Live-blogging the Inauguration

Last updated on: January 20, 2017 at 7:55 pm By Gene Veith

Being unable to resist significant moments in history, I’ll be watching the Inauguration ceremonies today and making comments here.

Things get started at 9:30 a.m. ET, with the actual inauguration ceremony starting at about 11:30 a.m. ET. The swearing in will be at noon, whereupon Donald Trump will give his inaugural address. I’ll be devoting most of my live-blogging to the speech. Please join me with comments of your own.

On Saturday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. will be the Interfaith Prayer Service at the National Pantheon, I mean, the National Cathedral. I can’t bear to watch that, but if you do, feel free to report on it by making a comment to this post.

After the jump, a schedule of the day’s activities.

UPDATE: Here is a transcript of the speech.

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Moving day at the White House

Last updated on: January 19, 2017 at 7:34 pm By Gene Veith

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The White House staff has five hours to move out the former president and his family, with all of their furniture and belongings and preferred decor, and to move in the new residents.

The logistics of this tightly choreographed operation are rather amazing. Professional movers can haul the furniture to the door, but they can’t go inside, so carrying it all and staging it perfectly is a job for White House staffers.

So a salute to the 90 “blue collar” members of the White House Staff as they carry out their vocations!

After the jump, a step-by-step description of how they pull off this operation.

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The world’s favorite Bible verses

Last updated on: January 16, 2017 at 10:57 am By Gene Veith

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Do you have the Bible app YouVersion on your phone? Over 255 million people from around the world do. It gives the entire Bible in over 1500 versions and in over 1,000 languages. (This was originally the project of a church here in Oklahoma.)

The technology gives the YouVersion people lots of data. They can tell what Bible passages are the most highlighted, bookmarked, and shared with others. With those criteria, guess what the world’s favorite Bible passage is. See the answer after the jump.

The link also gives the favorite Bible passages of 88 different countries. What can you tell about them or about the state of Christianity on the basis of that Bible verse?

UPDATE: Notice how the world’s favorite Bible verse is about being “called”; that is, it is about vocation!

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Luther’s influence on German culture

Last updated on: January 13, 2017 at 11:41 am By Gene Veith

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The Economist has a fascinating article on “How Martin Luther has shaped Germany for half a millennium.”

I’m not sure how accurate it is. (Luther’s moralism? For the person who insisted that salvation is by grace through faith, rather than good works? Well, maybe so. Maybe this is evidence that an emphasis on faith really does bear fruit in good works. But “dour,” for the most uproarious of theologians? “Lutheran socialism,” finding the origin of the northern European welfare state in Luther’s neighbor-centered view of vocation?)

But that Luther influenced Germany’s love of music, emphasis on education, love of books, work ethic, etc., rings true.

UPDATE: Note the critique of this article by German journalist and confessional Lutheran Uwe Siemon-Netto in a recorded interview on Issues, Etc. (HT: Jeremiah Oehlerlich & Carl Vehse)

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Actors vs. Trump

Last updated on: January 10, 2017 at 12:46 pm By Gene Veith

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Meryl Streep took the occasion of her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes to give a blistering speech against president-elect Donald Trump. See Mollie Hemingway’s critique of her speech.

Now actors have the same right as all other citizens to criticize their public officials. This, along with other recent “public service” spots featuring actors and their political causes, does raise another issue: acting outside of one’s vocation.

Actors have the vocation of effectively speaking lines written by someone else. (It has always bothered me that actors get all of the attention in Hollywood, while those who write the scripts that they recite remain largely unknown by the public.) They generally have no particular expertise in other areas, yet they regularly testify at Congressional hearings on a wide range of non-acting topics. (more…)

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What you do to your neighbor you do to Christ

Last updated on: December 26, 2016 at 6:25 pm By Gene Veith

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It still being Christmas–there are twelve days of it, remember–we can still contemplate the inexhaustible topic of God’s incarnation. After the jump, read an excerpt from one of Luther’s Christmas sermons, which our pastor quoted in his Christmas Eve message. The passage deals both with Christmas and vocation–that is, our calling to love and serve our neighbors in our various tasks and relationships.

To those who think that they would have shown kindness to the Christ child and His parents, unlike the residents of Bethlehem, Luther says, “Why don’t you do it now” by showing kindness to other needy children and their parents?

“What you do to your neighbor in need you do to the Lord Christ himself.”
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