I have been a bad, bad blogger lately. It’s all Gracie’s fault. She had the temerity to get sick on Monday, and it threw off the whole week. She conveniently missed out on my whirlwind day of spring cleaning, but it was a blessing in disguise since her next youngest sister had more opportunity to show her organizational mettle, and she was a tremendous help in dusting the tops of kitchen cupboards and putting their contents in order again.

I need to keep my promises now, even though a bit late.

First, the Shakespeare book contest. I had the prairie pup who is celebrating a birthday tomorrow (with a personal tour of the local fire station led by his brother Ben, who graduates from fire academy tomorrow night) draw three names. And the winners are: for King Lear, Cheryl Reformed Muser (whom I let sneak past my geographical restrictions since I like her so well ); for Hamlet, Nancy (who may agree with me more often since I’m sending her this bribe ); and for the one-volume Shakespeare, my friend Lisa W. (whose friendship had nothing whatsoever to do with winning this prize, but now maybe she will come visit me again). The winners can email me their addresses, and if I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll bug you for them.

Aren’t contests fun? (and when I’m tired, do you think I use too many parentheses?)

Next, what book would I require college freshmen to read if I was the dictatress of a university (snicker)? I would probably give them each (see what a beneficent dictatress I am…I don’t even make them buy it) a copy of R.J. Rushdoony’s The Institutes of Biblical Law. I agree that the biblical knowledge of most students is woefully inadequate. Steve could tell stories (and has) of several times in business settings where he has appropriately used a biblical allusion which he thought was general knowledge (like referencing “the widow’s mite” or “the prodigal son”) and received only blank stares because the (mostly college educated) listeners had no idea what he was talking about. I’m afraid, though, that there are also many who have Bibles, who even read those Bibles, but who are so uneducated about simple theology and how it relates to everyday life, that they are almost as functionally biblically illiterate as my husband’s clueless co-workers.

Rushdoony’s Institutes is a hefty book, but it is one volume which goes through each of the ten commandments, expounding on the practical applications of each to life today. Using numerous examples from history and from the Bible to support his applications, this is a scholarly work unsurpassed in modern times, yet written so that the literate layman can use it as a handy reference, and it is heavily footnoted with a large index and many pages of Scripture references which were used in the text. Any Christian who is concerned with how to defend truth in these postmodern, lawless times, needs to read this book and keep it handy for the battles which are being waged in all quarters.

Here’s a bit from the introduction:

When Wyclif wrote of his English Bible that “This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” his statement attracted no attention insofar as his emphasis on the centrality of Biblical law was concerned. That law should be God’s law was held by all; Wyclif’s departure from accepted opinion was that the people themselves should not only read and know that law but also should in some sense govern as well as be governed by it. At this point, Heer is right in saying that “Wyclif and Hus were the first to demonstrate to Europe the possibility of an alliance between the university and the people’s yearning for salvation. It was the freedom of Oxford that sustained Wyclif.” The concern was less with church or state than with government by the law word of God….

A central characteristic of the churches and of modern preaching and Biblical teaching is antinomianism, an anti-law position. The antinomian believes that faith frees the Christian from the law, so that he is not outside the law but is rather dead to the law. There is no warrant whatsoever in Scripture for antinomianism. The expression, “dead to the law,” is indeed in Scripture (Gal. 2:9; Rom. 7:4), but it has reference to the believer in relationship to the atoning work of Christ as the believer’s representative and substitute; the believer is dead to the law as an indictment, a legal sense of death against him, Christ having died for him, but the believer is alive to the law as the righteousness of God. The purpose of Christ’s atoning work was to restore man to a position of covenant-keeping instead of covenant-breaking, to enable man to keep the law by freeing man “from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2), “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:4). Man is restored to a position of law-keeping. The law thus has a position of centrality in man’s indictment (as a sentence of death against man the sinner), in man’s redemption (in that Christ died, Who although the perfect law-keeper as the new Adam, died as man’s substitute), and in man’s sanctification (in that man grows in grace as he grows in law-keeping, for the law is the way of sanctification).

As a pastor’s wife I knew once said, “Law is love’s eyes, and without it, love is blind.” In other words, we don’t know how to truly love God, how to please Him, if we don’t understand His law, because it is where we learn how to be holy, how to please Him.

And did you notice that Dr. Rushdoony used an awful lot of parentheses in those passages I quoted? I’m in good company.

Closed for maintenance (on my house, that is). Check back later for the winner of the Shakespeare books. If you are hoping I’ll post something that will make you mad, check out this article about the leftist loonies at secular universities, whose double standards boggle the mind. The article involves libraries and books, and you can add it to your college-may-not -be-the-best-place-to-obtain-a-real-education file.

If you were in charge of the world, what book would you make all incoming freshmen read? My answer tomorrow.

Knowest this be Shakespeare’s natal day?

I am reading The Winter’s Tale to my youngsters. We first read the retelling of it from Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield. Now we are slowly reading the actual play from our Yale Shakespeare, stopping frequently to consult the notes. This is one of the lesser-known plays, a tragicomedy where there is a great deal of suffering but not everyone dies, and there is a happy ending (sorry for the spoiler ). It portrays the horrible consequences of jealousy, and it also explores the themes of loyalty and how far it should go, and forgiveness and how far it can go. (You can read the news flash version of the story here.)

