tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141996372024-03-14T00:41:46.340-05:00 The Bishop's PulpitCurranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-49857388416131061312023-12-17T19:08:00.010-06:002023-12-17T22:19:29.676-06:00The Joy of Backyard Maple Sugaring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVHkBp_gr5SxaAgo9soQ28sQxtUFcX14X6PQmvm2Nv94g3yYdlV7FhbBGhKO7kLSUsoMv-IxUZpGOS7jfcNDPbOJ1BiQM3lLGpKdHkO9_4CT0bzDL4ZOsM-UOfjeJhyNCetPE0fFYSVpxB_Dz0xH4GoMlLlgPL5M8zUrlZsFQcwtIAXH43JmX/s900/Leff-Maple-R-300-3-1.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVHkBp_gr5SxaAgo9soQ28sQxtUFcX14X6PQmvm2Nv94g3yYdlV7FhbBGhKO7kLSUsoMv-IxUZpGOS7jfcNDPbOJ1BiQM3lLGpKdHkO9_4CT0bzDL4ZOsM-UOfjeJhyNCetPE0fFYSVpxB_Dz0xH4GoMlLlgPL5M8zUrlZsFQcwtIAXH43JmX/s320/Leff-Maple-R-300-3-1.webp" width="213" /></a></div>A friend recently asked about the advisability of tapping Silver Maples for sap. While I've only been at this two seasons and do not claim to be an expert, here are my thoughts on that question and making maple syrup in general: <div><br /> Sugar maples have a ratio of 43:1 (sap boiled to make syrup) while Norway Maples (what I started with) are a wapping 60:1! I'm honestly not sure if the other ones I'm tapping are sugar maples or red or silver maples. There are good books on the process, though I mostly just read the chapter on maple sugaring in David K. Leff's <i>The Last Undiscovered Place</i> and enjoyed his writing so much I got his book on maple sugaring (<i>Maple Sugaring: Keeping it Real in New England</i>), though it's more about the history and culture than it is a practical how-to guide. There's also good stuff on youtube. <div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LynSHR1U_lPbHhUW-ubGOpaGQTzGpn20-I0gsIenh5UCR5dgf1D0yEKYviOHPStPe2fnxjvPZWLKqPo4nysXp41ZoCFa73DpbqEWLVMIpx3i3mwIBMv37fauaYFhdukMPvhxq4P_abqN7loO4t8eW25B4LbEN4W8pryAJGdYw9cjPcP5lhlZ/s4032/PXL_20230227_211516625.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LynSHR1U_lPbHhUW-ubGOpaGQTzGpn20-I0gsIenh5UCR5dgf1D0yEKYviOHPStPe2fnxjvPZWLKqPo4nysXp41ZoCFa73DpbqEWLVMIpx3i3mwIBMv37fauaYFhdukMPvhxq4P_abqN7loO4t8eW25B4LbEN4W8pryAJGdYw9cjPcP5lhlZ/s320/PXL_20230227_211516625.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Basically though, you tap when you start having days that are consistently getting above 40° in late winter with nights still dropping below 32°; this stimulates the trees to start sap production. I hate pointing people to Amazon for things, but that's where I found <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HVOQCN2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&fbclid=IwAR3TITZPxRWzbFXHb5o0jn0hjcKKjSjrTZ69SwTLwoj5tJcnZz2R1CGGMeg" target="_blank">the spiles I use</a>. Get some 5-gal buckets (they don't have to be "food grade" just clean out whatever ones you use--in fact I started using kitty-litter buckets since I can get them free from a friend), and some clear vinyl tubing from Lowes (or local hardware--unfortunately we don't have local hardware here!). Use the spile to size the tube. Get it long enough to get from where you drill an apx. 2" deep hole in the tree (at a slight upward angle as the bit goes in) about 4' off the ground, down to a hole you drill in the side of the bucket. Keep a lid on the bucket to keep debris out of the sap. </div><div><br /></div><div>(At right: the boys showing off our kitty-litter maple-sap buckets, and our Norway Maple, nicknamed "Hagrid") <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWImdWJnFo7y6Nm-gXhT_Ev8n1TlDwaHBE2u6PKier8x6JOcboFDkTXIIH2cktdE5uqv7B96DvQaC-gSdDpfeqdKs0bBpkJGV6oy17Vt5pWisGKheNvUuv3KnbLUAQlXi_TaJfGuSwAqdBoJ4oj3wqSGBj9KoIofBXQh5xK5pMz7IzF-AZBS_B/s4000/IMG_20220314_085157_HDR.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWImdWJnFo7y6Nm-gXhT_Ev8n1TlDwaHBE2u6PKier8x6JOcboFDkTXIIH2cktdE5uqv7B96DvQaC-gSdDpfeqdKs0bBpkJGV6oy17Vt5pWisGKheNvUuv3KnbLUAQlXi_TaJfGuSwAqdBoJ4oj3wqSGBj9KoIofBXQh5xK5pMz7IzF-AZBS_B/s320/IMG_20220314_085157_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Once you've collected several gallons of sap you boil it off. This is best done outside as it makes surfaces, walls, etc. get a bit sticky if you boil off gallons of sap inside. The first year we balanced a chafing dish on a fire pit and that took FOREVER. </div><div><br /></div><div>(at left: our original evaporator setup: a chafing dish on a "smokeless" fire pot)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: left;">(below: the drum, ground to receive the chafing dishes)</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHawylbBrE0zqK9hTl0nj4HRnB5ZwOW393Dco-P7lFC5-3qJSGhn0lJjs0PDZjw6BzuSsDLiROA7FGh-K777nfCHkH2pnWN501PR0qv3AsNqMcI_7zLr61LaD7HV4mrbNF8kHgxqBnkYzT0aPS1KNkNDn-4-t_mTVsGIKexiYc-GTJhhR9LIgV/s4032/PXL_20230211_210112239.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHawylbBrE0zqK9hTl0nj4HRnB5ZwOW393Dco-P7lFC5-3qJSGhn0lJjs0PDZjw6BzuSsDLiROA7FGh-K777nfCHkH2pnWN501PR0qv3AsNqMcI_7zLr61LaD7HV4mrbNF8kHgxqBnkYzT0aPS1KNkNDn-4-t_mTVsGIKexiYc-GTJhhR9LIgV/w240-h320/PXL_20230211_210112239.jpg" title="The drum ground to take the chafing dishes" width="240" /></a>The second year I built an evaporator: I bought a metal 55 gal drum on FB marketplace (I found one new for $20 but that's rare: you don't need a new one though, just one in good condition). I used <a href="https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/us-stove-barrel-wood-stove-kit" target="_blank">a kit like this</a>. Then I lined the base of the stove with bricks for insulation (you don't have to do that; they just recommend dumping a bag of playground sand so the fire isn't directly on the metal which will eventually burn through). Then I used my two donor chafing dishes as templates to grind two holes in the top of the barrel, so the fire is being applied directly to the bottom of the dishes. This is SO MUCH faster than the other system, and well worth the $100 investment; but for your first season to just try it out you could make do with whatever sort of fire pit you have, or even use a gas grill. If you can find a way to get two vats boiling it speeds it up since adding cold syrup to boiling syrup stops the evaporation until it heats up to boiling again. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-Ytblr41TP41IlRzD2Q0Et5HDZhncemArooIXln1Ii9_-zqNfEO5yrZ3j6Z_imOtcYKBjNHt_LtS7EFQCocbDFd3fXX2GnhiFlVedCcRbZX0hRFrxZKNMp7SBGv-3xzhaRFu7iQKwEJBsP-bLZnb0tJB3LuaESITVCNgvJBBRA9kXpknKfa9/s4032/PXL_20230211_210135850.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-Ytblr41TP41IlRzD2Q0Et5HDZhncemArooIXln1Ii9_-zqNfEO5yrZ3j6Z_imOtcYKBjNHt_LtS7EFQCocbDFd3fXX2GnhiFlVedCcRbZX0hRFrxZKNMp7SBGv-3xzhaRFu7iQKwEJBsP-bLZnb0tJB3LuaESITVCNgvJBBRA9kXpknKfa9/w200-h150/PXL_20230211_210135850.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div>(left: the brick lining of the drum)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsRMGSBafGn5qwNDyhcrS_R4fVEZWA984ZmSm1gg-UccnJpWDx8bXNrXHztVcsAHr7MHwqvKR7DcS1AQ3hEv85eblSXlgjmuaPaMDO6lPar-QbeJd2S5g-9OyZfnBVqNYm1spq4DvR4H61PK5SnYkznG7Le2oYYxTuQg8dWGGWwkt7d8XdTQO/s4032/PXL_20230310_171107109.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsRMGSBafGn5qwNDyhcrS_R4fVEZWA984ZmSm1gg-UccnJpWDx8bXNrXHztVcsAHr7MHwqvKR7DcS1AQ3hEv85eblSXlgjmuaPaMDO6lPar-QbeJd2S5g-9OyZfnBVqNYm1spq4DvR4H61PK5SnYkznG7Le2oYYxTuQg8dWGGWwkt7d8XdTQO/w480-h640/PXL_20230310_171107109.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>(the new two-chafing dish, barrel-stove evaporator)</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxeBv8rS5fAQ5VASkMeQq6KZm-a1FhgmUVwjVF4e11dCKG4KFHzwv9Rcukd0dhYY-VKchGFVS10B4LHDld7uDLbEG-1Zj-TxjMP7_QwfDS3LLi2LhOFXuHU04I3evkaTTySwEYASc5Vwehdo8Txm8mQXbqUAdn31AtwF3MIhxkcTDnq_SYqn_/s2560/IMG_3660-scaled.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxeBv8rS5fAQ5VASkMeQq6KZm-a1FhgmUVwjVF4e11dCKG4KFHzwv9Rcukd0dhYY-VKchGFVS10B4LHDld7uDLbEG-1Zj-TxjMP7_QwfDS3LLi2LhOFXuHU04I3evkaTTySwEYASc5Vwehdo8Txm8mQXbqUAdn31AtwF3MIhxkcTDnq_SYqn_/w200-h150/IMG_3660-scaled.webp" width="200" /></a></div><br />You can also build a cement block evaporator like the one pictured here. The people who built it have a good <a href="https://allthelittlereasons.com/how-to-easily-build-a-maple-syrup-evaporator/" target="_blank">how-to with videos</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>You keep boiling until the liquid is syrup. I honestly don't remember how we knew when we hit it the first year: I think I knew pretty accurately how much Norway Maple sap I'd collected so when I had reduced it by 60:1 I knew I was about done. The second year I thought I was done, then calculated that I had about 2x as much syrup as I thought I should have based on knowing about how much sap I'd gathered. At first I thought "oh well, I just like it a bit thin I guess"; then I realized it wasn't shelf-stable if you don't hit the right ratio. So I bought a <a href="https://tapmytrees.com/product/maple-syrup-hydrometer/" target="_blank">hydrometer</a> and did the test to make sure I was producing real syrup. (That website—<a href="http://tapmytrees.com">tapmytrees.com</a>—is also a good resource for info).</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Dtt-sLEKpyN-Cj9CwdkO1a32ez6-ACL-3_aFokjFIJftUiijY04CrLjIMukUTqWcbWRaFWINmDmrDyvkhlfcwD2vOucHu-Qitx5W8poPNnlxn9Da1DfhDO5_9sj_AjvG1THyxCzohWEY_z9XJ3srtSX3NoV6ZVEy6hpbLqS4vvpSmMv5MEPB/s4032/2023-02-18_14-37-12_483.heic" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Dtt-sLEKpyN-Cj9CwdkO1a32ez6-ACL-3_aFokjFIJftUiijY04CrLjIMukUTqWcbWRaFWINmDmrDyvkhlfcwD2vOucHu-Qitx5W8poPNnlxn9Da1DfhDO5_9sj_AjvG1THyxCzohWEY_z9XJ3srtSX3NoV6ZVEy6hpbLqS4vvpSmMv5MEPB/s320/2023-02-18_14-37-12_483.heic" width="320" /></a></div>This sounds complicated, but really you can get started with just the spiles, tubing and stuff you have around the house; use a grill or fire pit to get started, then if you're having fun, start looking into building an evaporator, etc. But I feel like we're very well equipped to make all our family's maple syrup needs (and I hope to make enough for gifts or friends this year) and we're only about $150 in. </div><div><br /></div><div>As Leff notes, it's also a remarkable vehicle for connecting with people. There's a surprising amount of interest in the process and both years we've done it we've been able to host multiple groups to see the process and (depending on timing) taste the product. </div></div>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-83847117096979810522023-12-17T18:01:00.002-06:002023-12-17T18:01:35.878-06:00When candidates respected their audience's intelligence...<p> <span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">I do not believe that everything's going to — in a hand-basket. I think anthropology doesn't change much in the aggregate—moderns are quite as self-interested as ancients; contemporary American political unrest is not on the scale of the 1860s or even the 1960s! But I do think political dialog has fallen off a cliff. I haven't bothered watching a presidential debate since Obama and Romney squared off in 2012 and even two of the most intelligent people to contend for the office in recent history utterly failed to say anting noteworthy or even helpful (I've kept up with the content of presidential debates since; I just haven't wasted time trying to be entertained by it as it hasn't been worth the effort). </span></p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKKpDoDfrkBeJQ1nR2gEtI_L6mpwKoBNV0tebQNmH4Fdabbgz_yWjspww2ALDjOS4OXgumW0KjocmECBgy5L-E-3y0DiYz8zdqq3xO4q9xZo5T5t8i1XRLSuOPJvuetChD-IEda-n3DwWZbBpxZGYepXh9xqG2fZl5K4-5sar8mLBZ_TWrKDg/s500/516tR8KXJjL.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKKpDoDfrkBeJQ1nR2gEtI_L6mpwKoBNV0tebQNmH4Fdabbgz_yWjspww2ALDjOS4OXgumW0KjocmECBgy5L-E-3y0DiYz8zdqq3xO4q9xZo5T5t8i1XRLSuOPJvuetChD-IEda-n3DwWZbBpxZGYepXh9xqG2fZl5K4-5sar8mLBZ_TWrKDg/s320/516tR8KXJjL.webp" width="212" /></a></div>This quote from Eric Jaffe's <i>The King's Best Highway</i> suggests it was not always so: examining Lincoln's speech to an East Coast audience in February of 1860 in which he took up Douglas's claim that the Founding Fathers had not intended the federal government to sound in on the issue of slavery Lincoln actually dug through legislative precedent for his audience, citing the voting records of the signers of the Constitution and interpreting whether those records supported the idea that they believed the federal government had a right to speak to state decisions on the issue of slavery. </span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">"All in all Lincoln had found evidence that twenty-three men who signed the Constitution had taken a political action endorsing the federal government's right to control the spread of slavery. Twenty-one of these, a clear majority of the thirty-nine, had voted to actively stop such a spread. Of the sixteen signers for whom Lincoln could not find direct voting behavior—including 'Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris'—all but one were known to oppose slavery. It was reasonable to conclude, then, that of the thirty-nine men who signed the Constitution—men who 'understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now'—at least thirty-six would certainly, or very likely, agree that the government can and should interfere with slavery's expansion."</span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">What's more, "two editors tasked with preparing footnotes for a published version of the speech needed three weeks and the help of several historians... just to verify the facts." </span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lincoln didn't just offer counter factual statements to Douglas; he offered legislative evidence! And this as part of a complex argument in which he agreed with Douglas's declaration that "Our fathers understood this question [of whether the federal government had the right to speak to the issue of slavery] just as well, and even better, than we do now" but then deconstructed Douglas's argument based on the evidence Lincoln offered. He seemed to have a lot more respect for his audience's intelligence than anyone who's offered presidential debate during my adult lifetime... </span>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-64250150448674003802023-11-24T19:30:00.005-06:002023-11-29T11:04:18.809-06:00Complete loops and chicken poop<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30QzI1vLP0cW5MVQyixuJBgar18uEF0iAWkSDPcSH2S6-fkXZESAgZUghFQ1HMzMLcHvOZeTiu9xjB9q_FJoyka4j7PBhI2YXF3GqSWPn8s68s4Odr0sJaMgi51TyBS6y1DSfhsltRvQNfa4rIPusbi6hvCd4zUgoZkFVtUaGrWT5jYiE2fkY/s2048/395646418_1984494045265085_6368991388638894956_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30QzI1vLP0cW5MVQyixuJBgar18uEF0iAWkSDPcSH2S6-fkXZESAgZUghFQ1HMzMLcHvOZeTiu9xjB9q_FJoyka4j7PBhI2YXF3GqSWPn8s68s4Odr0sJaMgi51TyBS6y1DSfhsltRvQNfa4rIPusbi6hvCd4zUgoZkFVtUaGrWT5jYiE2fkY/s320/395646418_1984494045265085_6368991388638894956_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I love interlocked systems. Complete—if complex—loops. When the effluents provide the materials necessary to produce the influents. Chickens, I'm finding, are great at that. You can buy feed for them, and they produce eggs, and poop. So you can buy chips to put down in their coop, and then rake up the poop/chips frequently. And your food scraps can go in the trash—and everything is a broken loop. Or you can save your food scraps (and your neighbors' food scraps) and feed them to the chickens; and they'll produce eggs and poop; and you can mulch your leaves (and your neighbors' leaves) and put it down in their pen. And keep adding it until you've got a nice deep litter of living organisms, essentially turning the floor of the pen into a compost pile. Now the poop isn't a problem to be dealt with; but a useful product they give you. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2iXj5d_s13UJUN9Ycf0Y6zx_qgYqIXZmubOLn8K0AJxqxBhmsK_O4v60ZevTNj_OatH9XtBXp-uj5izU_5e60CxgVSXhM4sIT_ZE7l11myXyZHG9k6mfpdPIJtzJQ7h8U50cXnM33fK6-WVzkaGcDjZecKQsw00Uie7Tq1DxIXgSBaS8XCzub/s4032/PXL_20231124_155646116.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2iXj5d_s13UJUN9Ycf0Y6zx_qgYqIXZmubOLn8K0AJxqxBhmsK_O4v60ZevTNj_OatH9XtBXp-uj5izU_5e60CxgVSXhM4sIT_ZE7l11myXyZHG9k6mfpdPIJtzJQ7h8U50cXnM33fK6-WVzkaGcDjZecKQsw00Uie7Tq1DxIXgSBaS8XCzub/s320/PXL_20231124_155646116.