Bloody Friday – August 14, 1970

 

I enlisted in the Navy in 1970 and spent my summer at the Naval Recruit Training Command in San Diego. As luck would have it, my company drew a sadistic drunk as a Company Commander. He had a nasty habit of going to the enlisted men’s club or off base and getting sloshed while we were doing anything from being lead to classes by recruit petty officers to simply being left in formation on the grinder for a couple of hours until he felt like retrieving us.

There were, perhaps still are, two separate weeks that marked our progress toward graduation. Service Week, when we learned how to do with very little sleep while we worked in the scullery and mess hall from very early to very late; then there was Colors Company Week, when we attended the raising and lowering of the flag. For the ceremonies we were dressed in Class “A” Whites and stood inspection. On Friday of Colors Week we didn’t so well at inspection… according to our Company Commander. We didn’t know about it for a few hours.

After “Colors” in the morning we were led to a couple of different classes by our recruit petty officers, then chow, then back to our barracks where we were waiting out one of our Company Commander’s absences. We were still in our white uniforms. We were in our socking feet, as was our standard operating procedure to keep the deck clean and polished.

His name has been changed to protect the guilty.

From the rear of the barracks a voice rang out loud and clear, “Attention on deck!” We scurried into two lines bracketing the center aisle as our company commander came swaggering through the open back door. Ship Fitter First Class Billy T. Cracker marched silently and slowly between us. His mouth was tightly closed in a lipless slash as his half-opened eyes glared straight out over the flared nostrils of his reddened face. Reaching the front of the barracks, Cracker staggered slightly as he turned and regarded us scornfully as we stood in tense, tomb-like stillness.

I had never been the direct object of Petty Officer Cracker’s abuse. His targets were not random; he would only fire all of his guns at once and explode into the face of recruits guilty of some breach of protocol. I had been coached: keep your mouth shut and your eyes forward, and quickly do exactly as you are told. Like the story about two guys meeting a bear in the woods, I didn’t have to outrun the bear; I just had to outrun the other guy.

Cracker shattered the silence, “What a pathetic bucket of worms! A bunch of squirrels could have done a better job at inspection than you maggots did this morning! March to Georgia, NOW!” In pairs, we scrambled to lift a set of bunks and started marching in place. Cracker soon ordered us to put them down, pile all of our gear, and the lockers it was stored in on the bunks and then pick them up again.

A sailor can carry all of his Navy issue in a sea bag about three and a half feet tall, but we had the added weight of the metal bunks, our rifles, our lockers, and our boondockers. Cracker didn’t give the order to march, but he did begin to prowl among us. I knew he was drunk. I knew he was mean. I didn’t know how far he would carry the punishment... nor did I know how long I could carry that load.

After an eternity of two or three minutes, I heard the tick of a bunk leg tapping the deck. There was the clatter of loads being dropped as Cracker plowed through us and battered the poor boy who had been first to surrender. With spittle flying and eyes bulging, Cracker screamed for us to grab our rifles and form up outside for calisthenics… on the concrete apron in our socking clad feet.

The recruit next to me got out of time and Cracker bulled through our ranks, knocked him to the ground, hit him in the face, and ordered him to stand at attention on a concrete laundry table with his rifle held above his head. One of the recruit’s shoulders had been badly hurt when Cracker pushed him to the ground, he couldn’t raise that arm. He had to stand there holding the rifle over his head with one hand as bright red blood dripped from his nose to the front of his stark white jumper.

Fridays were the days of graduation ceremonies for companies that had finished their training and were leaving for schools and fleet assignments. The streets in front of the barracks were crawling with civilians who were on their way to Prebble Field to watch their sons/brothers/nephews graduate. There were witnesses. There were complaints. Cracker was put on report for maltreatment and sent to alcohol rehab. We were counseled, received an apology and a replacement company commander. We were the last company Cracker would ever be allowed to lead. That pathetic bucket of worms may have been a first class ship fitter, but he was a no class leader.

Two Questions, One Answer

During Robert Kennedy’s 1968 campaign for the presidency of the United States, he would close his speeches with a quote from the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Speaking directly of the leadership quality of vision, Kennedy would deliver this line: “Most men look at things as they are and wonder ‘why?’. I dream of things that never were and ask: ‘Why not?’”

Why and why not? Human nature, that’s the why and that’s the why not. Societies have evolved because of our physical needs in a corporeal world while, at the same time, being sentient creatures. We need, we think. Rational minds soon realize that productivity is increased and security is enhanced by dividing tasks into specialties and working together as a group. We plant, we grow, and we harvest. We mine minerals, we process, and we manufacture. We log timber, we mill lumber, and we build. We invent, we produce, and we sell. We establish religions, we form governments, and we compete.

As we go about our business, the structures of our societies and the functions of our governments sift us and sort us. The talented, the industrious, and the ambitious rise to the top; the untalented, the lazy, and the non driven sink to the bottom. This is fair… for a single generation and to a finite degree.

Talent, industriousness, and ambition combine to create wealth. With wealth come power and advantage; and the power to maintain your advantage. With wealth comes the power to see your children begin their productive lives with an advantage they did not themselves strive to achieve. It is human nature to want to keep what you have gained. It is human nature to want the best for your children. Meanwhile, the children of the poor are more burdened by the circumstances and details of their lives than are the children of the wealthy. They must strive harder, work longer, and carry a greater burden of stress if they are to gain the financial independence to which the children of the wealthy are born.

As this social evolution continues, the gap between rich and poor widens. The vagaries of economic cycles and changing fiscal policies cause an ebb and flow in the wealth accumulating ability of individuals. Those that are already wealthy weather these cycles and changes more effortlessly than those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. Fewer and fewer at the top accumulate a larger and larger share of the total wealth of a society, and more and more at the bottom begin to grow tired of struggling.

Enter the charismatic politician with a vision of a socialist utopia. Audiences of hoi polloi with lives of struggle and unfulfilled dreams cry, “Why is it this way?” The charismatic campaigner trumpets a vision of the way it can be and boldly proclaims, “Why not make the changes I propose and turn it into what it should be?” Should it be different? Can it be different?

