The Preserves: How Excellent & Civilized Are We

Okay, I got my brother-in-law's new CD in the mail. You know I like folk music, indie folk, and bluegrass from when I spoke about another band I like called The Giving Tree Band. But well, ya know, The Preserves is my brother-in-law's band. (Did I say that before?)


Yep, that's bro-in-law on the left.

I can't exactly review it objectively. Uhm, maybe I can do an interview of the band on blogcritics. But even then, is that morally right? And I haven't even listened to the thing yet. What if I don't like this collection, which by the way is called How Excellent & Civilized Are We! I just sooo hope there isn't any snideness against Born-againers in this album. Bro-in-law has a kind of California spirituality. Okay, he lives in Juneau but you get my meaning.

Here's an article about them in a Juneau paper.

Will have to ponder what to do about this.

-C

Goal setting

GOAL 1) I now choose to complete writing The Constant Tower. Heck, it's almost finished and I really just have to commit.

GOAL 2) I now choose to walk everyday for at least a half-hour. I have no desire to be over 200 pounds by my 50th birthday. That gives me seven months to lose 70 pounds. Deluded? Perhaps. But might as well try.

GOAL 3) I now choose to drink a ton of water everyday and to be out in the sunlight. Both help me sleep...and will presumably help me lose weight.

GOAL 4) I now choose to begin working on Inheritance by end of May because I've been watching a whole lotta Korean movies and I really should use the research.

GOAL 5) I now choose to take younger son out for a walk at least three days a week.

GOAL 6) I now choose to no longer write older son's college essays or paper work, and to not always nag him about his expenses and due bills. The kid has a mind of his own and I am getting way tired telling a 22-year old what to do.

GOAL 7) I now choose to figure out a way to repair and/or sell this house.

Yep, have to break these goals down into increments. Supposedly the difference between a wish and a goal is that a goal has increments. Might start with telling a house real estate agent that I want to sell this thing. Will see. Gotta commit.

psalm 58

Psalm 58

For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam . [a]

1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge uprightly among men?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.

4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.

6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions!

7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted.

8 Like a slug melting away as it moves along,
like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away. [b]

10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 Then men will say,
"Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth."

Footnotes:
Psalm 58:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

Psalm 57

Psalm 57

1Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

2I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.

3He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

4My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

6They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

7My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

8Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

9I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.

10For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

11Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.

one of my favorite verses: Lamentations 3:33

For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. American King James Version For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of ...
bible.cc/lamentations/3-33.htm

Just a lovely phrase to me. To me it implies a kind of laissez-faire easygoing God who loves His creatures and wishes them to be happy and to prosper and be in health above all things. But there are moments when humans must be afflicted -- to keep their souls from heal for instance-- and God has to do it. From His side of eternity, He knows it's for the good of the afflicted person. Yet, even from His side of eternity, He isn't willing to let humans suffer. As one of the translations below states it: His heart isn't in it.

Psalm 119 states, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes."

I think God afflicts sometimes, or He uses the devil's cruelty against us for our own good. What the devil means for evil God means for good. I don't believe we are to be afflicted and never improve, unless it's a sickness unto death given to us because we sinned a sin that brings death. (And even John says he isn't gonna say that we should pray for someone who has sinned a sin that brings death. Heck, there are so many sins that bring death. Adultery, for instance, brings death. As surely as anger brings death. And doctors are showing us how a type A kind of person is likely to bring on his own death because of stress/anger/etc.) So yeah, God brings affliction -- and to save our soul-- but on the whole, though, I don't think he gives people these permanent thorns in the flesh. (Not really convinced that the thorn in the flesh was a sickness but that's another story.) The only person in the Bible who was given a "thorn in the flesh" was someone so full of divine revelations and blessings the thorn was given to him to preserve him from being proud. So all the folks who sit around talking about their thorn in the flesh must have had some supreme glorious revelation of God...to be so afflicted. As such, someone with a thorn in the flesh may want to be free from their afflictions but being so full of all that extraordinary divine revelation, they wouldn't lose their faith because of a thorn in the flesh.

