What's Going On: The Chainsaw Massacre

 

There's three branches of government. . .and then this guy

Elon Musk occupies a strange and unique position in the Trump regime. One of my friends who is a strong Trump supporter recently posted a lengthy apologetic on Facebook defending the actions of the Trump/Musk team.  "How can all the Leftists be crying about Elon cutting waste, fraud, and abuse?" he asked. "This is a good thing!"  He's saving your money, my friend suggested.  And doing it for free!

I have a number of concerns about what's going on with Elon Musk and they fall under three categories:

The Man

To be clear, it's not that I object so much to Musk himself (thought I admit I'm not a fan) but simply that he is just one man. One man (and his team) acting without accountability. Every American should be concerned about an unelected individual having such sweeping power.  Sure there are whole departments within the executive branch--whole agencies--full of unelected officials.  But none of those civil servants have the kind of singular authority granted to Elon Musk.  They can't fire hundreds or even thousands of federal workers with a single command.  They can't make executive decisions about federal spending, or of their own accord enter the payment systems of the government and make unilateral decisions.  And each of these government departments typically have a head who has to be vetted and approved by the Senate.  Granted the current Senate is pretty much ready to rubber stamp just about anyone the president places before them.  But even they have standards--which is how Matt Gaetz ended up not making the cut.  But the point is that right now, even if they wanted to stop DOGE they cannot. 

Right now we are entirely dependent on Elon Musk's good will, the purity of his motives, and depth of his wisdom and knowledge. We just have to trust that he's a good man who knows what he's doing.  And many in the Trump camp do have extraordinary faith in this guy.  But to me it's not about whether he's a good guy or not--it's that history has shown time and time again that giving too much unbridled authority to one person, no matter how "good" is always a bad idea. You know the saying.  Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The Method

The cutting of waste, fraud, and abuse is clumsy and poorly thought out and stems from a belief that the mere existence of a government agency or federal worker is itself fraud, waste, and abuse.  Musk's use of  the chain saw is apt, but not in the way he thinks.  He's using a chain saw to excise tumors in the body politic, when he should be using a scalpel.   There's no doubt that there is waste, fraud, and abuse, and streamlining the federal government is a serious task that's long overdue.  And of course any cuts are going to hurt some ordinary, hard-working civil servants.  Hard choices should be made, but that's not what happening right now.  Shutting down whole departments of the federal government in one fell swoop is not "making tough decisions."  It's quite easy in fact, if you're not terribly informed or interested in becoming informed about what's actually going on in the federal departments you want to wipe out.  This is a theme we are going to come back to by the way.  Pay attention and you'll notice that Trump consistently takes the easy way.  His tendency is to pick easy battles and weaker adversaries where he knows he can win.

The Results

Finally, the Trump/Musk campaign to tighten the budget is mostly performative.  While gutting USAID and other departments is devasting to those who work there and the people they serve, the savings are marginal.  The only real way to deal with the budget deficit is to tackle the massive and massively popular entitlement programs that suck up most of our budget.  We've always known this but politicians have been too afraid to do the difficult work of figuring out how to cut our spending in these areas.  Trump's team is no different.  And it's understandable. The American public would be outraged if there were significant cuts to social security or Medicare (those two, along with defense make up 50% of the federal budget).  If we got rid of all expenditures except for those big three and the 13% of the budget that goes to paying interest on our debt, we could erase the budget deficit and have some surplus.  That would mean zero spending on health unrelated to Medicare, income security, veterans benefits and services, education, training, employment, and social services, transportation, natural resources and environment, and everything else (USAID falls under "everything else." That last category altogether amounts to a measly 3% of the federal budget).   I'm not at all sure it's realistic to reduce the federal budget to two entitlements, defense and servicing interest.  And even then there's still the matter of 36 trillion dollars in debt the U.S. government owes.  

Chainsaws are not going to fix theses problems. The practical--and much more difficult--solution is the same as it always has been.  Make hard cuts to social security and Medicare and raise taxes.  It's the only way. The conservative passion for tax cuts (a passion I share every year around April 15) has always been the flaw in their supposed fiscal "responsibility".  Can you imagine sitting at the kitchen table trying to balance the family budget and suggesting that what we really need to do is cut back on our income. A true fiscally conservative position is tax and cut.  That's a hard conversation that no one wants to have, so instead we get a showy pretense of being responsible.  As is common with Trump, it gives the appearance that "things are getting done" when in fact very little of it has a meaningful impact on the stated goal.

When all is said in done, especially if this latest round of tax cuts (which I hear are really only going to to benefit the wealthy. I'm pretty annoyed about that. If you're going to be stupid at least let regular people like me benefit from the stupidity too!) makes it to Trump's desk, whole sections of the government will be hollowed out by Musk's chainsaw, millions will pay the price in lost services, and we'll still be running a federal deficit. What a mess.

