Calibration

From My Perspective - - -

Calibration is a word that has been in the news recently. It means: 1) to determine, check, or rectify the graduation of (any instrument giving quantitative measurements); 2) to divide or mark with gradations, graduations, or other indexes of degree, quantity, etc., as on a thermometer, measuring cup, or the like; 3) to determine the correct range for (an artillery gun, mortar, etc.) by observing where the fired projectile hits; 4) to plan or devise (something) carefully so as to have a precise use, application, appeal, etc.: a sales strategy calibrated to rich investors. When the President chose comment on the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., this well-scripted man departed from his use of a teleprompter to draw a conclusion that was lacking in detail and fact. By saying the Cambridge Police “acted stupidly” when they arrested his Professor friend, he needlessly inflamed the incident. In his attempt to back-track from what he had said, the President commented: “I should have calibrated my words differently.” Once again we are privy to the nuanced world of government-speak (Nuanced means: a subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation; expression or appreciation of subtle shades of meaning, feeling, or tone). To ameliorate this situation, the President has invited the Policeman and the Professor to the White House for a Beer. Is that transferable as a solution for the tensions in the world – Drink More Beer? I doubt it!

The United States General Services Administration maintains a Bureau of Standards and Measurements. It is the place where The Standard is maintained for everything measurable – screw threads, rulers, yarn, resistance of grease to water, polyester fiber content, Opacity of Textile Materials to Light of Visible Wavelengths, and the list goes on almost endlessly. The point is – there is a standard that is inviolate and non-amendable. It is the absolute standard by which everything else is measured. If for some reason The Standard becomes compromised, then subjectivism enters and we no longer know or have an Absolute Standard. Ultimately, chaos would ensue. We have an expression “moving the goal-posts” that simply means: “The figurative use that alludes to the perceived unfairness in changing the goal one is trying to achieve after the process one is engaged in has already started.” In practical terms, it makes it more difficult to achieve the goal, or speak definitively, or function purposefully.

In May 2004, Cal Thomas posted a column in the Jewish World Review commenting an the changing standard for marriage in our nation. He wrote: “The Book of Judges…said it best: In those days there were no kings and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Once that shift has taken place in sufficient numbers, once we become indifferent to immutable truths, the floodtide is not a matter of if but when. Legally, the shift began in 1993 when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that barring same-sex couples from marrying might violate the state constitution's prohibition on sexual discrimination and must be justified by a compelling reason. Morally, the earthquake occurred much earlier. The shift from personal responsibility, accountability, putting the greater good before personal pleasure, affluence and feelings, and what once was known as the fear of God began following World War II. Consumption and pleasure replaced self-control and acting on behalf of the general welfare. Trying to remind us of the benefits of restraint in 1979…late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen delivered an address in Washington in which he asked how a football field is defined. By its boundaries, he said. There are now no boundaries in America. Any rule is potentially viewed as oppressive and any law - whether legal or moral - is up for debate, negotiation and overturning if it impedes a single individual from fulfilling his or her desire.”

In Deuteronomy 5:1-6, there is a clear declaration: “Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us…with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you…And He said: I am the Lord your God…” Following these words are the reiteration of the Ten Commandments – God’s Standard for what we are to believe about God, and what duties God requires of man. If one chooses to ignore God’s Standards, he does so to his own peril, and chaos results. Consider these things with me.

Puzzled

From My Perspective - - -

Broken Lives! Broken Homes! Broken Families! Broken Relationships! Broken Hearts! People and Things that are broken are everywhere. Disruptions in the ebb and flow of life is becoming too common place. Disregard for values and valuables is lost amid the prevailing self-centeredness. The ability to care is suppressed and the need to be someone, somewhere has surfaced. The rampant slaughter of people in other nations; the disregard of the environment; the mounting abortion rate; the decline of charitable concern and giving – these and many other symptoms are realities.

How can we shift from where we are to where we need to be? How can the thinking of young and old alike return to the basic decency and values of and for life? Part of what is in the air is arrogance on one hand, and a sense of abandonment (giving up) on the other hand. A commentator stated about our President: “His intelligence is only exceeded by his arrogance.” Can it be that the population feels or believes they are losing far more than they are gaining in 2009? Are lives filled more with uncertainty than they are with hopefulness? The Homes, Savings, Investments, Retirement, Care for the Aged, Integrity, etc. are all slipping away and the future is just one large and glaring Question Mark?

