pseudo boethius

POLITICS / RON DESANTIS

For the first time, Ron Desantis speaks about the rumored arrest of former president Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, March 21st.   

Well worth listening to what he has to say.   

FRIENDS / NOAH JANE

Meet my new friend Noah Jane!   She was just born on March 14, 2023, International Pi Day!   

This is her first visit to my home.   Being a newborn is hard work, and she slept through most of her visit. 

CHRISTIANITY / WOKISM

The Fathers of Mercy, who seem to be located in the tiny little Kentucky town of Auburn, have some of the best homilies I've ever heard from everyone.   There have been some great Catholics who have come out of Kentucky, as strange as that may seem.  

Here, Father David Wilton teaches on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.   

It's ALWAYS good to hear Christian leaders speaking out against the cultural marxism that is the fake religion of wokism.  

This is MUST SEE TV!!!

CHRISTIANITY / CANCEL CULTURE

Dr. G. Ashenden is one of the VERY FEW Christian leaders who constantly and forcefully speaks out against the false religion of wokism.  In this video, Ashenden points out what many of us are noticing: the witches are now out hunting down the saints.   

Back in the good old days, Christians went on "witch hunts" to purge their community of those who practiced the dark arts.   But in this day and age, we now have witches going on "saint hunts" to purge their community of those who pursue holiness.  

The LGBT / Woke / Progressive religion will not tolerate the existence of Christianity, as it's mere existence is de-facto condemnation of their life style.  Hence, orthodox Christians must be eliminated from the public square.  The only "Christians" that are allowed in public discourse are those "Christians" who echo the woke agenda.   

CHRISTIANITY / ANGLICANS 

The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is the head of the Anglican Church, and the Anglican Communion.   He also is quickly becoming one of the most despised people in Christianity.   Like so many of the elite, Justin Welby has bent the knee to the New World Order, it's woke storm troopers, and it's false religion of LGBT.   

In this video, GBN news commentator Justin Brazier basically condemns the Archbishop for his apostasy.   This is MUST SEE TV! 

BY PSUEDO BOETHIUS

2023-03-18 - SATURDAY   

Psalm 34:4-10:

4. I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

    he delivered me from all my fears.

5. Those who look to him are radiant;

    their faces are never covered with shame.

6. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

    he saved him out of all his troubles.

7. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

    and he delivers them.

8. Taste and see that the Lord is good;

    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

9. Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

    for those who fear him lack nothing.

10. The lions may grow weak and hungry,

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

(New International Version)

The theme of this Psalm is the proper way to deal with the emotion of fear.  

It's quite easy to rationalize the meaning and the use of the word "fear" in the biblical texts, but I'm not going to do that here.  Instead, to best understand what the author of this psalm, King David, is saying, we must confront fear head-on, which is the only proper way to deal with it.  

It is only human to have fear or to be afraid.  Fear itself is neither a positive nor negative emotion, though we certainly think of it as being a negative.  Fear is just a sign from our nervous system to our brain telling us that something in our environment is not right, and we need to take action to preserve ourselves, or to mitigate the cause of the fear.   

Because fear is universal in the human condition, it is used by politicians, preachers, con-men and various authority figures to great effect.  The most recent example is the tremendous amount of fear-mongering that accompanied the recent COVID pandemic of 2020-2022.  The only people who had anything to actually fear from that disease were those who were the most unhealthy to begin with, and the elderly, who are often some of the most unhealthy people in a given population, due to a life-time of unhealthy bad habits.  For an overwhelming majority of the population, at least 98% or better, the COVID virus was only slightly worse than the flu, if that.  And for those under the age of 30 and relatively healthy, there was really no threat at all.  Yet, the news media, starting in March 2022, in hand with government agencies, made it sound as if we were being overwhelmed by the bubonic plague.  The fact that an overwhelming majority of people fell for this fear-mongering is proof positive of just how effective fear is as a means of control.  

