Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 04 January 2014

Saturday here.  Woke up before dawn to around 5 degres.  We are expected to make it all the way up into the high 20's.  Yippee!  By Monday and Tuesday, we'll be lucky to get above zero.  Yuck!

Dear Wife had little sleep last night, asthma attack and all of that.  Remedy for hat is a "breathing treatment", using a breathing machine loaded with a dose of Alupent, which is essentially adrenaline.  Helps with breathing, but makes sleep difficult.  We're getting through the day warming up leftovers from the fridge.  Grateful to have the food and the microwave and the electrical power to do it all.  God is good.

================

The Old Testament reading is chapters 9, 10, and 11 of the Genesis.  This begins with the account of the world after the Flood, continues with the record of the Tower of Babel, and concludes with a mention of Abram.  A very long time ago for all of it.  Yet it set in motion matters that ware with us to this very day.  Note, for example, the sons of Noah.  Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Shem is the ancestor of all the Semites, from whence descend the Arabs and the Hebrews.  Ham is thought to be the ancestor of the people of Africa, that to include the Egyptians. Ethiiopians, and Libyans, among others, as well as the Canaanites and their relatives.The descendants of Japheth are thought to include the inhabitants of wstern Asia, the Armenians, Greeks, French, Persians, Celts, and many others.  The tensions from that time are still with us.
As a point of purely personal interest, you will note the name Eber in chapter 11.  That was my father's given name.  At one time, like was once the practice, my family gave the children Biblical names, some rather obscure.  Dad was the only person I've ever known with that name.  Both grandfathers were named Steven, and I had uncles with names like Homer and aunts with names like Dorcas.  

Genesis 9

1	And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
2	“The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
3	“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
4	“But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5	“And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6	“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
7	“And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
8	Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
9	“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,
10	“and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
11	“I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12	And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13	“I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14	“When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
15	“I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16	“When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17	God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
18	The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
19	These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
20	Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.
21	He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
22	And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
23	Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24	When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
25	he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
26	He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
27	“May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”
28	After the flood Noah lived 350 years.
29	All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Genesis 10

1	These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
2	The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
3	The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
4	The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5	From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
6	The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
7	The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
8	Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.
9	He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
10	The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11	From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and
12	Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
13	Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
14	Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
15	Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth,
16	and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
17	the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
18	the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed.
19	And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
20	These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
21	To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.
22	The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
23	The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24	Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber.
25	To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.
26	Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27	Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28	Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29	Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
30	The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east.
31	These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
32	These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11

1	Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2	And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3	And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4	Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
5	And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6	And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7	“Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8	So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9	Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
10	These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11	And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12	When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah.
13	And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14	When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.
15	And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16	When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg.
17	And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18	When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu.
19	And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20	When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug.
21	And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22	When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor.
23	And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24	When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah.
25	And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26	When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27	Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28	Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29	And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.
30	Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31	Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
32	The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

=======

The New Testament reading is chapter 4 of the Gospel of Matthew.
This is the recorded beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus as He began to call the disciples.

Matthew 4

1	Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2	And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3	And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4	But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5	Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6	And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7	Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8	Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9	And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10	Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11	Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
12	Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
13	And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
14	That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15	The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16	The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
17	From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
18	And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19	And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20	And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
21	And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22	And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
23	And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
24	And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
25	And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 03 January, 2014

Happy Friday to all.
Woke up to a reported 5 degrees here, later dropped to 4 degrees.  Am told that in a few days that will seem like a heat wave.  Still looking for that Glow Bull Warning that Albert Gore assured was was coming Real Soon Now.  Seems to have taken a snooze somewhere along the path to Apocalypse.  Pity, an extra 5 degrees or so would be real welcome right now.  News is reporting 14 inches of snow in Boston.  My heart bleeds for them.  Sorta.
Dear Wife has gone next door to "watch" Beloved Grand-Niece, the cats have gone off into their alternate universe, the furnace is running, I am sitting at the desktop in a sweatsuit trying to delay a stint outside with a snow shovel.  Have one of those "SoundScapes" channels on the TV going,Staeven Halpern/Starr Fuentes playing "Healing lightly".  Coffee is hot, God is good.

===============

The Old Testament reading for the morning is chapters 6, 7, and 8 of the Genesis.  This is primarily a section that we think of as the story of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood.  I saw a thing on an InterNet site the other day claiming the discovery of the remains of the Ark.  Might be, I don't know.  From the Biblical accounts, it would have been quite large in any event.  And, sadly, I also saw a heated discussion on a news site of a once-conservative Christian denomination the declaration that the Flood account is fiction.  Not sure how an theologically honest pastor or teacher can hold to a belief that the Bible is a lie, but there it was.  I will not throw rocks, my own sins, follies, and failures are sufficient for any dozen normal people.  But the guy (I think it was) is wrong.  God is not a liar.

