Find out why the “hurt” of Job 3 is necessary to understand human suffering by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat
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Johnny Cash famously sang a song titled, “Hurt,” where he said, Everyone I know, Goes away in the end. And you could have it all, My empire of dirt . . . Cash has it right. Sometimes suffering makes what we have seem meaningless. In the Bible, Job chapter 3 reflects the honesty of our hurt, pulsating with profound passion and pain. We may not comprehend another person’s specific grief. But what we can say is we have all experienced some of what Job 3:1-10 is saying. I would encourage every listener to stop the video here to read Job 3:1-10. And I should warn you, these verses are not for the faint of heart.
Job’s lament begins as a curse from the womb, an anti-birthday-birthday. Job’s “birthday” was his “death-day,” an awful day, an awful event, one he wished had never happened. Job wishes he had never been born. “Curse the day!” The only way to do this is to wipe his birthday off the calendar. Job is in the deep throes of outrageous pain, wailing and moaning. If we saw someone like this we would probably say, “They’re beside themselves! I’ve never seen them like this before!” This is Job’s state as he curses or removes the celebration of his birth. It does not mean that Job has lost control. Job is expressing the deepest, rawest of emotions a person can express. There is no shame or sin here, only humanness.
In the Coen brother’s film O Brother, Where Art Thou? one song provides the underlying refrain: “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow.” This is Job’s song, the lament of Job 3:1-10. Johnny Cash knew it. And if we’re honest, we know it too. Caring for others means we must sometimes sit with them through the deepest, darkest depths of despair.
My Truth in Two series during Fall 2022 is a tribute to our son Tyler Micah. We lament his death while desiring to give voice to all who suffer in any way.
[This material is drawn from a sermon I preached on Job 3 at Zionsville Fellowship (Indiana) the spring of 2008. A number of articles have used the same words and ideas since and can be found by searching for “lament” at MarkEckel.com where you can also find a tribute to my son.]
Watch our Truth in Two to find out why (full text below)
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Blindsided. In American football, the word means the quarterback who is about to throw the ball to one side of the field is hit from his blind side. He never sees it coming. Being blindsided accurately describes unexpected grief in life. The awfulness of having one’s job taken without notice or reason, suffering the death of a loved one, or being given the diagnosis of cancer are only a few of the many ways humans are blindsided. Moments like these are times when we question unjust suffering and God Himself.
Undeserved suffering may be the first reason to reject belief in God. But if, as many First Testament scholars think, Job is the oldest book in The Bible, it would seem God addresses the problem early. Of course, the fact that God deals with the issue up front is no solace to our bereavement. Here is the onset of our grief. We can know our theology. But we still hurt, suffer, wail, howl, and scream our sorrow.
In the First Testament, lament is a poetic devise, a structure for expressing humanity’s crisis, travail, anguish, or despair. Ancient and modern people groups have their own laments—grief and outrage at humanly unjust circumstances. Job’s first verbal response to his situation in Job 3 is common to everyone, everywhere.
Lament is honest to who we are as humans. Lament acknowledges our weakness, our deficiency, our common experience. To be a Christian does not mean we stop being human. Being a Christian accentuates our humanity. We are committed to a righteous response to undeserved injustice. And we are committed to the raw, rasping recoiled reaction to pain when it happens to us.
Job was blindsided. There are times when each of us stands in line next to him. We share the suffering Job utters. Job’s cry in Job 3 is our own. Scripture gives our pain a voice in lament. My Truth in Two series during Fall 2022 is a tribute to our son Tyler Micah. We lament his death while desiring to give voice to all who suffer in any way.
[This material is drawn from a sermon I preached on Job 3 at Zionsville Fellowship (Indiana) the spring of 2008. A number of articles have used the same words and ideas since and can be found by searching for “lament” at MarkEckel.com where you can also find a tribute to my son.]
“That’s great, Dad.”These words Tyler said to me every time I told him of an article being published, a student’s life impacted, a new approach to teaching used, a new video series launched, or an accomplishment of any kind achieved. “That’s great, Dad.”
