Bondhead88
Expert
A few weeks ago I was in Connecticut visiting the family of my daughter’s fiancé. While we were there his Pastor and his wife offered to take us around on a sightseeing tour of the Danbury area.
It was really neat seeing so much beautiful scenery and history packed into such a small area, We got to see Fanny Crosby’s house. She was a famous hymnist whole has an incredible life story, we also got to see the school she attended and the church where she grew up.
We got to see what remains of the foundation of the Danbury Baptists and an incredible small building where some of the greatest preachers in New England where trained.
As we drove along it seemed like the repetition of hearsay and firsthand knowledge is always going to be a curse on us as a people.
Let me explain and let’s start with Fanny Crosby. The people living in her house where she grew up thought she had been some type of poet but no to well known. They thought this because that is what they had heard.
Here is a little bit of First Hand knowledge of Fanny Crosby.
She saw over 8,000 poems set to music and over 100,000,000 copies of her songs printed. As many as 200 different pen names, including Grace J. Frances, were given her works by hymn book publishers so the public wouldn't know she wrote so large a number of them. She produced as many as seven hymn-poems in one day. On several occasions, upon hearing an unfamiliar hymn. sung, she would inquire about the author, and find it to be one of her own!
Fanny gave the Christian world such songs as: A Shelter In The Time Of Storm, All The Way My Saviour Leads Me, Blessed Assurance, Close To Thee, He Hideth My Soul, I Am Thine 0 Lord, Jesus Is Calling, My Saviour First Of All, Near The Cross, Pass Me Not, Praise Him Praise Him, Redeemed, Rescue The Perishing, Safe In The Arms Of Jesus, Saved By Grace, Saviour More Than Life To Me, Speed Away, Take The World But Give Me Jesus, Tell Me The Story Of Jesus, The Lights Of Home, Thou Mighty To Save, Tho' Your Sins Be As Scarlet, Tis The Blessed Hour Of Prayer, To God Be The Glory, To The Work, Will Jesus Find Us Watching ... to mention but a few.
In the autumn of 1843, when she was 23, she was the sightless guest of Congress. Endeavoring to secure an appropriation for its work, a group from the school was sent there. She paid tribute to Congress in original verse and then began paying tribute to the Lord. She delivered no stirring oration, nor pathetic story but simply recited some poems, about the tender care of a loving Saviour. She spoke with conviction, as though she had seen the Saviour face to face. The notable assembly addressed included such men as: John Quincy Adams, Thomas E. Benton, Hamilton Fish, Henry A. Wise, Alexander Stevens, Jefferson Davis, and Robert Toombs. Before long, tears were glistening on the hearers cheeks, for whether great or small, thousands were to find her message a healing balm for the soul.
As a result of this witness, she began to make friends with the great political and religious leaders of her time and no one could forget her once they met her. During her lifetime, she knew all the presidents except George Washington. President VanBuren dined with her and remained one of her warmest friends. She heralded the virtues of William Henry Harrison even though he served but one month. When President Tyler came to the Institution For The Blind, Fanny welcomed him with an original poem. Her friendship with President Polk was close and inspiring. She enjoyed a close friendship with President Cleveland for more than half a century, for at one time he was the secretary of the Institution For The Blind while she taught. He took an unusual interest in her life and work and was often engaged in copying her poems.
Next my brother in-law whom I love dearly. He is a great guy. While driving the Pastor’s wife was asking me about the differences from Canada to the United States and I began telling her you really needed to look at the country from two perspectives. Of East verses West because of the vast difference in how law is applied and how people perceive things.
Since I have was raised in Ontario but had lived in Alberta as an adult I had seen two drastically different systems and people groups in Canada. My brother in law has only ever lived within a 200 mile radius of where he was born.
I told them how Alberta is the economic engine in Canada and how Alberta is a much more entrepreneurial province than Ontario. To which my brother in-law said “So you say.” I showed how in Alberta we have privatized almost everything we can. You do not go into a DMV to get your license; you go to a privately owned business and get your license. While I detest alcohol, in Ontario you go to a government owned store to buy your alcohol. In Alberta they are privately owned.
In Ontario a landlord must apply to the government to raise your rent. Which by the way causes rents to always be higher and they never lower. In Alberta the market dictates the prices and when the market is down so are the rents.
I Alberta there is no state sales tax just the 5% federal GST(Goods & Services Tax) In Ontario it is combined sales tax of 13%. Alberta has no debt, nor deficit. Ontario has billions in debt.
I said Alberta had a freer society to which my brother in-law said “So you say.” He said he had a couple of brothers who lived there and he heard from them what it was like to live there.
