Requiescat in Pace “Patch”

My friend “Patch” has died. He was a former member of the Outlaws MC turned Harley mechanic. His nickname arose from a missing eye, which he often covered in piratical fashion. 

I liked and respected him. He was a good man as well as a skilled mechanic. I respected his skill at fabrication, which is an area of mechanics that I admire because it is so much more difficult than simply replacing parts. He could machine you something that worked, and worked perfectly. 

Nor would he accept even reasonable compensation for this skill. I always had to argue with him to get him to take more than he asked, because ‘a workman is worthy of his hire,’ and I couldn’t have worked his miracle with any amount of time. He was always offering to take ‘twenty bucks’ or something like that for spending hours of his time turning something out. 

He was a good man and husband. He celebrated his turn to the latter life, which he felt was better than his youth. 

A man of honor. 

Christianity and Foreign Affairs

Two articles today that sort of tread the line on AVI's 'news or not' division. The first one is not really news, but a meditation on how St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas guide US grand strategy. It calls for a grand strategy of "Justice, Fortitude, Restraint and Temperance." 

The second article is a little more newsy because it looks at some present-day applications from the same perspective. What duties do Christians have towards the Christians being massacred in Syria and elsewhere right now? 

“Involvement does not mean military,” contended Perkins. “I don’t believe we should be sending our troops everywhere. But, as you pointed out, there are other means.”

“I would be in the front line of arguing that the neoliberal interventionism that had so possessed the United States over the course of the last 40 or 50 years — it has proved itself to be unworkable,” Mohler granted. “Our massive investments of blood and treasure all over the world, in causes that we declared won, only to have them lost again, are a grave warning against believing that we can just make our will [happen] wherever we want it around the world.”

Sadly -- tragically -- accurate as a pragmatic assessment of the last decades.  

Anabasis XXIII

Once the riot has been quelled and discipline restored, Xenophon tries to make peace with the governing authorities of Byzantium. They are not quite sure what to do with him. Finally they agree to let him come inside the town, with a view towards leaving the army and sailing home.

The army begins to break up, some men selling their arms and returning home as well. Some of the generals try to convince it to remain under new orders, either to go to Seuthes (who had bribed two of the generals, one with a horse and one with a woman) or to serve the Spartans (here "Lacedaemonians," which I assume you all know is another name for the Spartans and the root of our word 'laconic'). 

A historical note not made clear in the text: these events coincide with the end of the Spartan year, which was in the autumn, and thus there are some changes of office about to happen. Byzantium will get a new governor and admiral, for example, and they have different ideas about the Ten Thousand. Likewise, whatever remains of the army will have to find a place to winter. There are also about to be changes in the leadership of the Persians whose territory begins, as you will recall, not all that far away: Cyrus had been in charge of the satrapy bordering the Greek world.

The new Spartan governor of Byzantium begins selling former soldiers of Cyrus' into slavery. Xenophon suggests that members of the Ten Thousand may have been sold, but it isn't clear if he means all four hundred he mentions were of the Ten Thousand, or if other soldiers of Cyrus' old territories had come to Byzantium seeking refuge from the Persian King. 

The former Spartan admiral Anaxibius, finding himself cut off from support now that he no longer possesses a powerful office, summons Xenophon and gives him command of a warship and a letter of authority to retake command of the Ten Thousand. Anaxibius had been pleased to see them breaking up while he was an admiral, but now he would like to pull as many of them as possible back together to serve his own interests. Xenophon agrees, and the army celebrates his return. Xenophon begins trying to get them shipped across to Asia for their new contract.

The new Spartan admiral, whose name is Aristarchus, tells Xenophon that by no means will he allow this, and in fact will sink any ships that try to transport the Ten Thousand anywhere. 

Xenophon conducts a sacrifice whose victims apparently conveyed a way for him to get his army to Seuthes after all. Exactly how this worked is a little mysterious. Seuthes' army is nearby, also in need of a winter camp. They link up with Xenophon and the Myriad, and Seuthes and Xenophon plus their aides de camp have a celebration of friendship (i.e. they drink together as is customary, the text says in Thrace, but indeed for soldiers almost everywhere and in every era). 

Seuthes proposes to employ the Ten Thousand in trying to restore his family domain from another family that had conquered it. He promises the Ten Thousand a home in this country if they will help him regain his own command of it.

