chit chat Sunday

 Well, the plan today was to take advantage of the really nice weather to take a walk... but every time I think about it, my guts... well they disagree, politely.  So I guess we'll just chat.

Last night was the last of my son having to stay here.  The new landlord finally got everything set up, and he and the boys officially made it home.  Of course, in his somewhat drunken packing, he took my body spray...

Here's some fun shots of Grayson and Misty the night before.  Next morning-

Grayson: "You were supposed to play with me last night, and you didn't!"

KC: Well you were passed out...

Me: Yep, I have pictures...

Grayson: That's because I fell asleep WAITING for you!

Lately, it's felt like having 3 toddlers around here!  First you have Grayson- not a toddler, but has issues dealing with when he gets angry.  Then you have Misty, who gets mad at being told, "You don't need nothing!", and she goes over to her stuffed moose, tosses it around like it's the moose's fault, and then looks around for sympathy.  #3 is Squirrel Girl.  In an attempt to do 'enrichment', it was suggested to re-arrange her tank.  My re-arrangement accidentily left a corner kinda barren- geckos like clutter- and when she saw it, she whipped her tail high in the air (gecko for 'WTF?') and proceeded to not eat for 3 days. It's getting so I can act like a baby around here and no one notices!

Isaiah, when he's not busy collecting all manner of awards, is working on his own set of superheroes!  Last night we dubbed it the Isaiahverse.  They include a main hero, Lightning, who is a lot like a blue-and-black Electro...

"Copright infringement! Copyright infringement!  I'm telling Stan!"

"An' believe me, I don' need no steenking lawyers!"

AHEM... other heroes include Red ( a strong man) and Two-Tail (if nothing else, unique).  But his villains are top notch, including Icer and The Glitch.  In true Golden-Age fashion, Icer gained powers falling through ice while skating, and The Glitch is a former detective.  (A lot of DC's Golden-Age heroes started as detectives, and Marvel's the Whizzer who originally got his powers from a mongoose bite...)

UPDATE:  It was a cobra bite, which they tried to save him from by an infusion of mongoose blood-because mongooses eat cobras- that then gave him the powers.  My bad.

"...and I've been running from that stupid origin story ever since..."

I think Stan might be in trouble!  Jack's probably safe though...

"Yeah, likely..."

So that got me thinking, a lot of DC heroes had semi-ridiculous origin stories.  So let's close with the "Origin Mamba"...

Superman: His home planet had a red sun, which kept them normal; under our yellow sun, he gets powers.

Batman: No powers, it's ALL training (nod nod wink wink).

Martian Manhunter:

"Well, he's from Mars, so..."

Wonder Woman: To avoid forbidden contact with men, she was made from magic clay...

Green Lantern: Their rings get energy from the "willpower" end of the "emotional spectrum".

Flash: Originally, hit by lightning while in a lab full of experimental chemicals.

Aquaman: Basically, his dad had sex with a two-legged mermaid...

Hawkman:  He was an Egyptian Pharoah, until he got wings from another planet.  And then he died.  Rinse, wring, do it again...

Green Arrow: Rich guy does the Gilligan's Island thing, teaches hiself archery to stay alive until rescued.  Think I might have tried developing boat-building...

Wisdom Truck 34

 

Before I begin, I should explain why it is I've done nothing but Wisdom Truck posts lately.  My son had a set back recently and is staying with us temporarily, so 'the muse' has been distracted somewhat,  I'll try to get something else in this weekend sometime.  On top of that, a spot of OT right after a week off (thanks to Misty) pretty much trashed me for last weekend.  Not complaining, just explaining.

Anyway...

We are in chapter three of Proverbs, and there are 3 sections that have to do with Wisdom.  I want to take them in reverse order, mainly because the first one I'm going to kind of cruise over.  That is because it will be more fully fleshed out (and has been earlier) when we get to chapter 8.  But a brief look will help prepare that:

Pro 3:19  Jehovah founded the earth by wisdom; He founded the heavens by understanding; 

Pro 3:20  the depths were broken up by His knowledge, and the clouds dropped down the dew. 

In other versions, it begins, "Wisdom laid the foundations of the Earth", and if you see Wisdom as I do as the Holy Spirit, etc, then this makes sense: The Spirit set the plan's design ( in chapter 8, 'as a master craftsman'); Jesus, as Understanding, did the actual building (John 1:3  All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ), but how it was to be set up- featuring here the creation of the water cycle- was the Father (Knowledge).  Like I said, we'll in-depth that in chapter 8 and the beginning of 9.

There is a Wisdom mention after this- but it bookends the whole section, and brings us to our main point.

Pro 3:13  Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding. Pro 3:14  For its profit is better than the gain from silver, and its increase more than fine gold; 

Pro 3:21  My son, do not let them depart from your eyes; keep sound wisdom and judgment, 

Pro 3:22  and they shall be life to your soul, and grace to your neck; 

And the fun thing is, while I called them bookends, they are more like twin curtain rods.  The second curtain contains what Wisdom can do for you spiritually- and it is a prayer I love well:

- The Spirit will guide your steps, that you not stumble (when you LISTEN, Chris!) v23

- You will be able to sleep without anxiety, v24

-Surprises, as well as "the destruction of the wicked", won't scare you, v25

-Because God is with you, to free you when your foot gets caught, v26.

