tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51236972008-05-12T21:14:33.844-05:00Grantian FlorilegiumGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comBlogger987125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-52517520396747548472008-05-11T14:55:00.005-05:002008-05-11T21:49:55.286-05:00Strowe AboutI've posted some photos of our garden's Springtime glory over on the Eleventary site. Just looking at them again, reminds me of this poesy from Thomas Campion:
Now hath flora rob’d her bowers
To befriend this place with flowers;
Strowe about, strowe about
The sky rayn’d never kindlier showers.George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-23771058916951888372008-05-11T14:54:00.005-05:002008-05-11T17:59:48.725-05:00In the Garden"God Almighty first planted a garden. And, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures." Francis Bacon
"To prevent undue disappointment, those who wish for beautiful flower borders and whose enthusiasm is greater than their knowledge, should be reminded that if a border is to be planted for pictorial effect, it is impossible to maintain that effect and to have the space well filled for any George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-13440778959020783662008-05-08T18:25:00.002-05:002008-05-08T18:28:26.810-05:00Promises, Promises"God promises forgiveness for repentance; He does not promise tomorrow for procrastination." Augustine of HippoGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-10269078637705213232008-05-07T10:40:00.003-05:002008-05-07T10:46:39.806-05:00Mentoring Bold Leaders"Reward spectacular failure; punish mediocre success." This traditional leadership-development maxim has long been attributed to Ramses II, but it was probably adapted from a folk saying by the Greek-Christian redactors and curators of the great Alexandrian library sometime around the middle of the third century.George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-41713243211861141232008-05-06T21:29:00.001-05:002008-05-06T21:30:48.789-05:00Petty Tyrannies“We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain bad laws.” G.K. Chesterton
“There is no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.” Will Rogers
“The worst thing in the world, next to anarchy, is government.” Henry Ward Beecher
“Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.” Robert Heinlein
“The most George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-49378227424129053452008-05-06T21:02:00.002-05:002008-05-06T21:03:57.609-05:00Chesterton's Ballad of the White Horse
Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass.
Before the gods that made the gods
Had drunk at dawn their fill,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was hoary on the hill.
Age beyond age on British land,
Aeons on aeons gone,
Was peace and war in western hills,
And the White Horse looked on.
For the White George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-57841723301718952102008-05-06T01:00:00.000-05:002008-05-06T01:00:00.358-05:00Alfred the Greatit was on this day in 878 that the young, inexperienced Christian king of Wessex, Alfred the Great, defeated the pagan Viking warlord Guthrum at the Battle of Ethandun. The unlikely victory not only ensured that Christianity would survive in England, it made the unification of that land possible for the first time since the departure of Roman legions in the fifth century.George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-47605386768961136832008-05-05T20:59:00.001-05:002008-05-05T21:00:45.490-05:00True and Solid"It is to be steadily inculcated, that virtue is the highest proof of understanding, and the only true and solid basis of greatness." Samuel JohnsonGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-12024589341638611802008-05-04T18:08:00.000-05:002008-05-04T18:09:32.073-05:00Lazy Sunday AfternoonGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-57744497209000383172008-05-03T20:26:00.013-05:002008-05-04T06:09:01.817-05:00TableTalkThe May issue of TableTalk Magazine offers a fascinating examination of the seven deadly sins and the seven heavenly virtues. The varied contributors include R.C. Sproul, Thabiti Anyabwile, Robert Carver, Chris Donato, Ron Gleason, Ken Jones, Robert Rayburn, Carol Ruvolo, R.C. Sproul Jr., Gene Edward Veith, and Yours Truly.