I love my brother in-law but we consistently show how hearsay is more important to us than firsthand knowledge. The funny part is my wife told me later when I stepped outside the van to get something at the sort my brother in-law said “I disagree with Paul and how he thinks, but I will say my two brothers who moved to Alberta from Ontario have said they will never move back.”
According to my wife the Pastor and his wife blinked a few times at this statement and she said you could see their minds working as if to question. You tell a guy who lived in both places he was wrong on what he saw, you tried using your brothers as evidence to support your position but then said your brothers would never go back to the place you support. It’s one of those cases where we say’Don’t give me the facts I have made up my mind.
I have seen my nephews in Canada in Ontario say the same types of things. They tried telling my son it was illegal for him to own and carry a knife in Canada. When I showed them it wasn’t my sister in-law piped up and said it was knives only three inches. I actually had to pull out pages of info to show her in Canada I could carry a sword on my hip if I wanted. (I might get questioned and detained by the police but there is nothing illegal about it) When she said she heard it was illegal she still had a hard time believing her hearsay was wrong while the firsthand knowledge I showed her was right.
My nephews then questioned with the support of my other brother in law) why I wanted a gun. As I explained it was for my protection I also explained that was irrelevant. If I want a gun I should have one.
Once again hearsay took over the conversation. “I heard that the chances of you having your gun used against you are higher than you being able to defend yourself with it.” Once again I showed firsthand knowledge of the truth of those statements and once again they wanted to believe their hearsay.
One of my other nephews said. “I don’t mind if you want to have a gun for protection.” (I didn’t know if I should thank my 14 year old nephew for his permission) “But I don’t understand why you need a machine gun.”
I was confused and asked what machine gun. He said the one I was looking at buying and had been talking about and looking at on the computer and he pointed to an AR15 I had been looking at.
When I explained to him it wasn’t a machine gun. He asked why I had to have “all that stuff on it.” I looked out at his cousin’s truck and asked him why they had to have the flood lights, the roll bars, the chipped engine, the bigger wheels, the chrome package and a ton of other things. His answer was “Because it looks cool and we like it like that.” I said it cost more money like that and again his answer was, “Who cares, it’s his truck and it’s his money he can do with it as he likes.” I stood there silently there for a couple of minutes letting what he had just said sink in. Then a smile crept over his face and said. “Oh, I get it.”
What I am trying to explain is that these are not bad people; they are hard working families who have had a lot of time having hearsay become doctrine in their lives. They have not been exposed to guns and the right to defend yourself and many of the things they say will drive you nuts.
But if we are patient and lovingly repetitive we can get through to them.
It was really neat seeing so much beautiful scenery and history packed into such a small area, We got to see Fanny Crosby’s house. She was a famous hymnist whole has an incredible life story, we also got to see the school she attended and the church where she grew up.
We got to see what remains of the foundation of the Danbury Baptists and an incredible small building where some of the greatest preachers in New England where trained.
As we drove along it seemed like the repetition of hearsay and firsthand knowledge is always going to be a curse on us as a people.
Let me explain and let’s start with Fanny Crosby. The people living in her house where she grew up thought she had been some type of poet but no to well known. They thought this because that is what they had heard.
Here is a little bit of First Hand knowledge of Fanny Crosby.
She saw over 8,000 poems set to music and over 100,000,000 copies of her songs printed. As many as 200 different pen names, including Grace J. Frances, were given her works by hymn book publishers so the public wouldn't know she wrote so large a number of them. She produced as many as seven hymn-poems in one day. On several occasions, upon hearing an unfamiliar hymn. sung, she would inquire about the author, and find it to be one of her own!
Fanny gave the Christian world such songs as: A Shelter In The Time Of Storm, All The Way My Saviour Leads Me, Blessed Assurance, Close To Thee, He Hideth My Soul, I Am Thine 0 Lord, Jesus Is Calling, My Saviour First Of All, Near The Cross, Pass Me Not, Praise Him Praise Him, Redeemed, Rescue The Perishing, Safe In The Arms Of Jesus, Saved By Grace, Saviour More Than Life To Me, Speed Away, Take The World But Give Me Jesus, Tell Me The Story Of Jesus, The Lights Of Home, Thou Mighty To Save, Tho' Your Sins Be As Scarlet, Tis The Blessed Hour Of Prayer, To God Be The Glory, To The Work, Will Jesus Find Us Watching ... to mention but a few.
In the autumn of 1843, when she was 23, she was the sightless guest of Congress. Endeavoring to secure an appropriation for its work, a group from the school was sent there. She paid tribute to Congress in original verse and then began paying tribute to the Lord. She delivered no stirring oration, nor pathetic story but simply recited some poems, about the tender care of a loving Saviour. She spoke with conviction, as though she had seen the Saviour face to face. The notable assembly addressed included such men as: John Quincy Adams, Thomas E. Benton, Hamilton Fish, Henry A. Wise, Alexander Stevens, Jefferson Davis, and Robert Toombs. Before long, tears were glistening on the hearers cheeks, for whether great or small, thousands were to find her message a healing balm for the soul.
