Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 09 March 2015

the temperature is said to be 32.1 degrees outside.  Above freezing, if ever so slightly.  Suposedly will hit a sweltering 48 degrees today!  So we are getting a little bit of snow melt.  Which probably means there will be flooding going.  We ourselves should be OK, we live about halfway down a hilly area that ends in one of the upstream tributaries of the Ohio River, so standing water should not be a problem.  Torrents of water, well, we shall see.  But it's nice to see, finally, some snow melt.  Haven't seen much grass for a very long time, just huge snow drifts everywhere, interrupted by ice patches.

Dear Wife go call a last night late, and so is over next door "watching" the Beloved Great Niece.  Her sister, the child's grandmother, was supposed to be "watching" her today but last evening discovered a schedule conflict that will have her occupied until around 10:00 this morning, at which time she has solemnly promised to be here so I can take Dear Wife to the rheumatologist for the appointment already long-delayed.

Then off to the pharmacy.  Two of my meds need to be refilled, so do a few of hers.  Might pick up a few things also while there.

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The Old Testament reading for today is chapters 8, 9, 10 of Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8

1	All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
2	And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3	And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
4	Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
5	Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
6	Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
7	For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8	A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9	A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
10	When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
11	Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
12	Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13	And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14	Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15	Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16	Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17	And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18	But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19	And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20	As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 9 

1	Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
2	A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
3	Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
4	Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
5	Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6	Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.
7	Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
8	Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
9	When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
10	And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
11	And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
12	And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
13	Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
14	Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
15	So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
16	And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
17	And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
18	And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
19	For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
20	And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
21	And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
22	And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.
23	Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.
24	Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
25	Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
26	I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27	Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
28	Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
29	Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

Deuteronomy 10 

1	At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.
2	And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
3	And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.
4	And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.
5	And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.
6	And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.
7	From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters.
8	At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
9	Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.
10	And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also, and the LORD would not destroy thee.
11	And the LORD said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.
12	And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
13	To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
14	Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
15	Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
16	Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
17	For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
18	He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
19	Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
20	Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
21	He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
22	Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

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The New Testament reading is verses 28-44 in Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12:28-44 

28	And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29	And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30	And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31	And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32	And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33	And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34	And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
35	And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?
36	For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
37	David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
38	And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
39	And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
40	Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
41	And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42	And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43	And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44	For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 08 March 2015

pretty good day. Made it to church services this morning.  Church had been called off the last two Sundays due to the hideous weather.  A good thing too, our street runs uphill at close to a 30 degree angle from the horizontal, and combining that with half a foot - or more - of snow, with ice both on top and below, is a recipe for catastrophe, and there were a LOT of accidents.  So getting together with other believers was a blessing.  As it always is.
Dear Wife is doing a little bit better, though it looks more and more like she may have torn a tendon lately, probably sprained an ankle as well.  She took a spill when we were walking in after her infusion back two Fridays ago.  She has a doctor appointment set for tomorrow morning, though that will be with the rheumatologist.  Perhaps he can give advice on the matter.
And I am happy that for the first time in two weeks or more, we can get out our back door.  Been frozen shut as well as blocked by the swelling in the step down to the deck.  The temperature, above 40 for the first time in MONTHS, combined with some aggressive stuff I did with salt and ice melt and some tools, finally combined to clear things enough to give us the exit path we needed.  So, perhaps, the worst of the winter weather is behind us.  Perhaps.  This area has a "tradition" of a blizzard that hits on St. Patrick's Day.  That is in just over a week, and the forecast, as of this afternoon, had that day with a high near 45, which is inconsistent with a blizzard.  So we shall see.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 5

1	And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2	The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3	The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
4	The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5	(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
6	I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
7	Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8	Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9	Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10	And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11	Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12	Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13	Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work:
14	But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15	And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16	Honor thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17	Thou shalt not kill.
18	Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19	Neither shalt thou steal.
20	Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
21	Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbor's.
22	These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
23	And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24	And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
25	Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
26	For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27	Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
28	And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
29	O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
30	Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
31	But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
32	Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33	Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Deuteronomy 6

