“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
22nd Ordinary Sunday August 30, 2020 “Not Quitting”
Jeremiah 20:7-9 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27
My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –
Most of the truly worthwhile things we can do in life take much, much more out of us than we initially bargained for. Most of us get really excited and enthusiastic about something important that we undertake – only to discover that it requires more of us than we ever thought possible. Getting married, raising a family, becoming a professional, deciding upon an occupation, entering the military, becoming or even remaining a Catholic Christian – all of these are much more demanding than what we could, at first, see or appreciate.
Of course, when what we have chosen becomes difficult – when we see no end, to the stress and hardship, in sight – we are tempted to quit. It doesn’t matter that God guided us into that position to start with – because we can even become angry with God as His will and plan for us unfold in our life.
Jeremiah certainly felt this way in the first scripture for today. He laments that God duped him – God seduced him into being a prophet – into speaking for God to the Chosen People. Perhaps, Jeremiah’s ego was involved when God honored him with the prophetic calling. To be someone who spoke for God would be a truly wonderful thing!
However, no one listened to Jeremiah! They hated him and refused to change their hearts and lives. They despised him, mocked him, and tried to kill him. Consequently, Jeremiah decided to quit. He would speak God’s words no longer. But God still worked on Jeremiah. God hounded his soul and spirit. So, Jeremiah knew that he could have no peace if he did not live in God, follow God’s will, and speak the unwelcome truth to the Chosen People!
Sometime, during his ministry, Jesus realized that things would not turn out well for him, humanly speaking. He could see the growing opposition and hatred of those in power. Furthermore, Jesus understood that there was no way to escape a terrible end if he stayed faithful to the Father’s call and will.
However, when Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what was surely to come, they would have none of it. “Jesus was the Messiah!” “Jesus came to save the Chosen People and deliver them from the Romans!” “He was a wonderworker who was loved by those who were touched by his words!” “There was no way that Jesus could come to a tragic end!”
Consequently, Jesus reprimanded them. He called Peter a satan – a stumbling block! Peter was thinking in human, worldly terms, instead of divine and spiritual ones.
Peter and the others had followed Jesus because Jesus was captivating and had a wonderful message. But the disciples were not prepared for all that a true disciple would have to sustain.
Besides the ministry of discipleship, they would also suffer greatly, if they stayed committed to their calling from God. Thus, the cross would be part of every disciple’s life.
A crucifixion was not uncommon in those days. It was “the proverbial symbol of suffering and agony.” Moreover, every disciple, then and now, must bravely accept whatever cross that doing the Father’s will entails. Nevertheless, therein lies our salvation and our ultimate glory!
St. Paul reiterates this in the New Testament passage for today. We must not become like those of the surrounding culture or the present age. Instead, we must be transformed by the healing grace of God and the power of Jesus Christ. We must be prepared to offer whatever we suffer – in body or mind – to God. For whenever we do the right thing and follow God’s call and will – we are actually making an act of worship.
Brothers and Sisters, we all know of people who have left their original commitment. If God did not direct them to leave, they are, most likely, not really happy or at peace. Real happiness is in the kingdom of heaven. But inner joy – and peace – are, truly, possible here. These gifts can be ours whenever we say “yes” to God’s call and to the task He lays out before us. They can be ours despite the struggles and hardships that we suffer doing the will of God.
So, let us pray, today, that we never let the things of this world – the culture or the words of others – keep us from the eternal life to which God has destined us.
May we do God’s will in all things and never count the cost!
[I was a bit hesitant to post the following article, but did because the overall message is good and pertinent.
Most, perhaps all, of those of us who are Christians at The QTree have some doctrinal differences between us, but we can’t let minor doctrinal differences divide us.
In the essentials – Unity; in the non-essentials – Liberty; and in all things – Charity (agapé love).
The difficulty lies in the specifics of what a person considers to be the essentials and non-essentials of the Christian faith. I’ll certainly not even attempt to resolve that issue here, although I believe that a true statement of faith can be quite brief.
In the following article, this issue would be addressed in the specific definition of a “fellow with a pure heart,” a definition that is not provided.]
A Christian brother was upset with me. So upset that he was considering rescinding his invitation for me to speak to his group. Seems he’d heard I was pretty open about who I have fellowship with. He’d read the words I wrote: “If God calls a person his child, shouldn’t I call him my brother?” And, “If God accepts others with their errors and misinterpretations, shouldn’t we?”
He didn’t like that. “Carrying it a bit too far,” he told me. “Fences are necessary,” he explained. “Scriptures are clear on such matters.” He read me a few and then urged me to be careful to whom I give grace.
“I don’t give it,” I assured. “I only spotlight where God already has.”
I hope to see him today. If the subject resurfaces, I’ll give him a thought that came to me. But in case it doesn’t, I’ll say it to you. (It’s too good to waste.) Just one sentence:
I’ve never been surprised by God’s judgment, but I’m still stunned by his grace.
God’s judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job, God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming. Forty years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites? Would’ve done it myself. Ananias and Sapphira? You bet.
Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable and appropriate. But God’s grace? Anything but. Examples? How much time do you have?
David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur [and adulterer and murderer], but by God’s grace becomes David the psalmist again.
Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ.
Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he’d laundered. But Jesus still had time for him.
The thief on the cross: hellbent and hung-out-to-die one minute, heaven-bound and smiling the next.
Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise.
Seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking grace and did not find it. Search the pages [of the Bible]. Read the stories. Envision the encounters. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and left with a stern lecture. I dare you. Search. You won’t find it.
You will find a strayed sheep on the other side of the creek. He’s lost. He knows it. He’s stuck and embarrassed. What will the other sheep say? What will the shepherd say?
You will find a shepherd who finds him. (Luke 15:3-7)
Oh boy. Duck down. Put hooves over the eyes. The belt is about to fly. But the belt is never felt. Just hands. Large, open hands reaching under his body and lifting the sheep up, up, up until he’s placed upon the shepherd’s shoulders. He’s carried back to the flock and given a party! “Cut the grass and comb the wool,” he announces. “We are going to have a celebration!”
The other sheep shake their heads in disbelief. Just like we will. At our party. When we get home. When we watch the Shepherd shoulder into our midst one unlikely soul after another.
Seems to me God gives a lot more grace than we’d ever imagine. We could do the same.
I’m not for watering down the truth or compromising the gospel. But if a fellow with a pure heart calls God Father, can’t I call that same man Brother? If God doesn’t make doctrinal perfection a requirement for family membership, should I?
And if we never agree, can’t we agree to disagree? If God can tolerate my mistakes, can’t I tolerate the mistakes of others? If God can overlook my errors, can’t I overlook the errors of others? If God allows me with my foibles and failures to call him Father, shouldn’t I extend the same grace to others?
One thing’s for sure. When we get to heaven, we’ll be surprised at some of the folks we see. And some of them will be surprised to see us.
By all accounts (I’ve watched very little of it) the Republican National Convention administered an ass kicking to the Democrat party. So, no way I can top it or even capture it. And since I’m perilously close to my data limit (and it doesn’t renew until two Mondays from now)…I’m not going to try. I might not be around too much, either.
But I remain as convinced as ever that the Dems cannot win without massive fraud. I’m slightly less convinced that the good guys have anticipated and blocked enough of it. (We think we know what they plan to do, but the name of the game is to hit the opponent with something unexpected, and we’d be fools to assume that we know everything that they’ve got up their sleeves.)
As for the house and senate races, there the fraud is at the retail level, and I expect a lot of places will be “safe” for Dems. Certainly those places where the Republicans didn’t even bother fielding someone. And then there are the offices that aren’t even up this time. Will the Trump tide still be strong in 2022 when my state’s executive offices (as well as those of all counties) are up? I hope so, but lately even the Secretary of State office has been taken by the Dems, and that’s the one that runs elections.
A Reminder Of Today’s Big Issue.
Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.
Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump
Needs to happen, soon.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
Please note that our menu has changed, please listen to all of the options.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Political correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. The first rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government take your guns. 5. The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Be sure of your target and what is behind it. 9. Social Justice Warriors, ANTIFA pukes, BLM hypocrites, and other assorted varieties of Marxists can go copulate with themselves, or if insufficiently limber, may substitute a rusty wire brush suitable for cleaning the bore of a twelve or ten gauge.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Coin of The Day
Unless I think of something later today that won’t chew up bandwidth doing an image search, there won’t be a coin of the day. If you’re reading this sentence, I didn’t think of anything.
But there is something related on my mind.
I belong to a couple of coin clubs and we finally held a Zoom meeting for the first time since the Covidiocy began. There’s one guy in the club who will jump on you if you refer to our lowly copper-plated zinc plasticky-feeling one cent piece (or any of its more honorable predecessors) as a “penny.”
Technically, he’s correct. A “penny” is a British denomination, originally in silver, that was one twelfth of a shilling, which in turn was one twentieth of a pound, so 240 pennies made up a pound. And “pound” of course is sometimes called “pound sterling” and it was, once, literally, one pound of sterling silver (that hasn’t been true for many centuries; it began to be debased around 1300). One troy pound of 12 troy ounces, or 5760 grains. (And sterling silver is 0.925 or 37/40ths pure.) A troy grain is the same as an avoirdupois grain, which is what you use to measure powder and bullets. 24 grains, by the way, makes up a “pennyweight” and is 1/240th of a troy pound. (Those 16 and 8 penny nails at Home Depot or Lowes are a reference to the weight, not the price. And if you ever wonder why they abbreviate it “16d” instead of “16p” it’s because the penny ultimately derived from the Roman denarius.)
Whereas our cent is 100th of our dollar, and our dollar was originally a silver coin with 371 1/4 grains of silver in it. (Our silver dollars continued to have this much silver in them through 1935, excepting, of course, the Trade Dollar of the 1870s and 1880s.)
By the time the US was founded, the pound had been debased to the point where it was worth roughly five dollars, so as it happens, a shilling was worth about the same as a quarter. Which means the penny was a bit over two cents. (The penny could be subdivided into half pennies and farthings, so a farthing was roughly equal to one of our half cents.)
So why do we call our one cent piece a “penny”? And why does it irritate my friend?
It’s not entirely because it’s an unofficial term. He has no problem with calling the five cent piece a “nickel” even though it’s not an official name. (“Dime” is official–look at the coin, it says “One Dime” on it, not “Ten Cents.” That name goes all the way back to the original Federal coinage act of 1792, though it did not begin to appear on coins consistently until the 1830s.)
He’s irritated because “penny” also has another meaning, referring to a different country’s coinage.
But he’s wasting his time fighting it, because unfortunately the word “penny” has a distinct use.
If someone says “fifty cents” to you, it means something distinctly different from “fifty pennies” even if you both understand you’re talking about US money. “Fifty cents” means an amount of money, and it could be made of two quarters, five dimes, ten nickels, some combination, or it could be fifty pennies. Whoops, I telegraphed it! “Fifty pennies” specifically means 50 of those little copper-coated pieces of zinc. And that’s the distinction between “cent” (which is an amount of money) and “penny” (as used in the US), which is the physical object that represents one cent. Technically, of course, you could describe that object as the “one cent piece” and talk about “50 one cent pieces” but people are lazy and that will be cut down in size to some more convenient phrase like “50 pennies.”
[Now if you’re talking to a coin dealer and want to look at the one cent pieces in stock, you could say “Could I look over your cents” and that will be understood, but that’s a special case. But no one would do this, because the dealer will want you to be more specific before he hands you a box full of coins, for example whether you mean Indian head cents, Lincoln cents with the wheat ears (“wheaties,” no relation to Wheatietoo), and so on. And there is a big dividing line between large cents (pre 1857) and small cents (1857 to date), too, so someone might ask for “large cents.”]
So this turns out to be another chapter in the endless wrangle between prescriptivists (who describe what language ought to be) and the descriptivists (who describe what language actually is). And since “penny” is used in a way that makes a distinction from “cent,” it’s never going away, unless some celebrity comes up with an alternative and manages to popularize it. Personally, I’ve been known to call them “zinkys” but I’m no celebrity, and besides that can’t apply to the plentitude of pre-1982 pieces still circulating.)
PS: Even “nickel” is problematic. Because the first small cents that came out in 1857 were twelve percent nickel, they immediately got nicknamed “nicks.” Then in 1865 came the three cent nickel piece which lasted until 1889. This got named the “nickel” to distinguish it from the three cent silver piece which had disappeared from circulation thanks to the Civil War. And finally in 1866 came the five cent nickel piece we know today. When silver finally started trickling back into circulation, the half dime was simply discontinued because the (five cent) nickel had completely taken over the job. And (oh by the way) these “nickels” are only 25 percent nickel, the rest is copper.
Obligatory PSA/Reminder
Just one more thing, my standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
Remember Hong Kong!!! And remember the tens of millions who died under the “Great Helmsman” Chairman Mao.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=L3tnH4FGbd0%3F
I hope this guy isn’t rotting in the laogai somewhere!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
For my money the Great Helmsman is Hikaru Sulu (even if the actor is a dingbat).
Author note: I dusted this off from the postponed rally in July. Please, let me know if there are obvious errors. I’ll fix ’em.
Riding the momentum of the finale of the Republican National Convention last night, our VSGPOTUSDJT will be heading back out on the campaign trail. He’ll do his part, and it’s up to us to do ours.
Okay, America, a repeat of this is the goal:
Oh, my gosh, were they wrong.
Well, with the exception of the absence of Chris Mathews…yeah, they’re setting themselves up for big time disappointment again using polls that just don’t match the empirical evidence in the size and enthusiasm of the crowds the president is drawing, as well as the ones Joe Biden is not.
Oh, well.
Tonight’s rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire at 6 pm eastern daylight time is sure to have vibes nothing like the mourning the mainstream media was experiencing in November of 2016 after the polls turned out to be wrong on a collosal scale.
