Wicket and Day Lilies

The boy cleans up pretty nice and loves his big backyard.





Some Day Lilies we were pleased to see growing in our yard this spring.

Breaking It In

The tadpoles are gone but we still can't see the bottom. Some brave souls ventured to get in anyway.


The water is really that blue.




If it were the ocean, you would think it pretty.




My idea of getting in without getting wet...


and the result thereof.

Pascal's Challenge to Indifference in Religion

One of the longer Pensees from Blaise Pascal.

194. ... Let them at least learn what is the religion they attack, before attacking it. If this religion boasted of having a clear view of God, and of possessing it open and unveiled, it would be attacking it to say that we see nothing in the world which shows it with this clearness. But since, on the contrary, it says that men are in darkness and estranged from God, that He has hidden Himself from their knowledge, that this is in fact the name which He gives Himself in the Scriptures, Deus absconditus; and finally, if it endeavours equally to establish these two things: that God has set up in the Church visible signs to make Himself known to those who should seek Him sincerely, and that He has nevertheless so disguised them that He will only be perceived by those who seek Him with all their heart; what advantage can they obtain, when, in the negligence with which they make profession of being in search of the truth, they cry out that nothing reveals it to them; and since that darkness in which they are, and with which they upbraid the Church, establishes only one of the things which she affirms, without touching the other, and, very far from destroying, proves her doctrine?

In order to attack it, they should have protested that they had made every effort to seek Him everywhere, and even in that which the Church proposes for their instruction, but without satisfaction. If they talked in this manner, they would in truth be attacking one of her pretensions. But I hope here to show that no reasonable person can speak thus, and I venture even to say that no one has ever done so. We know well enough how those who are of this mind behave. They believe they have made great efforts for their instruction when they have spent a few hours in reading some book of Scripture and have questioned some priests on the truths of the faith. After that, they boast of having made vain search in books and among men. But, verily, I will tell them what I have often said, that this negligence is insufferable. We are not here concerned with the trifling interests of some stranger, that we should treat it in this fashion; the matter concerns ourselves and our all.

The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us and which touches us so profoundly that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is. All our actions and thoughts must take such different courses, according as there are or are not eternal joys to hope for, that it is impossible to take one step with sense and judgment unless we regulate our course by our view of this point which ought to be our ultimate end.

Thus our first interest and our first duty is to enlighten ourselves on this subject, whereon depends all our conduct. Therefore among those who do not believe, I make a vast difference between those who strive with all their power to inform themselves and those who live without troubling or thinking about it.

I can have only compassion for those who sincerely bewail their doubt, who regard it as the greatest of misfortunes, and who, sparing no effort to escape it, make of this inquiry their principal and most serious occupation.

But as for those who pass their life without thinking of this ultimate end of life, and who, for this sole reason that they do not find within themselves the lights which convince them of it, neglect to seek them elsewhere, and to examine thoroughly whether this opinion is one of those which people receive with credulous simplicity, or one of those which, although obscure in themselves, have nevertheless a solid and immovable foundation, I look upon them in a manner quite different.

This carelessness in a matter which concerns themselves, their eternity, their all, moves me more to anger than pity; it astonishes and shocks me; it is to me monstrous. I do not say this out of the pious zeal of a spiritual devotion. I expect, on the contrary, that we ought to have this feeling from principles of human interest and self-love; for this we need only see what the least enlightened persons see.

We do not require great education of the mind to understand that here is no real and lasting satisfaction; that our pleasures are only vanity; that our evils are infinite; and, lastly, that death, which threatens us every moment, must infallibly place us within a few years under the dreadful necessity of being for ever either annihilated or unhappy.

There is nothing more real than this, nothing more terrible. Be we as heroic as we like, that is the end which awaits the world. Let us reflect on this and then say whether it is not beyond doubt that there is no good in this life but in the hope of another; that we are happy only in proportion as we draw near it; and that, as there are no more woes for those who have complete assurance of eternity, so there is no more happiness for those who have no insight into it.

Surely then it is a great evil thus to be in doubt, but it is at least an indispensable duty to seek when we are in such doubt; and thus the doubter who does not seek is altogether completely unhappy and completely wrong. And if besides this he is easy and content, professes to be so, and indeed boasts of it; if it is this state itself which is the subject of his joy and vanity, I have no words to describe so silly a creature.

