2 Timothy 2:11-13

It is a true saying, "For if we be dead together with Him; we also shall live together with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign together with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we believe not, yet abideth He faithful: He cannot deny Himself."

"The Most High bears rule over the kingdom of men; He gives it to whomsoever He wills." ~Daniel 4:29

"The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord; He guides it like a river wherever He wills." ~Proverbs 21:1

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."
~1 Timothy 2:1-3

"1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."

~Romans 13:1-7

"13Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

14Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

15For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

16As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

17Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

18Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

19For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

20For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

~1 Peter 2:13-25

Okay...

So I'll not be writing that series before I leave after all.

Really, I've not had much inclination to hang around the computer lately anyway...which is probably a good thing.

But I've been having a good time with friends, between adoption parties, going to see Prince Caspian, impromptu jam sessions, and siblings' baseball games.

We've had some amazing storms coming through Nebraska the last few days; you can see some pictures at the blog of a friend of a friend at http://sempre-dolce.blogspot.com. On Tuesday morning, I woke at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep, so stayed up watching the lightning and writing. My notes from that are over on my poetry blog. I wrote more than that, including some substantial progress on some lyrics I've had in my head for months now, but that song isn't finished yet. In the unlikely event I finish it today, I'll post it.

Otherwise, you'll have to wait till I return from Kentucky in 4 weeks. I leave tomorrow!!!! Check out the info on LTC here: http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/leaders_training.jsp

May our Lord be with you, and I'll see (or "see") you when I return. Continue growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sola Gratia,
Colin

P.S. I do have one post set to go up automatically on 15 June, so check back sometime. :-)

Job 38

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

9When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

13That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

14It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

16Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

17Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

18Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

22Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

33Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?

36Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

37Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

38When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

39Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

40When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

Miscellaneous Update

Alright, the promised update on school and military plans.

This semester is almost done (two more weeks, Huzzah!); I have a 2.5 page Freedom's paper, 8 page Rhetoric paper (I'll be writing a rhetorical criticism of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), a post-test, and a few finals, and I am done. I'll be done with DL, in fact, after 5 semesters. Hmmm...my thoughts on that will probably constitute another post, so I'll avoid that tangent for the moment.

I've already registered to go on campus in the fall, so, Lord willing, will be on campus August 19th as a technical sophomore, practical junior (61/63 credits). I've preregistered for English Lit. Seminar I (Dr. Libby), Drama (Dr. Hake!!!!), Metaphysics (Dr. Roberts), and Biology/Lab (Dr. Doran). I've been filling out various forms and talking with a couple DL classmates about being roommates. I actually got to talk to one of them on the phone last week, which was great! It is still hard to believe that in 3 months I'll be in Virginia again and on campus with 300-odd other students, but it is slowly becoming more real. I am, of course, excited, in a complex sort of way. That, if it ever ends up on here, will be another post, as well.

Simply put, last time I left Nebraska (when my family PCSed in 2003), I couldn't wait to leave, for several reasons; this time around, while there are certainly some things I will leave gladly, there are even more certainly things and people I shall miss.

But I am excited about meeting my DL friends, and meeting the faculty at PHC, and finally starting my major studies. And I can't wait to go hiking and camping in the Shenandoahs again! It will be nice to be near my grandparents, as well.

Also, God has more than blessed me as far as paying for school. Besides the HSLDA membership grant, PHC gave me a scholarship which will pay a nice chunk of tuition. The American Legion Auxiliary here in Nebraska also gave me a scholarship: that is kind of a funny story, actually. I found out about their program online and called the local ALA representative, and she had no idea what I was talking about. When she called back, she said "No one's asked about that scholarship from us in a long time, and we've never done this before, but we're definitely sending this in to the state department!! I didn't even know about it! This is so cool!" I have a couple more pending, so I'm keeping that in prayer. The Lord has provided, and will provide the means necessary to work His will!

