Flight to Egypt from the Madness of Herod

 

"After the Magi had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him,  'Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.  Remain there until I tell you. Herod seeks the child to kill him.'  Therefore, he got up, took the child and his mother, and departed that night for Egypt, where they remained until the death of Herod.  This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'

When Herod realized that the wise men had deceived him, he flew into a rage and issued an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding area who were two years old or less, in accordance with the information that he had obtained from the wise men.  Thus were fulfilled the words that had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
     lamenting and sobbing bitterly:
Rachel weeping for her children,
     and refusing to be consoled,
because they were no more.”

After the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,  'Arise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought to kill the child are dead.'  He got up, took the child and his mother, and returned to the land of Israel.

But when Joseph learned that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod in Judea, he was afraid to go there.  After he had been warned in a dream concerning this, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.  He settled in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the Prophets might be fulfilled: 'He shall be called a Nazorean.'”

Matthew 2:13-30

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  See that you do not neglect or abuse any of these little ones, for amen I say to you, their angels are always in the presence of the face of my father in heaven."

Matthew 18:6,10

"He became what we are, so that he might make us what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria, Against Heresies

"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God.  Thereafter, any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

By their works you will know them, the servants of lies, and madness, and demons.  For they serve their father, the devil, in their devotion to ravage innocence.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Woes of Lawlessness and Pride

 

"You who make wicked judgements, who write oppressive laws to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of their rights, that widows may be your victims, and orphans your prey.  What will you do on the day of reckoning, when the consequences of your sins come from afar?  To whom will you run for protection, and where will you hide your possessions?"

Isaiah 10:1-3

"Woe to you who add house upon house, and join field to field, until you leave no space for others, and you dwell alone in the land.  Woe to those who draw their sin along with cords of their deceit, and are tied to their wickedness with cart ropes, to those who say, ‘Let God hurry; let him hasten his prophecy so that we may see it.  The plan of the Holy One of Israel – let it approach, let it come into view, so that we may know it.'  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

Isaiah 5:8,18-20

"As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him, and in wonder pointed to the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you see all these works of men, do you not? Amen, amen, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.'”

Matthew 24:1-2

 

The breakout of silver from its long price suppression is amazing.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And on Earth, Peace to Men of Good Will

 

"The Lord did not come to make a display.  He came to heal and to teach suffering humanity.  For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been to appear and dazzle the beholders.  But for Him Who came to heal and to teach, the way was not just to appear here, but to place Himself in the service of those who needed Him, and to be made known to them as they could accept it, not diminishing the value of His Divine presence by overwhelming their capacity to receive it.

He became as we are, so we might become what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word, 335 AD

"Now there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields, and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  And they were struck with great fear."

And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  For behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people.  Today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will.'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  So they left in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a manger.

After they had seen the Child, they spread the message that they had received about Him. and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. And Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:10-19

"The glory of God is the human being, fully alive; and the humanity of a person is found reflected in the glory of God."

Irenaeus of Lyons

VIX, the measure of potential market volatility and thereby 'risk', has fallen to its lowest level of the year.

This is remarkable complacency, in a boiling morass of potential exogenous events including the expansion of existing wars to other fronts.

Fear of Missing Out, FOMO, is a powerful factor of the greed that extinguishes fear.

If the market went up today, despite all these problems, it can certainly go up tomorrow.

And so we go into Christmas.

The tech heavy NASDAQ 100, which has been the lead sled dog for this latest phase of the tech bubble, is failing to make a new high, in a sharp divergence from the SP 500. 

Gold and silver continued powering higher.

Their breakouts, from a long period of artificial price suppression, is uncoiling decades of mispricing.

The Dollar is hanging on the 97 handle.  A look at the long term DXY chart does not suggest that this is so far out of bounds as to be hard to rationalize.

The US is busily engaged in undermining the confidence of the world in the full faith and credit required to sustain a fiat currency, even one which has long enjoyed the status of the reserve currency of choice.

And the times, they are a-changin'.

