“When to Question a Question”

By JBH Wonders, 01/2016

“Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?”

Proverbs 23:29

Sometimes the best response to an ignorant/rude/mean/stupid/”wtf” comment or question is to simply ask a question. Jesus did this numerous times. Here are but a few examples:

    In Mathew 9:2 & 3, a man sick with the palsy was brought to Jesus. So Jesus blessed the man and said his sins are forgiven. The  Pharisees  (Sort of a religious/political rabble rousers in those times) were always trying to get Jesus on something so they accused him of Blasphemy (sort of a religious “crime” or insult to a particular religion). Like who is this guy that thinks he can forgive sins?

“And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”

“For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”

Then Jesus healed the man and told him to pick up his stuff and go home. The people must have thought Jesus could heal the man since they brought him there. And I think Jesus’ point was that if He can do a miracle healing, He could also forgive sins (duh).

    In Mathew 15:1-3, a group of Scribes (someone who could tran<scribe> words and speech onto paper using text and characters) and Pharisees came to Jerusalem to see Jesus. They seemed to be annoyed because his disciples did not wash up before supper as required by the “traditions of the elders” so they asked him about it.

“But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition”

I interpret this to mean that the scribes and Pharisees were too focused on trivial matters and were perhaps being hypocritical.

   Then there is the infamous Mathew 22:15~22 where the Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus into saying something negative about being taxed by Caesar (head honcho of Rome at the time). Today one would say they were trying to see if He was a tax protester or a tax dodger. Jesus responded with two questions during the conversation:

“… Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?”

“Whose is this image and superscription? (In this case the superscription was the words on the coin)”

And then He ended the conversation with the eternal words:

“…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”

For an interesting article on this passage in scripture, check out “Romans Chapter 13” by Rev. Chuck Baldwin.. But I digress.

   In Mark 4:36~39 Jesus and his disciples are cruising around on a ship and Jesus decides to take a nap. Then a storm kicks up and the ship is getting beat up and filling with water. So the disciples wake Jesus up and ask him (paraphrased) “Hey we are all dying here. Don’t you care? Jesus responds:

“… Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

The disciples question was uncalled for since they already knew that Jesus had healed a mother in law (Mathew 1:30~31), healed a man of palsy (Mathew 2:1~12), and healed a withered (mangled?) hand. (Mathew 3:1~6).

   In Luke 5:17~20 Jesus is teaching a group of people including lawyers, scribes and Pharisees. A man bedridden with the palsy was brought to the gathering in hopes that Jesus would heal him. It was a large gathering and the sick mans' friends could not get him into the building. So they cut a hole in the roof and lowered the bedridden man down through the hole. This shenanigan must have impressed (perhaps entertained)  Jesus as he responded with:

“Man, thy sins are forgiven thee” (Luke 5:20).

Well the scribes and Pharisees did not like that comment so they asked Jesus: “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

“But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?”

 (Luke 5:22)

“Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?”

(Luke 5:23)

Then Jesus healed the man and told him to pick up his bed and go home. So he did and was very happy and thankful.

   In Luke 10:26 a lawyer (you know, the guys who studied law and have all the reference books) asks Jesus what he must do to live forever. Jesus responds:

“…What is written in the law? How readest thou?” Like you have the books, didn’t you read the instructions?

   In Luke 12:1~13 Jesus preaches a good sermon teaching us that we are loved by God but there are some rules we must follow to keep in His good graces. Then one man in the crowd pops up and asks Jesus if he would intercede in a squabble the man was having with his brother over some money issues. A question totally irrelevant to anything that was just preached. Jesus responds in 12:14:

“… Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?”

In John 18:19 Jesus has been arrested and is now being interrogated by the high priest (supreme religious leader of the Israelites at the time). The priest basically asks him what has he been doing and saying to get himself arrested. Jesus told the priest that he had no secrets and everyone knew what he had been saying and doing. Perhaps Jesus was a little annoyed at that point as he continued with:

 “Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.”

(John 18:21)

Well that got him a slap in the face by the officer of the court who also asked how dare he speak to the priest that way. (Court procedures back then were pretty harsh). So then Jesus tells the officer of the court:

“…If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?”

(John 18:23)

So sometimes it is good to answer a question with another question. Perhaps the questiion was not clear. Perhaps the question has no answer. Or perhaps it was just a stupid, ignorant, whatever question that doesn't deserve any answer so you just ask another question to let off steam. However, when we answer a question with a question, we must be sure that our response isn’t an ignorant/rude/mean/stupid/”wtf” comment. And please avoid responding with “Huh”?

“Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.”

Hebrews 5:2

What’s Up With The Hobo Logo?

What’s Up With The Hobo Logo?

