Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 13 November 2017

Seems like just yesterday I was mourning the transition from the month with short names, like June, to the months with long names, like August, knowing that it presaged the months whose names end in --ber and --ary.  Which we're now in.  The weather people tell us that at this minute, we're all the way up to 39°, going to 43°.  Better than it might be, I guess.  Because by Sunday, our "high" will be 31°, which is below the freezing point.  And in the foreseeable future, that 31° will seem almost tropical:  I've seen all too often the times when the "high" was below 0° F.  The "high".  I always thought that "global warming" was a good idea.  Too bad it's a lie.  Not quite as big and damaging as the serpent's lies in the Garden, but a good also-ran.  Meanwhile, the city that held my office prior to this retirement is currently at 56°, going to 65°, and 69° on Friday.  I could handle that, quite easily.

Getting the "body counts", etc. from the weekend's "festivities, both locally and in some of the places we've lived.  One report of a 2-year-old revived with Narcan from an opioid overdose.  I see that two of our "locals" are sitting in jail after stealing a cash box from the auction site of a local Catholic church.  Apparently to feed a drug habit.  One in hospital and one in jail after a shooting (both of them shooting) at a local dive bar.  Some more fatal overdoses from the mixture of heroin and fentanyl, and many sorts of property-type crimes from heroin addicts raising money to feed the habit.  And more and more and still more of the same.
These are not reliable signs of a successful nation and culture.  Rather, the signs of ones in steep decline.  As ours is.
If that sounds far-removed, it's not meant that way.  In reality, I've seen at all too close a range and for too many years the on-the-ground realities of too much of this.  Perhaps that was part of the preparation for whatever role the Lord has in mind for me, I truly don't know.  But I can say that 45 years ago, I was seeing heroin addicts shooting up, engaging in prostitution, and all of the rest of that seamy underside of the nation.  It seemed to go away for a while, which I regarded as a good thing.  That was back when the white heroin from places in southeast Asia was being supplanted by the "Mexican brown" which was coming into the country via many means, a small airport near Bill Clinton's home being just one of them.  (Oddly enough, I was made aware of that by some people in a  position to know, and it was considered to be "common knowledge" among some elements of law enforcement at the federal level, but nothing was EVER done.).  So I've seen "crack babies", 14 and 15 year old prostitutes (male and female both), babies born addicted to heroin addicts and thus addicted at birth, as well as lots of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  And OD's.  And have found dead bodies, some several days along in the decomp process.  Again, don't ask.  I never had to do a "notification of next of kin", for which thanks.   But I've heard the cries.  And, perhaps worse, the stony faces of those who truly do not care that their mother, father, daughter, son, brother, sister, whatever has died.  And the weeping of those whose loved ones died as a result of the conduct of the drug-addled.  No, it's not a "victimless crime".  But then, I've also seen the results of the "drunk driving Olympics" being conducted on all too many streets and highways by those who eschew marijuana and heroin, but have no problem with whiskey and wine.  Oh, and while it's not "politically correct" to realize it, that sort of thing is not evenly distributed among the population.  For example, locally, we have a high population of persons with an Eastern European heritage.  I thought I'd never see any group more accustomed to getting utterly intoxicated than those of Russian and Balkan background.  Until I encountered some of those from Mexico and Central America.  Who are often, and throughout the country, found to be with a blood alcohol level three times (or more) the 0.08 per cent standard for DUI / OVI / DWI.  Generally after involvement in a serious traffic accident.  And the habits are passed down the generations.  Nothing good comes from this.
In some cases, and examples are pretty easy to find around here (unfortunately), such conduct is a sort of anesthesia for those who have lost all hope in their lives and in the world around them.  Within easy driving distance, and several cases within walking distance from this desk, there are rows of abandoned factories, abandoned shops, abandoned retail establishments, even a few empty taverns.  As well as rows of empty lots where houses once stood:  two within a few blocks of here were torn down a few weeks ago, others within the last year, and a burned-out house still stands two doors from here, three and a half years after the fire.  The nearest big town has lost half its population in the last twenty-some years, and there are entire streets that the city is abandoning to the elements, no longer seeing any point in maintaining fire hydrants, water lines, and road repair on blocks and blocks where NO houses remain.  You can, if you have the stomach, see where the driveway cuts remain, leading into bramble jungles.  And on the perimeters, sad faces on porches and sidewalks, clutching a bottle of booze and/or smoking dope.  No hope.  But able to produce kids whose outlook will soon match those around them.  THIS is "the last best hope of mankind" as was once said?  I don't think so.
It is easy to become discouraged, easy to despair.  I believe that nothing is beyond the Lord's reach, but it will take His involvement, and the involvement of His people, to change the trajectory.  May He do so, soon!

Dear Wife has a birthday coming up in under two weeks from today.  She's been such a blessing to me and to many others, some of whom are unaware of that fact.

---------========================================
===================================-------------

The reading from the Old Testament is chapters 4, 5, and 6 of Ezekiel
If you think that the behavior that the Lord ordained for Ezekiel is more than a bit "odd", I agree.  But it would certainly attract notice from those who were in captivity, in despair, and believing -- perhaps -- that the Lord had quite rightly abandoned them to their fate.  Let us admit that sometimes the directions from the Lord seem to those around us, and even to us, as making no sense, as being "out of step" with the world as it is.  Which, of course, may be the point.  Making sense to the world isn't the objective, though.  Being obedient to Him is.  Another case of "For Such A Time As This", which has the great phrase in it

"to hear the voice of God, and do His will, WHATEVER IT IS".  

Which might mean being out of step with what is around us.  Which may mean not being "relevant" as some would have it.  Which may mean doing something that, by the world's standards, doesn't make sense.  Then again, seeing the direction the world is taking, may not be such a bad thing.  Ask Esther, seeing that she was willing to risk it all.  Are we?

Ezekiel 4

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. 3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. 9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. 15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. 16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: 17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Ezekiel 5

1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. 10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. 12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. 13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them. 14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. 15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. 16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: 17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee: and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 6

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 6 In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. 9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 11 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12 He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. 13 Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. 14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

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

The New Testament reading today is verses 1-23 in chapter 10 of the epistle to the Hebrews.
We sometimes lose sight of the vast differences between our world and our understanding of that world and of the Lord, and those of the people at the time of the epistles and the early Church.  Much of that difference stems, not so much from technology or of the changes in the civilization since, but as results of that early church and of the Gospel and the proliferation of these epistles.  A change from the literal worship of the Emperor (or local potentates outside of Rome) and of the various local "gods" and demi-gods up to our day  is deep and profound.

Hebrews 10:1-23

1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)