No Rest for the AWESOME!

 

‘[A]nd to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.’ ~ I Thessalonians 4:11, 12  

 

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I recently bought a biography of Douglas Southall Freeman.  He was himself a biographer as well; his four-volume masterpiece on Robert E. Lee is the gold standard by which all others are judged and his six-volume tour de force on George Washington (the seventh volume was written by another posthumously) is without equal.

 

Freeman loved the South and her people and his work reflected that affinity for Dixie magnificently.  He was also a man of towering intellect and tremendous industry.  In fact, he spent very little time sleeping and was constantly in motion, either writing, gardening, or lecturing.  Some time ago, I came across an essay which provided a glimpse into the fascinating life of Mr Freeman and have posted it below.  (NB: I do not know who wrote the piece, hence the lack of attribution.  However, let it me noted that I am not claiming it as my own; I am merely reproducing it here for the education and edification of the reader.)

 

Don’t Ever Say ‘Busy’ Again

Perhaps, like me, you are vaguely familiar with the name of Douglas Southall Freeman. Perhaps you recall him as the author of a multi-volume history of the War Between the States called “Lee’s Lieutenants” or as the editor of the Richmond (VA) News Leader. If, because you have no particular interest in either the Civil War–as Yankees call it–or the news business, you think a biography of Freeman would be dull reading, then pards, you are riding off on the wrong trail and will miss a beautiful vista. What is beautiful and fascinating about Freeman is not his subject matter, but the man himself. He was, to put it mildly, a most astounding person.Check out this schedule: Rise at 2:30 am, dress, pray in your alcove chapel, fix your own breakfast, and arrive at work at 3:30 am. Conduct the affairs as editor of the daily newspaper, do a twice-daily ad-lib radio broadcast, write editorials and columns, and then return home at 12:30 pm for lunch and work in the garden. A 30-minute nap from 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm, then three hours of solid work on meticulous historical research. Dinner and family time from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, then off to bed and start it all over again at 2:30 am the next day.The amount of work this man accomplished is astounding. In addition to all of the newspaper editing and history research and writing, he played an active role in his church, in his community and indeed in his nation. He became a friend of such men as Dwight Eisenhower and George C. Marshall. He gardened, he sailed, he attended baseball games, taught classes at his church, gave speeches and wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies of Robert E. Lee (four volumes) and George Washington (six volumes). And he had a long and successful marriage.

David E. Johnson, a Virginia attorney, has written a wonderful biography about him (“Douglas Southall Freeman,” published by Pelican Press). Biography can be slow reading, but I picked up this book in the early evening, and it was 2:30 am before I reluctantly laid it aside. That’s no exaggeration. Johnson not only brings to life his subject, but also the times and the place.

Freeman’s sense of timing was extraordinary. He would arrive at the radio studio precisely one minute before airtime and then, without notes, launch into a precisely timed commentary. On one occasion, when delivering a memorial speech to an outdoor crowd in particularly cold weather, Freeman announced he would keep them no longer than 14 minutes and 32 seconds. He then delivered an impromptu and moving speech that ended precisely 14 minutes and 32 seconds later.

One of his techniques was to write memos to himself. At age 14, in preparation for a date, he wrote: “1. I shall fix my cuffs; 2. I shall choose a necktie; 3. I shall fix my shirt; 4. I shall wash all over; 5. I shall take care to wash my hands that I may get the marks off; 6. I shall choose a hat; 7. I shall black my shoes; 8. Get out my shirt; 9. Put tickets and wherewithal in my pocket; 10. I go to bed.” Part of the charm of this biography is Freeman’s early years, when he vacillated among wanting to be an actor, a preacher or a (sic) historian. But very early in life he formed the habit of undertaking two or three jobs at the same time, and he manged to do them all well.

Freeman was born in 1886, and his father was a veteran of the Confederacy. As he was coming of age in Virginia there were still many living veterans and even famous generals. The author rightly begins Freeman’s story with that of his father fighting in the war. His father and Robert E. Lee were the great influences in his life, and from both men he was inspired to live a Christian life and to work hard at everything he undertook.

There aren’t many idealists in the world who faithfully put their ideals into practice, but Freeman tried mightily, and mostly succeeded. His life, as revealed by Johnson, is an inspiration–not to journalists or writers in particular, but to everyone.

He was living proof that people can do more than they often think they can. On his tombstone is written: ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.’

 

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The blockade is meant to “starve the whole [German] population–men, women, and children, old and young, wounded and sound–into submission.” ~ First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill during World War I

 

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‘Help them to learn

Songs of joy

Instead of “Burn, baby, burn.”