Anyway, I just love this verse. The kindness of a loving parent who must chastise. St Paul tells us in Hebrews (yep, i believe He wrote this epistle) that a good father chastizes his children. Bastards are not chastized because their father doesn't much care for them. So in chastisements, count it all joy. -C

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
He does not willingly bring suffering or grief to anyone,

King James Bible
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

American King James Version
For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

American Standard Version
For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

Bible in Basic English
For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.

Darby Bible Translation
for he doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

English Revised Version
For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

Webster's Bible Translation
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

World English Bible
For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

Young's Literal Translation
For He hath not afflicted with His heart, Nor doth He grieve the sons of men.

Psalm 56

Psalm 56

1Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

2Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

3What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

5Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

7Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

8Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

9When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

10In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

11In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

12Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

13For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Psalm 55

Psalm 55

1Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

2Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

3Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

4My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

5Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

6And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

7Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.

8I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

9Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.

11Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.

12For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

13But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.

14We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

15Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

16As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.

17Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

18He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

19God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.

20He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.

21The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

22Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

The Time Caverns by Todd A Fonseca

"The Time Cavern" series
by Todd A Fonseca. visit: www.thetimecavern.com
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 162 pages
Publisher: Borders Personal Publishing (June 23, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1605520101
ISBN-13: 978-1605520100Here's the blurb:

When ten-year-old Aaron moved from the big city to the middle of Amish country, he felt transported to a different and simpler time and place. But after finding a faded and long forgotten diary page of a boy gone missing over one hundred years earlier, Aaron began an adventure more wondrous and exciting than he could have ever imagined. Befriended by a local farm girl named Jake, together they search for answers to this century long mystery and uncover the secrets of an astounding cavern that will take them to the edge of time itself.

BOOK: A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and other Adventures

A different life
by Quinn Bradlee
240 pages
PublicAffairs (March 30, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1586481894
ISBN-13: 978-1586481896

Here's the blurb:

Born with a hole in his heart that required invasive surgery when he was only three months old, Quinn Bradlee suffered from a battery of illnesses—seizures, migraines, fevers—from an early age. But it wasn’t until he was fourteen that Bradlee was correctly diagnosed with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS), a widespread, little-understood disorder that is expressed through a wide range of physical ailments and learning disabilities.
Ten percent of the population is affected by a learning disability, but few of us understand what being learning disabled (LD) is really like. In this funny, moving, and often irreverent book, Bradlee tells his own inspirational story of growing up as an LD kid—and of doing so as the child of larger-than-life, formidably accomplished parents: long-time Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and bestselling author Sally Quinn. From his difficulties reading social cues, to his cringe-worthy loss of sexual innocence, Bradlee describes the challenges and joys of living “a different life” with disarming candor and humor. By the end of A Different Life he will have become, if not your best friend, one of your favorite people.

He's founded this online support group for teenagers with disabilities, kind of like a facebook for disabled teens where they won't feel rejected.

He's got a group on Facebook

A bit of an excerpt here

Psalm 54

Psalm 54

1Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

2Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

4Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

6I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

7For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

Psalm 52

Psalm 52

1Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
2The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
6The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

Trusting God and God's Word

Trusting in God's word demands two things of us:

Trusting in God and Trusting in God's Word.

Trusting in God is very like Hagar's declaration of faith: You, God, see me. It means, we are aware that God sees us, is aware of us, knows our need, is walking with us and looking on us.

Many of us don't have that. We may think we have this trust in God but we are often surprised when little God winks show up that shows that God has been -- as it were-- behind our shoulders all the time. When I write a scene in a story and use a particular line, I always jump for joy when God shows me that he's been with me all along as I wrote. Once I wrote a scene in a novel in which a character says, "She doesn't like my name Stevie. She says it's a kid's name." I went upstairs to go to bed and turned on the radio. Which I usually don't do at bedtime. And I turned it onto a station I rarely listened to. Two seconds after I did that, a called named Stevie called the station to say his girlfriend hated his name and says he should call himself Steve because Stevie is a kid's name.

That has happened so often that I can only smile and know that God is behind my shoulder as I write and that He gives me little godwinks to make he know He's with me. How wonderful it is to realize that God knows when we sit and when we stand. Psalm 139 He is a very present help in trouble.

