On the surface, Gen. 14 seems to be a hodge-podge of several sources, with Abram having to undertake a Seal Team 6 rescue mission when Lot and his lot are taken captive by rulers trying to take over the territory that involved Sodom and Gomorrah among other areas. Abram is able to get some of his new friends in Hebron to help him in this mission, which seems to have a surprise ending, with the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, whose... Read more
Coeur Incurvatus in Se (as Luther said) Self-absorbed in the garden He became Narcissus The heart inverted He’ll never miss us. Realized he was naked Fig leaves won’t do, Hide from your maker, Who must remake you. Mirrors and selfies Self-focus supreme Who cares about others If I’m my own dream? The three persons I love Me, myself, I I’m always distant From others who try To win my attention To woo me again To... Read more
The second half of Gen. 13 deserves separate treatment, and as Robert Alter says, the Hebrew verbage indicates that this discussion between Abram and God took place after Lot and his tribe had headed down to the plains of Jordan. This means that the promise is given solely to Abram and his direct line, not to his nephew and his line. And vs. 13 makes a declaratory statement about the residents of where Lot was going, namely to Sodom, that... Read more
You’ve heard the saying– curiosity killed the cat. Well it’s a very good thing that train wasn’t real. My cat Minny is now 16, which in cat years is 70+42, and she sleeps wherever she wants. In a box, on the card table, in Ann’s computer chair, and at night right next to my wife. Ann is the only mom Minny has really ever had, as she was rescued from a horrible animal abuse situation in a house full of... Read more
Gen. 13 continues the theme of Abram and his kin being nomads, living in tents. At some point, Lot will shift to living in a town or village, namely Sodom, and from the view of the narrator, this almost always spells trouble, living with people who do not honor the Biblical God. Notice that we are told at the outset of the chapter that Abram and kin leave Egypt heavily laden with cattle, silver, and gold. You should not picture... Read more
When last we left Abram at the end of Gen. 11, he and his father and extended family had journey from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, which today stands in Turkey on the border with Syria. We’ve already been told they are headed for Canaan, but unfortunately, Abram’s father Terah died in Haran. It is here at the beginning of Gen. 12 of a story that will last into Gen. 25— the longest single saga that focus’ on one... Read more
Actually, what Saul wrote was a song (to the tune of the classic ‘Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah’) Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, Here I am at Camp Masada, It is very inspiring, And they say we’ll have good fun after perspiring. The food here isn’t manna Every breakfast a banana Or we can have a sandwich sand made or mud, I can’t tell which. We’ve memorized So many laws And practiced stoning, I need some gauze. Do... Read more
Chip Davis is now 77 years old, and I’m quite sure he could not have imagined 50 years worth of producing records, and then concerts that led to the selling of 50 million records. For 40 of those years he has done Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concerts, and though he no longer tours with the band, they are still going great guns, now with two separate groups on tour. We got the benefit of the green tour group on Dec. 29th... Read more
For those, like myself, who were not paying that much attention to folk music in the early 60s, the Bob Dylan I came to know was the Bob who was already electric, rock and roll Bob from 1965 on. I did not have his earliest albums, in fact I began with Blonde on Blonde, but that forced me to go back and pay attention to what he had done before, and what he kept doing afterwards— including country music (Nashville... Read more
Back at the dawn of time. (i.e. B.C. before cellphone, before computer) we had a red tabby cat named Yellowball, who decided one night during the Christmas season to climb the Christmas tree while no one was looking, bringing the whole thing down, and breaking various of the bubble lights which we loved so much. I wish I could have seen his face at the time, before he hid for hours under my bed, knowing he had done something terribly... Read more
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