The Writings of Thomas, the Disciple of Jesus

The earliest church was as divided about matters of faith
as the church of today!
by Charlie Leck

"I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 77)

What I intend to establish here – or at least attempt to establish – is a fact routinely accepted by recognized historians of Christianity. There shouldn’t really be an argument about it, but I am certain there will be. Christianity is currently a divided faith. It is not divided into two parts, but into many, many parts; however, it is routinely described as a division between those who are literal and believe that there is only one way to salvation and those who are more universal in their approach to salvation and believe there are many diverse possibilities.

The point I would like to make here is that the faith has been ever so divided, even from its very earliest days shortly following the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

Many people today, who exist out on the more evangelical wing of the Christian faith and believe that their own way is the only way, are always citing the authority of scripture and proclaiming that the Bible is what gives them the certainty and justification to say such things.

There are a huge number of us who would argue that the New Testament, which these evangelicals are constantly citing, is simply a collection of writings, authorized nearly 300 years after the death of Jesus, which were declared as liturgical readings to be used in worship. The early bishops of the church established them, not as scripture, but, as appropriate holy readings and there was not universal agreement among those of the Christian faith that these specific readings should be the ones included. It was not even universally agreed that the four gospels selected should be the gospels chosen. The selection of these particular writings, rather than others, had an enormous impact on the development of the faith. Yet, a careful reading of these texts gives strong hints of an early disagreement among their authors about the main tenants of the faith. The writings of Paul, for instance, often clash with those writings that are often referred to as Petrine Epistles (letters of Peter and the other disciples).

There were many other documents that these early bishops excluded from the list of liturgical readings that were considered worthy of the attention of scholars and monks. There were still others that some bishops wished banned and burned even though they were popular and were widely read within the early Christian community. Many of these texts were being circulated across the entire Roman Empire. We often refer to them today as the “other gospels” or “the other New Testament documents.” Early Christians were enchanted by them and they were disturbed when the Archbishop of Alexandria ordered their destruction on Easter Day in 367. He wrote to Christians all over the empire, demanding that these texts be destroyed.

In obedience, many of the faithful of the church did as commanded and burned these important and historical documents. Others, however, attempted to save these writings for future generations. The best known incident of this is brought to our attention by the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels in 1945 at the ruins of a former Christian monastery in Egypt. Someone or some group of monks obviously disobeyed the archbishop’s instructions and placed many, many of these documents in a 6 foot high jar and buried the jar in a garden and place of prayer at the monastery.

Among these documents was the intriguing Gospel of Thomas.

My point here is that New Testament scripture was not selected by God, but by fallible men who picked some writings and neglected others because their choices served the contemporary and immediate interests of the organized church of that time. It is difficult to think of these texts as divinely inspired. For me, it is downright impossible to think of them as divine.

Two weeks ago I had the delicious opportunity to attend a Town Hall Forum at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, to hear Doctor Elaine Pagels speak about the The Gospel of Thomas. Let me just spend a moment commending Westminster Church for sponsoring these extraordinary forums. They bring to public attention some of the nation’s best and brightest to speak about some of the most important issues in society. If you want to learn more about them, go to the church’s web site and this section on their forums. You also can bring up an audio of Doctor Pagel’s remarks by going to the Westminster web site. If you want to find out more about Elaine Pagels, I sugges you go to the Religion & Pluralism website comments about her.

I’m not going to try to give you a report about Doctor Pagels' remarks. They were brilliant and it would be worth your time to listen to her. She does not refer to herself as a theologian (but she is). She calls herself a historian and biblical studies scholar. She’s a graduate of Stanford, a former graduate researcher at Barnard College and has a PhD from Harvard. She is currently a professor of religion at Princeton. As a youngster she was raised in the evangelical wing of the faith, among people who believed they knew the one and only way to be a Christian.

That wing of the Christian Church has always existed. Those of us who look more carefully at the matter realize that the faith has always, even from the very beginning, been made up of people of varying opinions on this matter of ‘the right way’ to be Christian.

I, of course, come down on the side of Thomas and Peter and the writer of the epistles of John (who was certainly a different person than the one who wrote the Gospel of John). This allows me a more universal approach to the faith and a belief in salvation that is far different than that of the evangelicals.

Salvation is not something found at the end of time or at the end of one’s life. Salvation is discovered through thoroughly knowing one’s self and one’s relation to that which is divine in the universe. For instance, I am very comfortable with this idea about which Thomas wrote in saying number 3:

"Jesus said, ‘If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.'"

As Doctor Pagels put it, Thomas was telling us that when we come to know who we really are, we realize how interconnected we are. “Who are you? How can you identify yourself? Where do you come from?” These are vital questions for Christians.

Thomas tells us that we come from the same light that was at the very beginning of all things. Who are we? Thomas says that Jesus proclaimed we are children of the light!

The great mistake of the evangelicals and their idea of exclusivity is that they give credit to God for having chosen the various writings that make up the New Testament. I repeat here that it is clear, historical fact that fallible and simpleton bishops of the early church made those decisions. And, the earliest of the church’s leaders had a huge impact on just how these writings were constructed. Many of the writings were altered and appended to make sure that the Christian faith was seen as the only way to ultimate salvation and relationship with God.

