Wednesday Bible Study: Abraham plank by plank part IX

 

If you thought I had confused you before, pull up a chair!  Often, God teaches me what I need to know through the connectivity of the Bible, and you are about to see how that works for me.  You see, I have a morning routine of Bible reading- A chapter starting from the beginning of the Bible, a chapter in Psalms, and a chapter in the prophets.  With God there are no coincidences, and I knew something was up when I simultaneously reached the back halves of both Exodus (where God takes several chapters discussing the building of the Tabernacle) and Ezekiel (where He spends several chapters describing Ezekiel watching an angel "measuring" the Temple to come when Jesus rules on Earth.  This stuff- unless you are a detail nerd- is heartbreakingly boring, but I knew there was a point.  And that there was a point was virtually shouted to me when I hit the end of each the same morning.  I don't want to exhaust your good will by describing what happened in detail, but let me show you just one verse each from the two chapters:

Actually, one chapter shy of the end in Exodus: Exo 39:30  And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 

And Ezekiel: Eze 48:35  It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there. 

So I found myself having to parse through these stories to see what He was telling me.  The first thing was, "Ezekiel is your attention-getter.  The meat is in Exodus"

Second, He had me take apart the whole story of the making of the Tabernacle, and it comes down to this:

-God had the plan from the beginning.  You get that concept because He showed the layout to Moses- just like He showed (in measured detail) the Heavenly Temple to Ezekiel.

- God anointed a messenger, Moses, to bring God's Word to the people, as he would Ezekiel later.

- God placed the idea in Moses' brain so vividly, he forgot not one detail, and his explanation was carried out as if the workers had seen it, too.

- God gave them the materials to build the Tabernacle, when He had them "plunder" Egypt when they left.

- God put the generosity in their hearts to give the resources- much more than enough- to build it.

- God gifted the craftsmen the ability to make the intricate details.

- God made sure the name of each tribe was inscribed on the gems of the Ephod, placed in His order.  Thus not only including everyone, but making sure they knew it was by HIS arrangement, so there would be no fighting over 'pecking order'.

-And finally, God through Moses blessed the outcome.

And the Ezekiel connection?  Not once is it said anything about any hand of man working on this Temple.  Like all the abilities it took to build the Tabernacle, God GAVE IT.

So what, pray tell, does this have to do with Abraham- or us?  Here we go.

The 13 years are up and God makes two visits to Abram.  The first was just God's voice.  It was a renewing of all the promises God had made previously.  But this time, Abram had grown deep enough in faith to be able to question God- plus, while having a kid at 86 was a stretch, having one at 99 seemed impossible.  But God not only assured him, He added a sign- every male was to be circumsized. Then, a second sign- He changed their names.

To me, I believe this first was God's way of showing Abram, "Do not be afraid to cast off flesh- I AM not flesh, and My Word is more than flesh.  The second symbolized a change in their positions.  Abram meant "High father", a term that gave glory to Abram. He became Abraham- "Father of a Multitude"- a feat that would take a miracle of God.  Likewise Sarai, which meant basically, "dominant", was switched to Sarah- a "noble lady".  

Less than a month later (according to the Book of Jubilees), they were visited by "three men"- who as the story goes, were actually Christ Himself in bodily form, with two angels.  This is where we had that little happening with Sarah we talked about a few weeks ago:

Gen 18:12  So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 

Gen 18:13  The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

Gen 18:15  But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 

One can only suppose Abraham chuckled to himself here, as God had already told him the child's name would be Isaac- which means "laughter".

But there is something else here.  Sarah basically said in v12, "To have a child, you have to have sex.  And look at us!  We're about dead, why would we have sex?"  Note that the LORD did not say, the power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, like He had the angel tell Mary.  He just said, "You're gonna have a kid."  But there's a way this makes sense.  Consider, Two things happen before the story of Isaac's birth- and one of them is Abraham repeating his deception of Pharaoh with King Abimelech.

Gen 20:1  From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 

Gen 20:2  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 

Why would Abimelech take Sarah, a 90-year old lady too "worn out to have pleasure"?  Because she was HOT again- at least as much as she was back in Egypt.  I believe God turned back the aging process for these two- something I never considered before, and I apologize for earlier speculations.  Think about it- she's going to need her breasts to nurse Isaac ( I kinda doubt she'd pass the job off to Hagar), not to mention energy enough to raise him.  Annnd... we have the evidence of Abimelech hitting on her to confirm.