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>They tie back into other aspects of the property: we've got enough trees that we need to take one down about once a year to keep them from threatening neighbors property or the house. So I could pay someone to haul off the wood for me. Or I could burn the wood, not need a gym membership as I get a work out cutting wood; then not pay to heat the house. Interestingly, the ashes produced in this process are a great source of carbon, and can be collected when they cool and put in the chicken coop (they are most abundant in the winter when the leaves are no longer available as bedding), and they keep the composting process trucking along. I'm experimenting this year with swiping the neighbors' bagged leaves (with their permission) and storing them in the back woods where I used to haul off my leaves. The bags seem to be keeping up through several significant rains now: they seem to shed most of the water and, since they aren't fully water or air tight, they seem to allow the leaves to dry out from any dampness that's gotten in when the rain stops. Once I've dealt with all my leaves by mulching them and adding them to the coop I'll drag out out a few of the neighbors' leaf bags anytime the coop starts smelling like it needs a bit more carbon (i.e. starts smelling like ammonia) and mulch them up and add them in. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEq5YOYgzAq5FKz-CPEahwAx9tGYJFXVv2mwNnG33lcHfYXFurf8CQ6vJgbxbO4iXv2ZONK_5P-07uFfMOpEkE_nMEeUdJCMeOcL7uyCzFQT0Gd59SHEBpw_JYEwehM-rrx1GTRpjy6vmrlu8cV0r6UmfdMXC5yxsbS39Ba4bgk2aZuCPw2Dm/s4032/PXL_20231124_155839079.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEq5YOYgzAq5FKz-CPEahwAx9tGYJFXVv2mwNnG33lcHfYXFurf8CQ6vJgbxbO4iXv2ZONK_5P-07uFfMOpEkE_nMEeUdJCMeOcL7uyCzFQT0Gd59SHEBpw_JYEwehM-rrx1GTRpjy6vmrlu8cV0r6UmfdMXC5yxsbS39Ba4bgk2aZuCPw2Dm/s320/PXL_20231124_155839079.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Back to the feed comment: I have not cut out the need to buy feed. But saving my food scraps, and giving them food scraps from friends and neighbors, and giving them limited free ranging time, and throwing all the weeds, grass clippings (thanks neighbors!), and whatever other organic matter I can find into the coop does significantly cut down on the amount of feed I have to buy. I'm hoping to grow more things specifically as chicken feed next season and that will further cut down on the still-slightly-open-loop on the feed side. <p></p>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-77864939399921105012023-10-26T13:19:00.010-05:002023-11-24T18:55:09.080-06:00Revelation resources<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEjK5Ii1kPO9xKHCshK7Do5xY-6gRf98N6HMOUTbVMQZVSSV0nFHL_UI5VDM2ei8RijBPbY3xrFVlGnm-k8PGtca2vTEAHFbPqgvkg5AOAph3FDQ68yolTk-6dWt9Q0U7L-_Hj44riNTj_y2tWyHeqBNfBBCMJ52qQ-wdnBjQiJmeuM63nO8n/s1806/4%20Horsemen.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1598" data-original-width="1806" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEjK5Ii1kPO9xKHCshK7Do5xY-6gRf98N6HMOUTbVMQZVSSV0nFHL_UI5VDM2ei8RijBPbY3xrFVlGnm-k8PGtca2vTEAHFbPqgvkg5AOAph3FDQ68yolTk-6dWt9Q0U7L-_Hj44riNTj_y2tWyHeqBNfBBCMJ52qQ-wdnBjQiJmeuM63nO8n/s320/4%20Horsemen.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />I was lamenting that I've become pretty infrequent in my posting; but also reflected that a 'sub-category' of this blog has become what I might call "pastoral advice" as it's advice on how to interact with various portions of Scripture—situational correspondence that I realized might have more general usefulness. So I've decided to just embrace that! Here's some thoughts on resources for the book of Revelation:<p></p><p>Revelation is one of the trickiest books to approach because of how many ways Christians have interpreted it, and because of the way Dispensationalism has cast a long shadow over modern interpretation among evangelicals. </p><p><a href="https://app.box.com/s/46d9of2rcwrnmngpcvg957ah5r567jkq" target="_blank">Here's a paper</a> I wrote in seminary where I exegete Rev 20:1-6 because most of the differences of interpretation come down to what you do with the millennium described there. </p><p>You may or may not be familiar with the idea that there are 3 basic "camps" of interpretation. These camps are basically answering the question, "does Jesus come back..." before the millennium in Revelation 20 ("Pre-mil"); without reference to a specific millennium ("A-mil"); or after the millennium ("Post-mil"). </p><p>But what is probably the stronger division is between Dispensational interpreters on the one side and the historic pre-mil, a-mil and post-mil interpreters on the other, because the Dispensational camp started straying into some places that did violence to how you interpret the rest of Scripture,* demands we see the modern secular state of Israel as having eternal significance, and requires us to see God saving people by different means: the Jews by the law in the old dispensation (and for many still the Jews by the law today); Christians by grace in the new dispensation. </p><p>Modern exegetes who have sought to remain faithful to the Scripture while remaining within the Dispensational tradition have developed "neo-Dispensationalism" which is basically the historic pre-mil position. </p><p>Pastors and Elders in the PCA can subscribe to any of the three historic views, but because of the departure from good exegesis required by Dispensationalism that view is 'out of bounds.' Of course, PCA members may believe whatever their consciences lead them to, but we urge everyone to conform their belief to the Scriptures. </p><p>Unfortunately I don't have a great 'Bible study-type' recommendation as the controversies that have grown up around Revelation are so big it tends to take pretty heavy-hitting academic treatment to deal with all the things floating out there in the ether... G.K Beal has written the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-International-Greek-Testament-Commentary/dp/080282174X/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=gk+beal+revelation&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840" target="_blank">definitive and masterful commentary</a> which I find most helpful (and used when I preached <a href="https://archive.org/details/revelation-jesus-wins" target="_blank">a sermon series on Revelation</a> back in IL) but it's also over a thousand pages and goes into detail only a person writing a book on Revelation would need to get into. He has also written <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Commentary-G-K-Beale/dp/0802866212/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WEMG3LOGKAKS&keywords=gk+beal+revelation&qid=1698335563&sprefix=gk+beal+re%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1" target="_blank">a much more accessible commentary</a> I'd recommend. There's a good, short book that presents the 4 views called <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/the-meaning-of-the-millennium-four-views/" target="_blank"><i>The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views</i> by George Ladd</a>. I have also used and appreciated a few other commentaries I'll note: <a href="https://www.bestcommentaries.com/book/3575/0830818200-revelation-j-ramsey-michaels" target="_blank">J. Ramsey Michaels, <i>Revelation</i></a> (it's hard to plott Michaels on the spectrum of millennial views); <i><a href="https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/revelation/author/simon-kistemaker/" target="_blank">Simon J Kistemaker, Exposition of the Book of Revelation</a></i> (a-mil); and <a href="https://tabernaclebookshop.org/products/the-seven-churches-of-asia-9780906731512" target="_blank">Robert Murray M'Cheyne, <i>The Seven Churches of Asia</i></a> (just deals with the first chapters addressed to the churches).</p><p><br /></p><p>*This is an odd development because most people who are in the Dispensational camp are firmly committed to understanding the Bible as the reliable and trustworthy Word of God. The difficulty is that simplistic engagement with the doctrine of Scripture led people to think everything must be taken "literally." This was because revisionist exegetes in the late 1800s (in the English-speaking world) began questioning whether miracles and many essential aspects of the doctrine of Christ—including the resurrection—needed to be taken literally, despite the Biblical texts very clearly presenting these things as literal events. The concern to stand for literal interpretation, when applied simplistically, led people to interpret figurative texts as necessarily literal. It was no longer up to the biblical author whether the text was figurative or literal: everything had to be taken literally. But with vision narratives that is hugely problematic, and leads to some significant inconsistencies. For example, when Joseph or Daniel give interpretation of rulers' dreams, should we accuse them of revisionism for saying what the meaning behind fat cows and thin cows means? Trying to force a literal read onto figurative material also causes modern interpreters into some strange linguistic gymnastics, like the common interpretation among contemporary Dispensationalists that the grasshoppers in John's vision are really what contemporary military attack helicopters would look like to a first century person! So now we have John describing 20th/21st century military gear, but not being intelligent enough to know it's large flying machines, not grasshoppers. And that would imply that the literal word 'grasshopper' in the sacred text of Holy Scripture is, in fact, a mistake!</p>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-91175917659131484612022-12-08T20:35:00.001-06:002022-12-08T20:35:21.012-06:00"Developments" in Campus Security<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbhvKqawiUEAygyW9-YgaVhRyeNjE4NIfHeLDLMHrX3TP-2bAOaA96Anyk2pw740xrmE0-_JUBQsqku1z6ZwwIlM2AXt2fT0fPmqEtFVLAINDtQ5uXUvzB2QGq-ILz2CepjKR9LFp7z6PHj4ekHkjc0VMPaeJU5sqcgnP1rHs2gtOvrRdBQ/s1440/homepage-header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="1440" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbhvKqawiUEAygyW9-YgaVhRyeNjE4NIfHeLDLMHrX3TP-2bAOaA96Anyk2pw740xrmE0-_JUBQsqku1z6ZwwIlM2AXt2fT0fPmqEtFVLAINDtQ5uXUvzB2QGq-ILz2CepjKR9LFp7z6PHj4ekHkjc0VMPaeJU5sqcgnP1rHs2gtOvrRdBQ/w679-h257/homepage-header.jpg" width="679" /></a></div> I got to spend some time several months ago on the campus of my now-alma mater, Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. I must say I did not feel very welcome. This is not a slight to Concordia in any specific way; I think it's how I'd feel on most academic campuses in the US (it is how I've experienced getting around when I visit my undergrad alma mater, Covenant College for a number of years now). Even though I'm a student of this organization, and was issued a visitor key card when I arrived, every door I encountered was locked, and I have yet to find one that my key card worked on. I don't think that experience is entirely due to my visitor status. Students I have interacted with seem unsure when and where their cards will work, and it seems from comments made by the graduation ceremony marshals that dealing with unreliably locked doors is just a continuous part of campus life.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIq8LqK9B3OgzaPvrmW6exZgUdPj4jM9bgQzaID7dab1KPmkq-_lJ3J_0Mva7rLfvnaPRq0lU3w_ytOddPOVK2zHPS7s_0sAHjgdDlV1Czcvg1mFS78r_o29dLpaoOzoBJpl0HpvqOyf3iRKNHYhXtJxfJL92Q4eSSB29pQdSViQX58o-LA/s1300/campus-door-12832911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="955" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIq8LqK9B3OgzaPvrmW6exZgUdPj4jM9bgQzaID7dab1KPmkq-_lJ3J_0Mva7rLfvnaPRq0lU3w_ytOddPOVK2zHPS7s_0sAHjgdDlV1Czcvg1mFS78r_o29dLpaoOzoBJpl0HpvqOyf3iRKNHYhXtJxfJL92Q4eSSB29pQdSViQX58o-LA/s320/campus-door-12832911.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br />This has gotten me thinking about the problem of campus security that we're trying to solve, and whether or not our new measures are solving that problem, or making it worse. So I'd like to explore a few scenarios, set on the same campus; one in, say, 2012, and one in 2022. All the locked doors on a contemporary campus are, I believe, supposed to make students safer from predatory intruders. So lets picture a scenario in about 2012, when most of the external doors on a campus are unlocked for most of the time—maybe they switch from unlocked to locked 11pm-7am and only the front door to each dorm can be opened by your dorm key during that window (like Covenant College did in the '90s). Most of the dorm rooms from sometime in the '80s on default to locked, and a lot of students use little blocks of wood to keep them from closing/locking because they find the convenience of not being constantly locked out worth the risk their door being unlocked poses. I think we're afraid that an intruder is going to get into a dorm and assault a student with the scenario we find between the 1980s and early 2010s. So let's play that out: the intruder gets through an exterior door during "unlocked hours" and poses as a normal student in common areas until after lights out, then either takes advantage of someone leaving their dorm room door propped open, or surprises a student getting up to use the bathroom. It seems that this scenario gets shut down pretty quickly by the student calling for help, or by someone recognizing that the intruder isn't in fact a student while they're trying to single out a victim. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg927JyjVX1FKiQxxgRRDdTj2at5rhdQkI8q3NrN0FGgX3zhGaL0UibOpdx2tuqeFxz4mbDec6RgKcJ87tiPyfJjIMC36G0KnCRMaYHddIOm0wUtIVhmUYs-5KL4-Slr2O6P0fGiywJn9tJIganT65DWugTWJ8Ur9sJ65nDcJExhJYK8DBirg/s700/college-dorm-hack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="700" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg927JyjVX1FKiQxxgRRDdTj2at5rhdQkI8q3NrN0FGgX3zhGaL0UibOpdx2tuqeFxz4mbDec6RgKcJ87tiPyfJjIMC36G0KnCRMaYHddIOm0wUtIVhmUYs-5KL4-Slr2O6P0fGiywJn9tJIganT65DWugTWJ8Ur9sJ65nDcJExhJYK8DBirg/s320/college-dorm-hack.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Now let's move the scenario up to the present day: all doors—dorm room, exterior, etc.—are fitted with card locks and without the card you can't access anything on campus—can't enter the library, the cafeteria, the administrative offices, the dorm buildings, etc. Let's assume that everything is working properly as it's designed with no hiccups (I'm being very generous here, because it appears that hiccups are the norm, not the exception): a student's key card will always give them access to their dormitory and their individual dorm room, will give them access to library, administrative offices and cafeteria during business hours, etc. So now, an intruder arrives on campus looking for a victim. Let's also assume they don't find any doors that students, faculty or staff have braced open because they find that constantly being locked out is annoying. Now a student moving across campus who gets targeted by this intruder will most likely find every door they run to to get away—library, offices, gym, other dorms—just as locked to them as to the intruder. Unless they happen to be near their own dorm, their campus has become a trap for them. I think we can see that in these two scenarios, being generous, at best the odds are fifty-fifty whether the student in 2022 is any safer than the student in 2012. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0aXdzZzIz_NltIMsW-UXLEZXMNsND8-RX-uM9k63Ve4oCQrCaQuWBREXmqDKh1m0cUMYnZ8urOXE5OVmGR3f50guSuVdPDntXAWdf1aYP4xIbGOF0Acz78dora-q6hiAUhM5EA7cBG9JriJoe7W8neV1FNGxjXss0YDFOEB5_lTvgc-fAA/s4384/d5685756d35857c229c8b7cd8df0999d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3288" data-original-width="4384" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0aXdzZzIz_NltIMsW-UXLEZXMNsND8-RX-uM9k63Ve4oCQrCaQuWBREXmqDKh1m0cUMYnZ8urOXE5OVmGR3f50guSuVdPDntXAWdf1aYP4xIbGOF0Acz78dora-q6hiAUhM5EA7cBG9JriJoe7W8neV1FNGxjXss0YDFOEB5_lTvgc-fAA/s320/d5685756d35857c229c8b7cd8df0999d.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />But I think there's a bigger problem, and a greater safety threat posed in the 2022 scenario than the situation in 2012. The very technology we have decided is going to be the final solution is breaking down the community bonds that used to offer a certain level of security. Every locked door severs a small community bond that used to surround the student with relationships (not deep, meaningful, soul-mate relationships—just people you recognize on sight, generally trust as another member of your community, and would expect to respond if you called out to them). What is breaking down is in part the phenomenon Jane Jacobs called "eyes on the street"—the reality that where there are people who see things there is greater safety. We're trying to substitute technology for relationship when we were both designed and evolved to depend on relationship. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJbilpMSBWzQmeCqFOqUovvy2kBVIaGcX9N41XkEsOWllqQIRI5Cfm49m-CZ_I4mCcyNuUMVKDgTypq42XUC75P0oCfiHtgKVPzfJtrTx_jxAAJDfV_cYnC-lnApL1nve49D6iTyv1QRG0EiAi45X2VwG9tYYeYrigiRGii34C5U2TZdddA/s1440/homehead-1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="1440" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJbilpMSBWzQmeCqFOqUovvy2kBVIaGcX9N41XkEsOWllqQIRI5Cfm49m-CZ_I4mCcyNuUMVKDgTypq42XUC75P0oCfiHtgKVPzfJtrTx_jxAAJDfV_cYnC-lnApL1nve49D6iTyv1QRG0EiAi45X2VwG9tYYeYrigiRGii34C5U2TZdddA/w680-h212/homehead-1-1.jpg" width="680" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-24157040439339579692021-02-01T11:24:00.003-06:002021-02-01T11:28:49.902-06:00Reconciling Matthew's and Luke's accounts of the suicide of Judas Iscariot<p></p><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="part-content-container"><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg-content" dir="auto"><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted">The suicide of Judas Iscariot is described twice in the New Testament and the two accounts seem to be offering two different ways Judas died: one by hanging and one by falling. So the question is are the two accounts reconcilable? If so it's not an affront to the idea that God inspired both of them. If not it's a problem for both being inspired. </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted"> </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted">So, to look at the two stories: The hanging account is in Matthew 27:5: "And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself." The falling account is Acts 1:18: "Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out." </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted"> </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted">On the surface it appears that one is hanging, one is falling to die on impact. But neither account is particularly detailed. The hanging account doesn't say, for example, he went into a room, got up on a stool, tied himself to a rafter and kicked the stool over. That would make an account that said he went up on a cliff and jumped off clearly incompatible. But the falling account isn't that detailed either. It doesn't even say specifically that he died in the field he purchased (though you could argue it's implied). </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted"> </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted">I think there's a variety of ways that the accounts can be reconciled: Judas tying his rope to something that broke, causing him to fall a long way; jumping from too high a point when hanging himself so he gets decapitated and falls and "bursts;" hanging himself ("falling headlong") and then being left so long his body swells and bursts from decomposition (which seems shameful: no one cares about him enough to find him so the body just hangs in its owner's new field until it rots). </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted"> </div><div _ngcontent-lte-c47="" class="text-msg ng-star-inserted">So I think if we're careful not to import too much assumption into our reading of either account we can see that there are numerous scenarios that could be accurately described with both statements without either one suffering. <br /></div></div></div><p></p><p>Then we get into, "yeah, but are those as likely as the idea that there are just two conflicting stories?" Well, taken by themselves, I wouldn't jump to a complex scenario from either story. But then we do have two stories--even without a doctrine of inspiration we should ask, "is it necessary to assume one of the accounts is mistaken, or would we assume we're getting more details from two accounts?" If I'm just considering two historical documents, of course I could just say one must be mistaken, but that's not really good historical work if it's not necessary from the accounts that they are mutually exclusive. If I have reports of a battle from two Roman commanders that seem to have conflicts, but on analysis could be reconciled, I would just assume that I'm getting a fuller picture of naturally complex historical realities by having more accounts to work from. </p><p>This is violating the common maxim that the simplest answer is likely the most accurate. But that maxim doesn't really apply to the discipline of history where the more accurate maxim is that "History is Messy" (i.e. complex). Usually the most accurate understanding of any historical circumstance is a highly nuanced and complex picture made up of multitudes of factors. Unless there's some demonstrable reason to believe that one or the other source is untrustworthy, or has an "angle" that would benefit from their version excluding another, we're probably best accepting the more complex picture reconciled from multiple sources. I don't really see any advantage to Matthew or Luke (the author of Acts) to favor falling versus hanging. One means of death versus another doesn't add anything to either author's larger story--the primary point for both seems to be that Judas committed suicide, not that the specific means of his death proved something or enhanced some other point. <br /></p><p>This gets to a question of source reliability. This is illustrated in <i>The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe </i>by Professor <span>Digory Kirke</span>'s question to Peter and Susan (the older two siblings) about the reliability of their younger siblings when the youngest discovers a portal to the fantastic realm of Narnia: Lucy, the younger girl, has a story of finding another world through a portal and Edmund (the younger boy) says it's a made up game. Peter and Susan are troubled because obviously it's a lie--there can't be portals to fantastic worlds. But the professor asks, "is it usual that the girl is less honest than the boy?" They reply that Edmund is a known liar and that Lucy is very honest. So the Professor asks why they are sticking by their (what we might call a "negative evidence"-based, or argument from silence) presupposition that there can't be a portal, rather than their (positive evidence-based) presupposition that Lucy is honest. </p><p> If we generally find Matthew and Luke to be honest reporters, and they have an apparent conflict that, on analysis, can be reconciled, it actually makes more sense to assume the reconciled picture is the more full picture of the actual historical event and dismiss our assumptions about rafters and cliffs. </p>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-25576536749807999542021-02-01T11:00:00.003-06:002021-02-01T11:36:42.922-06:00 Woah! What happened to 2020?!<p>The last time I posted was September of 2019? What happened? Well, in addition to all the things that happened to all of us in 2020 (pandemic, racial injustice and tension, political conflict, etc.), I pastored our church plant through its launch (which included changing worship locations seven times in its first 7 months of existence!), continued rehabbing our house and apartments, and wrote a little less than half of my dissertation. So it was a busy year. But I'll hope for a little more activity here in 2021!<br /></p>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-43572916559832403922019-09-12T16:17:00.000-05:002019-09-16T19:54:11.641-05:00Resurrection discrepancies in the four Gospels?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was talking with a friend recently about how the accounts of the resurrection of Christ in the four Gospels seem to differ. I spent some time looking into the question and thought I'd put my results here. First, I laid out the accounts in parallel (see below), and used same colors to highlight like events across the accounts (for e.g. I've used navy blue to highlight Jesus' giving up His spirit across all four accounts even though it's the first thing in Mt, Mk, Jn and 2nd in Lk). Comparing the four accounts this way, it seems to me there's two problems to address: (1) differences in what actually happened at Jesus' death, the other (2) is the order of events when the Resurrection is discovered.<br />
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On (1) the death, note that the problem isn't direct conflicts (apart from what the centurion says - “this was the Son of God” [Mt/Mk] or “This man was innocent” [Lk], and here, he could easily have said both. The “son of God” statement means more to the reader than it would have to the Centurion: he probably wasn't saying “I believe the yet-to-be-articulated doctrine of the Trinity!” He was probably saying, “I believe what this man said about himself”; and remember he was probably speaking in Latin [as a Roman] or Aramaic [as a resident of Palestine], depending on his nationality, while the story is being written in Greek, so exact words of dialogue aren't going to translate), but things not reported: Matthew is most dramatic/supernatural with the temple curtain tearing (like Mk/Lk), a rock-splitting earthquake, and mini-resurrections. Luke is next most dramatic with three hours of darkness prior to the curtain tearing, and the crowd viewing a “spectacle” that causes them to beat their breasts (but he doesn't fill in what caused the awed reaction) then Mark just reports the curtain, and John doesn't even do that. That's where I get back to the point that the authors aren't just recording the story, but making specific points. John is very concerned with demonstrating how in control of the process Jesus was and how in accord with Old Testament prophecy He unfolded the story. Since Jesus wasn't the one darkening the sun and was actually dead at the moment of the earthquake/mini-resurrections, and since those things aren't prophesied in OT, John isn't concerned with reporting them—he's just moving on to reporting the next things that fulfill OT prediction.<br />
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The eyewitnesses to the events didn't perceive conflicts—and most of the authors themselves were writing with the other authors before them and wouldn't have written in conflicts (unless they were “correcting the record” – but they weren't received as correcting the record so much as affirming the record). Matthew (written late 50s/early 60s) and Luke (written mid-60s) used Mark (written in early 50s) as a source: they didn't contradict but added details. Matthew was an eyewitness—maybe in the power of the event he didn't pay attention to the lighting (or maybe in comparison to the earthquake and mini-resurrections he didn't bother to mention it). Luke was interviewing eyewitnesses: maybe Luke's witnesses didn't mention the earthquake and mini-resurrections. John was the latest (sometime between 70 & 100) and had access to the others—and they were all accepted as accurate and authentic by the Church as they were received, so he's clearly not going to offer a counter without saying he's doing so, and it being noticed that he's doing so. So even if we perceive differences, we'd need to try and put ourselves in the position of an original audience member and try to figure out why they didn't perceive discrepancies or perceive the accounts as differing.<br />
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With that in mind, we're turning to the 4 accounts saying “what could have happened that could be accurately described by all of these accounts?” (bearing in mind too that this question is more about satisfying our concerns about authenticity, not about correct interpretation: in interpretation the text has authority, so meaning is not in reconstructing the specifics of the event, but in understanding the point being made in the telling—believing the telling is an accurate representation of the event).<br />
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So I'll try to put together a timeline of the discovery of the Resurrection that makes sense of the four accounts. In the columns above I noted that Matthew includes a whole story line the other authors ignore: the input from the soldiers. I have shown this story line in blue. If we understand this storyline as information from the guards, not from the women, it does much to resolve apparent discrepancies: Mt 27:62-66 sets up the story, 28:1 is an interlude getting the women to the tomb, and then 28:2-4 describes what happened prior to the women's arrival to explain the scene they encounter when they arrive. So the first thing to happen, coming from a soldier's account (probably confided secretly since he was payed to say something else: Mt 28:13-15) is the earthquake when the angel of the Lord descends to open the tomb. The guards feint. Then Mary Madeline and several women come in the dark, toward dawn (Mt 28:1, Mk 16:1-3, Lk 24:1, Jn 20:1), find the empty tomb, and go to tell the apostles (we might note here that probably it's just Mary that goes to tell the apostles [Jn 20:2] while the others do nothing [Mk 16:8]); two of whom go to check out their story (Jn 20:2-10, Lk 24:12). Mary and other women return to the tomb and encounter two angels (Mt 28:5-7, Mk 16:5-8, Lk 24:4-8, Jn 20:11-13). Jesus reveals Himself to Mary and the women (Mt 28:9-10, Mk 16:9, Jn 20:14-17), and the women go to tell the disciples not just that the tomb is open and Jesus is gone, but that He has risen (Mt 28:8, Mk 16:10-11, Lk 24:9-11, Jn 20:18). This would mean that Luke conflates the complex activity related in John, probably because he had more limited sources (John was one of the two who respond to Mary's call in 20:2-10; Luke appears to have been relating info from Peter in in 24:12. He's telling the short version, and John comes along a number of years later and fills out details from his own experience. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Matthew 27/28:</b></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>50</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>51</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>52</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>53</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>54</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>55</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>56</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>57</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>58</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>59</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>60</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>61</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>62</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>63</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>64</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>65</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>66</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>28:1</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>2</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>3</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>4</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>5</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>6</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>7</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>8</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>9</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>10</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>11</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> While they were going, behold, </span></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>12</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>13</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>14</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>15</u></span><span style="color: teal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>37</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>38</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>39</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>40</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>41</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>42</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>43</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>44</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>45</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>46</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>47</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>16:</u></span><span style="color: black;"><u>1</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>2</u></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>3</u></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>4</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back— it was very large.