Aristarchus offers a counterproposal that they fight for him in forcing their way to "the sacred mountain" (you may think of Olympus, but it's more likely Mount Ida in what is now Turkey). The army discusses the two, asks some questions of Seuthes, and then votes to back Seuthes' effort on the strength of logistical concerns: he has the ability to help them winter before the campaign, knowing the location of many places where they can obtain resources for their army as well as his own.

We are coming to the end of this story.

* The online translation describes the Byzantine reaction to a proposal from Xenophon as them being "at sixes and sevens," as opposed to the Warner translation which merely says they are "split up into a number of hostile camps." This is not at all a Greek phrase, but does date to at least Geoffrey Chaucer and has an interesting history.

Black Danes & White Danes

In the British Isles, sometimes the Vikings were categorized as “White Danes” or as “Black Danes.” Unlike the monks who were subjected to a similar categorization scheme by the color of the robes their Order wore, the Vikings were assigned the color based on whether they tended to be blue eyed and light haired (and thus from Norway) or dark haired and eyed (and this from Denmark). 

It turns out that the White Danes were much more violent. At least this seems to be the case if measured by extrajudicial killings. Presumably this was because Norway was lawless for longer, quite a bit longer in places. The government killings don’t count. 

Social Workers and Police

You almost certainly remember the stories from back in 2020 about 'defunding the police' and replacing them with social workers -- or, in a more sober form, maybe putting some resources into having social workers who would be able to assist with certain kinds of calls. 

Locally, some of our small towns have been trying a version of that. The police aren't being defunded at all, and the social workers are college student interns or grad students from the local university. It is, however, working pretty well. They don't send the social worker instead of police, but rather on some kinds of calls a cruiser where a social worker volunteer is riding along is the one selected to respond.

Likewise, Chief David Adams said he was initially skeptical about having a social worker responding to calls when the conversation hit the mainstream in 2020; however, he admitted that he’s been “pleasantly surprised.” Despite his initial apprehension, Adams called the Sylva police chief to see how the program was working over there. When he heard how well things were going, he became intrigued and got onboard.  

Now, not only is [social worker Kasey] Curcio viewed as a valuable asset for the department, another social work intern from WCU, Tom Hines, is doing his internship with WPD and is also excelling.

It's an encouraging story, and another demonstration of how voluntary citizen non-coercive approaches can improve things. By coincidence that removes the tension around departments worrying about being 'de-funded,' and instead allows them to embrace the change rather than resisting it or feeling threatened by it.

By All Means Raise Chickens

We've got quite a few eggs at a time when eggs and egg prices are problems for many Americans.

The high point of the collection.

The reason is that my wife decided to take up raising chickens as a hobby. I was unsure about this but, as usual when my uncertainty conflicts with her determination, she got her way. For a long time I really didn't love the chickens, especially the screaming roosters (which I took satisfaction in killing and eating). However, the eggs have really won me over. I now regard at least the hens as welcome additions to our little enclave on the mountain. Even the current rooster isn't so bad, because I know he produces more hens to replace the old ones as they stop laying. 

The Washington Post doesn't like the idea, though, because they associate it with the (second?) most hated person in their world. "No harm, no fowl: Trump recommends a return to subsistence farming."

“How do we solve for something like this?” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asked on Fox News. “People are sort of looking around and thinking, ‘Wow, maybe I could get a chicken in my backyard,’ and it’s awesome.”

In no universe does it make economic sense for every American household — many of whom live in urban areas or even suburbs where it’s illegal to keep live poultry — to start farming their own food. The fact that we humans don’t have to spend all our time growing our own sustenance, and can instead specialize in other fields where we’re more productive, is a tremendous victory for our species.

Our post-agrarian society has allowed Americans to lead richer, healthier, longer, more leisure-filled lives. There’s a reason politicians a century ago promised “a chicken in every pot,” not a “chicken in every yard.”... 

It actually makes perfect sense for as many Americans as practical to begin raising some of their own food. In World War II we called that "Victory Gardens." In fact, we had one here during COVID that was quite large.

One of three raised beds; I was building a stone walkway when this was taken.

Our farming efforts have shrunk a bit since then, but it was a perfectly sound idea and even a very defensible public policy. It's a surge capacity Americans have used frequently in the past to get through hard times.