Just one more little item to add to this story before I tie everything together.  As the "three men" started to leave, and Abraham, being the good host, saw them off, the Lord muses about whether He should tell Abraham the REST of the reason for their visit- the destruction of the evil cities of the Plain.

Gen 18:17  The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 

Gen 18:18  seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 

Gen 18:19  For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 

What do I hope to tie in here?  That God is inclusive to those who love Him.  That's why He has us pray, even though "He knows what we need before we ask".

Okay, so let's go back to what we learned in Exodus.

- God had the plan from the beginning; it grew in detail as Abraham gained in faith, but it never changed.

-God had called the man who was to set the plan in motion- Abraham.

- God took the time to build this plan into Abraham SO completely, he never even blinked later on when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac.

- God provided everything Abraham and Sarah needed to complete the plan- including, I believe, restored youth.

- God had, just as David described in Psalm 139, knew and patterned Isaac all along, "written in your book and planned before a single one of them began".  God gave their bodies the ability and the gifts to "make" Isaac, and I think this is important.  Like the goldsmith Bezalel and his learned crafts, the happy couple were born with the ABILITY to have children- but it was the GIFTS- skill to Bezalel, youth to Abraham and Sarah- that made it happen.

-God had it planned from the start that EVERYONE would be included in His plan- and in HIS order.  Thus, Abraham is the Father of MANY nations- not just Jews.  Remember what John the Baptist said to the self-righteous Jews:

Mat 3:9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 

- And finally, God blessed Abraham for his faith, by sharing a confidence about what was about to happen to Sodom and Co.

And what does Chris and his readers pull out from all this?  Two big things.  One, God has our lives in His hands- planned out to the most intricate detail.  If you don't believe me, I dare you, go ahead and wade through the ends of Exodus and Ezekiel.  Or, you might just read this:

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

And two:  It's all GIFTS FROM GOD!  Oh, we might have to do our part here and there- like Abraham and Sarah apparently did ;)- but any skill we did it with, any material we used in it, and any plan we devised- it came as a gift from the God that loves us.

Next up: Shake and bake in Sodom...

M10 show week #152

 

You are looking live at a just being typed M10 show, live from cold Indiana!  I just wasn't at the point last night to do it and save it, so...

Elvis:  Okay, we get it, boss!  Let's get on with it!  It's entirely to early to be a-preachin' here...

Not to mention it's only 13 minutes before release time!  Okay, we are in 1972 this week, AND we have 2 debuts to play!  Fire up the first one!

Yeah, returning ta the countdown fer the 13th time, here's new Lucius...

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Thank you, sir!  And now... 

Ya got 9 minits...

Thank you Guy Fieri!  As I was trying to say, we are in target year 1972, where Al Green holds the top spot with Let's Stay Together- a tune that made a peak of 19 in Australia, but a shocking #43 in Canada!  In Australia, we had Benny Hill's Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West (which I always seem to have the luck of hitting on these things), and in Canada we have Don McLean's American Pie- which had been #1 2 weeks ago here and would be #1 IN 2 weeks in Australia!

There's timin' fer ya!  Speakin' of timin', how 'bout that other debut?

Timing is right, because I didn't know these guys were even still around since 1980's Turning Japanese!  But here they are with brand new stuff- and all the way up at #5- the Vapors....

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Ya think we c'n git-r-dun in 2 minits?

No, and don't worry it!  I'm sure no one is waiting with bated breath for this at their keyboard, waiting for our latest antics.

Say, you shoulda AIed the beginning, with you an' Brent Musberger!

I tried, but I ended up looking like the Capitol One ad man, Brent looked like his own grand kid- although Grok did his best job yet on Misty...

Haw, what a mess!  I only got Noodle last week by asking fer "a bald guy"!

Anyway, here's what else we need to talk about this week in 1972.  There were 4- count 'em, four- songs that moved up 13 spots, but the only one I really knew was the Supremes 2.0 and Floy Joy at #22.  Second was Paul Simon's Mother And Child Reunion climbing 15 to #33.  It would hit 5 in Australia and Canada, 4 here.  And the biggest mover is someone on our countdown this week- up 21 spots from 39 to 18...

... Neil Young's Heart Of Gold!  A #1 across North America, it would make #14 in Australia.

