daily scripture 4 march 06

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 11:56am

isaiah 58 (new king james version)
new king james version (nkjv)

isaiah 58

fasting that pleases god

9 then you shall call, and the lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘here i am.’ “ if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

10 if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
and your darkness shall be as the noonday.

11 the lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

12 those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

13 “ if you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the lord honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,

14 then you shall delight yourself in the lord; and i will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of jacob your father. the mouth of the lord has spoken.”

[wink]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:07pm

papa, what are you up to now?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:15pm

i realize that my posting history counts against me in this endeavor, but like i said yesterday, i have no agenda in this. just posting a li'l scripture, that's all. yesterday posting a piece led to a rather articulate discussion of both the passages themselves and the merits of different versions of the bible. i learned a few things and happily so.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:26pm

What is so interesting to me is the number of times in the Bible the idea of "being a light" is connected in poetic passages to the idea of helping the needy (as in verse 10 here).

It seems in direct opposition to what most Christians see as "being a light" (namely, telling people the "plan of salvation").

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:38pm

Good point, touch. I never realized that. Thanks.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:42pm

that's true, touch.

i've always considered that a person's relationship with god is theirs alone and that whatever brings you peace (be it belief or not) as long as you're not hurting anyone else is your business. but it's true that the voices that you hear out there identified as christian are quite often some of the least tolerant voices out there.

my question is, is it that the folks with the loudest voices whose opinion gets the most attention because they are representative of the majority, or the folks whose opinions are the most controversial that get the most attention because they are controversial and therefore more "newsworthy?"

Updated On: 3/4/06 at 12:42 PM

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 12:46pm

Absolutely the latter. The others are too busy living lives of grace.

[wink]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 2:50pm

In southern Indiana it's the former. Newspapers have a special religion section that speaks only to the Christians. Letters to the editors are often just Bible quotes laced with pithy remarks against national politicians, local school board members, and the next door neighbors who the author considers evil. Every story of physical recovery from cancer or a car wreck in the local news includes a quote where the survivor is thanking Jesus. There are little Baptist churches down almost every country road and spiraling Episcipalian church towers in just about every town. Homeade church car wash and bake sale signs are nailed to telephone poles at each crossroad.

The majority of southern Indiana is Christian and there's no respite from it. This is particularly noticeable at those times when you question your own faith but see what appears to be everyone else's faith projected everywhere.

Controversial headlines die down quickly and reassuring nonthreatening news is hyped the next day.

I am proud of my little city though for being more open-minded than most. It celebrates holidays of different ethnicities and many companies include same sex partner benefits in their employment package. But still the Christian presence is felt everywhere.

I'm Catholic myself and usually don't mind the Bible quotes from the local root beer stand sign or the dry cleaner's van, but at times it's almost suffocating.

Sorry, papa, I missed yesterday's posts. You can miss a lot by not being online at the right time:)

[justthefacts2]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 10:03pm

papa, I didn't want to let this day go by without thanking you for this post. I read it aloud several times, taking joy in the rich cadence. I also read it aloud in Irish (you don't know it, but you're helping me with my Irish lessons) and found that the words still shape themselves to that rhythm like the sea washing up on the shore. How I wish I could hear it read in its original - I wonder if that sound would be in it - and I'm thinking it would. I bring this up because I learned recently that there is meant to be, at Mass, a special blessing in the actual hearing of the Word. I love the transcendent physicality of the faith.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 10:58pm

glad you enjoyed it. anything to help the irish language gain a new voice is a good thing.