What's Going On: In The Time of the King (Not Like Us)

 But the people refused to listen to Samuel's warning.  "Even so we still want a king," they said.  "We want to be like the nations around us.  Our king will judge us and lead us into battle."  So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, and the Lord replied, "Do as they say, and give them a king."

                                                                                                       1 Samuel 8:11-22

As you read this post you may think that I'm engaging in hyperbole.  But keep in mind that this image wasn't disseminated by the president's detractors, but by Trump himself.

This is the third time that I've witnessed an event never before seen in my lifetime.  The first was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  The second was the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.  And now, we have the reign of Trump. No matter where you stand when it comes to Trumpism, I think we can all agree that his actions are without precedent in the history of our country.  In terms of impact, I really do believe that history will judge Donald Trump as America's most consequential president, with really only Lincoln providing any real competition.  In an occasional series of posts, I'd like to document this remarkable moment, just as I did for the pandemic (Dispatches from Coronaville) and the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd's murder (Angry).  My posts will fall under the title, "What's Going On."  And my goal will be to cut through the noise--and there is a lot of noise--and get to the essence of what is actually going on in this country.  

One thing is clear.  The United States of America is undergoing rapid and far-reaching change.  What does it all mean?  And what lies ahead?  Some say a new American Golden Age. Others worry that a second American Civil War looms on the horizon. And still others suggest we are witnessing the rise of a Fourth Reich, an American one.  I'm highly skeptical of the first.  I have my doubts about the second--in a sense, I think that maybe that Civil War is already over, without a shot being fired.  I probably lean more closely towards the third possibility, though there are some key elements lacking in Trumpism that were present in the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.  I'm also reminded of the end of the Roman Republic (though, again, without the civil wars).   Just as the Roman senate continued to exist as ancient Rome shifted from republic to empire, I believe our three branches of government will continue to exist.  However, all meaningful power will be in hands of the executive branch going forward.  President Trump is our Julius Caesar, seizing the reigns of government solely for himself.  What I'm really curious about is who will be our Augustus, the second Roman emperor who solidified and made permanent what Julius had begun. 

What Trump's election, and the continued support of his faithful, reveal is the myth of American exceptionalism.  We've allowed ourselves to believe the flattery of our politicians over the years--that somehow, we, the American people are just different from the rest of the world. We believed that they're not like us, to borrow a phrase.   We were told we were a freedom-loving people that fought to overthrow a tyrannical king and would never stand for another one.  I believe The United States of America was exceptional, yes, in its form of government--in its novel pursuit of a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.  It was the American idea, the American experiment, as flawed and as hypocritical as it often was, that was truly unique. It was an experiment got out of the lab if you will, and expanded in its reach much further than the founders could ever have imagined.  It's an experiment that has come to an end.

Because in the end, the American people are just like people all over the world, throughout history. We wanted a king, just like people always have.  Something in human nature wants to worship.  We want a charismatic, powerful leader we can bow before.  We want a King David, a Caesar, a William the Conqueror, Peter the Great, a Queen Elizabeth I, a Lenin, a Hitler, a Putin, a Bukele, a Trump. We want a strong man who will judge us and lead us into a battle.  We want someone who will "fix it" for us.  We want someone who with one sweep of his sword or stroke of his pen, will wipe out our enemies within and without and lead our country to greatness.

Now granted, there are many of us who don't like this particular king.  But I wonder if even those in the anti-Trump camp are as true to the principles of democratic republic as we would like to believe or if it's mainly the man and the policies we dislike.  What's happened to our siblings on the other side of the political aisle should serve as a cautionary tale.  The American Right has always been more worried about the rise of the tyranny than the Left.  They were ready, with their second amendment rights to fight for freedom and democracy.  But the fact that tyranny came from the Right instead of the Left has caught all of us flat-footed, revealing a hard truth.  That a principled stand for the democratic self-government is only of concern to us if it is our own freedom, our own beliefs, our own way of life that is under threat. The Right (except for a few lone voices crying in the wilderness) finds itself unable to stand up to a tyranny that champions an ascendant and muscular conservativism.  And the Left had no plan for this at all, and is left stymied.

In my view, there is one ray of hope glimmering among the darkening clouds of authoritarian rule in America, and that is our first amendment rights, especially the free press.  For now at least, there is nothing preventing dissenting voices from speaking out.  Whether  via old media or the various tech platforms, including little blogs like like this, the government is not preventing us from protesting vigorously what is going on right now.  When that changes, well, then we are well and truly enveloped in darkness.

I'd like to close this first entry of the What's Going On series by shifting from the political to the spiritual.  What does it mean for us as Christ-followers to live in the time of the king?  What are we to do?  How should we live?  The answer, I think, is simple--and it's the same answer it has always been.  To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. The counsel is the same whether we rejoice at our heroic new king, or mourn the passing of our former republic.  His Kingdom is not of this world and our first allegiance is to that Kingdom.  We are called to do the right thing.  To love everyone and to be a blessing to everyone, even our enemies.  We are to be humble, fearless, and deeply focused on walking with Jesus. 

