Curtis Dahlgren
A Few Words More: "The good, the bad, and the Beautiful"
By Curtis Dahlgren
"Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good." — Thomas Sowell
"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, wherein is the good way, and therein you may walk." — Jeremiah (600 B.C.?)
IT'S TIME FOR SOME MORE QUOTATIONS (SOME LOOSELY CONNECTED ONES), SO:
This is truth the poet sings,
That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things . . .
Vex not thou the poet's mind with thy shallow wit . .
For thou canst not fathom it . . .
We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung . .
God help us, for we knew the worst too young."
- Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
"I have found a great hunger in America for a spiritual revival; for a belief that law must be based on a higher law; for a return to traditions and values that we once had." — Pres. Reagan
"To strip our past of glory is no great loss, but to deny it honor is devastating." — Daniel Patrick Moynihan
"Defaming and defacing, till she left not even Lancelot brave, nor Galahad clean." — Tennyson
"Cure yourself of the inclination to bother about how you look to other people. Be concerned only with the idea God has of you." — Miguel De Unamuno (1864-1937)
"Freedom and not servitude is the cure of anarchy; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition . . .
"Kings will be tyrants [through] policy, when subjects are rebels from principle . .
"Among people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist." — Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
Ah God, for a man with heart, head, hand,
Like some of the simple great ones gone for ever and ever by;
One still strong man in a blatant land,
Whatever they call him, what care I,
Aristocrat, democrat, . . .
Who can rule and dare not lie . . .
Who never sold the truth to serve the hour,
Nor paltered with Eternal God for power.
- Tennyson
- "Reading the ClimateGate archive is a bit like discovering that pro wrestling is rigged." — UK Register
"Man is a creature who lives not upon bread alone, but principally by catchwords . . .
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
"He could not forbear taking me up in his right hand, and stroking me gently with the other, after a hearty fit of laughing, asked me whether I were a Whig or a Tory . . .
"Party is the madness of many, for the gain of a few."
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the feud of rich and poor.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
- Tennyson
WHAT'S WITH ALL THE "ANCIENT" ENGLISH WRITERS? Well, we're in a Culture War — and have been for some time. The American Revolution began to brew like TEA, about 240 years ago. Our Founding Families were profoundly affected by ancient thinkers (especially English ones).
Besides that, this is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, by far the greatest single book involved in the formation of the world's longest lasting FREE country (a book under attack). While "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" (second edition, 1953) contains almost 30 pages of selected quotes from the Bible, modern English dictionaries are tossing out religious words such as "bishop," etc.
King George VI issued a proclamation for a day of prayer and repentance in 1942. This was the same "King" of the movie "The King's Speech." One of my ministers wrote recently about seeing the movie, and reading the book The Reluctant King ["Behind the Headlines" with Melvin Rhodes; Good News, March-April 2011] A few excerpts:
"George VI was born in 1895, when his great-great grandmother Queen Victoria was still very much alive. He lived through the reigns of his grandfather [and father and brother, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in 1936] . . .
"The British people became truly thankful for their new King George VI when he led them through the dark and threatening days of World War II. Whereas his elder brother, who had abdictated, was seemingly sypathetic to Hitler and even met the dictator on one occasion, King George would not allow himself to be intimidated by Nazi threats . . .
"Early in World War II, in a speech to the peoples of the British Empire, the king [said] . . "I believe from my heart that the cause which binds together my peoples and our gallant and faithful Allies is the cause of Christian civilization [the defense thereof]."
Mr. Rhodes asks "Is it possible there was a connection between Britain's naval supremacy, its superpower status and its many [previous] victories over ambitious European powers and its devotedness to prayer . . ?" Then he says he asked his nephew, who is in the Royal Air Force now, how many men in his unit hold any religious beliefs. His reply was:
"Absolutely no one!"
All the more reason for Britain and its successor, America, to proclaim a day of national prayer. Elections have consequences, and so does our long slide down the moral ladder "rung by rung."
Mr. Rhodes says, "Although . . Queen Elizabeth II kissed the Bible at her coronation service in 1953 and promised to uphold its laws, successive British governments have progressively rejected the laws of God [those "ancient paths"] and replaced them increasingly with the laws of man — with the resultant breakdown of the family and consequent social and economic problems.
"It's not surprising that national decline has coincided with this rejection of godly values."
P.S. The year 2011, the King James Bible's 400th birthday, could go down in history as a record year for government collapses. The Bible talks about a Time of Great Hatred, and a being who "weakens the nations" (Isaiah 14:12). The original word for weakens was the Hebrew word for "overthrows"! A new rebellion pops up almost every other day on the world stage. As someone said in Star Wars:
"I have a bad feeling about this!"
Stay "tuned" and look for the Higher spiritual ground!