“Homesteading influencer” content might be trendy on social media, but surely the way to Make America Great Again does not involve having everyone raise their own livestock, log their own forests and galvanize their own steel wire. But that is, perhaps, the logical conclusion of Trump’s lifelong fixation with autarky, the idea that an economy should not engage in trade and instead be self-sufficient.

If countries should be economically self-supporting, why not states? If states, why not neighborhoods? If neighborhoods, why not every man, woman and child for themselves? Between bird flu and measles and other contagions, adopting the trad-wife/prepper lifestyle might sound pretty attractive right now.

I do in fact cut my own firewood to heat my own house, grow many of the vegetables we eat in warmer weather, can sauces made from tomatoes for use in colder weather, kill my own deer and butcher it too. It's hardly subsistence farming to do that, because it's coupled with a career of the sort she's talking about. It's just a way of being a little healthier, and a little more in control of my life, and a little closer to nature. 

In fact if she reflected on it, she'd probably recognize this scheme from a source she might like better: Karl Marx. 

For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a herdsman, or a critical critic, and must remain so if he does not want to lose his means of livelihood; while in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. 

It turns out the communist society was not a necessary condition for this sort of life after all. I let the chickens out in the morning, split wood in the spring afternoon, hunt in the autumn, can in the summer, write commentaries on philosophical works in the cold winters. I'm not a professional hunter, maker of sauces, or livestock man of any kind. Occasionally I've written a book or a poem or two, but I don't make my living by it. What I do professionally is something else entirely. 

Raising chickens may or may not make sense for you, but don't let them talk you out of it if you want to -- no more than my wife let me talk her out of it! She was right about this one.

Anabasis XXII

The army crosses now to Byzantium. This is the same city that will one day become Constantinople, and later Istanbul. You may recall that Anaxibius, the admiral of Byzantium, had promised to hire the army if it came to him. Well, he does not in fact produce any pay, although he does produce orders for them to deploy -- and to feed themselves as best they may from the countryside. 

Not paying a large, disciplined army of mercenaries as promised is a terrible idea. The army riots, and even in its riot is able to take the city. This is potentially a disaster of extreme proportion, for even in those days Byzantium was a center of the trade of grains and foodstuffs throughout the region. Indeed, the Spartans had seized the city from Athens during the Peloponnesian War precisely to cut off Athens' grain supply; and while Athens later recaptured it, the Spartans are currently in control of it. The Spartan admiral who promised them money decamps from the city on a fishing boat(!), and escapes to a citadel from which he summons reinforcements.

Xenophon, gravely concerned about the future if he allows the army to plunder this city, manages to restore order and to have the whole army fall into ranks in a large square suitable for such a muster. He explains to them that they are in an inferior position to Athens' when it started its war with Sparta, and therefore can expect even worse results if they provoke open war between themselves and the Spartans. He is successful in reining them in using this rhetorical strategy, and he sends messages to the Spartan admiral to explain that the army feels it has been treated unfairly and would like some additional help in provisioning itself for the expedition he wants them to undertake. 

Xenophon has done some great things in this story, but this may be the greatest. Bringing a rioting army back to order is not an easy task. He accomplished it, got them to fall into their ranks, and then reasoned with them successfully to restrain them from the impulse to plunder. That is truly impressive to me.

When is a job important?

AP reports that some laid-off federal workers are disappointed to learn that their own family suspects their jobs weren't worth the federal tax dollars they cost. The article focuses entirely on the subjective importance of the jobs to the workers, not on the value received by the taxpayers. No doubt a case could be made for some laid-off workers that the job really benefited the public and was worth the cost, but that concept seems alien to the writers of nearly all the articles I've read in the last few weeks, with the exception of a few about necessary jobs eliminated by mistake that had to be restored.

It would be unkind, of course, to spit in the face of a friend or relative who lost a cherished federal job. Nevertheless, it doesn't change my view of the need to eliminate waste to read perspectives like this:

“It’s really hurtful for the president to insinuate that you don’t exist or that your job consisted of sitting at home doing nothing and cashing the paycheck,” he says. “I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails. He’s the one that goes golfing on the government dime. I don’t even know how to golf.”

Or this:

“My life is disintegrating because I can’t work in my chosen field,” says Jenn, 47, from Austin, Texas.