JBH Wonders, 2/2015

I am not photogenic so I use various images of cartoon characters and other things just to post an image (other than the default silhouette) on some social media pages. The “hobo clown” image appeared on a free clip art page that I was browsing and I decided to use it for my default image. This occurred at a time in my life when I had very little money, no income, no home, and survived by the graces of friends and family. So, things seemed relevant.

After much research I did not find the origin of the hobo clown face. This article was to originally give credit to the artist and perhaps relate any interesting facts about him/her. I did find some art by one Emmett Kelly whose work is very similar to the art that I am using. But I am no fine art critic so what do I know. Mr. Kelley was an actual circus clown and pretty famous at one time.

 <Painting by Emmett Kelly>

I also wanted to verify that the free use of this image is not infringing on any copyrights. The image that I use is fairly popular for clown paraphernalia. Just do an internet search on “hobo clowns” and it will appear on something for sale. I’ve seen it on refrigerator magnets, coffee cups, posters, plaques, etc. So I am assuming that the image is “public domain” since it seems to be used freely and I have not seen any warning labels to the contrary.

There seems to be an immense clown culture. Just do an Internet search on “clown” or “hobo” and it will you entertained for hours. You may not want to do this of course if you have “coulrophobia” (fear of clowns, really!). There seems to be a lot of that going around.

No Matter How Loud and Clearly I Speak, Someone Always Says “Huh”

JBH Wonders, 12/2013

For over thirty years I worked in an office/factory environment and prior to that I’ve worked at other facilities that were moderately noisy. For most of my technical career I’ve worked around people with college or technical school degrees. So they were fairly intelligent folks I would guess. Rarely did I have to repeat myself and never heard that annoying (to me) euphemism “huh”. That “word” by the way does not appear in my Webster’s 1987 abridged dictionary nor a later 1995 edition.

My children often said “huh” to me when they were little. It was then a lack of focus or an issue of not paying attention I believe. They eventually learned that if Dad has to say the same thing for the third time it will be with a raised voice and they better get it this time. This taught them the fine art of actually listening when someone is speaking-especially to them. Or if they actually did not hear me they learned to say “what daddy?” or “pardon” in their later years.

These days I now hear “huh” more that I ever have. I have stood within three feet of someone and spoken to them while making eye contact and would still here “huh”. I have had to repeat myself up to two times after the initial “huh”.

Could it be that my hearing has improved with age and I am not speaking as loud as I believe I am? An improvement in hearing as we get older (any improvements actually) would be a blessing but this is not what normally happens. Am I speaking incoherently? I don’t believe so as I often make audio recorded notes to myself late in the evening. Often I am tired and I may have indulged in a beer or two. When these notes are reviewed the next morning, I have no problem understanding myself. So what is the problem?

Is it perhaps a loss of awareness do to distractions so that now it requires an attention getting starter word like “Hey, sup”, “Uhhhhhhh”, “Soooo”, etc. Is the dumbing down in government/public schools part of the cause of an automatic “huh” reflex?

Perhaps there is too much viewing of mindless TV programs which is causing a loss of intellect, and a loss of an intelligent automatic response to an audio stimulus from another living soul. Are visual distractions overriding the audio response mechanism? Is there a lack of focus and ‘knowing where you are” being promulgated by constant communication with someone else far away via “texting”, “iphoning”, etc? Or maybe the problem is simply an epidemic of earwax build up. (Hey I am no doctor but that sounded pretty good I think).

I did not do any research as to the origin of “huh”. Perhaps it is a grunt from “Ogg the caveman” handed down through the ages of man. Perhaps it is an acronym for “hearing under hooey” or haven’t understood honey.

Or perhaps I am becoming more soft spoken, no one is much interested in what I have to say therefore folks just try to ignore me.

Can you hear me now?

A Tribute to Builders and Fixers

This poem entitled “The Tinker” (copyright 2003) was inspired by the occupations of my dad and paternal granddad. Both men were highly skilled carpenters and “jack of all trades” handyman type fixit guys. Dad and grandpa were always busy building something or fixing something. Sometimes together, often separately.

This gift (or curse perhaps) for the need to constantly work with “things” was apparently passed down to me. I have the same desire to use tools and my hands to fabricate or fix something regardless of the potential usefulness or worth of any  “thing”.

So this work is presented in memory of my dad and grandpa and dedicated to all of you other folks out there who are builders and keep things running.

JBH Wonders, October 2011

 

The Tinker

             Behold the Tinker, A righteous man, 

                  With Implements of creation in his hands,

             With a mind to figure and an idea to try,  

             There is a trace of madness in his eyes,

             With trials and errors, And failures galore,

                   He works out the kinks until there are no more,

             And alas it is finished ! This gadget has uses!

               Why it has even suffered the Tinker's verbal abuses !

             And again while he sits with idling fingers, 

                  The glory of the challenge long still lingers,

             And as these serious thoughts still remain, 

                  Please understand that he is not insane, He is...

...A Tinker.

(Written in 1977, Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved)