What's a baker, florist, candlestick maker to do?

 Recently, "the state" squeezed every penny, including donations, from a Christian couple and destroyed their livelihood because they wouldn't bake a cake for a lesbian couple's wedding.  They would serve them as customers every other way, just not that. Story.

They were ordered to “cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published, circulated, issued or displayed, any communication, notice, advertisement or sign of any kind to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, services or privileges of a place of public accommodation will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination will be made against, any person on account of sexual orientation.”
“Within Oregon’s public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the freedom to fully participate in society,” the ruling states. “The ability to enter public places, to shop and dine, to move about unfettered by bigotry.”

Divorce cakes are quite popular. Just google images. Many Christians do not believe divorce is God's will. Gay couples get divorces.  Can a baker be required to bake one for Harry and George if he would not do it for Mary and George?




Can a Quaker pacifist bakery owner refuse to decorate a cake with guns by turning down a big job for the NRA? The military?
 

  
What about a West Virginia Democrat's celebration in memory of an Exalted Cyclops of the KKK who represented him in Congress? Is that OK to turn down? (There was such a story posted on the Internet which apparently was a hoax).
 
Does a female baker have to create pornographic images on cupcakes for male clients? Or yoga positions for the exercise club? Many of those pink breast cancer images were just porn, in my opinion.


These are all activities by Americans expressing their free speech; what about the religious and speech and assembly rights of the baker?

Media tries to instruct Christians in how to behave

So many of current cultural values pushed by the media and government are not found in the Bible: tolerance, diversity, ecumenism, political correctness, body confusion, sexual immorality. Instead, Biblical values are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, mercy, justice, good works, fear of God, sincerity, truthfulness, respect, honoring elders, generosity, charity, being chosen people, compassion, humility (the queen of virtues), gentleness, thankfulness, gratitude, hard work, sharing in Christ's suffering, self-control, restoring the sinner, and so forth as found in the Gospels and Epistles.

Dear media; stop trying to teach Christians theology

My cat is deaf, so what does that make me?

 
I've tried sign language, but you know how cats are.  They do what they want and then take a nap.

The pay gap. Does it really exist?

          
When my Grandmother Mary wanted to be a school teacher in the late 1800s she was turned down by the Ashton school board because she lived at home with her father (her mother had died in 1896), and the thinking in those days was if a man could support her she shouldn't be taking a job from a man who might be supporting a family. I even encountered this in the 1960s when applying for a graduate assistantship--I was married, my competition was not.  Sort of like we feel today about immigrants getting the jobs we think citizens should have.  

Today we have laws and guarantees for equal pay like Iceland and have had for decades. If Iceland has high gender equality, they are probably doing the same jobs. We don't have laws (yet) demanding equal results for a B.A. in Social Studies and a PhD in Computer Science or for a woman who doesn't drop out for 10 years and one who did (as I did). For almost 40 years, women have outnumbered men in enrollment in college, but they are still not selecting the difficult and well paid degree programs. Also, highly educated women tend to marry men of the same calibre, and thus don't always enter the work force at the same rate as less wealthy women and stay home to raise their children who then do the same. For each group of college grads marry college grads, or doctors marrying doctors, or lawyers marrying lawyers, the gap widens between their families and those women who didn't go to college, or didn't marry at all before having children.

When everything is taken into consideration, like willingness to move, or to take unpleasant assignments (like travel) to get ahead, or to negotiate salary, there's almost no difference (in same job with same requirements in education). Think about it; if employers could get women to work for less for the same job, why would they hire men?  When I asked my boss why a male librarian colleague with the same work experience and education made more than I did, he told me, "Because he asked for more."

The median annual wage for high school teachers was $56,310 in May 2014., and for elementary $53,760, but based on hourly rate, they do much better than accountants and architects according the BLS. More men take the secondary position and are less common in elementary (although I remember 2 in the school my children attended in the 1970s).  Is that a pay gap or a choice?  Should people who teach compliant children the basics of their ABCs and math really make as much as people who teach "children" taller, smarter and with more discipline problems who are studying chemistry and physics?

The next time you go to the doctor even for a "wellness exam" like I did this week,  take a look at the women in the front office doing scheduling and billing, and compare them with who you see in the back doing x-ray or blood draw or stress test or bone density. There will be no men in the front, but about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tech staff will be male. What pays more? That which requires more education. How are these positions viewed in statistics? They are lumped into one category. There will even be a difference between the women in the front and those in the back--and it's very noticeable--particularly their weight and age.

HT Connie Dunn for the discussion that started on FB.
 