It does not appear that Jesus, himself, was looking at faith in that manner at all. The historical Jesus was concerned about one’s moment in life and how one lived that moment. The words about future salvation and the route to salvation were actually planted in the mouth of Jesus by the early church in an attempt to justify its own existence – an existence that Jesus might actually have questioned. I believe that the Jesus we find in both the biblical scriptures and the Gnostic ones is a man who would have condemned bishops and archbishops and the foolishness of the ceremonial church.

It is quite possible that the Gnostic writings are more pure in their representation of Jesus because they were probably unaltered by the later church. It also appears that the Gospel of Thomas was used as a source by the writers of Mathew and Mark. As Pagel pointed out, if you were to underline everything in the Thomas gospel that is also included in Mathew and Luke’s gospels, you would underline about one-third of the Thomas document.

What I want my evangelical friends to understand is that this arguments about what and who Jesus was have raged since the days immediately following his crucifixion, as his disciples and early followers tried to figure out what that holy man had been all about.

The same argument will continue to rage for centuries to come.

The important element that all these early proponents of Christianity seem to agree on – and something that we ought to agree on today – is that Jesus commanded us to love our fellow beings without reservation and that we would then show our love of God by so doing it.

The above is the one concept that evangelicals and universalists ought to be able to agree upon. It is something that all the gospel writers, Paul and the Petrine writers agreed on. And, the Gnostic writers (those recently discovered Christian writings) also agree about the matter. The greatest commandment is that we love one another – without reservation! Beyond that, there is nothing very certain about the Christian faith!

As for matters of salvation, I gladly leave that in the hands of God or history. I only know for sure that I will keep moving toward the light – the light that was in the very beginning and the light that shall be there at the very end. If, at the end, I am blessed with eternal sleep, I will be one happy fellow! Should I meet up with God and be asked what I did with my life, I shall proudly tell the remarkable Creator that I tried to do as Jesus told me; that is, I tried to love all of humanity without reservation. In that I’ll take my chances!

“His disciples said to him, ‘When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it.’" Gospel of Thomas: saying 51

[END]

For those of you who are interested in looking through it, I include here the text of the Gospel of the Disciple Thomas
THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY LIBRARY
The Nag Hammadi Library

The Gospel of Thomas
(Translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer)
[Visit the Gospel of Thomas Collection for additional information]

These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."

2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"

3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."

7. Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human."

8. And he said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

9. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."

10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."

11. Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"

12. The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."

13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."
Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended."
And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."

14. Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits.
When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside, when people take you in, eat what they serve you and heal the sick among them.
After all, what goes into your mouth will not defile you; rather, it's what comes out of your mouth that will defile you."

15. Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father."

16. Jesus said, "Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there'll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone."

17. Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart."

18. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come? Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."

19. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being. If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death."

20. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like." He said to them, "It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."

21. Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?"
He said, "They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them. For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come. Let there be among you a person who understands. When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

23. Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."

24. His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it." He said to them, "Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."

25. Jesus said, "Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye."

26. Jesus said, "You see the sliver in your friend's eye, but you don't see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend's eye."

27. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father's) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father."

28. Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways."

29. Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels. Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty."

30. Jesus said, "Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one."

31. Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don't cure those who know them."

32. Jesus said, "A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."

33. Jesus said, "What you will hear in your ear, in the other ear proclaim from your rooftops. After all, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lamp stand so that all who come and go will see its light."

34. Jesus said, "If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole."

35. Jesus said, "One can't enter a strong person's house and take it by force without tying his hands. Then one can loot his house."

36. Jesus said, "Do not fret, from morning to evening and from evening to morning, [about your food--what you're going to eat, or about your clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies, which neither card nor spin. As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? That very one will give you your garment.]"

37. His disciples said, "When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?" Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid."

38. Jesus said, "Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me."

39. Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves."

40. Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its root and will perish."

41. Jesus said, "Whoever has something in hand will be given more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little they have."

42. Jesus said, "Be passersby."

43. His disciples said to him, "Who are you to say these things to us?" "You don't understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather, you have become like the Judeans, for they love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree."

44. Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven."

45. Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what they've stored up; bad persons produce evil from the wickedness they've stored up in their hearts, and say evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they produce evil."

46. Jesus said, "From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is so much greater than John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will recognize the (Father's) kingdom and will become greater than John."

47. Jesus said, "A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the other. Nobody drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink young wine. Young wine is not poured into old wineskins, or they might break, and aged wine is not poured into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear."

48. Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move from here!' and it will move."

49. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."

50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"

51. His disciples said to him, "When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it."

52. His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead."

53. His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect."

54. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven's kingdom."

55. Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me."

56. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy."

57 Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, 'No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned."

58. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the person who has toiled and has found life."

59. Jesus said, "Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see."

60. He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, "that person ... around the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "He will not eat it while it is alive, but only
after he has killed it and it has become a carcass." They said, "Otherwise he can't do it." He said to them, "So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten."

61. Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live."
Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone."
Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father. I am your disciple. For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."

62. Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries.

