,,, the Bible reading for week of May 4-10, 2020: Gen. 36-37

These were the scriptures I liked from this week's Bible reading:

Gen. 37:3 -

Now, Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he was the son of his old age, and he had a special robe made for him.

Did Jacob (Israel) elevate Joseph over the other sons? Did this cause jealousy? Yes. Jealous people do dumb things in their jealousy, in fact, verse 4 says "they could not speak peaceably to him."  If we examine Joseph himself, we find that he was a humble person, diligent and hard-working, honest  and, most important, feared Jehovah. He did not allow his father's special attention to cause him to be proud, arrogant and selfish.

Sadly today, some do become self-important when they're given special treatment over their siblings by their parents. It causes that one to be overly haughty, bossy and selfish, believing their desires and needs should be satisfied first before all else. Some have used their special relationship with their parents to benefit themselves at the siblings' expense, such as when discipline is needed (the blame game), or gaining a material advantage (more toys). Jehovah does not like this attitude and continually counsels on the need to examine ourselves and develop humility to please Him, the "examiner of hearts." (Prov. 17:3)
 
Gen. 37:10 -

Then he related it [the second dream] to his father as well as his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him: "What is the meaning of this dream of yours? Am I as well as your nother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the earth to you?"

In verse 11, Joseph's "brothers grew jealous, but his father kept the saying in mind."

Sometimes when people tell us something, that, to us, sounds outrageous and unbelievable, we may think in our head, "Man, he is so egotistical and big-headed!" But, Jacob is a good example: He asked questions. He did not allow anger or jealously to block his thinking, but he kept it in his head. As it turned out, Jehovah cleared up the matter later.

For us today, it's important to be humble when listening to others, not quick to get offended or angry and stop listening to that person. We should think about it and keep it in mind, as Jehovah may provide understanding at a later date. We must remain open-minded about things. We should not adopt the tactic of hearing one thing we don't like and focus so much on it, that we miss the rest of the counsel or discipline we are receiving that will benefit us if we apply it.

I enjoyed the reading this week. In chapter 36, it was a lot of names, but I did see that Esau had three wives, one of which was his cousin, Basemath, the daughter of his uncle, Ishmael. (Gen. 36:3)

Addition made 5/7/20:

Gen. 37:24, 25:

...and they took him and threw him into the waterpit...Then they sat down to eat.

A sister commented on these version, pointing out the brothers' sense of right and wrong were blurred; their conscience was murky. They nonchalantly did wrong, shrugged their shoulders and had their meal. The world today is the same. People do bad, yawn as if it's just another thing to do and carry on with their lives. We cannot be that way. Jehovah teaches us what's right and wrong. When we make a mistake, we feel bad and ask for forgiveness and keep training.

She made a good point. I've had people tell me, "Oh, I feel bad," with a shrug, but they won't do anything to atone for it or to make it right. We need to continue to resist the world's tendency to do wrong like it's just another day at the office. We need to work hard at making Jehovah look upon us with favor and appreciation and to continue to show love for our brothers despite their imperfections.

Enjoy your week's activity and be safe!

... the text for May 4, 2020

Keep bearing much fruit. - John 15:8

I appreciate this in the comments on the text today:

As we endure, we experience in our heart a lasting feeling of peace that results from knowing that we have Jehovah's and Jesus;' approval.

Then it references Rom. 5:3, which point out that we "rejoice while in tribulations since we know that tribulation produces endurance". This in turn creates an "approved condtion" which becomes "hope".

What was the "fruit" Jesus referred to? It was the preaching work. The message was simple, "The Kingdom of the heaves has drawn near." Today, that message is, "The Kingdom of the heavens is here!"

By reaching this message to those humble ones that desire to learn about Jehovah, it produces hope, the hope of everlasting life.

If we endure in doing this, we will be placed in an approved condition by Jehovah and Jesus, and gain the precious gift we have been promised. (Matt. 24:13)

Stay safe!

Sit, and Wait

He got up at his usual hour, before dawn. He was feeling a little hungry, so he peeked into the containers that his wife put their snacks in. The snacks were wide and varied. Pretzels, dry cereal, Ritz crackers, chicharrones, etc. The dry cereal collection this week was Golden Grahams and cinnamon flavored Frosted Flakes.

Tryting to be quiet, he opened the container for the Golden Grahams and took a few to nibble on. Not quiet enough. She stood and looked up at him, her tan fur glowing in the dim light from outside. Her big doe eyes was the only thing he could see of her face and knew the snout was angled up in his direction. She wanted a treat.