It will not be easy--it never has been.  Most people when faced with a severe cost to following these simple instructions-to do justly, to love mercy, and to keep walking with God--have chosen to take the broader, easier path.  We all like to think that we would have worked on the Underground Railroad, that we would have hidden the Jews in our homes, that we would have marched with Dr. King.  But the truth is is those are the people that are truly not like most of us.  To be like them in the days ahead will take extraordinary courage, deep conviction, and, for those of us who love Jesus, a total commitment to walking in lockstep with our One True King.

The 18th Annual Inspirations List: 2024

I begin my hunt for heroes on the first day of the new year.  Tomorrow, I'll create new draft of a blog post. It will contain the title, and nothing else.  Then over the course of the year, as I'm inspired by the people around me, I'll open up the draft and add their names to a growing list.  By the end of the year, I'll have a nice little list of heroes--men and women who have inspired me over the past year.  That's how the names on this years list got here.  Some, I knew within a week or so of the new year, would be on the list. Others were added right at years end.  It's been interesting to look back on those names now, and feel satisfied that, yes, these people really have made a lasting impact on my life.

To take a page from one of my heroes, these people exemplify excellence.  They leave me feeling empowered to live my own life better.  And through their lives, intentionally or not, they are evangelists for their Creator, sharing His love and care through their lives.  They are eight women and three men.  Some I work alongside every day. Others I've never met.  One hero needed only about fifteen minutes on a workday morning to inspire me. Another's entire life was short, but her impact is eternal. Two of the heroes are back for a second time. You can click on their names to link through to their first nominations. For every one of them, my life is better because they've been in it.

Here they are: My heroes and inspirations for 2024!

Jasmine Best

Evelyn Goodman

Jeremy & Brooke Wong

JJ Wong

Tracy Chapman & Bebo Norman

Tanya at McDonalds

Ebisa Roba

Josephine Serwaah

Cindi Moore

 Jasmine Best

I'm inspired by her cheerful helpfulness

There are lots of people who get the job done.  Fewer that get it done right.  And fewer still who do it with joy. Jasmine is among those elite few.  If I ever need anything from the Allegheny West Regional Conference (which is my official employer), I know that Jasmine will handle it--whether it's in her job description or not.   Jasmine returns phone calls and emails. She gets back to you. She takes care of it.  And she's always, genuinely, happy to help.  If I didn't know better, I'd say that Chik Fil A brought her in to help the company develop their culture because that spirit of pleasant competence has Jasmine's name all over it! She always says it's her pleasure to help, but that cheerfulness is infectious, and I feel better, not just because my problem is solved but because of who solved it.  I want to be more like Jasmine in my own workplace, someone who takes joy in serving others and brings joy into their lives in the process.

Evelyn Goodman

I'm inspired by her focused leadership

She helped us find ourselves. For my principal, Evelyn Goodman, vision and mission are more than buzzwords.  They are the engine that drives her school forward. I've never worked with anyone who has so successfully focused the organization she leads.  Under her guidance, we know who we are as a school--a school that educates children through and for Christ-centered evangelism, empowerment and excellence. Ask any kid in our school what our mission is--and they'll most likely know.  But more important than that, every decision we make as a school is undergirded by these core values.  They inform everything we do and that is entirely due to Mrs. Goodman's vision.  That she has managed to bring this focus, while also creating an environment where every one feels respected, valued and cared for is an incredible bonus.  

Jeremy & Brooke Wong

I'm inspired by their faith

The tsunami wave of tragedy crashed into their family, flattening them with unimaginable grief.  But as the wave receded, something remarkable happened.  Brooke and Jeremy Wong, though battered and in pain, rose to their feet, their faith still intact. Just over a year ago they lost their precious seven year old daughter to a vicious cancer.  Already, stunned by the diagnosis only a few weeks earlier, they were preparing to support their daughter as she did battle with this ugly foe.  And then, almost before it began, the battle was over and JJ was gone.  I know they wept.  I'm sure they raged at God, asked why, struggled with the pressing darkness of grief, and like Job cried that it wasn't fair--that they didn't deserve this. But like Job, somehow their faith though shaken remained unbroken, and they bore witness that "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord." Watching them continue to honor God in their journey of grieving, continually seeking to minister to and bless others, as they always have, I'm inspired that a faith such as theirs can be mine too.

JJ Wong

I'm inspired by her life

If the fullness of one's life is measured by impact, then JJ Wong packed more into her seven years than many ten times her age.  There's no question that there is so much this little girl missed out on when her time on this earth was cruelly cut short by cancer.  But with the time she had, what a difference she made!  I knew her parents much better than I knew her, but when I attended her funeral, I was deeply moved by the joy, faith, and love and that filled her years and touched so many around her. I found myself inspired to live as JJ did and aspiring to leave an impact and legacy the way she has. And even though she's gone her influence is still felt whether through her wise-beyond-her years assessment that "the first death is really not a big deal" to the scholarship established in her name.  We mourn what might have been for JJ and look forward to her life continuing in eternity and all that amazing potential being fully realized.  But we also rejoice in what was--a life on this planet, truly well-lived.