A number of our growing extended family is coming over tomorrow.  And le Propriétaire will be the sole Maître d'hôtel, in the absence of his sous chef, the young man, who is rejoicing in the home of his bride and her family in beautiful Hangzhou.

Daisy, I am sad to report, is of little utility in practical matters.  Like most small dogs, her major competency is a careless presumption based on 'cuteness'.   And here we thought this was only the qualification for corporate spokesmodels, and certain positions of government.

His simple creatures are often an instrument of His loving kindness towards us.  Yesterday evening, I was updating my financial plans, and feeling satisfied about the returns on my investment portfolio this year.

And little Daisy jumped up on my recliner and onto the blanket, pushed my computer aside, and threw her dinner up in my lap. She ate too much too quickly.

Surely a tender mercy from God, a caution against pride, in remembering my place in life. lol

So I made a donation to a charity to which my goddaughter devotes much of her time, that will help  feed and shelter the poor in eastern Pennsylvania this winter.  And I filled the bird feeder, and put out something for the foxes and other critters that come around at night.  

Message received, Lord.  No need for any more reminders.

At this time of year old men remember lost loves and old friends.  I have a surprising number of those.  But I am even richer in new friends, many of whom I speak with often, but have never met!  Such are the times.   

These friends often give me, as I hope to give to them, the kind of comfortable encouragement and examples to remain standing against the tides and winds that blow at us through the long halls of history.

I won't name them all but they know, I should like to think, who they are.  Joe, Matt, Dave, Leigh, Jason, Peter, Sheila, Bruce, Lars,  Ducky, Andrew, Carlos, Tony, Bill, Victor, Henry, Philippe, Christopher, Doug, Steve, 'Elvis', John, Ronan, Doug, Vitaly, Prakash, and so many, many others.

And as things happen you often lose touch, and quietly drift away.  And sometimes when you try to regain contact, you find they are no longer with us.  And you may wonder when you will join them.

But the examples and memories remain, strengthening and encouraging one another to do their best..  And there is the opportunity to remember them fondly, in both your thoughts and your prayers.

May you and all your families have a joyous and peaceful Christmas day.

See you briefly on Friday.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - That City of Pride, Crime, Wickedness, and Lust for Power

 

"Our Lord has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks with compassion on this world, yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world."

Teresa of Avila

“God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken. The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Love endures everything, love is stronger than death, love fears nothing. Help me,  Lord, that my eyes may see all with mercy, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look deeper for what is good and beautiful in others' souls, and then come to their aid.  Let all my nothingness be drowned in the ocean of your mercy.”

Maria Faustyna Kowalska

"Lost friend, lost child, lost parent, sister, brother, husband, wife, we will not so discard you. You shall hold your cherished places in our Christmas hearts, and by our Christmas fires; and in the season of immortal hope, and on the birthday of immortal mercy, we will shut out nothing."

Charles Dickens, What Christmas Is As We Grow Older, Household Words, 1851

"And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth — that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning. He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road to Rome. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His city."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero

Where is Nero now, what remains?   A piece of dirt, perhaps, under the fingernail of a little child, to be wiped away by their loving mother. 

The Dollar attempted to rally, but slipped back off the 98 handle in the closing hour.

Gold and silver continued to rally higher, setting new closing highs.

This has been a remarkable year for the precious metals, as they finally broke free of the bounds of sustained price suppression by the Western governments and their banks, for a variety of self-serving reasons.

I tip my hat for all who stood the long watch, patient while being derided and discouraged by the mouthpieces of the financial establishment, waiting with hope even against sharp reversals and abuses.

We have been proven right.  Enjoy it.  

Remember that this is the time of year for giving and mercy.  Bear in mind the message of Matthew 25.

There are too many suffering needlessly from hunger, and hate, and oppression, and a campaign of hate and greed by the foolish and the damned, unrighteous before the nations gathered by the hand of God. 

This is the time of year when we remember our most wondrous victory,the greatest gift beyond all compare that we have been freely given, in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

So do not be discouraged by those who seems formidable to us now.  

They too will fall, and be forgotten.   Sooner than they might even imagine.

Have a pleasant evening.