For me, with American Pie on the way down, I would probably have had the #4 song this week for my favorite- the Carpenters and Hurting Each Other, a #2 across the north and a #4 to the south.  Okay, give me the rest of the M10!

Got it!

9 and slipping a spot- Shannon and the Clams with Wax and String.

8 and up 2, Shilpa Ray an' Portrait Of A Cat Lady.

7- an' up 2, Maggie Rogers an' So Sick Of Dreaming.

6- an' holdin' Japanese Breakfast an' Kokomo, IN.

4- the former #1, Geowulf an' Stay Baby.

3- an' holdin' Neil Young an' Tell Me Why.

2- Up 2 fer Matt Berry an' Silver Rings.

And that makes the new #1- his second on the M10, both posthumously-

...Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers an' Never Be You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes! 22 minits late!

We're in a Tardis!  Either no one will ever know, or it'll seem normal...

Wednesday Bible Study: Abraham plank by plank part VIII

 

Gen 3:6  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

You might ask me, "Why are you tripping back to the Adam and Eve story?  You're supposed to be doing Abraham and Sarah!"  And the answer is, in many ways it's the same story.  And in many ways, it's different.  The idea was given me as I listened to a pastor describing the Eve story, but I had missed the beginning.  As he described the Eve story, pointing out that the deception was what Eve fell to, but the SIN was Adam's because he had been taught better- I was thinking, "Yes, that's exactly right- Abram knew better, and yet he went along with Sarai."  And it was a mild shock when the pastor 'revealed' he was telling the earlier story.

So what story was I thinking of?

Gen 16:1  Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 

Gen 16:2  And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 

Abram had been told by God that he would be the father of many nations- that a son of his own flesh would be the bridge to that.  And he had no doubt explained that to Sarai.  Because Abram was the head, the 'priest', if you will, of his family of two; He was God's go-between on earth.  And while God had told him the future plan, and he had told it to her, God didn't explicitly say, "from Sarai."  God assumed Abram knew-

Gen 2:24  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 

Thus, what God said to one, applied to BOTH.  Sarai, his wife, was to be that mother.  But just like Eve, whose misinterpretation of what God told Adam gave her the 'loophole' to try the fruit, Sarai thought that leaving her name out was the loophole she needed to speed the Lord's plan up.  Was this a sin?  No, this was a cultural thing; Sarai had deceived herself that it didn't HAVE to be miraculous.  And the man, the priest of the family?

...and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

 ....And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 

Abram should have said, "No, but the Lord is not asking this thing..." just like Adam should have.  And of course, in Adam and Eve's story, because Adam did not stand up for what he KNEW from God, things got a lot worse, for them and all of us.  Same thing in Abram's story...

Gen 16:4  And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 

Gen 16:5  And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 

(Before I go on with Abram's story, let me connect something as a sidelight:  How was Abram's mistake one that made things worse for ALL of us?  Because the child Hagar bore was Ishmael, and because Abram would later pray that Ishmael would become a mighty nation, the Lord granted the request.  Ishmael would become the Arab nations, the Arabs invented Islam... I think you see the point.)

Note that the reaction was much the same in the Abram story as it was in the Adam story- except that, with no Serpent in the picture (physically), Sarai blamed Abram.  And Abram, did he not 'pass the buck' on to the woman?

Gen 16:6  But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. 

Once again, Abram copped out of the situation.  But God wasn't about to let them escape the consequences:

Gen 16:7  The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 

Gen 16:8  And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 

Gen 16:9  The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 

Thus, Abram and Sarai were forced to live with the fruit of their sin ever before them, at least for a time.  And the chapter- Genesis 16, makes the point that Abram was now 86 years old.  But chapter 17 begins-

Gen 17:1  When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram...

Wow, what happened to those 13 years?  I'll tell you.

Remember the old joke page that used to go around, the "Attaboy Award"?  It praised all your hard work and dedication, and told you that collecting 1,000 of them would bring you fame, riches, etc.  And in fine print on the bottom, it said:

Caution:  One AWSHIT wipes out all collected Attaboys.

And so too with Abram.  Remember way back at the beginning of our journey, I mentioned how the 13 years Abram wasted with his family in Haran would be repeated here?  God had to start over to repair the damage Abram did to the Abraham He was building, starting with that 13 years.

