The Blaisdell Blog

Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   The death and resurrection of Christ represent the temporal manifestation of an ecclesiastical gift of grace.   Faced with the perfection of God, the imperfection of man condemns us to eternal death.   But, God used the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of all mankind.   If we accept that sacrifice through faith in its reality, we are given eternal forgiveness.   To the world and the worldly, this seems almost too easy.   We could live the high life, violate every commandment, indulge every vice and still know that we face no eternal retribution.   Our earthly partners may find us to be reprehensible, vile, even criminal, but our Heavenly Father would still welcome us with open arms because Jesus has paid the penalty.   What a sweet deal!   This could be the ultimate, “get out of jail free” card.   However, this concept of Grace, undeserved mercy , starts bending your mind.   It touches your heart, and,

In 2042 I will be 96 years old.   New Year’s Day will be on a Wednesday and Easter Sunday will fall on April 6 th .   Fossil fuels will be at the beginning of their end.   All cars will be self-driving.   We will eat less meat.   Currency will become obsolete as electronic movement of money will be automatically added to blockchains of financial interactions.               But there will be one more change that will be subtle, slow, but increasingly obvious to all of us.   By 2042, white people will become the minority population in the United States.   Thanks to an immigration rate of 2 million people per year, I will no longer enter a restaurant and see a sea of faces that look just like mine.   Colors of clothes and makeup will lend themselves to the bold colors that go well with warm skin tones instead of the pastels and neutrals that suit cool Nordic coloring.   My grandchildren will be in school, at work and choosing life partners from a population that does not look like m

The campaign was ridiculous—one of the greatest political shell games in American history.   Every weakness of the American party system was exaggerated: the tendency to choose feeble candidates; the tendency to promise all things to all people, a campaign turned over to the image makers.   The rallies, parades and general malarkey were designed only to energized millions of Americans and give them an outlet for their frustrations.             At first, Democrats rejoiced in the opposition’s nominee.   They considered him too old and too flawed for the office, while their candidate had a resume of pure gold.   But the candidate’s advisors had a better feel for the American temperament and they mined the common man’s feelings of dissatisfaction and estrangement from the halls of power.   In the end, the Democrats lost, and were both embittered and confused by the loss.               I am describing the 1840 election of William Henry Harrison (a Whig) over the incumbent Martin Va