Let us show them how play the pipes of peace.’ ~ Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace

 

 

 

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The desertion rate in the U.S. Army is at its highest rate since 1980. As the Bible tells us, there is nothing new under the sun.  I wrote about a similar trend during the early years of the All-Volunteer Force in my thesis, Flagging Vigilance: The Post-Vietnam “Hollow Army.”  (flagging-vigilance.pdf)

 

 

 

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‘Moments later, the kids flock around him, seeking autographs. Later that afternoon, Paul earns another enthusiastic reception from a capacity crowd at the University of New Hampshire.

So what explains [Ron] Paul’s appeal?‘

 

 

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To-day’s 1980’s Moment is brought to you by: Paul McCartney

 

 

 

How Many rEVOLutions Does It Take to Screw In a Lightbulb?

‘For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.’  ~ Psalm 139:13  

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This article discusses a ‘loophole’ that would ‘allow’ the unborn to be defined as ‘persons.’ (My apologies for all of the quotation marks in the previous ‘sentence’.) The extra-legal maneuvering is really unnecessary; the Constitution of the United States currently mentions the unborn in the Preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

I have often wondered why Pro-Life legal foundations don’t use that phrase as the beachhead for a final assault on Roe v. Wade. To whom were the Framers referring?—to the generations of their descendants yet to be born. It seems self-evident to me. (But then again, so does Genesis 1.)

Still, it seems perverse in the extreme to me that the judiciary of a civilised society would require proof that an unborn baby is … well, a baby.

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‘Member of Congress and Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul is the premier advocate for political and religious liberty in politics today. He is the most pro-life, pro-family, pro-property, pro-Constitution politician in history. If it is possible to be more Jeffersonian than Jefferson, then Ron Paul is the man.’

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‘Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.’ ~ Prime Minister Horace Walpole

 

It seems strange to me now, having arrived at a point in which I stand diametrically opposed to a position which I held in excess of 30 years, yet here I stand. The more I mature in the Christian faith–and, all praise be to God, I have matured (though maybe not at the pace I would desire)–the more I find myself jettisoning deeply held beliefs. Such is the case with the Spirit of ’76. Owing to the biblical mandate to obey the government save for calls to violate God’s Law, I can no longer justify the (first) American Revolution.

 

To be sure, taxes were exceedingly confiscatory, regulation oppressive, and the American Colonies were certainly exploited by the Crown and Parliament. However undesirable and outright infuriating that may have been, it falls quite short of violating God’s Law. As strange as it may seem, and if the choice were mine to make now, I would see no other course than to cast my lot with the Crown. At least Brian Franklin and I could have thrown a killer Tory Party!

 

With that in mind, the study of the Colonial/ Revolutionary period is made all the more interesting for the Reformed among us when we discover that contemporaries labelled it ‘The Presbyterian War’ and insisted that, were it not for Calvinists, the current U.S. would by many accounts be a member of the British Commonwealth to this day.

 

By the way, if you are interested, I ferreted out and downloaded a free .pdf of a rare book entitled, ‘Presbyterians and the Revolution.’ Let me know if you would like me to e-mail you a ‘copy.’ (It is not under copyright restrictions.)

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This may sound weird, but the last few times I have checked the number of hits on my blog, the numbers have always matched a year in which the United States and/ or Texas were at war: 1776, 1836, 1916, 1942, and 1950. Hmmm.

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‘At this writing, sixteen politicians are competing nationally to replace President Bush; there are eight Democrats and eight Republicans. With the exception of Ron Paul (R-TX), in terms of fidelity to the Constitution, it does not matter which one of them wins. Except for Congressman Paul, they all love power for its own sake, believe that Big Government should redistribute wealth, regard the Constitution as a quaint obstacle, and would enforce or disregard laws as they saw fit; all this, without regard to our history, our values, or our natural rights.’  ~ Fox Commentator and former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Andrew Napolitano, ‘A Nation of Sheep’ 

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I should state from the outset that I have absolutely no problem with a group of this sort. I think it is healthy, well within the confines of sound biblical teaching, and should be mirrored by other peoples. However, I can’t help but wonder why, in to-day’s uber-PC society, it is not subject to the inflammatory charge of being ‘racist‘?

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Wow! You know you’re making headway as a conservative when ‘Rolling Stone’ and MTV treat you with a degree of legitimacy!

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As an Aggie, the saying, ‘If you do something twice, it’s a tradition’ means more to me than you can imagine. Maybe it’s because I am such a creature of habit and I loathe change but I love tradition–I love it! One of the strange–yet funny–traditions in my family is for me to call my mama and oldest sister on their birthdays and sing the Marilyn Monroe ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ song for them. (I don’t remember how it got started but I have been doing it for over 15 years now.) This past Saturday marked Teri’s completion of her third decade–can you hear 40 knockin’?–so I dusted off the Marilyn impression and sang to her over my cell phone as I drove down Wellborn Road. (I hope no one was watching.)

I just thought y’all might find that amusing.

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There’s Supposed to Be a ‘G’ In There!!