So, he got one piece of the cereal and closed his fist. Leaning down he said, quietly, "Do you want a treat?" Holding his fist at her level, she moved in and tried to dig her snout into the fist to get the snack. "Sit," he commanded. Her gaze wnt from the fist to his face to the fist again. Her tail started to wag, swishing back and forth. "Sit," he repeated. Finally getting the idea, she backed up to put her haunches on the ground. The tail was still wagging. He waited a moment. She sat and blinked, wagging the tail. He started to open the fist, and she stood and came for it. The fist closed. "No, sit." She sat, and waited. When the fist was fully open, and she saw the cereal, she darted forward, grabbing the treat and ran to her blanket to chew on it. He know she would be back, so he grabbed a few more Golden Grahams.

He remembered a time long ago, when he was a child, that he used to get the munchies in the middle of the night. One week, his mother had gone shopping and bought a family-sized box of Frosted Flakes. He loved that cereal! So, he got up, found the cereal, which was as yet, unopened. He took the box back to the bed, and he ate it all, crunching away. How his brother didn't hear him, nor his parents, he didn't care. Mom was very angy  in the morning.

His mother once claimed that when he was 3, he would climb onto the counter, get into the cupboard and reach up to the booze stash that was stored on a top shelf, pull down a bottle of Southern Comfort and drink straight out of the bottle. He didn't remember that episode, but he supposed that the story of the alcoholic infant was a good party favorite. He liked Southern Comfort too. He did remember when he was 7, when his parents had a big gathering, he would go around, and if their beers were almost empty, he would offer to finish it for them. They didn't mind and gave it to him. Well, when you finish the last bit of, oh, 8 beers or so, you may become intoxicated, and so he was very drunk. He went to bed and passed out, still wearing his clothes. Did this happen more than once? He didn't remember. But, now he hates Coors, which was the beer they were all drinking.

The dog came back a few more times. He did the same process. Hold it in his fist, lean down and ask her to sit. At last, she sat without a command, seeing the fist. So, he kept training her, holding the treat longer and longer to build up her patience as he let her sit, and wait.

... the text for May 3, 2020

[Have] your feet shod in readiness to declare the good news of peace. - Eph. 6:15

What kind of shoes do you have? Sandals? A worn-out pair of sneakers? Stylish Italian shoes, where the toes come to an uncomfortable point? Stilettos?

The readiness spoken of here is being prepared, ready to preach. You put on your sturdiest shoes for a hike in the woods. You also dress appropriately for the ministry. In Alaska, it's reasonable to have winter boots on, not fancy leather shoes that are useless in snow and ice.

Likewise, being prepared is important. Knowing what you can preach about is crucial. Someone, somewhere, can make an off-hand remark about the world in general, and then you "sprint" into action, whipping out your electronic device to show 2 Tim. 3:1-5, and if they are interested, explain how the critical times match with Jesus' description of the last days (Matt> 24).

Let us not be flat-footed.

... the dreams that made me cry

About six years ago, my grandmother had asked me to look for my father. My father had been disfellowshipped for over 40 years, and no one had contact with him for eons. The last time we heard was about ten years ago, when my grandfather, in an attempt to help him, would take him to meetings and gave him a job in my grandfather's bumper repair shop, where he also lived. It didn't go well. My father had became addicted to drugs and he stole things to pay for his habit, including my grandfather's RV. This caused my grandfather to put a temporary restraining order against him to protect the family. So, he disappeared.

So, I began to search for my father, by checking public records and locating addresses. My grandparents would drive there and attempt to locate him, but no luck. We didn't know if he were alive or dead. Then I had this dream:

I was in a van with other people. I don't know who they are, I did not recognize them. We were driving around, searching for my father. I looked out the window, and shouted, "There he is!" We all jumped out. My father was wearing a 19th century overcoat, with a vest and pant and cravat. He had a stovepipe hat on top of his head. He was walking along, with a sandwich board over his shoulders advertising something that I couldn't read. I ran up to him and said, "Dad! Dad! I've been looking all over for you. He looked at me like I was a stranger, sort of leaning back, with a wary expression on his face.  "It's me, Patrick!" I cried, "I'm so glad you're alive!" He didn't say anything. His expression didn't change. I started to sob, and fell to my knees and hugged him around his legs, crying "Dad! Dad!"  I was sobbing uncontrollably and then...

I woke up with a jolt. My chest was compressed and I wasn't breathing. Then I slowly started breathing and my temse body relaxed and I just laid there, thinking. i fell asleep again, but no dreams came.