Last Friday (July 24, 2009), Peggy Noonan wrote in her column entitled: “COMMON SENSE MAY SINK OBAMA-CARE”: “I think the plan is being slowed and may well be stopped not by ideology, or even by philosophy in a strict sense, but by simple American common sense. I suspect voters, the past few weeks, have been giving themselves an internal Q-and-A that goes something like this: Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? “Of course.” Will it mean tax increases? “Of course.” Will it mean new fees or fines? “Probably.” Can I afford it right now? “No, I’m already getting clobbered.” Will it make the marketplace freer and better? “Probably not.” Is our health-care system in crisis? “Yeah, it has been for years.” Is it the most pressing crisis right now? “No, the economy is.” Will a health-care bill improve the economy? “I doubt it.”

And then she summarizes about unnecessary intrusions: “Let me throw forward three other things that I suspect lessen, or will lessen, support for full health-care reform, two of them not quantifiable. The first has to do with the doctors throughout the country who give patients a break, who quietly under-bill someone they know is in trouble, or don’t charge for their services…People are afraid of losing the parts of the system that sometimes work—the unquantifiable parts, the human parts. Second, and this is big, some of the bills being worked on in Congress will allow for or mandate taxpayer funding of abortion. Speaking only and narrowly in political terms, this is so ignorant as to be astounding…The third point is largely unspoken but I suspect gives some people real pause. We are living in a time in which educated people who are at the top of American life feel they have the right to make very public criticisms of…let’s call it the private, pleasurable but health-related choices of others. They shame smokers and the overweight. Drinking will be next…So this might be an unarticulated public fear: When everyone pays for the same health-care system, the overseers will feel more and more a right to tell you how to live, which simple joys are allowed and which are not…” Compassion and care will be absent - self-centeredness and self-assertive will be present.

Puzzlement seems all-too-natural these days. A turning point in the campaign of Bill Clinton came when he said to a questioner: “I feel your pain!” Today we get the sense: “You really don’t have pain – I have a program to pass!” Broken Hearts and Disregard/Disrespect are realities. What is the only sure hope for the disenfranchised and the brokenhearted? In PSALM 34:18, we read: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” I hope the Lord acts quickly in this regard – I know some who are enduring the disappointment, discouragement and a broken-heart right now! The government cannot help in this regard, but neither should they compound one’s life with added burdens, costs and loss. Puzzled by it all? Yes! Hopeful in the Lord? Absolutely! Consider these things with me!

The Final Exit

From My Perspective - - -

Death can many times be gruesome but always a reminder to all of the temporary characteristic of life. Death is the common denominator for all. A word that has been used in news items recently is “pandemic” when the prospect of Swine Flu is being discussed. A “pandemic” is: “An epidemic that spreads over a very wide area, such as an entire country or continent.” Examples are: "The deathly horrors of the 14th century such as recurring famines; the Hundred Years' War in France; and, most of all, the Black Death, were culturally digested throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for penitence…"

"The Black Death was one of the deadliest “pandemics” in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague… The Black Death was, according to chronicles, characterized by buboes (swellings in lymph nodes), like the late eighteenth-century Asian bubonic plague. Usually thought to have started in Central Asia, it had reached the Crimea by 1346 and from there…it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400…The plague returned at various times, resulting in a larger number of deaths, until it left Europe in the nineteenth century."

Some music that was evoked in The Black Death period is similar to the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) – a Symphonic Poem by Saint-Saëns (1874). “It is based on a poem by Henri Cazalis in which Death the Fiddler summons skeletons from their graves at midnight to dance...It consists of the personified death leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the grave, typically with an emperor, king, youngster, and beautiful girl—all skeletal. They were produced to remind people of how fragile their lives and how vain the glories of earthly life were. The dance-with-death allegory was originally a didactic play to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared all times for death.”

