The Song of Hiawatha

I read Evangeline this month and fell immediately in love with Longfellow. He is dramatically overlooked. Frost gets too much credit as the premier American author. No one, no one I have ever read, conveys the spirit and sense of the American idyllic landscape like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I would not know or care about poetry if it were not for this man.

This is a spiritual blog right? So why am I talking about poetry? Christians need to reclaim good poetry and song-writing. We, of all people, should know and have the deepest and most dramatic feelings for the things God has made. We should love the creation and be fluent in praising God for it, because it was His idea. Good verse, for some reason I don't understand yet, communicates the beautiful and the terrible stronger even than does good prose.

This said, I just finished The Song of Hiawatha. It is a poem I heartily recommend. It is a beautiful and intricate introduction into the idolatrous workings of the American Indians and, in a way, communicates the tragedy of our having destroyed them. It is also a masterpiece of idyllic writing taking place next to Lake Superior (Gitche Gumee) and basically throughout America. Passages like this are what made me fall in love with poetry,

"By the shore of Gitche Gummee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited.
All the air was full of freshness,
All the earth was bright and joyous,
And before him, through the sunshine,
Westward toward the neighboring forest,
Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo,
Passed the bees, the honey-makers,
Burning, singing, in the sunshine.
Bright above him shone the heavens,
Level spread the lake before him;
From its bosom leaped the sturgeon,
Sparkling, flashing in the sunshine;
On its margin the great forest
Stood reflected in the water,
Every tree top had its shadow,
Motionless beneath the water."

Incredible. This reflects every sense and every emotion I have ever felt in the wilderness of the Great Lakes and pushes down into my deepest thoughts with its beautiful meter and rythmic explanations. I have seen the fish glisten in sunshine, the bees buzz through the forest, and felt the summer morning fresh in its new dawning. We ought to re-embrace poetry of this sort and claim it for the glory of God. We ought to write poetry that makes people say, "I've been there," and long to be there again.

Soli Deo Gloria,

R. D. Thompson

One Reason School Can Be Bad

One reason school can be bad is because you cram loads of information into your head which you have no intention of ever remembering.

The greatest of all my triumphs in school has been passing the dreaded biology with an A. How I did it I will never know. The funny thing is...I remember nothing. I was just going through my old quizzes and found an answer I recorded on a quiz from memory. Just listen to this,

"The T&T complex serves to cover the actin filament inhibiting the myosin head from attaching and contracting. When a nerve impulse hits the synapse on a muscle, Acetycholine distributes over the plasma membrane which causes an action potential that spreads through the T-tubles. When the T-tbules depolarize Ca is released by the sarcoplasmic reticulum into the cytoplasm. Ca attaches to the troponin complex and displaces tropomyosin allowing the myosin head to attach to actin and contract."

Um...excuse me?

I pray to God I remember my theology better than that answer which I have utterly forgotten!

What is an actin filament?

Soli Deo Gloria,

R. D. Thompson

My Year In Photos

Thank God for Al Mohler

Hope you read Mohler today. If you didn't you must. He speaks on the topic of how more and more evangelicals are stepping out of evangelical bounds and proclaiming that there are many paths to heaven. He gives such a coherent reason for this dangerous universalism,

"The disappearance of doctrinal understanding and evangelical demonstration can be traced directly to the decline in expository preaching and doctrinal instruction. A loss of evangelistic and missionary commitment can be fully expected as a direct result of this confusion or repudiation of the Gospel."

Yeah that's just about it! Love it.

Also, go check out his interview with Lisa Miller on NPR in debate over her incredibly controversial Newsweek cover story on what the Bible "really says" about homosexuality. Note well what she says about the Bible and how coherent Mohler sounds next to this woman. Note also that the only conservative Christian caller who made any sense totally rocked Lisa Miller when he said she may as well say the Bible is legitimizing polygamy! She had no words...none. She couldn't speak! Mohler said, "Well his line of reasoning sounds fantastic."

Mohler is great. Give him your ears.

R. D. Thompson

Ask My Mom Sometime...

William Saletan - Embryo Freezing is Immoral!

I recently discovered William Saletan of Slate.com via R. Albert Mohler Jr. I recommend reading some of his articles, they're brilliant and a much needed voice in the world of popular liberal thought.

While cultural commentary is not particularly my forte, today's article bears mentioning.

Speaking of IVF and the "problem" couple's face when it comes to allowing it to be adopted, or really when it comes to do SOMETHING with it, Saletan shows that the reason the couple has a "crisis" is because they never thought through what to do with the embryo afterward.

This shows a massive disdain, a serious overlooking of the consequences of creating a human life.

"The patients and doctors are preoccupied with making a baby. If you get one, congratulations. Anything extra is an afterthought."

Of course, as Christians we know this attitude is corrupt (I know nothing of the status of Saletan's soul so I refer primarily to myself and the main readership of this blog).

Brilliantly,

"We treat the leftovers as raw material, available to be used or thrown away. But they aren't raw material. Eggs and sperm are raw material. Embryos are what we make with that material. They're us."

It is disgusting to me that this argument even has to be made over and over again. Of course this is the way life works but no one even thinks about it anymore. On the side with abortion you have women (and men!) who want to have sex and never be held responsible for anything and then here you have people who are obssessed with simply making a baby but care little what happens once it's made, or at least don't think about what to do once it's made. They refuse to be held responsible.

The article is stimulating no doubt. Give it a good look.

Loving the unborn to the glory of God,

R. D. Thompson

The Gospel in Three Minutes

December Photos

BE CAREFUL WHILE KISSING!

Why on earth does Reuters think this is news? Moreover, why is it number six in popularity for news of the day right to next to economic crisis and Greek rioting?

Do be careful when you kiss,

"While kissing is normally very safe, doctors advise people to proceed with caution."

Thanks for the news Reuters. I think a hearty LOL is appropriate here.

Wow...

R. D. Thompson

Advent Songs Free CD...Incredible

This stuff rocks. Not your standard Christmas arrangements.

I only paid a dollar...I'd pay more if I could. This album is seriously incredible.