Readings & vive le differance

Posted on By pukeko

I play reconciler at work. I play reconciler at home (two teenage boys. Fights. Will. Happen).

But, referring back to two days ago, Trying to reconcile during a fight means that you will end up physcially or emotionally bruised.  You see, at work we have to get in and physically stop these things. (The Police will turn up with aggressive and agitated people, take the handcuffs off, and unless we tell them to stay walk away).

I want to compare two passages for a minute this morning.

Psalm 123

1   To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2   As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
until he has mercy upon us.

3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4   Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

Ecclesiastes 2:16-26

16For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools? 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

18I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me 19 – and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? 23For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

24There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; 25for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

  1. Both are valid, and both are true. The default wise position in this life is a stoic nihilism.
  2. Wisdom does not keep you from despair.
  3. The Psalmist is describing relationships: the Preacher ideas.
  4. Relationships and submission (to God) provides comfort and security. Our naked wisdom does not. For we are not big enough.

As a consequence, and thinking about this, I kind of like both. I can enjoy reading some fairly girly things about fashion at TC, but I don’t like when sides like that get catty. I also enjoy reading discussions about the big ideas — my idea of fun is to solve the worlds problems with my Dad and my boys over a huge pot of coffee and a good meal — but there is a risk we will end up rigid, legalistic.

The Catholic idea of complementariness is useful here. Women (thank God) are not like men and do not think like men, on average). — Those who do, generally female engineers, are highly prized by the more mathematically talented of us — and Men think more about principles and practically doing things than relationships and the pecking order.

This can lead to women being terribly affronted if someone calls them. This drops them down the order, removes their face.

Men. Don’t. Care.  I have a few letters after my name, but I would learn from a Texan teenager when it comes to things he knows better than me. Like guns. Or Chevy small block engines. I will listen to some pretty crunchy Poms and Aussies when it comes to Catholic Doctrine.

We are differnent, and trying to force us to be the same is a foolishness neither the psalmist nor the preacher would tolerate.

6 thoughts on “Readings & vive le differance”

  1. Guns, chevy small block engines, and paleoconservatism. Chris, I’ve been hearing rumors that your country is a hunter’s paradise. I have got to check that out. You guys have all sorts of deer from North America, Europe, and Asia; chamois; thar; feral goats; feral hogs(which I’ll bet are of the Polynesian-type that are found in Hawaii not the razorback types you find in Texas and the rest of the South); rabbits; hares; ducks; and geese. On top of all of that, you don’t have draconian gun laws.

    I don’t hunt yet, but that is definitely a hobby that I’m going to take up. Texas has various types of game(though no where near as diverse as that of NZ) but I don’t feel like making yet another list. I think I might be able to convince my father into buying me a .243 Win in either a bolt, semi, or lever. That’s a good place to start.  

    1.  Rabbits and Possums are vermin, and should be killed by any means.  Deer you have to be careful about as some are raised bu others are wild. You hunt pigs with dogs.

      I prefer to hunt with a camera.

      The gun laws are like Canada. You have to have a gun license.  The bush here is unforgiving: you can easily get lost and die. From exposure — it may not snow much, but there is a lot of rain and wind. We lose experienced trampers (walkers) every tew months. The most recent one was in my university Library and affected my music teacher as her partner works with him.

      And you definitely need high vis garb as the bush (forest) is dense. We have had three hunters shot by their mates in error this year alone.

      1. Rabbits are good-eating from what I hear, not necessary vermin as much as small game.

        Almost dying is a part of the charm, Chris.

    1. This culture infects us all. We find ourselves fighting using the tools and logic from this culture, and then it all turns to custard and we fall into error. We need to examine ourselves. 

      I think Elspeth has grasped something I was trying to get to, without getting into names

      https://traditionalchristianity.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/self-examination/

      And I actually wanted Svar to come back to TC for a bit. (I think he can’t). There was a freejingerite going in and basically saying that all the TC women were idjits for being married to traditional men.

      I cannot, cannot do the “women gimme a sandwich” joke as well as Svar could.

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