Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 22 September 2017

A day of sorrow.  Today is the first day of Autumn.  There are those who love the Fall, who even like Winter.  I am NOT one of them and never ever ever will be.  Spring is my time.  It's all downhill from there.  May, in particular.  Some like the changing leaf colors, I simply realize that means they are dying and, will soon fall to the ground and rot.  And this whole area will look, to me at least, like old black and white photos of Soviet-era East Germany or Bulgaria.
😣

I had several things on tap to be done today.  Got not one even well begun.  Wife has had a bad few days and I didn't want to leave her.  I did stuff some more antifreeze into the old chariot and made the trip to the local grocery store and picked up some foodstuffs we were needing, coordinated with some pretty neat sales they had going.  Foolishly, I waited until afternoon to go.  Wife had intended to come along, but was simply not up to it.  Naturally, by the time I got there, MANY of the advertised sale items were sold out.  They promised to have the shelves restocked by morning, so I'll be heading out early on that.

Later, I got with niece next door and we pulled the dead and dying cucumber,  pepper, and green bean plants out of the garden and threw them on the fire pit.  The tomatoes are still producing, some at least, and so we removed some of the dead parts, got some nice yellow grape tomatoes and some not-quite-red Roma tomatoes.  Supposed to be warm the next few days, so we may get a few more.  After that, we will wait until the frost and then harvest the celery stalks.  They didn't do great but we should get a good half dozen to split.

I see that the political bombast continues.  I expect that will continue long after I am gone.
I did see one thing that saddened me a bit.  As some know, we lived for a time in western Arkansas, right on the Oklahoma line.  If you are one of the remaining Elvis Presley fans, there is a picture of him getting his first Army haircut.  The person performing that cut was a fellow named Fred Kinslow.  Fred was a good guy, he used to cut my hair in fact.  He passed away this morning.  One of his sons, Fred jr. in fact, passed away during our time there and I substituted as leader of the senior men's Bible study group for a bit under a year while Fred and his late wife recovered.  A good guy, but another link to the past gone.

And another tough week coming up.  The 27th is our older daughter's birthday.  She has cut ALL contact with us for almost two years now.  Makes it tough, particularly on Dear Wife.   And it adds an unwelcome aggravation to her physical challenges, something she really does not need.

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Our Old Testament reading today is chapters 4 and 5 from the Song of Solomon.
Pretty "hot" stuff there, and I for one would not want to be the one leading a class of teenagers on this text.

Song of Solomon 4

1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Song of Solomon 5

1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. 8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. 13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. 14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

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The reading in the New Testament here is chapter 13 of 2nd Corinthians, completing the work.

II Corinthians 13

1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare: 3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. 4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. 10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. 12 Greet one another with an holy kiss. 13 All the saints salute you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.