Should people be compensated in proportion to their contribution to the society in which they live? Yes, it’s only fair. But, how much more should the Captain of an ocean liner earn than the boiler technicians that service the engines that drive her, or the cooks who feed the passengers? How much more should the boiler technicians make than the deck hands that do the grunt work or the cleaning help that takes care of the staterooms?

Resources are finite. The more wealth accumulated at the top, the less there is for the rest. Pure laissez-faire capitalism tips the balance too far toward greed and ambition. Pure socialism stifles creativity and effort. God help us find the middle ground where the best of us benefit justly and the least of us can still enjoy being alive.

A Tale of Two Christians

More damage is done to the cause of Christ by some people identified as Christians than is done by some actual enemies of Christ. Who is the Christian? Is it the business operator who is widely known to be a member and active leader of his church while paying his employees minimum wage when in control of $6 million in assets? Is it the computer technician working for wages who is not widely known as a Christian but freely shares his assets with a friend or neighbor in need?

They both are, but one of them has his “Churchianity” confused with being a Christian. I define Churchianity as that group of believers so focused on, and defined by, the particular doctrines of their sects or local churches that their behavior towards “others” is negatively biased. They are “religious,” but their treatment of others taints the reputation of Christianity as a whole. Their behavior towards those who are not a part of their own clique is distinctly different than their behavior towards members of their own mob. This is not the grace with which mature Christians interact with the world around them.

When discussing what grace is you will not get very far with Christians before you hear the acronym, “G.R.A.C.E.” God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Not all acronyms are as loaded with meaning and doctrinal truth as that one. That concept is the very core of Christianity. Christ on the cross, crucified. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Freely forgiven by the grace of God: not a license to sin, a license to serve. At Christ’s expense, we are free to confess our sins and be cleansed of unrighteousness. We are free to begin each new day cleansed of yesterday’s filth. No matter how often we fail, we are free each day to grow in the likeness of Christ; to practice more patience; to listen more carefully; to see more clearly; to discern with compassion the needs of those around us, whether that need is a shoulder to cry on, an ear to hear, a helping hand with a task… or cold, hard cash.

There is far more to grace than there is to be discussed here. But one more thing to consider is that grace is dealing with people from a position of strength. Spiritual strength. God given strength. Grace is dealing with people on the basis of who you are, not on who they are. Grace is when the CEO speaks to a custodian with the same respect and warmth as when he is speaking with a fellow executive and friend. Grace is when you treat someone who lives in the humblest mobile home with the same consideration as you treat the owner of the mansion on the hill. Grace is when you treat the stressed-out, untidy wreck with the same deference as you treat the charismatic professional in a three piece suit.

In short, if you are a “Churchian” you are as likely to treat an outsider as if he were a cigarette butt in your punch bowl as you are to reserve your limited supply of grace for your own clique. If you are a “Churchian,” you can be the chairman of the board of trustees for one of yours sect’s colleges and do less good for the cause of Christ than the humble neighbor who goes about his business gently and quietly while he looks to doing his best to nurture a Christ-like spirit and grow in the faith and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Can Do

They’ve labored in the tropical sun and they’ve dug in the Antarctic snow. For 67 years, from World War II Pacific islands to Middle Eastern sands, they’ve built our bridges to freedom with a tool in one hand and a rifle in the other. They are the United States Navy Seabees. Tell them what you want done, supply the materials, and then get out of their way.


Congress recognized the need for more naval support bases by 1938. Civilian contractors were at work expanding the support network in the Pacific by 1940. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was recognized that further expansion of facilities would have to be conducted by military units. Under international law, it was illegal for civilian construction workers to resist enemy military action. To have done so would have led to their immediate execution as an illegal guerilla force.


The speed with which the First Construction Detachment was recruited, organized, and deployed is amazing compared to the pace of bureaucracy today. On the 5th of January, 1942, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell received authority to form a Naval Construction Regiment. By the 17th of February, just 6 weeks later, the 296 men of the First Construction Detachment were unloading their equipment and supplies on Bora Bora in French Polynesia.


The need for speed led to the relaxing of normal recruitment standards. The first Seabees were an all volunteer force with men from the age of 18 to 50 being accepted. It is a tribute to the spirit of those work hardened men that many over the age of 60 had lied about their age in order to be accepted. They came from the ranks of men who had built Hoover Dam. They came from building highways and tunneling for subway systems. They came from building skyscrapers, docks, ocean liners, and aircraft carriers. The average age of the first recruitment was 37 and they were ready to go to war.


From paving our nation’s way to victory across the Pacific, through good will building projects for local nationals all over the world, from relief assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters at home and abroad, and on to the sands of the Middle East, the United States Navy Seabees have established a solid tradition of service in war and at peace.


While the two word motto, “Can Do,” says a lot about the Seabee spirit, the inscriptions on the Seabee Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery expands on that theme. In addition to the familiar “Can Do,” there are two other inscriptions that pay tribute to the service of the Seabees over the last 67 years:

“WITH SKILLFUL HANDS AND WILLING HEARTS,
THE DIFFICULT WE DO AT ONCE.
THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A BIT LONGER.”


“WITH COMPASSION FOR OTHERS
WE BUILD – WE FIGHT
FOR PEACE WITH FREEDOM”

Stop Blaming God

     Stop blaming God for the biggest favor He did the human race. Ironically, it is also our greatest curse: volition. Free will… The ability to choose… Our greatest gift: choices. Our greatest curse: the consequences of our choices. And, the consequences of our choices often benefit or burden those who come after us.

     When ever I hear a question in the form of “If God is all powerful, how come He let (X) happen,” I know I am dealing with an individual who has no understanding of the implications of two vital doctrines and their connection to volition: the doctrine of the will of God, and the doctrine of dominion.

     The Bible and the Christian faith are not cafeterias. When you try to pick and choose individual “menu” items, you end up asking uninformed questions like, “If God is all powerful, why didn’t He stop those terrorists from crashing those airplanes into the World Trade Center?” The Bible is a collection of inspired revelation that came together over a period of millennia and works together, from beginning to end, to reveal a systematic doctrine. You can not understand the parts until you have seen the whole.

     One of the first teachings of the Bible is that after the creation was completed God put the whole kit and caboodle under the dominion of man. God gave man sovereignty over the earth… and the responsibility to keep it and dress it like a garden.