Let’s make them wrong again, and starting in the state, one of the original thirteen, where the motto is “Live Free or Die.”
Looks perfectly idyllic doesn’t it?
I suspect that my one and only time in New Hampshire – during a marathon camping trip to New England while on an interstate between Glouchester, Mass., and Freeport, Maine, so that my mother could actually say she had been to L.L.Bean – we probably passed this town which looks to be a classic Americana kind of place with some colonial roots. From wiki:
Londonderry lies in an area that was first known as Nutfield because of the dense woods with nut trees. A petition for the town was submitted to the General Court of the Province of New Hampshire on September 23, 1719.[5] That petition stated that the petitioners had settled “at Nutfield about the Eleventh of Aprile last” – i.e. April 11, 1719. That petition requested “ten miles square” and stated that there were now about seventy families and inhabitants from both Ireland and New England. Many of the Scots-Irish settlers had left their homes in Londonderry in the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland, and arrived in Boston in 1718 to start a new life without religious wars and persecution. On June 21, 1722, the town was chartered and given the name “Londonderry”.[6][7][8] The grant made by Samuel Shute, Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, was for a tract of land described as follows:
“Beginning on the North East Angle at a Beach Tree marked which is the south East angle of Chester and Running from thence due South on Kingstown Line four miles and an half and from thence on a West Line one mile and three Quarters and from thence South six miles and an half and from thence West north West nine miles and an half, and from thence North Eleven miles and an half from thence north north East Three miles from thence East South East one mile and from thence South South West to the South West Angle of Chester and from thence on an East Line Bounding on Chester Ten miles unto the Beach Tree first mentioned.”
And for those who have heard the word “Londonderry” before, but can’t place it, here’s some mood music.
Several sets of text have been put to this music, but, yes, it’s best known as “Danny Boy.”
I’ll add live links to this post during the late afternoon as they become available.
“I took the deed of purchase — the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy — and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard. In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.Jeremiah 32:11-15
What a ringing testimony to the power and greatness of God! God had said the land ultimately would be restored, and this deed would be valid. Therefore, it was to be put in a safe place. That is what Jeremiah did. He sent Baruch down to the title company and had him bring a deed to be signed. He acted before witnesses, and had the witnesses sign the deed and the copy — one to be sealed in a safe deposit box, the other to be kept by Jeremiah himself and passed on to his heirs, so that eventually they might claim title to this land. He worked in this normal way, and then clearly announced the purpose of it all: It is because God says there will be houses and fields and vineyards bought in this land again.
Faith takes no halfway measures. There is no hedging of Jeremiah’s bets here, no saying to these people, Well, I’m just buying this property on speculation, hoping it will all work out, but it’s just a gamble, a shot in the dark. No, he assures them that God has spoken, and that everything he is doing is consistent with the word of God.
Later in chapter 32, another quality of faith comes in. Beginning with verse 16 and continuing through verse 25, a remarkable prayer of Jeremiah is recorded. These are Jeremiah’s private thoughts about this deed. Before men this prophet is bold and resolute and confident. But before God he admits that he is not quite so sure this is all going to work out. He says to the Lord in verse 25, And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed. I am glad this account is here, because this is what we might call the doubtings of faith.
Faith always has its doubts. I once had the impression that if you doubted, you could not have faith — that faith and doubt were contrary to one another. But I gradually began to understand that this is not true. Doubt is the proof of faith. Doubt is actually an attack upon the very faith we have. You cannot have doubts unless you have faith. Faith is the way God works, and so the enemy is bound to attack your faith immediately as he sees you beginning to act and live and walk by faith. Therefore doubts will begin to arise — as a result of Satan’s attempt to overthrow your faith. There is no faith without doubts.
Jesus himself, though he always lived by faith, and everything he did was by faith, nevertheless was subjected to times of severe doubt. Otherwise he was not one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning, (Hebrews 4:15 RSV). Doubt is part of the life of faith. If you are trying to walk by faith in a promise God has given you, and you are troubled by doubts, this is the proof you are really living by faith. Hang in there! Do not let your doubts overthrow you.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KMAG/KAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Yes, it’s Monday…again.
But it’s okay! We’ll get through it.
Free Speech is practiced here at the Q Tree. But please keep it civil.
Discussion of Q is not only allowed but encouraged. Imagine that! We can talk about Q here and not get banned.
Please also consider the Important Guidelines, outlined here. Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.
Our President is fighting for us night and day…please pray for him.
Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
For your listening enjoyment, I offer this composition from Eternal Eclipse, titled ‘Shape of Lies’:
‘Malversation’ is a noun that means…improper or corrupt behavior in office, especially in public office; Evil conduct; fraudulent practices; misbehavior, corruption, or extortion in office.
