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“Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his
armor, ‘Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it
may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.’  So his armorbearer said to him, ‘Do all that is in your heart.  Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.'”

Are you so afraid of failure because you believe God only directs men into “successful” situations?  Do you fear stepping out to ask the bold question, to dare the words of love, to do the ludricous thing, because you are unsure of winning the answer, the other heart, or the prize?  Is it the other person or yourself that you fear?  Do you fear even your own desires, O saint?  And are you using half-hearted prayers seeking “guidance” as a mask for your lack of faith in doing?  

How many failures we have seen among the lives of biblical men and women, and yet God maintains His glory, His throne, His love.  Is this a license for foolishness among God’s people?  Surely not!  But we must have a greater, grander view of God’s grace, and even of the grace among His people!   Do other believers demand all answers and perfection from you?  They should not, lest they forget the grace which also purchased them.  The same honesty which requires that we sometimes speak the difficult things or confess the hard hurts and loves, is that honesty which compels every man in this prayer: “God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner.”  The poor in spirit are most honest.  The poor in spirit may, in this life, lose out for the sake of that honesty, or may be damaged by their own truth-telling.  But grace and deep affection are not lost or injured for the losing–neither the love of God in Christ Jesus nor the love of the fellow faithful are diminished! 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!”  Have you become convinced that moving forward into an unknown will separate you from His love?  The doubt which may accompany many great steps of faith is not sinful; faith itself both includes and overwhelms doubt.  But we have promises beyond the small steps and assurances which no small doubtful, daring venture can drown.  Therefore, walk bold, Christian!  Who knows?  It may be that the Lord will work for you, for He is not hindered by many or by few…

p.s. I’m including today’s ESV Verse of the Day:

“For you have been called for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps
Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats,
but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds
you were healed. 
For you were continually straying like sheep,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Peter 2

Sometimes I notice the young women around me and I wonder, almost aloud: “What person is it in your life that, when this person tells you that you are a beautiful and lovely woman, you will really truly believe it and walk in that reality all the rest of your days?”

I know who, but I wonder if the women do.

I dearly love this music.  When I was growing up, all through my childhood years I had my parents’ record player in my room, and from their collection there were four or five albums to which I listened often and enthusiastically.  One was a Christian music called “It’s Cool in the Furnace,” another was the Kingston Trio’s “Live at the hungry i,” and I delved into Frank Sinatra’s “Nice ‘n Easy” quite a good bit.  Of course, there were also all of the Psalty-the-Singing-Songbook recordings and other such notable works, but those we listened to on tape.  But the record album which probably received most of my attention was Bernstein’s version of the 1812 Overture/Capriccio Italien/Marche Slave, so when I discovered it on iTunes I was a very happy man.  Now to listen to it takes me back to that small bedroom and the old record player. 

Not to mention the fact that Tchaikovsky makes me want to rock out–I was listening to the 1812 in the car the other day, and the movement of the music is incredible!  It builds, the tidal build, before the terrific warlike clamour of finale, and I rather wanted to jump up and down (which is hard to do when you’re behind a steering wheel).   How well the great classical authors of music wove strings of emotions unexpected and yet clean and clear throughout an entire piece.  Romance, fury, meditation and repose–all may find their voice within the span of a few minutes’ humming and blaring…

I’m nearly finished with my first reading of Jack London’s The Sea Wolf, and have found it quite a terrific find! I have long had an old copy of it on my shelves, a hand-me-down (of which I have many) from my parents, but had never read it. I confess, I’d never given much stock to London as a novelist, always believing him little more than a bitter naturalist and only a fair writer to boot. How wrong was I in my estimation! Much talent revealed in this novel, and philosophical pickings as well–Captain Larsen is perhaps the most complete and consistent atheist I’ve yet read in literature. Apparently, London’s aim was to decry the Nietzschean Superman in Larsen, though he does not give full confidence either to the moralistic musings of the narrator of the tale. This narrator falls flat because his moralism gives no reckoning to a true God, and therefore has no absolute Author(ity) above it, behind it, or in it. Still, the debates between Van Weyden and Larsen are capital…

Above, a photograph of young London–mostly because I have yet to try putting a picture on this blog, and must prove that I can. Does this look like the face of a young man who played the parts of oyster pirate, national hobo, Yukon explorer, and frequent library patron in his young life?

And yes, I’m here at work.
And yes, I’m terribly terribly bored.
I have been killing time for the past few hours…and it’s been killing me in return.

