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

 

Information regarding "Gonorrhea Lectem"

Information regarding "Gonorrhea Lectem"


The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectem. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'em."

The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008. but now most people, after having been infected for the past 1-2 years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is.

It's sad because Gonorrhea Lectem is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout. You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it.

Several states are already on top of this, like Virginia and New Jersey, and apparently now Massachusetts, with many more seeing the writing on the wall.

 

 

Video on Texting while Driving

Texting while driving...it is not gory, but it is an eye opener!!!

http://zerofatalities.s3.amazonaws.com/1085-Echo_TRANSCRIBED.wmv

Today

I started my day when my alarm went off at 4:00 AM. I got up and got ready for work I read a bit in the Scriptures (Matthew's Gospel). I am at work today, so I was not able to worship with my family, but I was able to listen a lecture by Bishop N.T. Wright while at work. I can do that kind of thing while working in the refinery lab.

 

I am planning on leaving work and heading to St. Michael's for their evening service. MK said he might be worshipping at St. Michael's tonight as well.

 

Later,

Kenith

 

 

 

My son Christian called at 1:30 this morning to inform us his Mom and me that he had arrived in Japan. When we spoke, he was on a train from the airport to the Tokyo train station to catch a fast train to Misawa. It was such a pleasure to have Jessica and Christian here with us last week. It was a fun visit, we ate some great food, visited, went crabbing, played games, kayaked, etc…

 

Lisa and I also got to attend my high school classes 50th birthday bash last Saturday. We had a good time and renewed some old acquaintances. I was not a popular person in high school and I was not in any particular group in our class of around 400 students, so there were lots of people I did not know and more that I knew by sight and not in person.

 

Later,

Kenith

 

It is great to have Christian and Jessica home on leave from the Navy. Last night Morgan and Danny and we had steaks for supper. After supper, Mk and his son came over and we all went to the porch and front yard to visit play ball.

We had a good time enjoyed good friends, good food, good wine and beer.

Later,

Kenith

Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45

After a wonderful vacation in the Napa Valley, I returned to work at 5 pm Sunday night (4 April) and worked nights through Thursday morning. I was back at work Friday for this months Rescue Team training and I started my regular day shift on Saturday. The big event Saturday was the arrival of JB and Christian. They are home on leave the Navy.

 

Sunday, I had to work and so I was unable to attend worship services. Though I was unable to attend worship I did have time to read, so I the Epistle of St. James.

 

Last week I finished reading Max Hastings' book, Retribution: The Battle For Japan, 1944-1945. It is an excellent read.

 

Coram Deo,

Kenith

 

I finished a set of graveyard shift this morning. I went to work Sunday evening, which was my first day back to work after Lisa and I returned from the Napa Valley. It was a quiet set of graveyards at the lab.

I finished reading Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45, by Max Hastings. This is the the third book I've read by Hastings. It is a great book.

Lisa gave me a wonderful 50th birthday present, she and I took a trip to San Francisco and the Napa Valley. We had a great time. The day we spent in SF was but we spent most of our holiday in Wine Country.

We stayed at a wonderful place just north of Napa-La Residence Inn. This is the best place I've ever stayed at. We received a complementary gourmet breakfast every morning and complementary wine and cheese reception every evening. The staff at was also top notch.

I loved Napa and the surrounding full of vineyards and wineries. We did two winery tours. The first was the Robert Mondavi Winery. The tour there was excellent and very informative. The wines the provided for tasting were also top notch. The second winery we toured was Frog's Leap Winery. It was a low key tour, but also top notch and on this tour we were served wine as we toured the vineyards and winery.

We stopped at plenty of wineries and enjoyed many nice wines. We also did an olive oil tour at the Round Pond Winery, also very good.

For our last full day in California, Lisa and I visited Muir Woods National Monument to see the red woods. It is beautiful. We took a nice long hike in the woods ans were awed by the beauty of the place. After visiting Muir Woods we took a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast Highway and went to a beach so Lisa could touch the ocean.

It was a wonderful trip. Lisa and I loved every minute of our time in California.

Coram Deo,

Kenith

Today was a good day. I fixed breakfast for Lisa and the boys, just eggs and sausage this morning. We then got dressed and attended worship services at Bethel (PCA). After worship we ate dinner at Piccadilly Cafeteria and then came home. The boys had friends come over and the played.

I had to work Friday night to Saturday morning, so I slept until noon Saturday. Most of the afternoon was spent with the boys. Saturday evening Lisa and I went to see Ann Savoy (pronounced Sahv wah) and Her Sleepless Knights. We enjoyed the music, food, beer and dancing.

