Hope

 

5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.

9"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Luke 21:5-19

 

Paul in Prison

VAN RIJN, Rembrandt Harmenszoon

1627

StaatsgalerieStuttgart

Stuttgart

Germany

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=2022111248057865&code=ACT&RC=57228&Row=2

 

This is one of Rembrandt's earliest known panels, made in the year that he turned 21. It shows the apostle St. Paul in prison, lost in thought. Obviously the harsh conditions in jail did not stop him from trying to achieve his mission. The pen in his left hand suggests that he was writing one of his many letters.

Paul is depicted in traditional manner: long beard, bald head, and with his distinctive attribute: the sword, quite remarkable given the context. 

The sword has several meanings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.artbible.info/art/large/460.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge.

It requires no accountability, no understanding.

The highest form of knowledge is empathy,

for it requires us to suspend our egos

and live in another’s world.

It requires profound purpose larger

than the self kind of understanding.

~ Bill Bullard *

 

 

 

 

Strive to be uncynical,

to be a hope-giving force,

to be a steward of substance.

~ Maria Popova

 

 

 

 

 

Home from an amazing trip to Tokyo to visit Japanese family members!

 

First night in Tokyo — view from niece Robin’s 19th-floor home.

 

Kyorin University, Inokashira Campus, where Robin is a dean.

The arrow points to her formal office.

 

Robin’s desk in her formal office.

 

Lunch at one of Robin’s favorite lunch spots.

 

 

I loved the folded lightly waxed paper used to hold foods that can be messy.

 

 A Halloween lunch on the 31st.

Tetsuo and Andra Yoshioka

(Grand-niece Junna’s in-laws)

 

Dottie and Jack Alexander, Robin Alexander Sakamoto (niece)

 

“Shabu-shabu” at the Kodera's

Mitch and Nobu Kodera

Mitch was Dottie’s 2nd in charge when she was at IBM in Tokyo.

He and Nobu invited us to a "shabu-shabu" feast in their home.

The name is derived from the sound – "swish swish" – emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot.

 

 

Mitch, knowing that I couldn’t have seafood, presented me with a fish!

 

 

 

 

 

My own fish-free plate of sushi.

 

Mitch and Nobu’s son, daughter-in-law, and grandson joined us for a toast.

Kampai!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In past years, Nobu held cooking classes in their home.  

She signed and gave me a copy of her own cookbook!

 

More in the coming weeks!

(((-:

 

 

 

One kind word

can warm three winter months.

~ Japanese Proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2022   Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost - Year C

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

*  Based on a quote by George Eliot.

             Sometimes attributed to Plato … 

 

             

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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

 

 

 

May be an image of sky and text that says 'GRATITUDE helps us to see what is there instead of what isn't @chellyepic'

 

 

May be an illustration of 1 person and text that says 'FOR THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT, IF ONLY WE'RE RE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SEE IT. IF ONLY WE'RE BRAVE ENOUGH το BE IT. batploalsrtudo'21'

 

 

United States Of America - Veterans Day 2022 - Security Boulevard

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 65:17–25 

Isaiah 12 

2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 

Luke 21:5–19

 

 

November 13 – 33rd Sunday of the Year [C] / 23rd Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 28C]

“The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down . . .
“I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”
Luke 21: 5-19

THE WORD:

Many Jews believed that the end of the world would be signaled by the destruction of the great temple at Jerusalem. That is exactly what happened in the year 70 A.D., when more than a million Jews were killed in a desperate siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.  It is against this background of this event that Luke writes his life of Jesus.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple and a chronicle of catastrophes.  But Jesus does not teach dread here but hope.  Trying to calculate the end of time is a waste of time; the signs of the apocalypse – war, plague, earthquakes – will appear in every age and there always will be self-proclaimed “messiahs” who will manipulate such events for their own power.  Jesus assures his followers that those who remain faithful to the vocation of discipleship will have nothing to fear when the end comes.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#nov13

 

 

 

First Reading Isaiah 65:17-25

17For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 20No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-and their descendants as well. 24Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

First Reading Isaiah 12

1You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. 2Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

3With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.

5Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

6Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

11For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Gospel Luke 21:5-19

5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.

9"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.