Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 01 January 2016

Happy New Year to all to whom these presents come.  Greetings to all.

Last year this site was sadly neglected.  Life was, well, difficult here.  From September on, we were dealing with the issues of Dear Wife's intricate and very painful surgery, a surgery from which she is still recovering as we approach four months after the event.  Involved in this was substantial rearrangement of one foot, ankle, lower leg, and the related connecting tissues.  Like rebreaking and resetting some bones in the foot.  Like cutting and reattaching the Achilles Tendon. Like a great deal of other stuff.  No, it wasn't heart surgery, nor something like that.  But go without being able to walk at ALL for more than a month, and then only the brief trips between the bed, the bathroom, and the recliner.  Or more than two-and-a-half months of sponge baths performed by Yours Truly. 
She can walk now, some, for brief periods, but still spends virtually all of her time in bed or in a recliner with her foot elevated.
Even in the best of times, she hates to leave the house, generally only to go next door to "watch" the great niece or, occasionally, go with me to Wally World or Aldi.  She went with me to a church picnic in August, but hasn't been to church services since, and rarely even before.
Along the way (and just before her surgery) her closer-than-sister cousin had a heart attack.  She went with me to the hospital to check on her, but only once.
And last Sunday morning, I came home from church services to find her in tears.  Her aunt, the one who largely took over the duties of raising her during the periods of her mother's alcoholic delerium or other improper behaviors, had just died.  The deceased was, like much of the family, determined to be either atheist or pagan.  No services, therefor.  The extended family had a carry-in get together last Sunday, but Wife was too ill to attend.  So more sorrow there.

The result of all the above (and much more not mentioned) is that Yours Truly has been a full-time caregiver for much of the year just past.  And dealing with my own griefs and sorrows.  One of which is that I had the bad grace to give an honest and forthright opinion of one of the far-left political candidates for president, and as a result, both of our daughters have severed all contact.  ALL.  Phone calls are neither answered nor returned, social media contacts severed, e-mails ignored.  Tough, particularly given the above, not helped with the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year observances.

So it has been tough.  Finances are a catastrophe, and we have snow on the ground, and in the weather forecast for the coming week, we see several nights in the teens, and several days with the "high" below freezing.  Not my every dream come true.

The Lord knew our situation a million years ago, so He is aware.  I don't know what His plan or wish is, I only hope that I follow His direction.

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The morning reading in the Old Testament begins with those important words, "In the beginning, GOD .."  A pretty good beginning for us, each day.  When I lose that focus, things go awry, quickly, and getting back is tough.

Genesis 1 

1	In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2	And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3	And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4	And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5	And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6	And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7	And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8	And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9	And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10	And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11	And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12	And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13	And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14	And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15	And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16	And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17	And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18	And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19	And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20	And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21	And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22	And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23	And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24	And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25	And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26	And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27	So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28	And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29	And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30	And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31	And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2

1	Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2	And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3	And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4	These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5	And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6	But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7	And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8	And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9	And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10	And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11	The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12	And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13	And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14	And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15	And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16	And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17	But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18	And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19	And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20	And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21	And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22	And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23	And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24	Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25	And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The evening reading in the New Testament, begins with the earthly genealogy of Jesus.  You may see some familiar names in the family tree here.  Remember that this was very much a tribal culture, and one was commanded to marry within that tribe.  Here we see the heritage all the way from Jesus to Adam.  The family records were kept in a sort of records room in the Temple in Jerusalem.  That temple and those records were destroyed and lost when the temple was destroyed, not that many years after  Jesus returned to the Father.  This genealogy would have been of great import to the Jews in the land.

Matthew 1

1	The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2	Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3	And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
4	And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5	And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6	And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
7	And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
8	And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
9	And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
10	And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
11	And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
12	And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13	And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14	And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
15	And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
16	And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17	So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
18	Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19	Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20	But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21	And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22	Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23	Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24	Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25	And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.