Gathering the Lambs

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young.
- Isaiah 40:11



We are thankful that we have been blessed with newborn twin lambs this past night. In a small barn, in the middle of no particularly important place, a small miracle took place quietly and without fanfare. How fortunate I was to be able to witness it!

The True Faith in Christ

If someone should say that true faith is the correct holding and confession of correct dogmas, he would be telling the truth, for a believer absolutely needs the Orthodox holding and confession of dogmas. But this knowledge and confession by itself does not make a man a faithful and true Christian. The keeping and confession of Orthodox dogmas is always to be found in true faith in Christ, but the true faith of Christ is not always to be found in the confession of Orthodoxy... The knowledge of correct dogmas is in the mind, and it is often fruitless, arrogant, and proud... The true faith in Christ is in the heart, and it is fruitful, humble, patient, loving, merciful, compassionate, hungering and thirsting for righteousness; it withdraws from worldly lusts and clings to God alone, strives and seeks always for what is heavenly and eternal, struggles against every sin, and constantly seeks and begs help from God for this.

-- St. Tikhon, The Gospel and Faith

Lord, have mercy.

Those crazy quizzes

These quizzes are a hoot. While I suppose the "center-left moderate social authoritarian" is as good a description as any of my stance, once you get in the middle of these charts your likelihood to fall in any one quadrant based on a few random clicks of relative importance or 'neutral' to a question increases, I think.

Moreover, the questions could be construed as loaded and there is so little control for interpretation:

As to loaded questions
Q.45. When one group is slaughtering another group somewhere in the world, we have a responsibility to intervene.

Ok - slaughtering is a strong term, with a strong visual image. What you infer from this question may shape the answer.

As to interpretation issues
Q.3. In nearly every instance, the free market allocates resources most efficiently.

I may agree that the free market is efficient without thinking that desireable. Or I may conclude that efficiency is to be measured a different way and thus answer differently.

So, with a huge lump of sodium chloride, here's my chart for fun. H/T to Ochlophobist

My Political Views
I am a center-left moderate social authoritarian
Left: 1.73, Authoritarian: 1.49

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Foreign Policy Views
Score: 0.16

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Culture War Stance
Score: 2.11

Political Spectrum Quiz