63 Jesus said, "There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. He said, 'I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.' These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

64. Jesus said, "A person was receiving guests. When he had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests.
The slave went to the first and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said, 'Some merchants owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master has invited you.' That one said to the slave, 'I have bought a house, and I have been called away for a day. I shall have no time.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said to the slave, 'My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me from dinner.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said to the slave, 'I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me.'
The slave returned and said to his master, 'Those whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused.' The master said to his slave, 'Go out on the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner.'
Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father."

65. He said, "A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard's crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, 'Perhaps he didn't know them.' He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they'll show my son some respect.' Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

66. Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone."

67. Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking."

68. Jesus said, "Congratulations to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted."

69. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who have been persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have truly come to know the Father.
Congratulations to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled."

70. Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you."

71. Jesus said, "I will destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to build it [...]."

72. A [person said] to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me."
He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?"
He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?"

73. Jesus said, "The crop is huge but the workers are few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to the fields."

74. He said, "Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well."

75. Jesus said, "There are many standing at the door, but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite."

76. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself.
So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys."

77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

78. Jesus said, "Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth."

79. A woman in the crowd said to him, "Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you."
He said to [her], "Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.'"

80. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the body, of that one the world is not worthy."

81. Jesus said, "Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has power renounce ."

82. Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father's) kingdom."

83. Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light."

84. Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!"

85. Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death."

86. Jesus said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down and rest."

87. Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two."

88. Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'"

89. Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?"

90. Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves."

91. They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you."
He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment."

92. Jesus said, "Seek and you will find.
In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them."

93. "Don't give what is holy to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don't throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might ... it [...]."

94. Jesus [said], "One who seeks will find, and for [one who knocks] it will be opened."

95. [Jesus said], "If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won't get it back."

96. Jesus [said], "The Father's kingdom is like [a] woman. She took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

97. Jesus said, "The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty."

98. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one."

99. The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside."
He said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father's kingdom."

100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "The Roman emperor's people demand taxes from us."
He said to them, "Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine."

101. "Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple]. For my mother [...], but my true [mother] gave me life."

102. Jesus said, "Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat."

103. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive."

104. They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and let us fast."
Jesus said, "What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal suite, then let people fast and pray."

105. Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore."

106. Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move."

107. Jesus said, "The (Father's) kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'"

108. Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."

109. Jesus said, "The (Father's) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."

110. Jesus said, "Let one who has found the world, and has become wealthy, renounce the world."

111. Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death."
Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"?

112. Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh."

113. His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it."
[Saying probably added to the original collection at a later date:]

114. Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."
[END]

Recharging the Batteries in Chicago

We visited two of the grandkids last week!
by Charlie Leck

We traveled to Chicago last week. Anne was involved in a continuing education program. We decided to make a vacation out of it – something we really haven't had in quite some time (at least, one by ourselves). Anne made the arrangements and decided to treat us to first class air travel, a private car from the airport, a suite at the hotel and some delectable privacy. The hotel, just a block off Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile) was very elegant and extremely comfortable. We enjoyed four nights there. We had a grand time getting to know some of the wonders of Chicago, an extremely fabulous city with which to acquaint one's self.

Chicago is a very livable city and one can see why so many residential units are being built immediately downtown. We had the pleasure of visiting one condo unit that looked out over Lake Michigan and, slightly to the left, the recently remodeled Soldiers Field. Small shops, like grocers and hardware stores, abound and have a friendly and helpful attitude. And, as you know, there are dining establishments of every type and sort throughout the vast city.

Anne enjoyed the pleasant, daily, 6 block walk up Michigan Avenue and then the short stroll to the East to Northwestern University's Chicago campus. Of course, during the day, while Anne was in class, I taxied to Union Station and took the Metra Train out south to spend the day with my daughter and grandkids. What a treat! I wish I could see them more. Like any proud grandpa, I had my camera along and shot some wonderful photographs. And, like any pompous grandpappy, I've assumed you'd be interested and included a couple of them here for you to look over.

In the evenings, Anne and I wandered up and down Rush Street and Wacker Avenue, looking at all the folks enjoying Chicago's lively night-life. We found some terrific places to dine. Chicago "at night" is just an extraordinary place. Not that I'm any great judge, but I find it a better night life city than Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco and Boston. Only New York offers more choices.

Refreshed, and with this vacation time behind me, tomorrow I will write more seriously – about the great divide in Christianity and about how it is nothing new. It began only a few years after Jesus died. It continues.

Three Times a Lady

A shocking phone call awakens my love!
by Charlie Leck

An acquaintance called at about mid-morning; that is, someone I know quite well, but I wouldn't call him a friend. He's an eccentric sort of guy who only crawls out of the woodwork when he needs something. I answered the phone while deeply involved in the Sunday paper. I hadn't heard this voice in so long and it startled me at first, because it was so personal and I couldn't place it. It had also grown significantly older.

"Charlie, is that you?"

"Yes! Yes it is."

"My god, I didn't think you and Anne would still be together! Is she there?"

"No, no she isn't. Who is this?"

