Why St. Ephraim. Today is his feast day. Today, centuries ago, St. Ephrem fell asleep with the Lord. For me, just under two years ago, on the Saturday before Pascha I was chrismated and became an Orthodox Christian. Part of the process also entailed choosing a patron Saint, who for native Orthodox persons was chosen at your birth and that is normally also your given name. I had spent some months considering and reading about various Saints. Some of whom I had read somewhat extensively prior even witnessing an Orthodox liturgy. The choice of which Saint I might select was difficult. St. Mark was one choice, gospel author and witness to the Coptic peoples … and my first name is Mark (the patron Saint is sometimes called your “name” Saint as that is the name by which you are referred to at Eucharist).

Some of those I considered were:

• St. John Cassian’s writings powerful and thought provoking.
• St. John Chysostom’s homilies are also were accessible to modern sensibilities.
• Metropolitan John Zizioulas wrote powerfully about the cosmic ontological theology of St. Maximus the Confessor echoed many centuries later by secular philosopher Sartre.
• and St. Theophan the Recluse a Russian monastic and Bishop of the 19th century.

But … throughout Lent, through the poetic piercing stanzas of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and in the presanctified liturgies and Vespers services always ending every service was the Lenten prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life!

Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Yea, Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother,
for Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

Many have talked and written about this prayer. Fr Schmeman wrote a little book, Great Lent, which talks about it at some length. But remembering that prayer, I looked at St. Ephrem’s body of work and found it extensive … and almost all of it Psalmody. St. Ephrem is referred to by some as the Psalmodist of the New Testament, where King David was the Psalmist of the Old Covenant. And psalm and psalmody connects with me through music. I am not a poet. But music, harmony and polyphony, chant and song connect. My harmony teacher in college often remarked that those in math and physics often did the best in music because of connections between music and mathematics. Between the prayer above, the music connection, and St. Ephrem’s life of asceticism, prayer, and example … my choice was made.

This book, Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, has a collection of prayers penned by St. Ephrem, translated and collated after the manner of the Psalms of David by St. Theophan the Recluse. This latter book is something of an scandal in my opinion. It is virtually unknown in the West … but should be in every Christian home and in every pew or prayer corner. The crime is that it is not a Christian best-seller only superseded by the Bible. Those prayers in that book, some of which you can find excerpted and remarked upon by me here … read like they were written about me, to me, for me by St. Ephrem. And I found this book months after having chosen St. Ephrem (or perhaps being chosen by St. Ephrem).

Here’s a video giving us a timeline of what happened when in the story of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapse.  Take special note of who was for regulation and who was against it. 

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Some more of "change" in the Obama administration that I’ve been saving up for a few weeks.

"Capturing or killing Osama bin Laden" used to be "a critical aspect of stamping out al Qaeda".  Now he just needs to be "pinned down" or just kept "on the run".  Some of this "change" Obama speaks of apparently means change from his campaign rhetoric.  (H/T Don Sensing.)

Two years ago, Obama called the expansion of coal-fired electricity his "worst nightmare".  Two weeks ago, Obama’s choices for both the EPA and the Energy Department described the industry as "vital" and coal as a "great natural resource".  The environmentalists are not happy at this "change".

In spite of Obama’s promise to severely reduce or eliminate the influence of lobbyists in Washington, Harry Reid said that Obama would be meeting with lobbyists and him, where the president would be doing business with them.  Reid said, "And there’s nothing wrong with that."  I happen to agree with Reid (petitioning the government is a right, though it can, like anything, be misused), but Obama’s promises like this keep falling by the wayside.  (H/T Q & O.)

Hmm, wonder if I should rename this feature "StillTheSameWatch"…

1. The Onion noted at the Corner.
2. A big day of remembering Saints/Doctors of the Church. East, West, and Evangelical.
3. Setting the record straight.
4. Quoth many a tyrant, if not so outspoken about it.
5. Perhaps a group to watch.
6. Very close.
7. Mr Updike’s passing noted.
8. A Roman liturgy blog looks East.
9. A question not answered.
10. I’m thinking … hopefully March not tomorrow.
11. On that “right to choose” thing.
12. Our Southern border.
13. Well, I have to agree, I hope Mr Obama fails at much of what he hopes to accomplish. I have no yearning for a precipitous slide (slouch) down the Road to Serfdom, as it were.
14. Discussing the bike design contest winner.
15. Another big day noted … the ending of 900 days.
16. Keeping the banks afloat … laundry?
17. Axios indeed.
18. Monasticism looked at frankly.
19. Some statistics, if you believe that sort of thing is worth the paper it’s written on.
20. Why big projects today aren’t “shovel ready” … that would be, uhm, obstruction from the left. Put that in your stimulus pipe and smoke it.
21. Nero’s political trajectory, dates, and St. Paul’s Romans.
22. When Gay bashing is mostly from the left.
23. More on the SSPX reconciliation … more here.
24. Moscow.
25. Heh.
26. Spector dissed … for doing exactly what I’d advised (and done).
27. A Silver Star.

