the 22nd of September the sun will be its halfway point on its journey south and marks the first day of Fall.  On this day the day is called the fall equinox and night and day are of equal length.  This will happen again next spring with the sun on its way back north, but it will be called the spring equinox.  For Christians the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox is Easter.

The Greek astronomer, Hipparchus of Nicea by comparing observations more than a century apart, Hipparchus proposed that the axis around which the heavens seemed to rotate shifted gradually, though very slowly.  Around the year 130 BC, Hipparchus compared ancient observations to his own and concluded that in the preceding 169 years those intersections had moved by 2 degrees. How could Hipparchus know the position of the Sun among the stars so exactly, when stars are not visible in the daytime? By using not the Sun but the shadow cast by the Earth on the moon, during an eclipse of the Moon! During an eclipse, Sun, Earth and Moon form a straight line, and therefore the center of the Earth's shadow is at the point on the celestial sphere which is exactly opposite that of the Sun.

This is what is called the pression of the equinox or Axial Pression and we go through one such complete cycle in a period of approximately 26,000 years or 1° every 72 years.  This is why I put no stock in astrology as all of the calulation is based upon the position of the constalations as they were 3-5 thousands years ago.  If we thake the 3 thousand as the date it was formalized that means the the conslations have shifted about 41.6 drgrees from where they were then. And while some, like Hipparchus, knew of the shifting stars, most had no more a clue than most of us do today.

And we think that we are smart today.

A Dream And Unexpected Consequences

Had a dream last night and strange it was indeed.  I was living back in Greece in Pytheromies' time.  I had learned that he was the greatest mathematician mind in the world, Greece was the world to Greeks back then everyone else was considered barbarians, but I regress.  In this dream I wanted to learn what Pytheromies had to teach.

I could not retain the great man himself but I did obtain the services of his best student who said that he would teach me all he had learned from Pytheromies for a price.  I was ecstatic, ran home and told my wife and two daughters the good news.  And for the next few years every morning I would kiss my wife and daughters goodbye and go off to learn math. 

For more than 3 years this was the routine, I would say goodbye to my family in the morning, spent the day sitting at the master's feet, and then return to the arms of my wife at night.  I learned algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, never mind that the last had not yet been invented, it is a dream after all.  Finally I had learned all the master had to teach, and when I left home to go home that afternoon I learned something else.

When I got home the house was empty, no wife and daughters to great me, no one to tell my good news, to brag about knowing all the math there was to know.  I search for them and was told that my master's servants had come and taken them early in the morning and sold them as slaves to pay my debt for his services.  Then I remember that he had said that he would teach me for a price, and I had neglected to find out what that price would be.   Alas, sad was me, for the rest of my life I wonder around a bum, a bum with all the knowledge about mathematics that existed in my head, but could not bring a number into my head without falling into great despondency.  

While this was just a dream I had, it does point to the need to find out the true price of the things you buy before committing yourself to the deal.  Remember that everything you buy into come with a price called consequences.  Some you expect and some are unexpected, and it is sometimes the unexpected consequences that cost you the most.

Einstein's Insanity.

Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Let me explain why I know this is not a good definition of insanity. All of us spend a lot of time doing the same thing over and over again not only hoping for a difference results but, wahla, getting it.

For an example I will tell this story of me changing the saw blade in my table saw. See I have a 12x12 piece of tile that needed to be 2 6x12s. So yesterday on my way home from Forest City I stopped by Harbor Freight and bout a $22 10 inch diamond saw blade to do the job. When I got home I took off the old wood blade and put on the new blade, and tighten the retaining nut. Unbeknownst to me the spacer that goes on the motor's shaft before the blade had fallen into the saw dust under the table saw.

In my desire to get the blade up tight against the saw motor's shaft I over tighten the retaining nut driving the nut past the last thread on the shaft getting it well and truly stock on the shaft. In order to loosen it I had to stick a small needle nose vise grip in the very narrow space, less than a half of an inch, between the table top and the space to the saw blade, and clamp in onto the flat ring that is on the drive shaft for the blade;s spacer to rest against after the blade is tighten into place. Then I had to put a wrench on the retaining nut and put pressure on it to break the nut loose.

Over and over again I had to re-position the vice grips on the shaft as it popped loose while I was applied pressure to the wrench. For about two hours I repeated this procedure hoping for a different results, it was either that or give up on the table saw and not have the use of it or buy another one, and I sure did not want to do either of those options. So I repeated over and over again the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results, and just a bit ago I got it, the vice grip held long enough for the wrench to push the nut off the un-threaded part of the shaft allowing me to remove the blade, find the spacer after reasoning that was what have had to be missing, and put the blade on right, and cut the tile.

Now I just have to put a wood blade back on for when I heed to cut wood next. I am glad to have the diamond tipped blade but do not expecting to be using it very much. So tell me. was I insane for repeated over and over again the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results?

Pride vr. Hubris

Today I want to talk about pride.  Not the pride of your hometown or your child’s success, but the pride that precedes the fall or as Proverbs 16:18 puts it, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”  How does this pride differ from be pride of what you have been able to achieve in life, or of a job well done?

The pride that comes before the fall means that you have becomes over confident and stops thinking sensibly or critically because of what you think you know or the abilities you have.  This is the source of the adage, “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing”.

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

and drinking largely sobers us again.

Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)

When success goes to one's head and which is a sure indication of the fact that that person is bound to suffer or face disappointment because of the wrong decisions that he or she might make.  

How does this adage and the Proverb ties together and become profitable for us as instructions?  Well remember what Reagan said, “Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.”  When you go to criticize another’s views make sure that you understand the subject you are spouting off about.  To be so completely convinced that you have the correct view when in fact all you have is a small understanding is a manifestation of the pride that precedes the fall. 