Tyler and I had a wonderful relationship from his childhood through adulthood. I was a coach on his baseball team for three years. Later, for fun, we would spend Sunday afternoons in the summer going to a local park where I would pitch, and he would hit. We listened to his music, by so doing he augmented my cultural awareness. We watched movies and visited historic sites, sledded in the winter, and hunted in the fall. I took him on speaking trips. We discussed theology and philosophy, literature and poetry from his earliest years. I marveled at his brilliance, watching him teach a college class about Frankenstein when he was 17. We talked about him becoming a college professor like me.
He and I cherished our friendship, a son and father who loved and cared for each other. Tyler lived with Robin and I for ten years, then we purchased a small house for him here in Defiance where he was close to his sister and brother, Chelsea and Sam. Over two decades our conversations were consistent and long. We would talk for hours. We shared our writing with each other. We shared poetry, stories, experiences, and recipes. Our shared love of food – specifically ribs – made us both smile. He would say, “Who needs Applebee’s when I have Eckelbee’s.” He also taught me how to smoke a pipe. And I was always amazed that he could keep one bowl going for half an hour, mine petering out after 10 minutes.
But it was our shared reverence for words that united our spirits. We both believed that words were sacrosanct, that words had power and could bring life. We were encouragers, not only of each other but on behalf of others. We shared the value of loving people while we may have disagreed with their ideas. We made a point of separating the two. “Dad, you should read (fill in the blank) and we’ll discuss it” was a normal undertaking. He suggested, I read, we discussed. Agreement was not essential, respect was. Our respect for words was born of our respect of others. The premise for our others-centered approach was our oft repeated, “Show your love for God by loving your neighbor.” We believed our neighbor was anyone we met or anyone we read.
Tyler deeply appreciated that he had a father who would read Charles Bukowski. It is not necessary that you know who Bukowski is, it is important for you to know that Bukowski had something of his own annex in Tyler’s library. I would often receive the author’s books as gifts, always with a note about where I should start reading. Both Tyler and Chelsea introduced me to poetry, dragging me kicking and screaming into the pantheon of poets. I would buy the poetry, Tyler and Chelsea would tell me what to read. To this day, their shared love of poetry has become my own. Tyler even had two journal articles published with me, his name next to mine. But his verbal fingerprints were all over everything I wrote. And they will continue to be.
Even this tribute to my son is marked by his influence. Czeslaw Milosz became one of my favorite poets following in the footsteps of my children. There is a line from his 1980 acceptance speech of the Nobel Prize for literature that I have often quoted, “Those who are alive receive a mandate from those who are gone.” And so, I will rededicate my days to fulfilling that promise on behalf of Tyler. The impact of his life – the hard and the easy, the ill and the good – will continue to mark my speaking, teaching, writing, and creating. With Tyler in the background of my thoughts I will continue to write, believing every word written is a strike against the devil. I will continue to teach, bringing light, battling the darkness of the principalities and powers in any venue. I will continue to speak, building justice upon the righteousness of Heaven, the only way to bring peace on earth. And I will continue to create, believing that all people are made in God’s image and therefore creativity is an expression of God’s work in the world.
And Tyler would smile and say, “That’s great, Dad.” And I smile now and say, “Look, son, how many people’s lives you have impacted for the good, people who have driven and flown from around the country to honor your life.” To which I say,“That’s great, Son.”
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[From my social media post after Tyler’s passing.] It is with the deepest, inexpressible pain that Robin and I mourn the death of our son Tyler who ended his life yesterday. For over two decades Tyler battled the voices of paranoid schizophrenia. His whole family participated fully in his life with every available resource for body, mind and soul. Tyler’s legacy is a love for family, farming, poetry, and letter writing. His gentle kindness was felt by any and all who had the benefit of his presence. His encouragement was a ballast, giving of himself to others. His dogs and cats experienced a love they could never have found elsewhere.