As a result of this witness, she began to make friends with the great political and religious leaders of her time and no one could forget her once they met her. During her lifetime, she knew all the presidents except George Washington. President VanBuren dined with her and remained one of her warmest friends. She heralded the virtues of William Henry Harrison even though he served but one month. When President Tyler came to the Institution For The Blind, Fanny welcomed him with an original poem. Her friendship with President Polk was close and inspiring. She enjoyed a close friendship with President Cleveland for more than half a century, for at one time he was the secretary of the Institution For The Blind while she taught. He took an unusual interest in her life and work and was often engaged in copying her poems.
Next my brother in-law whom I love dearly. He is a great guy. While driving the Pastor’s wife was asking me about the differences from Canada to the United States and I began telling her you really needed to look at the country from two perspectives. Of East verses West because of the vast difference in how law is applied and how people perceive things.
Since I have was raised in Ontario but had lived in Alberta as an adult I had seen two drastically different systems and people groups in Canada. My brother in law has only ever lived within a 200 mile radius of where he was born.
I told them how Alberta is the economic engine in Canada and how Alberta is a much more entrepreneurial province than Ontario. To which my brother in-law said “So you say.” I showed how in Alberta we have privatized almost everything we can. You do not go into a DMV to get your license; you go to a privately owned business and get your license. While I detest alcohol, in Ontario you go to a government owned store to buy your alcohol. In Alberta they are privately owned.
In Ontario a landlord must apply to the government to raise your rent. Which by the way causes rents to always be higher and they never lower. In Alberta the market dictates the prices and when the market is down so are the rents.
I Alberta there is no state sales tax just the 5% federal GST(Goods & Services Tax) In Ontario it is combined sales tax of 13%. Alberta has no debt, nor deficit. Ontario has billions in debt.
I said Alberta had a freer society to which my brother in-law said “So you say.” He said he had a couple of brothers who lived there and he heard from them what it was like to live there.
I love my brother in-law but we consistently show how hearsay is more important to us than firsthand knowledge. The funny part is my wife told me later when I stepped outside the van to get something at the sort my brother in-law said “I disagree with Paul and how he thinks, but I will say my two brothers who moved to Alberta from Ontario have said they will never move back.”
According to my wife the Pastor and his wife blinked a few times at this statement and she said you could see their minds working as if to question. You tell a guy who lived in both places he was wrong on what he saw, you tried using your brothers as evidence to support your position but then said your brothers would never go back to the place you support. It’s one of those cases where we say’Don’t give me the facts I have made up my mind.
I have seen my nephews in Canada in Ontario say the same types of things. They tried telling my son it was illegal for him to own and carry a knife in Canada. When I showed them it wasn’t my sister in-law piped up and said it was knives only three inches. I actually had to pull out pages of info to show her in Canada I could carry a sword on my hip if I wanted. (I might get questioned and detained by the police but there is nothing illegal about it) When she said she heard it was illegal she still had a hard time believing her hearsay was wrong while the firsthand knowledge I showed her was right.
My nephews then questioned with the support of my other brother in law) why I wanted a gun. As I explained it was for my protection I also explained that was irrelevant. If I want a gun I should have one.
Once again hearsay took over the conversation. “I heard that the chances of you having your gun used against you are higher than you being able to defend yourself with it.” Once again I showed firsthand knowledge of the truth of those statements and once again they wanted to believe their hearsay.
One of my other nephews said. “I don’t mind if you want to have a gun for protection.” (I didn’t know if I should thank my 14 year old nephew for his permission) “But I don’t understand why you need a machine gun.”
I was confused and asked what machine gun. He said the one I was looking at buying and had been talking about and looking at on the computer and he pointed to an AR15 I had been looking at.
When I explained to him it wasn’t a machine gun. He asked why I had to have “all that stuff on it.” I looked out at his cousin’s truck and asked him why they had to have the flood lights, the roll bars, the chipped engine, the bigger wheels, the chrome package and a ton of other things. His answer was “Because it looks cool and we like it like that.” I said it cost more money like that and again his answer was, “Who cares, it’s his truck and it’s his money he can do with it as he likes.” I stood there silently there for a couple of minutes letting what he had just said sink in. Then a smile crept over his face and said. “Oh, I get it.”
What I am trying to explain is that these are not bad people; they are hard working families who have had a lot of time having hearsay become doctrine in their lives. They have not been exposed to guns and the right to defend yourself and many of the things they say will drive you nuts.
But if we are patient and lovingly repetitive we can get through to them.