My foundations were rocked somewhat and I felt an odd tremble pass through me. He was going on about some kind of nonsense and I was imagining the dreadful concept of life without my wife – this woman with whom I lay in bed last night in such peacefulness and satisfaction. I closed my eyes as he chattered and I saw her as I saw her in Paris nearly 30 years ago – as she is pictured in the pencil drawing above. Oh my, I was left breathless by her. Walking then along the le Boulevard Saint Germain with her, holding her hand, feeling her unmistakable love, is a memory I'll never forget. We strolled through Les Jardins du Luxembourg and I was tormented by the thought that this woman would not be a part of my life – for the rest of my life. This was the gentlest, kindest and most generous human being I had ever encountered; yet she was a tower of strength and independence. If I could have sung, I would have.

"I have often walked down this street before, but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before."

We had lunch in a wonderful little seafood restaurant across from the entrance to l'Odeon. It was one of my favorite places and I wanted to introduce her to it. I was living in Paris and she had come to visit me and, as it turned out, to take me back to the states. It was our first time together for more than a date. I'll never forget looking across at her on that day, as we awaited our luncheon, and thinking that I had never before seen anyone so perfectly beautiful. I introduced her to my favorite waiter and told him, en francais, that she was my 'total love.' She didn't understand the French and she was amazed at the attention he gave her.

A year later, we took four weeks to honeymoon in France. During this period, between our two experiences in France, Lionel Richie and the Commodores had recorded Three Times a Lady and it became an enormous hit and my constant theme song.

"Your once, twice, three times a lady, and I love you.
Yes, you're once,
twice, three times a lady,
And I love you
I love you.

When we are together the moments I cherish,
with every beat
of my heart.
To touch you, to hold you, to feel you, to need you.
There's nothing to keep us apart.

You're once, twice, three times a
lady, and I love you.
I love you."

We traveled all over France to celebrate our marriage. We dined in the simplest, little place in the south of France, called Chez Yvette, where cows, being marched to pasture land, paraded down the street in front of us. I will never forget that wonderful summer evening. I can remember looking at her across that little, sidewalk table from me and loving her so enormously; yet, today I love her even more deeply than then when I did not think I could love her more.

That was nearly thirty years ago. It seems but only a moment. To her I sing the words that Lionel Richie made so popular.

"Thanks for the times that you've given me.
The memories are all in my
mind…"

You're once, twice, three times a lady, and I
love you.
I love you."

And, when we do "come to the end of our rainbow," which I hope is many years from now, I'll still be singing these remarkable lyrics to you.

The idiot on the telephone was still prattling something from somewhere far, far away.

"Yes, yes. I'll tell her you called. Goodbye."

Transcript of President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaurgual Address

I’m traveling at the moment, so I thought I’d used this occasion to share a special and important document with you. It has relevance right now and it would serve you well to read it.

Fellow Countrymen:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil-war. All dreaded it -- all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war -- seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern half part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

[Endorsed by Lincoln:]
Original manuscript of second Inaugural presented to Major John Hay.
A. Lincoln
April 10, 1865

Quotations on War and Peace

My prayer for peace!
by Charlie Leck

EDIT NOTATION: This blog has been up for less than 24 hours and I have already had several requests for a copy of the document in more useable, printable format. Please go to this page to find a printable copy of the document. [29 September 2007]

“There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.” Goethe

Would that George W. Bush were a reader! It is a foolish, wasteful wish. He is not. He is the fool and he governs over us. Had he been a reader, he might have stumbled over or upon some of these quotations

I have never published a blog more worth reading than the following quotations nor have I ever spent so much time posting a blog. Today’s posting represents many days work and constitutes my most significant gift ever to my readers; for I do consider today’s blog a gift. I offer them to you as a prayer – a prayer that this war and all war will cease.

Some of these quotes, though many years old, are very prescient about the conduct of the current war. Take, for instance, this comment from the famous Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette: “If there is no sufficient reason for war, the war party will make war on one pretext, then invent another...after the war is on.” Or, consider the remarkable statement of the ancient Greek, Thucydides, in relation to today’s condition in Iraq: “It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position...”

If you work your way to the end of this litany of quotations, you will find a few from the current occupant of the White House. The absurdity of including his comments with those of such persons as Thomas Jefferson, Plato, Einstein, Ayn Rand and Abraham Lincoln is quite delightfully profane.

“If you love this land of the free, bring 'em home, bring 'em home, Bring 'em back from overseas.” Pete Seeger (from Seeger's song Bring Em Home)

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official...” Theodore Roosevelt

“This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.” Plato

“Force always attracts men of low morality.” Albert Einstein

“Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent.” Issac Asimov

“The war...was an unnecessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forebearance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides.” Robert E. Lee

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” Mahatma Gandhi

“The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.” Tacitus

“Imperialism is an institution under which one nation asserts the right to seize the land or at least to control the government or resources of another people.” John T. Flynn

“Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.’ George Orwell

“Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.” William Penn

“The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is being attacked, and every man will be glad of these conscience-soothing falsities.” Mark Twain

“It is frightening how the actions of a single leader can have such drastic effects on the prestige of an entire nation… All it takes is a single act of aggression to permanently wound a nation's reputation.” Ramman Kenoun

“We all have to be concerned about terrorism, but you will never end terrorism by terrorizing others.” Martin Luther King III

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” George Washington

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force...Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” George Washington

