Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore rejoice you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea,
for the Devil has come down to you in great fury,
for he knows his time is short."
Revelation 12:7-12
"People forget that God is the Maker of all things, visible as well as invisible; that He is the Lord of our bodies as well as our souls. There are not two Gods, one of matter, one of spirit. There is one God, and He is Lord of all we are, and all we have; and therefore all we do must be stamped with His seal and signature. We must not give up this visible world, as if it came of the evil one. We must manifest the kingdom of heaven upon earth. The light of Divine truth must proceed from our hearts, and shine out upon everything we are, and everything we do. It must bring the whole man, soul and body."
John Henry Newman
"To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell is to be banished from humanity. What is cast (or casts itself) into hell is not a man: it is 'remains.' To be a complete man means to have the passions obedient to the will and the will offered to God: to have been a man – to be an ex-man or 'damned ghost' – would presumably mean to consist of a will utterly centered in its self and passions utterly uncontrolled by the will."
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, 1940
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Ephesians 6:12
And so the third quarter ends, with a slight loss off of a down month in September.
We had a one day wash and rinse in the equity markets, but especially in silver, which soared in the morning and then cracked down, to a new low for the week, into the close.
One can only wonder.
We may be getting a Non-Farm Payrolls report for September next Friday, if the US government remains open for business, or closes in observance of the visceral goofiness of the House GOP.
Ugly people doing dumb things. Yay us.
VIX fell and then bounced back.
The Dollar chopped sideways.
The small specs may have decided that today was a good day to pull the trigger on gold and silver, and they got smoked in the afternoon.
It's tough to win when the house gets to see your cards as you play them, and can bet against you with almost unlimited access to funds, while artfully hiding their own hands.
It's always something. But some things matter much more than others.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and may you, Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl the world seeking the ruin of souls.And that's the name of that tune.
Have a pleasant weekend.