Tracy Chapman & Bebo Norman

I'm inspired by their perspective & priorities

Some might call it brave. I call it wise.  Instead of choosing to chase this ephemeral thing called fame, to allow themselves to become addicted the roar of the crowd, these two talented artists, Tracy Chapman and Bebo Norman chose to focus on other things. At least in my view, these were not artists forced into obscurity as their talents waned or the interest of world wandered.  Tracy Chapman who shot to stardom in 1988 on the back of her song "Fast Car" and Bebo Norman, who became a staple in the Christian music world in the 2000s (here's one of my favorite Bebo tunes) were both well-respected and loved in their genres.  But both artists seem to have made a deliberate decision to decline the stage because they understood that the bright lights of fame and attention are not what life is all about. 

Tracy Chapman first came back across my radar when country singer Luke Combs released a fantastic cover of  "Fast Car."  Tracy stepped back into the limelight briefly earlier this year to perform the song with Combs at the Grammys.  I was just so impressed with the easy grace and humble confidence Chapman carried herself with.  As for Bebo Norman, one day I did a "whatever happened to" Google search and was stunned to find he was now working as a physician's assistant, living a quiet and to all appearances satisfying life far from the stage where he'd made his name (this article was written when Norman made the deliberate decision to retire from music and articulates why he chose to step away).  So many long to have what they achieved, and among the few who have achieved the same heights even fewer have found the perspective these two have. I may never be as famous as Tracy and Bebo have been, but there's nothing stopping me from ordering my priorities in the way they have.  Edit: Now that I've gone back and listened to tunes by both these artists, it comes as no surprise that their music is similar too:  real, unadorned, honest.

Tanya at McDonalds

I'm inspired by her excellence

You don't need an audience to produce excellence. The best of the best simply do what they do, and sometimes you get lucky enough to see it. I was so fortunate last May when I rolled into the McDonalds on South Kirkman Road in Orlando, not too far from Universal Studios.  With me were close to thirty students and chaperones on their 8th grade class trip and hungry for breakfast before a day at the theme park.  Tanya, the general manager was on the clock, and didn't bat an eye when we came crowding in to her restaurant that morning.  I watched in awe as she moved with efficiency and speed, tracking all our orders and making sure her crew got it all done right. And she was cheerful and professional to boot.  We tend to view jobs in the service industry, like McDonald's, as low-end and undesirable.  And many, whether customers or employees, behave accordingly. But Tanya was someone I could point my students to and say: "That's what you want to be in life."  

Ebisa Roba

I'm inspired by his gratitude

Most of us only realize our blessings in hindsight. I've thanked a few teachers in my life--but that was typically years after I'd been in their classroom.  Ebisa is grateful after every lesson. I'm truly amazed and inspired by this young man who always seemed to recognize and appreciate the effort my colleagues and I put into teaching him.  When he was in my 8th grade class, it was commonplace for Ebisa to finish an assignment and sign off on his submission with a "thank you for the lesson" or "Thank you for teaching me. I learned a lot."  Those words of gratitude brightened my day so many times.  Of course, it's no surprise that Ebisa always earned top grades.  The quality and effort he put into his work mirrored his gratitude for receiving it.  Ebisa has inspired me to be grateful for every opportunity I have to teach--and to learn.

Josephine Serwaah

I'm inspired by her passion

There are those who enjoy their work and there are those who have a passion for their work. Josephine belongs squarely in the second category.  Last year as we were conducting interviews for the first member of of our high school faculty, I was looking for--longing for--someone who would be passionate about the incoming members of our fledging freshman class. I prayed for someone who would invest in making the experience of our 9th graders special, someone who would ensure the students felt cared for and seen. I know what I try to do for my 8th graders:  I wanted someone like that.  Josephine Serwaah was the answer to those prayers.  On top of being an excellent teacher, with high standards and expectations, she is a teacher who passionately cares for her students.  Whether it's ordering them all class of 2028 sweatshirts or planning special parties or outings she's always looking for ways to make  their experience as the first high school students at Columbus Adventist Academy feel special and meaningful. Now, this year, as we look to hire our next round of staff for our growing school, I'm looking for someone like Josephine!