This pride can sneak into our minds in any number of ways, on how best to train a horse to how best to interpret the scriptures.  While this pride can bring us to embarrassment at its mildest form of rebuke to death and destruction at its harshest, it does not rise to hubris unless you refuse to learn from the instruction that holding this type of pride provides.    

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”  Hebrews 12:5-6

Now as far as interpreting scriptures I take the Baptist approach that no one stand between man and god.  No preacher, no elder, or deacon, but through faith, interacting with others, through listening, conversations, reading and reflection. One should also engage not only those who share their worldview but others who are quite different from you. You will find that sometimes your conversations will help another person, but more often I have found that by talking with others I have come to a better understanding of the scriptures.

I will not tell another person this is the way you should understand the Bible, I will tell how I understand it.  I believe that God is a God of revelation, if He does not reveal Himself to you you cannot find Him.  

“And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;   (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.   What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.  Romans” 9: 10-17

The 4th Commandments

Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:  For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.:

God instituted the Sabbath to Israel as a weekly reminder of two things. First is that all true blessing comes from His grace, not their labor. Secondly, that they should hallow him and honor Him and keep the day holy so to seek the fullness of His blessing by there giving our special attention to Him on the 7th day of each week.  Remember the Law, i.e., the Ten Commandments and everything in Deuteronomy was given unto Israel not unto the world at large like Jesus' crucifiction was.

 Deuteronomy 5 explains why the Israelites were to keep the Sabbath holy:  Verse 15: 

"You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."  Christians were not carried out of Egypt so this reason does not apply to those under the Blood and not under the Law.  So I am not convinced that this injunction against laboring on the Sabbath holds for Christians.  And it would be a good thing if we were not for Christians have not observed the Sabbath since the beginning of the church almost.  The Sabbath commandment does not require worship, it prohibits work. Worship can occur on any day.  And the Sabbath's constrain against work is directed to the Jews, not Christians.

The early church did observe the Sabbath but the apostles had a meeting to decide which of the Jewish laws apply to non-Jewish Christians. Their decision is recorded in Acts 15:24-29. If you read it carefully, there is nothing in there about the Sabbath. Any modern Jewish rabbi would agree—the Sabbath law only applies to Jews. If you want to keep the Sabbath holy, you can but since Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday, that is the best day to celebrate it in worship.  

The point?  If you are stressing over not keeping the Sabbath holy by working on Saturday and/or Sunday as well, well don't it is of no consequence.

The Third Commandment

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” the third commandment.  Two questions come to my mind when I read this, the first is just what is the name of God, and second is what does vain mean.

 Is God’s name God?  We know that it is not for when Moses asked Him He responded, “I am who I am”.  And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM (YHWH) has sent me to you.

If God is not God’s name how is saying “God damm it” or “Oh my God” taking his name in vain?  And what about saying “Jesus Christ!!” when you see something shocking?  In the Old Testament, bringing dishonor on God’s name was done by failing to perform an oath or vow taken in His name (Leviticus 19:12). Any man who swore by God’s name to legitimize his oath, and then broke his promise, would demonstrated his lack of reverence for God as well as a lack of fear of His holy retribution.  This would be the same as denying God’s existence. For Believers there is instruction not to use God’s name to legitimize an oath, letting our “yes be yes” and our “no be no” (Matthew 5:33-37).

Now on to the vain part: The Hebrew לא תשא לשוא is translated as "thou shalt not take in vain". The word here translated as "in vain" is שוא shav' "emptiness, vanity; emptiness of speech, lying", while "take" is נשא nasa' "to lift, carry, bear, take, take away" (appearing in the second person as תשא ). The expression "to take in vain" is also translated less literally as "to misuse" or variants. Some have interpreted the commandment to be against perjury, since invoking God’s name in an oath was considered a guarantee of the truth of a statement or promise. Other scholars believe the original intent was to prohibit using the name in the magical practice of conjuration.  The object of the command "thou shalt not take in vain" is את־שם־יהוה אלהיך at-shem-YHWH elohik "this-same name of YHWH, thy elohim", making explicit that the commandment is against the misuse of the proper name Yahweh specifically.  Wikipedia.

Webster Dictionary Definition of VAIN

1

: having no real value : idle, worthless <vain pretensions>

2

: marked by futility or ineffectualness : unsuccessful, useless <vain efforts to escape>

3

archaic : foolish, silly

4

: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : conceited

From this it seems as though saying “God dam it” does not fall into the taking of God’s name in vain category, but what about the “Jesus Christ!!!” part?  In the OT God declared that His name was YHWH (Exodus 6:3; 20:7; see also 3:14). Scholars believe that "YHWH," or "Yahweh" is the third person singular form of the ancient Hebrew verb, "haya," meaning "to be." The basic thrust of this verb describes the state of existence. As the third person form of haya, Yahweh literally means "He is," or "He exists." It is a description of who God is. He is the self-existing one.  God's name, YHWH, is a full sentence. It just so happens to be the shortest sentence in any language--"I am.

In Hebrew Jesus' name is spelled as "Yeshua." The "Ye" in Yeshua is the abbreviated form of YHWH. "Shua" is from the Hebrew word for salvation, yasha. Jesus' name literally means "YHWH is salvation.  Christ means: anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word translated “Messiah”.  Thus when you say, “Jesus Christ!!!” you are in effect saying “the anointed bringer of YHWH’s salvation”, and still is no more the name of God than God is the name of God.

I am not saying that you should not strive to keep our euphemism for the Lord’s name as holey as we can, I am saying that neither saying “God Damm!” or “Jesus Christ!!!” will dam you to hell.