The federal debt stands around 21 trillion dollars, not including state and local debt, nor does it include agency debt…or about 65,000 per person…

“For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice.” ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

No act of kindness, however small, is wasted.” -- Aesop

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“Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.” “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” “Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.” “Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.” - Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

The    word    Deuteronomy    literally    means,    repeated    law    and    it    was    the    fifth    book    of    the    Old Testament.   It   is   believed   that   is   represents   a   series   of   speeches   on   law   given   by   Moses.   These sermons   on   the   law   were   prior   to   the   Israelites   entrance   into   the   land   of   Canaan.   Canaan   is   a region that lies between Jordan, The Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, known now as Palestine. The   Israelites   were   intrigued   by   the   religion   of   the   Canaanites   with   its   coarse   form   of   nature worship   and   desecrated   polytheism.   The   Canaanites   religion   was   centered   on   agriculture   and fertility   and   they   had   their   own   Gods   and   Goddesses   they   worshiped.   The   Canaanites   included various   Semitic   people   and   as   such   were   a   unique   blend   of   cultures   and   were   responsible   for   the alphabetic system of writing. “But   thus   shall   ye   deal   with   them”   seems   to   be   an   order   that   these   people,   or   the   people   of   Canaan needed   to   be   confronted   and   taken   over.   There   didn’t   seem   to   be   any   indication   that   there   should be   cooperation   with   these   people   but   in   essence   taking   them   over.   “Ye   shall   destroy   their   alters and   break   down   their   images”   would   lead   me   to   believe   that   any   religious   images   they   had   needed to   be   destroyed   and   completely   removed.   “Cut   down   their   idols   and   burn   their   carved   images   with fire”   is   referring   to   the   religious   or   cultural   paraphernalia   the   Canaanites   had   on   display   and   how   it needed   to   be   eliminated.   The   idols   or   carved   images   would   seem   to   be   Asherim,   the   Semitic Goddess that the Canaanites worshiped. God   wanted   nothing   superstitious   to   interfere   with   worshiping   him   and   having   idols   and   other carved   images   present   distracted   the   followers. There   is   only   one   God   and   to   have   images   of   false Gods   present   was   not   to   be   tolerated.      Worship   should   be   pure   and   complete   devotion   to   one   God was crucial. It   seems   little   changes   as   time   goes   by   in   terms   of   religion.   We   certainly   have   religious   freedom and   we   are   free   to   practice   what   we   believe,   yet   there   still   seems   to   be   the   belief   that   “my   religion” is   the   only   right   religion.   It   would   seem   that   the   instructions   in   this   passage   are   too   severe,   but perhaps   they   believed   as   some   do   today,   that   there   can   be   no   unity   unless   there   is   a   shared   moral base.  - SFG

We have all taken notice as to how the lexicon seems to change almost daily; many of the new words added to the dictionary have to do with social media…here are a few that have been added recently…… Adorbs- cute I guess cute has become passé. Awesomesauce- it means awesome but I guess with more emphasis. Bestie-best friend Frenemy-adversary you keep tabs on. Selfie-no explanation necessary. Slay-greatly impress. Rap – Sesame Street…for the illiterate.

The philosophy of Stoicism differs from other schools of philosophical thought in that it is not merely intellectual in nature it has a practical application in daily life. It is based on behavior rather than words and reminds us there are things we can’t control in life yet we do have control over our own actions and we need to strive to overcome destructive emotions. The three leaders of Stoic thought were; Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. All three took the time to keep a daily journal and Marcus Aurelius wrote about restraint, compassion and humility-things we could all reflect upon. - SFG

The Wharf-Sapir hypothesis states that certain thoughts of individuals in one language may not necessarily be interpreted the same way by people with a different language. The way we think is affected by out native language or the structure of language can strongly influence our world view.