Politics - Joe Biden

I have never really researched politicians and the issues for which they stand... until now. I hope to investigate all of the presidential hopefuls, both Democratic and Republican, in the order in which they are listed on msnbc.com. And I am beginning with Joe Biden.

Senator Biden was born in 1942, making him about 65 years old. He looks lively enough. He seems to care about family. He is a Democrat. The issues addressed on his website are Iraq; Afghanistan and Darfur; Energy; Jobs; Health Care; Access to Higher Education; Preparing for College; Homeland Security; Crime; and Climate Change.

With regard to Iraq, Senator Biden believes that Iraq should be federalized. By this he means that the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds should be bound together in matters of common Iraqi interest, such as border security and the distribution of oil revenues. But the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis should be given "breathing room" in their own regions. It sounds as though he wants to create some kind of sub-states within the country in which each group is free to govern itself for the most part. He wants to continue financial support and leave enough troops behind to keep the different groups "honest" with each other, and he wants the financial support to be tied to expectations such as fairness toward minority groups.

Senator Biden wants to increase our troop levels in Afghanistan and Darfur to help squelch the increase in genocide, Taliban, Al Qaeda, warlords and drug traffickers. He wants international agreement and cooperation in putting things to right in this rapidly deteriorating region.

With regard to energy, Senator Biden sees it as key to our foreign and economic policies. So long as we are dependent on either hostile or unstable nations for our energy, we will be funding activists with whom we disagree and weakened in our own ability to produce goods. His goal is to increase fuel efficiency and the use of live fuels/renewable energy, and also to invest heavily in research that would help us to do even better in energy production and efficiency.

Senator Biden hopes to spur job growth through both energy security (described above) and health reform, which is currently costing our greatest companies as much as they make in profits (or will be by 2008, according to his website, joebiden.com).

What he wants to do with health care is to contain its growing costs and provide health care access to the 47 million Americans who do not have health insurance. To contain the costs, he wants to modernize the system, simplify the system, and reduce errors. To provide access to uninsured Americans, he wants to expand insurance for children, relieve families and businesses of the expenses of catastrophic cases, and use data from states that have been pursuing innovative possibilities to help the nation determine the best course of action.

As to education, Senator Biden is eager to help all Americans have access to higher education in colleges. He wants to increase tax deductions for tuition payments, expand Pell grants to cover the average tuition costs of public colleges for low-income students, and provide public service jobs designed to help high school students begin working toward and saving for school. He also wants to invest in making the school years prior to college more profitable for students.

Senator Biden believes homeland security needs aggressive restructuring, and to do that, needs significant finances. To get those finances, he wants to "take back" one year's worth of tax cuts for people who make $1 million or more per year, then put those funds in a trust fund to provide the necessary finances.

In dealing with crime, Biden's main goal is to restore the $2 billion worth of funding that has been cut from state and local law enforcement.

In dealing with climate control, Senator Biden wants the United States to take significant steps toward being the world leader in resolving global warming. He also wants us to seek a treaty with developing nations, after setting an example for them, that will encourage them to downgrade their emissions, too.

Senator Biden's website does not mention his views on such issues as abortion and stem cells, but I was able to find some of his thoughts at http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Joe_Biden.htm. He is against publicly funding it, supports the partial-birth abortion ban but not undoing Roe, believes that life begins at conception, there is a constitutional right to privacy, voted to expand research to more stem-cell lines, voted not to notify parents of MINORS who got out of state abortions, voted to reduce teen pregnancy by educations and CONTRACEPTIVES, thought it was not a crime to harm a fetus while conducting other crimes, said there should be no ban on military base abortions, voted to ban partial birth abortions, and voted against banning human cloning.

It looks to me as though Senator Biden's website has some good thoughts to consider, including his thoughts on Iraq (though I hope he would be wise enough to establish a good system for evaluating when it is actually safe for Iraq for the USA to withdraw troops-his desire to send troops to Afghanistan indicates that he is willing to send troops where they are needed). However, the issues that are most clearly moral are not readily addressed, and I wish they were. After researching his views on abortion and stem cells, he makes me nervous. Some good thoughts, and I will have to think more about his various opinions after comparing them to what other politicians think.