     The story of man’s fall from grace illustrates the doctrine of the will of God. God’s will can be seen to work in three different ways: God’s overpowering will, God’s directive will, and God’s permissive will. So, at the very beginning, we have man having been created and given authority over the rest of creation and we have an understanding that the will of God is not expressed the same way in all situations.

      Enter volition. Volition without alternatives is like a lawn mower without a blade. The consequence of pushing or riding a mower over a lawn is supposed to be that the lawn gets mowed. No blade, no mowing. No alternative choices, no true volition.

     God created the heavens and the earth: God’s over powering will. He did not ask permission, He did not take a vote.

     When God placed man in the garden, man was to dress it and keep it and not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: God’s directive will, that is, DO take care of the garden, do NOT eat of the tree in the midst of the garden. God gave man a choice to obey or not to obey.

     “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die:” Consequence. God put a blade on the lawn mower.

     “She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat:” God’s permissive will. He allowed them to disobey.

     Without the functioning of the permissive element of the will of God there would be no autonomy. Without the directive element of the will of God there would be no “manufacturer’s instructions” on how to use our “machinery” in the right way. Without the overpowering element of the will of God there would be no life… nor any miracles… nor salvation.

• Dominion – We, the human race, are responsible for our own mess.
• Disobedience – We are not automatons, we have real choices.
• Damage – We suffer the consequence of disobedience.

     If we are all just travelers on the road to kingdom come, maybe this physical life we now live on the skin of this planet is just some kind of boot camp to get us ready to function on a different plane of existence. If there is a glorious eternal life in a resurrected body of a spiritual nature, then all that we suffer here will fade away like a bad dream.

     Having suffered sweetens the taste of blessing. Having despaired sweetens the taste of hope. Having known great sadness sweetens the taste of joy.

57 Going on 95

Mother was 39, and father was 38 when I was born in 1951. I never knew my maternal grandparents; they had passed on by the time my memory started. Grandmother Carney died in the flu epidemic of 1918 and my grandfather Carney died just before I was born. My paternal grandparents, however, lived long enough to be part of my growing up; knowing them influenced my point of view.

When I was in elementary school we went back to Dad’s “home turf” almost every summer. By the time I came along, the grandparents had sold the farm and moved into a house on the edge of a small Nebraska country village. There was no rush to modernize. They still lived in the “old way” as late as 1960 and did not move into a house with indoor plumbing until about 1962. That first house of my grandparents in the village and Dad’s own shared memories of growing up on the farm and of the people he knew has served to expand my own world view.

A summer visit to my grandparent’s house in Nebraska was like a step back in time. I can still remember the creak-clank, creak-clank of the windmill pumping water; drinking water out of a bucket with a tin ladle; bathing in a washtub; catching a chicken to be killed, gutted, and plucked for dinner; potatoes and green beans straight from the garden; using a slop bucket at night for #1, and that outhouse for #2 no matter what the time. Outhouses aren’t very close to their main houses, either, because the wells are close to the houses and you may agree that the two ought to be separated by some distance. That, and the odor...

A year or two after grandfather died we moved back to take care of grandma. There was not enough room for all of us in my grandmother’s house, so we had to find some place to rent. There was only one house available in the village. The only indoor plumbing it had was a cold water spigot on the enclosed back porch adjacent to the kitchen. So I spent the summer and first 5 months of my freshman year in high school living in a place where you had to go to the outhouse in the middle of the winter to do your business.

This different way of life, my father’s stories, having read a couple of thousand books over my life, 6 years in the US Navy with 3 separate overseas deployments, and a job history with over 20 different employers has left me with a wealth of memories and experience. But sometimes, when I pause and reflect, I feel older than my years. It seems to me sometimes that I could not have the memories I have, nor experienced all I have experienced in only 57 years. That’s why I say, “I feel like I am 57, going on 95.”

Of course, much is left unsaid. This is a blog, not a book. I can’t post a life time of hope, love, hate, fear, anger, grief and joy all at once. I have always lived my life with a certain amount of passion and introspection. When I read, I enter the story with such visualization that I feel as if I am part of it. I see connections and cause and effect relationship that many others fail to see – not because they can’t, but because they simply don’t care. This is alright by me… these differences. Thank God for our differences. If we were all the same we would not be a society. We would be some kind of a sick imitation of life; some kind of a mindless machine.

Dance Band on the Titanic (1)

This paper was originally written by me in the fall of 2002. I am not a prophet. I'm merely a student of what is going on around me. Don't be fooled. The current drastic reduction of the price of gas at the pump is an anomaly fueled by the reduction in demand as the economy heads toward recession; which in turn, ironically, was fueled in part by the high price of crude oil a few months ago. The general trend in the price of fuel is ever upward. In other words, don't worry about the low price of gas today, we'll get over it. I believe my basic argument is sound and that it still behooves us to get on with the program of securing the future of our energy supply.


DANCE BAND ON THE TITANIC


Are we cruising headlong through the night toward an iceberg? On an April night in 1912, the passengers and crew of the Royal Merchant Ship Titanic danced and worked with trust in their technology, and high hopes. Long before dawn, two thirds of them – trust betrayed and hopes abandoned – would be dead in the icy waters of the North Atlantic.

“Global oil production will probably peak sometime during this decade. After the peak, the world’s production of crude oil will fall, never to rise again. The world will not run out of energy, but developing alternative energy sources on a large scale will take at least 10 years.” (2)

Just as we know fossil fuels will not last forever, the Captain of the Titanic knew there was a risk of icebergs. The danger was not ignored; it was underestimated. Gregg Easterbrook won the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award in 1980 for a series of articles revealing oil supplies to be more ample than thought. He is now on the other side of the issue warning us that, “commitment to alternative energy forms makes sense now, when there is time to work on the problem rationally.” (3) Growth in supply will peak and then begin to decline, while world population continues to grow. Declining supply mixed with increasing demand will fuel a rise in price. If we underestimate the danger, that rise in price could be surprisingly rapid and crippling.

Many passengers on the Titanic were not even aware there had been a collision, and Captain Smith so underrated the jeopardy that he didn’t even order the lifeboats readied until nearly a half an hour after the collision. (4) They did not perceive the magnitude of what had just happened. In like manner, there are perceptual obstacles to overcome before our need for preparation becomes clear.