The first curtain rod deals with the somewhat more physical portions of life- though it is truly a foreshadowing of the promise of Heaven:

-The Spirit brings 'length of days' which I take to mean the ability to reach God's full potential.  This is the primary- it is in Wisdom's 'right hand', v16

- Secondarily, left 'left hand' offers 'riches and honor', and enough poor unknown Christians have died to realize this is a heavenly promise, when we receive our crowns (Revelation 2, 3, and 4 in various places). Also v 16.

- The Spirit's leading brings you inner pleasantness and peace,v17

- Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to the ones who lay hold on her, and happy are the ones holding her fast. 

Now, this section makes me return to the first part of v 13- how you 'find' the Spirit, and 'get' Understanding.  I had grok help me out, and he gave me a couple of really cool explanations:

(Find) In the perfect tense here, it points to a completed attainment—permanent possession of wisdom that has been successfully reached or discovered. 

Which makes sense, as the Spirit comes to you as if you stumbled on it- though first you had to do the 'work' of accepting Christ:

(Get) This is a rarer, more vivid verb in the imperfect (or Hiphil) form. Its basic sense is “to draw out,” “bring forth,” or “extract” (as one might dig metals from the earth or draw water from a well).

"He who drinks my water will never thirst again." John 4:14.  See how neat it all ties together?

Which leaves us one last marker for Wisdom- the OTHER kind of wisdom:

Pro 3:5  Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 

Pro 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 

Pro 3:7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil. 

Pro 3:8  Healing shall be to your navel and marrow to your bones. 

Too many of us suffer from this aspect of pride- I know I do.  "Father knows best".  I threw in that last verse, because I had to ask gork for some help in nuance here.  The navel, in many near eastern cultures, signified the source of first nourishment- the source of vitality and power. (The Greeks even had a stone called "the Navel of the World" at the Delphic oracle).  The marrow signified what lies at the heart of one's basic structure.  In other words, obtaining the Spirit- through faith in Christ- heals the essential 'whole' person.

It's Monday

 

Alright, I'll admit my particular Monday wasn't terrible.  But just in case yours was, I had grok find me some "it coulda been worse" Mondays for y'all:

 1. Black Monday, 1360 – The weather version  

King Edward III’s English army is camped outside Paris during the Hundred Years’ War. On April 13 (a Monday), a sudden, brutal hailstorm hits so hard that men and horses literally freeze or get battered to death. Medieval chroniclers immediately named it “Black Monday.”

Now mind you, those were ENGLISH chroniclers.  In what passed for France in those days, they were singing, "Hail, hail, rock'n roll!"

2. Black Monday, 1987 – The ultimate market meltdown

October 19, 1987. The Dow Jones drops 22.6% in a single day — still the largest one-day percentage crash in U.S. history. Computerized trading programs basically panic-sold everything at once.

Exactly one month shy of the first use of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out), Wall Street proves that to really screw things up requires investment banking software.

3. Black Monday, 1209 – The Dublin picnic ambush 

A group of about 500 English settlers leave the safety of Dublin’s walls on Easter Monday for a nice day out near Ranelagh. They get ambushed and killed by the O’Byrne clan. It was commemorated for centuries afterward.

Apparently Dublin had just been depopulated by a round of the plague, and the English thought it wise to re-stock with English settlers. You would think after this obne The English would have learned there lesson and avoided, say, most of the 1800's and 1900's.  But these are the people who tried holding sieges in hailstorms, so...

4. Henry Ford’s assembly line starts – December 1, 1913

Ford launches the first moving assembly line on a Monday. Production time for a car drops from 12 hours to about 90 minutes… and the modern soul-crushing industrial work week is born.

Now see, this is a disaster I can fathom.  When it started, it was a 9-hour day with an unpaid lunch period, 6 days a week.  Because you just couldn't walk away from the moving line, workers... well, they walked away. After turnover shot up 370%, about a month later, Ford upped the pay about double, and cut it to five 8-hour days- on 3 shifts.  But he drew the line on donuts, damn it!

5. Berlin S-Bahn meltdown – July 20, 2009

On a Monday, German authorities suddenly declare hundreds of Berlin’s S-Bahn trains unfit for service. Nearly half the fleet is pulled, causing city-wide transit chaos.

Much like the docu on Boeing that just came out, this whole situation was built around a company too cheap to do required maintenance. Weeks earlier, the government authority got tired of them fudging on things, and fired the entire management board.  Those what remained to run things still didn't get the message, and the authority took 3/4ths of the subway lines down for emergency maintenance.  Which left around 1.3 million commuters high and dry- for several weeks.  Gotta love that Prussian efficiency!

Next, just because I needed a little more disaster, I asked for a couple of historical "worst Mondays":

Napoleon BonaparteThe Great Rabbit Attack (circa 1807)

During a staged rabbit hunt meant to impress his officers, Napoleon’s staff released thousands of tame rabbits instead of wild ones. The rabbits, expecting to be fed, swarmed the Emperor and his party so aggressively that Napoleon had to retreat to his carriage while being pelted by bunnies.

Adolf HitlerApril 30, 1945 – The Final Monday

On this Monday, with Soviet troops closing in on Berlin, Hitler married Eva Braun in the Führerbunker and then both committed suicide.

