57

I.
It was 57 degrees Fareneheit yesterday. In Rochester, NY. On January 31st. I doubt it will happen again in my lifetime, and I made sure to take advantage of the day. As soon as we got back from church I changed the boys into mudding clothes and we tromped over to the playground. They didn't even know that they were hungry until I dragged them back home and started putting food in their mouths. Then they slept the sleep of the played-out, and went outside again immediately after naps. It was glorious.

II. Serious Business
"Daddy, make Owen stop!"
"You don't want him to sweep off those woodchip piles you're making on the steps?"
"No, he should not do that."
"He probably thinks it's a game."
"Owen, it's not a game!"
"Gah!"
"Now I'm going to have to build these all over again." <huffy sigh>

III. Pastoral Prayer 1/31
<unison singing> "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. A-men."
"Gracious God, we thank you for these gifts and entrust them to your care, knowing that as you have provided for us out of your rich bounty...as you have provided for us so will you also...yes. Yes, Owen, that is a piece of candy. Your Daddy is coming now, buddy. As you have provided out of your rich bounty..."

IV. Dewey
I should have known that I wouldn't enjoy a work by one of America's most influential educationists. I just finished Dewey's Reconstruction in Philosophy, and it was awful. I mean, it was the worst book I've read in quite some time. I wish I could recommend anything about the book, but it was just terrible from start to finish. I have no problem reading philosophical theory that I don't personally subscribe to. I have no problem reading philosophical theory that challenges my own views. I have no problem reading badly written English. In arrogant and poorly constructed language, Dewey invents a philosophical past that in no way resembles the actual world or ideas of Plato, Aristotle, or Thomas Aquinas, and then proceeds to contrast the "servile bondage" and "noxious oppression" in which they held the "unwilling and ignorant human race" with the Scientism of a post-Baconian world that also bears little resemblance to the actual human experience of the 20th century. The book is full of absurd statements like "we now know" and "freed from the ignorant past", and my personal favorite "experience now being different." In total contrast, The Origin of Species was an engaging and well-thought out work. Granted, a little dry for the non-specialist, but thoroughly thought-out, respectful of its predecessors in Natural Philosophy, and masterfully constructed. I was going to read another Dewey book, started it this morning, and gave up after the first page. I need some time off.

V. Jung
"Our world is so exceedingly rich in delusions that a truth is priceless, and no one will let it slip because of a few exceptions with which it cannot be brought into accord."