Easy Life

I have a relatively easy life. For some it is not so.

Psalm 69:16-18

"Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it:  deliver me because of mine enemies."

New Year Resolutions

The New Year is a good time to re-evaluate and re-prioritize. They say that if you make a formal resolution, and publicize it, you are at least ten times more likely to succeed than someone who doesn't. Even so, most New Year's resolutions are broken by the end of January. The way to avoid that is to make a specific, easy resolution that doesn't have to be continued for a whole year.
One of my resolutions was to think about the things in my life I am dissatisfied with and either do something about them or quit complaining. Many times I do nothing about something because it seems like such a small thing it's hardly worth it. But if I do it anyway, sometimes it turns out to do more good than I would have thought.
e.g. One thing I am very dissatisfied with is having to be confined to a dark apartment all day. One day when I was particularly disgusted, I looked outside and saw that it was bright and sunny. It was also cold and windy.  But if I want sunshine, there it is, just go get it. So I determined I would take a one-minute walk. You can't freeze to death in one minute, and if one minute out of 1440 of sunshine is all I can have, I'm going to have it. So I walked for one minute, found the cold not so unbearable after all, kept walking, turned the corner and sat down on a bench in the sun. Immediately the wind stopped and I sat and soaked up the warmth of the sun for about 20 minutes, and felt so good I took my coat off and walked all the way around the block!
Another problem I always encounter is wanting to do more of everything. Learn more Hebrew, write more music, do more sewing-cleaning-cooking-exercise, or whatever. It isn't possible to do more unless I do less of something. Less sleep, maybe. Nope, not in the winter. I really need more sleep, too. The only thing I can do less of is wasting time. When do I waste time? Not sure, but I think a lot of time is wasted in little bits here and there, I just need to catch myself doing it.
Another thing that would help is to do the obvious, not the urgent. If you compromise with the obvious, pretty soon everything becomes urgent and you're in a trap.
And it's obvious that it's past lunchtime, so quick, decide! eat it or skip it?
Eat!
Eat what?
Carrots!
Bye!!

Psalm 8

Important words/phrases from Psalm 8.

אָרְחוֹת	paths		תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ	you will remember him, be mindful
יֹנְקִים	sucklings		תִפְקְדֶנּוּ	you will visit him
עוֹלְלִים	babes		תְּחַסְּרֵהוּ	you will make him lower, diminish
שָׂדָי	field (poet.)		תְּעַטְּרֵהוּ	you will crown him
מִתְנַקֵּם	avenger		תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּ	you will make him have dominion over
לְהַשְׁבִּית	to still		יִסַּדְתָּ-עֹז	thou has ordained strength

Psalm 7

Lots of violent words in this Psalm.

זֹעֵם	he is furious	עָוֶל	iniquity
יִלְטוֹשׁ	he will sharpen	שָׁקֶר	falsehood
פֹּרֵק	he tears to pieces	שַׁחַת	ditch
יִרְמֹס	he will tread	עַבְרוֹת	rage
יְחַבֶּל-אָוֶן	he travaileth with iniquity	מָוֶת	death
חֲמָסוֹ	his violence, violent dealing	דֹלְקִים	persecutors
רֵיקָם	vainly, without cause	חִצָּיו	his arrows
פֶּן-יִטְרֹף	lest he devour	חַרְבּוֹ	his sword
רְשָׁעִים	wicked ones	קַשְׁתּוֹ	his bow
רֹדְפַי	my persecutors	עֲמָלוֹ	his mischief

Breathe Cold Air

I wonder if anyone ever figured out how much energy is required when you breathe cold air compared to when you breathe warm air. Cold air makes me so sleepy. I've been sleeping an extra hour or two every day.
I've been eating more sugar, too. Not by choice--I don't go to the store and look for more sugar to eat. But when someone offers us free food, and that includes sweets, I almost never say no. The best I've tasted so far is a little log that has wheat shreds on the outside and is loaded with nuts and flavor.

Refugees

From a story by Sotiib (Author's name transliterated from some language to Hebrew and then to English)

A sudden heavy rain surprised an ant. "Where shall I hide so I won't get wet?" She saw a small mushroom, ran to it and go under it's dome. Rain fell harder and harder, but it was dry under the mushroom.

A wet dragonfly came up to the mushroom. "Ant, let me hide under the mushroom."

"How can I?" said the ant. "I can barely fit here myself."

"Move over a little! We can squeeze together!"

So the ant moved over and let the dragonfly enter.

The rain continued. A little mouse came by. "Let me get under the mushroom," he said.

"How can we let you under? There's no room!"

"Squeeze a little!"

So they squeezed together and let the mouse under the mushroom. And rain kept coming down.

Along came a bird. "I'm so wet and tired. Please let me rest under the mushroom till the rain's over," said the bird.

"But there's no room," said the other three.

"Please, squeeze together!" said the bird.

"OK. We'll try," they answered. So they squeezed together and found room for the bird.

Along came a rabbit. "Save me!" he cried. "The fox is after me!"

"We need to have pity on the rabbit," said the ant. "Let's squeeze together a little more."

As soon as they received the rabbit, along came the fox. "Have you seen a rabbit?" he asked.

"How do you think a rabbit could fit under this little mushroom?" replied the ant.

And the fox ran off.

The rain stopped. The four creatures came out from under the mushroom. "How is this?" asked the ant. "At first there was barely room for me. How did all five of us fit under the mushroom?"

A frog jumped out and said, "When it rains, the mushroom...." And he hopped away.
They all looked at the mushroom, and immediately understood.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him... for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt...and thou shalt love him as thyself..."

MORNING

Morning is the best time to do everything. It's too bad we can't have two mornings every day. Morning is the best time to eat breakfast. Morning is the best time to clean house or tackle a difficult project. Morning is the best time to study, solve problems, or do anything that requires clear thinking. Morning is the best time to research refugees/infiltrators from Africa to Israel. (I don't like it when they call them infiltrators.)

There is an economic side (and several other sides) to absorbing many immigrants. It should be possible to do the morally right thing in a legal way. Why does it always have to get so complicated. I think the missing factor is faith. If you do what is right, even if it costs you something, God will bless. God will return to you what you give, whether in this life or in the next.

It is difficult, in my mind, to tell a nation or a government, "You need to have faith." But it is not so difficult understand that every individual needs to have faith.

Consider the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin, but God arrays them in glory. They get more than they ask for, and they don't have to work for it. Human beings are required to work, but the blessing on their work comes from God, and when you have faith, the blessing is far more than the amount of work you did.