Commitment
Whither thou
goest …
... the choices that we
all make on our life journeys
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a
certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and
his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his
wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were
Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and
remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left
with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and
the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both
Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons
and her husband.
Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab,
for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his
people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been
living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back
to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back
each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you
have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find
security, each of you in the house of your husband." Then she kissed them,
and they wept aloud. They said to her, "No, we will return with you to
your people." But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you
go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even
if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and
bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain
from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for
you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me." Then they wept
aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to
her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said,
"Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die —
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!"
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Ruth
1:1-18
Ruth and Naomi
He Qi
2001
China
Dr. He Qi is
a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and a tutor for master
candidate students in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University. He is
also a member of the China Art Association and a council member of the Asian
Christian Art Association.
Hold faithfulness
and sincerity
as first
principles.
~ Confucius
The quality
of a person’s life
is in direct
proportion to their
commitment
to excellence.
~ Vince
Lombardi
We had a
Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans Service at our church last week.
Fall seems
to have left us for a while.
Carmon was
given a maquette by Harold in exchange for a future quilt.
Barbara W.
used to paint only quilt patterns at the Senior Resource Center and,
now that she
is at Life Care Nursing Home, she is expanding her painting repertoire.
Barbara W.’s
son and daughter-in-law.
The shortest
way to do many things
is to do
only one thing at a time.
~ Sydney Smiles
November 4, 2012 Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost; 31st
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Previous
OPQs may be found at:
http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and
seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the
first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the
Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these." Then the scribe said to
him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and
besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with
all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor
as oneself,' — this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to
ask him any question.
Mark
12:28-34
Agnus
Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the
permission of www.agnusday.org
Hurricane
Sandy from Space
Resilience
Prayers and
love to all of you affected by Sandy, the devastating storm.
Ruth 1:1-18
Ps. 146
Heb. 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34