Those who trust in God's word have to realize they really do believe that God's word in the Bible is true. That's often hard. Even harder is for them to believe that God's word is specifically for them. And often much harder is to believe that a hopeful dream was really sent from God and isn't wish-fulfillment.

There is also the idea that the word of God is living and active. Some folks use Bible verses as a kind of magical formula. They know the word is powerful and they have faith the word is working. This is good...but the danger is that they are so caught up in the spiritual mechanics of the "word" that they aren't really engaging with God and trusting Him... or trusting that He is personally involved in their lives and personally overseeing the word.

Bitter Chocolate by Carol Off

Publisher: Vintage Canada
Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Pub Date: September 2007
Price: $22.00
ISBN: 978-0-679-31320-5 (0-679-31320-6)

It was a Finalist FOR THE 2006 WRITERS’ TRUST SHAUGHNESSY COHEN AWARD FOR POLITICAL WRITING

Here's the blurb:

Award-winning author and broadcaster Carol Off reveals the fascinating – and often horrifying – stories behind our desire for all things chocolate.

Whether it’s part of a Hallowe’en haul, the contents of a heart-shaped box or just a candy bar stashed in a desk drawer, chocolate is synonymous with pleasures both simple and indulgent. But behind the sweet image is a long history of exploitation. In the eighteenth century the European aristocracy went wild for the Aztec delicacy. In later years, colonial territories were ravaged and slaves imported in droves as native populations died out under the strain of feeding the world’s appetite for chocolate.

Carol Off traces the origins of the cocoa craze and follows chocolate’s evolution under such overseers as Hershey, Cadbury and Mars. In Côte d’Ivoire, the West African nation that produces nearly half of the world’s cocoa beans, she follows a dark and dangerous seam of greed. Against a backdrop of civil war and corruption, desperately poor farmers engage in appalling practices such as the indentured servitude of young boys – children who don’t even know what chocolate tastes like.

Off shows that, with the complicity of Western governments and corporations, unethical practices continue to thrive. Bitter Chocolate is a social history, a passionate investigative account and an eye-opening exposé of the workings of a multi-billion dollar industry that has institutionalized misery as it served our pleasures.

Here's a video interview on youtube

Psalm 51

This is one of the most famous guilt psalms. The note to the psalm states that David wrote it when he was told by Nathan the prophet that God had seen that David had committed adultery with is friend's wife then killed his friend. That makes me want to smile. David didn't write this psalm when he committed adultery, and he didn't write it when he killed his friend. He wrote it when he realized God had seen his sin. Ah, humans! Guilt is an interesting thing.

There is a necessity for confession of sins in this world. Confession brings freedom, brings healing, brings power, brings joy. (If it's a really bad sin, I'd suggest confessing it to a priest who doesn't know you. . . and I wouldn't suggest confessing sins to elders or to ministers unless God has really pressed it on one. Confessing one's faults is one thing, confessing one's sins is something else."

It doesn't tell us what David said to Nathan but we hear what David tells God. In Hebrew, the word for guilt and punishment are the same thing. In Job 19:29, Lamentations 4:6, 22, 1 Samuel 28:3-5, Genesis 4:13 we see the word being used. Guilt can be its own punishment but sometimes guilt is a moral emotional consequence and punishment is the spiritual and social consequence. As Derek Prince says, "We don't break God's laws; God's laws break us. No one destroys the law of gravity but breaking the law of gravity has destroyed many." Jesus not only freed us from guilt but from guiltiness -- blood guiltiness or otherwise.

One thing I have always wondered about is this: David's comment that: "Only you have I sinned against." I'm not sure how capable David was of feeling the depth of his guilt. He says "I was conceived in iniquity" which might be an acknowledgement of man's tendency to sin or an acknowledgement of some unknown sin of his mother but it might also be David's way of shifting a bit of the blame unto genetics...thus making it not entirely his fault. And when he says "I have only sinned against you God"....it bothers me. True, God is the only one we can really "sin" against. But at the same time, I can imagine someone avoiding the hurt he has caused other people by not really looking at the trouble he has caused another human being. You know the kind of person I mean: "As long as I ask God to forgive me and God and I are fine, I'm okay. Who cares if I've wounded this person?" Honestly, I really don't like David. He may have been a man after God's own heart when he was appointed king but by the time he died he was pretty malicious, vindictive, vengeful. But it doesn't matter
I suppose. It is grace that saves us, not our perfection. And although David had the holy spirit, he did not live at a time when the kingdom of heaven had begun to rule. As Jesus said, "The law and the prophets were until John...Among those born of women there is none greater than John . . . but notwithstanding those in the kingdom are greater than he." So we can allow David his imperfections.
Psalm 51

1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

WTF moment in Bible study: Powerful Nothings?