“The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.” James Madison

“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.” John Adams

“How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!” Samuel Adams

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” Thomas Jefferson

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson

“Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.” Ulysses S. Grant

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” John F. Kennedy

“He that is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death.” Thomas Paine

“The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust [our own] government statements.” Senator J. William Fulbright

“La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid.”- Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderios de LaClos

‘Before the war is ended, the war party assumes the divine right to denounce and silence all opposition to war as unpatriotic and cowardly.” Senator Robert M. La Follette

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” Justice Louis D. Brandeis

“One can...never create [freedom] by an invading force.” Maximilien Robespierre

“How vast those Orbs must be, and how inconsiderable this Earth, the Theatre upon which all our mighty Designs, all our Navigations, and all our Wars are transacted, is when compared to them. A very fit consideration, and matter of Reflection, for those Kings and Princes who sacrifice the Lives of so many People, only to flatter their Ambition in being Masters of some pitiful corner of this small Spot.” Christiaan Huygens (in Humanity)

“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.” Leo Tolstoy

"To save your world you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?" W. H. Auden

“Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.” Victor Hugo

“There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in. It was we who gave the perfect conditions in which Al Qaeda could thrive.” Robin Cook (Britain's former foreign secretary who resigned from the British Cabinet over the Iraq War)

“War remains the decisive human failure.” John Kenneth Galbraith

“The more you sweat in peacetime, the less you bleed during war.” Chinese Proverb

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” Walt Kelly (creator of Pogo, 1913-1973)

"One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one." Agatha Christie (Autobiography, 1977)

“Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew.” John Greenleaf Whittier

“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.” Robert Lynd

“Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.” James Bryce

“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.” Herman Goering

“If a war be undertaken...before the resources of peace have been tried and proved vain to secure it, that war has no defense, it is a national crime.” Charles Eliot Norton

“A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.” Aleksandre Solzhenitsyn

“Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought!” Helen Keller

“All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.” Alexis de Tocqueville

“Peace is constructed, not fought for.” Brent Davis

“I venture to say no war can be long carried on against the will of the people.” Edmund Burke

“Rulers who want to unleash war know very well that they must procure or invent a first victim.” Elias Canetti

“No war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.” Eugene Debs

“I can tell you this: If I’m ever in a position to call the shots, I’m not going to rush to send somebody else’s kids into a war.” George H. W. Bush

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.” Colin Powell

“I hope....that mankind will at length, as they call themselves responsible creatures, have the reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats...” Benjamin Franklin

“Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin

“There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Benjamin Franklin

“When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?” Benjamin Franklin

“Because I do it with one small ship, I am called a terrorist. You do it with a whole fleet and are called an emperor.” Saint Augustine in the City of God

“Today the real test of power is not capacity to make war but capacity to prevent it.” Anne O'Hare McCormick

“Since the end of the World War II, the United States has fought three "small" wars...we lost all three of them and for the same reason--hubris.” Andrew Greely (Chicago Sun-Times columnist)

“War is mainly a catalog of blunders.” Winston Churchill

“War is the unfolding of miscalculations.” Barbara Tuchman

“The dangerous patriot...drifts into chauvinism and exhibits blind enthusiasm for military actions… The dangerous patriot...is a defender of militarism and its ideals of war and glory… Chauvinism is a proud and bellicose form of patriotism...which equates the national honor with military victory.” Colonel James A. Donovan, Marine Corps

“Do not ever say that the desire to ‘do good’ by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives.” Ayn Rand

“In war, truth is the first casualty.” Aeschylus

“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.” Albert Camus

“In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it anymore.” Ernest Hemingway in A Different Country

“No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.” Barbara Ehrenreich

“Can anything be more ridiculous than that a man has a right to kill me because he lives on the other side of the water, and because his ruler has quarrel with mine, although I have none with him?” Blaise Pascal

“The terrorist is the one with the small bomb.” Brendan Behan

“After each war there is a little less democracy to save.” Brooks Atkinson

“No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.” A.J.P. Taylor

“History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.” Abba Eban

“Military glory--that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood – that serpent's eye that charms to destroy...” Abraham Lincoln

“The world cannot continue to wage war like physical giants and to seek peace like intellectual pygmies.” Basil O'Connor

“The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (1748)

“The voice of protest...is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum...is bidding all men...obey in silence the tyrannous word of command.” Charles Eliot Norton

“We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“This world of ours...must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“War settles nothing.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“How far can you go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Blind faith in your leaders or in anything will get you killed.” Bruce Springsteen

"The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought. There are therefore two great problems which the Party is concerned to solve. One is how to discover, against his will, what another human being is thinking, and the other is how to kill several hundred million people in a few seconds without giving warning beforehand." George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

“A Patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” Ed Abbey

“No nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace, or ensure it of victory in time of war.” Calvin Coolidge

“We...are not really free if we can't control our own government and its policies. And we will never do that if we remain ignorant.” Charley Reese

“You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace and on the other dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable.” ~Condoleeza Rice (30 January 2006)

“There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.” Donald Rumsfeld

“In war, we always deform ourselves, our essence.” Chris Hedges

“Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose—and you allow him to make war at pleasure.” Abraham Lincoln

“Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.” Abraham Lincoln

“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” Abraham Lincoln

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln

“O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength! But it is tyrannous To use it like a giant.” William Shakespeare (Measure for Measure, Act II, Scene ii)

“War is never a solution; it is an aggravation.” Benjamin Disraeli

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” Albert Einstein

“It is unfortunately none too well understood that, just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own.” Albert J. Nock

“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.” Aleksandre Solzhenitsyn

“War is not the continuation of politics with different means, it is the greatest mass-crime perpetrated on the community of man.” Alfred Adler

“True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” Clarence Darrow

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.” Edward R. Murrow

“For it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.” Ernest Hemingway ("Notes on the Next War," published in Esquire Magazine, 1935.)