Make your New Year's Resolution about your finances

I know there are some who think Medicare is "free" healthcare, and believe all Americans should have it rather than the ragged, poorly thought out and sketchy Obamacare (these unnamed would be Democrats/Progressives) or private insurance. But it's not free. First, all my working years I paid into it (I'm not eligible for Social Security, although I did pay into it in a number of non-state jobs, so there's a special deduction for state employees). Second, I get a "Medicare reimbursement" with my monthly pension, which is then taxed. My "free" health insurance costs over 13% of a very small pension.  If I were single, or even if I hadn't invested 15% of my income in addition to my pension deduction every month I worked, I would be in desperate circumstances. Many women my age had a shorter work career, at a lower salary range due to career choices, and will be single longer than men. So make your New Year's resolution to put more into retirement. You'll need it for your health insurance, which by then will be single payer government owned, and horribly expensive.

According to the work of Harvard University's Malcolm Sparrow, fraud could account for as much as 20 percent of total federal health care spending, which would be considerably higher than what the government's figures indicate.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/05/31/medicare-and-medicaid-fraud-is-costing-taxpayers 

 

 http://www.cato.org/publications/congressional-testimony/waste-fraud-abuse-government-health-care

A message for the New Year from St. Augustine

Mrs. Miller's jams, jellies and noodles

No, not THAT Mrs. Miller, but the one in Fredericksburg, Ohio.

I can buy this product at Marc's, but it also is on-line and is often sold at Farmers' Markets and food fairs.  This morning I had a bowl of fat free yogurt topped with a few spoonfuls of Mrs. Miller's Apple Butter (which is about half the calories of jam).  There's a wide variety on line for purchase, including many sugarless.  Also noodles, peanut butter spreads, and drink mixes.

In Ohio, just about everyone claims to have Amish roots, but this one really does.

Esther Miller had 13 siblings and learned her techniques and recipes from her mother.  For years the business was in the Miller home, and as of 2013 has a new, modern facility.  Mr. and Mrs. Miller are still involved, but now their children run the business.  http://www.mrsmillersnoodles.com/history/

End of year contributions

Our tithe goes to our local congregation, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, but there are other groups we like to support through the year and especially in December.  By December, they all come calling.  Increasingly, I get appeals by e-mail--in fact on Dec. 30-31, I must have received at least 10 last minute appeals.  We usually stay with organizations we know, although this year there were some new ones.

A presidential candidate (no comment)
National Parks
Coming Home Network
Lutheran Bible Translators
Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Pregnancy Decision Health Center
Lower Lights
St. Gabriel Radio, Columbus
Mercury One Nazarene Fund (for Syrian Christian refugees)
168 Film Project
Lakeside
COCINA (Haiti school)
EWTN
Pinecrest (in memory of my parents)

Summertime on New Year's Eve

         

When the choral group at last night's jazz/worship service ended their selection with Summertime, I leaned over to my husband and whispered, "That's an odd song for a cold winter's night," not realizing the treat we were about to be served by Eric Waters, one of the pastors at UALC.

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by

Eric preaching at Mill Run

First, he mentioned how he had sung this in high school choir (he has a wonderful voice and is fabulous with the liturgy) and it had been a favorite.  Then he went on to open the song and the scriptures first with our longings to be "rich and good looking" with references from Scripture, and then the story of Jesus from the prophets to the manger to the cross and resurrection, to our own promised resurrection when we'll "spread our wings and take to the sky" when Jesus returns.  It's hard to get a Lutheran audience to shout "Amen" and applaud, but we did. Second, I'll offer this hint, in case you think your preacher could do this, Eric was a theater major at Dartmouth, he usually gives the Scripture readings for the day from memory, and this sermon was so beautifully crafted, that he was speaking poetry.  I hope it was recorded, and I'll add a link if it was.

What a wonderful way to say good-bye to 2015 and to welcome 2016--listening to Eric talk about our hope, and then closing with communion, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, closing the service.

Old lady learning. . . slowly

             

I am feeling so. . .techie.  Today I unsubscribed to maybe 10 e-mails I never read, and am pretty sure I never signed on to, changed a few passwords, learned to recharge my husband's FitBit and I finally used my MD's message portal so I can look at the results of my exam on Tuesday. But nothing, nothing, feels as nice as a book and a #2 lead automatic pencil.  It seems I'm not going to be able to fix my LiveWriter, a blog publishing application developed by Microsoft which I just love and use for blogging.  It is no longer being supported.

On to the i-pad mini I got for Christmas.

 http://www.hanselman.com/blog/AnnouncingOpenLiveWriterAnOpenSourceForkOfWindowsLiveWriter.aspx

Avoid palm oil if possible

I always buy Krema Peanut Butter, but today picked up a "natural" jar of Jif and read the label. Well, yes, if by natural you mean palm oil and sugar. Krema is just peanuts. Also Krema bought Crazy Richard's and that name now appears on the jar.