If you want to be truly free in this life, you must deal with the fears that come up as a natural part of life on earth, let alone all those fears put upon you by the news media and the government.  A truly spiritual person must be one of the bravest of people, unconcerned with external things, no matter how bad they might seem to be.  Most importantly, a truly wise person will have conquered the greatest fear of them all: the fear of death, which is used so often to control and manipulate populations into doing the will of its governing authorities. 

So how do we deal with fear in all of its many forms?  Let's unpack what King David is trying to tell us. 

4. I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

    he delivered me from all my fears.

LESSON 1: SEEK GOD FIRST.   

David took all of his fears to the Lord, literally everything and everyone he was afraid of, and allowed God to deal with them.  This does NOT mean that God killed all his enemies and solved everyone of his problems, rather what David is saying is that he was "delivered" from the negative consequences that constantly dealing with the emotion of fear can have on a person's life.  Even if the problems and enemies remain, there is no reason to fear them any longer.   

The God who made us placed the emotion of fear into us, for our protection and our benefit.  But just like with any emotion, when fear comes to dominate your life and your thoughts, you become an emotional wreck.  At worse, the emotion of fear, left unchecked, will then do something you would not expect: it literally attracts that which you are afraid of.  In other words, fear left unchecked becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Hence, if you don't want your life to become a series of unfortunate events, you must get a hold of fear, and conquer it.  But this is far easier said than done, and most people will live their lives being controlled and manipulated by their fears, even people you would consider "good Christians".  Why does this happen?  Because they never properly deal with their emotions of fear.   

According to David, the easiest and best way to deal with fear, is to bring it to God's attention.  This is done through prayer and worship, which is exactly what the Psalms were written for.  When dealing with fear especially, Psalm 34 is your best friend.  

Bring all your fears, your troubles, your worries and your concerns to God, and allow him to deal with them.  The most amazing picture of this in the entire Bible is this episode between Jesus and his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

- Matthew 26:36-46 NIV

Even Jesus himself was subject to fear, and who can blame him?  Dying is one thing, but dying via the horrible torture that is death on a Roman cross is quite another.  Jesus knew very well what he was in for, and was rightly fearful of what he had to endure.   

So, how does Jesus deal with his fear?  He takes his disciples, goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, and seeks his Father.  Does God deliver him from being crucified by the Romans?  Of course not, he knows that it's the Father's will for him to go though this suffering.  But Jesus does get delivered from his fear, which is the point of his praying.  God grants him the fortitude to endure what is going to come upon him.   

Hence, being delivered of fear does NOT necessarily mean you are doing to be delivered from what causes you to be afraid.  But that cause is going to grow a lot less fearful when you gaze upon the face of God himself in prayer.  

5. Those who look to him are radiant;

    their faces are never covered with shame.

LESSON 2: GOD GIVES US PEACE

David is telling us that those who have learned to go to God with their fears are going to have a countenance of confidence, not fear and loathing.   Shame is very much associated with cowardice, and for good reason.  Cowards never deal with their fears, but instead react to them, and allow them to control their lives.  If you learn to take your fears to God, he will give you the grace and the strength to be able to stand up to those things that are fearful, no matter what they may be.  You will no longer be a coward cowering in shame, instead, you have the confidence and the ability to move forward in life, no matter what the circumstances in life may bring.  

6. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

    he saved him out of all his troubles.

So who is this poor man that David is talking about?  Well, it's just a poetic way that David uses to refer to himself: David is the "poor man". 

He wants us to know that when he took all of his fears to God, he got the deliverance he was looking for.  The key, of course, is bringing all your fears to God, and not try to deal with them using your own strength.  

7. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

    and he delivers them.

LESSON 3: BE AFRAID OF GOD, BE VERY AFRAID. 

Now we come to one of the great paradoxes of Christianity, "the fear of the Lord".  David tells us that God's angel (or possibly angels) "encamps around those who fear him."  David, being a military man as well as a king, is telling us that by fearing God, we get the protective services of God's own angels.  Not only do they protect us, but they also deliver us.  But the key to this protection and deliverance is fear.  

