Platypus of Truth

Come Thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it Mount of God's redeeming Love. Tune my heart to sing Thy praise this morning, Lord. Amen.

My conference on Ancient Persia went very well today (if you don't count being lost for two hours in Corona and missing dinner with the other panelists). I had the privilege of opening the conference with a lecture on the Greco/Barbarian Dichotomy in Greek literature. I spent the rest of the day listening to some truly wonderful lectures, hob-knobbing with Phd.s from Fullerton, UCLA, Dartmouth, Berkeley, and Claremont and answering many enthusiastic questions from all manner of people. Praise God for giving me and my grad student colleges such a wonderful opportunity and taking my nervous, scrambling speech and letting it find favour in the eyes of so many people. And now, the Platypus rests.... oh such rest will he have!

From Church Today: And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound And the Lord shall descend, "Even so"- it is well with my soul. The Platypus thinks that the words speak for themselves.

I found out yesterday that my supervising professor liked the first chapter of my thesis and is confident that I can finish it well and on time. This is a major praise, and my thanks to all of you who have prayed and supported me in this time. I have another month or so to finish up the rest, and the work is going much faster now in spite of continued ill health. I will also be presenting my thesis at a formal academic seminar on March 25th! We'll see how that goes. ;-) Until next time, best wishes to you all!

Speak now and tell me who first broke the dance of the thoughts of Ai! Drun first broke it. Drun the unmaker. Of all the works of Ai he was the first to break the dance. And he took hold of Erga-Ai and claimed her, for he thought to be the son in law of Ai and so to have the forge of Ai. Speak now and tell me who was first of the Nine to defend Erga-Ai! Addan came first. Addan the scarred face. Of all the works of Ai, he is most skilled in the ways of contending. And Drun reached out his hand and struck Addan and marred his lovely face, and those marks can still be seen to this day. And Drun reached out with his hand again and struck the fields of night, but the fire of the stars burned his hands even as he grasped them, and so the hands of Drun are marred. Speak now and tell me what Ai did when Drun seized hold of the stars! Ai, who made the fields of night and sowed them with the stars. Ai, who took their fire and made for himself a forge. And from that forge come all the thoughts of...

In the beginning was Ai. Ai, who made the fields of night and sowed them with the stars. Ai, who took their fire and made for himself a forge. And from that forge came the thoughts of Ai. Remember the thoughts of Ai, you who live in Erga-Ai, who are the work of Ai, and were not born to die. Speak now and tell me what thought came first from the forge of Ai! On came first. On the Mighty. Of all the works of Ai, he is the greatest. And he sprang from the forge showering sparks of fire, unquenchable. In him lived the first portion of the strength of Ai, and he made his home in the middle heavens, glorying in his power and his might. Speak now and tell me what thought came second from the forge of Ai! Urra came second. Urrah the Crafty. Of all the works of Ai, she is the wisest. And she stepped from the forge glowing white with its heat, for the fire belongs to On. In her lived the first portion of the mind of Ai, and she made her home but a little ways form her brothers, rejoicing in her ...

This week I'm like Aaron Burr the way I drop Hamiltons $$$ I'm a rich man. I was thinking today about how I would explain my life in the States to one of the Oroko farmers I met this January. I own a car. $BLING!$ I live in apartment in the city with a large living room, TV, DVD, vcr, sound system; indoor kitchen with electric stove, fridge, and microwave;bathroom with a bathtub and shower; a bedroom and an office, with computer; the entire floor is carpeted and the large windows are solid glass with electricity 24/7. $Livin' Large$ I eat out at restaurants more than once a week and drive there with my car which I just had serviced when it wasn't even broken. $Ca-Ching!$ I make enough money to live in a palacial walled compound in the capitol of Cameroon. $$Bling-Bling!$$ Normally, I'd feel secretly guilty about this. In my country, I'm a poor man struggling to get by, yet compared to the rest of the world I have so much. Today, I don't feel that way. Today ...