How can people hold these opinions? What joy can we find in the expectation of nothing but hopeless misery? What reason for boasting that we are in impenetrable darkness? And how can it happen that the following argument occurs to a reasonable man?

"I know not who put me into the world, nor what the world is, nor what I myself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everything. I know not what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of me which thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and knows itself no more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of the universe which surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am put in this place rather than in another, nor why the short time which is given me to live is assigned to me at this point rather than at another of the whole eternity which was before me or which shall come after me. I see nothing but infinites on all sides, which surround me as an atom and as a shadow which endures only for an instant and returns no more. All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very death which I cannot escape.

"As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go. I know only that, in leaving this world, I fall for ever either into annihilation or into the hands of an angry God, without knowing to which of these two states I shall be for ever assigned. Such is my state, full of weakness and uncertainty. And from all this I conclude that I ought to spend all the days of my life without caring to inquire into what must happen to me. Perhaps I might find some solution to my doubts, but I will not take the trouble, nor take a step to seek it; and after treating with scorn those who are concerned with this care, I will go without foresight and without fear to try the great event, and let myself be led carelessly to death, uncertain of the eternity of my future state."

Who would desire to have for a friend a man who talks in this fashion? Who would choose him out from others to tell him of his affairs? Who would have recourse to him in affliction? And indeed to what use in life could one put him?

In truth, it is the glory of religion to have for enemies men so unreasonable; and their opposition to it is so little dangerous that it serves, on the contrary, to establish its truths. For the Christian faith goes mainly to establish these two facts: the corruption of nature, and redemption by Jesus Christ. Now I contend that, if these men do not serve to prove the truth of the redemption by the holiness of their behaviour, they at least serve admirably to show the corruption of nature by sentiments so unnatural.

Nothing is so important to man as his own state, nothing is so formidable to him as eternity; and thus it is not natural that there should be men indifferent to the loss of their existence, and to the perils of everlasting suffering. They are quite different with regard to all other things. They are afraid of mere trifles; they foresee them; they feel them. And this same man who spends so many days and nights in rage and despair for the loss of office, or for some imaginary insult to his honour, is the very one who knows without anxiety and without emotion that he will lose all by death. It is a monstrous thing to see in the same heart and at the same time this sensibility to trifles and this strange insensibility to the greatest objects. It is an incomprehensible enchantment, and a supernatural slumber, which indicates as its cause an all-powerful force.

There must be a strange confusion in the nature of man, that he should boast of being in that state in which it seems incredible that a single individual should be. However, experience has shown me so great a number of such persons that the fact would be surprising, if we did not know that the greater part of those who trouble themselves about the matter are disingenuous and not, in fact, what they say. They are people who have heard it said that it is the fashion to be thus daring. It is what they call "shaking off the yoke," and they try to imitate this. But it would not be difficult to make them understand how greatly they deceive themselves in thus seeking esteem. This is not the way to gain it, even I say among those men of the world who take a healthy view of things and who know that the only way to succeed in this life is to make ourselves appear honourable, faithful, judicious, and capable of useful service to a friend; because naturally men love only what may be useful to them. Now, what do we gain by hearing it said of a man that he has now thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God who watches our actions, that he considers himself the sole master of his conduct, and that he thinks he is accountable for it only to himself.? Does he think that he has thus brought us to have henceforth complete confidence in him and to look to him for consolation, advice, and help in every need of life? Do they profess to have delighted us by telling us that they hold our soul to be only a little wind and smoke, especially by telling us this in a haughty and self-satisfied tone of voice? Is this a thing to say gaily? Is it not, on the contrary, a thing to say sadly, as the saddest thing in the world?

If they thought of it seriously, they would see that this is so bad a mistake, so contrary to good sense, so opposed to decency, and so removed in every respect from that good breeding which they seek, that they would be more likely to correct than to pervert those who had an inclination to follow them. And, indeed, make them give an account of their opinions, and of the reasons which they have for doubting religion, and they will say to you things so feeble and so petty, that they persuade you of the contrary. The following is what a person one day said to such a one very appositely: "If you continue to talk in this manner, you will really make me religious." And he was right, for who would not have a horror of holding opinions in which he would have such contemptible persons as companions!