Tyler and I had constant conversations about all of life, he and I were resources for each other in our reading and writing. We spent hours and hours talking about great authors and the impact of their works on us. I was constantly learning from him. His editorial skills were second to none. He was an auditory editor, asking me to read aloud. And he would stop me when he heard a word out of place or he would offer a new approach to a sentence. He pushed me to be better in my teaching and writing in the best of ways. His poetry plumbed the depths of spirit I will never know. He saw and felt in ways that opened new vistas of expression for me.
I would always end my conversations with my son by saying, “You’re my hero.” He was a monument of perseverance and relentless courage in the face of a darkness I will never know. He fought and fought until he could fight no more.
We would often revel in our friendship. We both knew that being friends as son and father was a treasure to be cherished. And we enjoyed each other’s company with an ease and a presence I will miss terribly.
There is a need now to grieve, wail, moan, and cry; to silently scream and loudly lament. It is a time of woe. And there is no sense trying to say something that will mask the agony of losing a son. I will miss him the rest of my days and look forward with great anticipation to being reunited with him on the Other Side.
Hold each other close. Give as much as you can to others in need. Care for everyone in your spheres of influence. Be bold in your love.
COMMON SENSE. The phrase has come to mean the practice of right judgment in practical matters. But the phrase assumes two basic ideas.“Sense” is wisdom, a deep grounding in discernment; some might say a person is quite perceptive or understanding. The individual then applies the accumulated insights from life to particular concerns. “Common” takes for granted that there is an assumed thinking for all people, places, times, and cultures. A universal ideal exists which is then applied in some local reality.
When we say a person has “common sense” we generally mean they are taking the best of what they have studied about humanity and human relations, then using it to make a decision. Hebraic-Christian thinking suggests that “common sense” is Wisdom embedded in world for the benefit of all humanity (Proverbs 8:12-36). We make sense of what is common from One who has our best interests at heart.
Flipping an idea on its head or turning a concept upside down is often my approach to opposing claims. “What if?” is a fair question of any position. When the Jews approached Jesus about the murder of their countrymen by the Romans in Luke 13, Jesus did not take the bait, an opportunity to agree or disagree. He chose a third approach. His response shatters the original concern. Instead of being concerned about the sin of the Romans or the sin of those who were killed, Jesus shines a light on the sin of those who brought the charge. The Son of Man’s intention seems clear: each of us must consider our own eternal state.
Proverbial statements and questions in my classes over the years have followed Jesus’ process. Instead of pointing fingers at others I ask us all to look in the mirror. What is true of me? What should I change? How am I culpable for my actions?
Enigmatic, thoughtful statements leave space for people to ponder. Declarative, assertive statements suggest dogmatic positions. Far from a belief that “we can know nothing for sure” is the understanding that everything is known – just not by us.
“If I can’t show you how it applies, it won’t be on the test.” Over the decades of teaching, my intention is practicality. Teaching should be useful. I am a pragmatic person; I like to see how ideas work in real life. However, the origin of ideas – to me – makes the most sense being rooted in Eternal Truth.
Short and sweet. I am a big believer in Proverbial wisdom; crisp, condensed sayings that capture attention with straightforward instruction. Here are 169 mantras heard in my classrooms over four decades of teaching. I would never expect universal agreement; but I hope each gives you pause. They still do for me.
My views of authority and humanity impact everything else
There are no moral vacuums
Every tick of the clock brings us one second closer to death
Justice is impossible if it’s left up to just us
Gratitude is the basis for ethics
Complexity is a marker of design
Everyone bows the knee to something
The private affects the public
Choice is consequence
Ideas change people, people change a culture
Just because the road is well traveled does not mean it’s the right path.
Gratitude and discipline are the twin pillars of life.
Everything is theological
When evaluating another point of view, ask, “What am I *not* hearing?”
Whoever controls the definition, controls the conversation.
Every audience asks the same questions: “So What?” “Who cares?” “Why am I listening to you?”
Communication of any subject should be what Emily Dickenson said: “Tell It Slant.”
Narrative in this world comes from Another World.
“Common sense” has an uncommon source.
Everyone everywhere seeks answers to the same questions.
If we don’t have a philosophy of life, one will be provided for us.