About the military: Many of you know that I am planning to take Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) classes so that I'll be commissioned in the Army after graduation. Since PHC doesn't take the ROTC scholarship because of their no-government-money policy, I have also been planning to contract with the VA National Guard in what is called the Simultaneous Membership Program: basically, I will drill with the Guard one weekend a month, go to the ROTC summer training camps, will be exempt from deploying with the Guard as long as I'm in ROTC, and will draw pay from the Guard, a stipend from ROTC, and will be eligible for assistance via the GI Bill after my first year. The money, naturally, would go to school (and would be quite an assistance). After I graduate, I have the option of staying in the Guard, or going to Reserves, Active Guard Reserves (full-time Guard), or active duty Army. The plan right now is for me to go active duty.

In the meantime, I am registered to go to ROTC's Leadership Training Camp (LTC) at Ft. Knox, KY, from 6 June to 3 July. That camp is basically catch-up for those who haven't taken the first two years of ROTC, and is sort of "officer's boot camp." I'd like to do regular Basic Training, anyway, but it probably won't work out with the other ROTC summer camps, and isn't required for officers commissioned from ROTC.

I went to Creighton University early Friday morning to take my PT test and be fitted for my uniform. I did well on the push-ups and the 2-mile run, but not so well on the sit-ups, so I'll be working on those before LTC. The uniform should be sent out to me, so I can break in the boots before LTC.

Come August, I'll sign with ROTC at George Mason University, take a 3-hour class on Tuesday, and participate in 3 hours of lab (PT and field training) every Thursday. I'm unequivocally excited about that! Those will all build up to Leadership Development Advancement Course (LDAC) next summer, which will pretty much test us on everything we learned our junior year, and will be our time to "showcase" ourselves for the Army.

Now, I talked to MAJ Simms at GMU yesterday, and he said that, despite what he called "PHC's lack of willingness to take money," ROTC was working on a scholarship that could be paid directly to the student. Those scholarships PHC can take. He said that ROTC is planning for it to cover our room and board (about 1/4 of our total costs). The only catch is that it is not for SMP; it is for ROTC folks only. But it's not that much of a catch: since ROTC is my first priority, and I plan to go active duty, and the scholarship would be more than the Guard drill pay, I asked him to definitely keep me updated on that. It would also avoid the potential (unlikely, but possible), that the Guard would not release me to go active duty after graduation, and the more dangerous and likely potential that I could be pulled from school for a domestic Guard call-out.

Speaking of the Army, my older brother will be back from Iraq in June and will have a month-long leave in July (about the time I get back from LTC), so we're all looking forward to that!

Our Father has been very gracious in working all these things together, to His glory. I look forward to seeing what else He has in store! Have a blessed Sabbath and grace be with you all!

Sola Gratia,
Colin

Psalm 2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalm 90

I recently re-discovered that my Geneva Bible came with a CD-ROM containing the Geneva Bible in PDF format, along with the Apocrypha, AND the Metrical Psalms. The Metered Psalms were quite well done, and here is Psalm 90 (which happens to be my favorite), for those who are interested.

Domine refugium. Ps.90.I.H.
Moses seeing the people neither admonished by the
brevity of their life, nor by plagues to be thankful,
prayeth God to turn their hearts, and continue his mercy
toward them and their posterity forever.
Sing this as the 78 Psalm.

Thou Lord hast been our sure defense,
our place of ease and rest:
In all times past, yea, so long since,
as cannot be expressed.

2 Ere there was made mountain or hill,
the earth and all abroad:
From age to age, and always still,
forever thou art God.

3 Thou grindest man through grief and pain,
to dust, or clay, and then,
And then thou saist again, return
again, ye sons of men,

4 The lasting of a thousand year
What is it in thy sight?
As yesterday it doth appear
or as a watch by night.

5 So soon as thou dost scatter them,
then is their life and tread,
All as a sleep, and like the grass,
whose beauty soon doth fade.

6 Which in the morning shines full bright,
but fadeth by and by:
And is cut down ere it be night,
all withered, dead and dry.