Often times you hear Christian preachers watering down this use of the word "fear" to mean reverence or respect ONLY.  And certainly reverence and respect is part of the package, no doubt about it, but even old-fashioned, blood curdling fear is to be understood in this context.  In other words, if you are going to be afraid of anything in this life, be afraid of God.  Fear is a stumbling block for us, unless that fear is rightly ordered, and its object is the God of the universe.  Then, in that case, fear is most welcome.   

So why then should you be afraid of God?  Well, Jesus gives us the best possible answer:

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

- Luke 12:4-5 NIV

What both Jesus and David are telling us is this: God is not only the creator of the universe, but the ruler of heaven.  If you want to spend eternity with Him, then you best live the sort of life that God demands of you as a believer, otherwise, an eternity in hell is going to be your destiny, and that is truly something to be afraid of.   

That brings up an interesting question: should believers in God be afraid of Him?  Well, yes; yes they should.  The reason why is quite simple: fear of God is the wellspring of humility.  Sadly, in today's Christian culture, there are almost no teachings or guidance on the virtue of humility, which many be one of the most important virtues of them all when it comes to eternal salvation.  Humility is simply the acknowledgement that you are NOT God's gift to humanity: rather, you are literally nothing without the cooperation and grace of God.  By taking our fears to God, we are showing our dependence upon him.  By depending on God, rather than our own innate strength and cunning, we are partnering with him in our salvation.  We acknowledge that we are incapable of saving ourselves.  And by our acknowledging our own weakness go God, he gives us what we need to be strong and brave in the face of adversity.  

So are Christians then in danger of going to hell?  Yes, even believers in Jesus face that possibility.   How can this be, since to believe in Jesus is sure salvation, or at least that is what we are taught?   Well, in the fullness of the teaching of salvation, right belief is of course necessary, but Jesus also makes is abundantly clear that your actions and deeds must match your beliefs.   Even more important, they must correspond to the teachings and instructions that Jesus himself gives us.   

There certainly are those "wolves in sheep's clothing" who like to pretend they are followers of Christ, but if you were to be given the ability to truly see their words, beliefs and actions behind closed doors, you find someone who is simply using Jesus to acquire wealth, fame and privilege for themselves.  Do not be overly concerned about such people, just make absolutely sure that you are not one of them.  I assure you, they will be well rewarded for their deception as they stand before the King of Kings at the end of their lives, when what was done in secret becomes known to all.   

8. Taste and see that the Lord is good;

    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

LESSON 4: EAT GOD

One of the greatest verses in all 150 Psalms, is this one.  "Taste and see that the Lord is good."  So is David telling us that we need to eat God?   You might think that's a stupid question, but in the Catholic, Orthodox and some Protestant faiths, that's exactly what they say they are doing in their communion service.  Or at least, that's what they tell their people what they are doing.  It's often referred to as "the Real Presence" of Jesus in the bread and the wine.  You are not just eating bread and drinking wine, you are eating the actual flesh and the real blood of Jesus.  But is this what David is talking about?   

I think most of us realize that David is using a metaphor here, and not really wanting us to really eat God!  So what is the metaphor, and how do we unpack it?  In its simplest form, David is equating the satisfaction of having a deep, personal relationship with God to that of eating a very good meal.  Just as you are nourished by food, you are also nourished by right relationships.  I think all of us have those people in our lives who truly seems to be refreshing, in that they bring joy, happiness, and gladness into our lives.  And we have those people, who, sadly, are just a great burden to be around, and we are only refreshed by their absence.  David is telling us that God is one of those people who is going to bring you joy, gladness and true refreshment.  You'll be very happy that you know his company.  He will bring you true nourishment just by being in His presence.   

This verse is echoed in something that Jesus says in the Gospel of John:

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 

 - John 6:48-63 NIV

While this verse is often used to justify the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation, it clear that Jesus is not talking about future communion services or transubstantiation as is taught by the Catholic church.  Nor is he talking about "the Real Presence" of his body and blood in the communion wafers and wine.   This is just Jesus preaching on the street, not at a meal, not handing out bread.   