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>5</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>6</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>7</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>8</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>9</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> [[</span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>10</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>11</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.04in; padding-left: 0.04in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0.04in;" width="129"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Luke 23/24:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>44</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: #94006b;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>45</u></span><span style="color: #94006b;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> while the sun’s light failed</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And the curtain of the temple was torn in two</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>46</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>47</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>48</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: #94006b;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>49</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>50</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>51</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>52</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>53</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>54</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>55</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>56</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>24:1</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>2</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>3</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>4</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> While they were perplexed about this, behold, </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>5</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>6</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>7</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>8</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And they remembered his words, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>9</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>10</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>11</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>12</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: black;">John 19/</span><span style="color: black;">20:</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>30</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> When Jesus had received the sour wine, </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>31</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Since it was the day of Preparation,</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>32</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>33</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>34</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>35</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>36</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>37</u></span><span style="color: #4700b8;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>38</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>39</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>40</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>41</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>42</u></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>John 20:1</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark,</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>2</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>3</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>4</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>5</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>6</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>7</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>8</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>9</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>10</u></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Then the disciples went back to their homes. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><u>John 20:11</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>12</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>13</u></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>14</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>15</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>16</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>17</u></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><u>18</u></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. </span></span></span></span> </div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-35820055958037728722019-05-23T13:32:00.000-05:002019-05-23T13:32:17.551-05:00Response: Emerson W. Baker, The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft & Conflict in Early New England<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Of1kUOnRE4/XObm5LBeglI/AAAAAAADUe8/LvFqO3RfIfU9Rrlrnj-_w4YHXACVkYhTQCLcBGAs/s1600/Devil%2Bof%2BGreat%2BIsland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="414" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Of1kUOnRE4/XObm5LBeglI/AAAAAAADUe8/LvFqO3RfIfU9Rrlrnj-_w4YHXACVkYhTQCLcBGAs/s400/Devil%2Bof%2BGreat%2BIsland.jpg" width="262" /></a>I just finished Emerson Baker's <i>The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft & Conflict in Early New England</i>. (The funny backstory to this is that I didn't come across it through dissertation research; rather Ellie [9 years old] figured out how to do keyword searches using our public library's catalog and, wanting to find a book to check out for me, searched for "seventeenth century New England"!)<br />
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It's an enjoyable deep-dive look into life in the community of Great Island, NH during the latter half of the seventeenth century, and centers on an incident of "lithobolia" (supernatural flying stones and other inanimate objects, usually centering on an individual or place, and attributed to witchcraft) which happened over the course of several months in 1682.<br />
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Tavern owner George Walton is caught in a horizontal hail of rocks with no apparent source one summer evening outside his tavern. He flees inside and the rocks continue to pelt the tavern; then objects within the tavern begin flying around, injuring occupants and breaking windows from the inside. The incident was reported by George and his family and guests, and recorded--and published--by a minister who observed the event while staying in the tavern as a guest. The strange occurrence continued intermittently for months, centered on George himself, and happening to him miles up river in some cases. George eventually accused his widowed neighbor of witchcraft, but she was not ultimately charged.<br />
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Baker writes well, and tells a story well. Despite the fact that his sources are primarily court records of lawsuits between early inhabitants and archaic land deeds the story he tells is quite engaging. He also uncovers the surprising interconnectedness of the subjects of the story. What starts out as a seemingly open and shut case of a supernatural happening (wait a minute...) turns out to have all sorts of family and neighborly land feuds and legal maneuvering, far-reaching political schemes, religious arguments and economic ties going on beneath the surface.<br />
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It turns out that the widowed neighbor had been involved in a land dispute with George that had raged through numerous lawsuits for years. Not only that George was embroiled in constant lawsuits with his neighbors over land disputes and was constantly in court. In many of these conflicts it was clear that George was willing to become involved in some rather underhanded dealings. Also he was a Quaker in an increasingly Puritan colony where one could be convicted of holding deviant religious beliefs. In fact, he was hosting a gathering of leading Quaker "subversives" from across the North American colonies in his tavern on the evening the lithobolia started. And he was a supporter of an highly placed Anglican noble who had been fighting to make money off his claims to the colony of New Hampshire by inserting his own governors and judges to force colonists to pay him for their land claims. There was good reason for George Walton to be the target of his neighbors' dislike--and perhaps even violent attacks--on a number of levels.<br />
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My concerns with Baker's tale are twofold. First, despite setting up the lithobolia episodes as a strange, potentially supernatural phenomenon from multiple period (and first person) sources, his investigation never loops back to explain these sources in light of all the conflict going on beneath the surface. George's neighbors and servants may have had many reasons to throw rocks at him. The problem is that <i>none of the original sources suggest that his neighbors were throwing rocks at him! </i>Baker makes a very convincing case that the Waltons were difficult neighbors who could well have garnered the enmity of their community and were likely to be the recipients of violent attacks. But the sources present what happened at the Walton's tavern as inexplicable by natural causes. The distance of the tavern from cover where attackers could have hidden is specifically noted as too great for rocks to be thrown. The movement of objects inside the tavern is not explained away by noting that the Walton's had dubious relationships with their indentured servants. If what was really happening was that George's neighbors and servants were teaming up to throw rocks at him, why do multiple eyewitnesses (guests at the inn, servants, family members, neighbors, George himself) present the incidents as inexplicable? Why wouldn't George, who was clearly willing to take legal and even physical action against his neighbors when he couldn't get along with them, just bring accusations of stone-throwing to the magistrates, or start throwing stones himself, rather than accusing his neighbor of witchcraft? If neighbors were standing in the yard pelting the inn and disgruntled servants were throwing fire irons around inside, why did guest and family accounts say that stones and objects moved on their own? To prove that many people have many legitimate grievances against the Waltons does not prove that those people entered into a conspiracy to pull of a community-wide hoax, that would seem to even need to include George playing along and ignoring his human tormentors to claim supernatural attacks. Particularly when pinning the supernatural attacks on one neighbor would not fix all George's legal problems, nor avenge him against the multiple neighbors he had grievances with. Accusing those neighbors of actual physical assaults would have gotten George much further legally. Most of the assaults were witnessed by parties that would have either been disinterested--or even supporters of the Waltons. To assume the attacks are easily explicable incidents of neighbors throwing rocks requires that we assume the Waltons and their witnesses were willing to participate in the hoax and claim supernatural causes. It seems unlikely that royal officials and Quaker visitors would willingly put their names to far-fetched claims, particularly when the legal advantage of doing so was less than the legal advantage of just accusing the rock-throwers. Barker assumes the impossibility of a para-normal explanation, and his investigation falls into unscientific assumptions as a result.<br />
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Let me be clear: I have no predisposition to assuming there must be a supernatural answer to the lithobolia incident at Great Island. In most instances of paranormal events I find that a careful enough examination of the situation reveals a hoax, or a natural phenomenon that has been perceived as supernatural. But to investigate with the<br />
It doesn't offer sufficient explanation unless you assume to start with that a paranormal explanation is not possible.<br />
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This unscientific rejection of a phenomenon just because it is outside our own experience gets at my second objection, which is a historical context problem. Baker assumes--and trumps up the whole incident to--the backwardness of pre-modernist New England. It's like he's saying 'these are a bunch of easily fooled, superstitious bumpkins; the self-serving or superstitious explanations were readily accepted because of the superstition and darkness of the cultural context.'<br />
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If this is an accurate picture, why were there so few witch executions in New England, as compared to certain Swiss villages left bereft of women by the witch hunts, or sixty thousand executions in Europe between 1450-1750 (which Baker actually notes)<br />
? Out of 344 accusations of witchcraft in New England between 1620-1725, 185 occurred in relation to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93 which resulted in 20 executions (pp. 86-87). While that is 20 executions too many, in a world that was still very actively pursuing and executing witches, the 'backward,' 'superstitious' New Englanders managed to get away with only 344 accusations, far fewer convictions, and only a score of executions. Rather than bemoan the backwardness of the seventeenth-century New Englanders we might rather celebrate that their system seemed to be outstripping the mother continent's when it came to protecting the innocent from spurious charges. <br />
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While Baker marshals an impressive amount of backstory and paints a very vivid picture of life in seventeenth-century New England--a picture which shows a remarkable degree of sophistication and complexity--I do not believe he has solved the mystery of Great Island as thoroughly as his conclusion seems to indicate. While I do not believe there <i>need</i> be a supernatural explanation, I also think it need not be dismissed out of hand. Nor to I think the evidence of community strife--which would certainly provide a motive for the attacks--is sufficient in itself to overcome the realities of the attack which must necessarily be addressed to consider the mystery "solved."<br />
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-92024945108367703672019-01-05T13:22:00.000-06:002019-01-06T20:29:27.734-06:00A fieldtrip to "'70s era walkable urbanism": The Connecticut Post Mall...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkS8YMf9fFU/XDEB3jttjVI/AAAAAAADP0k/Ah_T5G0wZqQ45GxuAPppyVodA_JyxB53wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_111645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkS8YMf9fFU/XDEB3jttjVI/AAAAAAADP0k/Ah_T5G0wZqQ45GxuAPppyVodA_JyxB53wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_111645.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We took a field trip to the Connecticut Post Mall today--I've been told
it's the largest retail facility in the state, I've also been told it is
definitely not. Either way, it's big. About 2 miles from our house.