Cindi Moore

I'm inspired by her generous care

Imagine bringing 9 dogs into your home.  Now imagine 8 of those dogs are two-week old puppies. If that sounds like only a superhero could handle that, you'd be right.  Lucky for us, we found one such wonder woman in Cindi Moore.  When we discovered, to our shock and dismay, that our new dog was pregnant, Rico (the rescue organization that led us to our dogs) put us in touch with Cindi, a seasoned puppy whisperer with lots of experiencing caring for puppies and their mamas until the puppies are old enough to be placed in homes of their own.  I don't know what we we have done without Cindi.  Even before she took the dogs out to her farm she was so generous with her time and expertise.  She drove across town several times to help us out as we were waiting for the pups to be born,  she was there on the day of their birth.  And since Luna, the mother, and her litter moved out to Cindi's farm she's welcomed us for weekly visits with our dogs. To me she's gone above and beyond anything we could have asked for or expected, and we are so grateful! Everybody loves puppies, but the love Cindi has for our canine friends is extraordinary. (Pictured: Cindi weighing Amora on the day of her birth, October 29, 2024)

The Puppies at 8 Weeks

 These puppies just keep on growing.  And as they grow, one of our past times is trying to figure out their heritage.  Big Brody, the largest of the litter is now over ten pounds but he has short legs and a chunky, long body--almost reminiscent of a dachshund or a basset hound.  We are truly mystified!

But we love visiting them and their mama each week.  Soon they'll be old enough to be adopted, and I've been told that the word will be out officially, perhaps next week.  They're not ready leave their mom yet but we want to start generating interest now.

We've been bringing Nova with us now for our visits and it is so beautiful to see the sisters reunited.  The foster, Cindi has a lovely farm with huge fenced in areas.  We let both dogs off the leash and they run as hard as they can together.  The unbridled joy Luna and Nova have in each other's presence gets me a little misty eyed every time I see them racing across the grass together.

The latest pics from this past Sunday, December 22, 2024:

Amora

Tidalwave

Brody

Snowpaw

Danica

Darling

Song

Phoenix

The Puppies at 5 Weeks

 It's been  about three and a half weeks since Luna and the pups moved out to the farm and we got to visit them for the first time last Sunday.  It was so nice.  Luna barked at us at first but she remembered us and quickly warmed up.  The puppies have grown so much!  Their eyes are open, their little teeth have starting coming in, and they are full of cuddly, cute energy. Here's their latest photos!

Amora

Tidalwave

Brody

Snowpaw

Danica

Darling

Song

Phoenix

Luna & Nova at 6 Weeks: A Temporary Farewell

 The family room feels empty.  Luna's pen sits with gate ajar, the puppy bowl gone from inside and with it Luna and her pups. It's quiet, without the mewling of puppies.  After 10 days with 10 dogs, poor Nova is just rattling around in this room.  Luna has gone off to the farm to raise and wean her pups and will be back with us in maybe two month or so.  Right now it feels like an eternity.  I miss her so much!

Luna gave birth on Tuesday, October 29, with first puppies making their arrival around 7:15 AM and the last puppy coming on the scene around 10:20 AM. Since then the puppies were as easy as we'd been promised. Blind, deaf, and barely mobile they stayed in their bowl and Luna did all the work of caring for them. In order to protect their sensitive immune systems, only Kai and Barbara handled them, during our nightly puppy weighing.  I held one of the puppies for the first time today, just before they were shipped off.  Luna was hormonal--mercurial and cranky at times, but I found that since giving birth she was less fearful of me.  And in the last few days she's actively come to me.  I found the connection I'd first sensed with her when I met her returning.  So it's hard that she's gone.  I'm sad too, to miss watching the puppies grow up.  I always looked forward to the nightly weighing sessions to see how each were coming along.

Nova misses her sister too I think. She's been quiet and subdued and seemed more spooked when I took her outside for her evening walk.

I would like to introduce you to each of the puppies.  We would love for them to find homes with people we know so that we can continue to stay in touch with them throughout their lives.  Please let us know if you are interested so we can let the rescue organization we work with know.  Rico Pet Recovery has been amazing; we couldn't have done any of this without their support.

Here's the whole gang--all 8 of them

First up is Amora Fluttershy.  She is the darkest of the puppies and lacks the prominent brown features that many of the others have. I love the little brown beauty mark above her right eye. So cute!

Amora

Next is Tidalwave Kai, one of two male puppies and one of two merle dogs, noted for their distinctive spotted pattern. Tidalwave is my oldest son's favorite dog as you may have guessed.

Tidalwave

Brody Brake Johnson is our big boy.  He's been the biggest fella on the block since birth and was well over two pounds as of yesterday.

Brody

Snowpaw Twilight is the smallest pup, though she wasn't the runt at birth.  I love her cute little white paws. For some reason these little ones seem to be opening their eyes sooner.  Snowpaw has one eye open and the former runt has both eyes open as you'll see.

Snowpaw

Our other merle is a girl. Her name is Danica Rainbow.

Danica

This is Darling Rarity.  She's always very sweet and demure and sits quietly on the scale for weighing without any fuss.

Darling

And then there's Song Pinkie, who is always noisy at weighing with a lot of mewling and crying each time.  She's the "brownest" of the puppies, and has a white stripe on her chest. She is Barbara's favorite.