“The 1st panacea of a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the 2nd is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; a permanent ruin.” Ernest Hemingway

“I am a steadfast follower of the doctrine of non-violence which was first preached by Lord Buddha, whose divine wisdom is absolute... All forms of violence, especially war, are totally unacceptable as means to settle disputes between and among nations, groups and persons.” Dalai Lama

“The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people.” Frank Kent

“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” Frederick Douglass

“Wars are the hobbies of half-informed children who have somehow come into possession of the levers of power.” Fred Reed

“Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in...war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.” General Douglas MacArthur

“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious… War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” General Smedley Butler

“There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.” General Smedley Butler

“War is at best barbarism. Its glory is all moonshine...War is hell.” General William Tecumseh Sherman

“The military doesn't start wars. The politicians start wars.” General William Westmoreland

“Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck.” Guy de Maupassant

“The chief qualification of a mass leader has become unending infallibility; he can never admit an error.” Hannah Arendt

“I hate war for its consequences, for the lies it lives on and propagates, for the undying hatreds it arouses... “ Harry Emerson Fosdick

“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.” H. L. Mencken

“The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.” James Madison

“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” James Madison

“War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement.” James Madison

“We have war when at least one of the parties to a conflict wants something more than it wants peace.” Jeane J. Kirkpatrick

“A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished.” Johan Christoph Schiller

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.” John Lennon

“The war on terrorism is akin to the war on drugs…unwinable, unless you kill everyone…or address the root causes.” K. W. Ibrahim

“Phony pretexts repeated often enough become real reasons. Things that...are not true become true in the public mind simply through endless repetition.” Lenny Bloom

“Whether or not patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, national security can be the last refuge of the tyrant.” Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” Louis D. Brandeis

“The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.” Ludwig von Mises

“The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure.” Lyndon B. Johnson

“The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault.” Major Ralph Peters, US Military

“You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong no matter who does it or who says it.” Malcolm X

“The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.” ~Marcus Aurelius

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” Marcus Aurelius

“The sinews of war are infinite money.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” Nelson Mandela

“Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it.” Noam Chomsky

“To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure they're under from the public.” Noam Chomsky

“You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it.” Noam Chomsky

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable an ignorable war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Albert Einstein

“The statesman who yields to war fever...is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” Winston Churchill

“Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter...” Winston Churchill

“War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.” Winston Churchill

“During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.” Howard Thurman

“War is a failure of human intelligence… [War] comes from an immature style of thinking where creativity and overview is scarce.” Patricia Sun

“War is the ultimate tool of politics.” R. Buckminster Fuller

“Terror is a tactic. We cannot wage ‘war’ against a tactic.” Ron Paul

“No one has deputized America to play Wyatt Earp to the world.” Patrick J. Buchanan

“A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.” Thomas Jefferson

“They are nations of eternal war. All their energies are expended in the destruction of the labor, property, and lives of their people.” Thomas Jefferson (in a letter to President Monroe, 1823)

“War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.” Thomas Jefferson

“No one has ever succeeded in keeping nations at war except by lies.” Salvador de Madariaga

“The price of empire is America’s soul, and that price is too high.” Sen. J. William Fulbright (Ark.)

“This war is not necessary. We are truly sleepwalking through history.” Sen. Robert Byrd

“Criticism in a time of war is essential to the maintenance of any kind of democratic government.” Sen. Robert Taft,

“We first fought...in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change.” Serj Tankian

“Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.” Simone Weil

“All warfare is based on deception.” Sun Tzu

“War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.” Thomas Mann

“Most wars are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances.” Thomas Sowell

“This president failed so miserably in diplomacy that we are now forced to war.” Tom Daschle

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" Mahatma Gandhi

"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush...And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up." Michael Moore (at the 2003 Oscars®)

“Our enemies...never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” George W. Bush

“Free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.” George W. Bush

“Evil men, obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously--and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.” George W. Bush

“Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths...I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?” Barbara Bush
on the Good Morning America show on ABC (18 March 2003)

“I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, ‘Mother, what was war?’” Eve Merriam

Many of these quotations, but not all by any means, come from a web site called: Anti-War.Com

Millard

I Promise! I will not grant sainthood to many people; yet, Millard was a saint!
by Charlie Leck

Back in mid-June of this year I wrote a blog about my father, called Great People, which drew more reaction and comment from my readers than any other I've written. As I was writing I kept thinking of Millard Ahlstrom, someone who crossed paths with me in my life for a short time. I dearly loved Millard and though we only had a half-dozen years to get to know each other before he died, he made as big an impact on me as anyone I know. Sometime ago I promised you an essay about Millard, so here I'll write about this unusual and wonderful man.