The first obstacle is “cultural inertia.” Like the RMS Titanic, our modern industrial culture – while well decorated, full of fun loving people, and fast moving in a straight line – is ponderously slow to answer the helm and change direction. The officers and crew of the Titanic were aware of the danger; the iceberg was spotted before the collision, but there was simply not enough time to turn the unwieldy ship. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the circumstances and details of our lives, and distracted by our amusements. Most of us have “full plates,” and simply don’t take the time to be involved in weighty matters of far-reaching significance. Will we overcome our apathy and alter our course in time, or rest on our assumption that the experts are handling the problem quickly enough?

The second obstacle is our “conditioned skepticism.” Ironically, passed predictions are now part of the present problem. There has been a series of predictions – based on the ever-changing estimates of known reserves – crying “wolf” about the end of the reserves of crude oil. This series of false prophecies has conditioned us to ignore warnings of oil shortages. In the mean time, oil exploration technology has been growing more sophisticated. Enough has been learned about how oil was formed and stored in the Earth’s crust to reach some inescapable conclusions about the limits of reserves. Some petroleum industry executives are becoming concerned with developing alternative sources of energy. (5) Are they becoming concerned enough, quickly enough? Remember, in The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the wolf did eventually show up.

The third obstacle is “fatal optimism.” In the oil industry, only ten percent of exploration wells ever produce anything. It is an industry that fosters incurable optimism. If you are easily discouraged, you don’t hang around the oil business too long. This explains the relative silence of the industry about shortages; they have been inoculated against discouragement. (6) While incurable optimism is vital in the oil industry, it could be fatal on the bridge of a ship cruising through an ice field. Fatal optimism may have played a role in the sinking of the Titanic. It is possible there was a testosterone festival on the bridge of that ship, trying to get it across the Atlantic and into New York ahead of schedule. Slow down and turn on some searchlights.

A fourth obstacle is “shoot the messenger.” Politicians are afraid to deliver bad news. We are a merciless and demanding population unlikely to reelect bearers of bad news.

I propose that we exercise our citizenship by lobbying our Federal and state governments to aggressively pursue independence from fossil fuels, and to subsidize the implementation of alternative energy sources. This does not call for creating another bureaucracy. The United States Department of Energy already has the needed programs in place, but they need to be prioritized, orchestrated, and pursued more aggressively.

“… genuine energy crisis will be avoided only if preparations are made well in advance. Now, with prosperity high and petroleum politics quiet, is the ideal time to begin. Better to fix the roof while the sun is shining.” (7)

The Bush Administration has promised to restructure government agencies to increase efficiency (Yeah, like that happened… not.), but we need more than efficiency. We need effectiveness. Efficiency is “doing the job right.” Effectiveness is “doing the right job” in the first place. The DOE must be remolded into an agency capable of effectively administrating a program with a defined goal: freedom from dependence on fossil fuels. There are many promising technologies already in development; we simply need to pursue what is already being pursued, only much more aggressively. There is also talent being wasted on duplicated effort. There are different ways people can help. Those who don’t care, or simply don’t believe there’s a problem, can at least act in their own enlightened self-interest and fatten their wallets by curbing their personal consumption. The more interested citizen can become educated on the issue and vote intelligently when energy issues are on the ballot. Significant contributions start with active involvement like letter writing. Urge your representatives to make energy security a priority, and put our money where their mouths are. If you are motivated to pursue a more active course, you can join or help form a political action committee whose goal is public education and lobbying.

The projected fiscal year 2003 budget for the Department of Energy was 21.8 billion dollars. Only 1.9% of this was budgeted for renewable Energy Resources. (8) Our future energy supply is so vital to our way of life that the DOE budget should be rewritten to apply twenty percent, or 4.4 billion dollars, to renewable energy resources. Furthermore, we consume gasoline at a rate that would provide 2.7 billion dollars in annual funding for every two cents per gallon in tax. That’s gasoline alone and not including diesel, home heating fuel, LPG, or any other fossil fuel. (9) Come on; throw in your two cents worth. We could accomplish a great deal with an effectively applied annual budget of 7.1 billion dollars. “For perspective, the Apollo Moon Landing Program cost about 64 billion dollars (total) in today’s dollars.”(10)

Will our legacy be wisdom and judgment in action; or will our posterity curse us for our selfishness and lack of vision? Like the musicians in the dance band on the Titanic, we go about our daily business while trusting our ship. We believe we are safe, and have “someday” dreams. But those at the helm might be gambling our lives against the odds of running into an iceberg. We stand at a crossroads where the decisions we make will determine whether our descendants and we will live lives of poverty or promise.

This needs to be a community effort. Certain needs, because of their peculiar mixture of high development costs, their integration as parts of complex systems, and their impact on society at large, are particularly vulnerable to inefficiencies when attempted by a competitive free market economy.(11) Alternative energy supply is a primary example of just such a need. Less government interference in commerce is better than more interference, if our goal is maximum power and wealth for only the most driven and aggressive individuals in our culture. Pure, uncompromising laissez faire capitalism – allowed to operate totally free of government restraints – inevitably betrays the shortcomings of human nature.(12)

The competitive nature of our economy handicaps us when there are long-range goals to pursue. Today’s commerce is dependent on today’s bottom line. Planning goes only as far as calculable profits. Left strictly to the forces of a free market, the development and implementation of alternative energy strategies may not happen in time to avoid disaster. With or without government involvement the coming energy crisis will be solved, but at what cost? A worst-case scenario: prices rise too rapidly before alternative energy technologies have reached sufficient levels of development, and our then crippled economy cannot finance the implementation of those alternatives that are sufficiently developed. Our economic house-of-cards then flutters to the ground around us, and the wheels of commerce come grinding to a screeching halt as fuel tanks run empty and bearings dry out.

Modern agribusiness is particularly dependent on petroleum. Ignore energy issues long enough and our ability to feed ourselves at current population levels will be in jeopardy. The sooner we engage in an effective program to free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels the greater the amount of time over which we can spread the cost. The sooner we employ significant amounts of alternative energy the further we stretch existing fossil fuel supplies. Also – since nearly all alternatives are cleaner than fossil fuels – the sooner we use more of them the sooner our energy practices will be less polluting.