She chose the field, so the taxpayer can lump it? Is the point of federal taxes to fulfill her employment dreams?

“What they tell me is it’s just cutting out the waste, the excess spending — that your job’s not that important,” says 27-year-old Stubbs. “I’m not saying it’s the most important job in the world but it’s my job. It’s important to me.”

Meanwhile, DOGE's tally indicates that their efforts have saved each American taxpayer over $1,500 already.

Anabasis XXII: Cenotaph

There are only two weeks left in astrological winter, and so we should press on to finish our winter reading, which has now only one book left. Here we encounter a word that Xenophon gifts us that he must have known, but that turns up in no other book we have from the Greeks: "cenotaph." I'll quote the note:

"Cenotaph", i.e. "an empty tomb." The word is interesting as occuring only in Xenophon, until we come to the writers of the common dialect. Compare "hyuscyamus," hogbean, our henbane, which we also owe to Xenophon. "Oecon." i. 13, see Sauppe, "Lexil. Xen." s.vv.

The word occurs when the Greeks go back to bury the dead from the encounter with the Thracians (who are not Greek, but Asiatic). They cannot find some of the bodies, so they erect a cenotaph to them which they cover with wreaths. This followed Xenophon's careful sacrifices to determine the right time for this, another demonstration of piety on his part that once again proved out for them. 

The army meets and decides that it will punish any further suggestions that it should divide itself by death. It also restores its old officers. Cheirisophus, the former supreme commander, has died. I'll quote that note too, because it's curious.

This I take to be the meaning of the words, which are necessarily ambiguous, since {pharmakon}, "a drug," also means "poison." Did Cheirisophus conceivably die of fever brought on by some poisonous draught? or did he take poison whilst suffering from fever? or did he die under treatment?

That's true: the word that is the root of "pharmacy" or "pharmaceutical" can mean either "drug" or "poison." And so it is often the case even with true drugs, where the right dosage is efficacious and the wrong one is fatal.

Now Xenophon's devotion to sacrifice causes the army to delay marching on for several days, though provisions are running out and do run out. Yet the victims of the sacrifices are not favorable to marching; and when a division goes out to seek provisions, it loses five hundred men, a quarter of its forces. The enemies that are now besetting them fall upon their camp in the night.

The Greeks move to a natural stronghold, which I gather was by the sea, and fence off the entrances. The next day a ship arrives and brings them some goods, including more sacrificial animals. The first one of these Xenophon sacrifices is favorable to moving again. 

They meet and defeat a large enemy, dividing off 'flying columns' for flanking exercises. This enemy fights the cavalry and light troops gamely, but still is not capable of withstanding the heavy infantry. The phalanx breaks them and drives them off, and Xenophon's forces end up with the field.

Shortly thereafter Cleander of Sparta arrives with ships of war, and is anxious to become the leader of these men given their clear discipline. But again, the victims of the sacrifices do not support this, so he tells them that he can't take them home: but if they get home, to come see him.

Human canonballs

The prevailing metaphor for Act Blue this week has been rats leaving a sinking ship, but the headlong flight more closely resembles people firing themselves off the deck at ballistic speeds. Eject! Eject! Eject!

The word "whistleblower" pops up in an internal Act Blue email, then is quickly deleted. The executive suite emptied out like theatre patrons of a by-gone age swarming out for a cigarette break during intermission. One executive explained that she is taking a well-deserved rest and planning her next international adventure--to a country without an extradiction treaty, I hope.

Anabasis XXI

Once at Heraclea, they are greeted kindly and given fairly rich gifts -- including grain, wine, twenty cattle and a hundred sheep. However, the amount of food needed to feed such an army makes these gifts appear trivial to the men. Xenophon quotes one man, Lycon the Achean: 

I am astonished, sirs, that the generals do not endeavour to provide us more efficiently with provisions. These gifts of hospitality will not afford three days' victuals for the army; nor do I see from what region we are to provide ourselves as we march. My proposal, therefore, is to demand of the Heracleots at least three thousand cyzicenes.*

Another suggested they demand ten thousand. There is a division in the army over this point. They are not now among the barbarians, but are talking about threatening a Greek city to shake it down. Overall Leader Cheirisophus as well as Xenophon were opposed, as are others. So the faction that wanted to do it sent Lycon and a couple of other minor leaders in the place of the generals, and made the demand anyway. Heraclea drew its herds inside and put up its defenses, and the Ten Thousand found themselves opposed to a Greek city with Greek soldiers manning the walls. 