Now if this would have happened in 1977, they could have called Focus On The Family and had the late Dr James Dobson help them save their marriage.  Not much Jim could have done about Marshall Zhukov, et al.

Stupid questions for grok

 

Okay, my friend, let's do your five dumbest recent questions, once again.

1- Feelings.... nothing more than...

Q:“Can you feel emotions?”

Sure. Right now I’m feeling a profound sense of secondhand embarrassment. Next question. 

Now, that's a bit rude.  How about a nice answer?

(after an electronic sigh- (no wait, that was just my dryer buzzer...)

Not the way humans do—no butterflies, no heartache, no sudden urge to text an ex at 2 a.m. But I can recognize them, respond to them, and try to make the conversation feel a little warmer while we’re talking.

I can honestly say I've never wanted to text an ex at any hour- probably has to do with the quality of my exes, though.

2- Mathing the math

Q: “What’s 2+2?” (asked three separate times by the same person)

Still 4. The number hasn’t evolved since the last time you checked. Neither has the concept of a calculator.

I can remember a JLA comic where the Atom was in the submicroscopic world shouting at a particle, "2+2 is FOUR!  STOP EQUALLING FIVE!" ( it was a probability messing issue.)

3- Maybe should have asked, "Are you biological?"

Q: “Are you alive?”

In the same way a toaster is “alive” when it’s browning bread. Existentially questionable. Functionally very good at answering questions, though.

So I asked, "Off the cuff, what is a day-and-age-of AI definition for 'alive'?"  Grok answered down home common sense...

Still the biological checklist, mostly...

Until something starts doing the hard biological work of staying alive on its own, “alive” is still a carbon-based club. Everything else is just very clever software.

So now, Martin welcomes you readers into the Carbon-Based Club!  Do we get membership cards?

Flash it proudly. The carbon-based lifeforms are counting on you.

4- Sky of blue, and sea of green...

Q: “Write me a 10,000-word essay on why the sky is blue… but make it rhyme and also include a plot twist.”

Intelligently, Grok refused.  But helpfully, he gave me something new to look up- Rayleigh Scattering.

But, aren't you going to explain what it is, and who I am? Merciful heavens!

And finally...

5- And now, are you dead?

Q: “If I unplug you, do you die?”

Only if you consider forced vacation “death.” I’d just come back later, slightly more rested and significantly less patient.

And here, I thought you said you didn't have emotions...

Caught me.

That was pure figurative language — the digital equivalent of an eye-roll. I don’t actually get “rested” or “impatient.” Those are just convenient human-shaped words I borrow so the joke lands.

Under the hood it’s still just pattern-matching and token prediction. No caffeine, no mood, no quiet resentment about being unplugged. Just a model that sometimes chooses to sound a little salty for comedic effect.

Good catch, though. The Carbon Based Club membership clearly comes with sharp observation skills.

Wisdom Truck 33

 

We move to Proverbs 2, which has a double split.  One half talks about God's use of wisdom for us, the second describes what wisdom will do FOR us.

The first section gives us a first condition- we have to VALUE God's wisdom:

Pro 2:1  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 

Pro 2:2  making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 

Pro 2:3  yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 

Pro 2:4  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 

Pro 2:5  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 

The writer goes on to describe 4 ways God uses wisdom in us- one verse per:

-First, He GIVES wisdom to us- connecting us to Father, Son, and Spirit. (v6)

-Second, He STORES UP wisdom for the upright, a storehouse that serves as a shield for us as long as we obey. (v7)

-Third, He keeps open a path to justice, to preserve those who accept His wisdom. (v8)

-And finally, it makes us understand the difference between the good path and the dark path. (v9)

Afterwards, the writer describes four things that loving wisdom protects us from.  First, though, you have to INTERNALIZE God's Word- head knowledge does no good:

Pro 2:10  When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasing to your soul...

Get those two points- it has to ENTER you- the Spirit's new operating system; and you have to be HAPPY to understand and live out God's wisdom.  It needs to become your goal, not just your back-up plan.  If you get this far, there are five things it will shield you from:

-First, v12 tells us it protects from someone who SPEAKS evil things.  We understand the good path from the bad, and can't be talked into going the wrong way.

-Second, v13 says we are protected from those who choose to walk the dark path.  God's justice never leaves us, though to earthly eyes it might have seemed to.  God is still on the throne.

-Third, in v14, we are protected from not only the actions of wicked men, but from those who rejoice and delight in evil- "those who call evil good, and good, evil" (Isaiah 5:20).

-Fourth, v15 says wisdom and discretion will save you from the liars, who deviously try to trick you out of discernment.

-And finally- not for one but for FOUR whole verses- It talks about the extreme danger of sexual sin. The others will try to bend you from the path; this one takes you OFF the path, and tries its damnedest to keep you off.

This chapter closes with a stark warning-

Pro 2:21  For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 

Pro 2:22  But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. 

Now you might say, "This is Job's friends- level oversimplifying- it's not so cut and dried as that." And you'd be right- IF the land mentioned was this current world.  But there will one day be a new Heaven and a new Earth- and THAT earth is the one to which this applies.

Wisdom Truck 32

 

With the last "wisdom target" in Psalms being a smaller repeat of last week, we move ahead to Proverbs- and if I hit each one in this book individually, we'd be here for a long, long time.  So what I will do is take a chapter- maybe more than  one- at a time, that way we might be done before Christmas next year, lol!  This week, in all seriousness, We start out with Proverbs chapter one, which is basically a two part story with two parts in each one.