Everyone has doctrine.
Movies are beliefs wrapped in stories.
Think, or thinking will be done for you.
Just like nature, culture abhors a vacuum. Vacuums fill by those who fill them first.
Our theology drives our sociology.
The monster in the mirror is scarier than the monster under the bed.
“Courage” is knowing what to fear.
“Good” must exist for us to know what “evil” is.
Saying something is “wrong” assumes you know the standard for “right.”
Social conscience begins by looking in the mirror.
Where we spend our time and money shows our commitments.
Mystery cannot exist without certainty
Life has limitations
To make a difference, we have to be different
Life is not made from straight lines
“That’s boring!” says more about the speaker than the subject.
“Who says?” is the first question to answer in life.
“The pursuit of happiness” can become the pursuit of emptiness.
Is “choice” a servant or a master?
Time plus chance cannot deliver purpose.
The phrase “social justice” prompts two questions: “What is your social?” and “What is your basis for justice?”
Doing good is the best response to what is bad.
There can be no peace without justice and no justice without a righteousness
“Materialism” is not what we have, but what has us.
If human rights come from government, government can take human rights away
Everyone is a leader somewhere, most importantly, in one’s own life.
If all we see is “wrong,” we will never appreciate anything that is right.
“Progressive” thinkers should acknowledge when progress has been made.
“Conservative” thinkers should acknowledge progress must continue to be made.
If you blame God for the “bad” do you thank Him for the “good”?
Evolution by impersonal forces gives no basis for planetary responsibility
God does not wear a watch
“Legacy” is not so much what you leave behind but who you leave behind.
The graveyard schools the schoolyard
Just because someone knows more than you, doesn’t make them right.
My environment may accentuate my behavior but is not the root cause of it.
Life is not a crap shoot
Where you’ve come from, and where you’re going to, helps you know how to live now.
Every day everyone puts their trust in something or someone.
Experience is a teacher but not necessarily the best one
Trying to make sense of the world takes more than our senses
If we come from the ground, up, we are nothing more than dirt.
Permanent truth helps us make personal decisions
The more difficult question to answer is not “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but “Why do bad people do good things?”
With apologies to Billy Joel, we *did* start the fire
Internal change depends on an external change agent.
What we do now counts later
Our reason for living is a question of how we got here.
Unity is the basis for community.
What do you want to be known for?
What must I know, be, and do because of what I’ve learned?
The finite cannot define the infinite
“Ownership” is my one-word definition of student-centered education.
You can’t have the Christian fruit without the Christian root.
If we don’t remember who we are, it won’t matter what we do.
We live in the tension between ideal and real
“Tension” – not “balance” – best explains how we live in a world of contrasts
Thinking begins with views of origins and ends
History begins in Eternity
Assertion is not argument
God’s longsuffering and justice are the bookends of history
The Creator created creatures who creatively create from creation.
What is written on pen with paper was first written on the human heart
Mathematical patterns are a result of design
Humans do not create truth, they discover it
Production from and protection of creation is human responsibility.
The three rules of interpretation: 1. Context 2. Context 3. Context
Speaking badly of others tells us most about the speaker
Encourage in writing, criticize in person
“What did it mean for them, then?” precedes “What does it mean for us, now?”
Using the word “should” means you are dedicated to a system of ethics
Inclusivity depends on exclusivity
“Racism” is a matter of the human heart
Don’t believe me. Go study for yourselves.
Ethics never change; they only await our application
Give people space and grace. We do not know what unseen horrors they may face
My disagreement with you matters little if I don’t care for you
The whole of Christian responsibility can be summarized in one word: Others.
Begin sentences with “I need to” instead of “I wish they would”
If you question a document’s historicity, then you begin to question its authenticity and ultimately, its authority
Historical truth depends on documentation; scientific truth depends on experimentation.
Revelation rules reason
Reality is not what we make it but what is
The natural world depends on the supernatural world
The source of discord in all relationships comes from either refused or abused authority.
All knowledge should be evaluated by the S. P. U. D. test: Is it sensible, practical, universal, and dependable?
