Friday used to mean a lot more to me than it does these days. Not having a work week schedule has much to do with that of course, though for many years prior to retirement, the 6-day week was more common than not. And for quite a number of years in my earlier life, working two and three jobs, meant that a real day off was almost unknown and I laughed bitterly at those who cheered Friday or "hump day" or the like.
These days, taking care of Wife is a prime focus. She's got something, don't know what, hoping to "work through" it. Might be a sinus infection, might "just" be what those in the field, including patients, refer to as a "flare" of the underlying autoimmune / lupus conditions.
But for a while earlier, I thought I might be coming down with something like it. Which is the main reason for the lateness of the post. I'm doing a bit better, and we just ate, so perhaps it's just a light touch of whatever is "going around". We'll see.
And this is another Friday night. I just heard a sound overhead that sounded like the Medevac-type helicopter en route to the ER of the hospital just over the state line from here. The craft was low enough that it might have been coming from something nearby. We shall see. Likely to be a lot of ambulance calls tonight and for the next 48 hours or so. Part of the celebration of the weekend that too often has casualties.
This is known as "having a good time". Yeah. Right.
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The reading in the Old Testament is a single -- long - chapter, chapter 16 of the book of Ezekiel.
There were those who believed that, somehow, they were a superior people of their own. The Lord, speaking through Ezekiel, reminded them of their low origins, and that it was He, and He alone, who had brought them to the heights. And was removing His hand, allowing them to fall back to the status of their origins.
Ezekiel 16
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy
mother an Hittite. 4
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not
salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto
thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open
field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I
passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto
thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou
wast in thy blood, Live.
7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and
thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent
ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas
thou wast naked and bare.
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold,
thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and
covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a
covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then washed I thee
with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I
anointed thee with oil.
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with
badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered
thee with silk. 11
I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands,
and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine
ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and
silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work;
thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding
beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14 And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness,
which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15 But thou didst trust in thine own
beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out
thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
16 And of thy garments thou
didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and
playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither
shall it be so. 17
Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which
I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit
whoredom with them, 18
And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast
set mine oil and mine incense before them.
19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine
flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it
before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
20 Moreover thou
hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and
these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy
whoredoms a small matter,
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to
cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all thine abominations and thy
whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou
wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23 And it came to pass after all
thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the LORD GOD;)
24 That thou hast also built
unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every
street. 25
Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made
thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that
passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26 Thou hast also committed fornication with
the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy
whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand
over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee
unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines,
which are ashamed of thy lewd way.
28 Thou hast played the whore also with the
Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the
harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
29 Thou hast moreover multiplied
thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast
not satisfied therewith.
30 How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou
doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
31 In that thou
buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine
high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou
scornest hire; 32
But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead
of her husband! 33
They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for
thy whoredom. 34
And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas
none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a
reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: 36
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy
nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with
all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children,
which thou didst give unto them;
37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers,
with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved,
with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about
against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may
see all thy nakedness.
38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed
blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 And I will also
give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent
place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also
of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and
bare. 40 They
shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee
with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
41 And they shall burn thine
houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many
women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou
also shalt give no hire any more.
42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and
my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no
more angry. 43
Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast
fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense
thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit
this lewdness above all thine abominations.
44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs
shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her
daughter. 45
Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her
children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their
husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father
an Amorite. 46
And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at
thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand,
is Sodom and her daughters.
47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done
after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou
wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD,
Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast
done, thou and thy daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom,
pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her
daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they
were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them
away as I saw good. 51
Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast
multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy
sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
52 Thou also, which hast
judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast
committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou:
yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast
justified thy sisters.
53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of
Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters,
then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of
them: 54 That
thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that
thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
55 When thy sisters, Sodom and
her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her
daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy
daughters shall return to your former estate.
56 For thy sister Sodom was not
mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,
57 Before thy wickedness was
discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria,
and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines,
which despise thee round about.
58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD. 59
For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast
done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless I will
remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will
establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and
be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy
younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy
covenant. 62
And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I
am the LORD: 63
That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth
any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all
that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
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The reading in the New Testament is chapter 12 in the epistle to the Hebrews.
This is one of those cases where I strongly urge re-reading the passages from the last two days, which would be all of chapter 11 in the epistle, the section on faith and the examples of those in Jewish history who had acted on their faith in the Lord and His commands. It brings things into context.
Hebrews 12
1 Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint
in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with
sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not
sons. 9
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we
gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of
his holiness. 11
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be
turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man
fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up
trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane
person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how
that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was
rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it
carefully with tears.
18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and
that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard
intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not
endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the
mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was
the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things
that that of Abel. 25
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who
refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but
now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only,
but also heaven. 27
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
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