‘… Have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise?”’ ~ Matthew 21:16b

 

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On my day off from work yesterday I took the Coleman Family, sans Cara Beth (thanks Aunt Hannah for babysitting!), on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bush Presidential Library.  Although I was concerned, Ashlee assures me that I did not bore them to death with all of the Inside Baseball talk.  In fact, Pastor Coleman seemed to be the most intrigued; he asked a great deal of probing questions about my job and what we do.  (Maybe being an archivist is as glamorous as they show it in ‘National Treasure!’  Naah.)  At any rate, I am glad that the veil has been lifted from my occupation and at least someone at the church has a pretty good idea of what I do for a living!

After the stroll through the halls to view my office, the Audio-Visual archives and the Research Room, I sent Clan Coleman off on a leisurely self-guided experience through the newly redesigned (and vastly upgraded) permanent exhibit in the museum.

And after all of that, the most memorable moment of the day was when I allowed my guests to peek through the doorway into the stacks area.   Joshua took a look inside the room—which houses over 40 million pages of United States history and exclaimed, ‘It smells like doughnuts!’

Priceless.

 

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Yes, I know when Jesus saved me
The very moment He forgave me
He took away my heavy burden
Lord, He gave me peace within.

Satan can’t make me doubt it
It’s real and I’m gonna shout it
I was there when it happened
And so I guess I oughta know.  ~ Johnny Cash, I Was There When It Happened

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I voted against the amendment to the Texas Constitution which appropriates 3 billion—that billion with a ‘B’—dollars for cancer research.  Let me state for the record that I am staunchly Anti-Cancer.   However, I don’t believe it is the job of the government to be in the research business nor do I think it wise to take on $3 billion (BILLION!) in debt—which the State will have to pay back with interest.  Where do you think they will get to money to do that?—from the taxpayers.

Another concern is over what types of research the money will be used for because there are few restrictions on how it is employed.  To sum up: the government is confiscating our money to be used for something outside its purview that has the potential to be immoral.  (Too bad I only got to vote ‘No’ once.)

 

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Be sure to cover your head because the Dollar is falling fast and hard!  Get out of debt NOW!! 

 

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In his latest book, John Hagee actually purports to prove from Scripture, among other ridiculous claims, that Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah and that He never claimed to be the same!!  Therefore, according to him, Jews cannot be held accountable for rejecting the Messiah!  Besides heresy, Hagee is teaching folks to make an idol of modern Israel (which is not the same as Biblical Israel).

 

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Sarah Michelle Gellar starts out making perfect sense: ‘You can’t be selfish and have a child.’  After that she falls into the same trap that has ensared so many others to-day.  ‘Right now I want to live my life and have fun. … I want to go sit in my Jacuzzi and drink wine all night.’  Come on, can’t you see, it’s all about her? 

 

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To-day’s 1980’s Moment is brought to you by: Phil Collins and Philip Bailey

Blood From a Turnip

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” ~Luke 3:14

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The incessant reporting on the strikes by the Writers’ Guild of America and the Broadway stagehands, while I must admit with some shame it has provided me with a degree of Schadenfreude not experienced in quite a while, it has caused me to reflect upon a parable of Jesus recounted in the Gospel of Matthew regarding day labourers hired by a landowner to work his vineyard:

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You go into the vineyard too.” And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.” And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”

The writers and stagehands agreed to their wages, yet now they are trying to exact more from their employers through coercion.  This, certainly, is not new and it is one of the main reasons I dislike labour unions in principle.  If a man is not satisfied with the wages and/ or benefits offered by an employer he is certainly within his rights to decline the job or to (respectfully) petition for an increase.  However, should the employer refuse to comply, the worker is bound to fulfill his commitment (however that may manifest itself).  Of course, he is also within his rights to resign his position (within the parameters of his contract).  However, the employee is not within his rights to commit what amounts to blackmail by endangering–or crippling–his employer’s livelihood.  (Not to mention the economic ripple effect of such actions.)

The other side of the coin, of course, is that the employer is duty bound to provide a fair wage for the work he receives.  Sadly, capitalism, a fine but imperfect economic system, often tempts the employer as much or more as the labourer.  While paying the (literally) minimum wage may make good ‘business sense’ it is not necessarily desirable.  An employer should have the interests of his employees at heart as much as he does his own (at least to a degree). 

Squeezing as much as you can out of  ‘the other guy’ is no way to run a society.  It is certainly not the Christian way.

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My older sister, Teri, and me circa 1974

(Check out the big head and little kid farmer’s tan!)

Diagnosing for Dollars

‘So he changed his behaviour before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.’ ~ I Samuel 21:13

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 As my granddaddy used to say, ‘The sun even shines on a dog’s [rear end] every now and again.’  With that in mind, is it possible that Tom Cruise, for all of his strangeness, weird beliefs, and wild antics (not to mention bad movies)–is it just possible–that he could be making sense for once through his campaign against Psychiatry?

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A young Marine asks, ‘What have we gained?  What have we accomplished?‘

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