In Praise of laziness

So here am I at 3:30 in the morning writing a blog about a very ordinary, and blessed day... yesterday now, but still seeming part of my "today."

This morning, I worked on the Central Florida Brain Injury Support web site and some related emails while Richard went to have some blood work done. No, we're not sick. He and I both had lab work done yesterday as well... all part of our annual physicals.

We didn't do anything else truly productive all day. We picked up a quick, eat on the go meal at Burger King then went to the bank, found the new address of the lady we bought this house from and took her some mail that had come here. Then we transacted some business at our brokers and browsed antique shops looking for Judaica... Found a great game store and bought our very own copy of Lost Cities. Richard got a haircut and we settled our chilly old bones in the comforting warmth of the pickup and waited for Amtrack.

No, we were not heading anywhere, we just wanted to sit in the sun on this very cold Florida day and watch the train come, stop a while and head on south.

We ate a hearty meat loaf dinner with baked potatoes and veggies in a rich sauce. We ate in the dinning room, playing our new game and chatting,... The watched a video of two dear friends starring an a Dinner-Playhouse production of "over the River and Through the Woods, There were SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!

Yes, it was a very good day.

A Wedding in Israel!

I went to a wedding yesterday... All through scripture the L-rd likens His relationship with His people Israel (this includes all Believers, no matter their genetic makeup) as a marriage. From the Old Testament (Tanach) to the New, promises abound of a great wedding, of the Bridegroom coming for His bride. There will be a wedding like none other!

Yesterday was Shabbat and I spent all day celebrating Yeshua with His people.

I began the day with a small Spanish speaking band of about a dozen believers who are investigating G-d's Word and the Hebrew roots of their Christian faith. No, I don't speak Spanish, but they also included in and understood enough English that we could interact. I fell in love with these sweet people and their young pastor and will be with them again next week.

I left them about two and a half hours later and headed to Beit Yisrael for my Hebrew class at 2, after which the thrill of our Shabbat celebration began with music, dancing and joy. The service lasts as long as it lasts. No one is watching the clock. How I love the freedom of that! The Holy Spirit is in control of all aspects of the service.

At the close of services, there was a Hebraic wedding, complete with chair dancing! You just haven't seen a wedding until you've seen one like this. There is so much to learn and rejoice in. If you ever get a chance to attend such a wedding, GO!

Finally, as part of our family Shabbat celebration, we all share a meal, and this time, it was also a wedding supper. Everything was beautiful and the food delicious as always.

It was late when I got home yet I felt refreshed and rested after all the wonder and joy and shalom of Shabbat with a wedding foretaste of the Great Wedding celebration that awaits all who are saved. Do you know Yeshua (Jesus)?

What's So Happy About New Years?

This is based on an email from my Pastor and touched me deeply. As I sent out Chanukah cards and our annual letter, I began to realize I was not comfortable with the origins, traditions and craziness surrounding New Year's celebrations... but was still using the greeting from time to time. Soon, I found it distasteful and stopped using "Happy New Year" altogether. I still feel it appropriate to pray that 2010 is a blessed year for those I greet.

This article is from Arutz 7 or Israel National News concerning the Gregorian New Year and the history of its celebrations.

New Years Blood Bath

Tevet 14, 5770, 12/31/2009

Don't drink to that! Any Jew who raises his cup for the 'Sylvester' New Year, is toasting to a day synonymous with the flow of Jewish blood. I hate to be a party-pooper, but really, let's take a look at the history of this day....

From Simple To Remember: http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/newyearshistory/

"In 46 B.C.E. the Roman emperor Julius Caesar first established January 1 as New Years day. Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates, and had two faces, one looking forward and one back. Caesar felt that the month named after this god (January) would be the appropriate door to the year. Caesar celebrated the first January 1 New Year by ordering the violent routing of revolutionary Jewish forces in the Galilee. Eyewitnesses say blood flowed in the streets. In later years, Roman pagans observed the New Year by engaging in drunken orgiesa ritual they believed constituted a personal re-enacting of the chaotic world that existed before the cosmos was ordered by the gods."
Roman pagans observed the New Year by engaging in drunken orgiesa

"The Israeli term for New Years night celebrations, Sylvester, was the name of the Saint and Roman Pope who reigned during the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.). The year before the Council of Nicaea convened, Sylvester convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem. At the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester arranged for the passage of a host of viciously anti-Semitic legislation. All Catholic Saints are awarded a day on which Christians celebrate and pay tribute to that Saints memory. December 31 is Saint Sylvester Day - hence celebrations on the night of December 31 are dedicated to Sylvester's memory."

And what has this celebration begot today to our youth and Western culture? A night of partying, drinking, making out under a mistletoe, and making new year resolutions that are hardly ever kept.

Is Dec. 31st / Jan 1st not a night where there are massive car accidents? Where people never even have a chance to finish the end of their Jan. 1st hangover? I mean, friends, what's there to celebrate here, Drunk Drivers Day? Spilled Jewish Blood Day? If one really wanted to honor the Gregorian New Year to make it meaningful and to better themselves and this world instead of having an excuse to dress up and get drunk, then wouldn't it be more fitting to celebrate it with a nice meal with family and friends and some meaningful time for introspection and serious accounting?

When I came to Israel in 1978, Jews didn't celebrate the 'Sylvester' as they call it here. In fact, one was hard up to find a hotel that had some bar open until midnight where they could go and maybe find some sort of partying there. Today? Today it is different. Today the western culture has invaded Israel and our secular youth are celebrating this day (unbeknownst to them) of a Jewish blood bath by an evil anti-Semite. Today on the news, I heard them beseeching people to not drive home after any parties, and that instead taxis would give people a special 'new years discount' to take them home. Yes, we have come to this. But maybe a little history lesson like the one above will make people think again before raising a glass to this historically anti-Semitic day.