The army is incensed by this rebuff and divides itself, the majority choosing to follow Lycon and his deputies. Xenophon wryly notes that Cheirisophus' overarching command was terminated in only one week. 

The army ends up divided into three, Lycon's Arcadian heavy infantry, Cheirisophus' loyalists, and Xenophon's division -- the smallest, but the only one that ended up with cavalry, although only forty troopers.

The Heracleots wisely sold ships to the largest faction, in order to encourage them to sail away sooner. The Arcadians sail to Thrace, where they begin raiding the Greek countryside. This does not go nearly as well as it had in the areas without Greek arms and discipline, and they begin to lose serious numbers in the raids.

Xenophon's contingent hears of this and Xenophon decides to ride to their rescue, figuring that salvaging them will give him numbers that will better ensure his own passage. Using his cavalry as skirmishers and to secure lines of communication for his light peltasts, he quickly moves up and is able to save some of the Arcadian forces. The Thracians break and withdraw at the unexpected new front. The Arcadians slip off, but Xenophon is able to link up with them the next day. As he anticipated, all was forgiven and they embraced him and his again like brothers. 

* The local currency of Cyzicus, a notable city in the area at that time. It is more famous for a feature of architecture, a north-facing hall that opened onto gardens that was a favorite of the Greeks of the city. The Romans were impressed with the design, and so Cyzicene Halls became a thing in the later period. 

A Useful Reminder

This passage is read in Orthodox churches the Sunday before Lent:

Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.

Romans 13:11 through 14:4

I am still new-ish to Orthodoxy and have never been good at observing the fasts, so that second paragraph has always been a comfort for me.

Cultural Revolution

NYT: "Many Chinese See a Cultural Revolution in America." 

Amazing. We've been talking about this for years. Long enough that we were still calling it "PC" instead of "woke" when we started. Finally they're seeing how, like Mao, all the old and steady structures of our culture were being destroyed by radical, ideological activists backed by young hordes of protesters who... 

Oh, wait, no: the NYT thinks it's about Trump. Trump is Chairman Mao in this story.

Never mind. 

Lent

A good Ash Wednesday to those of you who celebrate it. Now begins Lent, a long season of suffering from attempts to be even slightly better.

The Quest for the Sangrail began on Pentecost, and I won’t question the liturgical appropriateness of that: Sir Thomas Malory was much more deeply embedded in the Catholic world than almost anyone living today. It occurs to me, though, that it well fits our American approach of Mardi Gras — the appearance of the Sangrail and the Feast associated with it — followed by Lent. The Quest was a time of great trial and suffering, when the best knights of the world tried to live up to the fullness of their faith’s demands. All suffered; most died. Three succeeded in some measure. 

Good luck. 

Consensus II

The Opinion section of the Washington Post is up to 100% noncompliance and rejection of Bezos' guidance. I wonder if he can find a buyer for a newspaper whose authors refuse to accept editorial guidance from the owners? Maybe he can get pennies on the dollar for his investment from someone who is also in alignment with that viewpoint, and doesn't want it to change. 

His problem, I guess. 

Consensus

For years it has seemed that nearly every contentious issue in U.S. politics polls at 50/50. I wondered whether that meant parties were deliberately skating close to the edge, or even whether voters and poll respondents were responding entirely at random, a coin-toss. How could a country stay divided on a knife edge on so many controversies for so many years?

I still don't have any idea, but lately there appears to have been a preference cascade. The talk of 80/20 issues may have been exaggerated, but suddenly a GOP that seemed unable to break though on any issue is garnering poll responses in the 60- and 70-percent range. Even last night's quasi-SOTU speech had an astounding impact. CBS, of all outlets, reports that with an audience composed of about half Republicans and half a mix of Democrats and Independents, President Trump won over 3/4 of his viewers. Results were similarly impressive on a range of hot-button issues from immigation to government waste to tariffs to the expulsion of Rep. Green from the chamber.

Grim's Red Seasoning

Some years ago I developed a chili powder recipe using datil pepper. 

