Gerrymandering? Who, us?

You may not recognize the name Elbridge Gerry, but I'll bet you recognize his influence almost 200 years after a Boston newspaper coined a term based on his last name. In 1812, Governor Gerry of Massachusetts signed a law that redistricted his state to benefit his political party. One of the districts gained a slender, winding shape that resembled a salamander, so the term describing the act of shaping a district to gain political advantage references both Gerry and the shape of that infamous district.

Surely after 200 years of social progress and unselfish service by our elected officials, gerrymandering is an antiquated concept. Or maybe not.

I don't know which individuals are responsible for the ridiculous congressional districts in Illinois, but they ought to be ashamed of themselves. At least the Chicago area is untouched by such underhanded tricks, right?

Other than districts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7, it looks pretty reasonable. District 4 was actually drawn by a federal district court in order to establish a district with an Hispanic majority that satisfied Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. So that means it's legitimate. Or something....

Snow Ice Cream

When God blesses you with 5 more inches of fresh snow in your yard you naturally enjoy looking at it for awhile, but then you really need to take dominion. One usually takes dominion by shoveling and placing the snow in a place where it doesn't make life difficult. A better way to take dominion is to eat the snow! Granted, we only took dominion over one gallon this time, but you've got to start somewhere.

The recipe below came from our neighbors at Marjo Acres, who also turn out a tasty gallon or two of milk on a regular basis.

1 cup cream (I can't imagine this recipe with anything but fresh, raw cream)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients and pour over 4 quarts of clean snow. Mix well.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of sugar, but we found half that amount was plenty.

After warming yourself with lots of shoveling, who doesn't crave ice cream in the middle of winter?

Thanks for visiting!

Merry Christmas

Rejoice with us in the birth of our Saviour this season.

The Riggenbachs

Give Joy?

Being the introvert that I am, I couldn't resist visiting a department store with 10,000 of my closest friends on the Saturday before Christmas. I was intrigued by the marketing greeting posted at the entrance:
Hmmm.... give joy?

I'm cynical enough that I didn't give the store the benefit of the doubt. I've since learned that this store is sponsoring a $1,000 drawing in which $500 is donated to your favorite charity (Give Joy) and $500 is yours to keep (Receive Joy). I still think most visitors to this store will walk away with my first impression: if I purchase items from this store to give to others, I will be giving them joy.

I think many Americans are mature enough to realize that stuff doesn't bring joy, whether in the form of $500 cash, or disguised as the latest fashions. Unfortunately we don't always believe it. Many of my childhood Decembers were spent anticipating the stuff I would receive as Christmas gifts, but the reality was never as fulfilling as what I anticipated.

I was in my teens when I finally realized that the psalmist was right when God inspired him to write, "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Ps 16:11). Time spent waiting on God in prayer or meditation often resulted in a joy much deeper than the giddiness of stuff or thrilling experiences. In God's presence I found fullness of joy.

Can I give that joy to someone else? Strictly speaking, no. Through kindness, generosity, or love I can give to others a lesser degree of joy, but fullness of joy is something only God can give. God's process of revealing himself to people and communing with them is largely a work of his Spirit and his Word, but he has reserved a small role for us: the honor of preaching the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Just as the angels brought good tidings of great joy to the shepherds, we too are given the privilege of telling the world that they have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. In that way we can be a small part of God's campaign to "give joy" of a magnitude that only he can give.

Give joy. What was originally intended as merely a marketing slogan is actually a reminder of our high calling in Christ.

Rejoice with us!

Those who've followed this blog over the past year will realize that the little pink card that came in the mail the other day represents a sizable victory at our house. After multiple tests last winter culminating in a swimming episode in March, and some fishing in the dark at 5:30 AM in October, we thank God that our septic system passed on the first try this fall.

Once again, our neighbors downstream are much relieved.