All truth originates from, is united by, and is, God’s Truth
Instruction is for transformation, not information
Christianity’s view of salvation is the difference between two five-letter words: based on GRACE, all other religions & worldviews depend on WORKS.
Teaching of any kind depends on both content and communication. The first without the second is lifeless. The second without the first is foundationless.
There is a God-shaped-hole in each person
Something is not true because it works, it works because it’s true.
There is no defense against love
Love is the best apologetic
Expectations: we tend to lower them for ourselves but want everyone else to meet ours.
The difference between “fascism” and “communism” is spelling.
If we speak about what is good, the bad will be harder to hear.
Jesus removed social boundaries simply by being with all social classes.
If you only learn to follow an authority’s words without thought, you will allow anyone with the loudest voice or the most letters behind her name to sway your thinking.
The greatest theological phrase: “But God.”
When citizens reject God, the state becomes God.
No one ever teaches because they think they’re wrong.
Jesus does not see human status; He sees human need.
The teacher who teaches best, teaches least
If we never think we could be wrong, we already are.
Autonomy is its own tyranny.
“Labels” maintain manufactured design; helpful in finding ketchup, death to inquiry.
Beware the echo chamber: hearing only those with whom we agree.
Truth exists because Truth is the Source of all that exists
What does life look like if everything runs the way you think it should be run? Can everyone else, live with your “should”?
If we think a “perfect world” is possible, then we must ask, “What does your ‘perfect world’ look like?” and “How will you get there?”
If we think human knowledge will be our salvation, then we must ask, “Which human?” and “Whose knowledge?”
“Humanly, speaking” suggests, from our earthly vantage point, we can only know so much.
In sociology we call it “the human condition.” In theology we just call it “sin.”
Persuasion begins with attraction. Inviting others to a viewpoint is an allure, not a lure.
Biblical revelation explains creational revelation. Our job is to look and listen.
When people question my beliefs about eternal judgment, I tell them, “Take it up with Jesus. He said it first.”
If God exists, everything is Sacred, nothing is “secular.”
I do not tell others my belief is “better” than theirs; I do point out, however, that my Hebraic-Christian belief is distinctive from theirs.
You can’t have the sociology of Jesus without the theology of Jesus. The first depends on the second.
142. Study The Book, know The Book, memorize The Book.
143.We see best by what we hear first.
144. Everyone is biased. We all begin with assumptions
145. The importance of watching movies is the importance of being human.
146. The story we live comes from stories we read, becoming the story we tell.
147. Attack ideas, not people. [Antonin Scalia]
148. As soon as you ask a question you have biased your research.
149. Rather than saying “There’s a problem” say, “I’m going to find a solution.”
150. A person can live 40 days without food, 3 days without water, 5 minutes without air, but not one second without hope.
151. The most important “T” word is not “truth,” it is “transcendence.”
152. “Providential good fortune” is a Christian way to say, “I hope the best for you.”
153. Christianity is not for wimps.
154. The Bible is studied in this order: observation, interpretation, correlation, application.
155. Interpretation – “What did it mean for them, then?” – must precede application – “What does it mean for us, now?”
156. Equality” means everyone should have the same outcomes; “equity” means everyone should have the same opportunities.
157. All other religions say, “This is what you must do.” Christ says, “This is what has been done for you.”
158. A culture which creates its own definitions acknowledges no authority but itself.
159. If you disrespect authorities, don’t be upset when others disrespect your authority.
160. There are two rules of life: #1 There is a God. #2 You are not Him.
161. Education can be reduced to one simple rule: put the cookies on the bottom shelf.
162. Doubt is its own certainty.
163. Encouragement costs nothing.
164. My unseen job in teaching is to inspire my students
165. Vocation IS ministry
166. Lament does not seek to explain pain but gives voice to human anguish, rage and despair.
167. “All” means all and that’s all “all” means.
