22 November 2014

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 22 November 2014

weekend is here.  Dear Wife is flat on back, with the TV turned to some truly awful crime dramas, the sort of thing I absolutely loathe.  Even the voice of the narrators -- can anyone stand Paula Zahn?, really I mean??  I'm really not a big sports nut, even football though it's more watchable than basketball, soccer, baseball, or hockey.  Just not into it.  Rank heresy, I know
Having a bit of a break from the grossly awful weather of the last week, we're up over freezing for the first time in a while, and even tonight's low is supposed to be above the freezing point, so we're getting some real snow melt.  Wish it would stay like this until, say, March 30th or so, but that's not real likely at this latitude.  Oh, well.
Got word that older daughter is in some emotional disarray.  She's a teacher, been saddled with classes largely comprised of ILLEGAL ALIENS, some of whom claim to be 7th graders but came equipped with gang tats and grey hair.  And she's been receiving threats of violence, including death threats, for failing to display proper levels of deference to their gang status.
It would be unchristian of me to wish ill upon the persons in our government whose criminal nonfeasance in office approaches the definitions of Treason, but I do confess to temptation in that direction.  Reminds me all too well of some old Russian Jewish jokes about the Tsar.  And our current "leaders" seem to have real pretensions to the status of Tsar (or Czar, the transliteration from Cyrillic is not always exact).  How do I tell my liberal daughter that her own government hates this nation, its people and culture, and that she is on the sharp edge of that?  Not easy, and she, like others, has to come to that realization on her own.

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The Old Testament reading today continues in the writings of Ezekiel, chapters 27 and 28.  His assignment, should you call it that, must have been a most difficult one.  Prophecies of doom and lamentation and woe, are not easily uttered.  Definitely will not make you friends, especially among the powerful and their hangers-on.  But he did it, and some of those prophecies are yet to be fulfilled.  I believe we will see some of that in our own time.  We won't like it, but it's coming.


1
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2
Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3
And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
4
Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
5
They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
6
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
7
Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
8
The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
9
The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
10
They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
11
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
12
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
13
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
14
They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.
15
The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
16
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
17
Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
18
Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
19
Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
20
Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
21
Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
23
Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
24
These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
25
The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
27
Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
28
The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29
And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30
And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
31
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
32
And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33
When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
34
In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
35
All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
36
The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.


1
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4
With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5
By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7
Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8
They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
9
Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10
Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
11
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19
All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
20
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21
Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
22
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23
For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
24
And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25
Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
26
And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.



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The New Testament reading is chapter 4 in the letter of James.  This has some personal meaning for me.

1
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

21 November 2014

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 21 November 2014

another cold day here, supposed to be having a bit of a thaw beginning tomorrow but tonight will still be cold.  Took Dear Wife to the allergist this morning to get her weekly dose, something that has to be done for two years, with follow-up meds thereafter.  Then, after the required 20-minute wait to make sure she doesn't go into anaphylaxis as a result, we went over to the pharmacy, picked up two more of her prescriptions and a bag of buns, then to the day-old bread store, then home.   Ate a little, then she needed to take a nap.  Which lasted until around 6:00 p,m.  Fed her a bit and she's stretched out on couch under a blanket.  This isn't exactly the sort of retirement that the TV ads tout, with golf courses and parties, but it's what we have.  Neither of my grandads nor two of my uncles lived this long, and the other uncle passed when just a year or so older than I am now.  So we keep it in perspective.
Tomorrow is another day.

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The Old Testament passage today is chapters 24, 25, and 26 in the writings of Ezekiel.

1
Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
3
And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:
4
Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
5
Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
6
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
7
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
8
That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.
9
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
10
Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
11
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
12
She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
13
In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
14
I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15
Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
16
Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
17
Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18
So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19
And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
20
Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
22
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
23
And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
24
Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25
Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
26
That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?
27
In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.


1
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;
3
And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;
4
Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
5
And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
6
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;
7
Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
8
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
9
Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,
10
Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.
11
And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
12
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
13
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
14
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.
15
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
16
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.


1
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5
It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6
And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
8
He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.
9
And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
10
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11
With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
12
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
13
And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
14
And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
15
Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
16
Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
17
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
18
Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
19
For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
20
When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
21
I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.




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The New Testament passage is chapter 3 from the book of James

1
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3
Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

20 November 2014

Today's Radings and Stuff -- Thursday, 20 November 2014

Still dark here, sunrise is expected in about 20 minutes.  Dear Wife is already next door to "watch" the Beloved Grand-Niece as Nifty Niece heads off to work.  She hadn't been working more than about two days a week since having the baby not quite two years ago, and in the spring-summer period was down to one day, or sometimes two shifts of  four or five hours.  As a former manager in that system, she draws an hourly rate above that of some, so the store manager was trying to cut costs by cutting the more expensive hours.  Now, for some reason, she's working four shifts of 7-8 hours every week.  Helps with Christmas and cold weather expenses, but it means arranging sitters.  We live next door, mother lives a few miles away, and mother-in-law lives two doors up.  Cousin lives across the back yards.  So it's not like she has to look too hard, but she's good about spreading the load around.  And no one's getting paid for this, so it's not a deal like that.  But she's also fighting with both her own mom, AND her mother-in-law, so there's always that.  Living out of the area so long as we were, we avoided a lot of these in-house wars and that was fine by me.  Moving back last year, we found ourselves in the midst of them.  So, while we are glad to see the Little Ones, sometimes the rest of the package is a bit much.
Yet perhaps that's part of our mission here: to be the peacemakers and witnesses for our faith.  Wife's mother was an embittered atheist.  Wife's brother is hiding out from the law, and her sister is much like her mother was.  We are attempting, poorly but trying, to be a witness to the nieces and nephews and cousins and their entourages.  Not sure we're doing any good, but our job is planting the seed.
24 degrees here now, the "high" for the day predicted for 27 and around 12 tonight and tomorrow.  By Monday should be around 60.  Easier to take, and takes a load off the gas bill.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 22 and 23 from Eziekiel.  These are warnings, dire warnings, against a nation that was already in desperate straits, and clearly the lessons had not taken hold.

1
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
3
Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
4
Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
5
Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.
6
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
7
In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
8
Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
9
In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
10
In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
11
And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
13
Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
14
Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.
15
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
16
And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
17
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
19
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20
As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.
21
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.
22
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.
23
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24
Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28
And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.


1
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
3
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
4
And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
5
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
6
Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
7
Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
8
Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
9
Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10
These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
11
And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
12
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
13
Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
14
And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
15
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
16
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
17
And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
18
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.
19
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20
For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
22
Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
23
The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
24
And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
25
And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26
They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27
Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
28
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
29
And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
30
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
31
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
32
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
33
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34
Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
35
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
36
The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37
That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
38
Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39
For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.
40
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
41
And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
42
And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
44
Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.
45
And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46
For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47
And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
49
And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.



==============================

The New Testament reading is James chapter 2.


1
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.