No, they're not all from Plough.
Christian
What I like about this one is the layers of insight. How many Christian artists and artisans deeply love having Hobby Lobby cast as the embodiment of the banality of unenlightenment (I do), even though Hobby Lobby is not our "enemy," just a store that's been disappointing to shop at for years?
In this one, it's the insight into how difficult life must be for people who don't have fifty good things to do, and that's only the short list, after they shower off the emotional dirt of interaction with strangers at work. Not only do I believe extroverts are living with a disability; I really think it's a wonder the poor creatures survive. Missing so much and so much...
This one goes out to those who think, e.g., that spending public money to harass and humiliate Fauci is necessary. Do we want the coronavirus vaccines recognized as a desperate, bad move, and rejected as such--regardless of the precise degree of moral contemptibility in which Fauci endorsed them--or do we want to act out feelings against Fauci? As an individual you might, not unreasonably, want both; but for public funds a choice needs to be made. I'd prefer to promote clearer thinking about the vaccine, and help those of the vaccine-injured who can be helped. Fauci is going down fast enough, all by himself.
And here's a book about what happens when creative women let their creative work gestate while rearing babies. Obviously no one wants to have a fantastic idea in mind and wait three years, nor is it wise to expect that everyone can count on having three years. We have too many babies on this planet right now. (If you doubt this, you're living on a part of the planet most people want to avoid, and the question you need to be helping the world answer is why.) For the good of humankind, anyone who's conflicted about whether to write a book or have a baby, this year, should write the book. But most books, once published, don't accomplish much in this world; they don't sell; if sold by a big greedhead publisher they get "remaindered"; if rights are retained by a nice small publisher or by the author, the books linger on sales lists for years without making any money for anyone; in any case people aren't being enlightened by these books, because they're not reaidng them. Each person can read only so many books. And there is some merit, in times when the need to avert excessive births is less pressing, in remembering Flannery O'Connor's remarks on the subject of what a good thing it is that some books are not finished or published.
Forgiveness
Yet another essay from Plough retells this story:
"In 1569, the Dutch Anabaptist Dirk Willems made a daring escape from the prison where he was being held by the Roman Catholic authorities because of his faith. According to the Martyrs Mirror, a compendium of accounts of the persecution and killing of Anabaptists by both Roman Catholic and magisterial Protestant authorities in early modern Europe, he fled across a frozen pond with a guard in hot pursuit. The guard was evidently heavier than Willems, for while the Anabaptist was able to traverse the pond without difficulty, the ice broke under the guard, and he plunged into the freezing waters. The guard cried out for help, and Willems turned back and helped the man back onto land. As a result, Willems was recaptured; even his saving the guard’s life did not win him a reprieve. He was burned at the stake on May 16, 1569, repeatedly crying out, “Oh my Lord, my God!”"
For Benjamin Crosby (https://www.plough.com/en/topics/life/forgiveness/foolhardy-wisdom), this story had been told as an example of hos Christians ought to forgive everyone for everything automatically (which I don't find Jesus ever saying in the Bible). The story was later derided as an example of foolhardiness. I see it as more of an example of the confusion we get into by using the word "forgiveness" to describe what can easily be understood as either of two very different psychological processes:
1. Instinct: Unthinkingly, although fleeing from an enemy, Willems heard a crack and a splash and automatically turned back to help his pursuer, because decent people don't just run away and leave people to freeze in an icy pond.
2. Personal interest: If, due to mistaken identity or Driving While Black or a godless commy takeover or whatever, a policeman was chasing you, and you had an opportunity to save his life, you might logically be hoping that the policeman and thus the other Powers That Be would recognize that you are a good person and don't deserve whatever punishment you were facing. Thus, although saving the enemy's life might or might not work, it would be an act of enlightened self-interest.
I seriously think that, in Willems' situation, I might make the same gamble of enlightened self-interest; I would not call it forgiveness. Forgiveness starts with repentance. For me the act would be thoroughly selfish. I'd expect some benefit from saving the enemy's life, and if that didn't work, if worst came to worst, I'd be thinking "At least I'll be remembered as a martyr...all to the good of my cause."
Glyphosate Awareness
It's worth taking some time to edit the e-mail petition here, but please sign it if you think a store that advertises itself as "Whole Foods" loses all credibility when it sells "Roundup-Ready" vegetables. To use a name like "Whole Foods" the store should be able to demonstrate that all the food it sells is glyphosate-free.
tinyurl.com/WholeFoodsGMOSweetCorn
Zazzle
Monarch butterflies are among the world's great travellers. Why not a butterfly bag tag?
Not mine...I think this may be Danaus gilippus rather than D. plexippus. They're biological cousins; they could probably be forced to crossbreed in artificial conditions, and they're easy to mistake. Plexippus, the one properly called the Monarch, has dark veins on the undersides of its upper wings too. Gilippus, the Queen, is a little smaller and travels less extensively. In some places it's possible to see both on the same day.
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