Laughter and love

In certain situations, there's not a whole lot more that a person can do than either cry or laugh. Two nights ago, I was home watching Emma and Michael... except that it was supposed to be easier than that. Emma was already in bed. I think Michael was sleeping, too. I was just staying home so that Christy could go out shopping by herself.

But Emma was having a very hard time falling asleep. I kept hearing her making noise on the baby monitor. It was bedtime, so I left her alone. But then I could hear her calling for her pacifier. Figuring that she had thrown it out of her crib, I went into her room.

She was completely naked. She had stripped off her pajama shirt and pants, then dismantled her diaper. And she had peed on the bed.

No sooner had I discovered this than Michael woke up and started crying. Loudly.

And so it went, back and forth, Emma's needs and Michael's needs. We finally got it all sorted out, but it was definitely one of those times when you can either laugh or cry. It made me
wonder, What makes the difference?

Obviously, there are many factors. Fatigue, difficulty of situation, length of situation, etc. But I think one factor that makes a big difference is love. Sometimes in these kinds of situations, all I care about is getting back to my activity and enjoying my plans. I tend to come nearer to crying when I'm concerned about getting back to my things... crying or anger. On the other hand, when I go into these things caring more about Emma and Michael, or whoever else might be involved, most of the time I end up laughing. With love, the situations aren't overwhelming and instead remind me that life is unpredictable, and that even my best-laid plans are really rather flimsy. I suppose when I laugh it involves a bit of relief, because I recognize that I don't have to be perfect, my life doesn't have to be perfect, and love covers over all the imperfections and allows life to be liveable and enjoyable. So I think love really makes a difference between our responses to potential frustrations. I think the Bible would agree...

"added to their number"

On Saturday I had the opportunity to help out with children at Sojourn while the church hosted an event. The Bible lesson for the children covered the story of Pentecost. When we got to the end of the story and asked for questions, the kids asked what it meant that three thousand were "added to their number."

Later, during the games, I helped to come up with a game that taught the kids the meaning of "added to their number." Two people would go away from the group, turn around, and then one would say something true (the sky is blue) and the other would say something false (the sky is purple). The kids' goal was to "add themselves to the number" of the person telling the truth. So they learned that "added to their number" means "joined themselves with the group," and they also learned that they should only "add themselves to the number of" those who are telling the truth.

So why did I write about this? For one thing, I don't often do such activities with kids, so I was rather excited about having come up with an idea like this on the spur of the moment, and excited that it went really well. For another thing, I had lots of fun. Maybe I'll do some children's ministry someday? I wouldn't want to base my plans on one fun event, but still...

$103.00

So tonight I earned $103 at the Old Spaghetti Factory, working from 5:15 to 12:00 midnight. 6 hrs 45 minutes. A little over $15 per hour. Better than usual. Why am I writing about it? Because nights like this are the reason people are willing to work at jobs where the pay is inconsistent and depends primarily on people's gracious giving. Also, because I did not feel like I did a very good job tonight. I felt bad for my customers.

And yet they provided. That is, God provided. Through them. And it turned into one of the best nights I've ever had, earnings-wise.

Ironic. And yet another example in this life of grace, and of our inability/failures not determining our course, but God's grace ultimately weighing in as the decisive factor.

Why do we always think we're so great? Why do we think we deserve good things? Somebody remind me, please.

Currently Reading--

I just received Lectures to My Students by C.H. Spurgeon from Amazon.com today. I've heard good things about this book, so I was glad that I had finished my Greek paper today. It gave me the chance to begin reading.

I have not completed the first chapter yet, just the first section. Based on what I have read so far, I'm guessing that much of the advice in this book will be the kind of advice I have heard and read many times. However, I am still excited about reading this book. As Peter writes, "I think it is good to remind [myself] of these things, even though [I] already [have heard] them..." Good advice is never unwelcome, or at least should never be unwelcome.