Everything we do – farming, manufacturing, building, playing, transporting – requires the consumption of energy. When a need is as crucial as energy supply, it is foolish not to take action sooner, rather than later. We currently live in an economic house built on a foundation of fossil fuels. The foundation is crumbling; we need to jack up the house and build a new foundation.

This wouldn’t be the first time this nation has taken on a large and ambitious undertaking. There were transcontinental and regional railroads in the latter half of the nineteenth century that were funded by land grants and bond issuance.(13) Massive dams, rural electrification, and numerous other publicly funded projects of the Roosevelt Era pulled our nation out of depression. During my own youth this nation – all at the same time – built an interstate highway system, fought a war in Vietnam, landed men on the Moon, and funded an exponential growth in entitlement programs. In spite of all the palaver about cost and philosophy we’re still doing better than ever. We’re still reasonably free. There seems to be plenty of opportunity for anybody willing to put down his or her beer and turn off the television.

Sure we have some problems; sometimes problems help us focus our efforts. Regardless of government inefficiencies, the solving of some problems is too vital to our common welfare to leave in the hands of free enterprise alone. Free enterprise is only part of our American way of life. Another part of our American way of life is combining our efforts under the management of government authority to solve problems too important to leave ungoverned. Whether sooner, or later, the transition away from fossil fuels will become absolutely necessary. We have the opportunity to focus and organize our efforts early enough to make the changeover in a manner least disruptive to our economy. We also have the opportunity to establish leadership in technologies that will be most vital to the general welfare of the human family in the coming decades.

I’ll close with a little arithmetic for those of you who believe there is plenty of time to let someone else worry about energy supply. The people whose lives will be affected by our decisions are not some hazy, far-distance strangers who don’t matter to you. Considering advances in medical technology, and increasingly knowledgeable health and nutrition practices, it should not be surprising to see an increasing number of people mentally and physically healthy into their nineties. If you are now around thirty years of age or less, you could – before you die – know and love a child who will still be alive more than 150 years from today. The energy security and economic welfare of that child is in our hands. Become informed. Write your representatives. Vote wisely.

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(1) Harry Chapin, “Danceband on the Titanic.” Compiled 1988. The Gold Medal Collection. Compact disc. Elektra/Asylum Records. 1988.

(2) Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001) 1. Subsequent references to this book cited as: Hubbert’s Peak.

(3) Gregg Easterbrook, The Coming Oil Crisis – Really. Department of Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies. Online. Accessed 11/12/02. Subsequent references to this article cited as: Oil Crisis – Really.

(4) RMS Titanic – The History of the RMS Titanic – The Night of the Disaster. Online. Accessed 12/4/02.

(5) Hubbert’s Peak. 3+

(6) Hubbert’s Peak. 7+

(7) Oil Crisis – Really.

(8) FY 2003 Budget Request to Congress. Renewable Energy Resources. Budget Summary Table. Online. Accessed 11/20/02.

(9) Finished Motor Gasoline Supply and Disposition, 1973 – Present. Online. Accessed 11/17/02.

(10) We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants: Lunar Industrialization and the Saturn VI. Online. Accessed 11/23/03.

(11) K. William Kapp, The Social Costs of Private Enterprise. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950) 197+

(12) Marjorie Kelly, The Divine Right of Capital. (San Francisco: Berret-Koehler Publishers, 2001) 69+

(13) Lloyd J. Mercer, Railroads and Land Grant Policy: A Study in Government Intervention. (New York: Academic Press, 1982) 3+.

The Mayor of Callus Lied

As long as I lived in the central Nebraska farming village of Callus, I would always know four things: when it was noon, when there was a fire, when a tornado was spotted, and when there was a drowning at the nearby REA diversion dam. These four things were announced by the siren on top of the village fire hall.

The siren would signal noon by winding up to a full wail and then unwinding to silence. It would summon the volunteer firefighters by repeating the signal over and over. For tornadoes, the siren would twist out yet a different signal – sort of a slow motion warble. The most haunting cry of all, however, was the drowning siren. It would be turned on and left to wail away, uninterrupted, at full volume for a minute or more. The unrelenting howl compelled the most urgent response.

Built in the 1930s by the Rural Electrification Administration, the dam had the deepest water and convenient diving towers. The amount of water being diverted into the powerhouse canal was controlled by four guillotine-like gates whose steel framing provided diving platforms up to about 30 feet above the water. Adolescents with naive assumptions of immortality – or the just plain ignorant and foolish – might be seen diving into the reservoir and then swimming under the guillotine-blade-gate into the canal.

For a strong swimmer, this adventure is not as risky as it may seem. Most rivers of the Great Plains are wide, shallow, lazily meandering affairs that are more sandbar than water. The dams, canals, and powerhouses are of a scale to serve only a few thousand customers. Though very rare, a swimmer occasionally gets tangled up in a gate, or bangs his head hard enough to knock himself out, and needs to be pulled out of the canal and resuscitated. The siren attendant throws the switch and leaves the siren to wail away as he or she rushes immediately to the dam. Once a number of responders are on the way, someone will get around to turning off the siren.

I did not grow up entirely in Callus. The family farm was being operated profitably by grandpa and grandma with the help of dad’s uncle and older brother. Mom and dad left Nebraska for Seattle, where dad worked as a machinist and millwright at Paccar, Kenworth, and Boeing. They, and later, we, would travel back to Callus for a vacation visit nearly every year. Mom had her own earnings from a part-time decorating and catering business and would sometimes go back home for a visit by herself because dad could only really take one annual vacation, unless he was between jobs.

But time marched on after all, and the grandparents and dad’s uncle grew older and older until there came a time when they wanted to retire and do a little traveling before they had to take that last mysterious journey that lies before all of us who are mortal. So, between my sophomore and junior year, we pulled up stakes and headed back to Boelus to take over the operation of the farm.

My uncle, dad’s older brother, and his family were living in the main farmhouse. He would be staying on to help with the farm. Dad’s uncle and aunt were comfortably ensconced in the smaller, original house. They liked it there. They wanted to stay. This was no trouble, as the farm was only about five miles north of the village. Mom was a ‘neighbor’ who liked to go visiting around, so she was in favor of living in town and dad was used to commuting anyway, so they decided to buy a house on the edge of town instead of chewing up any ground on the farm for another house.