If you’ve never read—or better yet, used—this very fine monthly George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-14437533756098940922008-04-30T12:10:00.001-05:002008-04-30T12:10:29.974-05:00Election AdGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-68297967840243065562008-04-28T07:51:00.002-05:002008-04-28T07:58:43.044-05:00For the Common Good"We know that all men were created to busy themselves with labor for the common good." John CalvinGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-13806116346873278642008-04-27T23:17:00.000-05:002008-04-28T23:24:10.208-05:00Aux ChouxThe ever-creative and always irrepressible, Crystal Thomas, has a wonderful new dessert and coffee shop called Aux Choux in downtown Franklin. The cheese cake is to die for!George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-526679710593280272008-04-27T18:10:00.002-05:002008-04-28T23:38:22.211-05:00Rare FormIf you are a thinking American who cares about the future of the nation--and if you're looking for solid, practical advice about what to do and how--then this election-year book by David Zanotti of the American Policy Roundtable is for you. But be forewarned: you'll need to expect the unexpected. After all, Zanotti is courageous, wise, funny, informed, Biblical, strategic, creative, insightful,George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-1322753591163742102008-04-23T09:13:00.006-05:002008-04-23T12:52:52.307-05:00RelevantitisWhat's a pastor to do? What's a pastor to be? According to Michael Horton in an incisive Touchstone article, instead of focusing on the "ordinary means of grace" and the ministries of "Word, prayer, and sacrament," these days pastors are more like "directors of sales and marketing." They are increasingly asked to be "managers, therapists, entertainers, and entrepreneurial businesspeople." IfGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-60081690274186105752008-04-23T07:17:00.000-05:002008-04-23T07:18:41.855-05:00Benevolent Checks"Civil liberty is not freedom from restraint. Men may be wisely and benevolently checked, and yet be free. No man has a right to act as he thinks fit, irrespective of the wishes and interests of others. This would be exemption from all law, and from the wholesome influence of social institutions. Heaven itself would not be free, if this were freedom. No created being holds any such liberty George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-81653591204371129722008-04-23T07:14:00.001-05:002008-04-23T07:17:06.640-05:00Electoral Reminders"The legions of well-intentioned but smug, educated elites have agreed in advance to reject thousands of years of inherited wisdom, values, habit, custom, and insight and replace this heritage with their official utopian vision of the perfect society." William Gairdner
"Those who pose as the saviors of mankind are all too often more dangerous than the very ills they purport to remedy. There areGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-16658034741301646272008-04-23T06:50:00.000-05:002008-04-23T21:52:32.823-05:00Whigs Redeux"America has once again arrived at a momentous crossroads. We are going to have to decide--as we have had to decide so many times in the past--whether we shall only speak of justice and speak of principle, or whether we shall stand and fight for them. We are going to have to decide whether we shall quote the words of the Declaration of Independence with real conviction, or whether we shall takeGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-36910974904211829662008-04-21T13:29:00.001-05:002008-04-21T13:29:39.764-05:00Disturbers of Complacency“We cannot expect a more cordial welcome than disturbers of complacency have received in any other age.” Richard WeaverGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-15674499975977167632008-04-19T16:04:00.003-05:002008-04-19T16:17:31.126-05:00Expelled in FranklinJoin Franklin Classical School and the King’s Meadow Study Center on May 1 from 6:30-9:30 PM, for an evening of lively discussion and intellectual engagement as we discuss Darwinism, Intelligent Design, and the newly released film, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with some of Middle Tennessee's most capable scientists, academicians, and intellectuals.
Ben Stein’s Expelled documentary is George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-45679810003146981612008-04-19T13:10:00.003-05:002008-04-19T13:18:25.134-05:00The RegularsAmerican colonists and British troops had their first exchange of fire in the towns of Lexington and Concord in the "shot heard 'round the world." The British general Thomas Gage sent a force to capture stockpiled munitions at Concord. This incident is often regarded as the start of the American War for Independence.
The night before, of course, silversmith Paul Revere rode from Boston to George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-53459658635400794012008-04-18T17:26:00.000-05:002008-04-18T17:27:32.928-05:00The Mettle of True Character"Let your hand feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the estimation of the widows mite, that it is not everyone that asketh that deserveth charity; all however are worthy of the inquiry, or the deserving may suffer. Thus is the mettle of true character." George WashingtonGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-65265019724302162872008-04-18T17:16:00.001-05:002008-04-18T17:18:03.185-05:00ReformationBrought to the city of Worms to recant by the Emperor, Charles V, Martin Luther uttered immortal words that launched the Reformation on this day in 1521:
"Since your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils for the have contradicted George Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-71562354296186533652008-04-15T06:15:00.000-05:002008-04-15T06:16:39.129-05:00Architectural Worldviews“We shape our buildings, then they shape us.” Winston Churchill
“Architecture is the most revealing of all the arts. It is possible to tell more about a culture’s faith by its buildings than by its philosophers.” Paul JohnsonGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123697.post-51008704305137113722008-04-15T06:14:00.000-05:002008-04-15T06:15:04.541-05:00What Helps"Lay hold of something that will help you, and then use it to help somebody else." Booker T. WashingtonGeorge Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11546229381528820614noreply@blogger.com