I've never been there except on the bicycle to take pictures of the
parking on <span class="_5afx"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz"></span><span class="_58cm">Black Friday</span></span>. It was a fascinating trip...<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YZeRZaunsE/XDEB3Os2jBI/AAAAAAADP0g/_eQ4_7senMMuaoUOWsAU6JdBuAbRkpAQACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_113931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YZeRZaunsE/XDEB3Os2jBI/AAAAAAADP0g/_eQ4_7senMMuaoUOWsAU6JdBuAbRkpAQACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_113931.jpg" width="320" /></a><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">I
found the mall had most things traditional towns did before
zoning/auto-orientation began to destroy sustainability: Looking down on
the town square, with "outdoor" cafés in the background...</span></span><br />
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"> </span></span><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"> </span></span><br />
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">A little bitty corner store off the town square:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IX3rynic8iU/XDEB5tvDprI/AAAAAAADP0s/V_bqEKHTZuIeAG0q82cZ1RSyLZvqBqykgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_114129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IX3rynic8iU/XDEB5tvDprI/AAAAAAADP0s/V_bqEKHTZuIeAG0q82cZ1RSyLZvqBqykgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_114129.jpg" width="320" /></a><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">A really small diner (this one can have an "outdoor" bar because of the roof!):</span></span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList"></span></span></span><br />
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList"><span class="fcg"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuPI8zbGbHU/XDEB4nDQ5mI/AAAAAAADP0o/sXlLEonxgeMaIiHbmR-29GBsrFJA8sPcACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_114231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuPI8zbGbHU/XDEB4nDQ5mI/AAAAAAADP0o/sXlLEonxgeMaIiHbmR-29GBsrFJA8sPcACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_114231.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ekvNyiqqZso/XDEB7Fwf4jI/AAAAAAADP04/omVr9hyIs_89flZBOeOrM50dW2jcPulHACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_115608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ekvNyiqqZso/XDEB7Fwf4jI/AAAAAAADP04/omVr9hyIs_89flZBOeOrM50dW2jcPulHACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_115608.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"></span></span></span></span><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"></span></span></span></span><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Small
"outdoor" seating... reminds me of a friend's comment (responding to
how Carbondale had outlawed sidewalk café seating for a while), "yeah,
cause the thing that makes Paris such a dump is all the freakin'
sidewalk cafés!":</span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-86Uv44UI7UA/XDEB7EBT6uI/AAAAAAADP08/QcNMRnss9G0lBVZNLJsLqvwZXpWVhwPDQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_120141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-86Uv44UI7UA/XDEB7EBT6uI/AAAAAAADP08/QcNMRnss9G0lBVZNLJsLqvwZXpWVhwPDQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_120141.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Note
the narrow "streets" that make for a cozy, active atmosphere. This is
the beauty of the goal of a mall as a walkable village, sheltered from
the elements. <br /> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">This mall still has enough polish and investment to
attract active stores, so you get lots of "eyes on the street" which
makes it feel very fun and safe. This is the cycle that makes malls
non-viable though in the way downtowns and traditio<span class="text_exposed_show">nal
market areas remain viable: everything is the same age, so you can't
have cheap start-ups in the vicinity of more expensive, new things. The
mall is owned by one conglomerate, and the whole thing is cared for in
the same way--so if it's a new mall, or one that's just had a bunch of
investment, it attracts expensive, attractive stores; if it's an older
mall it's universally in decline and starts attracting cheaper stores
that don't have the same attraction value to customers. You can't have
diversity of economy with such expensive infrastructure (i.e. putting a
roof and climate control over the whole village).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8djFNz78P8g/XDEB7fxNZFI/AAAAAAADP1A/ucUT8x-ToFA-R62ahkyR3a6ijlMgMhAcACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190105_122601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8djFNz78P8g/XDEB7fxNZFI/AAAAAAADP1A/ucUT8x-ToFA-R62ahkyR3a6ijlMgMhAcACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190105_122601.jpg" width="320" /></a><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">The
other detractor to malls: they are surrounded by a sea of asphalt. In
good weather it's baking hot, in rainy weather its dismal, and the whole
experience (because it's all retail with no residential mixed in) is
only accessible by braving this (and equipping yourself to do so at an
average of $9k a year...). You can't have diversity of use--and the
whole thing has to get shut off at 9 or 10 pm to avoid excessive
security costs, so you can only capitalize on the space for about half
the day.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-85069395095322715142018-11-09T15:12:00.002-06:002018-11-09T16:36:45.843-06:00Getting control of your personal finances in 4 easy steps<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
I wrote an email to a friend recently to help them get started in getting a handle on their personal finances and, since this is a topic I like to geek out on, I thought the info might be helpful as a post: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sRf1pQ2lPjo/W-X4NPPUjtI/AAAAAAADPEI/3AwUOmSH3NIUU8DZ3vjZbihku1u8_55dgCLcBGAs/s1600/210px-USCurrency_Federal_Reserve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="210" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sRf1pQ2lPjo/W-X4NPPUjtI/AAAAAAADPEI/3AwUOmSH3NIUU8DZ3vjZbihku1u8_55dgCLcBGAs/s320/210px-USCurrency_Federal_Reserve.jpg" width="195" /></a><b>1.
Get a picture of your spending: </b></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Record every purchase for a month (or a
week if that's too long, but the month will give you a better picture);
this can be as simple as sitting down and listing all your monthly
expenses (rent, utilities, memberships like Netflix, phone, cable, etc.
car insurance, renters insurance, life and health insurance, debt
service payments [like a car payment, student loans, etc], etc.), then
carrying a notebook (or folded sheet of paper) with your wallet and just
jotting down every time you use a card or cash; what I typically do is I
pay for everything I can with a credit card, and keep all the receipts
in my wallet, then about once a week I record all the receipts in an app
called <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://goodbudget.com&source=gmail&ust=1541882619611000&usg=AFQjCNFTvaNtC8ZYteV8dS2s4IqngKf0Vw" href="http://goodbudget.com/" target="_blank">goodbudget.com</a>
(for cash purchases I record them in the app as they happen). It's
really simple, but is set up more for once you have a budget set up, so
initially you'd just be recording everything as an unassigned new
expense. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A great tool for this if you take
the time to set it up is <a href="http://mint.com/">Mint.com</a> which you can connect to your credit
cards and bank accounts so it will track all your spending for you
(you'd have to record cash manually); that said, it takes some time to
set up, so I wouldn't see it as a first step, more something to pursue
if you find you like this process. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>2. Look at
the data: </b></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Add up everything you spent and compare it to your income. The
difference is how much you have available to save. Think about the
results: sometimes recording all our spending confirms we're where we
think we're supposed to be; more often it surprises us with what we're
actually spending. The simple process of recording is a hugely helpful
tool for getting control because by becoming aware of where the money's
going we get more control. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>3. Determine a
budget: </b></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Things like rent are fixed expenses but need to be accounted for
in the budget; things like food you can decide how much you want to
spend on it through choices like eating out vs. preparing at home (<a href="http://www.snap-challenge.com/" target="_blank">here's</a> a great crash-course in starting to prepare food at home while spending at the same rate as the SNAP program). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I
use a "simple digital envelope system" I've developed to deal with our
finances: I use a spreadsheet to list out all the reoccurring monthly
expenses, then I decide what I want to spend in each of four categories
("envelopes") on a weekly basis: "Fun" (eating out, going to movies,
buying books or gadgets for pleasure), "Groceries" (just the food we eat
that we prepare at home), "Misc." (toiletries, clothing, household
goods, etc.), "transportation" (gas, train/bus rides, bicycle expenses,
oil changes, auto repairs, etc.). You make these categories in the
goodbudget app and then record each expense (or go through your receipts
at the end of the week), in order to keep up with the weekly spending
(since the monthly spending stays generally constant. (Things like
utilities you can average your yearly costs to get a more accurate
monthly picture than just what you spent last month given heating and
cooling drive up these prices.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I find the
simplicity of this system works really well for me. I have friends who like a much
more complex budget tracking system and if you want to get real specific
about separating into multiple categories you can do that; it's more a
matter of personality in my opinion. There's a great app called YNAB.com
("you need a budget") that is free for a trial period then you pay a
small fee for it; I've heard good reviews, but I haven't
tried it out because I already have a system that works for me. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ngc3ke58izefr3/Master%20Budget%20Sheet%20sample.xls?dl=0" target="_blank">Here is a sample spreadsheet</a> I used when I set up our budget years ago (with numbers randomized for privacy but somewhat representative)
so you can see how you could format one: I put in my monthly income
from various sources at the top, monthly expenses next, then weekly
"budget envelopes" (called that because the old way of doing this was
putting cash in physical envelopes at the beginning of the week),
multiplied by 4.34 (how many weeks there are in the average month) to
show me what my monthly expenses are. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>4.