Used in a sentence:
The profligate curs in the DC Swamp have had no one to check their malversation for so long…they expect it to go on forever.
Here’s the tell that Qanon isn’t what the media is claiming.
They never refer to a specific Q post. They just claim Q claims certain things or has certain beliefs without even attempting to show proof of their claims.
What’s happening? They’re losing and desperate. And Durham.
Okay, so over the weekend, there was interest in finding a way to explain Que to the uninitiated. There were quite a number of suggested articles, videos, and other resources to get people started in understanding just what Que is and is not. (It’s not a theory, and as far as we know any conspiracy involved is perfectly legal.)
While the resources are good, and the dives are relatively deep, the information is not always distilled into an easily digestible format, or a simple explanation that is really what the general public needs as a counter to the mockingbird mainstream media hit job currently underway.
With that in mind, and…since this writer is a firm believer in making a point using the least number of syllables even if I don’t always practice that principle, I am going to suggest individuals develop an elevator pitch explaining Que in their own words.
What’s an elevator pitch?
Something like this, short and sweet with just enough detail to give the gist of the bigger picture:
Que is a small group of people believed to be military intelligence members posting messages on public chat boards. The messages include lists of questions designed to get the readers to research public information on a variety of topics related to how public officials have been selling out the United States for well over a hundred years, and how entertainment and the mainstream media is used by our enemies to influence public opinion and divide the American people.
Or you could try something like this:
Anything which is effective would be good.
Now, it’s your turn. Please, put your elevator pitch explaining Que in the comments, and please be charitable when critiquing the work of others. We’re all on the same team here.
He who believes in Him [Jesus] is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
This Superlative Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for your fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.
The Storm is upon us. Please remember to Pray for our President.
AND WHAT TIME IS IT? TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!
Our movement is about replacing a failed and CORRUPT political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. ~ Candidate Donald J. Trump
Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
And,
On this day and every day –
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, you can find something here that will build you up a little . . . give you a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
From the time that Joshua died until Saul took the throne of Israel, the Hebrew government was not a monarchy like most surrounding nations. Theologians refer to it as a theocracy—”God-rule.” The Lord ruled over Israel, issuing His decrees and governing through prophets and priests. Each major region looked to a judge for what most other cultures would expect from a king. He (occasionally, she) led the people in battle, decided civil cases, and enforced God’s laws.
Samuel judged all Israel with God reigning as king over the Hebrew people. In this way, the Israelites were like no other nation on earth in that they could claim God as their leader, the invisible Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Almighty One who crushed Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and conquered Canaan. But, much in the same way that the wandering generation tired of manna, the people grew tired of the theocracy. Three factors drove their desire for a king.
First, Samuel was old and no longer able to keep pace with the demands of the nation. Second, his sons had disqualified themselves by losing the respect of the people. And third, “we want to be like all the nations.”
This was a pivotal moment in the life of Israel. Take special note of the Lord’s assessment of their decision. “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them [8:7].”
In effect, the Lord said, “You are determined to go down this path—one that will certainly cause you sorrow—and I will not stop you. You have rejected My way for your own. Therefore, you will lie in the bed you have made.”
You will lie in the bed you have made. Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind
“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.”
“I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”
“I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place[a] among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”
“But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.”
At this time Israel was under the Law, and God was clear through Moses, Prophets, Priests, Kings, and His written Word, what He wanted Israel to do, the rewards of obedience, and the consequences of disobedience.
We are under God’s Grace now, but He is no less clear that we are to obey Him, and the benefits of that obedience, and the consequences of disobedience.
And this is His [God’s] commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He has commanded.
Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”
Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life . . .
And the two greatest commandments . . . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
And a top level list of the character traits God wants Christians to have . . . . . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And yet, these days, wherever we look, we see Leftists in their roles of disrupters, looters, attackers, arsonists and anarchists, aided and abetted by corrupt Leftist Mayors, Governors, District Attorneys, Judges, Representatives and Senators exhibiting, on a daily basis, none of the desired character traits. By their fruit you will know them.
And, since the consequences of those Leftist’s actions have a large possibility of greatly negatively affecting our lives, we tend to spend a significant amount of time involved in those matters, either actively or passively.
As difficult as it might be, as this episode of life unfolds, let’s be sure we keep our main focus and hopes for the future firmly focused on things above, for “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” and “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
I guess I should stop and think about that. Hmm…well my response is still:
Bring it on!!! We’re not tired of winning. Far from it:
We haven’t even begun to win!
Time for some long overdue winning on the Justice Front!!!
Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.
Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
A Cautionary Tale, in Lieu of the Mandatory Coin
Now it wouldn’t be one of my posts without a coin, would it?
