AI (Wombo) — Two Sisters Walking in a Little Bit of Snow by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA)
Brr 🥶! Super cold temperatures are absolutely not my favorite thing. Ice storms, snow storms, and dips below freezing (32°f) make me want to stay hidden in a warm house under cozy blankets.
My husband made the statement that “it’s not that bad” and that started a whole conversation. Why does it seem worse to me than it does to him? Simple, I was not raised with cold or snow. If my sister and I saw a little ice in a puddle, we would slide a shoe over it like our one foot was ice skating. If we found a little bit of snow, we got really excited and wanted to touch it or crunch through it the way little boys love to splash in rain puddles. But both were rare in Southern California.
My first experience with strong cold and lots of snow was when my photography company sent me to Wisconsin in the middle of an arctic cold front. The temperature was 35° below zero, and it dropped to 84° below zero with the wind chill. I was warned not to breathe the air in without a scarf over my mouth, and my co-worker had to have her car towed to a garage to warm it up just to get started. That would be harsh for anyone, but those who live in that kind of cold regularly are prepared. Some even have plugs on their cars to connect to available power sources to heat their oil. It’s not that bad where I live now in Kentuckiana, but it’s still hard on my Western-raised body, even after 35 years here.
Do you have any life changes that have been harder for you to deal with because of a lack of familiarity? For example, if you were raised in a dysfunctional family, maybe going to someone else’s family gathering is somewhat uncomfortable. Or, maybe like me, you are childless, and hearing women talk about having babies or raising children feels awkward because you cannot relate to any of it. On the other hand, I imagine women who have traditional families, pregnancies, births, etc., and then read Scriptures about the curses that often made women in the Bible barren, may feel awkward with me. They must wonder if there’s a curse involved because I wondered that for a long time myself.
See, experience breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds confidence. My husband is far more confident about driving in the snow than I will ever be. But driving in snow, no matter how much fear it creates in me, is a little thing compared to the blinding Light of Christ to an unbeliever who was never raised around godliness or biblical Scripture. 1 Peter 2:9 speaks of God “calling us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” If you’ve ever come out of a dark room into bright light, you know what this is describing.
When we minister to those who are not familiar with the Gospel, we need to think of the way unfamiliar things make us feel. We need to remember that light can be blinding to those who have been in the dark for a long time. And we need to teach with such compassion and understanding that we are not surprised when a person we’re trying to teach feels overwhelmed by what we are used to in our walks with The Lord. If they reject the message for a time, it doesn’t mean you or I are bad teachers. Even Jesus did not convince every person He reached out to. Sometimes, someone is just set in their own ways and refuses to consider a new way. Other times, it may just take some time for their spiritual eyes to adjust to The Light. That’s when we let them play in just a little bit of snow for a bit until they’re ready for the deep stuff. ❄️
Proverbs 22:4 by Flickr User Dr. Michael D Evans, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
What do you find in common with the following idioms/proverbs?
Finders, keepers; losers, weepers.
Move your meat, lose your seat.
Paybacks are paid back.
He who laughs last, laughs best.
Every man for himself.
Talk to the hand, the hand understands.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.
Me, I find selfishness, self-centeredness, and a total lack of compassion. I have never liked any of these idioms or ones like them. In them, I find a world of darkness with no joy and no peace, and it’s a place most of us likely have dwelt, but I’d guess few want to live there. While there are times our compassion may be unappreciated, and maybe even times where we’re used and abused for being kind and compassionate, the inside feeling is better than the emptiness of living only to ourselves. God created our world for receiving by giving. His word puts it this way in Luke 6:38 (KJV for familiarity)…
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 21:22 through Deuteronomy 22:7, Moses recaps a bit more from the law under which Israel will live in the land of their inheritance. He begins by telling them that in cases of capital crime where an offender is hanged on a tree, the community needs to take him down and bury him the same day because of the curse associated with death by hanging. Leaving the body in the tree will defile the land. Personally, I like this command because I don’t think I’d want to see death displayed before me day after day. It can only create pride or pity, neither of which are good for us.
At the chapter change, the subject changes to how men should treat properties belonging to their brothers. The first command speaks the exact opposite of the first idiom mentioned above. It says that if someone sees his brother’s animal wandering off, he should not act like he didn’t see anything, but he should take it back to the rightful owner. If his brother is gone, or if he doesn’t know who the owner is, he should keep it and care for it until it can be returned. This command goes for animals, clothing, and anything else someone loses. If the people find anything a brother loses, they must not ignore it, and this also applies if the animal is collapsed in the road and needs help getting up. This certainly defies idiom number 5.
The next command tells the community how to dress to impress. A man should not wear clothes that belong to a woman, and a woman should not wear clothes that belong to a man. Whoever dresses in the other gender’s clothing is detestable to God.
I want to note here that I believe this is talking about clothes that actually belong to the other gender, as in having been worn by them and carrying bodily chemicals that are gender-specific, but I’m not certain. It makes sense because of women and anything they touch being considered unclean during their time of the month. If it is talking about actual “cross-dressing,” I can’t see it being detestable to God to dress in a costume for a play, or for a woman to put on her husband’s jacket when she’s cold. I can, however, see it being detestable for someone to purposely try to become something other than what God made him or her to be.
