Sand Hill Philosopher

Foster Child, Martian Child

I write this as a very personal note.

To See Visions of God

I generally don't publish as much "spiritual" material during the week as on weekends, but this was too good to post-pone.

Cripplegate Christmas

I'm truly sorry at the "Blog-Silence" this week. It has been a time of:

1.   Excitement over the season and the Savior's birth.

2.   Introspection, gratitude, repentance and resolution.

3.   The busy-ness of preparing the home for such

Saturday Evening Devotional, December 19, 2009

Dear Friends,

Each Friday or Saturday, I am in the habit of beginning to pray, "Oh, LORD, prepare my heart and mind for worship on Sunday!"  This prayer is because I recognize that sin (heart) can hinder me from true worship, but also

Victory Garden: A Lesson in Forgiveness

Today is warming-up here at Cripplegate, and may reach 60 degrees this afternoon.  The cold, clear nights have allowed the low temps to kill off the plants of last Spring, but the broccoli I planted about 8 weeks ago is still alive.

I previously described to you the manner in which an aged cattle water trough had become my Victory Garden, helping me discover a way to garden that overcame my back and leg disability. (See Victory Garden: Overcoming Disability. http://bit.ly/7DdEbL )

Domestic Partner Benefits Go Federal

Federal Employee Domestic Partner Benefits

This week, the US Senate Committee approved benefits for Domestic Partners of Federal Employees.

Federal Employees are Social Parasites

They work less.    They produce nothing.    They have become so Elite that they are no longer common, like Real Americans are.

This Week's Favorites, December 13, 2009

Well, Sand Hill Friends, thanks for the good readership and the comments by email and on the blog. I enjoyed reading your Family Christmas Traditions, and will

Saturday Night Devotional Thought

Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the LORD, and not unto men; knowing that of the LORD ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the LORD Christ. - Colossians 3:24

Shared Christmas Tradition #2

A few days ago, a friend, Dr. Debra Kowalski, a child psychiatrist I have known for over 30 years, did a guest blog for The Sand Hill Philosopher. In that post she talked about the importance of Family Traditions. This is how a young person learns where they came from, who their family is, and what the priorities are. Ultimately, they deduce

Knowing One Another Helps Cooperation

A court has just shut-down a Charter School using a "Classical Curriculum".  One of the major tools that is used in the "Classical Curriculum" is making sure that students have a very strong foundation in the Basics. Then they progress through Latin, Mathematics, Classical Literature and History, much of which is learned by the study of Original Documents.

While long a believer in this approach to education, for a better critique of this approach to education and curriculum please visit www.beehive5.blogspot.com .

Michael Medved mentioned today on his radio program that a judge has once again intervened to "save people from learning the Bible." Interestingly, this particular Classical Curriculum contains studies of the Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism), the Book of Mormon, the Code of Hammaraubi (the oldest known codex of written law, from Persia), Mohammad and Islam. Altogether, ten world religions are studied.

The Judge ruled that it was only the Bible that was a problem, and the school must either drop the Bible from the curriculum, change to another curriculum, or shut the school. This is just another example of Judicial Activism, and Judicial Bigotry.

Interestingly, the curriculum is not a "Sunday School Approach" to the Bible, but a study of its impact on culture, history and the fact that not only Christianity, but Judaism and Islam rely heavily upon the text for their religion, worldviews and customs. While the Bible is generally considered a marvelous book of literature in its own right, many classicists, including William Shakespeare, quoted it frequently. Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." That is a simple, profound statement, imbedded in our nation's history. Whether you are Christian or not, the import of the fact, and the clearness of expression can't be denied, even if you discover that Lincoln was quoting Jesus, speaking in Mark 3:25. These words had great impact, and directed minds to a worldview that brought an end to The Great War (US Civil War, 1861-1865).

Medved added that even though his own children attended an Orthodox Jewish High School, one of the best teachers in that school dedicated significant class time to the discussion of the Christian Doctrine referred to as "Calvinism". Was it to teach the Jews that they should become Calvinistic Christians, or Calvinistic Jews? No. It was so they could understand so much history that occurred during the Age of Reformation, and hundreds of years of politico-historical actions effecting the whole world, regardless of the student's own religion.

All religions have a worldview, which is largely drawn from their religious beliefs. By studying these religions, and worldviews, we will understand each other better. My sons all studied the Major World Religions: I'm glad they did.

Let me try to set aside my outrage over the Bible portion of the court ruling, and close by saying,

Regardless of your opinion of religion in general, your personal choice of religion, or even your denomination within one of the bodies, Don't you think that you will be better educated and understand where the other person is coming from, if you understand at least a little about where their worldview is coming from?

You can have knowledge without Faith.

