Comfort Ye

Recitative
Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably toJerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:1-3)

Air for Tenor
Ev'ry valley shall be exalted, and ev'ry mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4)

My father was a tenor. I was a tenor. This music was one of the reasons why tenors put up with their high voices. Listening to my father sing this was a singular joy. My mom was a soprano, and Handel made sure that she had some beautiful solos as well.

Most people associate The Messiah with Christmas and the Hallelujah Chorus. If you have a chance, listen to the complete work.

For most, religion is an activity. I doubt that many have read the Bible. Sure, passages. But read the Bible, to understand the Bible. And I'm not aware of any religion that requires one to prove that a member has actually read the entire work. Which is too bad. In the Bible lies most of our Western literary tradition.

One of the strongest, most meaningful passages in the Bible is John 3:16. You see the sign at sports events. You may even have said "3:16" at some point in your life. But have you ever asked why 3:16 is such a powerful statement?

You have to look to Genesis and the story of Abraham. It's in Chapter 22:

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'"

Without knowing the story of Abraham, the offering of John 3:16 isn't fully in context. The sacrifice that God was unwilling to demand of Abraham, He willingly gave to us. If you're unfamiliar with the word "covenant" you may not appreciate fully what is explicit and what is implicit in John 3:16. Do you remember the covenant God gave us in Genesis 9?

"...and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creatue of all flesh that is upon the earth."

It is God's covenant to man that is stated explicitely in John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

What God did not compel Abraham to do He required of His Son. This is the Covenant of God this Easter weekend. You can take comfort. It was freely given.

Happy Easter.

I Am Fundamentally Optimistic

How else could one describe oneself?

I believe in the fundamental goodness of Man. That he operates in his own self-interest in a way that benefits himself, his family and his friends. It is this basic trust in my fellow man that makes it possible to create the highest standard of living ever found in the history of Man.

Obviously, there are those who wish to hijack that standard of living and put our wealth to use for their own goals. We should ask ourselves when we elect a representative to our state, local or national legislature, whether that person is with us, as individuals, or part of the pirate crowd that wishes to take from us to further their own goals.

John Gray relates an interesting story in one of his lectures on "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." It's about a woman who takes her purse with her to the bathroom when visiting her friend's home. What it reveals is this woman's fear that others would go through her purse if she weren't there to keep watch. Curiously, the woman admits that she was wont to go through others' purses if left unattended.

I've written before about projection. It occurs when we believe that others will behave as we would when faced with similiar objective facts. If you are a thief, leaving five dollars sitting on your desk is irrational...since you would yourself steal that five bucks. For most of us, this pirate behaviour is itself irrational. Because we are independent, self-reliant and self-assured we simply don't need the kind of collective decision-making that is eminating from the seats of power in our local, state and national legislature. We prefer to be left alone, thank you. And your five dollars is safe wherever you leave it. It is not mine, so why should/would I take it?

The political pirate acts, therefore, not so much in any way to oppose his own sense of "good." It is just that he views others as having the same moral compass as his own, and works to eliminate the types of social moral temptations that they view as reprehensible. That they themselves would commit if there weren't a collective authority to keep tabs upon them. While vilifying greed, they advance their notion of fairness and justice. To protect the world from environmental collapse, they must mandate the future of investments and expenditures.

To avoid a certain moral hazard, they unwittingly create a new moral hazard. We move from well-intentioned ideas to political piracy to bureaucratic kleptocracy. All of these innovations in governance countenanced by their fellow pirates/kleptocrats as necessary to avoid the evils of self-interest. The tragedy of the commons extended into any and all actions of any independent economic actor. And it is simply their ability to identify evil that motivates them. It leads to a government that parodies itself with such landmark legislation as banning novelty toy lighters. And it exhibits itself every day. If on the surface a "thing" is good, it is what we must do. If, on the surface, a thing is "bad" then it must be condemned. Without any examination about the silllyness, triviality or more importantly, the cost associated with the good or bad thing.

People, as individuals, rarely do bad things. But what the pirates can't stand is our own assertion that we must be trusted. That we trust ourselves. Even when we do something that is risky. Like riding a quad. Or, having our children riding a quad. Or duck-hunting. In a boat. On a lake. Bwaaa-ha-ha-ha! Scary stuff.

Do I want my sons to ride motorcycles? Nope. Did I ride a motorcycle when I was their age? Yup. Did I always wear a helmet? Nope. Did I wear a helmet out on the road for a road trip? Generally, yes. And I was wearing a helmet when I had my first oncoming auto pull a lefty in front of me without much warning. Did it save my life? Prolly. The rest of me was pretty dicey, though.

It would take two more such instances to lead me to re-think my commitment to motorcycles. And there's still that interior cowboy that advances the notion that I shall, someday, ride again.

But that is my choice. Until the pirate/kleptocrat outlaws that choice. Just as smoking is my choice, until outlawed by the pirate/kleptocrat. They take from us choice and give us back a world with reduced risk. Hosanna!

The American vision of independent self-reliance is being steadily replaced by the pirate vision of distrust and mistrust. It is fear-driven, readily identifying greed and self-interest as the threat to their pirate world. I suppose this is in part due to a belief that if they were only to decide to take the bull by the horns and start their own business, to begin their own enterprise, they would themselves wound, rob and steal from their clients. They view advertising as a corrupting influence--driving demand for unneeded and unnecessary consumption--rather than as a benefit that lets consumers know that they have, indeed, choice.

It is true that a majority of government employees, whether elected or appointed, have no experience in the private sector. They have cloistered themselves from the dirty temptations of self-reliance and independence. Like medieval monks, they spend their time determining and thence expunging the deadly sins they identify, all from within the walls of their own self-doubt and hatred of sin. Hatred of self. And the current deadly sin is carbon. The essence of life on this planet, itself. No greater self-hatred has ever existed in our collective world history. But the results of this self-hatred have been and are being evidenced throughout the world.

So I give you this to read. As pirates and kleptocrats shlepp off to Cuba to meet the genial dictator, read the words of a woman who has lived under the umbrella of the pirate/kleptocrat. We can break the back of the selfish, the self-interested, the individual.

But, at what cost?

Scott Bruun: Gubernatorial Caliber?

Scott has his admirers. But little sense.

The state faces record level unemployment, and he introduces this bill(pdf).

Rising energy costs? The legislature's promise to return greater control over development to counties and local governments (the Big Look)?

Nothing.

But Scotty scored big with this one.

Well done, Governor. Good sense of priorities.

Life is Hard...Get Used to It

I sometimes shake my head when I read about things like this.

"The Time to Care for Oregon Families coalition will come together to urge the passage of SB 966 in advance of a hearing of the bill in the Senate Committee Commerce and Workforce Development. Prior to the public hearing, coalition members will be available in the press room for questions and comments."

The time to care for Oregon families coalition. Like, fer shure.

You've got a serious problem with your family, you take time to take care of your family. No employer is going to get bent unless you have a track record of missing work.

But if you don't work, you don't get a paycheck. It's that simple. Friends or family steps up and helps out. But a job is not a ticket to independence from the realities of life. Sidling your employer with your responsibilities is not a way to gain greater independence and authority. SB 966 is a daydream of well-intentioned people who don't actually have to work for a living.

How dizzingly stupid is this bill? Here's a confused woman who purportedly has her own company. How to pay? Make your fellow employees pay for it. Of course this will work. It would be law.

We are facing severe job losses during the next two years, with huge increases in energy costs and taxes. Another tax to pay for "family leave"? Show me that you've funded the programs that we need, then ask me if it's time to create a new job "right." Right now, no.

Have a nice day.