In honour of Bryan “The Cat” Ellis, also recognised with great esteem under the title of Le Tigre, I wish to direct the attention of all readers to the astounding musical talents of a trio by the same name.  Simply come to AOL music video archives and seek out the band “Le Tigre” under the alternative genre.  Three videos are available there, and none will do much to please any of the human senses, but you might get a good laugh, ending with a smiling sigh as you think of our fond friend Bryan Ellis and how he would never wish any association with said videos.

“Useful men are some of the greatest blessings of a people.  To have many such is more for a people’s happiness than almost anything–unless it is God’s own gracious spiritual presence amongst them.  They are precious gifts of heaven.  Particularly I would beseech and exhort those aged ones that yet remain, while they do live with us, to let us have much of their prayers, that when they leave the younger generations, that they may leave God with them.”

“Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more…raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this
glorious employ.  And what manner of men will they be?  Men mighty in the
Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the
majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the
great truths of the doctrines of grace.  They will be men who have
learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal
ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who
will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose
supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the
Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. 
They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled
eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary
effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders
following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

So last night I dreamt I was moving through an enormous house with many rooms followed by many friends, and that we were seeking some extraordinary treasure or token to advance us in our cause (I don’t know the cause or exactly what the token would be–I think we none knew).  We had peered in room after room, finding all the typical items in great old houses: stately chairs, fireplaces, rugs, furnitures and clothings–and finally I opened one ancient oaken door to reveal instead a whole world beyond it!  Bright blue sky, fresh air…and instead of carpet, a fresh gree track of lawn led down a gentle slope from the threshold of the door, in a sort of lane perhaps thirty feet long.  To the left of this lane the space opened up to reveal a large shipping town a little distance away, with the seaside beyond it and below.  To the right of the grassy place at the bottom of the slope, it opened up to a muddy yard with patchy spots of green.  I led my friends down the slope and turned right to face the muddy tract.  I had the feeling that I had been here before, as in another dream, and the houseservant who was accompanying us told us in a low, eery voice that some who have come to this world of a room before, had met themselves and held dialogue there.  I was struck with a fear, knowing that such a conversation was a wicked thing.  In fact, I began to say to the servant, “Don’t you know that Judas conversed with himself in just such a way for three days before betraying the Christ?” (which idea I have no clue from whence it came) but the servant was not listening and began strangely to drone out some magical words I cannot here repeat, as if to summon the other Me in this strange dreamy world.  I cut him off sharply, for I would not speak with Myself, then picked up a stone and threw it into the muddy field.  From the spot where the stone landed there came not the dull thud of muddy earth but a sharp clank, as the stone struck upon the very treasure we were seeking in the house.  I knew our adventures now could continue…

Three great things about yesterday:

1. I became an uncle for a secound go-around (smile).  Kyle Austin made me an uncle first three years ago, and he’s as great as ever–only now he has a new role as big brother to (fanfare noises) Justin Magnus Ritterbush.  I know–Magnus!  How cool is that?  I guess a little of my eccentricity has rubbed off on my brother.  Don’t worry, Justin: in a few years, Lord willing, you’ll have cousins named Ransom Jack and Asher Burden, and then you’ll think your middle name downright normal compared with these (grin).

2. I believe my friends ValMoon and Brad the Fox were wedded somewhere down in the DR.  Which means last night was probably pretty darn crazy.  Oh, don’t give me that look!–we were all thinking it…

3. I discovered that my friend Matty and I have a peculiar talent–we are rainmakers.  Instead of the Native American dancing ritual, we need but go hiking and we can make a thunderous downpour appear out of nowhere.  Anytime we set our heart to climb up to Buzzard’s Point, we end up doused by precipitation (grin).  But I was very thankful–Matty is a darn good friend, you all should know, and I appreciate his wisdom and frankness.  Thanks for the talk, bro.

Okay, I’ll add one more: last night I thought about renting a movie or trying to find something to do, but decided at last just to sit down and read.  I wanted some adventurous tale to read, so I picked a few unknown novels off the shelves at my pad here and started into one: Jack London’s The Sea Wolf.  A hand-me-down from my parents’ bookshelves, I think, since there’s no McKay’s Used Bookstore sticker on it.  It’s really good thus far–well written, I have been quite impressed at the clarity of thought in it.  That Captain Wolf Larsen is one serious, godless, semi-crazy cat, let me tell you!  He’s a consistent atheist…anyone read it before?