“There are three sorts of men: The man of God, who renders good for evil; the man of men, who renders good for good and evil for evil; and the man of the devil, who renders evil for good.
Three kinds of men are the delights of God: the meek; the lovers of peace; the lovers of mercy.
There are three marks of the children of God: gentle deportment; a pure conscious; patient suffering of injuries.
There are three chief duties demanded by God: justice to every man; love; humility.
In three places will be found the most of God: where He is mostly sought; where He is mostly loved; where there is least of self.
There are three things following faith in God: a conscious at peace; union with heaven; what is necessary for life.
Three ways a Christian punishes an enemy: by forgiving him; by not divulging his wickedness; by doing him all the good in his power.
The three chief considerations of a Christian: lest he should displease God; lest he should be a stumblingblock to man; lest his love to all that is good should wax cold.
The three luxuries of a Christian feast: what God has prepared; what can be obtained with justice to all; what love to all may venture to use.
Three person have the claims and privileges of brothers and sisters: the widow; the orphan; the stranger.”
(Catherine McCaffery in A Cloud of Witnesses: Woman’s Struggle for Sanctity, pg. 39. My note: “The Triads of Paul the Apostle” were first made public in 1871 and originally were claimed to be a first century document proving St. Paul had been in England. Many modern scholars think it a fraud. The text is offered here for its content, not because of any claims of coming from antiquity. )
Constantine had some sense that there is a correct way to worship God, and he came to see the disputing factions in Christianity as dividing not only the Church but in their opposition to one another calling into question which form of worship was the correct way to approach God. By causing divisions in the church, the Christians were not able to worship God in a consistent and proper manner but instead were divided into different sects each worshipping God in its own manner. Constantine interpreted this as a threat to the empire.
The Lowland Gorilla is relatively speaking a close genetic match to humans, though the differences are pronounced. The structure of the Gorilla’s hands and arms are still such that they can function like a foot and leg.
The wide-eyed Lemur makes it appear to be very alert. Another distant relative of humans in the genetic tree of life.
The Montane had a showman’s personality and seemed to like the attention of the camera. Many of the Lorikeets seem to have facial expressions, or at least it is easy to anthropomorphize and project onto them personalities.
These three Golden Conures seemed to be up to something by their expressions.
The Parrots colors and markings were so eye catching. God made a beautiful creation which we can simply enjoy if we take the time and aren’t totally consumed by utilitarian thinking.
The bee on the Rattlesnake Master flower was itself being buzzed by a tinier bee or wasp. I have often noticed that each flower is often a microcosmic ecosystem with its unique inter-dependency between flora and fauna. You often see specific insects only on specific plants. They survive and thrive only with each other.
The Pica Bella Coneflower’s petals are delicate rays of a purple sunburst. “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You made them all.” (Psalm 104:24)
Our current debt crisis demands long term solutions, some of which may not benefit either major political party now and in fact might be so unpopular as to hurt both or either party now. Voters want as many entitlements as they can get (and this includes wealthier voters who get all kinds of tax break entitlements and other benefits) and want all kinds of government benefits without having to pay for them or to bear the burden of the cost of them. (Founding Father James Madison, for example, argued that the cost of all wars should be born by the generation that called for the war and these costs should not be postponed and then laid on future generations). As a result of these wishes, public opinion often demands more from the government while simultaneously expecting less taxes. The end result is politicians finely attuned to public opinion who find it easy to approve more government programs while simultaneously reducing the tax burden (This certainly was the formula followed by GW Bush and continued to this present day).