168. For the Christian, “good works” are possible because of the “good news.”
169. Do good, do good, do good (Titus 3:1, 8, 14)
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Find out why by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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If you’re knocked down 7 times, Get Up 8. I can hear myself uttering that line to students each semester. We are all quite familiar with failure; most of us have lived it. Failure is a part of life. Lessons learned from failure are so important to me, I teach them to college English classes.
For instance, Dr. Seuss’s first book And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected 27 times before it was published. J.K. Rowling, famed author of Harry Potter, tells of her experience, recounting to young writers the numerous rejection letters from publishers.
And I tell students about my own failures. The stories my students want to hear have little to do with writing or English, however. My students want to hear about my life. So, I tell them. I tell them from a human perspective, my move to Indianapolis was catastrophic for my career. The awful injustice of my job being taken from me just after I got here – through no fault of my own – began a string of vocational failures.
Most people do not want to hear about your successes. They want to hear about your failures. Degrees and titles mean little. Folks want to know if you hurt like they’ve been hurt. And if, by the way, you want to hear my stories, call me up. We’ll chat.
You see, people want to know I’ve been where they are. I have been in the lowest of lows. I have struggled. I have gotten knocked down. And I got back up. I got knocked down some more. And I got back up more and more and more. I say to everyone who is struggling, who has failed, if you’re knocked down 7 times, get up 8. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth even in failure.
Find out why standing against tyranny is essential; watch our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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In April, 1989 the Chinese Communist Party crushed the student uprising in Tiananmen Square. One of the most iconic pictures to come out of that revolt was the figure of a solitary man, briefcase in hand, standing in front of a military tank. If you would like to see that picture look up my friend Dr. Pingnan Shi on Facebook: it is his profile picture.
Dr. Ping, as he likes to be called, grew up in Communist China during the rule of Mao Zedong. Find his full story linked at the end of this Truth in Two. Dr. Ping recounts Chinese indoctrination during his formative years. It was not until he had access to outside information that his faith in Communism faltered. In his words, “I found out that most everything I had been taught was not true.” Graduating from college, Dr. Ping won a scholarship to study in Canada. He began to learn English, but the focus of his studies was science. Dr. Ping’s explanation of what happened next is eye opening.
In science, we use logic to prove a statement true or false. But to do so, we must assume that the natural world is orderly and logical. If it is, then why is it so? Who gave it such an order? As an engineer, I see designs everywhere. But who is the designer? To my surprise, I learned that many great scientists from the past were Christians who believed God created the world. Science needs theology as its foundation.
Dr. Ping declares the Hebraic-Christian view of the world is the basis for his vocation of engineering. And Dr. Ping’s testimony about the errors and horrors of communism is essential reading for our day. Dr. Ping’s social media profile picture is of that solitary student standing in front of a Chinese tank, just as Dr. Pingnan Shi stands against communism today. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of The Comenius Institute, personally thankful for those who against tyranny.
Picture Credits: Josh Collingwood, Dr. Pingnan Shi, By Published by The Associated Press, originally photographed by Jeff Widener, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70259861
HGTV Teaches America: Refurbishing Good Bones Retains the Past in the Place we Live Today
HGTV has given the American public shows we can all enjoy. Viewing pleasure is found in renovation, refurbishment, giving an old house a facelift. Within the ethos of most HGTV home renovations is that the past is kept intact.
When a show’s rebuilders reference “good bones” they mean the foundation or framework of the house is solid, something to build from. Often when homes are remodeled, the celebrity renovators keep something of the past. Original wood from a porch, for example, might be reused to create a table top to recall what once was.
Remembrance coincides with restoration. “Tear downs,” the phrase given to eradicating the original house for something brand new, is not the optimum outcome. Crucial to most every HGTV show is a recombination of the past with the present. A memory is maintained.
As a central precondition for a mature, civilized way of life.
McClay wants something “durable.” Referencing George Santayana, McClay is set against the rewriting of history, not wanting to subvert the old for the new:
The flames of memory, kept alight in culture, embodied in custom, passed along in tradition, ruins, relics, rituals: These have their own reason for being, their own insights, their own right to our respect.