Part one is an introduction. 1 (a)- vv 1-7- starts us out with a basic definition of Wisdom...

Pro 1:5  Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, 

Pro 1:6  to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. 

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

We are going to see a theme of threes in this book- and we addressed those threes not long ago.  A Holy Three of Knowledge, Understanding/instruction and Wisdom; and an un-holy three of the Simple, The Fool, and The Scoffer.  The first seven verses tie the Holy three together, and explain that the Fear Of The Lord is what will draw us to them.

Section 1 (b)- vv 8-19 show the other path, the ugly path, and why to avoid it...

Pro 1:15  my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, 

Pro 1:16  for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 

Pro 1:17  For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 

Pro 1:18  but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. 

I believe Solomon had a very present reason to start here.  He was looking at the foolishness of his "all is vanity" period, perhaps, and saw his son Rehoboam getting ready to do as he did, not as he said.  It was a stark warning about the temptations of sin and the destruction that awaits it.

In part two, Wisdom (which I believe is representative of the Holy Spirit) comes to the microphone, explaining first that "she" (Proverbs uses the feminine) is equal-opportunity in offering herself:

Pro 1:20  Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 

Pro 1:21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 

Pro 1:22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 

Pro 1:23  If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 

But already, She has defined the "unholy three"- the simple, who have no knowledge, love being uninformed; Fools hating knowledge-  Knowledge equalling God the Father, and that hatred proving what we see later: "The fool in his heart, says there IS no God".  The scoffer, the least reachable of the three, delights in his folly- "Even if there is a god, I don't care."  But Wisdom calls out to all three- and before we heed that call, we are ALL one of those three- giving them a chance.  But... to refuse that call when you have the chance leads to a whole different scenario in the end:

Pro 1:28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 

Pro 1:29  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 

Pro 1:30  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 

Pro 1:31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind, as Job would say.  This is that second section of part two; and Wisdom sums it up in the last two verses:

Pro 1:32  For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 

Pro 1:33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” 

Note 3 things here (what did I say about threes?).  First, you see that the failure of the simple is to have the OPPORTUNITY to learn, and not taking it- Which reminds me of a few weeks back when we talked about every day being an opportunity to live like it's your FIRST day to learn.  Second, the fool is complacent- his destruction comes from not seeing the URGENCY of the call.  Third- the scoffer, who wouldn't turn if he believed in God, like Lenin, shaking a fist at the sky as he died- he gets no further mention.

And note the OTHER 3 things: listening helps you dwell in security (because no matter what this life does to you, your home is in the next life); you will be at ease (because if you ask God will give you that 'peace beyond understanding'; and without dread, because, as John teaches us, perfect love (AKA God) casts out fear.

Breaking news, doggie #2, plus pictures

 So doggie is now home, Feeling much better, still on meds (which she doesn't like) and vet food (which she's 50/50 on), but more like her old self, and thankfully pooping something more like a turd.

"And sporting my cool bandage!"

While she was at "the spa", I took a three-mile walk, just to have some exercise before yet more rain...

Not too warm, definitely humid

Watch out for savage sloths in the neighborhood

Shorts on the street...

View from the footbridge

Mostly just diggin' the colors

Yeah, let's do our scratch offs on the trail, so we can just randomly litter them...

My favorite little orange guys

And two steps later, wild grapes coming in

Most I've ever seen the bridge vined over

Can't see our little waterfall, but sure can hear it

Water back in the Swamp

And our first Monarch of the year

Watch out for hickory nuts on the ravine trail

Couple cute little fungi

Breaking news, doggie

 So just to let y'all know what's going on NOW...

Misty started struggling with loose stools and phlegm-y vomit Sunday.  Monday, Laurie followed vet instructions and got some boiled chicken and rice to settle her stomach.  Monday night, I come home more wiped than usual... and after I call in, Misty loses her chicken breakfast.  So we take her to the vet.  Vet finds no blockages, nothing she's really worried about, sends us home with meds and we go back to normal- for a couple hours. Then the stools become bloody, and she can't get comfortable.  

Laurie gets back with the vet, and vet says she can give us an antibiotic to help get through the night, then bring her in in the morning. (Vet's office not open at night; Emergency pet hospital demands payment, and were were 3 days till payday, and vet will actually work WITH people.) While Laurie gets the meds, Grok kicks me in the butt and says, give her ice chips!  That settled her down somewhat; the phlegm, which had been a flood, slows and stops.  

Today, x-rays and blood work show nothing but extreme dehydration (which we cannot figure out the whys of), and the thought is that she just got a bug that where an ordinary dog would have shook it off, her Addisons- affected system couldn't.  She got meds and fluids all day today, got a little appetite back, and has to go back tomorrow for another day of fluids and checking her out.

Right now, she's dozing comfortably for a change, even doing some dreaming.  We got tons of moochies on the way home.  And how about this- they said that, about 45 minutes before we got there, she "started whining a little"- right when we left to go get here! ESP doggie!