Song

Finally, last and no longer least is Phoenix AJ, who was the original runt of the litter though there are now other puppies that weigh less. She and Song are probably the hardest to tell apart since Song's yellow collar and Phoenix's white collar fell off.  We usually have to check their chests to see which is which.  Phoenix has a white diamond shape on her chest.

Phoenix

Oh and here's one more photo:  The deadbeat dad.  This is who we believe is the father of Luna's litter. This photo was taken by Luna's foster and you can see Luna in the background.

Bear the baby daddy. Is he the father? I guess we'll have to go on Maury Povich to know for sure

Both mom and dad have found forever homes. Please let us know if you would like to provide one for their precious children.  The foster we've been working with who is caring for Luna and the puppies at her farm will let us know when Luna is settled in and comfortable and then we'll go out to visit regularly, so we'll have more pictures in the days and weeks to come.

Welcome Luna and Nova: One Month: Pregnant with Puppies!

 

Nova in her donut collar, needed to protect her incision after getting spayed

Luna, our mama-to-be

It’s been almost a month since we brought Luna and Nova home and what a month it’s been.  For the first two and a half weeks the main stress was getting Luna housetrained.  It seemed like she was actively waiting until we got back inside so that she could relieve herself indoors like any civilized person. 

The girls out for their walk in the days before we knew Luna was pregnant

But then on October 15, Barbara took the dogs in to get spayed and suddenly poop piles and pee puddles were the least of our concerns. Luna was found to be with puppies--seven at least, possibly as many as nine, according to the X-ray.  The vets said we should expect the birth within the next ten days--which brings us to yesterday.  And still no puppies.  The little ones haven’t even arrived yet and we’ve already been in a heightened state of anxiety, getting little sleep, worrying over how we’ll handle all of this.  Our family room has been taken over by the dogs, with a big pen set up to keep Luna separate from her sister when the puppies arrive.  Our TV doesn’t even work anymore after Nova got a hold of the cord and chewed through it earlier this week.  Once they are born, we’ll keep Luna and the kids for up to two weeks and then transfer them out to the farm of a wonderful lady affiliated with the rescue group we got the dogs from.  She’ll take care of them until the puppies are weaned and then Luna will come back to us. We just don’t have the space or the schedule to handle a close to a dozen dogs once those puppies become mobile.

Luna's "birthing pen" in what was once our family room

How did this happen, you ask?  Well it appears that Luna was knocked up by one of the other dogs in the foster home she was staying in before we adopted her. The foster didn’t realize it happened, and of course neither did we, until that fateful vet visit.

Despite the stress, we love our dogs.  They are both especially close with Barbara, and Kai has a special bond with Nova.  Ezra also loves the dogs and they love him back, though he seems to spend less time with them. I’m the only one they still fear.  If I walk into the room they’ll immediately scoot to the other side of the room.  If I crouch down low so I’m not looming over them, they won’t run away and will let me approach.  Once I’m there they’ll let me pet them--Nova in particular is greedy for petting and if I stop petting her to put my attention on Luna, she’ll paw at me to bring me back to her.  They are still skittish in general and Barbara is the only one who can get them to go outside for their walks. I’m sure these things will change with time and love.

Welcome Home Luna & Nova: The First 24 Hours

 

Waiting and watching

On Friday, September 27, we welcomed two new additions to our home--Luna and Nova, sisters that were rescued from a really bad situation earlier this year. They are about a year old and just the sweetest dogs and we've all fallen in love.  But, the first 24 hours have been challenging.  For me especially, I've gone through a lot of emotions--mostly negative ones.  I feel overwhelmed and despairing.  I'm honestly not sure at all that I can do this.

Probably the single biggest--and really the only challenge we've had so far, is house training Luna.  at 1:57 PM, she's been here for less than 24 hours and she's pooped once and peed three times.  The poop was last night, not long after she got here.  The foster hadn't even left yet.  The first two urinations were last night--the first being mostly out of fear and anxiety, when we were getting ready to take her outside for the first time.  Getting the dogs outside is always tricky--more on that later.  The second was a more regular urination after we'd come in from our first trip outside.

The third was this morning after we'd been outside for about 40 minutes.  We came in, and she went to her water bowl and drank quite a bit and then about five to ten minutes later she had a major elimination--a big old pool in what we fear is becoming her favorite spot, near the piano in the living room.  We cleaned it up, using the enzyme cleaner to neutralize the odor.  Since then it's a waiting game. We've taken her out a few times and nothing.  The last two times were after she'd taken a big old drink of water from her bowl. So we know she must have to go.  We just need it to not be inside.  So right now, it's constant supervision. I sit in the living room where I can watch them.  By the end of the first 24 hours there'd been no more peeing in the house-but none outside either.