Just Thinking, The Sand Hill Philosopher

 

This Blog Post: http://bit.ly/7lCUlo   

www.MichaelMedved.com

www.Beehive5.blogspot.com

Shared Christmas Tradition Story #1

Well, Sand Hill Friends, the Christmas Traditions are coming in, and this is the first one that I want to share. This friend recently was blessed to marry a (then) single father of three. They knew each other from college, and were married a little over two years ago. While trained as a teacher, and without previous family, I think a great blessing was given to her when the custodial mother allowed HER to be the children's daycare provider, and they still get all of the Dad's visitation and holiday time! Isn't God more gracious than we can conceive? She writes:

Christmas and Teens - Parenting with all the Pieces

The following is a blog post written by a friend from my first day in college at Texas Tech (Tuesday, September 5, 1978 (9:00am Biology Lab), who fought the battles of pre-med nights with me, and is now an Adolescent & Child Psychiatrist in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Farm Lessons for Life

Rural Life is full of experiences that lead one to those sorts of maxims that can be applied over, and over, to a wide array of problems. Will Rogers claimed that that was what gave him such insight into human nature. Sitting on a porch watching the sunset, riding the plains on a good horse and saddle, or even digging postholes, gives you the time to reflect and figure out just went wrong, and how

Why Isn't 'Common Courtesy' More Common?

America is becoming rude, and it is contagious.

When You Look, Do You See God?

How hard do you have to look to see God? Consider a few examples of the simple (straightforward, always consistent) way in which God has arranged Creation:

Judge Needs Removed: Can Anyone be "Too Religious"?

I have been shocked at many rulings, and have been an activist in pushing for the impeachment of judges who are guilty of "highhandedness", otherwise known as judicial activism, and, sometimes called, "ruling from the bench."

Victory Garden: a Triumph over Physical Disability

I have been thinking a lot about gardening lately. It seems that as we age, we have a desire to return to the earth, both to toil and to think.

I wonder if it is because we remember, from somewhere in our Adam-nature, the joy that once existed in a Garden, and our desire to return to that place?  Perhaps it is because we see the dirt and are reminded that from dust we came, and to dust we will return.  It may even deal with watching the miracle of growth we see when a seed dies,  in order to bring forth its fruit, as Jesus said in reference to his own death and burial.

Victory Garden: a follow-up

Well, I made it back to the Victory Garden today. Thanks for the phone calls, email and website visits. Since the post earlier this weekend, "Victory Garden: Overcoming Physical Disability," there were some questions I should answer before next weekends post on Victory Garden.

WORLD Magazine: just what the Sand Hill Philosopher Ordered

Are you searching for a new magazine that is consistent with your worldview?  I had grown-up reading Time Magazine and Newsweek, with an occasional glance at US News & World Report, but during college, they became more one-sided in their reporting and I became more critical of what I read. [Perhaps they were always that liberal, and I took a while to catch-on.]

After I refused to read the magazines anymore, I felt a little ill-prepared for the journeys to places that would invoke read-less waiting upon me.  I always wanted that magazine rolled up in my pocket before I left my dorm room.

During my medical residency in Waco, Texas, my wife and I learned of a news magazine with a worldview alternative to Time and Newsweek: it was, and is, WORLD Magazine.

The magazine takes a clear, conservative, Christian worldview on events at home and abroad. They carry the same topical columns that the other news magazines do, but with a worldview closer to mine and the typical Sand Hill Reader.

At first I thought we might be signing up for a "religious bulletin", but though they have a "Religion Column" from time-to-time, there is no doctrine or denomination pushed. They simply, and clearly, bring me the weekly news in a magazine form.

Over the last 20+ years of readership, I have seen them grow in number of subscribers, number and quality of writers/journalists, and stature among America's journalistic reporters as a respectable source of news and information.

If you have already given up on ABC, CBS and CNN, to turn to Fox News, why not drop your Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report subscriptions, as well, and subscribe to WORLD Magazine? The Editor is Joe Belz who always has an excellent editorial.  Marvin Olasky (Professor of Journalism, at The University of Texas, Austin) is a regular contributor and serves as Editor In Chief; another well-known columnist that appears in each issue is Adree Seu.

The November 7, 2009 issue contains the following as a partial list of its contents: Quotables, Quick Takes, Movies & TV, Books, Music, Lifestyle and Tech, Charity, Sports, an article by Janie B. Cheaney (Subdued and Preserved: America's National Park System is a product of civilization) and articles in the following categories: Islam (Dutch Politician Brings anti-Islam Message to Britain and America); Government (A Platoon of Czars Sets Policy); Persecution (Vietnamese Refugees Call for Washington to Act on Abuses); Politics (Critics Worry About the Effects on Free Speech of Recently Expanded Hate Crime Laws); Environment (Climate Change Becomes the Latest Excuse for Population Control); Iraq (In Disputed Kirkuk, Christian Presence is Targeted); Sudan (Militia Attacks in South Sudan Threaten "Peace" Agreement); Education (Public-school Educators Ignore a Charter School That is Accomplishing What They Cannot); Radicalism (Moving from Corporate America to Academic America).