Continuing ed: </b></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Start delving into free, online learning about personal
finance. It's really a fun field, and it gives you a great sense of
personal control, and even of personal wealth and ability. Mr. Money
Mustache (Pete Adney) is a guy who writes about personal
finance, being frugal, and lots of other life-hacks--he retired at 32
and has been living on the savings he built up working for 10 years
after college for the last 12+ years. There's a whole genre of blogs and
a
growing group of people called the "FIRE" community ("financial
independence/retire early") who are into this. Other good blogs or
podcasts are <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://choosefi.com&source=gmail&ust=1541882619611000&usg=AFQjCNEk7DSqnx85e_Cm3dGCLBM67TnUag" href="http://choosefi.com/" target="_blank">choosefi.com</a>, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://millennial-revolution.com&source=gmail&ust=1541882619611000&usg=AFQjCNFjDwmUho-zcf5qxgXLa3Myc9z6Vg" href="http://millennial-revolution.com/" target="_blank">millennial-revolution.com</a>,
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://radicalpersonalfinance.com&source=gmail&ust=1541882619611000&usg=AFQjCNGGfPtCIzAO-iQToRO3T94vQFeOwQ" href="http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/" target="_blank">radicalpersonalfinance.com</a>. I started with <a href="http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/06/meet-mr-money-mustache/" target="_blank">the first article</a> at Mr. Money Mustache then read a few in sequence until I got distracted
by other articles on random topics that seemed interesting to me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A great tool for tracking your net worth (how much money and assets you have vs. how much debt you have) is <a href="https://share.personalcapital.com/x/VwbIE0" target="_blank">Personal Capital</a> (the link is my referral link). I'm not saying I recommend or don't recommend their financial advising services, I just find their personal asset tracking tools really useful: you link your bank, credit, mortgage, investment and retirement accounts and they will show you where everything stands. They have a great tool that will analyze your fee costs so you can see
how much being invested in a particular retirement plan, etc. is costing
you. They will start reaching out to set up a free advisory session--I never followed up on this and they eventually stopped reaching out... </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Like I said above, I like to geek out about this stuff, so I'm happy to talk anytime if someone would like pointers setting anything up or talking through their situation!</div>
</div>
Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-20157711057971762812018-02-13T20:02:00.002-06:002018-11-09T14:46:11.980-06:00Main Street, East Greenwich, RI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="tr_bq">
A description of Main Street, East Greenwich, RI, where my father grew up:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-TdW7NImD0/WoOW80Q7kAI/AAAAAAADHB8/uL8svSRvCn4Up3lA6xz0jZFNs3K_BpB4gCLcBGAs/s1600/Main%2BStreet%2Blooking%2BNorth%2Beast_greenwich_ri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="450" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-TdW7NImD0/WoOW80Q7kAI/AAAAAAADHB8/uL8svSRvCn4Up3lA6xz0jZFNs3K_BpB4gCLcBGAs/s1600/Main%2BStreet%2Blooking%2BNorth%2Beast_greenwich_ri.jpg" /></a></div>
Old East Greenwich was about one square mile in size. The town’s borders ran from the water front of Greenwich Cove West to about Kenyon Avenue. It ran north to South starting at Division Street at the north to about First Avenue on the south. Most Of the homes and businesses were located on Main Street, King Street and Pierce Street. <span id="goog_1093566708"></span><br />
<blockquote>
There were a little over 200 homes built in the 1700’s and 1800’s. About six homes were built in the 1600’s. Old Main Street has about 80 houses, businesses, churches and public buildings. Main Street is also known as the Post Road, Route a1.... Main Street was a dirt road. It was mud most of the time. In 1889 stone was taken from what is now Eldredge School field, crushed, and used to macadamize Main Street. It was the first paved road in the town. In 1900, a trolley ran to Providence and to Narragansett. The tracks were removed in 1928.... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-itvml-sXXz4/WoOXGBELePI/AAAAAAADHCA/Ju6dlZtdZEsgjm2n0SLQL6Q1N7JJXQlXACLcBGAs/s1600/Main%2BSreet%2BEast%2BGreenwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="760" height="255" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-itvml-sXXz4/WoOXGBELePI/AAAAAAADHCA/Ju6dlZtdZEsgjm2n0SLQL6Q1N7JJXQlXACLcBGAs/s400/Main%2BSreet%2BEast%2BGreenwich.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
One of the charming things about early Main Street was that it was lined with beautiful Dutch Elm trees for the full one mile length of the street. In the mid 1930’s the trees were struck with the Dutch Elm Blight. The town tried to save the trees by spraying them. It helped for a short time. In 1938 the hurricane took a toll on the Elm trees. It was hard for a tree to hold up to 186 mile per hour wind. Those trees that survived were cut down when the Main Street was widened in 1940. Recently I asked a number of my classmates, all who are in their mid 80’s or late 80’s, what their most fond memory of East Greenwich is. They almost all said it was the Main Street with all the beautiful Elm trees. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
In the early years parking on Main Street was not a problem to do shopping or do business. Since most people lived not much more than a half mile from Main Street they walked. People walked to work in town and the children walked to school. Just about everything you would want or need could be found on Main Street: armory, post office, candy store, bike repair, barber shop, drug store, hotel, private homes, beauty parlor, grocery stores, hardware stores, liquor stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, shoe repair, banks, churches, restaurants, blacksmith, auto sale & repair, gas stations, bowling alley & pool hall, municipal buildings, fire station, funeral parlor and telephone exchange. Shopping was easy on Main Street.... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Until 1940 when Main Street was widened there was a hitching post, horse water trough, the town pump and a fountain in front of the court house. The water fountain was moved to the Eldredge School when the Main Street was widened in 1940. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Over the past 100 plus years there have been over a dozen major changes to Main Street. Not all of these changes have been in the best interest of the citizens. A number of homes and structures that I knew as a youth are gone on Main Street. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The first home that I recall being razed was a very stately home on the corner of Main and Division Street. It was a very large three story home with three chimneys and a porch on the second level overlooking Maine Street. The home was built in 1749 and razed in 1930 to make way for the Post Office Building. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Of all the buildings razed on Main Street the razing of the old Town Hall was a crime. The justification for its removal was that it was costing too much to retain.The building was built in Queen Anne style in 1885. It had a 70 foot bell tower with four clocks that chimed the hour 24 hours a day. The clock bell could be heard all over the old town. The clock bell weighed 12 hundred pounds. The building was razed in 1964 to make way for a parking lot. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Next door to the Town Hall on the south side was the First Rhode Island Central Bank. It was built in 1759 and was razed in 1938 to make way for the construction of the F. W. Woolworth 5 & 10 Cent Store. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church which was built in 1867 was razed for a small shopping center in 1960; the parsonage and carriage house were also razed. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
A house on the corner of Maine and London Street, built as early as 1712, was razed in 1940 to make way for a gas station. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
At the start of World War Two, the USO Building was constructed on the corner of Greene and Main Street. It was used as a facility for service men. After the war, it was converted to a movie house. In 1995 it was razed to make way for the Centreville Bank Building. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The Union Block was made up of nine two story wooden homes that were rented to the Union Mill and Drysalter workers. They were located on the corner of Greene and Maine Street. They were torn down in 1954 to make way for a new shopping center. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
A home built in the early 1712’s once stood on the corner of London and Main Street. It was razed in 1940 to make way for a gas station. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
In the 1900’s the following very old homes were razed in the name of progress: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The Second Rhode Island Central Bank, built in 1840 once stood on the corner of Division and Main Street. It was razed in 1913 to make way for the building the Varnum Memorial Armory. The armory had two very large Rodman Cannons from the Civil War mounted on each side of the entrance. The cannons were donated to a World War Two scrap drive. </blockquote>
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The Cook-Lawton House once stood adjacent to the Methodist Church on Main Street. It was built in 1803. It was razed in 1924 and a one story brick bank building was built. </blockquote>
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The Joseph Greene House, known as “The Sterling Castle” built in 1776 was located on the corner of Pierce and Main Street. It was razed in 1956 and is now a parking lot. </blockquote>
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The Mowry-LeBaron House once stood on the corner of Church and Main Street. It was built around 1790. It was moved up the hill to make way for the building of the Masonic Lodge Building. It has since been razed for a parking lot. </blockquote>
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The Judge Loomis Home originally located on the corner of Melrose and Main Street was moved halfway up Melrose Street to make way for the building the Greenwich Theatre in 1925. The Loomis house was jacked up, put on rollers and pulled up the hill by a large team of horses. The Loomis House was built in the early 1800’s. </blockquote>
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The Brick House located on the corner of Long and Main Street was across the street from the fire station. It is one of the oldest buildings in East Greenwich. Built in 1767. It was the first brick home in town and was a Georgia-style brick building. When rumors started to circulate that the Fire District planned to purchase the Brick House and raze it for use as a parking lot for the fire station across the street, the founding members of the Preservation Society took action and in March 1968 bought the historic Brick House to save it from destruction. Preservation of the old Brick House was the Preservation Society's first project. Today the house is listed in The Register of Historic Places. </blockquote>
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The Jewel in the Crown of all structures on Main Street is The Kent County Courthouse. It was constructed in 1806. When word got out that there were plans to raze the building and replace it with a modern structure the citizens became alarmed and put a stop to the rebuilding plan. This is a good reason that we should support historic or preservation societies. </blockquote>
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In the last 100 years 14 or more very old homes have been razed, but we have gained SIX or more PARKING LOT. Time often takes away the ugly and beautiful.</blockquote>
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While there is change throughout, note that in the 1920s the trend is to move, not raze, buildings; note also that the trolley tracks were removed in 1928, as the auto industry bought up trolley companies and destroyed them to leave no competition for automobiles. Also note that the trend of converting historic places to parking lots accelerates in the post-World War Two years once the auto-dependent development model had time to design zoning, codes and tax-structures to support an economically unsustainable system.</div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-75056620405410869562017-10-23T10:41:00.000-05:002017-10-23T10:42:39.458-05:00Podcasts I like:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend recently asked me what podcasts I like and, being an audial learner I'm a big fan of podcasts so it became a long list. Since I am always looking for good podcast recommendations I thought I'd share it here. I use the Player FM app mostly so most of these links head there--the app is good, but there are some limitations so I couple it with Podcast Addict when I bump into problems (it's hard to subscribe to specialized feeds or find things outside the Player FM world in P-FM).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The podcast I've been listening to the longest and have been the most consistently impressed with is <a href="https://player.fm/series/econtalk" style="color: #1155cc;">EconTalk with Russ Roberts</a>. He discusses economic implications across the board; interviews hair salon owners and oyster farmers about the economics of their business systems, talks to third-world development analysts about what aid isn't working (and got Jeff Sachs to come on because Sachs didn't like the bad press!), and what could work, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've also really enjoyed <a href="https://player.fm/series/strong-towns-podcast" style="color: #1155cc;">Strong Towns</a> with Chuck Marohn; a civil engineer who began to feel that the current city planning/infrastructure/development pattern is a Panunzi scheme and is trying to offer alternatives focused on fiscal responsibility and stronger communities. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjxrZLxiIfXAhVE4iYKHS-yAHgQFghEMAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.fm%2Fseries%2Faaron-renn-podcast&usg=AOvVaw0OjEGH6czhqeCGdHZYEQau">Aaron Renn's</a> (from <a href="http://www.urbanophile.com/">The Urbanophile</a>) analysis of cities is also interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dan Carlin's <a href="https://player.fm/series/dan-carlins-hardcore-history" style="color: #1155cc;">Hardcore History</a> is really good: I've listened to his series on WWI, WWII's eastern front, the Kahn's empire, and the Punic Wars, and his individual episodes on the atomic age, the Anabaptist uprising at Munster, the Gilded Age, etc. All very good; I've also enjoyed <a href="https://player.fm/series/a-history-of-the-united-states" style="color: #1155cc;">A History of the United States</a> which starts early enough to be of some use for just broad context with my dissertation. <a href="https://player.fm/series/the-napoleon-bonaparte-podcast" style="color: #1155cc;">The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast</a> turned me into a fan of Napoleon, which, as a Patrick O'Brien and Bernard Cornwall reader, was very unexpected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dan Carlin's political commentary cast called <a href="https://player.fm/series/common-sense-with-dan-carlin" style="color: #1155cc;">Common Sense</a> is good and comes from a perspective that's outside the lines of either party. I also discovered <a href="http://rss.art19.com/the-rubin-report" style="color: #1155cc;">The Rubin Report</a> recently and am surprised how much I agree with the perspective of a gay, Jewish atheist (politically he's a Classical Liberal/Libertarian). For balance I've also liked <a href="https://player.fm/series/decode-the-news-1398934" style="color: #1155cc;">Decode the News</a>: it's very left-leaning though I think it falls into the trap of thinking it's being objective, but is done by a PhD in journalism who is trying to explain the techniques being used in news-reporting so you can see how you're being manipulated which is very helpful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've gotten interested in personal finance through the Mr Money Mustache blog and that led to <a href="https://player.fm/series/mad-fientist" style="color: #1155cc;">The Mad Fientest</a>, <a href="https://player.fm/series/radical-personal-finance" style="color: #1155cc;">Radical Personal Finance</a> (who answered one of my questions on the cast!), and <a href="https://player.fm/series/biggerpockets-podcast-real-estate-investing-and-wealth-building-to-help-you-get-bigger-pockets" style="color: #1155cc;">Bigger Pockets</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Devotionally I like <a href="https://player.fm/series/esv-every-day-in-the-word-1395505" style="color: #1155cc;">Every Day in the Word's ESV through the Bible in one year cast</a> (it's just one of the ESV audio recordings arranged for daily reading) and I like hunt-and-pecking <a href="https://player.fm/series/the-gospel-coalition" style="color: #1155cc;">The Gospel Coalition</a>, <a href="https://player.fm/series/the-bible-project-1401633" style="color: #1155cc;">The Bible Project</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwin2uSfiofXAhWIWCYKHQVIAW8QFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchonreligion.org%2F&usg=AOvVaw2GFiLmmkec-92EEK4e5-1c">Research on Religion</a>, and any <a href="https://player.fm/series/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life-83408" style="color: #1155cc;">Keller sermons</a> I can find; our new church in CT, Christ Presbyterian Church of New Haven has a good <a href="http://www.cpcnewhaven.org/feeds/sermons" style="color: #1155cc;">sermon feed</a>, and their classes on the <a href="http://cpcnewhaven.org/feeds/podcast/4" style="color: #1155cc;">Mission Anabaino feed</a> are good. I have also really enjoyed Rick Downs' preaching at <a href="https://player.fm/series/sermons-christ-the-king-presbyterian-church-1556759" style="color: #1155cc;">Christ The King in Boston</a>.