We always called Kimo the perfect dog, but we had no idea.  It's like we've never had dogs before.  Because with Kimo, we never had to house train her.  She just arrived in our lives with no desire to pee or poop inside.  Not one accident in 9 years! We never had to be concerned with things like crates. She had the run of the house from day one and we never had any kinds of problems with her.  We love our new additions but they broke the mold with Kimo--there's just no other dog like her.

Convictions: Jesus

 "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."

                                                                             --Edward Mote "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"

Yet it's amazing, how often we keep trying to stand on other ground.  We try to stand on the church, but it's Jesus that's the head of the church.  Then there's the Bible. Now that looks very stable--how firm a foundation is found in His excellent Word, right?  But it's Jesus who is our Rock, our Cornerstone.  The Bible exists for Jesus and not the other way around. The Bible has value because it testifies of Him.  The church has value because though I am a child of God, I'm not an only child.  To be a follower of Jesus is by definition to be part of a family, and that family is called the church.  These first three posts of my Convictions blog series are called Foundations where I reflected on the three aspects of our faith that we treat as foundational--the church, the Bible, and Jesus.  But in the end there is but one foundation and it's Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our faith is ultimately about a person--about Jesus, who is God with us. God who has come near and who we can relate to because He became one of us.  Jesus is the resolution to the thorniest problem that underlies all pain, suffering and death in this world--the problem of sin. Every philosophical struggle will ultimately be resolved through His sacrifice on the cross--his defeat of death and his eradication of sin.  Jesus also represents God's desire to be connected to us as He had always intended.  Jesus reveals in ways that we can understand who God really is and what His character is like.  This week's Sabbath School lesson says that the law of God reveals God's character and I had a hard time seeing that. But I think it's Jesus that reveals God's character, and shows us what God's law perfectly fulfilled looks like. 

You can't place too much emphasis on Jesus. And yet often times I find that we tend to underemphasize Him in favor of other things.  A "relationship with Jesus" seems soft, hazy, in line with harping on grace, love, and mercy--those less severe qualities in comparison to the sterner, clearer, harder virtues of obedience, righteousness, and the law.  But I think our preference for the those more "demanding"  virtues reveals our tendency towards idolatry, towards a faith that we manage and control. The thing about following Jesus is that He is in control, and we don't always know what He's going to do (ask His disciples!).  

 I think we'd prefer to take the playbook out of his hands, and just do what it says as best we can. It's easier to focus on tasks and check lists. It feels safer.  But that's idolatry.  

It's more appealing to have a vending machine God that spits out whatever we want. It feels more certain to believe that if I follow the formula I will get exactly what I want.   But that's idolatry. 

 It's more comfortable to demand that God "just tell me what to do so I can have eternal life" rather than be bothered with the complications of actually following Him.  But Jesus tells us that our faith is not about a to-do list. He does not offer us the option of a Jesus-free Christian package. 

My most fervent prayer for my children is very simple:  that they would know Jesus.  That's all.  I don't pray that they'll "stay in the church" because they could do that and still not know Jesus.  While, I do pray that they'll make decisions and live good lives, I still pray that would be the outgrowth of knowing Jesus.  Because they can make the "right" decisions and still not know Him. 

The only reason I'm a Christian is because of Jesus. It's His story that moves me, His message that convicts me.  And most importantly, it's His continual activity in my life that keeps me faithful.  It's that He's real to me, that I feel His presence every day, that His character inspires me to believe in what a good world can really be. This is why I believe.  I find a Christianity devoid of Jesus doesn't really have much to recommend it above any other religious belief.  We don't have the market cornered on a code of moral conduct.  We're not the only ones proffering an all-powerful, all-knowing God. We're not alone in providing a path out of suffering and death.  But we are the only ones who have Jesus. And He makes all the difference.

"For I resolved to know nothing.  . .except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

                                                                        -1 Corinthians 2:2

*A note on the images I selected for this post. The portrait of Jesus was a tough one. Images of Jesus are so fraught.  I think there's a strong argument for taking the Muslim approach of refusing to depict God in visual form.  Many of the traditional pictures of Jesus are of a European man that is most likely inaccurate.  There are a host of Black Jesus options available too, but I have my doubts about Jesus being African either.  There a contemporary portrayals as well such as Jonathan Roumie's portrayal of Jesus in The Chosen, but while that might ring true to fans of the show, others will see a popular TV star not Christ.  My favorite portrait of Jesus can be found here, but I've noticed people find nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance in this portrait, nothing to attract us to him and they object to that.  (Did you see what I did there?)  So even though that picture might be perhaps the most Biblically accurate I didn't use that one.  In the end I settled on this drawing of ethnically vague Jesus as, if not ideal, at least satisfactory.

The last image is actually of Rich Mullins, one of my favorite Christian musicians.  He said he wanted to be simply be an arrow pointing up.  This is the heart of Christian faith in Jesus, to be arrow pointing to the uplifted Christ who draws everyone to Him.

