School Spirit?

We had a guest at our regular Thursday morning meeting: Eric Yearwood, who works with Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Eric recently returned from a summer in Italy, and told us a couple of distressing stories about the decline of faith in Europe and a couple of inspiring stories about reversing that trend.

Anyway, if ye socks would like to read more about his ministry, check out this link: http://www.uscm.org/.

And, if ye feel moved to make a financial contribution or send words of encouragement, contact Eric at:

1700 Forum Blvd #1503

Columbia, MO 65203

The Decline and Fall

Ye socks may not recall Edward Gibbon's famous treatise on why the Roman Empire collapsed, but I've been thinking about it a lot over the last week or so.

Ironically, he wrote it back in 1776, when our grand experiment in democracy began.

Now, as things seem to be unraveling, I wondered if there were any parallels.

Gibbons did a lot of research, and his work is very interesting to read if you're a history buff like yours truly. But, I disagree with his overall thesis, because he points to the rise of Christianity as the trigger for an overall "loss of civic virtue."

According to him, the Romans stopped focusing on building-up the material world around them and started focusing on their individual eternities.

Poppycock!

I am much more inclined to accept the explanation put forth by Ludwig von Mises, who believes the Romans collapsed due to bad economic policies:

* They allowed their currency to drop in value, much like we have debased the dollar in recent years.

* They instituted price controls that led to a shortages in consumer goods, kinda like what we've experienced with fuel.

* The shortages caused people to worry about mere subsistence instead of expanding markets, just like a lot of ye socks have reduced the number of miles you add to the odometer of your SUV's.

* And, finally they instituted an arbitrary system of taxation that punished trade and discouraged innovators, frighteningly similar to what The Disaster in Waiting has promised to do after January 20th.

Raisin in the Sun

I stayed up way too late last night watching ABC's tv adaptation of the old Broadway play by Lorraine Hansberry. For ye trivia buffs, the odd title comes from two lines in an even older Langston Hughes poem: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"

As a child of the 80's, who could resist watching Phylicia Rashad playing a matriarch . . . albeit a very different one from the one she portrayed on The Cosby Show?

And, of course, there were the amazing acting skills of P. Diddy to keep one glued to the set. I mean, he really put Sidney Poitier (who played the role originally) to shame. NOT!

I do have to admit I was more than a little disturbed toward the end, when a foreign college professor belittles the daughter in the family because her dreams were purchased by a man's death. (Her father's insurance money was supposed to pay for her medical school tuition.)

The reason it bothered me is that it seemed like a more-than-subtle jab at Chrisitianity. You know the whole story about the crucifixion and redemption. Especially so, since the same daughter had declared herself an atheist in an earlier scene.

Much to my delight, in that scene the Phylicia Rashad character slapped her cocky unbelieving daughter across the face and made her repeat the statement, "There's still God in my mama's house!"

Anyway, this family drama was worth the forfeiture of sleep. It had some pretty good life lessons to teach.

Now, pass the coffee pot!

Anybody hungry?!

Here's an interesting twist I heard today. A little bit of Daoism mixed with Christianity, if you will.

Emotions need to be nourished. Either feed into them so they can grow, or they will starve and die.

And, the only emotions worth feeding are faith, hope, and love.

Hmmmmmm