Well, I guess this must not be one of my posts, then, because this is not a coin.
This is the climax of the worst inflation the world has ever seen.
Lately, Zimbabwe has been famous for its One Hundred Trillion Dollar notes, that were never worth anything in foreign exchange (yet are worth a score or two of US dollars in the collector’s market). I once got to see a display of something like twelve different denominations in the series, the uppermost were 10, 20, 50, and 100 trillion dollar notes.
Inflation is not an increase in prices. That’s a symptom. It’s an increase in the money supply. If the increase happens to be faster than actual economic growth, then money becomes less valuable (a widget is now worth more units of money), which since we think of money as the measuring rod, looks like an increase in prices, when the real issue is that our “ruler” is shrinking.
OK, so I showed you a Hungarian note from just after World War II, and said it was worse than 100 trillion (Zimbabwe used toilet paper) dollars.
The note says it’s a “milliard b-pengős.” Well if you don’t happen to know a few things I am about to explain, you might imagine, well, “milliard” is just a foreign word for “million” and a B pengő is maybe a different pengő from an A pengő. So how is a million of something worse than a hundred trillion of something else?
Because it isn’t, actually, a million of something.
Most people are unaware that there are two distinct ways of reckoning large numbers. There’s the “short scale” and the “long scale.” In the United States, we use the short scale. On continental Europe and all of their former colonies (except Brazil), they use the long scale. The United Kingdom formerly used the long scale, but they were increasingly using the short scale in speech (thanks to Yankee cultural influence, most likely) and in 1974 their government finally gave in and formally adopted the short scale.
The short scale and the long scale both have the same definition of a thousand, 1,000, and a million, 1,000,000. The short scale goes on: 1,000,000,000 is a billion, 1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion. Add three zeros, move up one more Latin prefix before “-llion”: quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, and so on. If someone tells you the Earth’s mass is 13 septillion pounds, and you’re wondering how many zeros that is, translate “septi” into 7, add one to it (8) and multiply by 3, to get 24 zeros. 13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
But you’d better be sure they’re operating on the short scale, because the long scale is quite different. On the long scale, 1,000,000 is a million also, but then 1,000,000,000 is called either a thousand million or a milliard. Only after you add another three zeros, 1,000,000,000,000, do you bring out the word “billion.” Add three more zeros, 1,000,000,000,000,000 and you have, believe it or not, a billiard. Then a trillion, then a trilliard, and so on. In a way, you can think of it as using groups of six zeros, not three zeros. How many zeros in a trillion (long scale)? Turn “tri” into 3, multiply by six, done: 18 zeros. So an old-school Brit might claim the Earth’s mass is 13 quadrillion pounds, which after all is 6 x 4 = 24 zeros. (In many ways, this is cleaner and makes more sense than our short scale, but the short system is what we’ve got, and I’ll use it.)
Anyhow, you probably already see part of the answer to the mystery of the 1 milliard B-pengő note, I telegraphed it pretty strongly. It’s not a million, it’s a billion, which they called a milliard, B-pengős. Milliard isn’t just some weird Hungarian word for million. (Leaving aside the issue of whether any Hungarian word will ever seem normal to a speaker of any Indo-European language, and vice versa.)
And looking around a bit, you will see that Germany issued milliarden mark notes during its inflation in the 1920s, those too are nine zeros, what we call a billion. Germany is on the European continent and uses the long scale. (Apparently Russia uses the short scale. And so does Zimbabwe.)
If you ever listened to the G. Gordon Liddy show, he regularly used “thousand million” for nine zeros (short billion), and “million million” for twelve zeros (short trillion, long billion). That is unambiguous, no matter which system you’re used to, and it can also be clear to the innumerate who think a billion is “what, maybe two million?” (No, I’m not kidding.)
OK, getting back to that Hungarian note: You may be thinking, “ok so it was a billion b. pengős; that’s nine zeros, still a lot less than a hundred trillion, which is fourteen zeros!”
But the B, it turns out, stands for “billion.” A B pengő is not some new improved A pengő, it’s a billion pengős. Their billion, with twelve zeros, not our puny little nine-zero billion.
So a milliard B pengős was 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengős. Twenty one zeros.
Now there are places that have inflated their money just about as much. Yugoslavia devalued its currency multiple times between World War II and the late 80s, if you stack that up, and look at the 500 billion (our billion) notes at the end, yeah, they were up to twenty five or twenty six zeros of their original dinar. But that took decades.
Hungary went from three to 21 zeros in just over a year, and that’s just their paper money. As we’ll see below, the exchange rate against the dollar tacked on 28 zeros in almost exactly a year. This utterly annihilates what Germany went through in the 1920s, and we’ve all heard those stories, wheelbarrows full of money, people being paid at noon and the end of the workday so they could immediately spend their pay before it became worthless.