My mom is the pictorial archivist of our family; gifts given are often photo albums. Sometimes mom writes notes about who someone is in the grainy black and white mid-twentieth century photo. For me, now in my sixties, mom reminds me of folks I never met or was too young to know. In her own way, mom is a memoirist, similar to McClay who says in words not pictures
We see the importance of memory by seeing what happens to us when it goes away.
Family history is close to cultural history. It is not necessary to worry about dementia when one has historical amnesia. Here McClay warns, “A culture without memory will be barbarous.” He worries for America that
if we fail to pass on that knowledge to the rising generation, we will be responsible for our own decline . . . we fail to grasp the overarching meaning of our history, a meaning that would impart coherence to the way we live together.
Yes, “together.” When HGTV shows refurbish a house, it is done on the same property, in the same neighborhood. The house remains. The land remains. The resuscitation of a house’s history is kept where it was. I remember tales of “urban renewal” from my childhood which meant buildings were torn down and replaced; history wiped out. HGTV takes a different tack. Plumbing, electrical, and structural codes may have been altered over a century, but the beauty of the residence is renewed.
Visiting my grandmother’s house in Syracuse, New York, I remember the beautiful brick façade, accented by a front porch that overlooked the neighborhood street. In my mind’s eye I can see that street, the sidewalks, and all the other houses with architecturally beautiful porches. Now when I see refurbished homes with that same architecture, I know that the past can be remembered properly in the present, the present giving us hope for a future.
McClay ends his article by noting
The power of memorization lies in the fact that the poem, or prayer, or speech that is committed to memory becomes one’s own, alive in one’s mind and spirit.
McClay and I both are cognizant of memory’s limitations. We can remember what we want, forget what we don’t like, only cite those who agree with us, and twist the insights of others into a historical pretzel. But McClay’s article, my mom’s pictures, and HGTV remind me that we must not forget our history. We should build on the good bones of our ancestors and the idea of America that enlivened our predecessors. Our history is not a “tear down” but a “build up,” committed to retention of a history that can enliven the beauty of our national neighborhood, where we all live together.
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Over Spring Break I read Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. Among the many great insights found in the book is a talk Churchill gave which included these words:
“We seek no treasure, we seek no territorial gains, we seek only the right of man to be free; we seek his right to worship his God, to lead his life in his own way, secure from persecution. As the humble laborer returns from his work when the day is done, and sees the smoke curling upwards from his cottage home in the serene evening sky, we wish him to know no knocking of the secret police upon his door will disturb his leisure or interrupt his rest.” Churchill concluded his talk by assuring “Britain sought only government by popular consent, freedom to say whatever one wished, and the equality of all people in the eyes of the law.”
Churchill’s words are imperative in times like these when freedoms are being eroded. Yale law school students who heckled and ruined a planned talk between an atheist and Christian who were seeking common ground is one such example. Working on the public university campus I am constantly trying to help students see the benefits of freedom and the detriments of tyranny. And in my mind, this tyranny arises out of fundamentalism.
I remember growing up in fundamentalism. Degrees of separation always followed. One couldn’t associate with anyone who did X (2nd degree), those who associated with those who associated with those who did X were separated from (3rd degree), and so on. There are all kinds of fundamentalism; degrees of separation follow. At Yale we have an example of current cultural fundamentalism. [And I shudder to think about the future of our court rooms if law students cannot practice courtroom decorum in a university environment.] The specific event here had nothing to do with LGBTQ+ folks (which was the supposed rationalization for the riotous interruption). It had everything to do with freedom of speech.
An atheist and a Christian finding common ground in an open dialogue. I believe in the importance of free speech and open dialogue. My crying concern for this or any culture is freedom. Silencing voices – in whatever community context – is the death knell of free speech. Erik Larson’s “The Splendid and the Vile” comes to mind again. In 1940 the German propagandist Goebbels began a punishment campaign against Germans who listened to the BBC.
He ordered heavy sentences for radio offenders and told his propaganda lieutenants that every German must be clear in his mind that listening in to these broadcasts represents an act of serious sabotage.