So we really get three lessons from all this.

-First, The man of the family needs to be the "priest of the family", and not just go along with whatever seems convenient to the time.  He needs to be faithful to God.

-Second, don't expect God's forgiveness, which He freely gives through Jesus, to include escaping the consequences of the sin.

-Third, If you ever want God to 'finish' building you in some area, STOP knocking down what He's building!  Another lesson I need tattooed on my eyeballs.

M10 show week #151

 

Now listen, Noodle.  The boss has been havin' some trouble with inspiration, so we's gonna do the show for him this week...

N: The name, sir, is Nardole.  N-A-R-...

E: Let's not go through that whole bit agin, comprende?  I got all his notes, so just hit the buttons like I tell ya.  An' don't call me sir!  Gits me itchin' like a cat on a fuzzy tree...

N:  I've heard that somewhere...

E: So this week we's in 1973, an' before we get started on that, we got 2 new debuts.  An' the one at # 10  is her 6th time on the chart, though it's been a while.  Here's Shilpa Ray...

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N:  Well, that went well...

E: Yew just push the buttons, Noodle, an' we'll be fine...

N: Yes sir!

E: NO! Not...

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E: ...yet.  Well, that there was the other debut at #9, Maggie Rogers an' So Sick Of Dreaming.

N: Sir, who are the Knicks?

E: Never mind.  Now I gotta do the go-back to 1973.  #1 here in the US of A was Elton John and Crocodile Rock...

N: Do I need to hit a button, sir?

E: NO!  Just siddown till I get to ya.  Australia had this hit #2, but Canada agreed with us.  Canada this week, though, had Edward Bear and Last Song at the top...

N: My word!  A real bear?

E: No, Noodle!  This song hit 3 here an' 2 in Australia.  Now, Australia had Lobo- no, he's wasn't a real wolf, Noodle- with I'd Love You To Want Me at the top this week, which was a uni... una...

N: Unanimous?

E: Yeah, thanks, no wonder the boss just says, "across the board #1"!  Now, Chris found three songs from this week'n '73 that moved up double ditches...

N:  Do you mean, 'double digits'?

E: Is THAT what he's been sayin' all this time?  Yeah, so they were 12- spot moves for two songs. One was the Moody blues with I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock'N'Roll Band), up to 35 this week.  It was a peak of 39 in Australia, 16 in Canada, an' 8 on Cashbox.  The other'n was Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly, landing at 27.  It wuz another "across the board" #1.

An' the... what now, Noodle?

N:  How does one kill someone softly, sir?

E: She used the durn bear, ya idjit!  An' the big mover, up 14 to #15- was the Dueling Banjos theme from Deliverance.  It would hit 2 in North America an' 3 in Australia... yes, Noodle?

N: What is a "Deliverance"?

E: Yer too young fer that.

N: Sir, I am an android who has travelled extensively across time and space.  Age is not a concept that applies to me!

E: Don' matter.  Yer still too young.  Now just go ahead an'  read off this here list of the rest of the M10- and quick, before the boss comes in an' catches us...

N:  Very well.  May I just say I am honored that you are allowing me this task, and I...

E: Read. The. List.

N:Yes, sir!

8- Shannon and the Clams move up 2 with Wax And String.

7- The Heavy Heavy down 1 with Miracle Sun.

6- Japanese Breakfast with Kokomo, IN, down 3.

5- Hana Vu holds at 5 with Care.

4- Matt Berry up 5 with Silver Rings.

3- Neil Young up 1 with Tell Me Why.

2- Tom Petty holding at 2 with Never Be You.

And, holding at the top:

...Geowulf and Stay Baby!!!!!!!

E:  You idjit!  He ain't with the band anymore!  Ya gotta ask for a picture with just her!

N: Yes, well, how do I...

WHAT are you two doing in here?

E:  Boss, we did the show fer ya!  Perty good job too, I think...

Yeah, well, you two vamoose while I review this and see what  kind of damage you did to the brand.

E:  No prob, boss, you'll like it!  C'mon, Noodle...

N:  Sir, what DO the Japanese have for breakfast?

E: (sigh) Prolly bear....

Wednesday Bible Study: Abraham plank by plank part VII

 

Very briefly, I am going to jump 15 years ahead in our story, give or take...

Gen 18:13  The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

Because this is the point of what comes next.  Now, revert back to where we were, to a time where God and Abram come to an understanding...