Convictions: The Bible

 "I think if we were given the scriptures it was not so that we could prove we were right about everything. If we were given the scriptures it was to humble us into realizing that God is right and the rest of us are just guessing."

            --Rich Mullins

I love the Bible, I really do.  But lately I'm finding that I'm very annoyed by the Bible-thumpers, the Bible-beaters, the Bible-hawkers. It's not the message of the Bible I find offputting, it's the messengers.

They make my skin crawl, they make me cringe with their certainty, their self-righteousness, their lack of humility.  

But I don't have that reaction to the Bible itself. I find peace, comfort, and strength in its pages. I find hope in its promises.  This is not to say that I always understand the Bible or find that it consistently reconfirms what I already believe.  I often find it challenging, discomfiting, and even upsetting at points. I find it hard to understand as often as not.  But I have come to believe that I don't have to always understand, be comfortable with or "get" what the Bible says for it to be useful.  The big themes of the Bible are clear to me. I know the Author so I don't have to understand everything He says all at once or all the time. In fact the more I read the Bible, the more I realize how little I really understand--and the more I realize how big God really is.

I'm more and more convinced that much of our fidelity to the Bible, is really a fidelity to our understanding of the Bible.  It seems to me that people follow a well-worn track most of the time, a track usually established by their denomination--the same key verses, the same proof texts lined up to reach a conclusion that at one time might have been fresh and exciting but now feels forgone. We crave stability and certainty. And I get that.  It's a normal human desire. But I don't know that that is what God is looking for us to have.  I do know that if you're getting certainty from everything you read in the Bible, you're not reading the whole Bible.

I find a lot of of people on the verge of worshiping the Bible--Biblolatry, I call it. I know people who are steeped in Biblical knowledge and yet it doesn't seem to have had any meaningful impact on their lives. At least when it comes to how they treat other people.  All that Bible study and yet they still do horrible things. 

Here's what I'm convicted the Bible is not, and what it is:

What the Bible is not: A factual history book in the traditional sense. What the Bible is: True.  It is the true story of God's interaction with and investment in human beings  

What the Bible is not: intended as guidebook to practical matters of living in the 21st century. I've become very skeptical of notions of  the "Biblical" approach to finances, marriage, health etc:  What the Bible is: a timeless guide to what matters to God, what His goals are, who He is. It is true that "all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we re wrong and teaches us to do right."  2 Timothy 3:16. But we are talking big themes here--not an uninformed application of what we think it says, regardless of culture or context.

What the Bible is not: a means of Salvation. What the Bible is: the foundation for our faith. As 2 Timothy 3:15 says right before the famous passage  about all scripture, the Scriptures have "given us the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus."  The story of Jesus, of salvation, of resurrection and the hope of eternal life--all of this is found in the pages of Scripture and nowhere else.  We can never discard the Bible and still somehow call ourselves Christians. Without the Bible, we would have nothing.

What the Bible is not:  merely about collecting information, knowledge, and correct interpretation:   What the Bible is: validation for what we've experienced with God and vice versa.  We've tested what the Bible says and found it true. In 2 Peter 1:19 right before the famous passage about no prophecy of Scripture, Peter says that because of the experience they had with Jesus, they have even greater confidence in the message of proclaimed by the prophets. What I read, I am experiencing.  What I'm experiencing, I find reflected in the Bible.

The Bible, like church, connects us to the larger community.  It's not meant to be studied or understood in isolation.  The Protestant overcorrection of the Catholic's church's traditional approach that encouraged only the experts to engage with the Bible, is our tendency to think that any ordinary person can have a complete and thorough understanding of the Bible through just their own private reading--with the Holy Spirit's guidance of course.  Can an ordinary person find inspiration, correction, guidance, and faith through their reading of the Bible? Absolutely.  But are they qualified to make authoritative declarations about what it teaches that brook no argument?  Absolutely not.

I think we need to be much more cautious than we have been about authoritative "Thus Saith the Lord's" and especially cautious of declarations about the "plain Word of God."  We don't always understand what God is saying--and that's okay.  And the Word of God is not always plain--even, and perhaps, especially when it seems so and it happens to suit our own preferences and prejudices.  You ever notice that when someone is using the Bible to reprove and correct, it's invariably someone else who needs the reproof and correction?  In our limited understanding, we know enough  about what the Bible teaches to enter into a relationship with Jesus, but we are far, very far, from knowing everything.

I find that those who smugly quote 2 Timothy 4:3 that "a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers that will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear" aren't actually challenged by the Bible much at all!   They are confident in their understanding and interpretation. Nothing they read upsets them. . .though there is plenty to upset those loose living liberal "Christians."  It begs the question of whether it isn't in fact the arbiters of the Word who want their ears tickled with messages that confirm what they already believe.

I'm convicted that while the Bible is essential to our faith, it is not the center of our faith.  That center is found not in a book, but in a Person.

"You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!"

                                                                               --Jesus, as quoted in John 5:39