A grim reminder of The Black Death “pandemic” is a Rhyme often sung by children: “Ring around the rosy; A pocketful of posies’; Ashes, Ashes’; We all fall down!” Historically, “The words to the Ring Around The Rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history. The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs (or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies; We all fall down refers to people who were dropping dead! The plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitted via water sources…or violent sneezing…”

In the news today, we read about the loneliness of death, and the concern about a new “pandemic” possibility: (1) "The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones. At the county coroner's office…36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712", and (2) "Swine flu has spurred the Church of England to revive a rule drawn up more than 450 years ago when bubonic plague swept the land. As concern mounts about the spread of the virus…some Anglican churches have begun to allow “intinction” or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice, while others have stopped offering wine…” An obvious conclusion is: Life is temporary – Death is a certainty. In James 4:14 the question is posed: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” And in Psalm 90:10-12, “The length of our days is seventy years, or eighty, if we have the strength…Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Are you prepared for Death and Eternity? Consider these things with me.

Just Too Many Of...

From My Perspective - - -

Too many Foreclosures; too many Bank Failures; too many Crimes and Murders; too many Unemployed – just too many of can be attached to almost any situation and consideration. For instance, Johann Hari wrote in the London Independent on November 15, 2008 (later appearing on The Huffington Post)the column: “ARE THERE JUST TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD?” He writes: This is a post I don't want to write. Its subject is ugly; it makes me instinctively recoil…The subject is overpopulation. Is our planet over-stuffed with human beings? Are we breeding to excess? These questions are increasingly poking into public debate, and from odd directions. Phillip Mountbatten…said in a documentary screened this week: ‘The food prices are going up, and everyone thinks it's to do with not enough food, but it's really [that there are] too many people. It's a little embarrassing for everybody, nobody knows how to handle it.’ …The overpopulation lobby say this will inevitably leave more and more people chasing after a diminishing amount of resources on an ecologically-ravaged planet. At their most pessimistic, they say human beings will, in the long sweep of planetary history, look like a big-brained version of a locust cloud. They eat everything in sight and multiply fifty-fold until they have consumed everything, when they turn in desperation on each other, munch off their siblings' heads, and then fall out of the sky dead. They say with a frown that this global swarming is driving global warming. How can you be prepared to cut back on your car emissions and your plane emissions but not on your baby emissions? Can you really celebrate the pitter-patter of tiny carbon-footprints?”

Yesterday (July 20th),The Patriot Post reported:“…Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in Sunday's New York Times Magazine: 'Frankly I had thought that at the time (Roe v. Wade) was decided…there was concern about population growth and PARTICULARLY GROWTH IN POPULATIONS THAT WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TOO MANY OF.' The comment…was in the context of Medicaid funding for abortion. Ginsburg was surprised when the Supreme Court in 1980 barred taxpayer support for abortions for poor women. After all, IF POVERTY PARTLY DESCRIBED THE POPULATION YOU HAD 'TOO MANY OF,' you would want to subsidize it in order to expedite the reduction of unwanted populations. Left unclear is whether Ginsburg endorses the eugenic (relating or adapted to the production of good or improved offspring) motivation she ascribed to the passage of Roe v. Wade or whether she was merely objectively describing it…” Just as an aside, one is forced to wonder where this notion of “JUST TOO MANY OF” appear in the Constitution of the USA.

Life is something that should be cherished. It should be lived and used for noble purposes. In our world during the last 100 years, Millions have died because of War; more than 40 million because of Abortion; Countless numbers in Massacres and Murders; and the Holocaust. On the website – www.deathcamps.info – one can find the number of deaths listed country by country occupied by Germany. A summary paragraph states: ”The European Jews were the primary victims of the Holocaust. But Jews were not the only group singled out for persecution by Hitler’s Nazi regime. As many as one-half million Gypsies, at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons, and more than three million Soviet prisoners-of-war also fell victim to Nazi genocide. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists, Polish intelligentsia and other undesirables were also victims of the hate and aggression carried out by the Nazis.” While many are appalled by the number of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is almost an air of indifference in our country when it comes to DUI deaths; inner-city murders; and currently, deaths as a result of those text-messaging while driving and/or preoccupied with a Cell Phone conversation.

It was God’s idea for His Creation to be fruitful and multiply (The Cultural Mandate – Genesis 1:28). There is also the instruction to care for the creation/environment. Pollution is a result of man’s recklessness and carelessness. Such behavior is governed by the “I have a right to” attitude and the thoughtlessness on the part of too many in terms of what is being left for future generations. Simple things, such as recycling, composting, cultivating, and non-littering can be a starting point for all. The focus needs to be changed to – Just Too Many Of – who don’t care about the world in which we live. Consider these things with me!

