Monday's Peace

Monday promises to be a day of Peace, a bright opening, clouds on the southern horizon over the Gulf of Mexico, raining somewhere off to my east beyond the docks that Hurricane Michael enjoyed shredding ->

as I write an hour later, the clouds are building and towering to the south of me, shades of gray. But still Peace.

Finishing my second mug of hot black, second pot of the July installment of my coffee club gift, a strong dark Nicaraguan coffee. It's all good, and fun, and stirs love.

For me today, The Peace Of The Lord Being Always With Me will include reading the Propers for the upcoming Sunday and waiting for the Holy Spirit, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, the Spirit the Holy; or, in God's first language, ר֣וּחַ she, her, the Spirit. As I've said, sometimes she doesn't show.

I mean, not to go off offensive, but if you thought God's first language was English, as in the KJV, you're an idiot.

Anyway, here are the Propers for next Sunday, and then I have more rambling, off into whatever I had in mind to say when I set the fingers free. At this age, thoughts and things are elusive, both "e" elusive and "i" illusive. The metaphor is that when I go down in the garage below for my walk, I take my phone, my wallet, and my car keys; bearing in mind that there's always the possibility, probability increasing with Time, that I'll forget why I'm down there, and get in my car and go somewhere.

Where would I go? Probably to Pensacola to see my brother. But maybe to Apalachicola because it's a Place of the Heart, and for oysters. Going to Apalach to eat oysters is meaningless anymore, because they get their oysters from the same place as most any local oyster bar: Texas, Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana, Cedar Key, so if you're heading to Apalachicola it's because of pure love.

But the Propers:

The Collect

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament Hosea 1:2-10

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord." So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen."

When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God."

Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."

Response: Psalm 85

1 You have been gracious to your land, O Lord, * you have restored the good fortune of Jacob.

2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people * and blotted out all their sins.

3 You have withdrawn all your fury * and turned yourself from your wrathful indignation.

4 Restore us then, O God our Savior; * let your anger depart from us.

5 Will you be displeased with us for ever? * will you prolong your anger from age to age?

6 Will you not give us life again, * that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your mercy, O Lord, * and grant us your salvation.

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, * for he is speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, * that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together; * righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, * and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, * and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him, * and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

The Epistle Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

[Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]

The Gospel Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

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And my wandering muse. Coming down to the finish line on my annual race to weigh-in acceptably at my doctor's appointment on August 3rd. For my 2007-2008 appointment, under the guidance of a VA nutritionist, I lost fifty pounds, down to my Navy retirement weight at age forty-two in 1978. It was nice not to have a stomach for a while, but life is real, isn't it, and I'm not forty-two, am I.

Still, breakfast, a hundred-calorie packet of oatmeal, two-thirds cup of water, microwave for ninety seconds, stir until thick. Because of the Yellow Zone CHF, salt is forbidden, so sprinkle liberally with No-Salt, which is pure potassium and may help replace potassium lost on the furo-forty days, but works against another pill, so WTH, Life is Good, and Every Day is a Beautiful Day.

We've been straightening up here. All heavy furniture moved inside to stay, because it's too heavy to move in and out several Times during Hurricane Season, so lots of repositioning. And the courtesy of trying to get rid of the seven years of papers that have accumulated here since we left The Old Place. Which the new owners have looking good except for closing in that upstairs double window at the back on the east side of the house. NOYB, Bubba.

Here in 7H the new wifi system seems to be working fine, except that I changed the name and now can't connect to my printers. Some recoding to figure out. In the meantime, dig out that old laptop that went to Cleveland Clinic with me nearly a dozen years ago, because it has the necessary USB port to hardwire to the printer. Look, your new super-sophisticated laptop computer is only light as a feather because all the features have been removed, eh? Half a dozen ports and the DVD player are missing, nomesane?

Stacks of old paper being assembled to feed into Linda's new shredder.

Super straightening up job looming as my study/office/den accumulates things to sort through and discard before the next generation arrives to stay.

RSF&PTL