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 

Now, Abram has heard this before; but water has gone under the bridge, and he knows the NORMAL time for these things is running out; so, he questions God...

Gen 15:2  But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 

But God goes on to do a lot of sharing in this encounter.  Why is this time different?  Because of one change of heart:

Gen 15:4  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 

Gen 15:5  And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 

Gen 15:6  And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 

God said the word- and now, when it was becoming (but not yet) impossible, he truly believed God could still do this, and "it was accounted to him for righteousness"- just as our faith gives us Christ's righteousness in our account!  The sacrifice Jesus would make so far in Abram's future now covered him, because he believed God could do the impossible.  And God was going to test that faith, and make things MORE impossible!  But now, with Abram firmly in God's hands, God was willing to do MORE...

Gen 15:7  And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 

Gen 15:8  But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 

What follows is a strange-to-us ceremony, to seal a covenant, in which God both proposes the deal, and seals it in His own Name, to assure Abram that what he said WOULD occur.  And after that, God gives word of the future nation Abram would sire...

Gen 15:13  Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 

Gen 15:14  But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 

Gen 15:15  As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 

Gen 15:16  And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 

And God was good to his word.  After 30 years with Joseph, the Israelites would remain in Egypt another 400 years..

Exo 12:40  The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 

Exo 12:41  At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 

But back to our focus on Abram.  So he had his "deal" with God (in quotes because was both the initiator and the guarantor), and it was time to await that child!  But there was yet 2 things God had to deal with before that happened.  One, as I have mentioned, God wanted to make it TRULY impossible.  Two, He had to deal with Sarai's lack of faith...

Gen 16:2  And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 

Next time, I will look at how this was not "Abram being taught not to listen to his wife", but Sarai being built into the mother of Abram's many nations...

Monday pictures

 I only have 2 days to share, I'm really getting over winter at this point.  Anyway...

My calendar tells me this was last Monday night...

...the first day it was worthwhile to sit in that yard chair, and of course it's now gone

Plenty of people and doggies taking advantage of the weather- it won't last

We had about half the river unfrozen

From the Big Hill

Saturday, we had to get it in quick- Ice storm on the way

Somebody lost a combo lock

The robins' hideaway bar

Oreo and Dad were way ahead of us

"Darn it!"

A set of new "no trespassing" signs along the backwoods road
 

My guess, they are prepping for another hobo camp

That's what those slabs were for- new benches!

The one patch of snow left- so Misty GRAZED it...

The ABCs of Politics.

 Serious post here, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW this is not about anyone who is a current reader/commenter of this blog- at least, not the bad part.  Please listen, and do not put yourself in as a character in the bad part, anyone.

This is about the ABCs of current politics.  

You see, I ran into a very disturbing formula applied to me yesterday.  Let's call it, If A and B, then C.

A is, "I don't like the policies/statements of this person/group."  Well, to be fair, perhaps one or two of them that override anything else they say or do.

B is, "My friend supports this person."  Never mind the totality of what A is, or asking why said friend would support whatever.

C is, "Therefore, my friend is a terrible person as well."

Thing about that is, not only are you ignoring the whys of A and B, but you are saying, "The thing I don't like about A is so overriding, I must ignore EVERYTHING ELSE I know about my friend and skip right to C."

Thankfully, anyone likely to read this doesn't let A override B.  Even if something is poorly worded or misunderstood, they remind themselves of the totality of the friend behind the B, and don't rush to jump right to C.  They remember nothing in A makes the sky less blue, the sun a degree colder, or there next sip of water any sweeter.  They know who they are, and I want them to know they are appreciated.

Those who jump to C will likely never see this.  But if they could, I would say this:

It's not worth it.  Look at what you are thinking, and decide who was the faithless friend.  Ask yourself if your political hurt was worth the heart hurt.  Decide what really matters.  Don't get so angry you don't ask questions first.

I have in the last few years seen three shades of this.  One was just an unreasoning hate from the start, egged on by talking heads who have agendas not completely disclosed.  One had a legit grievance, but with the policy, not the friend.  And one flat out admitted politics was more important than any friendship in their mind.

I think seeing oneself-including me- in any of these should be chilling.  And yes, some things CAN be over the top.  But I think all of us need to do a little more self-examination before responding.  Myself included.