Meditate on it

Briggs has been reading the book of Job, so it's wandered into our conversations lately.  This morning he commented how full of himself Job was in chapter 29 when he finally vents his frustration and grief upon his friends and God.  He referenced this passage: "When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.  -Job 29:7-10 As sometimes (perhaps even often) happens, Briggs and I see a passage differently.  In this case, I agree more with the perspective that Job's reminiscences are yes, perhaps slightly inflated, but mainly a romantic longing for the better, sweeter days of his past.  I don't think he's full of hubris as much as nostalgia. To me, this fits Job's stellar character--a man described as upright

O Jerusalem, Greg Olsen , oil on canvas Entering into John 13 and the subsequent tumble of Christ's final days, I'm fascinated by the fixed purposefulness of his actions.  Earlier on, Luke tells us that  Jesus "steadfastly set his face toward Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51)  He knows the path before him.  He's ready.  In striking contrast, his disciples are not---working in the dark, oblivious, trying to make sense of the events in medias res , in the very moment.  It's such a handicap. Our role as parents is strangely similar in that the adult knowledge that we possess--ours won from hard-edged experience rather than omniscience---always trumps our children's finite experiences and youthful idealism.  The very limited scope of their lives is delightful specifically because it is limited.  It suffers not from the caution and cynicism that results from navigating the many twists and turns that we know lie ahead.  Of course we don't know the particulars

Pondering this verse this morning...  When I was a young Christian, I resisted John and his sweeping declarations which struck me as over the top.  But, as I've grown older, the simplicity and profundity of his observations have grown on me too.   What a way to lead into the washing of the disciples feet (an event only recorded in John), all of this a prelude into the Upper Room discourse and last supper.

I've been ruminating on Psalm 16 this week--such solid images to grasp and turn back to Him in petition, pleading.  Here are some of the images I've created in this process:          The Psalms Project Band  has a song for this psalm here .   I particularly love this bridge: "You will not leave my soul in the grave, You will raise me up and I'll fly away. You did not leave Jesus in the grave. You will raise me up and we'll fly away." One more for good measure: here is an image from Psalm 17:5 I created after exploring the definition/sense of preserve from Psalm 16:1. Preserve (from Strongs) 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)