7 For through thine anger we consume
our might is much decayed:
And of thy servant wrath and fume
we are full sore afraid.

8 The wicked works that we have wrought
thou setst before thine eye:
Our privy faults, yea, eke our thoughts
thy countenance doth spy.

9 For through thy wrath our days do waste,
thereof doth naught remain:
Our years consumes as words or blasts,
and are not called again.

10 Our time is threescore years and ten,
that we do live on mold:
If one see fourscore, surely then
we count him wondrous old.

11 Yet of this time the strength and chief
the which we count upon:
Is nothing else but painful grief,
and we like blasts are gone.

12 Who once doth know what strength is there
what might thine anger hath?
Or in his heart who doth thee fear
according to thy wrath?

13 Instruct us Lord to know and try,
how long our days remain:
That then we may our hearts apply
true wisdom to attain.

14 Return O Lord, how long wilt thou
forth on in wrath proceed?
Show favor to thy servants now,
and help them at their need.

15 Refresh us with thy mercy soon,
and then our joy shall be:
All times so long as life shall last
in heart rejoice shall we.

16 As thou hast plagued us before:
now also make us glad:
And for the years wherein full sore
affliction we have had.

17 O let thy work and power appear,
and on thy servant’s light:
And show unto thy children dear,
the glory and thy might.

18 Lord let thy grace and mercy stand
on us thy servant thus:
Confirm the works we take in hand,
Lord prosper them to us.

My Car

I love my car. Not in any of the three Greek senses do I love her*, but I do so rather as one may love an inanimate object with which one is well acquainted and comfortable. The more do I love it as I reflect on how much of an unmitigated blessing it was to me. We have spent quite a bit of time together over the last year, and had some adventures, but let me tell you how we met.

Concurrently with seeking a job last year, I began car-shopping. Given my rural location, a mode of transportation faster than my legs or a bike is almost a necessity.

I am not picky in my cars. I’ve never been interested in sports cars; if I ever wanted to be “cool” by means of my conveyance, I effectively killed that possibility by starting off in a 12-passenger van. And, frankly, my dream car is a pre-1990 Ford F-150. Someday when I’m retired and can afford the gas, I’d still like to get one. But in the meantime, I have been perfectly content with the idea of starting off with a sedan or station wagon. Some wags might suggest that the only reason I would want a family car is as a selling point (with the parents, at least) when the time should come for me to a go a-courtin’:

“Oh, Mama, Henry has such a beautiful Ford Mustang; he’d drive safely with me, though, I’m sure.”
“Yes, but honey, don’t you think that a 5-seat sedan is much better for a couple planning to start a family?”
“But Mama, it’s so mundane…I can’t be a soccer mom from the very beginning of the courtship!”
“Well, it could be worse: he could have a mini-van.”

But that advantage aside (and though I didn’t choose it for that purpose, I’m not about to spurn the hand of Providence, either), sedans are cheaper on all counts—initial cost, gas, and insurance. Oh, insurance. What a curse did Cain lay upon all succeeding young men when he rashly beat his brother—one may justly suppose that he was also one for camel-races. Be that what it may, we young men have a reputation for being high liabilities on insurance policies. Young men with sports cars only exacerbate the problem. So, as a part of my Christian duty (and in keeping with my constitutional aversion to spending money on frivolities), I alleviated the problem by desiring a sedan.

Some fellow drivers would say that I don’t alleviate the problem at all; I’ll just say that I’ve not touched another car once, but there were times when it was grace alone that I didn’t. There was the time that I spun it over a ten-foot dirt embankment, but that’s another story for another time….

I preferred American-made cars, but that was not a big sticking point. My dad asked me what color I’d prefer, and I discovered that I did not have much of a preference—except that I detest yellow and all pastel shades. I hinted that I would paint whatever car I bought with military-issue olive drab anyway, but it was hinted in return that such a monstrosity would not reside on the premises, so that idea died in committee and my mental senate returned to maintaining the status quo (yes, I have one of those).