Somewhere in the heaven that Millard Ahlstrom so vividly described to me, he is allowed entry into that special room reserved for God's saints. Let me tell you what Millard was to me. He was…

…the kindest man I've ever known
…the holiest man I've ever known
…the most generous man I've ever known
…the finest pastor I've ever known
…the most charming preacher I've ever heard
…among the brightest men I've ever known
…a dear and wonderful friend

Let me tell you some things about this man, who was advisor to Presidents, Senators and Governors, and then I'll return to comments about my relationship with him.

A swede, he took his first independent breaths in a small home in Cokato, Minnesota, a small town just west of where we now live. That was in 1913. Quite naturally, the house was directly across the street from the Lutheran Church. He was a handsome child, indeed, and he would remain a handsome fellow right up to the last days of his long, long life. He was nearly 6 years old when he entered first grade in Cokato. One of his classmates was Marian Katherine Johnson. He claims that he occasionally pulled her to school on his sled. He would marry her 21 years later, in 1940. The local newspaper's headline, nearly a full page banner, screamed out the news: AHLSTROM CAPITULATES ("Surrounded on all fronts, he accepts dictatorial terms!")

By that time, Millard had graduated as the salutatorian from Cokato High School (1930); won the National Debate Championship with his partner, Kyle Montague (1934); graduated at the salutatorian from Gustavus Adlophus College (1934); and graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School (1937).

He set up a law office in Cokato in 1937; however, very reliable sources reported that he spent as much time in the Lutheran Church as he did in his office. Theological thinking intrigued him and he began to read serious theology.

The war delayed a plan to enter theological school. He served in the U.S. Army and Air Force from January, 1943, until March, 1946. He was still in uniform when he enrolled in Northwestern Theological Seminary in 1946. To make a living and support his family, which now included a son, he served as an interim pastor at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Saint Paul. Another son was born soon after he started the job. In 1949, after 11 years of higher education, he was ordained as a Lutheran pastor. He began his career as a circuit minister serving three Lutheran churches in rural Minnesota, making a 72 mile circuit each Sunday. In 1952, Millard began a remarkable career as the Senior Pastor of the First Lutheran Church in Saint Peter, Minnesota, and made a state-wide name for himself through his extraordinary preaching and teaching.

In 1959 he audienced in Rome with Pope John XXIII. In 1964 he was appointed to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1968 he was appointed to the Minnesota Crime Commission by Governor Harold LeVander. From 1969 until 1983 he was the Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lakewood Community College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Late in 1992, long retired, married for over 50 years, and 73 years old, he agreed to serve as the interim pastor of a small Lutheran Church a mile or so from Native Oaks Farm. It was in December of that year, on a cold and snowy day, that he rang the doorbell of my house. I opened the door to see him standing there in khaki topcoat and a very snazzy dress hat that he removed the minute I invited him in and offered my hand. It was not such an extraordinary encounter for Millard. It was life-changing for me.

We were very close over the next 16 months. I wrote many long, thoughtful letters to him, usually in reaction to one of his sermons. We chatted both seriously and lightheartedly over coffee many, many times.

This was a man who could write things like Morning Glory ('Less is More')

Morning Glory on the garage wall
Give less lift to spirit when countless
Than when at sunrise
I saw three or four,
And found a shy one hidden

Singular girl is myriad,
Polygamy a deadly bore,
Banal the multiplicity of gods,
Pantheon trivial juxtaposed to Christ

His sermons combined elegance, simplicity and intellect as none I've ever heard. Each weekly message was carefully prepared. He believed that the 20 minutes granted to him each week to address them, by so many people as those gathered in the congregation, placed an enormous responsibility on him to carefully prepare and earnestly present. When his head bowed at the conclusion of his sermon, most always there was a tear in my eye, a lump in my throat and a gentle lightness in my heart. Most of the time Millard wanted to talk about living life in earnest, fully and in service to others.

He spoke often of heaven and tried to describe it to his congregation: "Mabel, dear, I have sat often with you, talking for hours, watching you knit and seeing how much you love it – those old hands acting young and strong and agile. Mabel, in heaven there will be a corner where you may go whenever you wish and knit as much and as long as you wish. And, Charles Leck, there will be a place in heaven set aside just for you and you may go there and write letters and essays to your heart's content and your hands and fingers and gentle mind will never tire."

I kept writing letters to him even after he left our little neighborhood and right up to the time he died. He would read every word of my lengthy epistles and reply so poignantly on nothing more than a postcard, always saying just the right thing. In one letter I said the following to him…

I don't want to dwell a great deal on this, but I miss your preaching enormously. The young pastor can sometimes rise to poignant levels though I sense he nderestimates his congregation. You know, we folks in the countryside are a bit simpler, less sophisticated, more shallow. Therefore, the sermons to which we attend must be kept on an elemental plane. Wow!

Millard wrote back on a postcard and said simply: "Listen harder!"

It was only at a gathering for his 80^th birthday party that I learned how many people wrote regular letters to him. He had only time to respond briefly on postcards. Many of the people at the party spoke glowingly of how they loved Millard's cards and said that they save them as one would save treasures. One fellow, who had known Millard for many years, said that he had a collection of hundreds of the cards.