The cover articler is, Do the Math - How a government-run system will entice your employer to drop your health plan -- and press religious institutions like Belmont Abbey College to violate their beliefs.

To review more about the magazine, and see up-to-the-minute news articles, visit their web-site at www.WORLDmag.com. Subscription information is also found on this page. I have known hundreds of satisfied readers over the years, and know thousands who stay wrongly-informed by the more common news magazines, or ignorant all together.  Why don't you check-out their web-site and subscribe. I don't think you will regret it.

Just Thinking, The Sand Hill Philosopher

Psalm 47.4 - Content in Affliction, or Abundance

The following is excerpted from Charles Spurgeon's, Morning & Evening, November 11th, Evening reading:

Psalm 47:4 - "He shall choose our inheritance for us."

Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one part of the stream there is a sandbank; should somone ask, "Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel and deviate so much from a straight line?" His answerw would be, "Because I should not get my vessel into harbour at all if I did not keep the deep channel." So it may be, you would run aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. You are placed by God in the most suitable circucmmstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God. Down busy self, and proud impatience, it is not for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love!

Trials must and will befall - But with humble faith to see - Love inscribed upon them all;- This is happiness to me.

I was thinking about Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart deviseth his way;but the LORD directeth his steps," when I recalled this devotional from earlier in the week.

May the LORD of ALL bless you as you prepares your hearts and minds for worship this weekend. Amen.

Just Thinking (About God's Mercies), The Sand Hill Philosopher

Short Link to this post: http://bit.ly/38a741

Having a Family Who Is A Little Bit Different

There are no greater blessings than having a family that surrounds you and embraces you with love, carries you when you are down and encourages you when you most need it.

This Weeks Favorites

Thanks for all the responses to Last Weeks Favorites, posted on last Sunday. As I said then, I will try to post these each Sunday. Web-site traffic is growing quickly, and you don't want to miss any of the articles. It is hard to limit the "Best of" to just five (OK, six) posts, but here they are. 

All the articles can be read on www.SandHillPhilosopher.com or you can check a specific article below. These are a mixture of primarily this weeks top hits, but a few older ones that continue to draw a lot of attention.

The most frequently visited listings for this week (not listed in order of popularity) were:

Victory Garden: a Triumph Over Physical Disability - HTTP://bit.ly/7Mqbt7

Fracturing the Conservative Movement - HTTP://bit.ly/5v5aU6

Is Congress Constitutional Anymore? - HTTP://bit.ly/36uHXW

Socialism & Communism Fount to be Unhealthy - HTTP://bit.ly/467TsZ

What Everyone Needs to Know About Economics: Even You - HTTP://bit.ly/3iQkp7

Having a Family Who Is a "Little Bit Different" - HTTP://bit.ly/6vzXO

In the week ahead, we will be looking at some implications of the health reform bill now in the senate, and how it even got to the floor, as well as some implications on taxes, healthcare costs, availability of doctors, medical research and medical education.  Also, more reflections on Family, Thanksgiving and Holidays in general.

On Monday, 30 November 2009, we will begin looking at David Barton's book, "Reigning in Judiciary Activism", so get your copy soon, and prepare your mind, "To Think with Me."

Just Thinking, The Sand Hill Philosopher

Homeschooling American Patriots

My wife and I began planning to homeschool our children when the oldest was only two years old.

Celebrity Journalism and Warped Societal Values

We know in America that “main stream media” is in pitiful shape, as demonstrated in my weekend article, “AARP Disagrees with Founder Samuel Adams,” and yesterday’s announcement that CNN,

Fibromyalgia: Thirty Year Phenomenon, Part Two

Fibromyalgia is so closely related to diet and co-morbid diseases that the disease is almost undeniably connected to them.

Are Hollywood Liberals As Liberal As You Think? Probably Not.

On the Anniversary of the 9/11 Crashes, I watched

Local Government Salaries

Many of these points I want to think about with you are specific to Texas Law, but that does not dismiss you.

What is Cripplegate Farm?

In many of my posts, I have written about Cripplegate Farm,

What's Good About Old Medicine? (About 4,000 years old)

I have had the privilege to spend 30 years in the medical field, though severely limited over the past seven years.

Healthcare: The Deadly Co-Pay

While I was in medical training, a new renovation came to the health insurance industry: the Medical Office Co-Pay.

Book Review: My Grandfather's Son

Growing up in Muleshoe, Texas (far Western Panhandle), during the 1960's & 70's,