Jesus, like David, is using metaphor and symbolism to bring us to a deeper level of understanding of his ministry.  First we have to unpack the symbols of "flesh" and "blood" as Jesus uses them.  To take his words literally, or even semi-literally is to completely miss the point of this teaching, so it's fairly obvious that he's not talking about his literal flesh or blood.  Rather, he is referring to a meal, though not one you can literally eat.  The meal and food he's talking about are his teachings, which he makes evident in verse 63: "The words I have spoken to you-they are full of the Spirit and life."  If he were really speaking of his actual flesh and blood, he would be immediately contradicting himself when he says "the flesh counts for nothing."   Amongst his own disciples, he unpacks the symbolism and tells us that what he's really saying concerns the coming of the Holy Spirit.   His words will ultimately lead them, and us, to communion with the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of truth and the giver of life.

We often forget that Jesus was just an intermediate step in God's plan, though a very important intermediate step!    The ultimate purpose of Jesus is to bring us to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which he makes plain in the gospel of John, chapter 14.   By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have the communion with God that we have been seeking.     

The Bible is very consistent in using food and eating as symbols for the process of learning and obeying the commandments of God.  Even non-Christian religions use this exact same metaphor for their teachings, even the Buddhists and pagans.  To learn and to cherish the great teachings of a religion, is to eat a fine meal.  And by eating the teacher himself, his "flesh" and "blood", you are taking his teachings with the utmost of seriousness.  When it comes to the teachings of Jesus, serious consideration and contemplation of what he said is demanded of the listener.  Sadly, mosts people, even most Christians, will never allow his teachings to sink deeply into their souls, and find nourishment from them.  There is certainly nothing wrong with the communion service as it's been formulated throughout the centuries, but to take communion without pondering the teachings and message of the Gospels is rather pointless.  The real bread and wine, the real flesh and blood, are the teachings of the Gospels, the Apostles, and the Prophets.   

Both David and Jesus are saying the exact same thing: take these teachings seriously, and you will be very glad you did!  You will be very glad that you took refuge in God, but first, you must take God seriously.  You must pursue him, and you must struggle with his teachings and commandments.  

The act of participating in communion is not so that you can literally eat Jesus.  Communion is the act of remembering his sacrifice on the cross.  The act of eating the bread and the wine should always serve as reminder to take the teachings and actions of Jesus with the utmost seriousness.  There is nothing wrong with calling the communion bread and wine the body and blood of Christ, as Jesus himself used this metaphor.  The trick is, to always remember that it is a metaphor that points to Jesus, his actions, and his teachings.  To put it bluntly, a communion service is our reminder that we need to be imitators of Christ.   It's not the bread and the wine that have "the Real Presence", it us, His literal flesh and blood, who have the Real Presence of Christ within us.   

9. Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

    for those who fear him lack nothing.

10. The lions may grow weak and hungry,

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

LESSON 5: RIGHTLY ORDERED FEAR LEADS TO GOOD THINGS

Again David tells us to FEAR the Lord, and the reward for fearing him will be the removal of any lack in your life!  It's as if the FEAR of the Lord is a key to a great treasure, and by using this key, you have access to your heart's desires.  To drive home the point, David tells us that even the mighty lions can, at times, grow weak and hungry from a lack of prey, but the children of God don't even have to worry about such things.   

So then, is the FEAR of the Lord our path to riches, fame, fortune, and an endless supply of food?  Instead of hard work and sacrifice, we just "Fear the Lord" and we will get absolutely everything our heart desires?  Just how literally should we take this passage? 

In this life we have physical needs, and we have emotional/spiritual needs.  Our physical needs are the need for food, shelter, clothing, and the means to supply these needs when they run out or wear out.  As for our emotional/spiritual needs, we need to have companionship, love, purpose, and good health.  But most important of all, we want to have PEACE within.  We want to be able to be at peace with ourselves, and our God.  It's absolutely shocking how many people do not have that inner peace.   