Constantine never loses sight of his role as emperor even though he is coming to better understand Christianity and its implication for all aspects of life in the Empire. Constantine embraces the monotheism of Christianity as it serves his purpose well for uniting the empire under one emperor, namely himself. Constantine’s vision includes: one empire, one emperor, one God, one religion for everyone in the Empire. The appeal of the Gospel to unity and oneness is appealing to Constantine’s own vision of the Roman Empire. Polytheism could not unite all the diverse elements of the empire, but Christianity welcomed women, men, slaves, rulers, Latins, Greeks, Arabs, Africans and all humans to serve the one God of the universe. Thus the Church does serve his political agenda, and yet the evidence also indicates that Constantine embraced the goals and agenda of the Church to bring the Gospel to all, and to help make things “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Stephenson raises several crucial issues in the above passage. First, there is the issue of Christianity’s relationship to the military interests of the empire, and the emperor as a Christian leading military warfare. These issues will be addressed further in future blogs. Second, Constantine’s ideas about the emperor’s relationship to all other citizens was shaped in the world of his holding absolute power and of the emperor being considered a god. There was no easy way to demote him to mere mortal status, but Constantine moves in that direction by considering “himself a second Christ.” While this offends modern sensibilities, within the context of the Fourth Century Roman Empire and the sometimes and somewhat subordinationist views of some Christians, Constantine’s self analysis might be more understandable: he sees himself as a son of God rather than as a god himself, however he may have understood that difference. Additionally, while Constantine casts the new church-state relationship in terms of Christ (Constantine) and the apostles (the bishops), he elevates the decisions and teachings of the bishops to a higher (divine!) level.
St. Athanasius “in a remarkable rebuke” to the Emperor Constantius “demanded to know ‘what concern the emperor had’ with a judgment ‘passed by bishops.’ ‘When,’ he protested, ‘did a judgment of the church receive its validity from the emperor or rather when was his decree ever recognized by the church?’ One is tempted to say, ‘In 325, don’t you remember?’ Perhaps the bishop had forgotten Nicea … Or, perhaps, these questions expressed his own understanding of what was actually happening in 325. Even in 325, he did not think of the emperor as the leader of Christ’s church.” (Leithart, 
Samuel Morse in 1844 when opening the telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington keyed in the phrase “What has God wrought”. What would he have said about today’s technology?
The precision flying at speeds Morse could not even have imagined leaves one admiring both the machines humans make and the humans who pilot them.
You do witness people doing things they probably shouldn’t do: “Look, Mom, no hands!”
You also see some things that not so long ago people would have said you couldn’t do: yes, he’s flying that helicopter up-side-down.
You have to admire what things can be imagined, engineered, built and made to work. An air show is full of education for those who like to do the math, or the science, or the engineering, or the aerodynamics. It probably inspires more than a few to look into these kinds of careers. The military does a lot of recruiting at the show as well. Dare devils get their inspiration here too!
… and not a little pyrotechnics.
There is a lot of history presented throughout the show, military and American. This year’s show featured, “Tora, Tora, Tora”, a re-enactment of the 7 December 1941 Japanese surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base which brought America into WWII.
And there is a fair amount of patriotism and pride in being American. History, as they say, is written by the victors.
“The Church could never be simply the religious department of the republica, as the old religion had been. The Church had its own officers, the clergy, who were absolutely distinct from the officers of the state. It accepted the authority of sacred writings and of traditions which were not part of the Graeco-Roman civilization. . . . The weekly services, sermons, the discipline of penance, and religious instruction offered the clergy means of indoctrination which had no precedent. . . . The incorporation of the Church involved a fundamental transformation of Roman institutions, with consequences that were bound to be very great indeed.” (Leithart, 
“For many Christians, such as Eusebius, the task of the hour was not to integrate the church into the empire. The empire had lost the battle with the church, and it was the empire that should make concessions. The church was not incorporated but victorious; the martyrs’ faith had been vindicated, and the task was now to integrate the emperor into the church.” (Leithart, 
The hibiscus have been in full bloom, despite the heat.
Above is a view from the back acreage, across the creek, looking toward the church (which is not visible in the photo). This was before a windstorm blew through downing a number of trees. Our parish gardener, Les, continues his labor of love in creating a beautiful landscape in the church’s backyard.
The flowers bloom and thanksgiving is offered to God our Creator. We are grateful also for Les’ hard work in creating a peaceful garden. If you can’t get there to walk through it, enjoy this photo-journey.
A pink poppy in late bloom part of the wildflowers Les has established ‘across the creek.’
Above: also in the wildflowers, a purple coneflower.
Of course the flowers as beautiful as they are serve a purpose – to attract pollinating insects so the continuation of the flower’s species is guaranteed. Creation’s biodiversity is needed for the survival of each species, as all species, including humans are interdependent on this diversity of life, the bio-systems which make up planet earth. So far as we know, ours is the only planet with the uniqueness of life. Some scientists keeping searching the universe for other signs of life and for planet capable of sustaining this life.
Beauty and diversity speak to me about a Creator.
“As a deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
Fraternized 