The second one I had was this:

I was in a living room. I was talking to someone that i felt was a friend. He had really long hair, with a ball cap on his head. He was relating to me how his father had been in a war, and wanted me to meet him. I did not know this man, had never seen him before, but i felt connected, so I nodded. Then his father came in the room. His father had no shirt. He wore a turban on his head. His beard was white and pointed. He had lost both hands. One arm came to the mid-forearm and stopped. The other arm was amputated at the elbow. The old man talked about the fighting he had been through. As I listened to the store, I was overcome with emotion at something so tragic happened to this man. I began to cry and laid my hand on his shoulder, telling him how sorry I was. I began to sob, and then...

I woke up, not breathing, gasping for breath. I calmed down and then wondered who that old guy was.

.. a recent dream

Usually, I don't remember dreams I've had, but occasionally, I remember snippets of things that happened. Such as this one:

I was in a lagoon or lake of some sort. At the other end, was a large freighter. As I looked, the bow began to split open, like a set of doors. A long, metallic arm came out and it had a scoop on one end. It extended out so many feet, then it began to oscillate. As the oscillation widened, I realized that it was coming in my direction! I ducked under water, as the scoop passed over my head. Then it stopped and came back, as if it was searching for me. I was waist deep in water, so I couldn't move very fast, but I tried my best to keep out of the way of this arm, as it swung back and forth in an attempt to get me. I woke up. I don't wake up screaming or sweating or terrified. I just wake up and say, "My goodness! What a weird dream." Then I think: Did I read or see anything about a big boat? No.

This is the one I had last night:

I found myself sitting on a bench, that was suspended by wires. It was attached to this building, like the Stratosphere in Las Vegas or the Space Needle in Seattle. The bench I was on was hanging from the edge of the round structure, and as I looked back, I could see the pedestal it was on. It was extremely high off the ground. I was not restrained, and as I hung there, it jiggled and I was clutching the back of the bench to keep from slipping off to my death. I noticed someone else sitting on the bench and it vaguely appeared to be a female. She was leaning over the back of the bench, reaching for shirts and sweaters that hung a couple of feet behind us. I did not recognize the woman, but she had long hair and was a grey shape. We did not talk. She slipped through the clothes and found one she liked and pulled the white sweater off the rack to look at it more closely. Then the bench start to descend slowly. It wavered and jiggled in the breeze. And then I found myself in a store selling sports memorabilia. I'm not the sort to buy that stuff, but I looked through the wares and found some things I wanted to get. So, I took them to the man behind the cassh register. I paid over $100 for the items. The sales clerk packed them all into one of the shoes I had bought. Then I kept losing the shoe. I walked all over the store looking for the shoe. Then I would find the shoe and then I would lose it again, and this repeated itself until I finally woke up late.

 The one memory I do have is that prior to our marriage over 7 years ago, my fiancee and I went to the fair in Pomona. There they have a ride, similar to the one used at ski slopes. It had a bench with a simple bar to keep you in, but no other restraints. It wasn't really high, but we could see the crowd of people below us and looked down on the different attractions along the way. My future wife began to swing her legs, causing the bench to jiggle and dance, and I had to, calmly as I could, tell her to stop shaking it. But, to still have this years later, is very odd. Anyway, these perplex me, but I don't have them too often, thankfully.

... what dreams may come #1

I routinely have weird dreams. Some say that it's just your brain processing memories, tossing some, keeping others. The dreams I have are surreal and appear to have nothing showing that I've experienced these things. A common dream alerts me to the fact that though I'm not afraid of heights, I do get anxious when I'm far above the earth, in an unrestrained position.

I cita a dream I had a long time ago, where I found myself on a pole, with a very small seat. I could not see a way to get down, nor did I see how I got up there. On the sides of this little platform I was sitting on, where two rails, like the kind that are attached to diving boards at swimming pools. When I was 15 or so, we had moved in with my stepfather's mother, and she had a house with a pool. It had the singularity of being the only one in the neighborhood with a high dive. The high dive was about ten feet. It didn't bother me. i jumped off it regularly, but I nver dove face first into the water. One of my friends slipped off the steps and broke his arm, but that was the only accident in this high dive's live. The pool did have a really deep end (about 15 feet) so it was safe.

But this dream really frightened me. I had these rails, and I looked below to see no steps of any kind. As I looked out, I could see a city far below. It appeared much higher than 100 feet. As I sat there, thinking about how I was going to get off, this pole and platform I was sitting on swayed wit the slight breeze. I was not secured, so I hung onto the rails for dear life, afraid of slipping. I couldn't move either. My legs started to cramp and I tried to move my legs to relieve the cramp. I had no where to go. I woke up.

I don't delve into what dreams mean. I did date a sister once, who before she came to learn about Jehovah, was really into interpreting dreams, but I never asked her and it wouldn't have been right anyway.

So, I guess I can put my dreams here, and try to see how they relate, and maybe I can make the connections between them.