Dad’s family had long been successful farmers. It was in his blood. In spite of a number of years in the city working for others, he reentered the business without missing a beat. I found over the years of summer vacationing ‘back home’ that I also liked the life. As we settled in to our new lives we soon found that we were really getting into the spirit of the farm and began making plans to expand operations.

This kept dad busier and busier on the farm. Mom didn’t seem to mind dad’s increasingly long work days. She was content with her active social life. I didn’t care. Kathy and I were in love. Mom could have disappeared for a week and dad could have been working 16 hours a day on the farm and I wouldn’t have noticed.

By this time I was a year out of high school and taking on my own responsibilities on the farm. I had grown to love the life and wanted to be part of it. The operation was profitable. Kathy and I began to entertain ideas of marriage. So, by this time, in addition to the four things I would always know because of the siren, I knew I was in love.

And I knew I hated her father. He was a successful merchant, owning a grocery store, tavern, and farm supply store. He was the mayor. Yes sir, the mayor of Boelus, a thriving and growing farm center of not so many people, yet plenty of businesses serving the surrounding farms. His wealth depended on farmers, yet, for some reason, I wasn’t good enough for his daughter. He fought our courtship at every turn. He had plans for his daughter to marry someone ‘better’ than some damn farmer.

He was always trying to push her off to college like he wanted her to find a doctor or lawyer. Kathy and I were reduced to sneaking around like adulterers. Whenever I would grow frustrated with her father and express my hatred for him and my desire to just punch him out, Kathy would laugh and point out that one of the reasons she loved me was that in some ways I was just like her father. “I know he’s a manipulative, pushy jerk a lot of the time,” she would say, “and you hate him because he doesn’t want us to be together, but you both have a drive, ambition, and desire that fire you guys up when you’re after something you want. And when you get that sneer on your face when you’re being sarcastic about something I’m sometimes afraid you’re going to start ridiculing me the way he does when he thinks I’m being a silly little girl.”

She was right. I did sometimes get all fired up and tear off after some goal. And I could get pretty mouthy when I perceived that I was being obstructed. Maybe I should just settle down and talk calmly with him. Reason with him. Point out the long standing profitability of the farm. Ask him if he remembers what it was like to be young and in love.

Soon there came an afternoon when I had to pick up some repair parts in town. At least the mayor didn’t own the implement dealership. It always galled me when I had to pick something up from the farm supply store. I didn’t like the idea of this manipulative, game-playing bastard profiting at all from our business. I yielded to the desperation of being young and in love, ratcheted up my courage, and went looking for the mayor. It was time that we talked.

When I tried his office, his secretary wasn’t sure where he was or when he would be back. When I tried his home, his wife told me he was out in the countryside looking over some property. She wasn’t sure where. It was uncanny. The Mayor seemed to be avoiding me without even knowing I was looking for him. I gave up on confronting him that afternoon and headed on back to the farm. Damned if I didn’t spotted his car parked at the riverfront park as I was crossing the bridge on the way back to the farm.

I pulled into a parking area, but did not see him in or around his car. I parked the pickup and began walking the riverside trail. Soon enough I spotted him in a shaded glen where a side trail came down to meet the riverside trail. He was not alone. He and a woman were wrapped in a passionate embrace that reminded me of the way Kathy and I began and ended our trysts. I was not being at all stealthy. As I walked openly and directly up the trail it was soon enough that they heard me and disengaged from their tangled embrace. As she stepped back from his arms and turned to face me, I was looking directly into my mother’s eyes. I sleep walked to a stop about dozen yards from this unexpected coupling. I hadn’t seen my mother’s car. She must be parked in the other lot farther upstream.

Time seemed to stand still as I stood there wrestling with outrage, embarrassment, and pain. Then it was like a heavy, black curtain closed on my emotions. Deep inside I felt myself go cold and was almost startled to hear my own voice say, “You son of a bitch. You make Kathy and I sneak around in order to be together at the same damn time you’re trying to get into my mother’s pants. I’ll tell you what, asshole; you’re run for reelection is just about five weeks away, right? Well, nobody, I repeat,” as I shift my glare momentarily to my mother, “nobody will ever hear what I have seen here today. But… you will stop interfering with your daughter and me. Is that clear enough… sir?”

My mother seemed paralyzed with horror as she witnessed this compromise I was negotiating with the man she obviously felt very differently about than I did. As she looked about ready to respond, the mayor gently quieted her with a look, and turned to me with a twist to his mouth that I could not interpret. I couldn’t decide if it were a rueful smile, or a contemptible sneer. “Okay kid, you got me. Just keep your mouth shut and we’ll work out the details after the election.”

Kathy and I had a wonderful month of freedom. Without her father’s efforts to derail our romance, we were able to more freely enjoy our time together. Time passed quickly and soon the election was over. The mayor’s bid for reelection was successful. Immediately after the victory, the mayor and his family left for a month long vacation in Europe. Kathy and I had looked forward to that time with mixed feelings. We didn’t like the idea of the separation, yet we anticipated with happiness the reunion when they returned, and getting on with our lives without her father’s meddling.

The month of their absence went slowly enough. By November on a farm all the heavy work of getting in the harvest is long done, and life on the farm settles down to a winter of equipment maintenance and repair. This activity lacks the immediacy and pressure of the growing season, so it is easier for the mind to dwell on other concerns. I longed to be with my lover. I anxiously awaited her return.

Eventually, the day of their return finally arrived. I drove to Grand Island, where the mayor’s family would be arriving on a commuter flight connection from the international airport in Chicago. I watch the passengers deplane. As the mayor’s wife got into a waiting car, he spots me and walks my way. As he draws closer, I’m dreadfully aware that Kathy has not come off the airplane yet.

My fists begin to clinch in rage as I feel the heat rising in me. My eyes widen and my nostrils flare in fury. Before I can find my voice, the mayor gets right to the point, “Kathy has stayed in Europe to continue her schooling. She will not be returning to Callus for a long time. Her mother and I will go to her for visits, or meet her in New York. Kathy has decided this for herself.”

“You son of a bitch, what the hell have you done? What do you mean, ‘she has decided for herself,’ you damned liar! You remind of the difference between a politician and a catfish!”

With an irritating lack of response to my anger he hooks an eyebrow into a question mark, “And that difference would be…?