Apparently, via Mr Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy, that the “crack baby” epidemic wasn’t all it was, uhm, cracked up to be. I beg to differ, based on small amounts of personal experience. 14 or so years ago, my #1 daughter, having just been born, spent 3-4 weeks in the neo-natal ICU because of duodenal webbing blocking her intestine and then, as well (possibly related) having some facial reconstruction done due developmental anomalies. The point is that we spent some amount of time spending nights in the wards at the Chicago Children’s Hospital. Some number of kids were there each time with a particular screeching cry. I’ve heard that scream. It’s was identifiable and related as a symptom of that exposure. We were specifically informed by the nurses on staff that these kids were damaged by parental drug abuse during pregnancy. These kids were also not all infants but ranging in age up to about 4. Now it might be that “long term” the effects of this early developmental damage may fade, but … I don’t believe it.

First, conventional wisdom has it that nutrition in the first years of life has long term effects down the road, for bodily and intellectual development. For example, a main reason that people are a foot taller on average than they were 200 years ago is because of childhood nutrition. Is neo-natal development and environment not important?

Second, one of my wife’s cousins is going through the adoption process of a special needs infant. What makes that child special needs? Natal exposure to drugs like cocaine.

Is that conventional wisdom all wrong. I guess I’ll my life will be touched by someone who is not a statistical entry.

Can you be a Republican and a homosexual?  Bruce Carroll and Dan Blatt, who contribute to the blog GayPatriot, would say, "Yes", and I would agree.  Now, I believe that homosexual acts are a sin, I believe the Bible says this, and while I know that not everyone necessarily agrees with that assessment, I do.  Does that mean, ergo, that I hate Bruce and Dan?  No, it does not, and I do not. 

But what about Republicans in general?  We all know what Democrats think of social conservatives, so you’d think that venom against the GayPatriot blog would come mostly from the Right.

You couldn’t possibly be more wrong.

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1. Choosing one’s passing, heh.
2. Of Daphny van den Brand.
3. Now that’s what I call short term thinking … increase debt to decrease the population and thereby decreasing the numbers of those who will be paying down that debt in the future. And it’s not just Ms Pelosi pushing that tale.
4. Speaking of demographics … why is Europe committing demographic suicide?
5. Popular Culture meets philosophy.
6. Barack on spending.
7. I’ve always ended that prayer “a sinner” not “a servant.” I wonder if that’s how some teach it to kids.
8. Heh. (literally)
9. I’m with him 100% on that first one. And I like a lot of other Kubrick films.
10. Benedict, the church and the SSPX bishops … it’s not “about anti-Semitism” but is also badly handled “PR.”
11. Will the economic stress fracture the Euro?
12. Stopping sans brakes.
13. Stimulus bill = “the worse bill in galactic history?”
14. For the girls (a book).
15. A good question, “what kind of person takes Che for a hero?” … or Mao? Or Lenin?
16. Hmm, media bias perhaps?
17. Patriotism, two posts (here and here), I was going to write a whole essay last night on these two. I think Mr Brayton and Mr Beinhart don’t get it at all and prefer instead to demonize or trivialize views of the “other” … which is by and large far easier.
18. So, CO2 caused the tsunami?

What would my course be if I were one of the 100 Senators voting for confirmations for Mr Obama’s Presidency. My result may come as a surprise, being as I am a member of the loyal opposition, that I would vote to confirm. Don’t get me wrong, I would advise that many of these appointees are regrettable choices and will do more harm than good to the country and to his administration. Take Mr Geithner and Mr Holder for example. Both I think have lied about the past issues on which they were questioned. I think Mr Geithner withheld taxes knowingly and it is likely that Mr Holder was a willing participated in the pardons-for-cash (and favors) and suggesting Mr Rich during the embarrassing pardon spree at the end of Mr Clinton’s term in office.

However … Federalist paper 76 is clear and I think in fact right. When the Senate intrudes too much into the appointment process then the dangers of which Mr Hamilton warns are evident by the disastrous confirmation proceedings we’ve seen in the last decades when such advice was ignored. A primary example of this is Justice Thomas. The reasons for rejection suggested by Hamiton were:

It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity.

That is not the case with either candidate … therefore, I it were up to me I would vote to confirm … even though I think they have considerable talents for prevarication being demonstrated, oddly enough, in these confirmation hearings.

President Obama took a jab at former President Bush with this phrase from his inaugural speech; "We will restore science to its rightful place….".  This implies that science has been taken down off of some pillar that it should reside on.

Science is important in the betterment of humankind, but science must be tempered by morality (as must all things).  Dubya, for example, kept federal funding for embryonic stem cell research for those cell lines already existing at the time, but his moral concerns over the issue prevented his allowing it unhindered.  (Private funding is still available and, indeed, the research is continuing.)  Is Obama suggesting he’ll place science above morality?  Is submitting science to the scrutiny of morality robbing the former of it’s "rightful place"?  Is this his worldview?