I chuckled over the scene where the nursemaids to the young prince are trying to coax him into playing with them, but he doesn’t want anyone but his very pregnant mother. One of the ladies tells him, “Hark ye; the queen your mother rounds apace: we shall present our services to a fine new prince one of these days; and then you’d wanton with us if we would have you.” Another lady adds: “She is spread of late into a goodly bulk: good time encounter her!”

To celebrate the Bard’s birthday this year, I’m having another contest. I love giving away books, and I have a copy of Hamlet and a copy of King Lear, Folger Library editions with lots and lots of notes for the Shakespearean-challenged, and a one-volume edition of all Shakespeare’s plays, which need a new home. This contest is so easy…just leave a comment a)with your favorite quote or passage from Shakespeare or b)tell which play you like best and why or c)just say hello (especially if you are usually a lurker) and tell how you found Buried Treasure and how long you have been reading. This week we are celebrating another birthday—one of the prairie pups is turning seven. I will have the birthday boy draw three names from those who comment, and I will email the winners so that I can mail them their birthday presents. The volume with all the plays goes to the first name, then Hamlet, then King Lear. I can only afford to ship to U.S. addresses, though.

Here are some past posts about Shakespeare, if you really want to get into the spirit of the celebration:

Fun Poetry Lessons With Carmon is a two-fer, since it’s still National Poetry Month. Here I give some background about the poetry of the Bard and I also explain some poetic terms. Thanks to Sherry, another Shakespeare fan, for dredging it up.

I posted a link to the Video Shakespeare and a passage about the elusivity (is that a word?) of sleep, near the end of my blogathon.

Some of my favorite Shakespeare resources.

A discussion about making Shakespeare more seeker-sensitive, IOW, dumbing him down for the masses, though the masses once flocked to his plays and enjoyed them without needing to take a college course.

I finally have a picture of me in my dress (with Gracie, as an added bonus), but I’m whey too tired to post it. In fact, I can’t even tell the difference between whey and buttermilk, that’s how tired I be. Thus, I will have to let you just enjoy leisurely perusing the new list of goodies I found at Bookcloseouts, including Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson, an excellent book at an excellent price. It makes a great wedding gift or addition to a hope chest, that is, if you don’t already have a copy of this encyclopedia of homemaking on your own shelf.

If you haven’t ever looked at my bargains list or books for sale, you really should take a peek. The name for my website has several levels of meaning, but one of the most obvious is that I love to go book hunting and I delight in finding the treasures, whether for myself or for others, and the better the price, the more books you can buy! Of course, you need to find housing for all those new “editions” to the family, too. That’s another story…

Today, Gracie and I trekked down the mountain with a couple of prairie pups, to visit Captain Sutter’s fort in Sacramento and gather supplies for the homestead. We went to the trader’s fair there to find some nifty historical doodads to add color and practicality to our Gold Rush get-ups. So what did I end up buying? A tortoise shell, a buffalo tooth, and some wooden pistols for the little guys. I also bought 3 yards of lightweight wool to make aprons to cover our skirts if we do any outdoor cooking (wool smolders, cotton goes whoosh! and you get to stop, drop and roll in a corset and nine yards of material) and a butter churn. The churn is a small ceramic model with a wooden dasher, and I’m really looking forward to trying it out with some Manufacturer’s Cream from Smart and Final.

Churning is an agrarian activity though buying the cream from the store may not make the cut. Have you ever tasted home-made butter, even from grocery store whipping cream? Yum! We are a butter-eating family—forget the margarine—and there is a difference between store-bought and home-shook (as in a mason jar, a fun family activity, taking turns to shake, shake, shake your butter, pouring off the whey for biscuits or pancakes when it’s thickened, rinsing the butter till the water runs clear). I’m sure there are further improvements when it’s fresh from the cow cream. That’s one of the ideas behind agrarianism: there are often great benefits the closer you get to the source.

Agrarianism is actually one of those things that is hard to explain. “Oh, you mean growing all your own food and using an outhouse?” Not exactly. It’s about a richness in life that comes from rejecting the pre-packaged central planning of the culture mavens who care more about the bottom line than about what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, or virtuous.

Herrick Kimball has done a whiz-bang job explaining how he has led his family to pursue the good life from an agrarian paradigm, and he makes it clear that his bottom line is to do it all to the glory of God, in his new book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian: One Man’s Ruminations About Faith, Family, and Livin’ the Good Life. Simple and direct, this book of essays is filled with down-home details of how Herrick and his wife Marlene enjoy the blessings of rural life, homeschooling their three sons in upstate New York. It inspires us to get back to basics, chucking the excess baggage of so many modern conveniences which come with strings attached, and learn once more to find joy and productivity in our homes and families.

I highly recommend Herrick’s book if those things are appealing to you. I got a sneak peek at the manuscript because I happen to know the editor…and I be she . You can purchase the book at Herrick’s website, or you can wait until next week when I will be selling it from my site, too.