Broken Relationships/When All Seems Lost

 

 


Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am." So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?" "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock." The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams." But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life." Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.



Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

 

Joseph Sold into Slavery by his Brothers

FERENCZY, Károly

1900

Hungarian National Gallery

Budapest, Hungary

 

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=2014080596252441&code=ACT&RC=55913&Row=15

 

Joseph stands at the center of a mixed crowd of his brothers and Ishmaelites.  In the background can be seen a desolate vista, offering no shelter; this landscape is an externalization of Joseph`s suffering and the alienation that characterizes the sale of the young man by his own brothers.       

 

Joseph appears half-naked, in shock and in pain; around his waist is a colored garment (apparently the remains of his famous coat—but a memory of his former status) and he his being held by two dark, primitive looking figures.  His brothers are not portrayed as evil, unlike the pictures of Rembrandt and Mir Ali; but rather they stand awkwardly and confused, as if they want nothing other than to have done with the matter and to go their way.  Ferenczy`s personal interpretation of the sale of Joseph focuses, then, on suffering and human indifference to it, while the world of nature reflects and echoes the emotions of the individual.

 

http://www.tali-virtualmidrash.org.il/ArticleEng.aspx?art=21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despair is the price one pays

for setting oneself an impossible aim.

~ Graham Greene

 

 

 

The best way out

is always through.

~ Robert Frost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Painted Toe group celebrated August birthdays on Monday.

Thank you, Toes!!!

Yum!!!

 

Jackie McFarland, Lori Williamson, CV Martyn, Nancy Priest, Linda Bradford and I

celebrated some of our birthdays by visiting the Cherokee Castle and Ranch between Sedalia and Castle Rock.

 

 

Tweet Kimbell bought the castle in 1954 and renamed it Cherokee Castle.

She furnished it beautifully with valuable paintings and furniture from another era.

http://www.cherokeeranch.org/crcPages/about_cherokee_ranch.php

 

 

The castle was built in 1924 by Carl and Alice Johnson and named Charlford Castle after

their son, Charles, and Alice’s son, Gifford.  Jackie and her husband knew Charlie Johnson and spent 

many weekends at the castle between 1947 and 1953.

 

 

This is now the Churchill Room, but Jackie remembers it as

the room where she and Bill often had cocktails when they stayed there.

 

 

Jackie also remembered this suit of armor next to the great fireplace

but now it is behind a wrought iron gate.

 

 

The view overlooking the valley from one of the turrets.

 

 

David Epp, Principal of the Outdoor Lab Schools, and Sondra Kellogg

accepting a check at Rotary for the Outdoor Lab Schools.

 

 

Also at Rotary, President Sam Smith introduced Ole and Lena,

two of his relatives from the Old Country.

<gr>

 

 

Vicki is visiting her nephew, Charles Rose, and his younger son, Chance Rose,

in Cocoa Beach this week.  This is Chance Rose at the Orlando Airport

with a sign that says, “Auntie Victoria.”

 

 

JAK, Zena, Woofie, Joan Evashevski, Sharron Leonard, Eileen Sharkey, and I had a breakfast

picnic on Saturday morning as well as a walk around the lake.

I am doggie-sitting Vicki’s doggies for two days until I can take

JAK and Woofie to Denise, their regular doggie sitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain,

Until then may I too abide

To dispel the misery of the world.

~ Shantideva *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 10, 2014  Ninth Sunday after Pentecost — Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 14

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

* From one of the Dalai Lama’s favorite prayers.            http://www.fpmt-europe.org/node/37

 

 

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “ ruly you are the Son of God."

Matthew 14:22-33

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

 

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

comic

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

 

 

ww.themiraclejournal.com/2011/08/04/the-little-voice/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10: 5-15
Matthew 14: 22-33