“One is a slimy, bottom-dwelling, scum sucker – and the other one is a fish! You lowlife…” I get no further as he cuts me off.

“You tried to blackmail me you hypocritical little snot! You’re every bit as bad as you think I am. Besides, what do you think you can do? You want to go public? You want to drag your mother and father threw the mud? Grow up a little, will you? Go ahead! I’m getting tired of the secrets. Your mother and I have had to be discreet for too damned many years!”

The truth washed over me and quenched my fury as I gazed into an older, more deeply lined reflection of my own face and heard him say, “Do you have it figured out yet… son?”

The weight of a dreadful truth pulled me under a cold steel gate into a murky canal. An icy finger reached for a switch… and the drowning siren began to wail.

The Sabbath Keeping Question

A number of years ago I attended a prophecy conference hosted by a well known Sabbath keeping sect. While most members of this sect are reasonable, well meaning people, there are those members who, by their rhetoric and well organized presentations, imply that if you do not "keep the Sabbath" you will be left out of the eternal kingdom of Christ.

This occurred during one of the church going phases of my life. The Sabbath keeping question was a challenge to all I had learned and had come to believe. It motivated much study and resulted in a document that was much longer than the one I share here. This one is hard enough. The original had much more of my own pontificating. It strained too hard at persuasion.

While editing the original and trying to streamline it, it occurred to me that the scriptures alone made the argument pretty well without a bunch of my blather. The edited version is nearly "solo scrip tori." The only additions are a couple of word studies and a conclusion.

The numbers in the word studies are Strong's numbers: references to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. The King James Version is used for a very practical reason having nothing to do with whether or not it is the best translation. It is used because it can be quoted exhaustively without infringing on anybody's copyright.

As an aside, the King James, or "Authorized Version," is not public domain. It is owned by the Crown of England. Chew on that one a while. If the anti-Christian crowd ever got control of the throne, they could disallow its publication. So far, they have freely shared it with the world at no charge.

The capitalization in the scripture quotes are used by me to give you a clue as to how I interpret the meaning of each verse. Fair warning: to follow the argument all the way its conclusion requires effort; also, if you try to ascribe to me motivations and intentions, you will probably be wrong. I, as are we all, am a work in progress and as long as I live hope to keep studying, searching, learning and growing.

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The Sabbath Keeping Question

"There is a principle, which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation." (Herbert Spencer)

But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (MATT 15:9)

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (I COR 2:2)

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: FOR AFTER THE TENOR OF THESE WORDS I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH THEE AND WITH ISRAEL. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. (EX 34:27-28)

And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even TEN COMMANDMENTS; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone. (DEUT 4:13) [Cf. II COR 3:5b-7a]

Speak thou also unto the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a Sign between ME AND YOU throughout YOUR GENERATIONS; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Wherefore the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout THEIR generations, for a perpetual covenant. it is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever. (EX 31:13,16, 17a)

Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and KEEP my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is mine. (EX 19:5)

… [O]ur sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the NEW testament; NOT of the LETTER, but of the Spirit: for the LETTER KILLETH, but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, WRITTEN AND ENGRAVEN IN STONES … (II COR 3:5b-7a) [Cf. DEUT 4:13]

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had known sin, but by the law: for I had known lust, except THE LAW had said, Thou shalt not covet. (ROM 7:7) [Cf. EX 20:17]

But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that FIRST covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the SECOND. For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a NEW covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. (HEB 8:6-9)

In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is READY TO VANISH AWAY. (HEB 8:13)

How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from DEAD WORKS to serve the LIVING GOD? And for this cause He is the mediator of the NEW TESTAMENT, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the FIRST TESTAMENT, they which are called might receive the PROMISE of eternal inheritance. (HEB 9:14-15)

For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a CHANGE ALSO OF THE LAW. For He of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of carnal commandment, but after the power of endless life. For He testifieth, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For THERE IS VERILY A DISANNULLING OF THE COMMANDMENT GOING BEFORE for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. (HEB 7:12-18)

For He is our peace, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY, EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. (EPH 2:14-16)

And this I say, that the COVENANT, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, THE LAW, which was four hundred and thirty years after, CANNOT DISANNUL, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was ADDED because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. WHEREFORE THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST, THAT WE MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. BUT AFTER THAT FAITH COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A SCHOOLMASTER. (GAL 3:17-25)

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the TWO COVENANTS; the ONE FROM THE MOUNT SINAI, WHICH ENGENDERETH TO BONDAGE, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now WE, BRETHREN, AS ISAAC WAS, ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what sayeth Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. (GAL 4:21-31)

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW for righteousness to every one that beleiveth. (ROM 10:3-4)

Stand fast therefore is the LIBERTY wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be NOT ENTANGLED AGAIN with the yoke of bondage. (GAL 5:1)

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS HATH MADE ME FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (ROM 8:1-4)

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, AND TO COMMAND THEM TO KEEP THE LAW OF MOSES. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with word, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, AND KEEP THE LAW: to whom we gave NO SUCH COMMANDMENT. (ACTS 15:5&24)

…[O]ur sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the NEW TESTAMENT; NOT OF THE LETTER, BUT OF THE SPIRIT: FOR THE LETTER KILLETH, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE. But if the ministration of death, WRITTEN AND ENGRAVEN IN STONES, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much MORE DOTH THE MINISTRATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS EXCEED IN GLORY. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if THAT WHICH IS DONE AWAY was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of THAT WHICH IS ABOLISHED: but their minds were blinded: FOR UNTIL THIS DAY REMAINETH THE SAME VEIL UNTAKEN AWAY IN THE READING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; WHICH VEIL IS DONE AWAY IN CHRIST. (II COR 3:5b-14)

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men do to you, do ye even so to them: FOR THIS IS THE LAW and the prophets. (MATT 7:12)

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (MATT 22:37-40)

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (JOHN 15:12)

For, brethren, ye have been called unto LIBERTY; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but love and serve one another. FOR ALL THE LAW IS FULFILLED IN ONE WORD, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (GAL 5:13-14)

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love the neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW. (ROM 13:8-10)

Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YE BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT. (JOHN 6:27-29)

And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (I JOHN 3:23)

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. (JOHN 13:34-35)

