Hoy noche yo encontré unas palabras sueltas de muchos años atrás. Leyeron: cuando se pierde la vista, la visión viene.
Don’t Intensify Answers
Just say a simple, “Yes, I will,” or “No, I won’t.” Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong. Matthew 5:37 NLT
Jacob’s Unworthiness
Jacob’s words are still true and humbling even today: “I am not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love you have shown to me, your servant.” (GEN 32:10 NLT)
El Poder de Una Sola Palabra del Señor
UNA SOLA PALABRA…..de Dios puede cambiar todo.
UNA SOLA PALABRA…..de nosotros puede negarle permiso. Cuando nosotros andamos hablando de nuestros problemas (en efecto afirmándolos, ensalzándolos), nos damos puñales a nuestra fe. Enfoquémonos pues en El Omnipotente quien–con una mera sílaba–puede derribar la montaña al valle para hacer camino plano por medio de lo visto y lo escondido.
UNA SOLA PALABRA del Señor vale más del vocabulario entero de nosotros. ¿Podemos nosotros callarnos para darle a Él el foro de hablar?
Anguish Deafness
And Moses speaketh so unto the sons of Israel, and they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for harsh service. Exodus 6:9 (YLT)
If life gets too hard to stand, kneel.
Ceder Plaza al Generalísimo
Hay pocos versículos que logran a captar sencillamente la maravilla de nuestro Señor omnipotente, pero aquí hay uno: “Moisés dijo al pueblo: No temáis; estad firmes, y ved la salvación que Jehová hará hoy con vosotros; porque los egipcios que hoy habéis visto, nunca más para siempre los veréis.” (ÉXODO 14:13 RV1960)
O hermanos, que poderoso es nuestro Generalísimo Guerrero cuando nosotros le cedemos su plaza!
The Gods of Other Nations
“Do not worship the gods of these other nations or serve them in any way, and never follow their evil example.” (EX 23:24 NLT) How many ways do we, the modern followers of the one true God, serve the gods of the lands in which we dwell? Hollywood? Wealth? Fame?
Constitutional Amendment
Back in May 2016 in the wake of citizen killings by cops and the black lives matter movement, I had the idea to think up a new Constitutional amendment:
No executive agent of a State or of the United States acting under color of domestic law shall purposefully, capriciously, wantonly, negligently, or indifferently perpetrate or permit an abrogation of due process or substantial miscarriage of justice upon any person during a time and place of peace, natural calm, and civil order, and any executive agent who conscientiously refuses an order which would violate such protection shall be equally protected.
My idea was to reflect and protect civil rights. It could potentially open the door for 28 USC 2254 habeas relief on a freestanding actual innocence claim. And while conceived as miscarriage of criminal law, it remains open to allow federal courts to decide what other substantial miscarriages might exist such as employment, welfare, healthcare, or voting rights. It opens the door for international application as well on matters like extraordinary rendition.
On Opposition
O LORD, oppose those who oppose me. Declare war on those who are attacking me. Psalm 35:1 NLT
Habeas Corpus and Actual Innocence
I am convinced that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. ___ (2013), was really about re-aligning the checks-and-balances and restoring federal courts’ authority to take corrective measures. While the decision was technically adverse to the underlying habeas corpus petition, it was overwhelmingly (and controversially) restorative to habeas corpus practice, and I think the Supreme Court chose to hear the case simply to renew its prior holdings in House v. Bell, 513 U.S. 298 (2006), and Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995), rather than to address the actual issue of Perkins’ liberty.
Writs of habeas corpus are traceable at least as far back as the Magna Carta of 1215. Basically, it’s a desperate cry to a higher authority to investigate a person’s unjust confinement. Most landmark precedents emerge from federal habeas corpus proceedings—Gideon v. Wainwright and Mirando v. Arizona are two such über-cases that every American student hears in high school. I’ve been digging around and want to take a moment to disseminate information on one particular aspect that exists in United States federal courts called Actual Innocence.Show more ›
Afghanistan
Afghanistan will exploit natural resources to become a world influence. It has enormous undiscovered mineral wealth.