Moonstruck

From My Perspective - - -

Forty years ago today, the world, more than 500 million people, was mesmerized as the United States attempted a Lunar Landing. With all of the planning for this journey to the Moon and a possible landing on its surface, there were still split second decisions that had to be made in terms of whether or not the mission should be aborted. However, the descent to the surface of the Moon began and a world sat breathless – and then the words were heard – The Eagle Was Landed! Then the infamous words by Neil Armstrong as his feet touched the surface of the Moon: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” This statement demonstrates that even a courageous Astronaut, in the excitement and pressure of such a great venture, can be “Moonstruck” momentarily. He had intended to say: “That’s one small step for “a” man…” More meaning has been attached to the missing “a” than it deserves,

There has always been interest and fascination with space. Approximately 1500 BC, the Psalmist wrote about his ponderings in Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, THE MOON AND THE STARS, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” In Luke 21:20-28 (NLT), Jesus is addressing what will occur very near to the climax of the world and creation: “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived…And there will be strange events in the skies – SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS. And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up.” There is ample warning when the end is approaching as the lights begin to go out in the universe: “Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and ONE-THIRD OF THE MOON, and one-third of the stars, and they BECAME DARK. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.”

A recent E-mail shared this perspective for consideration: “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; Who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. - Isaiah 40:21-24. Worried about world powers? World War 3? Terrorists? Market crashes? Biological warfare? Understand this from Isaiah : "[God] reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless." What ever happened to Napoleon? Didn’t he die in exile on an island somewhere? Or Alexander, the not-so Great? Hitler? Or the maniac leaders of our generation ”Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein? Their influence is hardly a blip on God’s monitor. They may cause us to bite our nails and worry, but God isn’t pacing, or wringing His hands; just as soon as He’s ready He will reduce those leaders to nothing…Isaiah says in effect, 'Don’t you get it?' God doesn’t read the New York Times. If He did, it wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing stops God's unalterable purposes in this world!”

The E-mail continues: “I can’t wait for that day in heaven when we get to hear history’s real story when we read God’s script and realize all He was doing behind the scenes. Just imagine the drama of God’s continuous all-wise intervention in the sinful machinations of human armies and governments. To think that not one of His purposes is ever delayed or frustrated, not even for a moment. We will be amazed, stunned, and captured by God’s awesome control of human affairs. Isaiah says of world rulers, "Scarcely have they been planted. Scarcely have they been sown. Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth. God just blows on them and they’re gone.” Walter Cronkite would close his newscast: “And That’s The Way It Is!” - that's how it is! Consider these things with me!

Happiness Happening

From My Perspective - - -

It seems we all have the potential for making a deliberate choice to (a) Be Happy, or (b) Be Sad (or Miserable). All kinds of books written by Psychologists, Psychiatrists and Clergy discuss the subject of Being Happy and Finding Happiness. Some of the titles are: The Secret of Happiness (Billy Graham); The Be-Happy Attitudes (Robert Schuller); or Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: The 9 Habits of Maximum Happiness (David Leonhardt).

The Mayor of Durham, NC came up with a unique idea by linking with Nickelodeon as it begins a celebration today of the 10th anniversary of Sponge-Bob Square-Pants. The headline reads: Mayor Declares A Day Of Happiness. As part of Nickelodeon’s celebration, the network has proclaimed July 17th, the first Global Day of Happiness. The proclamation reads that “…a day in honor of happiness is most appropriate due to the current affairs within our nation…The day will help recognize simple pleasures, like a smile -- the more in tune with one's happiness, the more one is inspired to commit good deeds.” It adds that “mental health is a worldwide issue, and happiness increases confidence, and self-esteem -- which leads to success, and a healthy lifestyle.” So there you have it – the searched for secret of happiness – and all it took was “…that absorbent, yellow fellow who lives in a pineapple under the sea and The Ultimate Sponge-Bob Sponge-Bash Weekend." Isn’t that an easy approach?

Perhaps – too easy! All kinds of people have attempted to offer a brief statement to define what happiness is and how it can be attained or maintained. Perhaps the most brief one was by Charles Schulz: Happiness Is A Warm Puppy. A few other expressions are by - Helen Keller: True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose; Mahatma Gandhi: Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony; Hugh Downs: A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes; Mark Twain: Happiness ain't a thing in itself--it's only a contrast with something that ain't pleasant; Socrates: By all means marry: If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher; Steven Covey: Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.