Genesis 6

1	When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2	the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
3	Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
4	The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
5	The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6	And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7	So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8	But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9	These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10	And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11	Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12	And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13	And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14	“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15	“This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16	“Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17	“For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
18	“But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
19	“And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20	“Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21	“Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”
22	Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 7

1	Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
2	“Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,
3	“and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
4	“For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”
5	And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
6	Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
7	And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
8	Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,
9	two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.
10	And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11	In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
12	And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13	On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,
14	they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.
15	They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
16	And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
17	The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18	The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
19	And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
20	The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
21	And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
22	Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
23	He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
24	And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Genesis 8

1	But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2	The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3	and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
4	and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5	And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6	At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
7	and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8	Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
9	But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
10	He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11	And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
12	Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
13	In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14	In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
15	Then God said to Noah,
16	“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
17	“Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh–birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth–that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
18	So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
19	Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
20	Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21	And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
22	“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

=====================

The New Testament reading is chapter 3 from the Gospel of Matthew.  This begins with the introduction of John the Baptizer, Jesus' earthly cousin, and concludes with him baptizing Jesus in the river.  Wish I'd been there.  (starts at 1:15)

Matthew 3

1	In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2	“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3	For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
4	Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5	Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
6	and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7	But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8	“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
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.
10	“Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11	“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12	“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
13	Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14	John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15	But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
16	And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17	and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 02 January 2014

how long does it normally take for someone to automatically write the correct year? 

This is one of those days in this part of the country that makes Global Warming seem like a very good idea.  Too bad it's a fraud, a hoax, a lie.  Because over the next week here, we are likely to see a foot of snow between midnight last and midnight tonight.  And we are predicted to have several nights well below zero, and days with a high in single digits.  Dear Wife has largely recovered from the sinus infection/flu/whatever that laid her low for more than a week.  Dear Niece next door has been awful sick with what seems like the same thing.  And more of the same around town.  I shoveled snow twice today, just took the cat litter scoopings out to the trash and found that there was absolutely no sign of my earlier efforts, the continuing snowfall had filled in the spots I'd created.  This is definitely NOT one of the things I'd missed living in the South for the last 21+ years.  And if, as we've said, this is hoped to be our last move ever, this sort of thing is what we can look forward for the time the Lord leaves us here.


Bad thing is that with the weather being what it is, we're pretty well trapped indoors the entire time, for days and days at a time in fact.  I'd spent most of my time since around February of 2008 being on my feet for 10-12 hours a day, running all over some very large manufacturing operations.  Keeps your body working.  Sitting in front of a computer for 10-12 hours straight does not have the same cardiovascular effect.  Don't think that this is, long term, what I need to be about, but right now the options are limited.  At 60+ years of age, tromping around in 10 degree weather through a foot of snow is just not what I want to be doing. 

Dear Wife is making some food up.  Smells good.  Love her forever.  We are somewhat old-school on a lot of things.  We buy flour and rice and such, not pre-made TV dinners or delivery pizza or the like.  We make a point of going out to eat on a "date" once a month, generally to a place like Hardees or the like.  The budget does not provide for 4-star restaurants and such but we need to have some "special" moments for the two of us.  Even after 25+ years of marriage, we work at keeping the romance alive.  We not only need that, we want it.  Things are tough some times, very tough some times.  Being home all day together is hard for some couples, we want to make sure we grow together, not grow apart.

====================

The Old Testament reading is chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Genesis.  This is a very important, foundational work.  I spent part of yesterday reading some interaction between persons of a denomination that I grew up in, one that was at one time hard and fast to the Bible.  Now some there, including some teachers, theologians, and pastors, are referring to parts of Genesis as "fiction".  I have a problem with that, and with the very explicit belief that these people are more knowing than the Lord is.  NOTHING good come from this.  But then, the problems in our world started back in Genesis, in the passages we see right here.  Began when the devil misquoted the Lord, and the humans listened.

Genesis 3

1	Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2	And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3	But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4	And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5	For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6	And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7	And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8	And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9	And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10	And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11	And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12	And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13	And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14	And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15	And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16	Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17	And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18	Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19	In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20	And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21	Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22	And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23	Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24	So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Genesis 4

1	And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2	And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3	And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4	And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5	But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6	And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7	If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8	And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9	And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10	And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11	And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12	When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13	And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14	Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15	And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16	And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
17	And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
18	And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19	And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20	And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21	And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22	And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23	And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24	If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25	And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
26	And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 5

1	This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2	Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3	And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4	And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5	And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
6	And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
7	And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8	And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9	And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10	And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11	And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12	And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
13	And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14	And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
15	And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16	And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17	And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
18	And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19	And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20	And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21	And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22	And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23	And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24	And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25	And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.
26	And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27	And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
28	And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
29	And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
30	And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31	And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
32	And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

=====================

The New Testament reading is chapter 2 of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is born now, the wise men come.  Herod has the boys born nearby slaughtered.  Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus take refuge for a time in Egypt.

Matthew 2

1	Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2	Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3	When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4	And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5	And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6	And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7	Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8	And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9	When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10	When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11	And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12	And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13	And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14	When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15	And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16	Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
17	Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18	In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19	But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20	Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21	And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22	But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23	And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.