© Curtis Dahlgren
April 13, 2011
"Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good." — Thomas Sowell
"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, wherein is the good way, and therein you may walk." — Jeremiah (600 B.C.?)
IT'S TIME FOR SOME MORE QUOTATIONS (SOME LOOSELY CONNECTED ONES), SO:
This is truth the poet sings,
That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things . . .
Vex not thou the poet's mind with thy shallow wit . .
For thou canst not fathom it . . .
We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung . .
God help us, for we knew the worst too young."
- Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
"I have found a great hunger in America for a spiritual revival; for a belief that law must be based on a higher law; for a return to traditions and values that we once had." — Pres. Reagan
"To strip our past of glory is no great loss, but to deny it honor is devastating." — Daniel Patrick Moynihan
"Defaming and defacing, till she left not even Lancelot brave, nor Galahad clean." — Tennyson
"Cure yourself of the inclination to bother about how you look to other people. Be concerned only with the idea God has of you." — Miguel De Unamuno (1864-1937)
"Freedom and not servitude is the cure of anarchy; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition . . .
"Kings will be tyrants [through] policy, when subjects are rebels from principle . .
"Among people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist." — Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
Ah God, for a man with heart, head, hand,
Like some of the simple great ones gone for ever and ever by;
One still strong man in a blatant land,
Whatever they call him, what care I,
Aristocrat, democrat, . . .
Who can rule and dare not lie . . .
Who never sold the truth to serve the hour,
Nor paltered with Eternal God for power.
- Tennyson
- "Reading the ClimateGate archive is a bit like discovering that pro wrestling is rigged." — UK Register
"Man is a creature who lives not upon bread alone, but principally by catchwords . . .
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
"He could not forbear taking me up in his right hand, and stroking me gently with the other, after a hearty fit of laughing, asked me whether I were a Whig or a Tory . . .
"Party is the madness of many, for the gain of a few."
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the feud of rich and poor.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
- Tennyson
WHAT'S WITH ALL THE "ANCIENT" ENGLISH WRITERS? Well, we're in a Culture War — and have been for some time. The American Revolution began to brew like TEA, about 240 years ago. Our Founding Families were profoundly affected by ancient thinkers (especially English ones).
Besides that, this is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, by far the greatest single book involved in the formation of the world's longest lasting FREE country (a book under attack). While "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" (second edition, 1953) contains almost 30 pages of selected quotes from the Bible, modern English dictionaries are tossing out religious words such as "bishop," etc.
King George VI issued a proclamation for a day of prayer and repentance in 1942. This was the same "King" of the movie "The King's Speech." One of my ministers wrote recently about seeing the movie, and reading the book The Reluctant King ["Behind the Headlines" with Melvin Rhodes; Good News, March-April 2011] A few excerpts:
"George VI was born in 1895, when his great-great grandmother Queen Victoria was still very much alive. He lived through the reigns of his grandfather [and father and brother, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in 1936] . . .
"The British people became truly thankful for their new King George VI when he led them through the dark and threatening days of World War II. Whereas his elder brother, who had abdictated, was seemingly sypathetic to Hitler and even met the dictator on one occasion, King George would not allow himself to be intimidated by Nazi threats . . .
"Early in World War II, in a speech to the peoples of the British Empire, the king [said] . . "I believe from my heart that the cause which binds together my peoples and our gallant and faithful Allies is the cause of Christian civilization [the defense thereof]."
Mr. Rhodes asks "Is it possible there was a connection between Britain's naval supremacy, its superpower status and its many [previous] victories over ambitious European powers and its devotedness to prayer . . ?" Then he says he asked his nephew, who is in the Royal Air Force now, how many men in his unit hold any religious beliefs. His reply was:
"Absolutely no one!"
All the more reason for Britain and its successor, America, to proclaim a day of national prayer. Elections have consequences, and so does our long slide down the moral ladder "rung by rung."
Mr. Rhodes says, "Although . . Queen Elizabeth II kissed the Bible at her coronation service in 1953 and promised to uphold its laws, successive British governments have progressively rejected the laws of God [those "ancient paths"] and replaced them increasingly with the laws of man — with the resultant breakdown of the family and consequent social and economic problems.
"It's not surprising that national decline has coincided with this rejection of godly values."
P.S. The year 2011, the King James Bible's 400th birthday, could go down in history as a record year for government collapses. The Bible talks about a Time of Great Hatred, and a being who "weakens the nations" (Isaiah 14:12). The original word for weakens was the Hebrew word for "overthrows"! A new rebellion pops up almost every other day on the world stage. As someone said in Star Wars:
"I have a bad feeling about this!"
Stay "tuned" and look for the Higher spiritual ground!
© Curtis Dahlgren
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