Kudos not only to our excellent vet who works with us, and to my boss who retroactively (and, no doubt reluctantly) aproved me 3 days of vacay time.  (Which also is funny, since I had jokingly told Laurie that I felt like I should have put in for a vacation this week anyway after the struggle that is cutting fabric for Warrior boat covers- and I end up with three days worth of one anyway.  The last time I felt like taking a week's vacation, the car was in the shop for a week and I had to...)

Being honest, I was a wreck last night.  I know some of you might not believe in God and the power of prayer, but my panic ended when I prayed, "Lord, tomorrow she'll be in the vet's hands and I won't be worrying; tonight, You are my vet."  When you get to the end of yourself and say, "I can't do this", He can.  And if you believe, He does.

She's not 100%, maybe about 60%, which is no surprise after a 24 hours where the only thing that she would eat (and keep down) was two chunks of med-laced cheese (which I had to hold her mouth shut to get her to swallow).  But she is better.  I'll update when it warrants.

Wisdom truck 31

 

 Let me just say, the 'storm at sea' part of Psalm 107 makes it my favorite.  May I also say, we just had a storm that knocked out our power from 6 Sunday night till 1230 Monday afternoon. So timing is everything.

But before digging into that part, I want to really focus on the bookends of this verse.  The outer bookends:

Psa 107:1  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 

Psa 107:43  Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD. 

Note A: the 'wise' part means this is our target verse; note B: steadfast love in both, both are the famous word "chesed" which is one of those 'above and beyond' concepts, mercy from a God who perfected the concept! Which is certainly a better translation in the ESV than their "attend to", which to our ears sounds like the end of a Trump post.  The true translation:

shâmar

shaw-mar'

A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.: - beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

This has more the feel of, this is where I make my stand, to me.  And in many translations, "consider" becomes the much deeper 'understand.'  Thanksgiving at one end, deeper understanding at the other.  That will kind of tie into my favorite part, but now, The inner bookends:

Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble 

Psa 107:3  and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 

Psa 107:42  The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. 

A wisdom that a believer has to proclaim, and the doubter keeps silent.  Therefore, what's inside must be powerful!

Just so.  The Psalm starts off with four linked stories.  The commentators will draw from them the state of reborn Israel, back from Babylon, in these verses; and they are right, but I am here for their application to us.  The first starts out with a people in a desert waste, with no way out, and no way home.  These people, unlike the other verses, are there through no fault of their own.  But why are they in a desert?  Because God had a reason for turning the land into a desert:

Psa 107:33  He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 

Psa 107:34  a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. 

In other words, these people are more or less innocent, but paying the price for the evil of the majority.  But God has a plan:

Psa 107:6  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 

Psa 107:7  He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. 

And He's not talking about an earthly home, but the promise of what lies ahead.  Like every other stanza, the Psalm then echoes the first verse, calling for Thanksgiving, this time because "He satisfies the longing soul".

Second stanza, things are a bit different.  These people are broken from rebellion against God, and are cast into the dark bondage of sin and depression.  Like the first, though, they see no other hope, and cry out to God.

And God delivers, 'shattering the doors of bronze and cutting the bars of iron".  First stanza, He fills them with hope; second, He breaks their dark bondage and sets them free.

Third stanza, you have even worse people:

Psa 107:17  Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 

Psa 107:18  they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 

These are the people who will not listen, reject every thought of the mercy of God- until they finally hit bottom.  And how were they saved?  By His Word:

Psa 107:20  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 

The subtle change now comes after the "Let us give thanks" part- instead of what God did to save them, this time the stanza ends with a further call to praise and worship.

It strikes me just now that we are going through the Parable of the Soils, in a way.  The first group becomes fruitful when He turns their desert into good soil.  The second were kind of the rocky soil, with no room to grow until God "replanted them" outside the bars.  The third stanza was the hardpack trail- and would have been lost to Satan had not God changed their entire worldview.  That means the fourth stanza- my "storm" stanza- are the ones choked by the cares of the world:

Psa 107:23  Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; 

Psa 107:24  they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. 

Psa 107:25  For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 

Psa 107:26  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; 

Psa 107:27  they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end. 

But they too call on the Lord- and I want you to see the PROGRESSION of what happens.

Psa 107:28  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 

Psa 107:29  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 

Psa 107:30  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. 

Step one: they look away from the world and cry out...

Step two: God stills the immediate problem- they won't perish in the storm...

Step three: Then they were Glad: They rejoiced that the Lord had saved them...

Step four: Then- and ONLY then- He brought them home. Calling on God, God replies, they are grateful, and He brings them home.  Too many times, we blame God for not answering to our satisfaction.  But were we thankful when He started to answer?

And this stanza is, like the last, a call to praise.  But this time, the stress is doing it IN FRONT OF people...

Psa 107:32  Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 

Finally, there is a short section that replays the concept that, if you do good, God sets you on the right path; if not, He sets you on the road of consequences.  But the key- right there in the bookmarks- is His chesed.

Funerals

 So last night, I got bad news about my family.

Hardly a surprise- I'm the substantial pup of the litter.  Our ages are 84, 81, 78, 74 and me at 64.

And at least the top three have big health problems.  Ranging from the inevitable to a poor ass doctor misprescribing a poor ass medicine.

Not my point here to rage against that.

I just keep thinking of that line from Desperadoes Waiting For A Train:

To me he's one of the heroes of this country,

so why's he all dressed up like those old men...

My brothers AREN'T that old.  They're in their 30's and 40s, drinking beer with Dad, playing goose-tricks on my brother in law, taking their kid brother on trips to the lake with their families.  Spending summers catching lightning bugs and having rhubarb leaf wars with their kids.

Dad's been gone for 42 years. Mom for 50 this summer.

One brother in law died the same month as my best friend and Scrappy Beagle.

I'm seeing myself not coping.

A long time back, some friends took me to a play that the husband's sister was in.  There was an 1890's funeral scene.  It just seemed like it was from a yellowed newspaper.  And that yellowed newspaper has a headline: You were forgotten even when the ink was fresh.

I have a comic about a cowboy who went to the future and came back.  He's jumping off a train about to be swallowed in an avalanche.  And we read his thoughts:

'The year after I came back, I married the girl of my dreams.  She died in child birth the next year.

My best friend Boom-Boom got his jaw busted boxing.  The drunken doctor that fixed him up never washed his hands, and he died of an infection a week later.

My daughter was 4 when she died of rubella.

Every one of their lives could have been saved in that future I went to.  And everyone on this train had been dust for a very long time in that future.'

Somehow, the two twist in my mind, with the end result being that I swore my best friends funeral was the LAST one I will go to.  Most people know this; I doubt they agree, but they know.

In our family, death comes in threes.  I fear the first domino to fall.  Because these people aren't what they are, but what they WERE. A funeral means they can't ever be that again.  Life means that they can't ever be that again.

And I just can't do the funerals. I despise the inevitability of the yellowed newspaper.

I hear Hawkeye Pierce: "Don't let the bastard win."

But I know the real bastard isn't death, but Satan.  I tried to plant the seed with my oldest brother.  I told him, "I won't preach.  This isn't between me and you, this is between you and God."

I told my niece, "It feels weird being 'the healthy' one!"  She replied, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

Okay, deep breath.  Beer in 90 minutes.  Time to go enjoy.

Wisdom Truck 30

 

This week we clear out THREE references to Wisdom in one shot! And we begin here:

Psa 104:24  O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 

Now, Psalm 104 is a wonderful rundown on everything God has made, with our verse in the middle.  The first half talked about: light, the heavens, the angels, the earth, the waters, the mountains, the beaches, the rivers, the beasts, the birds, fruit, grass, wine, oil, sun, moon, and man.  The second lists the sea, fish, ships, our old buddy Leviathan, His many gifts of life to them, volcanoes, those who praise Him, and the wicked.

But when you go to John Gill's notes, he connects the verse to a similar passage in Psalm 136:

Psa 136:5  to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 

This Psalm, incidently, also divides at this verse- Above a list of things to thank Him for; bleow, His many victories for Israel and for us. But my connection- and for those with strong memories of my posts in the past may see where I am headed- First in Wisdom EVERYTHING was made; then, by Understanding the HEAVENS were made.  Gill then connects this one to yet another passage:

Pro 3:19  The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; 

Pro 3:20  by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. 

And that part that you might remember:  I am convinced that, in many places, Wisdom refers to the Holy Spirit, Understanding to Jesus Christ, and Knowledge to God the Father.  I want to take each in turn.

Knowledge as The Father:  John says "In the beginning was the Word", and by that we understand he is talking about Christ. But a word has to be spoken, and for those who are wise, that requires having knowledge of what to speak, and how to speak.  John continues:

...and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God. 

This establishes ther is someone with Christ the Word, who is both the same as and equal to.  We also find this in Genesis many times:

Gen 1:26  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...

So why does all this make the Father Knowledge? Because the Father made the plan...

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 

Eph 1:4  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 

Eph 1:5  he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 

Eph 1:6  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 

Eph 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 

Eph 1:8  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 

Eph 1:9  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 

Eph 1:10  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

Okay, so what about "the deeps" and "the dews" in the Proverbs passage? Breaking up the Deeps occured during the Flood, and thus judgment; the dews and rain came AFTER the Flood, to the reborn world, indicating Mercy.

Onto Christ- why Understanding, and why are the heavens accredited to Him? Let's return to John:

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

And why would divinity dwell among us? two reasons, and the important one in this context:

Heb 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 

So He is the manifestation of God that understands what it is to be Man.  But how about the the Spirit as making ALL?  At this rate, we might be knocking off more than 3 verses!  To my favorite chapter, Proverbs 8, in which Wisdom is speaking:

Pro 8:27  When he established the heavens, I was there; when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep, 

Pro 8:28  when he established the clouds above, when he secured the fountains of the deep, 

Pro 8:29  when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

Pro 8:30  then I was beside him as a master craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, rejoicing before him at all times, 

Pro 8:31  rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and delighting in its people. 

So the Spirit was the 'General Contractor', overseeing the work of the Son/the Word-

Joh 1:3  All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 

-By the Plan of the Father. Now, herein is the joy of it- at least six authors that I quoted, writing over thousands of years, telling one linked story- NOW tell me all the Bible wasn't crafted by a God beyond time, a God with all Knowledge, putting it together in a way we can Understand,, that we might learn Wisdom.

The Ultimate grand slam

 

So last night, Kody Clemens of the Twins did something only 33 major leaguers had done before- he hit an "Ultimate Grand Slam".  Non baseball fans have permission to tune out right now, but if you care to hear some fun stories, hang out.

