Fountain of Life

The teaching of the wise
is a fountain of life,
turning a person
from the snares of death.

Proverbs 13:14 (NIV)

Photo: by me, 31 Oct 2022
Cromwell, New Zealand

Jacob's Dream

¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:11-12 (NIV)

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This afternoon I enjoyed reading a portion of (Rabbi) Toba Spitzer's book, God Is Here discussing the story of Jacob's Dream --highlighter added by me--

When Jacob awakens from his dream, he exclaims, “Mah norah haMakom hazeh— How awesome is this Place!” *[3] This nondescript rocky spot in the desert has suddenly become, in Jacob’s mind, a “gateway to heaven.” The emphasis in Jacob’s exclamation isn’t just on “haMakom/ Place” but also on the word hazeh—“ this.” If Makom is a name for an experience of godliness that we can access in any place, then by saying “how awesome is this Makom,” we acknowledge the potential for having this kind of expanded awareness in any moment, in any situation. It is this place, this spot that I am inhabiting in this moment, that holds the potential for direct experience of something sacred.

Spitzer, Toba. God Is Here (p. 82). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
*[3] Genesis 28:17

Photo: taken by me. Southland, New Zealand  

Tranquility

"In Seneca’s essay on tranquility, he uses the Greek word euthymia, which he defines as “believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction.” It is this state of mind, he says, that produces tranquility." [Holiday, Ryan; Hanselman, Stephen. The Daily Stoic (p. 23). Kindle Edition]

In Luke 9:23 (NIV) Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Note to self: it's the 'following' that counts, don't fret about divisiveness in the church!

Being Seen

 

The seer is first of all the one seen

but above all the one addressed,

called forth into response-able being.

 

 ~Merold Westphal  

--online via this abstract

Gods Family

 Swan family at Maple Glen Gardens, Southland, New Zealand. 04 April 2021

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.  

Hebrews 2 : 10,11 NIV