So there I was outside reading in the sun when I'm presented with this verse:

1 Corinthians 1:28
King James Bible

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

Okay, I can understand God using the base, crappy, dissed things of the world to destroy the stuff the world respects. Hey, Jesus was a carpenter, an innocent man killed by capital punishment (ahem) and He is now Lord of all. And we all know stories of triumphant world-changing poor folks (po' folks, actually, cause these guys are so poor they can't even afford the last too letters. -- old joke, yep)

But if something isn't....how can it destroy what is? So am thinking about that. The essence of the spiritual is that it deals with what isn't seen. So then, if it isn't seen in the spiritual realm, does that mean it is "not."

Hebrews 11:1-6 tells us that God made the visible world from the invisible. As Christians who understand that God's word is living and alive, we know that the world was made by the word of God. We also know that we look at what is seen and not at what is unseen. St Paul reminds us that we walk by what we know by faith, not by what we see. And God "calls those things that be not as though they are."

But things in the spirit "are." They aren't non-existent. So, although I can see that physical things can be unmade and destroyed by the spiritual (And trust me, this is hard to believe when one is waiting patiently on God -- or not so patiently) but to go that further step and to believe that what doesn't actually exist can destroy what exists. Well, it makes one ponder.

I'm daydreaming about Wind Follower being blessed. I'm trying to see it as being blessed, trying to see it being made into a movie actually. So is that unseen hope working on physical money issues now? uhm... gotta think.

Other than that...well, it's warm and hot and I've been soo happy. The sunlight is so good. Vitamin D helps prevent breast cancer, helps sleep, helps the heart. So am doing well. But it means sitting out in the sun reading...when I'd rather be writing in my house or watching a movie. So, what to do? By a laptop? And what to do when winter comes around again? Might have to remove some trees to bring light in. I so wish to move. Will see.

I spent all winter washing my hair and not combing it. Told you I was reclusive. I honestly don't have to do a lotta stuff cause I don't have a lotta folks dropping by. I drop by my friends' houses. And those who drop by are good friends who don't care...or crappy folks I don't allow inside the house. So upshot is I have all this hair which is hopelessly tangled. Hubby gets royally annoyed when I cut my hair and says I look like a guy when I do that. But I can't see what else has to be done. I'm tender-headed as they say. I simply squirm and come to tears when a comb goes through the thing. Will see what I end up doing.

Anyways, here are other translations of the powerful destructive nothings verses:

Douay-Rheims Bible: And the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible, hath God chosen, and things that are not, that he might bring to nought things that are

Darby Bible Translation: and the ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen, and things that are not, that he may annul the things that are;

Weymouth New Testament: and the things which the world regards as base, and those which it sets utterly at nought--things that have no existence--God has chosen in order to reduce to nothing things that do exist;

World English Bible: and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:

Young's Literal Translation: and the base things of the world, and the things despised did God choose, and the things that are not, that the things that are He may make useless --

Psalm 50

My two favorite verses in this psalm are:

Gather my saints together ....those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
AND
To him who ordereth his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of the Lord! Wow! Take that you folks who are against positive confession of God's promises!

The great thing about this psalm is that it shows us that so many of God's promises are conditional. There are demands that God makes before the promises are shown in our lives.

We have to learn to forgive in order to be forgiven.
We have to praise God before a promise comes in order to have the promise come into our lives.
Give and you shall receive.
When the spirit says "Gather my saints together" the reader is ready to think, "Okay, that's me!" But then the spirit qualifies those He calls His saints: "Those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
Those who want to see God's salvation, must order their conversation aright.