On Striving for Gender Neutrality
I once experienced a freak Saharan heatwave with highs over 40° C while studying in Madrid. It was a dry heat, though, and very different from one recent 103° F July afternoon in south Georgia. I bounced to a thrift store in search of some well-worn (breathable) medical scrubs and that’s when I saw it: the plain, charred olive A-line mini. It struck me as the ultimate heatbuster and looked so sensible and professional that it triggered a brief flashback to my days in the corporate offices of a large regional bank and I wondered, as progressive as the bank was, if I would have been permitted to elect its female dress code. On second thought, I have no desire to cross-dress, but shouldn’t gender equality give men the option to wear skirts just as it gave women the option to wear pants many decades ago? As counterintuitive as it might be, I suspect the bank would have been much more cerebral than most universities in contemplating such questions. This being a summer break, I decided to test the waters and having donned various skirts for three weeks now, I reflect upon deeply disconcerting truths.Show more ›
Love & The Outcome: The God I Know
Primera Enmienda a la Constitución
El Congreso no legislará respecto al establecimiento de una religión o a la prohibición del libre ejercicio de la misma; ni impondrá obstáculos a la libertad de expresión o de la prensa; ni coartará el derecho del pueblo para reunirse pacíficamente y para pedir al gobierno la reparación de agravios.
Oración intercesoria antes del Huracán Matthew
Ahora mismo es el momento propicio para acercarnos “al trono de la gracia, para alcanzar misericordia y hallar gracia para el oportuno socorro” (Heb 4:16 RV60) intercediendo para los residentes–los impíos tanto como los justos (Mat 4:45)–en Haiti, Jamaica, y todo el mar caribe.Show more ›
Luke’s gospel and the question of “Who do people say I am?”
Today I was struck by Luke’s juxtaposition of this question. I never before realized that Luke provided parallel explorations of the question. Consider first Luke 9:7-9 (NLT):
When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.
While it is odd that Herod would come to bare upon the narrative, it is not unreasonable since Jesus had just healed the roman officer’s servant in Luke 7. But the real reason seems to be to contrast Herod’s wisdom as a ruler with the wisdom of his disciples. There is an apparent chronological gap (“one day…”) before reaching Luke 9:18-22 but the symmetry is clear:
One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!” Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man[e] must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
Read the whole chapter of Luke 9 (NLT).
MATEO 6:28-29 NVI
¿Y por qué se preocupan por la ropa? Observen cómo crecen los lirios del campo. No trabajan ni hilan; sin embargo, les digo que ni siquiera Salomón, con todo su esplendor, se vestía como uno de ellos.
Why I Wear Skirts
Why I wear skirts has everything to do with equality. It started one roastingly hot July day in 2016 and I haven’t looked back since. Sure, I see the curiosity in others’ eyes and on their faces, but it surprises me how few people are direct enough to ask about it. This is, after all, the deep south far from international megatropolises like Miami, Los Angeles, and New York where cultural anomalies might be more commonplace. Perhaps southerners just want to avoid the appearance of rudeness. Even so, a few days ago a local librarian lamented that I had not blogged my experience and this led me to think that just maybe the public at large might be interested in my personal reasons and my social message.Show more ›
Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
Houston v. Hill is a remarkable U.S. Supreme Court case that tackles abuses of power by police departments. The Supreme Court decided 7-2 that a Houston, Texas ordinance that was routinely used to arrest citizens for merely “arguing, talking, interfering, failing to remain quiet, refusing to remain silent, verbal abuse, cursing, verbally yelling, and talking loudly” toward a police officer.
Not only did the Supreme Court rule this type of conduct to be protected First Amendment speech, but the Supreme Court also expressed that the right to question police conduct is a fundamental distinction between democracy and dictatorship.Show more ›
Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
During the Vietnam conflict/war, Paul Robert Cohen wore a (leather?) jacket bearing the words “Fuck the Draft” into the Los Angeles Municipal Court building. Upon entering an actual courtroom, however, he removed and folded his jacket over his arm. He again donned the jacket upon leaving the courtroom and a city officer thereupon arrested and charged him with violating California Penal Code § 415 which prohibited “maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person . . . by . . . offensive conduct. . . .” Show more ›
Gender Equality in the Shadow of 1960s Civil Rights
The outside temperature reached 103° F one recent July afternoon in south Georgia. I once experienced even hotter temperatures in Spain a decade ago, but the gulf humidity here is a beast of a different kind. I bounced to a thrift store in search of extensively used (i.e. breathable) medical scrubs. Little did I know that this simple mission would ignite a profound inquiry into gender equality.Show more ›