Facts About Palm Oil (from the Krema site) or why you should read labels:

• All ‘no-stir’ natural peanut butters use palm oil in place of hydrogenated vegetable oil to stop the natural oil separation.
• Palm oil has been referred to as the “cruel oil” for its negative impact on the environment, animals and our health.
• Palm oil is high in saturated fats.
• Palm oil harvesting destroys the rain forest in Indonesia and Malaysia and threatens many endangered animals.
• Palm oil’s major use is in soaps and lotions.
• Research shows that palm oil increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Stealing is stealing, no matter which century

Today I was reading an article about how King Henry VIII confiscated (stole) all the monasteries' land and wealth in England, making about 8,000 people in religious orders homeless, plus destroying the culture and economy built up around them, all in the name of redistributing the wealth. Libraries with wonderful manuscripts were destroyed.  Some got very rich, like the King and his buddies, then the small middle class who got some of the land, but the poor got very little, in fact by the King destroying those who had fed, sheltered and nursed the poor, they were worse off. No one says there weren't abuses, or that the original owners weren't misusing their donated wealth (rich living, lots of servants, etc.), but it is always the poor that is worse off in these government grabs of property, whether by kings or presidents, dictators or czars.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Dissolution-of-the-Monasteries/ 

 http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Dissolution_of_the_Monasteries.htm

Behavior can alter path to dementia

I won't go into detail--if you have a computer you can google it--but I read about 2 exciting advancements for Alzheimer's and dementia yesterday. More and more research points to your behavior assisting your own body systems to fight this scourge. Check out these proteins, BDNF and VEGF. They protect your brain, and are increased with good social support (is this a reason to party?), a lower calorie diet, regular exercise and good heart health. Make 2016 the year you're kind to your brain.

Check the link (partial article)

One of the gifts in this research is donation of brains of nuns and priests. The Religious Orders Study enrolls Catholic nuns, priests and brothers, from more than 40 groups across the United States. Participants are without known dementia and agree to annual clinical evaluation and brain donation (some in the Chicago area also agree to donate, spinal cord, nerve, and muscle). Now that's a way to have both eternal life, and to continue to serve in the temporal life.

On December 26, 2014

I started out to "cycle" to Indianapolis a year ago to visit my sister-in-law Jeanne. That's a stationary bike, of course.  It never left my office. Now I've gone over 1900 miles, so I guess I'll have to go see sisters-in-law Debbie and Kate in California (2,253 miles), and high school friend Tina, and cousin Barry and wife Rose. If Blogger Paula is home, I'll stop for one of her famous cupcakes. I lost 35 pounds by the end of June.  Eat less, move more: that's the name of the plan.

First cousins, twice removed

We have quite a few twins in the family now.



Happy 17th birthday to my first cousins, twice removed, Daniel and Phoebe, my cousin Gayle's beautiful grandchildren. 

Great nephew Caleb has twin daughters Hallie and Kali, two years old, granddaughters of our niece Joan and husband Dan, great granddaughter of Jeanne and Bob.


And niece Kari and husband Greg have twins Breeanne and Brody, also two. Sister Debbie is their grandmother.

St. Augustine, Confessions, Book 1

What, then, are You, O my God-what, I ask, but the Lord God ?
 For who is Lord but the Lord? or who is God save our God (Ps. 17:32) ? Most high,
most excellent,
most powerful,
most omnipotent ;
most piteous and most just;
most hidden and most near;
most beautiful and most strong, stable, yet contained by none;
unchangeable, yet changing all things;
never new, never old;
making all things new,
yet bringing old age upon the proud without their knowing it (Job 9:5);
always working, yet ever at rest;
gathering, yet needing nothing;
sustaining, pervading, and protecting ;
creating, nourishing, and developing;
seeking, and yet possessing all things.
You love, yet do not burn;
are jealous, yet free from care;
You repent, yet do not suffer;
are angry, yet serene;
You change Your ways, leaving Your plans unchanged;
You recover what You find, without ever having lost it;
You are never in want, while You rejoice in gain;
never covetous, though requiring interest.'
That You may owe, more than enough is given to You;
yet who has anything that is not Yours?
You pay debts while owing nothing;
and when You forgive debts,
You lose nothing.
Yet, O my God, my life, my holy joy, what is this that I have said ? And what does anyone say when He speaks of You? Yet woe to them that keep silence, seeing that even they who say most are like the dumb."