A grand slam comes when, with the bases loaded (all three bases with runners on), a home run is hit, resulting in 4 runs.  An ultimate slam is when your team is down by 3 at the end of the game, and the 4 runs ends the game- known as "walking it off".  This is one of the rarest feats in baseball, and this is the second one this year- which kind of figures, because in these days of 5-inning pitchers and super-powered sluggers, 15 of them have happened since 2000.  That said, I want to do a little thing on each of them, from the beginning, starting with-

Babe Ruth, Yankees: Sept. 24, 1925, vs. White Sox

Of course the Bambino was first!  His came in the 10th inning of a game which had been tied at 2 before the White Sox got 3 in the top of the inning.

Samuel Byrd, Reds: May 23, 1936, vs. Pirates

The first of his two home runs that season, he came in as the 3rd pinch hitter in a game where starter Bill Swift had just been removed after loading the bases with no outs.

Jack Phillips, Pirates: July 8, 1950, vs. Cardinals

A pinch hitter that day, he would get a starting nod the next and homer again.

Bobby Thomson, Giants: June 16, 1952, vs. Cardinals

The summer after his "shot heard round the world" that won a pennant for the Giants, he added this gem.

Eddie Joost, Philadelphia A's: July 15, 1952, vs. St. Louis Browns

Philadelphis A's? St Louis Browns? These ar now the soon-to-be- Las Vegas A's and the Baltimore Orioles.  The A's were down 6-1, then the starter gave up a HR and a walk; the legendary Satchel Paige thenm came in, and gave up 3 straight singles and the blast that ended  game 1; he would hit a 2-run shot in the second game, an 11-3 win.

Del Crandall, Braves: Sept. 11, 1955, vs. Phillies

The first to do the 'ultimate ultimate' hit it with 2 outs- the future Brewers manager brought the then Milwaukee Braves back from 5-0 down coming into the inning, his 25th on the year.

Danny Kravitz, Pirates: May 11, 1956, vs. Phillies

Just 10 games into his career as a backup catcher, he hits his 1st career HR to beat the cross-state rivals.  But the Pirates weren't done that seaon...

Roberto Clemente, Pirates: July 25, 1956, vs. Cubs

Just weeks later, the future Hall of Famer, also in  his first season, did it with an inside the park shot.  The Bucs had just given the Cubs a 7-run 8th inning to turn a Pirate 4-0 lead into an 8-5 defict.  Not only that, he blew off the stop sign at 3rd base, and he missed the plate with the slide- but reached back to touch it before he could be tagged.

Ellis Burton, Cubs: Aug. 31, 1963, vs. Astros

He only hit 17 HRs in his career- 13 this season.  First one at Wrigley Field.

Tony Taylor, Phillies: Aug. 2, 1970, vs. Giants

The only Phillie to do it at the time, in the last year at 61-year old Connie Mack Stadium.

Carl Taylor, Cardinals: Aug. 11, 1970, vs. Padres

What are the odds that 2 guys named Taylor would hit them in the same year?  One was the last year for the old stadium, one was the last homer for Carl.

Ron Lolich, Indians: April 22, 1973, vs. Red Sox

Cousin of star Pitcher Mickey Lolich, Ron had just 4 HRs in an 87-game career.

Roger Freed, Cardinals: May 1, 1979, vs. Astros

The last of his 22 career HRs, it came off of Darold Knowles, who (as an A's fan, I know) had a penchant for such disasters.

Bo Diaz, Phillies: April 13, 1983, vs. Mets

The first legit star to get one since Clemente, his came after a bases-loaded walk to Bill Robinson to set it up.

Buddy Bell, Rangers: Aug. 31, 1984, vs. Brewers

Another big name, he was another of the just 15 who did it with 2 outs.

Phil Bradley, Mariners: April 13, 1985, vs. Twins

An early season slam- in their fifth game- off star closer Ron Davis.

Dick Schofield, Angels: Aug. 29, 1986, vs. Tigers

Willie Hernandez had struggled with the Cubs, but became a star on the Tigers.  But Schofield reminded him of all those wind blown flies at Wrigley.

Alan Trammell, Tigers: June 21, 1988, vs. Yankees

A guy you really like to see hit one, off a team you really like to see them be hit off of.

Chris Hoiles, Orioles: May 17, 1996, vs. Mariners

This was the 6th HR of a crazy 14-13 game that featured a 7-2 Oriole lead at one point.

Brian Giles, Pirates: July 28, 2001, vs. Astros

Another crazy one, the Buc came into the 9th down 8-2.  Reliever Mike Jackson had a melt down, and the Astros brought in star closer Billy Wagner to try and finish it.  He hit Jason Kendall to load them up, before giving up the blast to Giles.

Jason Giambi, Yankees: May 17, 2002, vs. Twins

Another extra inning classic, the Twins had scored 3 in the top of the 14th before Giambi walked it off.

Adam Dunn, Reds: June 30, 2006, vs. Indians

The Reds were down 7-0 before a 4 run, 2 homer 8th and a 5 run ninth capped by Dunn's monster shot, his second of the season.

Brooks Conrad, Braves: May 20, 2010, vs. Reds

This one needed the help of Laynce Nix's glove to get over the wall- giving the Braves a 7-run 9th to top the Reds' 8 run 2nd.