Pengő derives from peng, an onomatopoeic word for the sound of ringing, as in the sound silver coins make. The pengő was adopted in 1927 as the Hungarian currency, it consisted of 100 fillér, and replaced the…um…korona (crown). But it wasn’t until after World War II ended that the pengő jumped into the toilet, reached out of the bowl, and pulled down on the handle.
In order to cut down on zeros, the milpengő was introduced. This allowed them to use the same paper money designs again, then the b. pengő after the milpengő became as valueless as the pengő was when the milpengő had been introduced. Note the the paper money above has a colored background with a B cut out of it, and pengő is replaced by B. pengő.
Here are the regular milliard, and milliard milpengő notes to compare.
Milliard milpengő note (let’s see now…that’s, um, 15 zeros). Date is June 3, 1946
Notice that they are essentially the same, they just had to change the text in the middle. And of course running it off in a different color is as simple as changing the ink on the press. They didn’t even have to change the value in the “counter” on the left.
(Did you ever wonder why they always put the numbers inside fancy spirograph-like patterns on paper money, known as counters? It’s to make it harder for some unscrupulous schmuck to change the number. He can’t just scrape a one off and put a five in its place without leaving obvious holes in the pattern. (The ink on paper money rests on the surface of the paper and can be scraped off, anything left over can be bleached.) This was quite an issue in the early 1800s when banks issued their own notes and the designs rarely were standardized. Some guy in Gasoline Alley, Michigan might not know that the ten dollar bill from the First Bank of Outer Slobbovia, Delaware, was really a one dollar bill “raised” to a ten by a counterfeiter, because in Gasoline Alley, no one knew what Outer Slobbovia bank notes were supposed to look like. This lesson [put your denominations in counters] was learned the hard way in the early 1800s. And later, banknotes became standardized so they all had the same design with different lettering, and under strict government oversight.)
Anyhow, note that both the milliard milpengő and the milliard b-pengő were issued–or at the very least, authorized legally–in June of 1946, on the same day, the third. Two notes, one worth a million of the other, issued the same day! The implication is that they already expected that money would drop in value by a factor of a million in short order. Can you imagine that hundred dollar bill in your wallet on June 1 being worth 1/100th of a cent at the end of the month? Or imagine a “strap” (banker’s bundle) of one hundred, one hundred dollar bills on June 1st not being worth picking up off the ground at the end of the month, because it’s only worth what a Lincoln head cent was on the first of the month.
Of course we can’t really know from this issue date alone that it took a month to drop to a millionth of its prior value.
Maybe it was even faster.
Taking a look at the exchange rates allows us to fill things in. On the first of January 1927, when the pengő was introduced, the US dollar was worth 5.26 pengős. On the 31st of March, 1941, it was 5.06 pengős (the pengő had gone up, unsurprising because the dollar had been devalued by Roosevelt when he confiscated the gold). By the 30th of June, 1944 it was 33.51 to the dollar. Not too bad for an Axis country losing the war. At the end of August, 1945, it had slipped to 1320. So in a bit over a year, it had become worth about 1/40th what it was worth the year before. Bad for anyone who had pengős stuffed in his mattress because he didn’t trust banks, but people could adapt to this if they had to.
But Hungary was allied with Germany, and had lost the war. The Soviets demanded huge reparations, and were plundering Hungarian industry. (Communists rarely produce anything; they subsist by looting others. See any downtown Democrat-run city for evidence that this continues to be true today.) The US actually had custody of Hungary’s gold reserves; the puppet communist government the Soviets were setting up couldn’t use that.
Three months later at the end of November, however, it took 108,000 pengős to buy a dollar. Yowza, almost a hundred fold loss in three months. But you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. And that’s what the pengő was now worth: nothing! By the end of March, 1946, 1,750,000 pengös to the dollar. One month later–one month later— it was 59 billion pengős to the dollar, 59 followed by nine zeros. A month after that it was 42 quadrillion pengős, 42 followed by fifteen zeros. (And yes these are all short scale, “Murrican” numbers.)
The next datapoint on Wikipoo is 10 July 1946. 460 octillion pengős to the dollar. That’s 27 zeros after the 460, or 28 after the 46. In forty days, May 30 to July 10, not a million, but more than a ten trillionfold (thirteen zero) loss in value had occurred, from 15 zeros after a 42, to 28 zeros after a 46. That’s equivalent to a dollar becoming worth a dime in three days, and then the cycle repeating itself twelve more times. A millionfold loss in a month? Ha, ha, ha! What an unicorn-fart-sniffing optimist I was!