Some weeks I wrote to him more than once. Most letters were about simple things and simply because we were thinking about him. In May of 1994 I wrote to him about how much our youngest child, then ten, enjoyed getting postcards from him.

Cynthia certainly enjoyed your last couple of postcards. I protested about how she is always hearing from you. "How come he writes to you so much?" Her answer was simple: "He likes me!" When I put her to bed last night I mentioned that I was going to write to you in the morning. She asked that I be certain to tell you about our pileated woodpecker. I wondered why. "He said that maybe I would see one someday. Tell him!"

One time I wrote to him to tell him about a wonderful little book that I found in my Christmas stocking. It had sounded so much like Millard as I read it – the same faith, the same attitude, the same hopefulness and cheer. I went on for paragraphs telling him about the young man's fine, fine book and declaring how he would not believe how similar it was to his thinking. On a postcard he wrote back: "Oh yes, Kent was a student of mine. Fine boy! I am glad you read his good book. I shall write to him and tell him about you."

It seems he knew everyone and that everyone cared for him as surely and as deeply as did I.

Whenever I was with him I felt I was in the presence of both a common, decent man and a man of immense greatness and importance. Some of you who read this will know of Millard and are likely to have known him as well as I did or better. Wasn't he a wonderful, joyful person? For those of you who did not know him, I wish I could describe him better so that you could feel the power and strength of this little, frail, gentleman.

I dream of Millard often. They are simple dreams. We are having coffee together, discussing politics and how our little town is changing. He asks about Cokato and whether I ever get out there. The dreams are so vivid and seem so real. I awaken and feel blessed to have had another moment with him. Millard is in heaven and, there in the room of the saints, there is a little writing desk, reserved just for him, where he can find an endless pile of postcards. On the desk is a directory with the names of all of us – the hundreds and hundreds of us – to whom he regularly sent postcard messages. There in heaven he can write out these postcards to us just as often and as much as he wishes and he never grows weary and never runs out of things to say to us. My postcards come to me in the form of dreams about him in which he is still guiding me and challenging me to be greater in all things.

On one postcard to me he quoted the great Dakotah Native American, Chief Joseph. I keep a copy of the quote here on my desk: "The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it."

Millard, I hope you get to regularly read my blog page up there in heaven.

Preview of things to come…
More than a few of you are wondering where my book reviews are. On our old blog site I was constantly reviewing books and, evidently, quite a few of you depended on that page to inform some of your reading choices. Sorry! The number of book reviews had grown to well over 100. It got to be an overwhelming task and I had difficulty keeping the page current and available. I'm promising here to do more reports to you on what I've been reading, but I'm not going to keep a running and current list. Very soon I'll write about Suite Français, the wonderful novel by Irene Nemirovsky (and superbly translated by Sandra Smith;) Bill Bryson's book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself; and Q School, a golf book by John Feinstein. I'll also tell you about a disappointing book by Mark Frost. I'm also planning a new quotations book for the coming year – this one on quotations about war and peace. I'll give you something of a sneak preview of that work in a blog that will be posted in the next few days. Then, one more blog in anticipation of the coming 50th reunion of my graduating class – explaining why I won't be there. It's a blog about one of my classmates and his remarkable adventures.

Regrets? I’ve had a Few!

You know, we wouldn't correct our mistakes even if we could!
by Charlie Leck

It's a fact, Jack! We made some terrible blunders along the way to getting here. Yes, we! I'm talking about you, you rock head.

Look around you! Life's not so bad. Oh, sure you're wearing too many years and, if you had it to do again, you'd eat better, get more exercise and be more careful about the sun. But, if you survey your lot, you're pretty happy. Look at the kids! They made it and they're pretty much okay. You love 'em like absolute crazy and now they're producing another generation of your genealogical lineage and you love those little grandchildren like no one else could believe.

Not bad, eh?

So why are you regretting that terrible mistake you made over 40 years ago – the one that would have taken you in another direction, toward another place that would have prevented you from getting to this place? And had you, those particular, wonderful little ones wouldn't be there, where they are.

You'll get yourself all screwed around if you keep thinking like that, so just knock it off. So you should have selected another major in college! Maybe you should even have chosen a different school. That big university would have been better! You shouldn't have fooled yourself into thinking you were in love when you didn't know the first thing about love! You should have accepted that job offer in that pretty little town up along Lake Michigan! You shouldn't have turned down that offer to move to the nation's capitol.

Don't be so stupid! Had you not made that string of mistakes that little kid would not be there now, crawling her way across that oriental carpet; and her sister wouldn't be there either; nor her mother and her sisters and that wonderful, loving person who sleeps next to you each night.

Combined, all the good and all the dumb things you've done along the way have led you here, where you now sit and look out at the tree tops and think of all those loving, beautiful beings that you created and can't imagine not being there.

So, stop already! Get over it! Sure you've made some bone-head, stupid mistakes. I agree with you. Some of them I can't believe. How could you do something that dumb? However, my friend, it's done and each of those grand mistakes, along with the one or two sensible things you've done, has led you here. It's hard to believe you made it in one piece.