Thus those who only feign these opinions would be very unhappy, if they restrained their natural feelings in order to make themselves the most conceited of men. If, at the bottom of their heart, they are troubled at not having more light, let them not disguise the fact; this avowal will not be shameful. The only shame is to have none. Nothing reveals more an extreme weakness of mind than not to know the misery of a godless man. Nothing is more indicative of a bad disposition of heart than not to desire the truth of eternal promises. Nothing is more dastardly than to act with bravado before God. Let them then leave these impieties to those who are sufficiently ill-bred to be really capable of them. Let them at least be honest men, if they cannot be Christians. Finally, let them recognise that there are two kinds of people one can call reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not know Him.

But as for those who live without knowing Him and without seeking Him, they judge themselves so little worthy of their own care, that they are not worthy of the care of others; and it needs all the charity of the religion which they despise, not to despise them even to the point of leaving them to their folly. But because this religion obliges us always to regard them, so long as they are in this life, as capable of the grace which can enlighten them, and to believe that they may, in a little time, be more replenished with faith than we are, and that, on the other hand, we may fall into the blindness wherein they are, we must do for them what we would they should do for us if we were in their place, and call upon them to have pity upon themselves, and to take at least some steps in the endeavour to find light. Let them give to reading this some of the hours which they otherwise employ so uselessly; whatever aversion they may bring to the task, they will perhaps gain something, and at least will not lose much. But as for those who bring to the task perfect sincerity and a real desire to meet with truth, those I hope will be satisfied and convinced of the proofs of a religion so divine, which I have here collected, and in which I have followed somewhat after this order...

Weekend Pics

Isaac with the great grandmas (both Lisa's).


Eli with his F14. Airplanes are his new favorite thing. Every plane he sees is an F14. Today he saw a bird and said, "That's an F14 bird."


It won't be long.






Riding cousin Cooper's b-day present from Po.


Careful Eli down the water slide






Chillin' with Aunt Shannon.


Weak stomach's be warned.

Gettysburg Thoughts

I wrote this upon returning from our trip to the east coast in July last year, waiting to see if it makes any sense. I am not sure it makes any sense but I thought Memorial Day Weekend would be appropriate for it.

***
We were only able to stop in Gettysburg for a couple of hours and saw only a tiny fraction of what is to be seen there. I just learned they are building a new visitors center which they hope to have complete in 2008. I would love to get out there again after this is built.

I have been trying to think about what it is that makes visiting a battle field like that such an amazing experience. I have also questioned why it is that I so enjoy learning about war. I think this is unique to men but there is just something about it that draws me to it. Make no mistake, war is terrible. On the drive there I kept thinking about the lives and families that were destroyed in 3 days in 1863. At Gettysburg we read of two brothers who were born and raised in Gettysburg. One fought for the Union and the other for the CSA. One of these men died on the hill he grew up playing on as a boy (Culp's Hill). It is remarkable to consider and dream of the personal stories of the 46,000 - 51,000 casualties of this battle.

And yet, despite the terribleness of war, there is something inspiring, something that draws us to it. There is something inspiring about giving your life's blood for a principle. There is something inspiring about the men who obeyed orders and charged up a hill in the face of a murderous fire. Valor, courage, honor, brotherhood. These are the noble traits that are uncovered, in a unique sense, most perfectly by war.

One of the reasons, I think, that this particular war was so terrible is that it was a war fought on principle with both sides thinking that they were right and that God was on their side. Such a war must end in the total destruction of one or the other sides. This fact makes the American Civil War unique in history. At what point do the French soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars decide that conquering the world is not for them. At one point does a Nazi soldier think that serving the demented vision of Hitler is not worth it. This consideration does not cross the mind of an American Civil War soldier. They believed, on both sides, that they were defending their very way of life.

This area of Pennsylvania is absolutely beautiful. Gettysburg lies at the foot of larger mountains to the west. The land of Gettysburg rolls in anticipation of these larger mountains. As I looked at the land I marveled at the genius of soldiers who were able to survey the country side and move the innumerable men under their command into position. All of this without the benefit of modern technology to communicate. That is remarkable to me. I considered myself and know that I would be wholly inadequate for such a task.

I also have wondered if our culture can now produce the likes of men who fought at Gettysburg. I thank God for our armed forces and know that there are such men in service of our country there and in other places (police departments, etc) but in general it seems that the modern mind sees the whole thing as quite pointless. I don't think our culture can produce men who will die for principle. These men simply viewed life and death in a different way. And although we may shed tears for the lives destroyed, we are not, in our indifference to principle, superior.

