The Necklace

-
Image
  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

"I want it THAT way"

-
I want to be perfectly, 100%, completely and truly honest here. I only skimmed Exodus 26-28. I did not read it. I skimmed it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read it before, I know what it says, but I did not read it.

Pretty boring stuff, right? If there was a “Better Homes and Gardens” channel of the Ancient Near East, this is it. I would crack a Martha Stewart joke here, but it’s just not the same anymore . . . thanks, Martha.

How to make curtains from linen and goats’ hair.
How to make boards and sockets.
How to make a veil and a screen.
How to make a bronze altar.
How to make a court.
How to make clothes for priests.

I mean, c’mon. I must have yawned about half-way through the first paragraph of the first chapter-skim.

Then I got convicted.

This is not “The Idiots’ Guide to Porta-Churches”.
This is not Extreme Temple Makeover.

These are the way God wants it done. These are God’s instructions to build what He wants built. These are His blueprints, His plan, His color selection . . . He even chose the appliances and the uniforms for those who will work there.

These are God’s instructions on how to make and shape and cut and cover and drape and paint and dress. He tells what kind of oil to put in the lamps, how to hang the drapes, how to dress.

This is the way God wants it done.

Isn’t that how it is, though? God says something and we yawn, we jump ahead, we pray a little faster (Oh, God, you know our hearts). God tells us what He wants and we shrug it off . . .

What happens if the Israelites took short-cuts, missed a step? One almost dare not think of it.

God was coming to live in their midst. The tent was small and the outer covering was ugly and the inside was the dwelling for the uncontainable.

Sounds like me—ugly on the outside, dwelling place of the most High God . . .

And I skip steps in life.

If you need me, I’ll be over here . . . reading . . . making certain God is satisfied.

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Me, Epictetus!

-
Image
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8 
Read more

The Smooth-flowing Life

-
Image
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
Read more