Temperance

“Temperance is, unfortunately, one of those words that has changed its meaning. It now usually means teetotalism. But in the days when the second Cardinal virtue was christened "Temperance," it meant nothing of the sort. Temperance referred not specially to drink, but to all pleasures; and it meant not abstaining, but going the right length and no further. It is a mistake to think that Christians ought all to be teetotallers; Mohammedanism, not Christianity, is the teetotal religion. Of course it may be the duty of a particular Christian, or of any Christian, at a particular time, to abstain from strong drink, either because he is the sort of man who cannot drink at all without drinking too much, or because he wants to give the money to the poor, or because he is with people who are inclined to drunkenness and must not encourage them by drinking himself. But the whole point is that he is abstaining, for a good reason, from something which he does not condemn and which he likes to see other people enjoying. One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting every one else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons-marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning..”

 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

 

 

Lewis Quote:

C.S. Lewis was an atheist for many years. In the late 1920’s the Lord used Lewis’ friends JRR Tolkien (of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame) and Hugo Dyson to bring him to faith. Lewis described his conversion to Christianity as a "'...prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape…"

 

Lewis’s writes these words about atheism below are also

 

For Christianity is a fighting religion. It  thinks  God  made  the world - that space and time, heat  and cold,  and  all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God "made up out  of His head" as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.

 

And, of course, that raises a very big question. If a good God made the world why has it gone wrong? And for many years I simply  refused to listen to the Christian  answers  to  this  question,  because  I  kept on  feeling "whatever you say,  and however clever your  arguments are,  isn't  it  much simpler  and  easier to  say that the  world was not made by any intelligent power? Aren’t all your arguments simply a complicated attempt to   avoid the obvious?" But then that threw me back into another difficulty.

 

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.  What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet.

 

Of course I could have  given up my  idea of justice by  saying it  was nothing but  a  private idea of my own. But  if I did that, then my argument against  God collapsed too- for  the argument  depended on  saying that  the world  was really unjust, not simply  that  it  did not happen to  please my private fancies. Thus in the very act  of trying to  prove  that God did not exist-in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless-I  found I was forced to assume that one part of reality-namely my idea of justice-was full of sense.

 

Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

 

 

A letter from David Greely

Many thanks from David Greely, (Français suivant)

Thank you all very much for all your kind compliments for the work I’ve done with the Mamou Playboys over the last 23 years. For nearly twenty years before I ever met Steve Riley, I played traditional fiddle and dreamed of playing music of my own culture- music that would make me proud, would make a difference, and that would take me all over the world to see the things I’d always wanted to see, and to meet the people I’d always wanted to meet. With Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, and thanks to all our fans, every one of those dreams have come true, and for that I will always be grateful.

It has become necessary for me to reduce my exposure to loud sound. I have researched ALL my alternatives, including the ones you’re thinking about right now, and the only one that makes me certain of my ability to keep my hearing into my later years is to play acoustic music, exclusively.

I want to especially thank you for your good wishes for the future. The future is very bright and busy, as I continue to play homestyle Cajun music in a variety of formats. Thankfully, all my projects lately have been acoustic, exploring the riches of the home music we seldom get to hear in dance halls, so I’ll be able to keep on cruisin’ with all of the following forms of Cajun music:

Solo performance and recordings: I will continue to play solo in concert and to release recordings of new and traditional Cajun music, like Sud du sud, only better !

GreelySavoyDuo : that most sublime and primeval of Cajun lineups, two fiddles, with the indefatigable Joel Savoy.

GumboJet : Cajun acoustic trio with Daniel Gale on fiddle and accordion, Jo Vidrine on guitar, and moi on fiddle, with vocals and lots of your old favorite tunes, as well as a bunch of new ones, played like we own the place.

Marce LaCouture and Friends : Cajun a capella ballads and home music. I’m a friend. Last summer we performed at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center! On the same day!

Teaching at music camps, workshops and in private lessons in person and by Skype : I have become fascinated with teaching since I’ve discovered how to help students understand how music works, especially in the context of Cajun songs. It’s a blast for me.

Adding the Greely Cajun touch in collaboration with musicians in other genres, like the Andrea Hoag’s Old Doors/New Worlds project, and The Golden Triangle Blues Trio, with Johnny Nicholas.

So please join me in my adventures. Visit davidgreely.com, and sign up for my newsletter.

See you soon, I hope,

David Greely

Remerciments de David Greely,

Bien merci pour tous vos beaux compliments regardent le travail que j’ai fait avec les Mamou Playboys pendant les dernières 23 annees. Pendant presque vingt ans avant que j’ai rencontré Steve Riley, j’ai joué le violon traditionel et rêvé d’un vie en jouant la musique de ma culture même- musique de qualité, fierté, et qui pouvait faire une différence, qui pourrait me porter alentour du monde pour rencontrer tout le monde que je voulait. Avec Steve Riley et les Mamou Playboys, et grace à tous nos fans, tous ces rêves ont devenu vrai, et pour ça, je suis eternellement reconnaissant.

Je dois eviter le sonne fort tout net. J’ai fait toute ma recherche, même les solutions dans vos idees a ce moment, et la seule maniére d’être certain de preserver mon audition pour les années qui viennent, c’est jouer la musique acoustique, exclusivement.

 Je veux surtout vous remercier pour vos bonnes veuxs pour l’avenir. L’avenir et brillant. Heureusement, tous mes projets dernièrement ont été acoustique, ça fait, je suis capable de continuer sans cesse avec tous ces formations de musique Cadienne :

Solo et disque : Je joue solo en concert, et je continue avec des disques de musique Cadienne nouvelle et traditionelle, comme Sud du sud, et encore mieux !

GreelySavoyDuo : cette formation Cadienne le plus sublime et primevale, deux violons, avec le formidable Joel Savoy.

