Sunday: Spiritual/Physical

On this day:
70
A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem.
1191
Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf – Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf.
1812
Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Borodino – Napoleon wins a Pyrrhic victory over the Russian army of Alexander I near the village of Borodino.
1864
American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
1940
World War II: The Blitz – Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London. This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.
1942
Australian and US forces inflict a significant defeat upon the Japanese at the Battle of Milne Bay.
1977
The Torrijos-Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
1978
While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
1996
American Hip-Hop star Tupac Shakur is fatally shot four times on the Las Vegas strip after leaving the Tyson-Seldon boxing match.
2008
The US Government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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Nigeria has deported 51 foreign nationals—50 Chinese citizens and one Tunisian—after they were convicted of cyberterrorism and internet fraud.

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A high-level Defense Department approval procedure, which hasn’t been announced, has prevented Ukraine from firing any U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems against targets in Russia since late spring

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Another observation on the NYT 1619 smear against the U.S.:

"In fact, it would be more accurate to say that what makes America unique isn’t slavery but the effort to abolish it. Slavery is among the oldest and most ubiquitous of all human institutions; as the Times series’ title indicates, American slavery predated the American Revolution by a century and a half. What’s unique about America is that it alone announced at birth the principle that all men are created equal—and that its people have struggled to realize that principle since then. As a result of their efforts, the Constitution today has much more to do with what happened in 1865 than in 1776, let alone 1619. Nothing could be more worthwhile than learning slavery’s history, and remembering its victims and vanquishers. But to claim that America’s essence is white supremacy is to swallow slavery’s fatal lie."--Timothy Sandefur
1619 was a historical accident. 1776 was the revolutionary idea, unfinished until 1865. Making slavery more than that is grotesque.

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                                                Sunday: Spiritual/Physical



The gospel today is the upsetting "Hate your families and possessions" gospel. Another musing on the spiritual vs. the physical. The word "hate" actually means "to place low on the hierarchy," but it is no less disturbing.

There is a human quality about us humans, and, at first blush, it doesn't look like Christ is having any of it. But this gospel contains two very peculiar parables, one about how a man would build a tower and the other about how a man would attack an enemy. Both ask for a calculation, an assessment of the builder's and the warrior's abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. In the context of putting away the world, your family, and possessions, it suggests an analysis, a self-evaluation. A self-assessment. As if such a personal revolution and upheaval to go to the top of the hierarchy were not for everybody, and trying it would be foolish. At the same time, eternity seems to be something of a trump card. It's as if Christ were smiling and shaking his head.

In such cases, better to sue for peace.