The Test of Time - 18 December 2021 - Plague Journal Day 646

Micah 6:8
Luke 8:11-15
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Mannheim Steamroller. We discovered them the same night we discovered Jolt Cola. That was back somewhere in the 1980s (at least that's my assumption since Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas CD came out mid-80s, and Jolt debuted then as well) at a progressive dinner.

As I recall, we were at the house serving salad and other pre-entrée fare where Jolt was on offer and the stereo was Steamrolling. The extra caffeine was fine, but the extra sugar made our teeth itch, so Jolt simply wasn't for us. The music, however, was captivating.

No doubt you're wondering which one has stayed relevant to us. Which one has stood the test of time?
If you must know, it's the musical one (no real surprise here as that was probably pretty well telegraphed in the previous paragraph). In fact, we're going to see the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert this year! That should be fun.


Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

A Republic, If You Can Keep It - 27 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 229

Micah 6:8
Psalm 2
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

One week to election day, and there's a lot of talk about the state of our democracy. We don't actually live in a democracy, folks. This nation (these United States) is a republic. 

What? A Republic? There is non-democratic stuff in our constitution? Why? Let me tell you a story.

I'm not certain anymore if it was Ian or Robert, but years ago one of them came to me at an MYF meeting with a question about a school assignment. He was supposed to write something on how the doctrine of original sin influenced the design of our government, but he had no idea what that would mean.
That's a sad commentary from both sides of the question, I suppose. Apparently neither the church nor the school had prepared him well for that question. Still, with a pretty brief answer from me he was off and running.
To boil it down, the idea that we're all fallen and sinful (original sin) means no one can be trusted with very much power over others. The founders clearly understood that, and cleverly set up the three branches so they would all be watching over one another. Their competing desires for power would tend to negate each other.
Further, having a bicameral legislature, one house based on population and the other representing the individual States of the Union was meant to help to ensure that no one political faction would end up dominating the government, and thus becoming rulers of the people. Of course by moving to direct election of Senators (the 17th amendment) we continued a slide away from that vision to more of a mere representative democracy. I would happily see that amendment repealed.
The Electoral College is another part of this masterpiece of political design, meant to prevent the votes of the populace of one large state from totally swamping the votes of a smaller one. They obviously still remembered the line from the Declaration saying that "these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States," but after the failure of the Articles of Confederation, they essayed to "form a more perfect union" by the provisions of the Constitution under which we still operate, lo these many years later.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.