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Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “ This is what the LORD has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all people I will be glorified,’” And Aaron held his peace.
— Leviticus: 10:1-3 English Standard Version

Today is the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. According to the Jewish calendar on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the first of eight candles were lit, just after sundown Tuesday evening. The celebration marks the rededication of the Second Temple during the Maccabean Revolt in the second century BCE, as well as the miracle of a small jar of consecrated oil, which burned for eight days in the Temple’s menorah, when the quantity was only sufficient for one day. The New Testament says in John 10: 22 that Jesus celebrated the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah).

On December 9, 2011 President Obama had a “Hanukkah Party” in the White House. As a Christian I find the President’s party pretty much in line with the “strange-profane-unauthorized fire in the Leviticus quotation above. I also realize that many historic White House Hanukkah celebrations would not be considered kosher in the Jewish sense, but for some reason I find this date and the whole lack of any sort of sanctification or glory given to God, to fit the party occasion properly. I also read a number of writers who thought that the President would not treat a Muslim religious observance with such inaptitude.

The great thing that separates we humans from all of the lower animals is that we are inventors, or creators if you will, and with our mental and physical inventive creations we are able to innovatively construct cultures. This week we will look at our totally unique human attribute, which drives our whole world’s economic engine this time of year. That creation is religion.

Tags: Hanukkah, Christmas, Barack Obama, religion, Christianity, God, grace, Jesus

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I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it has to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
— Henry David Thoreau, Author, Naturalist, Philosopher, 1817-1862

This week’s title reference to wildness is perhaps Thoreau’s most well known quotation: “In Wildness is the Preservation of the World.” This quotation however does not come from his many books and essays published during his life but from a booklet called Walking published after his death in 1862. We have a PDF copy of Walking in our Resources Section. For context the wildness preservation reference occurs on page 13 of that document.

However Walden, Thoreau’s most famous book, is looked upon by many in the environmental movement as a natural Bible. While not a scientific survey, it is not uncommon for backpackers and hikers to pull out of their packs a copy of Walden to provide their daily devotions.

Free copies of Walden, in a number of formats are found at Project Gutenberg, as well on Amazon where a search for “Walden Thoreau” returns 2,801 results. Top on the list is a pre-order release, this week, of a new paperback that features a log cabin and a side fireplace, not at all similar to Thoreau’s 10 foot by 15 foot shingled cape cod structure.

Thoreau began his stay on Walden Pond on July 4, 1846 and continued there for just 2 years, 2 months and 2 days, at which time he moved back to the city to house sit for fellow Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is stated that it took Thoreau longer to write Walden than the time he actually spent living in the woods.

In that enlighten vision I thought that this introduction would serve as a great segue into my announcement that I too am in the process of leaving my hut in the woods, and returning somewhat to civilization. While I have made numerous excursions into the outside world during this time in the Boulder Creek Canyon of the Kettle River, it would not be difficult to say that my time would be double Thoreau’s stay; essentially 4 years, 4 months, and 4 days.

Tags: Thoreau, 2nd Great Awakening, fear, Christianity, Amoeba Theory, Native Americans