I found the below quote taken from the speech given by General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the dedication of the monuments at Gettysburg to the soldiers of Maine. If you remember, General Chamberlain was the defender of Little Round Top and is played by Jeff Daniels in the excellent movie on Gettysburg. The entire speech is worth the read. Chamberlain later became governor of Maine and from what I have learned, was an evangelical Christian. I am hoping to find out more about that. The speech is characterized by a sense of the significance of man and the longing that is within man for something higher than himself. Modern man does not speak like this because he believes he is the accident of evolutionary forces and is not significant, is not created in the image of God. I think then that as we compare ourselves to men of only 100 years ago, we can see the results of the modern idea that God is dead. This is worth some time and it may be considered later. I am thankful for what Francis Schaeffer has done to my brain in this area.

While you're at it reading the dedication speech, read also the following speech Chamberlain gave of his recollection of the surrender at Appomattox of which he was a part. It too is exhilarating.

To return to the original question, what causes us to be overwhelmed with emotion as we walk the grounds of a bloody battlefield? Here is Chamberlain's quote:

"No chemistry of frost or rain, no overlaying mould of the season's recurrent life and death, can ever separate from the soil of these consecrated fields the life-blood so deeply commingled and incorporate here. Ever henceforth under the rolling suns, when these hills are touched to splendor with the morning light, or smile a farewell to the lingering day, the flush that broods upon them shall be rich with a strange and crimson tone, -- not of the earth, nor yet of the sky, but mediator and hostage between the two.

But these monuments are not to commemorate the dead alone. Death was but the divine acceptance of life freely offered by every one. Service was the central fact. That fact, and that truth, these monuments commemorate. They mark the centres around which stood the manhood of Maine, steadfast in noble service, -- to the uttermost, to the uppermost! Those who fell here – those who have fallen before or since – those who linger, yet a little longer, soon to follow; all are mustered in one great company on the shining heights of life, with that star of Maine's armorial ensign upon their foreheads forever – like the ranks of the galaxy.

In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women form afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.

This is the great reward of service. To live, far out and on, in the life of others; this is the mystery of the Christ, -- to give life's best for such high sake that it shall be found again unto life eternal."

Earlier in this speech Chamberlain says that the men of Maine, "humbly submitt[ed] to that mysterious law of sacrifice and suffering for the deliverance of evil." Can it be that the sacrifices of men that inspires in the battles and wars of this fallen world is an echo of the great Sacrifice that our Creator made in submitting Himself to death, even death upon a cross, for the salvation of our souls? "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." The overwhelming emotion that is experienced visiting a battle field is an emotion that is a type of the emotion that is drawing us to our suffering and triumphant Redeemer. These men took up arms in the defense of their lands; Jesus freely gave Himself to the oppression of those who afflicted Him and opened not His mouth. The analogy is not perfect. And yet I wonder if our fascination with war is a fascination with lives sacrificed for the service of others. In this fallen world and as long as Lord Jesus tarries, there will always be that mysterious call to take up our cross and emulate Him in His dying for the sake of our love for Him and our friends.

"Mr. Parks" Honored

My Dad works for the City of Savannah as manager of the parks system. Last night was the opening night of a new youth sports complex. The complex is the result of mainly one Savannah business man's idea and financial backing. As an example of my Dad's wit, he dubbed the complex The Cranium for the business man Mr. Crane. The complex contains three youth baseball fields (I doubt you can find nicer ones around) and some youth football fields. The youth football fields have already hosted many tilts on the gridiron. It is something to see 3rd graders play football! Last night was the first night for T-Ball, Girl's Fastpitch and Boy's Baseball.

We learned earlier in the week that the City of Savannah was going to surprise my Dad by asking him to throw out the first pitch. Not being one for attention, they figured they had to surprise him because they didn't think he would do it if he knew about it in advance. In a speech before the pitch, they honored him by recognizing his hard work and dedication. It was pretty emotional and we are very proud of him!

Unfortunately, most of my pictures are back focused. I think the fence in the background threw the auto focus off. Here are a few from the evening (which was absolutely gorgeous, by the way).

Congratulations Dad! You deserve it.

Fairly Recent Pictures

Of late, we've had little time for naps (at least group naps). These are from a while back.