Mín Englisc Blog

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today wasn't too much of interest, other than classes. While I was typing a paper tonight, we had a fire alarm: someone burned a small cake in the second-floor kitchen.
Tomorrow, I have my usual 8:00 class (a test) and work; my 9:30 class was moved to today, since most people wanted to be able to leave without missing the 9:30. Work, too, is a factor; after that I'll be returning to my room and cleaning.
I'm leaving after dinner for Rose Point, to meet my family. I'll not have Internet access for several days; and with the Audioblogger feature being gone nearly a year now, don't expect any posts after tomorrow evening.

Wow, I must have been busy lately: I've not posted in three days. Sorry to say that I'll not be able to post a lot for most of the week, as I'll be at my grandfather's house, where there's no Internet access. I have classes tomorrow and Tuesday, but no classes after Tuesday morning for the rest of the week.
This weekend was our fall communion. This time we had an assistant — Dr G Duncan Lowe, retired from RPTS — who preached from several different topics. Attendance was encouraging: we had over fifty people at worship this morning. Moreover, the sacrament was served in a different way: instead of our usual go-up-and-sit-at-a-table, the elders distributed it to the communicants in the pews — in large part because there are too many of us to fit around the table :-)

On a different subject: recently, I've been hearing more of former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, running for president as (if I understand rightly) both a Republican and as a Libertarian. What he says sounds really good — on the domestic side. I like his ideas of cutting back our government to a proper, constitutional size, although I'm not clear how he proposes to finance everything without an IRS. However, I can't stand his foreign policy ideas. Among other things, he was speaking against having our soldiers in Korea. Doesn't he have any idea that we've bound ourselves to help guard South Korea? And he rails against the idea of fighting wars without declaring them first, as if they're modern innovations — has he ever heard of the undeclared Quasi-War with France, fought in the presidency of John Adams in the 1700s, when George Washington was still alive? Or what about opposing entangling alliances: without a doubt, Washington's advice was good, but this is a different world. It's not as if the Constitution requires us to abstain from foreign alliances — it's a good thing, because if war came with Russia or the Chinese Communists, we'd be far better off if we had the powerful allies of NATO with us. No county can presume to be significant on the world stage anymore with a foreign policy of "Splendid Isolation". All this is aside from his strongly anti-war position for Iraq. I agree: if we knew then what we know now, it wouldn't have been justifiable to go into Iraq. However, the rightness of those who choose war is to be judged by what they knew when they made the decision: everybody believed that he had illegal weapons that he was ready to use against us. It's as if this guy has a telescopic understanding of history: he understands just enough to be dangerous and ignores whatever doesn't suit his purpose.

The old lefthander, rounding third and heading for home...

Joe Nuxhall, 30 July 1928 – 15 November 2007

Not much happened today, other than the turning in of two papers. Yesterday wasn't that spectacular, either, in large part because I was writing those papers.

Something brought to mind in my Harry Potter discussion class: I'm well aware that many people, including some that I know, reject the series — not in the sense of "I don't find it that enjoyable" but in the sense of "they're evil". A significant part in this lately is Rowling's recent announcement, "Dumbledore is gay." However, to all who are put off by this, I'd like to remind you of the following passage:

You have put Uriah the Hittite to the sword; you took his wife and made her your wife and had him killed by the sword of the Ammonites.

What is worse: a murder in order to cover up adultery, or homosexual tendencies that were never acted upon? After all, Jesus was tempted in many different ways, and David was called a man after God's own heart. There's nothing inherently wrong with the portrayal of evil, as seen in II Samuel 12:9 quoted above; instead, it's more the way it's portrayed. With that in mind, remember that her revelation was given months after the final book in the series was released, and remember how shocking it was: there's no reason to suspect it by reading any or all of the books. Before you condemn the series for Dumbledore's sexual orientation, please remember that other books — one infinitely better! — involve worse sins, and that at least one such book you approve heartily as God's word.

As Katie noted in a comment on this post: it's definitely too bad that Rowling made this announcement. I too was quite disappointed; I'm not saying that it's good that we know this.

I have observed the business that God gave man to be concerned with: He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass. Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetine; also, that whenever a man does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his wealth, it is a gift of God. I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore: "Nothing can be added to it/And nothing taken from it—" and God has brought to pass that men revere him.
Ecclesiastes 3

Over the weekend, the conference went really well; we had perhaps sixty people, including nearly twenty from Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery. This included several different groups: there are eight of us at Geneva (all of whom attended the conference!), plus five whom Mr York (the speaker) brought — plus three who came separately from Indianapolis and Lafayette, and Rebekah Long from Grove City College! I wish that there had been some way to attend our similar event at Elkhart this past weekend, to which I dearly wish that I could have gone, but it wasn't a big deal over the weekend. And I even got to write most of a history paper at the conference!

Classes are all registered, and I got in everything quite fine. I'm to be taking one course each in Calvin's Institutes, logic, World War II, international relations, and world literature.

About time for class registration! It looks like all the classes have enough seats remaining that I can get in easily; the two with the smallest numbers are (1) one that I have to be signed in (and have been) by the professor anyway, and (2) one that the professor (my advisor) has promised me he'll sign me in if I need to.

Not much has happened today, although I finished two already-almost-finished papers and read an interesting school book. I was tonight made a Wikipedia administrator :-)

Sorry for no posting in three days. I've been really busy; one class had a test on Monday (which went well), and all of my classes (except, of course, for the Harry Potter discussion) have had papers and other similar things. Late Antiquity, in particular, is busy: the professor has us doing a rather short writing assignment by Friday, and a somewhat-longer one by next Monday.
Just wanted to note that I'll be gone over much of the weekend: Titus Martin, the "associate" at College Hill, is sponsoring a college retreat at the Gibsonia property on the north side of Pittsburgh; this is the property of the new Grace RPC, where similar conferences have been held in the past two years. I went as a freshman, but I missed it last year because he scheduled it on top of our Communion season.
Besides class, homework, and work at the Brig, today I got one other significant thing done: my advisor meeting. Dr Cole was my advisor for preview weekend, so this wasn't my first time with him, but someone preparing to be a second-semester junior is rather different fro someone who hasn't yet begun. Of the five classes that I want to take, he says that two should be easy, one I may have a little trouble, another I have written permission, and the last (his own course) he'll give written permission if I have any trouble. Registration is Thursday night; I'll post the schedule after I get the sclasses.

This morning was the annual "Big Bad Big Wheel Rally". My floor didn't do the best; we placed second in the time trial, but a crash made us finish poorly.
This afternoon was a home football game, against Waynesburg College from far southwestern Pennsylvania. The final score was 24-17, Geneva, in overtime. Today's game was about the worst officiated that I've ever seen; Geneva was called at least three times for pass interference despite the defender's not even touching the receiver, while holding was committed several times by Waynesburg with no call.
I'm looking forward to being at church tomorrow! With little to do tonight except schoolwork (plenty of that, for sure!), listening to my psalm recordings, and having missed church last week because I was at Manchester, I'm feeling somewhat alone: not lonely for friends on campus, but for the people at church. I will be glad to hear them say, "Let us go up to the house of God!"

Not much happened today. The one really annoying thing was this: I only got 4 of 10 correct on my chemistry class: not because I answered them wrongly, but I totally forgot to answer the five questions on the right side of the paper!