#5 – True. If we only teach our kids rules, there will come the time when they know them all, and they have no need for us because our job as purveyor of rules is done. They will also have a hard time coping in a world that doesn’t provide many rules.

#6 – Don’t forget that Mt. Vernon and Monticello aren’t exactly 2-bedroom condos, either.

#7 – There’s another reason I think regretting and admitting regret is difficult. I think sometimes regretting an action is confused with regretting its consequences.

Say I regret how I treated a former girlfriend. Now, does regretting that mean that I wish I hadn’t married Janet? Not at all: I delight in what I have now, I don’t regret how things turned out, but I nevertheless regret what I did. God chose to bless me despite mistakes and wrongdoing, but that won’t keep me from regretting the mistakes and wrongdoing and purposing not to repeat them.

At the same time, there’s no point in wondering what might have been, because marrying another woman would have changed the entire game plan. It might have been even better, or it might have been worse, but – as with any historical decision – it cannot be scientifically compared to the alternative. I think the fruitlessness of what-ifs is another reason people say they wouldn’t have it any other way or wouldn’t change a thing or however the latest pop song phrases it.

In other words, I regret plenty, but I have also received plenty despite those regrettable actions, and this plenty received makes it easy not to dwell on the regrets and what could have been. (It’s also nice to know all my girlfriends are happily married and my past mistakes haven’t been able to prevent God blessing them, either.)

#5 – Good point. I see an analogy to raising children, too. Some rules are necessary and helpful. Too many rules and restrictions stunt learning, creativity, and growing into maturity.

#6 – Embarrassed, all the way. Not that the Democrats are any less embarrassing. But, silly me, I thought you liked Bachman because there was a simple, ordinary person-type car in her driveway instead of a BMW or Mercedes. I should have known what to expect from someone who rivals my brother-in-law in his love for cars, if not in actual possession of them.

1 – great video, greater reaction. He handles those pages really well, doesn’t he?

7 – “je regrette plenty” indeed. I’ve had people say to me that they are confident in the decisions they’ve made and wouldn’t change a thing. This was in connection with childrearing, and it blew me away. They were so convinced they were right, they were sure all the things that went wrong were someone else’s fault, or “just the way things are with kids.” I can’t imagine being so confident — I imagine the Greeks would have call it hubris — but most especially as a parent.