On a side note, I find that many people - often myself included - respond to good advice they've heard previously by dismissing it with the words, "I know, I know." It hit me one day that, if I was willing to dismiss good advice, perhaps I hadn't truly learned to apply it as well as I thought. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." I am trying to humble myself constantly to listen to things I think "I know" already, re-learning them by diligently applying them in each new situation. I have found myself to be much more blessed by this approach than by the approach that simply responds, "I know," and then seeks some deeper, wiser advice (which is unlikely to be found).

But back to the first section of Lectures to My Students. Talk about something that ought to be obvious! Spurgeon spends four tightly-written pages warning preachers to be certain that they themselves are saved! Initially I found the same fleshly response welling up in myself again: "I know this already. I think I'll skip to the good stuff." But I continued to read, and I found the message helpful. How dare I plan to preach and teach the good news of God's grace unless I am sure I have received it myself? And by taking the time to be sure that I have received it, I am now refreshed in my Spirit, reminded of God's goodness to me. I am saved. I have been set free, so that I no longer must obey sin, but can instead live a righteous life by Christ's grace, mercy, and power. I have received the Holy Spirit, and I have an eternity of serving Christ to look forward to. If I were unsaved, following the advice would have yielded another blessing: I could have taken advantage of the opportunity and given my life up to Jesus. Either way, following this simple advice leads to God's blessings. So if you're reading this – even if you don't intend to be a preacher one day – make sure that you spend some time considering the true nature of your relationship to Jesus, too.

Be sure you're walking with Him.

Good News

One bit of good news is that I am almost completely finished with my Greek exegesis paper. Oh, I probably have a few hours of work left, but the end is in sight.

Another bit of good news is that I am again enjoying my Greek paper schoolwork. All I had to do in order to begin enjoying it was to devote myself to it; once I started to work on my paper, I enjoyed myself.

On another note, there was a rabbit hopping around and eating in plain view of the library window at which I sat. Rather distracting, but very fun.

Michael Brown called tonight to say that his brother Andrew is being called up to the Oakland A's. Awesome!

And of course, since I've been working on a Greek exegesis paper about Luke 4:16-30... the best news of all is that the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ, whose current mission is to restore the sight of the blind and set captives free. We are still in the favorable year of the Lord! What a blessing!

Psalm 77

What do you do when nothing seems to be going well? When you can't see clearly where God is taking you?

Psalm 77 (read it) says to remember God's work among His people. Remember His actions in the past, His purposes for His people. Essentially, focus on renewing your faith - not by trying without any reason to believe more steadily - but by remembering through the Word of God what He has actually done. When God seems inactive, remember His activity... and trust Him. He is good.

Reading - Clement of Rome I-XVIII

If you have never taken the opportunity to browse some of the wealth of materials available through the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL), you ought to enjoy some reading there now (http://www.ccel.org/). Tonight I have been reading the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written by Clement of Rome. The chapters are brief, and the points are simple.

1. There is much to be said in praise of the Corinthians.
2. The Corinthians are currently divided because of envy and rivalry.
3. The proposed resolution will come through repentance and faith lived out in many forms of obedience, especially humility before God and one another.

Our attitudes are important and impact the way we treat each other. It is easy for a while to appear to have the right attitudes, but bad attitudes will eventually show themselves through our actions and relationships.

Current project - Greek paper

I'm assuming that most people who might read this have had times in their lives when they had a responsibility they didn't feel like shouldering. There's a certain Greek paper that falls into that category for me right now.

It's not overwhelming. 11-12 pages. Double-spaced. Essentially two 6 page papers, one covering historical issues and the other covering the message of Luke 4:16ff. Why am I not working on it right now? For one thing, I shouldn't be working on anything right now; it's 1:30 am. For another thing, my heart is not in it at all.

I'll probably actually begin to work on the paper Monday, pretty much full-time until it is finished later in the week. If you read this between Monday and Thursday, pray that I will be diligent in fulfilling my responsibility with this paper.

Life is about service

So many day to day activities are mundane and obnoxious and meaningless. Why do them? Who cares? It really seems sometimes that no one cares. It's almost depressing.

But life is really about serving God. And most of these mundane things are done to take care of the people and possessions God has entrusted into our hands. It is very humbling to realize that the meaningless things I am doing are the most meaningful things I do, and that my life will be measured by how faithfully I do them.

By the grace of God, I will persevere. By the grace of God...