1	Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2	That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3	Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4	Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5	And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6	And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7	And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8	And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9	And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
10	And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11	And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
12	Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13	Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
14	Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
15	(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
16	Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
17	Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
18	And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers.
19	To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.
20	And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?
21	Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:
22	And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
23	And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
24	And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
25	And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Deuteronomy 7

1	When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
2	And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:
3	Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4	For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
5	But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
6	For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7	The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8	But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9	Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10	And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11	Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
12	Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
13	And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
14	Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
15	And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
16	And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
17	If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18	Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19	The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
20	Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
21	Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
22	And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
23	But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
24	And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
25	The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
26	Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

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The New Testament reading is verses 1-27 of Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12:1-27

1	And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
2	And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3	And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
4	And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
5	And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.
6	Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
7	But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our's.
8	And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
9	What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
10	And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:
11	This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
12	And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.
13	And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
14	And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
15	Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
16	And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
17	And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.
18	Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
19	Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
20	Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
21	And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
22	And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
23	In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
24	And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
25	For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
26	And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27	He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

A Warning from the Past, and pretty good poetry

my late father was not an educated man, something that was a great frustration to him.  But he was extremely literate and read voraciously, things of all sorts.  He loved poetry, especially that of older vintage, he had little liking for free verse and some of the other fads.
I didn't really catch that, at least not to the extent he did, but I sometimes find some that is memorable. I came across a piece earlier today, a bit that goes back more than 100 years to the time of Kipling.  He's out of favor these days among the literati, not politically correct.  But worth the read.  He wrote about dikes and the breach of them.
Do you know about dikes?  My ancestors were not technically Dutch, but many did hail from the so-called "Low Countries", meaning in many cases that the lands they inhabited were in some casese below sea level, and the land they occupied was usable because persons before them had, at enormous labor, built and maintained systems of dikes to hold back the sea.  The quaint Dutch windmills that we often see in paintings and photos of that area, were there, often, to power pumps to remove water that had somehow seeped through.  It was necessary to constantly patrol those dikes, to quickly address any breach no matter how small, lest it quickly turn into a torrent.  Kipling uses that concept as a warning of the sloth that had, even then, taken hold.  Sloth and indolence, not only against the incursions of seawater, but of other things that the dikes, like walls and barriers throughout history, serve as lines to demark territory and civilization.
That lesson is needed today as well.

this is taken from here

The Dykes

1902

We have no heart for the fishing – we have no hand for the oar –
All that our fathers taught us of old pleases us no more.
All that our own hearts bid us believe we doubt where we do not deny –
There is nor proof in the bread we eat nor rest in the toil we ply.

Look you, our foreshore stretches far through sea-gate, dyke and groin –
Made land all, that our fathers made, where the flats and the fairway join.
They forced the sea a sea-league back. They died, and their work stood fast.
We were born to peace in the lee of the dykes, but the time of our peace is past.

Far off, the full tide clambers and slips, mouthing and resting all,
Nipping the flanks of the water-gates, baying along the wall;
Turning the shingle, returning the shingle, changing the set of the sand…
We are too far from the beach, men say, to know how the outwarks stand.

So we come down, uneasy, to look; uneasily pacing the beach.
These are the dykes our fathers made: we have never known a breach.
Time and again has the gale blown by and we were not afraid;
Now we come only to look at the dykes – at the dykes our fathers made.

O’er the marsh where the homesteads cower apart the harried sunlight flies,
Shifts and considers, wanes and recovers, scatters and sickness and dies –
An evil ember bedded in ash – a spark blown west by wind …
We are surrendered to night and the sea – the gale and the tide behind!

