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Is Barack Obama My Keeper?

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September 28, 2010 Posted by John at 7:59 PM

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Some commentators are criticizing President Obama's response to a supporter at a campaign event who asked him why he is a Christian:

"I'm a Christian by choice," Obama told his audience here. "My family didn't -- frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church.
"So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead -- being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me," he continued.
"And I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that we achieve salvation through the grace of God," Obama said. "But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace."

I have no interest in questioning Obama's religious faith, which I believe to be sincere. It is only fair to note, too, that some of what he said was right on the money. But Obama's answer causes one to suspect that he would be among those who, as in the Pew poll that is also in the news today, would have trouble answering basic questions about his own religion. The Golden Rule is a fine idea, but it is not a principle of unique to Christianity. Nor did Jesus ever say that we should be our brothers' and sisters' keepers; Obama apparently referred to the story of Cain and Abel.
This is the point I want to make: Biblical precepts are often twisted by liberals to support socialism. Jesus was not a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disclaimed any political agenda. And the moral of the story in Genesis is not that we are, or should be, our brothers' keepers. Rather, the phrase comes from Cain's answer when God asks him the whereabouts of his brother Abel, whom Cain has just killed. Cain denies any knowledge, and adds the self-exculpatory question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The point of the story is not that Cain was responsible for looking after Abel, like an Old Testament Nancy Pelosi. Cain was condemned not for failing to keep watch over his brother, but for killing him.
Barack Obama is hardly the only liberal who misapplies scripture to support liberal politics, but his answer today provides a useful opportunity to set the record straight.

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Bee News

The hives were opened yesterday for the first time in awhile.   It's always fascinating to see what has changed and how things are, and the longer you wait to open the hive the greater the change! 
Apparently the bees were not finding enough nectar to fill the supers.  The two supers on each hive were empty.  Perhaps the bees didn't favor the foundation.  It's unclear and we can only suppose the reason to date.
The lower three boxes were full of honey, normal hive activity, and all was well.  The varroa mite test revealed only a few, which is entirely normal. 
So, no honey harvest this year.  The bees keep their honey, and we must wait until next July to harvest, pray for them to winter without ill, and long for that unique experience of enjoying our own honey!
Well, it isn't as if we didn't have enough to keep us busy these days!  Happy to report that our son had a fantastic time at his ROTC Field Training Exercise last weekend.  He dropped Chemistry but added Sociology, so he's got 21 credits, and that is a real load for a freshman in college!   He needs your prayer!
Our other son is chugging along at the community college, waiting for test results, and hoping he gets his own college admission and ROTC scholarship for next year. 
I'm done with the pillowcases for the wedding this weekend; we're all preparing for the event in different ways. 
I'll do a society column type of blog next week, all right?

Normal is a setting on your Dryer

Today is a "normal day" for us here at Corgi Hollows.  School reading time in the morning; Bible and Health,  Older children off to do math, younger children staying to hear American History (John Sutter's Ranch and the 49'ers)  Milly Molly Mandy (we begin early with British Lit) and Laura Ingalls Wilder (we're on Farmer Boy at present).  Spelling tests were today and very successful!   Along with loads of laundry (the Whirlpool 5.2 Cabrio is three weeks old and a WELCOME addition to the household appliances) we are busy baking because it is fall-feeling and we feel that urge for breads and cookies.
I'm looking for an embroidery pattern to use in fashioning pillow cases for a wedding gift.  My brother, who is a very eligible handsome widower, is to tie the knot in two weeks.  We are preparing for the trip to attend the ceremony in Chicago.
Off to sew and enjoy the sound of wet streets outside.  Normal is nice.

Labor Day Weekend

The week of weeping is past, the weeks of early autumn commence.  It is green-gold outside and my dogs have a silky thick undercoat developing.  I've put a tub of summer clothes out to storage and I'm shampooing the carpets and furniture, washing baseboards and dust from the antiques.  Somehow fall cleaning is more inspiring to me than spring cleaning.  It is the hint of frost in the air. 
As our friends stood under the white pine in the front yard they blew the first misty breath as they told us good-bye.  We had had a campfire, home made ice cream and home made hot fudge sauce.  Yes it was good.
The tiny life in the fish pond has revealed itself to be Koi.  The little fish are rivaling the older, bigger ones in aggression as I feed them each morning.  The water lily has produced two white blooms so far.   The pond is leafy each morning with the first falling.  I'm emptying the swimming pool at the end of the week.
So badly we wanted to harvest honey, but it must be upper 80's.  Perhaps the bees will keep their store until next spring.  Tomorrow may be warm enough, so we are prepared.

The Temporal Delusion - Part 1 ~ Bible Prophecy Today

The Temporal Delusion - Part 1 ~ Bible Prophecy Today

Bible Prophecy Today

Bible Prophecy Today

When I read things by T.A. Macmahon I usually agree. This is a well-summarized article about theological trends. I'm looking forward to part 2.

The Long Good-bye

Here in Minnesota there is something known as the "long good-bye," a term coined by Garrison Keillor in a monologue many years back.  Listening to him describe it is terribly funny---the guests decide to leave and the hosts say, "how about a little more pie..." the conversation moves to the coat closet area, then out to the front steps.  Finally they are all standing around the car and the guests finally get the car started.  Last words are said as the car is driving away. 
I know the whole scenario, as I'm from Minnesota, and Garrison described the reality of our "long good-byes."
Two years ago my eldest started college on-line.  That was a milestone, and it was the beginning of the "long good-bye" for us.  After homeschooling him from first grade on I was making the break!  Last year he attended the local community college full time, worked multiple hours as a life guard at the YMCA, and enjoyed a energetic social calendar.  Really, I didn't see him much!
Yesterday we drove away with him up to college in northern Minnesota.  We left him there, happily ensconced in his new dormitory, raring to begin a new life.
And the long good-bye just wasn't enough for me!  Today I am weeping when I should be dancing.