GumboJet  : Trio Cadien avec Daniel Gale, violon et accordeon, Jo Vidrine a la guitare, et moi. Beaucoup de vos danses favoris, et un tas des nouvelles, jouées comme si on est les proprietaires !

Marce LaCouture et ses amis : Ballades, complaintes, et chansons de maison. Je suis un ami. L’été passé on a chanté au Bibliotheque de Congrès et le Kennedy Center, la même journee !

Ateliers, stages, et lecons privées en personne et aussi sur Skype. Je suis fasciné avec l’enseignement    depuis que j’ai decouvert comment faire mes étudiants comprendre la musique même, surtout dans le contexte de musique Cadienne.

Mettre la style Cajun en collaboration avec des projets des autres, comme Old Doors/New Worlds avec  Andrea Hoag, et The Golden Triangle Blues Trio, avec Johnny Nicholas.

Venez me rejoindre dans mes aventures. Visitez davidgreely.com et enregistrez pour mes nouvelles.

À bientôt, j’espère,

David Greely

 

This message was sent to shara.a.ortego@conocophillips.com from: Mamou Playboys | P.O. Box 53926 | Lafayette, Louisiana 70505

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I've finished five chapters in Darwin’s Origin of Species (I only read this book when relaxing in the tube, so if I ever do finish it, it will not be any time soon). If have, for the second time, started reading The Sword of the Prophet: Islam History, Theology, Impact on the World by Serge Trifkovic. I'm also several chapters into Like Father, Like Son: The Trinity Imaged in Our Humanity by Tom Smail.

I’ve also read Emmanuel Kant’s prefaces (one and two) to his Critique of Pure Reason and have started reading the book. My buddy Seep has informed me that, even though I read some very obscure stuff, I will not be able to complete Kant. He says it is worse than Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, which I did not like at all.

I’ve also been dabbling in Holiness by Bishop J.C. Ryle and I recently completed his The Thing As It Is: Being Questions and Answers about the Lord’s Supper. I also finished a short book, which I downloaded via Google Books, titled The Book of Common Prayer: Its Origin and Growth by J.H. Benton. I found this little book informative and I learned some interesting history as well.

Today, I started a little book that I picked up at a used bookstore in the Vieux Carré this summer. It’s titledC.S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands: The Story of His Life with Joy Davidman. I should finish it up quickly. I am reading the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, which is the only magazine to which I currently subscribe.

I want to tackle something in the Church Fathers. I need to get back to St. Augustine’s City of God. I read the first book when I finished it I set the rest of it aside, even though I thought the first part was very good. I need to pick it back up.

I have books on the nightstand next to my bed and scattered here and there in the hose that I am always reading snippets from. It the moment my reading is way too scattered.

I’ve been listening to a lot of lectures that Seep and I downloaded from Reformed, Covenant and Westminster Seminaries. Right now I am listening to Dr. John Frame’s lecture series (from Reformed Seminary) History of Philosophy and the Church. I’ve completed 25 of the 35 lectures in the series. I am also listening to the audio version of David McCullough's biography John Adams.

Yes, I know most of these items sound REALLY boring, but I like this stuff. I find most of this stuff very interesting, but I still want to finish painting my house so I can go fishing in my kayak.

Coram Deo,

Kenith

We worshiped at St. Michael's Anglican Church yesterday evening. After worship Seep the boys and I went to Starbucks to talk and visit with Morgan.

My father-in-law has been in the hospital since last week, he is doing much better and will be going home today. Lisa is with him at the hospital now and she will take him home.

I have been ignoring this blog, mostly because I have been posting on Facebook instead. I will be keeping up here again because I like this format.

Kenith

I had another busy set of days off. Thursday, LeLeaux and I went fishing in Lacassine. We caught enough fish for my family to feast on bass Thursday night.

Saturday was the birthday for our #2 son and he requested I make pain perdu for breakfast, which I did. To celebrate his birthday, we drove to Lafayette to visit the Rök Haus and do some in door rock climbing. I had not been there in several years and it was a blast. After we had exhausted ourselves and the Rök Haus we went to Incredible Pizza to eat and play games.

We got back in town just in time for Lisa and me to clean up, get dressed and go to the VFW for a Cajun dance. We danced hard for a couple of hours and had a blast.

Sunday, we worshiped at St. Michael and spent the day at home and had cake and ice cream for Saturday's birthday.

Monday, LP and I took our kayaks to Contraband Bayou for a scenic bit of exercise on the bayou.

Last Weekend

Thursday evening, after work, I broke down, went to Best Buy and bought a new computer. I then came home and assembled it.

 

Friday evening Lisa, the boys and I went to the movies to see Robin Hood, which was pretty good.

 

Lisa and I had a great weekend. We woke early and she and I went to her parents' house so that she could do her moms hair. Lisa has "done" her mom's hair every Tuesday and Saturday for more years than I can remember. After fixing her mom's hair and a short visit with her parents, she and I had breakfast and Waffle House.

 

After breakfast, and watched the movie Law Abiding Citizen. After the movie she and I went for a brisk three mile walk. We then packed to kayaks and a couple of skim boards into the truck, loaded up the boys, picked up some fried chicken and headed for the beach. We had several hours of fun at the beach, before heading home.

 

Saturday evening, after a knap, I splurged and LP and I dined at Mazens. The meal was wonderful and it was a great "date" for both of us. After our supper, she and I stopped at Starbucks to say hello to our daughter. We then came home.

 

Sunday, we attended worship services at St. Michael's Anglican Church. After worship we ate and once again piled into my truck and headed for the beach. I had not unloaded the truck Saturday. We had another fun, family day at the beach returned home after a few hours. Lisa and I then took another walk, hit some tennis balls.

 

Coram Deo,

Kenith