Goebbels did, and Yale law school students do, adhere to their own forms of fundamentalism. The dividing line of separation is freedom. My responsibility in the public sphere is to accept all people, no matter their belief. I personally refuse any sort of fundamentalism. And I will always stand for freedom of speech.
If speech is not free for everyone, speech will not be free for anyone.
I will continue to speak out for freedom and freedom of speech. If free speech is lost, America freedoms are lost.
Picture credits: Luke Renoe
Goebbels – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-17049 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5415572
Sir Winston Churchill – By digitized by: BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives – Flickr: Sir Winston Churchill, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41991931
Erik Larson book – https://eriklarsonbooks.com/book/the-splendid-and-the-vile/
Find out why by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT
Every day students come to my class, they know we will be investigating the etymology of a word. An etymology means the development of a word’s history.
A word’s meaning grows over time. Consider the word “temper.” Now if someone is angry, we might say, “Cool your jets!” and by that we mean “Control your temper!” But if we say “bring the heat to temper the metal” that would be closer to the original meaning. The word “temper” originally meant to bring metal to a suitable, useable state. Picture a blacksmith heating a horseshoe to make it pliable so he can fashion it for a horse’s hoof.
Sometimes in life we must work with what we have been given, “Tempering our expectations.” What we mean is, “Things may not always go our way” or “We may not get everything we want.” Another phrase we use is, “Make do with what you’ve got.” We may be frustrated by our situation. A poker player might say, “I’ve got to go with the hand I’ve have been dealt.”
Solomon teaches temperance by his proverbial wisdom. For instance, Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” So, I can say, do not be too quick to label something “good” or “bad.” The end of something may matter more than its beginning.
Here is how we practice Solomon’s wisdom of temperance.
Do not believe that one event is the best or the worst.
Be wary not to put all your eggs in one basket.
Wisdom suggests that our best plans may not work out.
Having a Plan B, is better than just having Plan A.
Preparation is good, expectation, not so much.
Things are not always as they seem.
What you see, isn’t always what you get.
These proverbial statements underline Solomon’s point: temper your expectations.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally trying to temper his expectations with biblical wisdom.
Don’t
Clenched
Cusp
“That’s great, Dad.” 
COMMON SENSE. The phrase has come to mean the practice of right judgment in practical matters. But the phrase assumes two basic ideas. 
Flipping an idea on its head or turning a concept upside down is often my approach to opposing claims. “What if?” is a fair question of any position. When the Jews approached Jesus about the murder of their countrymen by the Romans in Luke 13, Jesus did not take the bait, an opportunity to agree or disagree. He chose a third approach. His response shatters the original concern. Instead of being concerned about the sin of the Romans or the sin of those who were killed, Jesus shines a light on the sin of those who brought the charge. The Son of Man’s intention seems clear: each of us must consider our own eternal state.
Enigmatic, thoughtful statements leave space for people to ponder. Declarative, assertive statements suggest dogmatic positions. Far from a belief that “we can know nothing for sure” is the understanding that everything is known – just not by us.
Remembrance coincides with restoration. “Tear downs,” the phrase given to eradicating the original house for something brand new, is not the optimum outcome. Crucial to most every HGTV show is a recombination of the past with the present. 
My mom is the pictorial archivist of our family; gifts given are often photo albums. Sometimes mom writes notes about who someone is in the grainy black and white mid-twentieth century photo. For me, now in my sixties, mom reminds me of folks I never met or was too young to know. In her own way, mom is a memoirist, similar to McClay who says in words not pictures
beautiful brick façade, accented by a front porch that overlooked the neighborhood street. In my mind’s eye I can see that street, the sidewalks, and all the other houses with architecturally beautiful porches. Now when I see refurbished homes with that same architecture, 
Over Spring Break I read Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. 
Churchill’s words are imperative in times like these when freedoms are being eroded. 
An atheist and a Christian finding common ground in an open dialogue. I believe in the importance of free speech and open dialogue. 
I will continue to speak out for freedom and freedom of speech. If free speech is lost, America freedoms are lost.
