Scattered Thoughts

You know what people do when they're snowed in? Check blogs. My site-meter report for the day of the big storm last week was unbelievably high. LOL!

We were talking about the story of David and Bathsheba the other day. 2 Samuel 23 tells us that Uriah was one of David's "thirty chief men." That shows some of the political seriousness of what David did, and how desperately he thought he needed to cover up his sin.

A discovery made during church yesterday -- A pastor with significant tinnitis doesn't notice when the microphones and speakers go haywire. He thinks the unbearable sounds coming out of the sound-system are just in his head, part of his malady. What does a congregant do in that case? Stand up and shout, "Would you PLEASE turn that thing off"?

I'm just loving this Chris fella on American Idol. Not only is he one of the really good singers, but he's witty and funny and enjoyable. If he stays on, I'm afraid I'm going to get hooked on this season, no matter how hard I'm trying to stay away from the tv when the show is on.

It drives me nuts when smart, intelligent children decide that they're "dumb" and don't "get math." And then they freak themselves out, sit there and stare at a math problem like a deer struck by car headlights, and bemoan their wretchedness for having gotten plagued by a mother who thinks they're actually capable of doing a little math. Good grief, it gets so much easier once they pay attention to the math book instead of focusing on the litany of how "this is too hard."

The Quinquagesima epistle (this last Sunday) was from 1 Corinthians 13 and said "Love bears all things." The preceding Sunday's epistle was from 2 Corinthians 11 where Paul was sarcastically telling the folks from Corinth that, although they bore with the false prophets who put them into bondage, he was too weak for that. I've been puzzling over that for four days now. And I'm beginning to think that the answer has something to do with the preceding line in 1 Corinthians 13: "love rejoices in the truth." Doesn't seem like a person could rejoice in true doctrine and still bear with false prophets.

There is no yeast in this house. I had started making the pizza and there was no yeast. No yeast?? Eeeks! I just bought yeast a few weeks ago. I finished the little jar last time I made bread, and that was the next-to-last jar. I remember seeing the pound of yeast sitting on the shelf, next to the jello. It's not there now. Had to switch over to the beer crust for the pizza. Better flavor, but worse texture. Oh well, if that's all you've got, then that's what you eat.

When I was in town doing paper route yesterday, there were birds singing and twittering!

On the subject of "trying to be good" (agaaaaain), it crossed my mind this week that there is a significant difference in connotation between "trying to be good" and "desiring to be good."

Also on that subject, I have often been told that it's only works-righeousness if a person thinks his good works are earning salvation, earning heaven. But Pastor mentioned something in passing this week about how it's wrong to believe that good works are "meritorious" -- that is, that our good works will earn a reward from God. (Wouldn't that include rewards that are "lesser" than salvation?)

Pr Petersen has a post on the 1801 election of Jefferson. I found it quite interesting because the boys and I are studying that period of American history right now. But what really tops off the analogy to synodical politics is Pr Weedon's quote from St Gregory Nazianus.

It drives me nuts when the kids mumble. They don't speak clearly, and they don't project their voice, and then they get perturbed with me if I didn't hear what they said. Good grief, it takes so much work and effort and concentration to hear them when they slip into these lousy vocalization habits. It must be very draining for people who are losing their hearing to try to grasp something of the conversation going on around them. I was getting a headache yesterday from trying to hear what these two were saying -- as they were talking at the same time about entirely different subjects (one bemoaning math) at the same time that I was trying to remedy the pizza-crust snafu.

I always used to wonder how Mary Magdalene knew to anoint Jesus for His burial (John 12). It finally dawned on me that He told her. He told them all. He told them all repeatedly. For example, prior to the Transfiguration, He told them what was coming up in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21). And then in last Sunday's Gospel (Luke 18:31-33) He told them all about it again, just a few days before Mary anointed Him. Whereas I used to think it was odd that Mary knew, now it seems odder yet that the apostles didn't know.

And to conclude, my friend Anthea is hosting the second annual International Tiara Day. It's scheduled for March 1. I think I'm too old and frumpy and have lost too much of my goofiness to join the 20-somethings in this. But I guess I'm still young and goofy enough to be considering it. :-) I've got a week to decide.