Translation 

My own translation (by Edward Bouverie Pusey, public domain) uses the thy and art and shouldest,  which isn't that difficult, but I looked for more current English.  Then I rearranged the spacing; looks like a nice poem or liturgy.

Science in the Bible

Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist, says there are 25 different creation accounts in the Bible. Job, for instance, has more scientific detail than the Genesis account. Job is likely the oldest book of the Bible and it predates the book of Genesis by 500-600 years. He also says there are 200 accurate scientific theories in the Bible some not developed until the 20th century. The chances of that are ten to the 300th power. I'm listening while riding my exercycIe. I love science.

                    

https://youtu.be/dsbj7EN1Uzs?list=PLp2gleJsbl1RlxpvUACxB59uxiMrZnFrw

http://www.reasons.org/

http://www.reasons.org/articles/lost-civilization-beneath-the-persian-gulf-confirms-genesis-history-of-humanity

Unfortunately, there's probably no area that causes more dissension among sincere Christians than creation and the Bible. Just scanning the list of articles by old earth and new earth advocates I see there are many who don't like Ross. But nowhere in the Bible do I see that Jesus told us to put our faith in the Bible, but in him. And it looks like all along that range of beliefs they believe in Jesus.

Looking at the older creeds

When a member of our church moved to the west coast a few years ago, she donated a lot of her books to the library, which then put most of them out for “free” to anyone who wanted them. Some were rather difficult or scholarly, but just perfect to sit on my shelves, unread. So I’ve been looking at “Creeds of the Churches; a reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present,” ed. John H. Leith, Anchor Books, 1963.

At our Lutheran church, generally we say the Apostle's Creed every Sunday at the liturgical service, and on special times, like Christmas, we brush off the Nicene Creed; and occasionally the Athanasian Creed. The history of the creeds is really fascinating, and so far superior to some of the current, trendy “home made” statements of faith, or mission statements churches sometimes say today. Non-denominational, or "spiritual but not religious" Christians just have no ideas what they owe to these leaders of a thousand years ago who battled heresies, Muslims, and bad Popes.  Particularly impressive is the Fourth Lateran Council. Also it’s interesting that it took 1200 years to sanction the word transubstantiation even though the idea is clearly stated in Jesus’ words in John 6:53-58 and had been the practice for over a century.

“The fourth Lateran Council, the 12th ecumenical council (1215), generally considered the greatest council before Trent, was years in preparation. Pope Innocent III desired the widest possible representation, and more than 400 bishops, 800 abbots and priors, envoys of many European kings, and personal representatives of Frederick II (confirmed by the council as emperor of the West) took part. The purpose of the council was twofold: reform of the church and the recovery of the Holy Land. Many of the conciliar decrees touching on church reform and organization remained in effect for centuries. The council ruled on such vexing problems as the use of church property, tithes, judicial procedures, and patriarchal precedence. It ordered Jews and Saracens to wear distinctive dress and obliged Catholics to make a yearly confession and to receive Communion during the Easter season. The council sanctioned the word transubstantiation as a correct expression of eucharistic doctrine. The teachings of the Cathari and Waldenses were condemned. Innocent also ordered a four-year truce among Christian rulers so that a new crusade could be launched.”

There were some excellent rules for the church/clergy in 1215--could be used today, like providing for the education of the poor, especially future priests, modest dress and behavior for clerics, priests couldn't be judges (separation of church and state), all Christians had to confess their sins at least once a year and take communion at least once, if a priest revealed a confession he would be banished to a monastery,  incompetent people couldn't be appointed, a cathedral or church couldn't be without a pastor for more than 3 months, (compared to a widow and ravenous wolves attacking the people), and for some reason were not to hunt or fowl or keep dogs for that purpose.

Long form journalism and wordy blogs

are a thing of the past.

Now that I've tried blogging and posting to Facebook using my i-pad mini, I can see why people are using shortcuts and no sentence structure.  Today I learned how to turn it on and off and upload a photo to Facebook.  But I'm back at the computer so my fingers can stretch a bit.  Increasingly, the ordinary person is dumping their computers when using social media.
 

This is the photo I posted on FB a few minutes ago.  First I took a photo of myself in the mirror, or maybe it was my finger.  I'm a little awkward at this. I had to delete that one and the 6 "burst" behind it--can't hold the finger down too long.

This is our replacement Lazzy Bear from Christmas 1986.  Our first one was stolen in a home break-in--imagine someone stealing a stuffed bear--but they were very popular that year.  My friend Nancy got me a new one.  We still put him out every Christmas.

First try on my I-pad mini

This is not comfortable. It's creepy, like typing with bandaged fingers.