When it got down to it, I was planning (and dreading) to spend rather more than I wanted to on even a used car. Oh, ye of little faith. My dad is pretty good friends with a deacon in our church, who, by God’s providence, was looking for a minivan for his growing family at the same time. He had a 1998 Ford Taurus and was willing to sell it when they bought the minivan.

Now, let me say this about the Ford Taurus: it is a nice-looking car, and common enough that it doesn’t stick out. Actually, common enough that it occurs quite often—eerily so—that I park and find four other Tauruses and a Mercury Sable or two in the same row. If I’m not mistaken, it was the most widely sold car in its class while it was made. Given that I hate flashy things and like to blend in (without fitting in), this was a perfect fit. Oh, and the color was dark green. Score!

The bluebook value was in the $2,500-$3,000 range, but it had been salvaged anyway, and the transmission had some minor trouble—only that it leaked enough that it required a few bottles of fluid a year—so he took off the price of a new transmission in anticipation for my eventually replacing that.

That brought it down to a much more palatable price, which I was prepared to pay; and then my parents decided to bless me even further by paying the good deacon themselves. That made the sticker shock upon taking it to the DMV rather easier to handle...

My car has her* idiosyncrasies, of course, but then again, she puts up with me. On occasion, there will be an electronic beeping for no apparent reason (it did this for the former owners, too, and the car folks had no idea what caused it), but this is in keeping with the weird habits of pretty much all of my electronic equipment. I suppose if my car can handle the lengthy lectures I give her on random subjects, I can handle a little bit of reciprocal conversation. I can probably make more sense of that electronic beeping than anyone can of what I ramble on about, anyway.

But in all seriousness, I was more than blessed with my Ford Taurus, on all counts. Even besides the money-for-a-car-or-for-school issue (the solving of which was immeasurable grace by itself), everything about it, from the type of car to the color, was amazingly orchestrated (and was far more than I deserve). And, of course, we get along well, and there is easily enough room in the back seat and trunk for my guitars and amps, my other loves…but that will have to wait for another post.

Until then,
Colin



*Of course a car takes the female pronoun. She certainly has a personality, and the masculine wouldn’t sound quite right. Her name is Good Queen Bess, but that’s a story in itself.

Announcement and excerpt from USH2 paper

After about half a million edits...

Last Tuesday, I began turning a number of scenes that I've had in my head for a while into a story which I hope could end as a novella, at least. I have only the first chapter written and know what I want to do with the last two chapters; unfortunately, I only know the direction I want to take with the middle section, not the storyline. So I'm not going to bind myself to a set deadline for posting the next chapter, but if you'd like to read the first chapter at least, I've posted it to my Fiction/Poetry blog. I also submitted it, with a few poems, to the PHC Stylus literary publication. Input and criticism (from fellow Lit Snobs and all of my other friends who put up with our delusion that we're the coolest) is appreciated. I'd especially like suggestions for a main title; I currently plan for "Where the Wind Wills" to be a subtitle (and it is, by the way, a reference to John 3, not "Bohemian Rhapsody"...).


Also, our US History 2 paper is a comparison/contrast of Whittaker Chambers's Witness and Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery. Up From Slavery was written in the late 1800s with Southern Reconstruction and the plight of the former slaves in mind, Witness in 1952 about the attempt to expose American Communism, but "for all their differences, they were both tales which brought the epic struggle between good and evil to a human level and made the principles applicable to the ordinary man by showing how ordinary men had fought and struggled with specific manifestations of that war," as I wrote in my paper.

The chief difference, though, in the authors' respective outlooks is one that struck me deeply as I was writing, and I devoted about a page to exploring that facet of their works. I may post more of the paper later, but here is the relevant excerpt for now:

"Washington was inspirational because he extolled the ability of men to raise themselves up from the ashes, and warned them not to allow their circumstances to dictate their future in such a way that they would never improve themselves. He was optimistic that the problems could be resolved and that the American people could put their dark past behind them in the next few generations. While acknowledging the faults of both parties in the past, he truly believed that they could be overcome by hard work and virtuous living—he believed that his object was attainable and that success lay within the volition of him and his fellow man.