The funny thing is, there are people who have all their physical needs met, who don't have to worry at all about food, shelter or anything else, but they are emotional, spiritual wrecks.  We see this sort of thing all the time in the world of Hollywood and music industry celebrities.  The number of great talents who died incredibly young are legion: Jim Morrison, Marilyn Monroe, Buddy Holly, James Dean, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few.  They had all the fame, money and fortune you could want, but left this earth empty vessels, trying to fill that whole in their hearts with sex, drugs, and rock and roll.     

Then we have someone like Jesus or John the Baptist.  They had no home, no fortune, no income, no wives or children, and yet they ended up changing the entire world.  The one thing they did have: a powerful relationship with God the father.  When you have God, you literally have everything you need for life on this earth.   

While external, physical things are certainly a necessary part of life, how many clothes do we really need?  How big do our houses need to be?  How much money do we really need in the bank?  And even if we have all those things in great abundance, do they really bring us the inner peace and love that we really desire?

It's possible that David, who was incredibly rich by the standards of his day, meant something very much beyond earthly riches when he wrote this psalm.  Perhaps the good things he's referring to is what really is the most critical need of every single human: the need to be loved, the need to have inner peace, and the need for purpose.  With God, you gain those things which are most valuable, which strangely are transcendent goods, not of the physical realm.  They are intangible, they can't be measured, they can't be observed, but to try and live without finding their fulfillment is to be a walking dead man.   

Hence, science is all about two things: measurement and observation.  It's only a worthwhile enterprise for those things that can be seen and accurately measured.  But a person's inner life cannot be seen, nor can it be measured.  No wonder that our world of endless technological wonders has left us more empty and more depressed than anything our ancestors had to deal with.  The technological world only deals with the realm of the physical, as that's all it is capable of dealing with.   It has no answers what-so-ever for what truly ails us, for what we truly need.   

Even though literally thousands of years have passed since the time David wrote these words, they are still true today as they were in his age.  We will have no lack of truly good things until we first fear the Lord.  Nothing else will do. 

CONCLUSION

Do you have fears, problems, anxiety and depression?  Take all those things to God.  Lay them out before Him.   Make them a sacrifice to his Presence.   Allow him to participate in your life, and bring you deliverance.   

Read the bible, pray, read spiritual books, watch spiritual videos on your computer and TV.   Find those things that will lift you up instead of tearing you down.  A life lived in right service to God is a life of peace and tranquility, and brings a lasting, deep peace that cannot be found via any earthly means.   

Taste and see that the Lord is good!

- Pseudo Boethius

MUSIC / ROCK / METAL

Just when I thought rock and roll was completely and totally dead, this happens.  

For the first time in three decades, a rock & roll tune that doesn't suck!   

The best part: the guitar solo.   

JORDAN B. PETERSON / DUTCH FARMERS

The most depressing thing on earth right now is how the Dutch government is putting their own FARMERS out of business, because their farms cause too much pollution!   You literally can't make this stuff up!   And yet, it's happening.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek is a Dutch political and cultural commentator and legal philosopher. She has been featured on Fox News, GB News, Tim Pool, 'Achtung, Reichelt' and many other media outlets across the world. She received her masters with honors from Leiden University in 2019 and after getting involved in Dutch politics, she's now made it her mission to be a conservative voice for freedom and justice in the Western world. Her motto in life and eponymously titled substack is 'Resit Much, Obey Little'

CHRISTIANITY / CATHOLICISM / IRELAND

Ireland was once known as one of the most Catholic countries in the entire world. In the 1950's and 60's, it was estimated that about 90% of the Irish population went to Mass on Sundays. However now in 2023, that number has dropped significantly to around 30%. For this St. Patrick's Day, EWTN News reporter Colm Flynn traveled to his home country to talk to members of the Church about why they think the faith has declined so much in the Emerald Isle.

RAILROADS / UK / LMS

The largest steam locomotive to ever operate in the United Kingdom.  I give you the LMS "Garratts".