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His PROMISE in Christ by the gospel: wherefore I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. (EPH 3:1-12)
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(16) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday1, or of the new moon2, or of the sabbath3 days: (17) which are a shadow4 of things to come5; but the body6 is of Christ. (COL 2:16-17)
1. (1859) heorte: feast, festival, holyday. Heorte as used elsewhere in the New Testament: MATT 26:5, “feast day,” referring to upcoming Passover; MATT 27:15, “that feast,” referring to same Passover; LUKE 2:41-42, “feast,” referring to the Passover when the 12 year old Jesus “tarried behind in Jerusalem;” LUKE 22:1, “feast” (of unleavened bread), referring to upcoming Passover; LUKE 23:17, “feast,” same Passover; JOHN 2:23, “feast day,” the Lord’s first Passover in Jerusalem after start of ministry; JOHN 4:45, “feast,” referring back to verse 23; JOHN 5:1, “feast,” Pentecost(?); JOHN 6:4, “feast,” second(?) Passover of ministry; JOHN 11:56, 12:12, 20, 13:1, 19, “feast,” last Passover; ACTS 18:21, “feast,” the reason Paul left Ephesus at that time.
2. (3561) noumenia: the festival of new moon, new moon. Used in NT only in COL 2:16. The normal observance of the beginning of a new month; the Seventh New Moon, or Feast of Trumpets, would be included under the category of “holyday.”
3. (4521) sabbaton: the day of weekly repose from secular avocations, also the interval between (week). In the 66 other times sabbaton is used in the NT, not counting COL 2:16, it is referring to the 7th day 57 times; used as “week” 8 times; and refers to distance once, i.e., a Sabbath day’s journey.
4. (4639 skia: a shadow as specifically caused by the interception of light, the image or outline cast by an object. Skia, in all 7 NT uses, is directly connected to what is casting the shadow.
5. (3195) mello: signifies intention, being about to do something. Mello is used many times in the NT, and is translated variously as: so-and-so “will” do such-and-such; John the Baptist speaking of the wrath to “come;” the world to “come;” “shall” come in glory; Peter and John “about” to go into the Temple; take heed what ye “intend” to do; the guard “would” have killed himself; God “will” judge the world.
6. (4983) soma: various meanings including corporeal body, the Church, an organized group, substance or reality as opposed to shadows or types.

SO WHAT?
WELL…

After meat and drink, Paul lists three things in respect of which we are to allow no man to judge us: a holyday, the new moon, the Sabbath days. Let’s have no confusion: there is only one Sabbath day, i.e., from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Sunday is the first day of the week, not the seventh. Our question here is not which day is the Sabbath, but whether or not we are commanded to observe it. Those who teach that the Church Age believer is obligated by commandment to observe the Sabbath, as prescribed in Exodus 20:8-11, point to Colossians 2:16 and tell us that “Sabbath days” here refers to those special annual feasts that are part of the Old Testament shadow Christology and shadow soteriology. If this is the case, three things have to be true: sabbaton (4521) has a meaning here that is unique in contrast to its meaning in 66 other appearances in the New Testament [#3 above]; also, “sabbaton + days” means the same as heorte (1859, holyday) [#1 above]; and finally, Paul is being redundant by shifting in pattern from annual (holyday) to monthly (new moon) back to annual (?), instead of being consistent by shifting the pattern as annual to monthly to WEEKLY. Is Paul referring to the Levitical Offerings in connection with the weekly Sabbath (the doubling of the daily offering)? Would THIS be an issue among Colossians who lived over 500 miles from the Temple in Jerusalem? I am NOT saying this passage of Scripture justifies our not “keeping the Sabbath,” but NEITHER can it be dismissed out-of-hand. The Sabbath-keeping/Sunday-keeping controversy is not resolved by any single passage of Scripture, but by whole CATEGORIES of doctrine.

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(13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (14) blotting out the handwriting1 of ordinances2 that was against3 us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; (15) and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (COL 2:13-15)

1. (5498) cheirographon: something handwritten, i.e., a manuscript, especially a legal document or bond. Though this word is used only in this verse, its meaning seems adequately clear. More than mere handwriting, it connotes the writing of a legal document, like the documents used in our judicial system today. Even in a capitol crime the accused is not put to death without due process of law and the issuing, by legal authority, of a properly executed death warrant.
2. (1378) dogma: an opinion or judgment expressed with authority, doctrine, ordinance, decree. Dogma, in three of its five appearances in the NT, is translated “decree” or “decrees.” Twice it is translated “ordinances,” and in neither case refers to tabernacle ritual. The Greek translated “ordinances” in Hebrews 9:1&10 is a DIFFERENT word, i.e., dikaioma (1345).
3. (2596) kata: down from, down upon, down in. Generally used of motion or direction, upon, towards, or through any place or object, in the sense of against. Kata is not a static preposition; it connotes action. The “handwriting of ordinances” does not stand idly by twiddling its thumbs waiting for man to come along and compare his behavior and character to its divine standards. It moves out actively to find us and strip away our camouflage, exposing our sin and convincing us of our guilt.

Some will point to “a shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2:17) and teach that this sets the context of Colossians 2:14, therefore “the handwriting of ordinances” must refer to tabernacle ritual, feasts, festivals, et al. In addition to the three points of word study as given above, there is a further implication to “handwriting of ordinances” being a part of the “shadow of things to come” that is untenable. The substance, reality, and “body” that casts the “shadow of things to come” is CHRIST. If Christ is the “body” that casts the “shadow” and “the handwriting of ordinances THAT WAS AGAINST US” is part of the “shadow,” then Christ Who casts that shadow would be against us. Verse 15 is that last verse of a section explaining fundamental doctrine, and verse 16 is the beginning of an APPLICATION of that doctrine. The “ordinances” of verse 14 is not shadow Christology, but the very law that condemns us. Christ was not “blotting out” His own shadow; He was blotting out our condemnation.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister. (COL 1:12-23)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power: in Whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who hath raise Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; BLOTTING OUT THE HANDWRITING OF ORDINANCES THAT WAS AGAINST US, WHICH WAS CONTRARY TO US, AND TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, NAILING IT TO HIS CROSS; and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (COL 2:8-15) [Cf. HEB 9:14-15, II COR 3:5b-14]