</span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-21868420670707057032017-09-21T13:12:00.003-05:002024-01-09T09:44:22.314-06:00Daniel resources<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A friend just asked my opinion on Daniel resources. Having never preached through Daniel nor done extensive academic work in Daniel, here's my quick-and-dirty way of approaching Daniel resources:</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The ESV Study Bible has great material: Iain M. Duguid (Grove City College Ph.D., The University of Cambridge) and Paul D. Wegner (Phoenix Seminary Ph.D., King’s College, The University of London) did the notes on Daniel there. </span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Probably the best resource I know is G. K. Beale (who comes from an amillennial perspective), who wrote the definitive commentary on Revelation, and does extensive exegesis of Daniel in the process, thought that's a bit of a roundabout way to get at the material. I just preached through Revelation and used his <i>A Shorter Commentary on Revelation </i>as my primary resource (because it was available as a kindle [= searchable] and was WAY cheaper than the definitive edition); I'm not sure if it would have as much exegesis of Daniel as the definitive (he was primarily cutting out his extensive work on Rabbinic and intertestamental literature in producing the smaller edition), but the fact that it's digitally searchable would make its Daniel material more accessible.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">Having never preached through Daniel I don't have personal recommendations offhand for commentaries, but this is what the faculty of Covenant Sem. put out a few years ago as their recommendations (from perusing the list, I'd say Chapell would be very approachable and probably do a good job of dealing with dispensationalism from a practical standpoint [while being academically responsible], Ferguson and Longman would be my "scholarly" pics</span><span style="color: #222222;">): </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">Baldwin, Joyce G. Daniel: </span><i style="color: #222222;">An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary</i><span style="color: #222222;">, vol. 25. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978.</span><br />
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<i style="color: #222222;">Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel</i><span style="color: #222222;">. 2 vols. Translated by Thomas Myers. Calvin’s Commentaries. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1948. (Available in various reprint editions--or for free in public domain through </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/commentariesonda01calvuoft"><span style="color: blue;">Archive.org</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, </span><a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/commentaries.titlepage.html?highlight=calvin,john,daniel#highlight"><span style="color: blue;">Christian Classics Ethereal Library</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, and </span><a href="http://classicchristianlibrary.com/ot_section.html"><span style="color: blue;">Classic Christian Library</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> [scroll down to Daniel section for Calvin])</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">Chapell, Bryan. </span><i style="color: #222222;">Standing Your Ground: A Call to Courage in an Age of Compromise: Messages from Daniel</i><span style="color: #222222;">. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1989.</span></span><br />
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Collins, John Joseph. <i>Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel</i>. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.<br />
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Ferguson, Sinclair B. <i>Daniel. Mastering the Old Testament</i>, vol. 19. Waco,TX: Word Books, 1988.<br />
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Ferguson, Sinclair. “Daniel.” In <i>New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition</i>, edited by D. A. Carson and others. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.<br />
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Goldingay, John E. <i>Daniel</i>. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 30. Dallas: Word Books, 1989.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">Keil, C. F. </span><i style="color: #222222;">Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel</i><span style="color: #222222;">. Translated by M. G. Easton. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1955. (the complete Keil and Delitzsch OT commentary is available for free at </span><a href="http://classicchristianlibrary.com/ot_section.html"><span style="color: blue;">Classic Christian Library</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> under "Complete Old Testament Commentaries")</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">Longman, Tremper, III. </span><i style="color: #222222;">Daniel</i><span style="color: #222222;">. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">Wallace, Ronald S. </span><i style="color: #222222;">The Message of Daniel: The Lord is King</i><span style="color: #222222;">. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, n.d.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">Young, Edward J. “Daniel.” In </span><i style="color: #222222;">The New Bible Commentary: Revised</i><span style="color: #222222;">, edited by D. Guthrie and others. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970.</span></span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-9550549542791959182017-07-03T10:43:00.003-05:002023-12-17T22:27:53.188-06:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">In <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/03/28/millennials-leaving-cities/?xid=soc_socialflow_twitter_FORTUNE">a recent article</a> on Fortune, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">David Z. Morris summarizes a couple of recent studies explaining "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">Why Millennials Are About to Leave Cities in Droves."</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">The argument basically goes that millennials don't actually like cities, that they have just been trapped in them by the Great Recession, and that now that jobs are back to normal they're going to suddenly abandon them which "will start returning urban/suburban living patterns to their historical norms."</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">This assumes a number of things:</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">(1) That the suburban living pattern has a historical precedent (in the form discussed here it is very much a post World War II phenomenon: the auto-dependent suburb trend is the historical anomaly, not the trend of living in cities).</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">(2) That millennials started out in cities in the first place (due to the post-World-War-II-auto-dependent-suburb-phenomenon most millennials started out in hard-to-escape suburbs and actually chose to move into cities in a pattern different than the previous generation or two of suburb dwellers).</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">(3) That, assuming this idea that poor young professionals move to cities for jobs then move on once they get them is the norm, we're running out of people to put through this paradigm (while there are certainly ebbs and flows in population, "millennial"—depending on who's defining it—refers to those born between about 1980 and about 2000. While 1990 may be the peak, people continued being born in significant numbers throughout the '90s, and have continued being born in significant numbers up to the present. If the theory is that young people live in cities for a little while and then move out, we're still producing young people who will conform to the theory...).</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(4) That millennials presence in cities or suburbs is an indicator of their preference rather than a consequence of laws, codes and external pressures forcing them where government idealists want them (this is a big case to make, but the historical reality is that we've spent almost a century mandating auto-dependent development due to the lobbying of powerful elites. A good starting source for this is <a href="https://thehappycity.com/the-book/">Charles Montgomery's <i>Happy City</i></a>).</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal;">A last point that I think is worth noting is that the author may be talking about big cities, while my critique pertains to cities in general (and by "city" I mean a place that is neither suburban or rural. I live in the downtown of a city of 50k people; but while the downtown is a very pleasant, walkable place, most of that population lives in auto-dependent parts of the area incorporated into the city. This isn't necessary! We could easily build more places like the walkable neighborhoods around the old downtown, if zoning allowed for such). If you don't make a living from agriculture it is far more efficient—and, for most people, far more pleasant—to live in a place where sitting in a car for an hour or two a day isn't mandated. To the extent that cities try to be more like suburbs they will fail to retain people who want "city life"; the difficulty is that, without efficient cities to provide the tax-base for inefficient suburbs, suburbs will become increasingly economically unsustainable.</span></span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-6326264018012426682017-03-30T09:34:00.002-05:002017-03-30T09:34:20.002-05:00Woodward Ave., Detroit, circa 1917: <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;"><b>"When streetcars and private automobiles moved slowly, everyone shared the street. Speed--and a concerted effort by automobile clubs and manufacturers over the next decade--changed the dynamic forever."</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HGjBISVWCo/WN0XH1ew1MI/AAAAAAAC3ag/82HfjoQxSg4YakiYw8-cF_TbYMRPdr1IQCLcB/s1600/Woodward%2BAve%2BDetroit%2Bcirca%2B1917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HGjBISVWCo/WN0XH1ew1MI/AAAAAAAC3ag/82HfjoQxSg4YakiYw8-cF_TbYMRPdr1IQCLcB/s640/Woodward%2BAve%2BDetroit%2Bcirca%2B1917.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">"Drivers joined with automobile dealers and manufacturers to launch a war of ideas that would redefine the urban street. They wanted the right to go faster. They wanted more space. And they wanted pedestrians, cyclists, and streetcar users t</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">o get out of their way. They called this new movement Motordom....<br /></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">"Motordom faced an uphill battle. It did not take an engineer to see that the most efficient way to move lots of people in and out of dense, crowded downtowns was by streetcar or bus. In the Chicago Loop, streetcars used 2 percent of the road space but still carried three-quarters of road users. The more cars you added the slower the going would be for everyone. So Motordom's soldiers waged their psychological war under the cover of two ideals: safety and freedom.<br /></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">"First they had to convince people that the problem with safety lay in controlling pedestrians, not cars. In the 1920s auto clubs began to compete directly with urban safety councils, campaigning to redirect the blame for accidents from car drivers to pedestrians. Crossing a street freely got a pejorative name--jaywalking--and became a crime.<br /></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "San Francisco", -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">"Most people came to accept that the street was not such a free place anymore--which was ironic, because freedom was Motordom's rallying cry."</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: -0.24px;">-- Charles Montgomery, <i>Happy City</i>, 70-71</span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-41587506708479059902017-02-15T14:46:00.000-06:002017-02-15T14:53:53.652-06:00ALL Our Brands are Crisis...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">...If you're a US President with any popularity. In the movie I'm alluding to in the title (<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018765/">Our Brand is Crisis</a></i>),<i> </i>we watch as the campaign team for </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pedro Castillo,</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">a fictional contender for the presidency of </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bolivia, realizes that their candidate will only be perceived as electable if the public perceives the country to be in crisis: so they set out to sell that fiction, and shortly after the election, it becomes a reality. A more chilling example of the same plot is the closing episodes of the fourth season of <i>House of Cards</i> as the Underwoods become aware of the same reality: their only path to re-election is if the US believes itself to be in crisis, and so they refrain from intervening in an ISIS-style hostage beheading--and choose not to prevent the event from being broadcast live--in order to ensure the country falls in line behind them as the strongest power to provide protection in chaos.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What is more chilling is <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/12/bruce_bueno_de_1.html" target="_blank">Russ Robert's recent interview</a> with <a href="http://politics.as.nyu.edu/object/brucebuenodemesquita" target="_blank">Bruce Bueno de Mesquita</a>, in which de Mesquita discusses his book, <i>The Spoils of War</i>, which demonstrates how US presidents who have chosen to take the country to war--even when better alternatives were available--consistently win re-election, while presidents who preside over peace and economic prosperity tend to be discounted, disliked, and not re-el</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ected (for example, <span style="color: #333333;">Warren Harding, widely regarded as one of the worst Presidents in United States history, saw 0 war deaths under his presidency and also saw the average income rise by 8%, contra Abraham Lincoln who presided over 750,000 war deaths, and saw average income rise by only 2%).</span></span></span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-2001702768024235462017-01-03T13:35:00.001-06:002017-02-09T12:06:56.074-06:00How Immigration Beats Government Aid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5icLiSlywOs/WGv5xoDOoMI/AAAAAAACyuE/OBy9PCPrgn41lbu73gkaV2dF53nXWba8wCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-01-03%2Bat%2B1.21.10%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5icLiSlywOs/WGv5xoDOoMI/AAAAAAACyuE/OBy9PCPrgn41lbu73gkaV2dF53nXWba8wCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-01-03%2Bat%2B1.21.10%2BPM.png" width="400"></a>We saw <i><a href="http://www.meetthepatelsfilm.com/">Meet the Patels</a> </i>recently<i>--</i>a great movie by the way--and an observation a character made got me thinking: she immigrated to the US in 1972 and was commenting to her children that there was not an Indian community to be part of. Indian immigration picked up in the '80s and '90s. This made me think of <i><a href="http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/">Slumdog Millionaire</a></i>, a story about a boy growing up the horrific life of an orphan in Bombay in the '80s, who then competes in the titular game show in the 2000s. You get to see a surprising shift in the nature of poverty between the boyhood scenes and the adult scenes: while there is still injustice and in the interplay of poverty and power in the 2000s portion, the pervasive, grinding, dehumanizing poverty of his youth <br>
