The Arrow's Path

I have not been doing much blogging the last few weeks due to some personal and family reasons that I have not heretofore been ready to divulge. My wife and I have made the decision to move back to her hometown in Nebraska to be closer to her parents. We both feel it is time for a change. I would appreciate any prayers during this time of transition.

As an amateur civil war historian (my Master's thesis was largely on an aspect of the American civil war), I was curious to see how this Hollywood film was going to play out. I think this country has turned the romantic ideal of Lincoln into myth, and has not seriously engaged all his political maneuverings, idiosyncrasies, and suppression of constitutional rights that have been fairly well documented by historians. He did some great things, do not get me wrong, but he also had a dark side that most people don't want to talk about. Combined with that, modern American culture (Hollywood in particular) loves to denigrate and stereotype the South as redneck racists and whatnot. So, I was curious to see how fair and balanced historically this film would be. There have been many numerous historical critiques of this film. There are well documented reviews out there that some scenes of this film are sheer fiction. I won't go into that. You can read other reviews on that on y...

I have returned. What was initially a quick trip to Nebraska to visit the in-laws turned into a blizzard lay over as we couldn't get back to South Dakota due to the never ending April blizzard. Nothing like driving 6 hours to come home and have to shovel 1+ foot of heavy, wet snow to get the car in the garage.

Matthew 11: 21-24 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?    No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.’ ------------------ Jesus brought the hammer down on these cities for failing to believe in him despite the works they witnessed him do. If you ever want to know what befell Chorazin, it is now a pile of rocks.Notice the dark rocks typical of the area north of the sea of Galilee:

The BBC posted this very interesting editorial  on the British class system. The title of the article is "An American View on the British Class System," though the article is himself British. How exactly the article came by this title, I have no idea. It seems to be based on some research done by various American newspapers, but the article seems to take that research seemingly applied to Americans and pastes it haphazardly onto the British social scene. I don't quite understand the methodology, but it is interesting nonetheless, particularly the Great British Class Calculator that is interactive. Americans have some historical fixation (one might say morbid curiosity) with the old British class system, which no doubt explains the popularity of TV shows like Downton Abbey and farther back in time  Upstairs, Downstairs . Having lived in Britain for a time, I have a unique perspective on the current state of the British Class system. Before I go into that, let me prefa...

I survived Easter, but then everyone came down with illness this week. We are slowly digging out. I hope to post more later.