The last command in today’s reading speaks of finding a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother is sitting on chicks or eggs, the finder is to let the mother go but may keep the chicks. In the reading, it says this will cause things to go well with the community and prolong people’s lives. I don’t know if this is for the purpose of raising the chicks or eating the eggs. Either will allow the mother bird to be free to lay more eggs.
Much of what we’ve studied in almost a year of Torah reading seems to come down to two things: common sense (prudence), and trusting in God’s perspective–which is also common sense. If we believe that God created the world, it is common sense to think He will know the best way to live in it and take care of it. If we believe He created us, then trusting His instruction for our life manual also seems sensible. Simply looking at the laws of the harvest (only gaining a harvest by planting something and only growing whatever we plant) should be enough to show that living only to ourselves will not result in growth or abundance. If we think our lives will work any differently, it’s pride. If we think someone else doesn’t deserve to reap what they sow, that’s unearned pity. If we can tell the difference in proverbs to live by and those to avoid, that’s proverbial prudence, common sense, and Godly wisdom.
Crystal is, like her name, multi-faceted. She can even write about herself in third person and only feel a little awkward about it. 🙂 She loves to write; she loves kaleidoscopes, fractals, and all things colorful; she loves her husband, her family, and her feline furkids; and mostly she loves Yahveh Almighty, her Creator. She believes her creative mind is in her DNA from Him, and she believes He sees His creations as she sees the images inside a kaleidoscope–all different yet all beautiful and most beautiful when light (His light) shines through them.
Crystal Writes A Blog 
Pride, Pity, and Proverbial Prudence
Proverbs 22:4 by Flickr User Dr. Michael D Evans, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
What do you find in common with the following idioms/proverbs?
Me, I find selfishness, self-centeredness, and a total lack of compassion. I have never liked any of these idioms or ones like them. In them, I find a world of darkness with no joy and no peace, and it’s a place most of us likely have dwelt, but I’d guess few want to live there. While there are times our compassion may be unappreciated, and maybe even times where we’re used and abused for being kind and compassionate, the inside feeling is better than the emptiness of living only to ourselves. God created our world for receiving by giving. His word puts it this way in Luke 6:38 (KJV for familiarity)…
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 21:22 through Deuteronomy 22:7, Moses recaps a bit more from the law under which Israel will live in the land of their inheritance. He begins by telling them that in cases of capital crime where an offender is hanged on a tree, the community needs to take him down and bury him the same day because of the curse associated with death by hanging. Leaving the body in the tree will defile the land. Personally, I like this command because I don’t think I’d want to see death displayed before me day after day. It can only create pride or pity, neither of which are good for us.
At the chapter change, the subject changes to how men should treat properties belonging to their brothers. The first command speaks the exact opposite of the first idiom mentioned above. It says that if someone sees his brother’s animal wandering off, he should not act like he didn’t see anything, but he should take it back to the rightful owner. If his brother is gone, or if he doesn’t know who the owner is, he should keep it and care for it until it can be returned. This command goes for animals, clothing, and anything else someone loses. If the people find anything a brother loses, they must not ignore it, and this also applies if the animal is collapsed in the road and needs help getting up. This certainly defies idiom number 5.
The next command tells the community how to dress to impress. A man should not wear clothes that belong to a woman, and a woman should not wear clothes that belong to a man. Whoever dresses in the other gender’s clothing is detestable to God.
I want to note here that I believe this is talking about clothes that actually belong to the other gender, as in having been worn by them and carrying bodily chemicals that are gender-specific, but I’m not certain. It makes sense because of women and anything they touch being considered unclean during their time of the month. If it is talking about actual “cross-dressing,” I can’t see it being detestable to God to dress in a costume for a play, or for a woman to put on her husband’s jacket when she’s cold. I can, however, see it being detestable for someone to purposely try to become something other than what God made him or her to be.
The last command in today’s reading speaks of finding a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother is sitting on chicks or eggs, the finder is to let the mother go but may keep the chicks. In the reading, it says this will cause things to go well with the community and prolong people’s lives. I don’t know if this is for the purpose of raising the chicks or eating the eggs. Either will allow the mother bird to be free to lay more eggs.
Much of what we’ve studied in almost a year of Torah reading seems to come down to two things: common sense (prudence), and trusting in God’s perspective–which is also common sense. If we believe that God created the world, it is common sense to think He will know the best way to live in it and take care of it. If we believe He created us, then trusting His instruction for our life manual also seems sensible. Simply looking at the laws of the harvest (only gaining a harvest by planting something and only growing whatever we plant) should be enough to show that living only to ourselves will not result in growth or abundance. If we think our lives will work any differently, it’s pride. If we think someone else doesn’t deserve to reap what they sow, that’s unearned pity. If we can tell the difference in proverbs to live by and those to avoid, that’s proverbial prudence, common sense, and Godly wisdom.
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August 24, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Bible Commentary, Bible study, brotherly love, compassion, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, Israel, Moses, Scripture, self-centered, selfish, Torah commentary, Torah Portions | Leave a comment