</div><a href="http://thebishopspulpit.blogspot.com/2017/01/why-we-need-easy-immigration.html#more">Read more »</a>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-76622948235770547952016-12-24T14:50:00.003-06:002017-02-09T12:08:08.680-06:00Collin Woodard's American Character <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lNCVMs-0VcI/WF7YyZvQNlI/AAAAAAACxbg/YP3mRw83HLY46NtmsDZmLHqrRtZYbe1rgCLcB/s1600/nations.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lNCVMs-0VcI/WF7YyZvQNlI/AAAAAAACxbg/YP3mRw83HLY46NtmsDZmLHqrRtZYbe1rgCLcB/s320/nations.jpeg" width="208"></a>First, a word on the book's prequel: I found Colin Woodard's <i>American Nations</i> to be pretty convincing: some slurring of historical specifics, and some occasional weak arguments for interpreting a few events in ways that proved his thesis even when simpler and more cogent solutions seemed available, but that is to be expected in making an argument at the popular level. A chapter on the "first nation" nation would have been nice, but may have been beyond the scope of the book; more of a discussion of how African Americans fit into the proposed nations or if an understanding of an independent, less-geographical African American nation would make more sense--but Woodard acknowledges this.<br>
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The basic thesis is that North America, from about 100 miles south of the US/Mexican boarder north, is made up of 11 regional cultures, who's characters, goals, values, ideals and social expectations were largely formed within the first few generations of their settlement, have changed little since, and explain most of the history of the continent better than other paradigms (North vs. South, conservative vs. liberal, urban vs. rural, etc.).<br>
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What I find most difficult with the book, however, is how, as the story comes up to the present, Woodard's apparent biases seem to take over the story. While he does a pretty good job of demonstrating in their origins how each nation was behaving in keeping with its national culture, and how this was generally self-serving, by the end of the book it become clear that Woodard sees a direct line <br>
</div><a href="http://thebishopspulpit.blogspot.com/2016/12/collin-woodards-american-character.html#more">Read more »</a>Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-83643240333404198052016-08-26T09:58:00.001-05:002017-02-09T12:08:59.226-06:00One of the costs of commuting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6-Ug3tgfx7Q/V8BZDIbFcOI/AAAAAAACpNw/_lx4uknI-Wc/s640/blogger-image-1119936417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6-Ug3tgfx7Q/V8BZDIbFcOI/AAAAAAACpNw/_lx4uknI-Wc/s200/blogger-image-1119936417.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This article is insane! (In that, it points out something that's very obvious, but that we somehow miss): <a href="http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/06/the-true-cost-of-commuting/">http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/06/the-true-cost-of-commuting/</a></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I didn't do all the math that MMM did, but somehow it stood out to me the first time I went to choose a place to live that I did not want to be stuck in a car for a significant chunk of my life (I was evaluating an apartment option a friend owned that would have involved a 30+ min. commute, and finding something on my own closer to work, so I did look into the time cost: 6+ hrs. per week, times the 2-3 years I expected to have that job... So 600-900 hours!). In seminary I chose to live in an apartment complex 10 miles from school, but there were a lot of other students from the same school so we could share rides and thus build community and save money by carpooling (while avoiding having to live in a soulless suburb near the school...); during grad school we bought a house 2.5 miles from my school, and 2.5 miles from Abby's school; and now we've been able to live about a block from work, and are starting to see the savings of not being auto-dependent (which has also allowed us to ditch the second car).</span></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-55958046479183247452016-07-28T20:50:00.001-05:002017-05-03T14:21:38.282-05:00The problem with the "spirituality" of the church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nQf08yMAlsA/V5q3-ItyLKI/AAAAAAACmm8/F0txyHc0tB8yO8uJwh9LmhxWZ0--_2xGwCLcB/s1600/Portrait_of_Robert_Lewis_Dabney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nQf08yMAlsA/V5q3-ItyLKI/AAAAAAACmm8/F0txyHc0tB8yO8uJwh9LmhxWZ0--_2xGwCLcB/s320/Portrait_of_Robert_Lewis_Dabney.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
"Presbyterian churches in the South strongly opposed any interference in the institution of slavery. They developed the idea of the ‘spirituality of the church’ in which the church’s role was not to speak to political issues but only to evangelize, catechize, and build up the church. </blockquote>
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"This was, of course, an intensified form of the more Lutheran version of the two-kingdoms doctrine, but certainly a departure from the way the Reformed churches of Scotland and the Netherlands had related to society. Nevertheless, this emphasis led many doctrinalist churches in the South to shed the older Reformed culturalist impulse....</blockquote>
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"Marsden notes many ironies about the Reformed ‘culturalist’ impulse. While the Old School in the South ostensibly held to an apolitical stance- ‘the spirituality of the church’--in reality it became a strong defender of the Southern way of life.13 In other words, to say (in a ‘Two-Kingdom’ way) ‘I’m against social reform, I just want to preach the gospel’ is to be de facto supportive of the cultural status quo, and therefore to be a cultural conservative. “Spirituality of the Church” proponents like Thornwell and Dabney ended up as de facto supporters of slavery, and so they were culturally engaged after all."</blockquote>
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-- <a href="http://barkerproductions.net/what_pca.pdf" target="_blank">Tim Keller, "What's So Great About the PCA," June, 2010</a></div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-56190360668967722452016-05-25T22:34:00.000-05:002016-05-25T22:41:06.706-05:00Blood Oil and free markets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dpyAYgWunEY/V0YjJ4fQEuI/AAAAAAAChsc/Dycg0O31eKIeKHDcWrM_zC9qJE36telFwCK4B/s1600/Blood%2BOil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dpyAYgWunEY/V0YjJ4fQEuI/AAAAAAAChsc/Dycg0O31eKIeKHDcWrM_zC9qJE36telFwCK4B/s320/Blood%2BOil.jpg" width="212" /></a>In <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/05/leif_wenar_on_b.html" target="_blank">last week's episode</a> of <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/" target="_blank">EconTalk</a>, <a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/About.html#roberts" target="_blank">Russ Robert's</a> interviewed <a href="http://www.wenar.info/" target="_blank">Leif Wenar</a> on his new book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Oil-Tyrants-Violence-Rules/dp/0190262923/" target="_blank">Blood Oil</a></i>, about the impact of resource trade with tyrants and despots. Wenar argues that the current trade in natural resources, particularly oil, is not a true free-market economy because free markets depend on values such as private property. As Wenar points out, if I took over a corner gas station by force no one would suggest that I had the right to then sell the oil owned by that corner station because I don't actually own those resources. When we trade for natural resources with nations run by despots who separate their state's resources from their citizens--Saudi Arabia, Russia and Equatorial Guinea receive some analysis in the interview as different ways of doing the same thing--we are engaging in an unjust system which rewards pirates who steal resources from their rightful owners and corrupt the market.<br />
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Robert's is deeply impacted by Wenar's argument, but brings up concerns about both Wenar's somewhat interventionist-sounding plea that the government ban trade with such despots, pointing out that the criteria for a despot are somewhat subjective: why should we attack Equatorial Guinea's leader's savage exploitation of oil while ignoring China's more mild exploitation of labor? Wenar's main argument is that, while labor exploitation is bad, natural resources present something of a unique case. His arguments for this are good, but I would suggest a couple of critiques of both Wenar's solutions, and Robert's concerns:<br />
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First, I'd recommend that, rather than seeking to establish an objective criteria for how much despotism is too much despotism (at which point government sanctions need to take over), we would be wiser to mandate transparency: let the public know what they're buying (i.e. gas stations post what percentage of their oil is purchased from what market - Wenar intends to begin posting such data to <a href="http://www.wenar.info/#first" target="_blank">his website</a> in the near future).<br />
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Second, and this plays into the first answer: we need to acknowledge that there is a spectrum between despotism and ideal economic freedom: Robert's point about how to decide that Equatorial Guinea is too despotic but China is okay can be extrapolated to point out that the US isn't perfect in economic freedom, but it's a lot better than Equatorial Guinea. We need to avoid making <i>the perfect</i> the enemy of <i>the good</i>: by not regulating the outcome but requiring transparency from merchants the public can exercise subjective judgement about how much encroachment is too much, and the market can work against truly despotic situations like Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea while exercising more caution in our treatment of China or the US.</div>
Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-3097126723882762442016-05-11T11:46:00.001-05:002016-05-11T14:35:30.563-05:00Marriage and community in Brooklyn<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Brooklyn_FilmPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Brooklyn_FilmPoster.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" /></a>Abby and I watched <i>Brooklyn</i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> last night (a really great film, by the way) and, maybe because I preached on marriage last Sunday, it made me think about t</span>he
importance of the community in a marriage: we make vows before witnesses
because our feelings are remarkably fickle as a means of keeping us true to vows--which are actually the means of keeping us "happy" in the older and fuller sense of the word: fully flourishing. </div>
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[Spoiler alert!] Eilis Lacey and
Tony Fiorello took
vows in private; she loves him, is most happy with him, should be with him; but
when she goes back to Enniscorthy, (Ireland,) to visit her mother she has community pressure to accept Jim Farrell's pursuit of her, take Rose’s old job, and have the local version of the “good life” she may have desired growing up.
She hasn’t said she’s married at first because she doesn’t want to let people
down: there was to be a public wedding at some future time, maybe when more
family could be involved, so she keeps the marriage secret, and the community
works against it since they don’t know about it. When Ms. Kelly confronts her
about the one shred of community involvement in the wedding (Kelly is distantly
connected to the family Eilis and Tony randomly bumped into at the Brooklyn court house)
the community does its work [in a way this is like Smith’s invisible hand] even
though the connection was so tenuous and the intentions of the person who was
the actual instrument were not honorable. Eilis’s declaration “I’m Eilis Fiorello”
places her back in her correct place in the universe again; publicly the wife of
the husband she loves, bound back to the new home she has made in Brooklyn… </div>
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(The fact that Tony’s family’s plan is to build a neighborhood on Long Island
and extricate themselves from the community they are part of and settle in a
place that requires ridiculous amounts of infrastructure to
maintain, and where there is no community to join seems to actually break the continuity of the narrative since it means their
goal is really to escape Brooklyn; but the film is putting authenticity over narrative
on this point since it’s a historically accurate—if ultimately unhelpful—goal.)</div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-33183311881093568022016-04-22T12:37:00.000-05:002016-05-25T22:45:09.687-05:00Bible nerd's playlist: Jeremiah 29<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I love Jeremiah 29. It's one of my favorite passages (though I'm somewhat skeptical of the value of having "favorite" portions of God's Word since you're implying less preference for others...), and not because of the oft-miss-applied Jer. 29:11, but because of the often-overlooked passage that immediately precedes it (Jer. 29:4-7, especially Jer. 29:7!). "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city... and pray for it"; here's two great sermons laying that out:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nNuQhzB7mpc/V0ZxLHGVt2I/AAAAAAAChs4/wXBDtuuQS74yn9Vz0UpgrWQCWE6NtnTkgCK4B/s1600/Podcast_TK_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nNuQhzB7mpc/V0ZxLHGVt2I/AAAAAAAChs4/wXBDtuuQS74yn9Vz0UpgrWQCWE6NtnTkgCK4B/s200/Podcast_TK_Cover.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://www.acast.com/timothykellersermonspodcastbygospelinlife/-rise-serving-the-city" target="_blank">Tim Keller, Redeemer PCA, NYC, "[RISE] Serving the City"</a><br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/j29-project-jeremiah-29-1/id284947310?i=356875083&mt=2" target="_blank">Dan Rogers, Christ the King, Dorchester, "The J29 Project"</a></div>
Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14199637.post-54581390933152080792015-11-11T14:03:00.001-06:002015-11-11T14:03:09.227-06:00Dr. Will Barker on subscription in the PCA:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The methodology made clear in the Synod's response to the Hemphill case [Samuel Hemphill, the subject of the first Presbyterian heresy trial in North America in the early 1730s] is the historic method of subscription in American Presbyterianism. It also is the method that we should employ today. The candidate professing to adopt the Westminster Standards should declare any exceptions that he may have, and then the Presbytery should decide whether his exceptions are such that he cannot be deemed as sincerely taking his ordination vow (e.g., the second ordination vow). If that is the case, then the Presbytery should not approve him for ordination. On the other hand, if the Presbytery determines that his exceptions do not represent a violation of his ordination vow, he should be ordained and should also be able to teach such exceptions, since he is conscience-bound to teach the whole counsel of God, as revealed in Scripture, whose authority he also has affirmed elsewhere in his ordination vows. But he should teach such exceptions with utmost sensitivity to the peace and purity of the church.</blockquote>
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-- William Barker,<i> "</i>System Subscription," <i>Westminster Theological Journal</i>, 63 (2001), 6, http://files1.wts.edu/uploads/pdf/publications/wtj/barker-spring-01.pdf accessed 11/11/15</div>
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While this may sound like a historical theologian nerding out (Abby thinks so), how pastors discus their convictions and hold each other accountable to those convictions is an important part of being biblical.</div>
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Curranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11756125584308672913noreply@blogger.com0