The concert/dance was part of McNeese's Banner Series. Banner's is a great community event and I so enjoy attending their events.

It's time to read a bit.

Coram Deo,

Kenith

I worked Rescue Standby at the refinery on the night of the 17th. It was a quiet evening. I started the shift by reviewing the confined space, which was the reason I was on standby. I spent a good portion of the evening at the turnaround observing the work being done.

I did take time to cook another batch of pain perdu for some of my co-workers. I worked 13 1/2 hours. After work, I came home and slept until 1:00 pm. When I got up, I ran a couple of errand and then picked up the boys at school.

When Lisa got home, we all went to the park at Center Circle to practice tennis and shoot some hoops. For supper we splurged and went Chili's.

That was how things went yesterday.

TODAY, Lisa and celebrate the 27th anniversary of our First (blind) Date. Best of all, after 27 years she still likes having me around!!!!!

Later,

Kenith

Yesterday my day started at 6 AM, when I got up and got the boys up for school. After bring them to school, I returned home and got ready for my day.

I've been having some pain in on the right side of my lower back, so Lisa scheduled me for a massage at GiGi's. After my massage, which was great, I picked up a pepperoni pizza from Tony's Pizza and went to visit my grandparents and bring them lunch.

My grandfather (Pawpaw), is an old Cajun who first language is French. He turned 90 last week and one of his favourite foods is - you guessed it - pepperoni pizza. After lunch I went by the union hall discuss an issue with some of the local's leadership.

While I was at the hall, Morgan picked her brothers up at school. I met her at the house. She and I then loaded up a bookshelf and brought it to her house. I then returned home for a short while and returned to the union hall for our monthly meeting, which turned out to be a very long one.

I got home at the boys bed time, and said prayers with them. Lisa too was in bed. I picked up a book and read for a while, before going to bed myself.

Coram Deo

Kenith

Today, I worked last night (rescue standby) came home and was in bed for 6:30 am. Woke at 9 am to attend Wednesday morning worship at St. Michael's (Anglican Ch) then I met Lisa for lunch at Olive Garden for lunch. After lunch I went to visit my grandparents. My grandfather will be 90 years old tomorrow.

PawPaw, as we call him is an old Cajun who learned English after his children started school, but French remains his first language and the language he is most fluent in. His father, Eduard Jeansonne lived to be at least 95. Pawpaw's grandfather, Auguste Jeansonne lived to be 113 years old. My Grandfather must have had a English educated priest because with him, and his siblings the spelling of their family name changed from Jeansonne to Johnson. I've told my Johnson cousins that I would change the spelling back to Jeansonne, because there are to many Johnsons in this country already.

My dad will turn 73 tomorrow. His family too has a good be of longevity in years so I hope and pray that it is passed on to him and my mom.

After my visit with Pawpaw I picked the boys up at school and shot some hoops before they started their homework.

It's been a good day and I will be very ready for bedtime when it comes tonight.

Coram Deo,

Kenith

PS. The picture is GG grandfather Auguste and Pawpaw Adam (circa 1923)

Last week was a fairly busy one. I worked 56 hours and I also qualified on the first (entry) job for the lab. I am now a lab technician and no longer an operator at the refinery. O did the operations thing for 19 years. and I've worked as top or lead operator more than a quarter of those years.

Saturday, was a busy day. First, I worked around the house, then I went to a diaper party in honour of Gus, who will enter the world next week. Us men, went and bought diapers and brought them to Woody (the dad) and then we talked drank a few beers and ate barbecued brisket prepared by Big Woody (Gus' pawpaw). I had to leave before the "washer toss" games began.

I got home in time to take the boys to see Avner the Eccentric at McNeese. We all enjoyed the show. Saturday evening, Lisa and I went dancing for a little while at the Isle of Capri's Caribbean Cove lounge.

We did not stay long and were home around 10:30, so that we could attend worship services at Bethel on Sunday.

Sunday morning we worshiped at Bethel Presbyterian Church (PCA). After worship services we ate at Piccadilly Cafeteria. The boys and I then went to a workshop with Avner the Eccentric and Lisa went to a wedding shower.

We were all together again by 4:30. Lisa and I then went to a benefit dance at the VFW in lake Charles. There were lots of fine Cajun and Zydeco bands playing. We were home by seven.

That is conclusion of our very busy week. Oh-- I forgot to add that LP and I made a run on Saturday to Academy, so that I could by a Saints Super Bowl cap.

Later,

Kenith