Chambers was inspirational for nearly the opposite reason: he acknowledged that he was weak, and insisted that his role was thrust upon him against his will—but it was precisely the knowledge that this was his mission, arranged for him by destiny, that gave him the strength to fulfill it, because he knew that the same Providence that had assigned this terrible ordeal to him would direct the results, whether or not those results included his destruction. Chambers was willing to abandon all for the sake of the world and for the sake of destiny--and for his witness against Communism and for truth. He was pessimistic that his sacrifice would result in the ultimate salvation of the world—if it was not destroyed by Communism, it would fall prey to something else—but was certain that the guiding hand of God would nevertheless have a purpose even in this.

He thus inspired to play their part even men who are all too conscious of their own weakness. Their part need not be so crucial as his, nor need it be successful in human terms—whatever their part was, no matter how seemingly large or small, it formed a cog in the plan of Providence. He disagreed with the idea that the world would linearly improve; his hope lay in the ultimate end of the world which no human eye could yet see. This fundamental difference between Washington’s and Chambers’s presentations goes as deep as the level of their worldview, and could be described in religious terms as running as deeply as the difference between the theological concepts of merit and grace, for this is precisely the difference between them."

Psalm 90

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God

1Lord, thou hast been our habitation from generation to generation.

2Before the mountains were made, and before thou hadst formed the earth, and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art our God.

3Thou turnest man to destruction; again thou sayest, Return, ye sons of Adam.

4For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

5Thou hast overflowed them; they are as a sleep: in the morning he groweth like grass;

6In the morning it flourisheth and groweth, but in the evening it is cut down and withereth.

7For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

8Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

9For all our days are passed away in thine anger: we have spent our years as a thought.

10The time of our life is threescore years and ten; and if they be of strength, fourscore years: yet their strength is but labour and sorrow; for it is cut off quickly, and we flee away.

11Who knoweth the power of thy wrath? For according to thy fear is thine anger.

12Teach us so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13Return (O LORD, how long?) and and be pacified toward thy servants.

14Fill us with thy mercy in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all our days!

15Comfort us according to the days that thou hast afflicted us, and according to the years that we have seen evil.

16Let thy work be seen toward thy servants, and thy glory upon their children.

17And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and direct thou the work of our hands upon us, even direct the work of our hands.

The Government majors are at it again...

Somehow this week's US History forum turned into a discussion of politics and candidates and all that jazz that's been on the news. I can't imagine how... Anyway, what I posted there is relevant here, and is pretty much my perspective on this whole election thing. It always helps to get things back to first principles.

"Whilst it has been fun listening to all you government majors rant and rave about how America is going down the tubes with liberal Democrats and liberal Republicans and Third Party pipe dreams, I already knew all that. I shall go quietly to the Nebraska primaries on May 15th and cast my vote dutifully as a citizen, quite probably blog my opinion, and possibly participate in some "get out the vote" stuff, and then leave the results in God's hands. It's not the end of the world, folks. Or if it is, then so be it.
Just remember:

Daniel 4:25 "...the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes."

Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases."

I pray for the sake of the Church and for our peace as homeschoolers that we may be given a just ruler, but if we are given an evil ruler in judgment on our national sins, so be it. Our brothers in the Middle East and China and Eastern Europe (and Germany) would still love to live here. One of our very own DL professors (Dr. Erdmann) had to flee Germany a couple years ago because his family was homeschooling, and now lives in Switzerland where he must hold 4 or 5 jobs to keep up with the cost of living. Count your blessings.

Now I'm off to make a post on HISTORY.... ;-)

Your Tory friend,
For Monarchy and the Divine Right of Kings (you can't get much further to the right than that),

Colin"