Whatever He Says

He sits down at the breakfast table with a satisfied air and says, "As of today I'm caught up." Those of us on The Marathon of Biblical Proportions do not have to ask, "With what?" We know. "Well, at least I'm in Joshua," I reply, happy not to be trailing far behind in Deuteronomy anymore. "Joshua," he says with a smile, "Is a very long book." Groan. He picks up the Daily Light on the Daily Path, which we read together every morning, and he opens it. "Belinda," he says, shaking his head, "Those people--the leaders and the Judges--the way some of them lived....not that I'm judging.". For a moment I think that he's reading from the book and that I'm suddenly in it, but no, I soon realize that he's still talking about the Marathon. We agree that's the thing about the Bible. You can't read it thinking that God was endorsing the things his followers did. Some of them were terrible and it ma...

PART II TO CLEAVE One never knows if one is going to be the bearer of just a greeting, conversation or a delivery of some sort, of meat, as it were. Today, “Our Farmer”, as I like to call him (aka Paul) came by to deliver our meat order. And what started out as a simple conversation over why he is growing his hair, turned into a two and a half hour session of teaching, questioning and growth, for me. Let, me make it clear, that any conversation had with Paul is always deep and full of a journey. When I told my husband on the phone that he was on the way over with the meat, Frank laughed and said “Well I know you’ll have a great, long conversation about something!” And so we did. It started in Genesis 1:1 where I was challenged to study more deeply the meaning of the words "In the Beginning..." Paul has been studying the way and words of the Hebrews for years now and he and his family practice what they've learned in their daily living. He speaks of Yeshua. So we journeyed...

PART I Edith Bunker My Role Model: Who Would Have Thought My husband says Edith Bunker (married to the notoriously ignorant Archie Bunker of the sitcom All in the Family), is a perfect Christian woman. Trying with all the self control I can muster, I have decided to study the attributes of this character. At first glance she comes across as a simpering fool who tiptoes around her chauvinistic, bigoted husband squeaking out in her silly voice “O’ Archie, would you like another cup of coafeeee?”. She seems to miss all the insults he sends her way, or just waves her hand and panders to his nastiness. Yet as I find myself sucked into hating him, I also find myself somehow respecting her. In the last episode we watched, their daughter Gloria had PMS and said some horrible things to both her parents. When accused of being a doormat by her daughter, Edith spoke up and said that “No” actually she was winning over Archie by going in the kitchen to have a cup of tea, when he was being nasty. ...