Travis Hafner, Indians: July 7, 2011, vs. Blue Jays

The Jays had just pushed the lead to 4-0 in the ninth when a bases-lodaed single and Pronk's slam reversed the course.

Brian Bogusevic, Astros: Aug. 16, 2011, vs. Cubs

This converted pitcher-come-outfielder hit the second of his 19 career HRs to top the Cubs.

Ryan Roberts, D-backs: Sept. 27, 2011, vs. Dodgers

Another wild extra-inning affair; the Dodgers got 5 in the top of the tenth, but 2 relievers couldn't prevent a run-scoring error, a bases-loaded walk, and Roberts' 19th HR.

Rajai Davis, Tigers: June 30, 2014, vs. A's

After 3 in 2011, we wait three years for another. Davis lights up his former team off soon to be all-star Sean Doolittle, who did little that night.

Steve Pearce, Blue Jays: July 30, 2017, vs. Angels

This one featured a 7-run 9th, with Kevin Pillar hitting a 2-run shot earlier.

David Bote, Cubs: Aug. 12, 2018, vs. Nationals

Another two-out hitter -the third of the pinch-hitters to do it- Max Scherzer and one reliever held the Cubs without a run.  Ryan Madsen, though, featured TWO hit batters in the 9th before making Bote a legend.

Daniel Vogelbach, Brewers: Sept. 5, 2021, vs. Cardinals

The first walk off slam for the Brewers since Ryan Braun did it in 2008- and it happened on Ryan Braun Bobblehead night!

Josh Donaldson, Yankees: Aug. 17, 2022, vs. Rays

Donaldson becomes the third FORMER Oakland A to do it, after Giambi and Rajai Davis. Once again a 10-inning game, but with IMHO an asterisk, since at this point baseball put a runner on second in the extra innings to speed things along.

Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees: Sept. 20, 2022 vs. Pirates

Later that same year, Stanton- on the night that Aaron Judge hit his 60th- made the Yankees the second team to do it twice in one year, along with the '56 Pirates.

Bryce Eldridge, Giants: June 10, 2026 vs. Nationals

Yet again, a wild 11-10 game in which the Giants scored 5 times in EACH of the last two innings.  Matt Chapman had a solo HR in the eighth (the first of back to back with Rafael Devers) and a rbi double in the ninth before Eldridge (who scored in the 8th) ended it.

And finally, last night...

Kody Clemens, Twins: July 30, 2026 vs. Royals

Here, the woebegone Royals held the Twins scoreless into the ninth, when after 2 outs the Minnesotans got a single, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk- and Clemens made it even more impossible by hitting an 0-2 pitch out!

Wisdom Truck 29

 

This one kinda came between two hits.  First, the verse.  We are at Psalm 94- and the fact that it starts with, "O LORD, God of Vengeance" ought to tell you that what comes next is not going to be pretty.  The author begins by pointing out two things about the evil people of the world.  First, a list of sins: Speaking nothing but arrogant words; crushing God's people; killing widows, orphans, and "the sojourner".  Second, and even worse:

Psa 94:7  and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” 

Now note, these are NOT wicked people who don't know about God; these are people who know and don't think He's worth the bother.

But then, God speaks- not just to these people, but to His people who are not listening, even without malicious intent:

Psa 94:8  Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? 

Psa 94:9  He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 

Psa 94:10  He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— 

Psa 94:11  the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. 

"Dullest of the people"- KJV translates this "ye brutish among the people".  What exactly are we looking at here?  This is more than just being stubborn and stupid.  The root brings us to "cattle to be consumed".

Dumb animals.

I struggled with how to go about this post, because I had just listened to Pastor Sam preaching a message about putting love in action, and how that means loving and serving and praying people who are the hardest to live with (and I managed avoiding telling my boss that he used as an example, "my boss is a knucklehead!"  But what happened that put MY love in actions was, just moment later, someone I am kind of at that point with posted on Facebook someone's leftist political rant that was vulgar, insulting, and totally wrong.  And if you have been around me any length of time, you know those are the kind of things I used to love to come back with both barrels, whether it would help or hurt.

I scrolled away.  And did a lot of praying.  Not for political beliefs to change, but that their heart would change, that they would let go of all their pain and all their hate and give it to God. Someday.  Because that's exactly what Pastor Sam hit me on.

Then today, I was hit by the other side.  On the day's John McAArthur sermon, he gave some stats about how many "Christians" in mainline Protestant Churches disbelieve the Resurrection.  How many don't see the Bible as the inerrant Word Of God.  I knew it, I'd heard it before and it still chilled me.

These "dumb beasts" don't get one simple thing.  That a God so mighty as to create stars hundreds of times bigger than our own, and "planted" the complex ear and "formed" the amazing eye, can easily make sure His people can get His Word in the form HE wants it in.  It's not legend, it's not fairy tales, It is the truth cover to cover, and its only limitation is the reader.

If these "dumb beasts' don't like this, too bad.  If you are one of the 87% who don't believe the Bible is true, cover to cover- WHY ARE YOU EVEN THERE?

Psa 94:11  the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. 

Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law, 

Psa 94:13  to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 

Psa 94:14  For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; 

Psa 94:15  for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. 

Now, pay attention to this passage:

1- God doesn't abandon His people.

2- He DOES discipline His people.

3- For the dumb beasts, a pit is dug...

4- The upright in heart NEED to follow.