If you’re curious about what Jim Wallis, CEO of the Christian social justice organization Sojouners, thinks about President Obama’s views on abortion, then take a look at the BeliefNet article, Jim Walllis Supports Obama’s Abortion Approach. An excerpt,

In breaking the symbolic cycle, President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of abortions in this country and around the world.

Nonsense.

Let’s take the roof off of this argument by substituting a couple of choice words into the original…

In breaking the symbolic cycle, President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized slavery debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of slaves in this country and around the world.

If you truly care about social justice, Mr. Wallis, then please call a spade a spade; but don’t patronize us with rhetoric which is illogical, at best, and immoral, at worst.

1. A suggestion for an econ primer.
2. A rising tide.
3. The New Martyrs.
4. If … there are no earmarks in the “stimulus package” why is ACORN expecting dough? And what is that expected to “stimulate?” In other news … why are bridges and roads always mentioned along with the earmark, err, stimulus bill if it’s such a small part of it?
5. Of celibacy and the early church … laity.
6. A Sunday homily courtesy of Mr Daniels.
7. Tweeet. Wheee … and other celebratory noises.
8. An evangelical remembers St. Gregory.
9. An Amen! offered.
10. Or perhaps it’s not all about you. Mr Schraub notes … “I think institutional Christianity has long since proven that its default position is of hostility to Jews.” which of course explains perfectly the rise of Antisemitism in Europe (see #2 above) as institutional Christianity wanes.
11. Of making oaths under false pretenses.
12. Virtual fraud.
13. Another Sunday homily … this from from Mr Weedon.
14. So … remind me why this guy is exemplary?
15. Why I ride a road bike (disturbing image … be warned).
16. A quiet voice in a cave?
17. The UAW and why in an economic downturn support of the unions is not in our best interest.
18. Mr Colson roils the waters.
19. 2010 … better or worse than today?
20. A great cathedral noted.
21. Or … faith groups don’t read the fine print.
22. That change we can believe in … or not.
23. A magazine released.
24. Today’s economy in perspective.
25. Obama as Palpatine?

Ronald Reagan never went into the Oval Office without a suit jacket and tie, and that was his rule for everyone who entered.  He did it out of respect for the position.  We know (unfortunately) how much respect Bill Clinton gave the office.  President Bush also had that dress code as well.  But Obama?  Naah.

Now you can say this is making something out of nothing (as some on the Left have), and admittedly it’s just clothing.  But it exposes an underlying attitude that I think speaks to how Obama treats the position of President of the United States.  I honestly hope he doesn’t take it as casually as he appears to, but his outward appearance says otherwise.

At the same time, I’ll bet he (rightly) expects people to respect his position, but he won’t treat it with the same deference.  A tad hypocritical.

Starting reading a book … but for now, the question is … should I continue? The book is Fareed Zakaria’s The Post-American World. Apparently, one of the books noted as a book our President has read recently. I think I may continue, but some of the errors spotted in a quick perusal at the start were annoying.

For example, Mr Zakaria notes in pointing out how commodity prices are getting higher because, apparently Malthusian shortages. One of his examples is Helium. He notes that Helium is the “second most abundant element” in the Universe … yet is a shortage. This is really ignorant. Helium is called helium because it is very very rare terrestrially. It was discovered via spectral analysis of solar radiation … because it is so rare on earth. It is basically only found in any quantity from oil wells.

I think the thesis that American’s dominance in all sphere’s is going to wane is uninteresting. The question is what to make of it. America will likely remain dominant at the “things at which we excell” and no longer be dominant in sphere’s in which we had been dominant by default.

As Mr Collier notes in the The Bottom Billion that of the 6 1/2 billion people on the globe, one billion are “very rich”, 4 1/2 billion are “getting rich very quickly” and one billion are stuck at the bottom. While his book concentrates on the billion which are stuck in poverty, the obvious logical consequence of the other 5 1/2 billion being rich or getting rich quicker is that influence of nations and economies will spread.

I think I’m going to skip or quickly skim (and try not get hung up on rhetorical simplification and overstatement) this book tomorrow night. I’ll hunt for some conclusions … because otherwise the book just a long winded statement of the obvious.

Five days in, and President Obama has made at least two significant moves: One, he signed an executive order which will effectively close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, thereby releasing terror suspects; two, he issued a memorandum which lifts a ban on U.S. funding for international groups that perform abortions.

Score:

Terror suspects – 1, Unborn children – 0

Change? Certainly. Hope? Hardly.

Christians, pray for Obama.

Hanks did he right thing and apologized for calling Mormon supporters of California Proposition 8 "un-American". 

"Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California’s Proposition 8 as ‘un-American,’" the actor said in a statement through his publicist. "I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination."

"But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American," the statement continues. "To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are ‘un-American’ creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use ‘un- American’ lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."

Fair enough.  I hope the Mormons graciously accept it.