This week I was reflecting that, with just a touch of salt, it would make a good seasoning like Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, but bolder even than their bold. So I added just a bit of salt, and now you can use it to season your food -- once it's salty enough, it's seasoned enough as well.

Grim's Red Seasoning

1 oz. ground New Mexican Red Pepper  (or, alternatively, guajillo molida works well too).

1 heaping tsp. cumin 

1 level tsp. Mexican oregano 

1 tsp. ground Scotch Bonnet, Datil, -or- Habanero pepper (your choice of one, not all three, but the Datil works very well here; level to heaping tsp as you prefer) 

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp. salt

UPDATE:

My wife made me eggs and cheese-jalapeño grits for breakfast. A little of this seasoning added a lot of delicious flavor. 

The Lord Is a Man of War

I don't plan to post systematically on God Is a Man of War, but as I find interesting things I may put them here. The beginning of the book refers to the following victory song, which is quite striking.

Exodus 15:1-18

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war;
    the Lord is his name.

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea;
    and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods cover them;
    they went down into the depths like a stone.
Thy right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
    thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of thy majesty thou overthrowest thy adversaries;
    thou sendest forth thy fury, it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up,
    the floods stood up in a heap;
    the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
    I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
    I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them;
    they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

“Who is like thee, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like thee, majestic in holiness,
    terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Thou didst stretch out thy right hand,
    the earth swallowed them.

“Thou hast led in thy steadfast love the people whom thou hast redeemed,
    thou hast guided them by thy strength to thy holy abode.
The peoples have heard, they tremble;
    pangs have seized on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
    the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them;
    all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread fall upon them;
    because of the greatness of thy arm, they are as still as a stone,
till thy people, O Lord, pass by,
    till the people pass by whom thou hast purchased.
Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain,
    the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy abode,
    the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

The themes of salvation of the slave and destruction of the army of the enslavers echo down the millennia, along with the theme of steadfast love for His people.

It is interesting here that God Himself destroys the Egyptian army. This sort of violence in the Old Testament never really bothered me. I feel sorry for Charioteer First Class Snuffy who was just trying to pay off his new personal hot rod chariot at the low low rate of 20% APR and have a few brews on the weekend with his army pay, but wiping out an army set on re-enslaving a people doesn't seem terribly unjust. I'm sure, though, my specific concerns will be addressed further on in the book.

Fighting Man

 What other kind of man is there? 

Prayer and Fasting

The Sunday before Lent begins is Forgiveness Sunday in the Orthodox Church. It is a day to ask everyone for their forgiveness for any offenses we may have committed against them in the past year, and a day where we also forgive everyone who has offended against us.

Ramadan began March 1st, the Eastern Church's Great Lent begins tomorrow, and Western Lent begins Wednesday. It seems that a couple billion of us will all be fasting and praying for the next month, then some of us for a bit longer. It is always a blessing to me when Eastern Pascha and Western Easter fall on the same day. Since most Christians in the US belong to the Western churches, it puts me out of synch with my Western brothers and sisters when it doesn't.

For the East, the fast is from meat, fish, dairy, and alcohol, from tomorrow until Pascha. However, in the tradition of feast days which fall on fast days, alcohol is allowed on the Sabbath and Lord's Day each week. It was suggested in services today that we also fast from controversies this Lent, and that seems a particularly good addition this year.

I have decided to read two books during this season. Some of the violence in the Old Testament has troubled me for decades, so maybe Fr Stephen De Young's short God Is a Man of War: The Problem of Violence in the Old Testament will help me at least understand it. As I love poetry, I think poet and professor Donald Sheehan's The Shield of Psalmic Prayer: Reflections on Translating, Interpreting, and Praying the Psalter will be a good balancing influence after the study of ancient wars.

There is a great deal to pray for this year. In addition to America's attempt to renew itself, which is by no means guaranteed to succeed, there are the conflicts involving Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza, and many other tribulations around the world that we don't hear as much of. And then there are our civic leaders and warriors and clergy and faithful, the sick, the old, the newborn, the catechumens, the lost, the travelers by sea and land and air, and personal prayers as well.

And so, in the short time before Great Lent begins, I ask all of you for your forgiveness for any offenses I may have committed against you this past year, and I ask your prayers for me, all of you who pray. I look forward to hearing about everyone's Lenten journey, all who care to share it.