This psalm is full of a long list of things the holy person should have done and didn't do -- "These things you have done and I kept silent."
Psalm 50

1The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
4He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
5Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
7Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.
18When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
19Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
20Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
21These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
23Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Banquets and Crumbs

Listening to a sermon about a crumb of mercy and a banquet of mercy. The syrophenician woman's crumb versus the people of the lord having a banquet. Matthew 15:27 "Imagine if a crumb of mercy can heal a demon possessed girl through intercession, what can a banquet of mercy do?"

Wow, how big is our God?!!!

If such a crumb for someone who is not God's people can do so much, what can a child of God expect? That is very challenging. It's so challenging to have childlike faith and to believe in a great God.

Whenever folks on TV portray someone with childlike faith, they always make the person look idiotic. Like on Law and Order for instance. But childlike faith takes a lot of thinking, a lot of mental strength to achieve. Childlike faith is something that is achieved. It's not a putting away of the mind but a retraining of the mind and a freeing of it from the world. Very hard work to do this. And only folks who are arrogant little rationalistic snits think it's for simple minds. Childlike faith is not for folks with simple minds. God is pleased with faith

Psalm 49

I love the "I wills" and "I shalls" in this psalm The kingdom of heaven is something one has to work toward. Even though we have the gift of salvation, there is the danger of being spiritually lazy. A determination is needed.

Luke 15:16 speaks of pressing into the kingdom. This means that we must decrease and God must increase in us. John 3:30 Jesus came to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17 We are told in Matthew 11:12 that the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent takes it by force. Psalm 27:4 says, "One thing have I desired and that I will seek after." Ecclesiastes 9:10 speaks of doing a thing with all our might. In Matthew 7:14, we are told that narrow is the way. And in Luke 8:24, we are told to strive to enter in at the strait gate. Galatians 5:24 tells us to crucify the flesh's wrong affections and lusts. And we are told in Revelations that we must not be lukewarm.

In this psalm, the psalmist is concerned with one's mouth and one's ears. Jesus tells us to be careful how we hear. We Christians try not to sin but we often ignore things that don't seem totally sinful to us. But Jesus tells us that how we hear, what we incline our ear to, and how we speak are very very important. To not watch our mouth or our ears is to be quite lazy...and not spiritual at all.

Another thing that comes to me today about this psalm is verse 16. I feel like asking, "Why should I be afraid when someone gets rich? Should I be?" But I guess some folks are. I don't understand this verse. Will have to ponder it.

Psalm 49

1Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
2Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
3My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
4I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
6They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
8(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
9That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
10For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
11Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
12Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
13This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.
14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
18Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
20Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Dark Parables: Python Dream

Dreamed I was looking at the clock and saw that it was 9:09 and my son was still home when he should have been in school. I walked to the calendar and saw that it was a Tuesday and that the city calendar listed that Tuesday and many tuesdays of that month as workdays so for some reason the schoolbus couldn't pick up my son. Soon workmen appeared outside my door. They were digging under the house. My son and I stood on the porch and looked at them as they grabbed a large --gigantic!-- python by the tail and pulled it out backwards until they reached its head. I was so surprised. Not really afraid but was definitely a bit tripped out to realize that python had been under my house for so long. I said to the workmen, "Make sure it didn't leave any eggs behind."

Then I kinda felt silly saying that because they seemed to know their business and would know how to find and pick up everything that might be problematical.

I went to bed last night asking why my son was so sick. I've been asking for guidance on this for years. The folks who lived in our house before also had a special ed kid born here. But my mother (my generational house) was into a lot of witchcraft and santeria. And also, I am really committing to keeping my anger issues away. . . especially since the previous dream. The python spirit is the spirit of divination and witchcraft mentioned in ACTS when Paul met that girl who told fortunes. My mother always got into that. I also have been very constricted and I haven't been careful with my thoughts.

Anyway, I feel as if our house -- spiritual, generational, physical-- has been cleansed. In my dreams "workmen" often mean angelic help or the word of God being active at purifying our lives.

So, went googling for python spirit on the internet.

Found these

http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/pulpit/swan-11-03.shtml

A great dream on python here

onlinebibleteachings.blogspot.com/2007/02/understanding-python-spirit.html

An excerpt of my latest writing-in-progress

An excerpt from my current WIP, The Constant Tower, is up at grasping for the wind, a review site done by John Ottinger, a very insightful reviewier