At the bridge of the lower saltings the cattle gather and blare, 
Roused by the feet of running men, dazed by the lantern-glare.
Unbar and let them away for their lives – the levels drown as they stand,
Where the flood-wash forces the sluices aback and the ditches deliver inland.

Ninefold deep to the top of the dykes the galloping breakers stride,
And their overcarried spray is a sea – a sea of the landward side.
Coming, like stallions they paw with their hooves, going they snatch with their teeth,
Till the bents and the furze and the sand are dragged out, and the old-time hurdles are beneath.

Bid men gather fuel for fire, the tar, the oil and tow –
Flame we shall need, not smoke, in the dark if the riddled sea-banks go.
Bid the ringers watch in the tower (who know how the dawn shall prove?)
Each with his rope between his feet and the trembling bells above.

Now we can only wait till the day, wait and apportion our shame.
These are the dykes our fathers left, but we would not look to the same.
Time and again were we warned of the dykes, time and again we delayed.
Now, it may fall, we have slain our sons, as our fathers we have betrayed.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Walking along the wreck of the dykes, watching the works of the sea!
These were the dykes our fathers made to our great profit and ease.
But the peace is gone and the profit is gone, with the old sure days withdrawn …
That our own houses show as strange when we come back in the dawn

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 07 March 2015

warmer they said.  Well, yeah, we're all the way up to 31 degrees, and it is snowing.  NOT exactly what we hoped to see.  Back door is still frozen shut.  Went down to local market and bought some eggs this morning for Dear Wife.  She eats them. I do not.  I consider them to be nothing more than chicken abortions.  Chicken, I eat.  Eggs, not, or at least not by themselves though there are dishes that have some egg or egg products concealed within.  Oh, well.

Cats are off somewhere hiding from me.  They had better do so.  They started running back and forth over me around 04:15 wanting to be fed, something I did around 05:20.  Less than an hour later, the two unfixed males, both of which are going to become outside cats once weather warms, got into a brawl in the kitchen.  I came out and yelled and smacked them with a slipper.  Both ran into separate corners of the back bedroom, there to shout challenges at each other.  I came in the room with a can of Febreeze spray.  BOTH of them growled and hissed at me, which did not improve my mood or desire to lop their heads off.  I chased the one off, knowing that leaving him there would quickly lead to round #2 of the morning. 
I am not and have never been a pet person.

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The Old Testament reading today is chapters 3 and 4 of Deuteronomy.  Moses continues his reminder to the people of their trip from slavery, through a lot, guided by the Lord, and now at the very borders of the Promised Land.  It's a very good thing to recall what the Lord has done for us.  We too often forget.

Deuteronomy 3

1	Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
2	And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
3	So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.
4	And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5	All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.
6	And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.
7	But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.
8	And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;
9	(Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)
10	All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
11	For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
12	And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
13	And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
14	Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
15	And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
16	And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
17	The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.
18	And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.
19	But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;
20	Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.
21	And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.
22	Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.
23	And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
24	O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
25	I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
26	But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.
27	Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
28	But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
29	So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

Deuteronomy 4

1	Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
2	Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
3	Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
4	But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
5	Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6	Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7	For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8	And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9	Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
10	Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11	And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12	And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13	And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14	And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
15	Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16	Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17	The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18	The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19	And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20	But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
21	Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
22	But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23	Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
24	For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25	When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26	I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
27	And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
28	And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29	But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30	When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31	(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
32	For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
33	Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
34	Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35	Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
36	Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
37	And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
38	To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
39	Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
40	Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41	Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
42	That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
43	Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
44	And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
45	These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.
46	On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:
47	And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
48	From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
49	And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

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The New Testament reading is verses 20-33 in Mark 11.  Bear in mind that this is all going on in the context of Holy Week, that few days between Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the Crucifixion.

Mark 11:20-33

20	And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21	And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22	And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23	For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24	Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25	And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26	But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
27	And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
28	And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?
29	And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
30	The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.
31	And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?
32	But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.
33	And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.