Declaring a Day Of Happiness is fanciful - but suppose you could have A Lifetime Of Happiness – which one would you choose or want more? On the website, Reference.com, the following is stated: “While direct measurement of happiness is difficult, tools such as The Oxford Happiness Inventory have been developed by researchers. Looking for the level of happiness as reported by people and comparing it to various elements in their lives reveals the following findings: (1) About 50% of one's sadness depends on one's genes. This is shown by studying identical twins and learning that their happiness is 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses; (2) 10% to 15% percent is a result of various measurable variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others; (3) the remaining 40% results from actions that individuals deliberately engage in for the purpose of becoming happier. However, these actions may vary between persons. For example, extroverts may benefit from placing themselves in situations involving large amounts of human interaction. Also, exercise has been shown to increase one's level of well-being significantly.”

In place of Happiness, one might fin Joy to be more beneficial. Happiness depends on Happenings (variable circumstances that can be either sad or happy), whereas Joy depends upon a Relationship. In John 15:9-11 Jesus said: “Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may overflow.” A lifetime of Joy versus occasional Happiness – the choice should be obvious. Go with Joy! Go with Jesus! Consider these things with me!

Options Or Principles - The Political Calculus

From My Perspective - - -

In life, one’s Core Values should govern one’s actions. If one is motivated by Principle, decision-making should be fixed and clear. A Person of Principle does not allow other factors to interfere with decisions where right or wrong are at issue. A clear definition of events, circumstances and assessment should occur based upon the Core Values – and – no other calculation or consideration. One must see things clearly for what they are and not some redefined interpretation based upon imagination rather than reality.

An interesting idea in this regard is the phrase: “Tilting At Windmills” that is based on Cervantes' Don Quixote - first published in 1604, under the title The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha. A summary of this tome explains a difference between what is imagined and what is reality. “The novel recounts the exploits of would-be knight 'Don Quixote' and his loyal servant Sancho Panza who propose to fight injustice through chivalry. In the book, which also gives us the adjective quixotic (striving for visionary ideals), the hero imagines himself to be fighting giants when he attacks windmills. Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, ‘Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless.’ What giants? asked Sancho Panza. ‘Those you see over there with their long arms,’ replied his master. ‘Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length.’ Take care, sir, cried Sancho. Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone." And so, the phrase: “Tilting At Windmills” would soon be born.

As one looks at the debates and actions of both the US Congress and US Senate, one truism that becomes obvious is that too many are “Tilting At Windmills” in the decisions being reached that will impact a Nation for years and generations to come. Imagination is often allowed to supersede Reality! An illustration of Options Versus Principles appears in an Associated Press Release today, headlined: GOP SENATORS WEIGH OPTIONS IN SOTOMAYOR'S WAKE - By Jesse J. Holland. The crux of the issue is summed up in these words: “Sonia Sotomayor's success at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing has some Republicans in a tight spot, with conservative senators forced to weigh the political calculus of voting on the court's first Latina nominee, who also is the first liberal nominee in 15 years. With Democrats solidly behind the 55-year-old Sotomayor, three days of grueling questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Republicans no new or damaging ammunition to use against President Barack Obama's first high-court nominee…The underlying politics are dicey for Republicans. They must be careful to keep faith with constituents like National Rifle Association members who oppose her, yet avoid offending the Hispanic voters who represent the fastest-growing segment of the electorate…”

The crucial words in terms of “Options Or Principles” are: “…some Republicans (are) in a tight spot, with conservative Senators forced to weigh the political calculus…” And, “They must be careful to keep faith with constituents like National Rifle Association members who oppose her, yet avoid offending the Hispanic voters who represent the fastest-growing segment of the electorate…” The Bible states in James 5:11-12 (The Message Translation) that which should govern deliberations and actions: “God cares, cares right down to the last detail. And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don't add words like ‘I swear to God’ to your own words. Don't show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say 'Yes' or 'No'. Just say what is true. That way, your language can't be used against you.” One’s quandary occurs when there is vacillation between right and wrong – yes or no issues. Consider these things with me!