That note I started this off with had 21 zeros built into it. It would have taken 460 million of these notes to equal one dollar. But there weren’t 460 million of them. Hungary, after all, doesn’t have all that many people in it, so why produce so many notes of one denomination?
It turns out these notes were produced but never issued–the 100 million b. pengő, one tenth the nominal value, was the highest note actually issued. I suspect by the time they were made they had already been overcome by events and become worthless, so why bother?
At the very end, every single paper pengő in existence, put together, was worth less than a tenth of a US cent. Now all of the pengős put together had become…nothing.
The pengő was replaced by the forint (also of 100 filler) on August 1st 1946. One forint was worth 400 octillion pengős. But that is a fictitious exchange rate since every pengő in circulation put together was worth one thousandth of a forint. No one was going to buy so much as a single forint with pengős. I remember seeing pictures of littered streets in Budapest…the gutters strewn with what had once been money. I looked just now and found this:
When money becomes garbage, because it was never really anything else in the first place
But the forint, at least was comparable to a dollar (460 octillion pengős).
The government had learned its lesson and the forint was relatively stable. In 1992 eighty forints were roughly worth a dollar. Which is not as good as it sounds, because the dollar had itself inflated quite a bit since 1946, but still a far, far cry from what happened in 1946.
There was just one more problem left for Hungary. They had used up so much good quality security paper printing pengős that they had trouble finding any to make the new forint. But this problem could be solved.
Zimbabwe was so badly off when it ran out of paper, it had to stop printing money. No one would sell them any more. And just like that the Zimbabwean inflation stopped.
Could this happen here?
Yes. If we don’t get government spending under control, something will break. Either we default on our debt or we print money to cover it, or our government really tightens its belt.
I suspect I will live long enough to hear people talking about quadrillion dollar federal debts, deficits and budgets. We’ve gone from a trillion dollar debt to almost 27 trillion in about 40 years, that’s a 27 fold increase and one more of those puts us at 729 trillion bucks, almost a quadrillion. Bush and Obola both doubled the debt. Trump will likely do the same (sorry, but that’s the truth, and yes, it is partially his fault), making it eight times as large as it was just 24 years ago. One projection says 78 trillion in 2028. Sigh.
All debts are paid. Either by the person who owes the money…or by the person who lent it. Or if the government cranks up the printing presses someday, it will be paid by third parties who have no choice in the matter. Inflation is theft.
Maybe it wouldn’t be 1946-Hungary-bad if our government took the inflation route…but it would be bad. I heard the stories of suffering in Russia during its much-less-severe inflation after the Soviet Union collapsed; many many people were on a fixed income. Hmm, $5000 a month won’t sound so hot when every dollar in existence put together won’t buy you a dust bunny.
I don’t know much about this alleged monetary shift some people talk about being imminent, but I hope it’s nothing like this, because, folks:
We don’t want this.
Disclaimer: Neither these, nor any other coins or paper money I post, are mine. With older coins, I’m going to find the best pic of one on the internet, so even if I should happen to have one, it’s not the nicest one on earth and I’ll show another…and some coins are worth more than my net worth so I certainly won’t have those!
PS: Precious metals closings, 21 August 2020 (all values are Kitco Ask):
Gold $1943.40 (it has bounced around a lot this week but was fairly steady on Friday), Silver $26.92, Platinum $926 (on sale!), Palladium $2219, Rhodium $12,200.
Remember that gold was once $20.67 by definition, and look at today’s price, and see what has happened to the dollar…it’s worth barely a 1913 cent. In fact gold actually hit $2067.20 one day not too long ago. Inflation walks among us, mostly unnoticed, but piling up as time goes on.
Another PS: You might wonder what the Hungarians used if they never issued the milliard b pengő note, and clearly they’d need huge denominations, T pengős, Q pengős, and so on. Well they had created an adópengő, literally “tax pengő” for budget planning purposes, but it became a real piece of money in July, worth 2 of those bills I started with apiece. It was supposed to hold its value. It didn’t but it fell much less rapidly than the regular pengő. When the 100 million b. pengő note became worthless, the adópengő took over…for the rest of the month.
Important Reminder
To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
Remember Hong Kong!!!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=L3tnH4FGbd0%3F
I hope this guy isn’t rotting in the laogai somewhere!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KMAG/KAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Yes, it’s Monday…again.
But it’s okay! We’ll get through it.
Free Speech is practiced here at the Q Tree. But please keep it civil. Discussion of Q is not only allowed but encouraged. Imagine that! We can talk about Q here and not get banned.
Please also consider the Important Guidelines, outlined here. Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.
Our President is fighting for us night and day…please pray for him.
Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
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For your listening enjoyment, I offer this composition from AShamaluevMusic, titled ‘Cinematic Piano Ambient’:
