Dust on the Bible

I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

Psalm 77:12 (NIV)

I'm tired tonight. Well, technically it is morning as it is almost 1:00 a.m.

I am happy to report that after all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. mom and I are finally making progress on other tasks.

As many of you know I've got to find a new place for mom to live and so we are preparing as best we can as well as looking for a new apartment or senior's residence. I had a call back from one apartment today but was unable to make the connection. Then I accidentally erased the stored numbers in the phone! So now I'll have to hunt down a local paper and see if the ad is still there. Mom isn't ready to move yet, we are just checking out real possibilities that will enable her to live a more independent lifestyle than currently so we are making a shortlist if you will of appropriate places.

Since I wrote my last blog entry I have been busy. The cable man was here today to provide a better cable link as mom has been missing half of the channels she buys. I guess the problem was an insufficient cable connection so that has now been remedied. I also ordered another 6 or so channels for mom so she will have something better to watch after I go home. Now she will get to watch family shows like Reba re-runs and country music shows as well as all the home and garden shows and have access to CNN news.

In the living room, I dusted furniture and generally straightened things out. I dusted and polished the living room shelves, the television, other electronic equipment and armoires. After dinner, mom and I made haste for the master bedroom where we sorted through a few baskets of clothing and dusted all the laundry baskets, tables and various sundry items. To help mom keep her focus on the work, I played a Kitty Wells gospel CD. I also played an old Carter family album later remastered for the CD. When mom was a young woman, Kitty Wells was her favourite singer and she has also loved the Carter Family so these tunes were just the right thing to put her in a happy mood and help spur her on to sorting. For years, Kitty Wells held the title, the Queen of Country Music and her sound is pure and clear. If you haven't listened to her I would recommend her album called "Dust on the Bible". Here are the words to the song of the same name and a picture of the young Miss Kitty.

"Dust on the Bible"

I went into a home one day just to see some friends of mine
Of all their books and magazines, not a Bible could I find.
I asked them for the Bible.  When they brought it, what a shame!
For the dust was covered o'er it, not a fingerprint was plain. 

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word
The words of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul. 
Oh, you can read your magazines of love and tragic things
But not one word of Bible verse, not a scripture do you know.
When it is the very truth, and it's contents good for you.
But it's dust is covered o'er it  
And it's sure to doom your poor soul.

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word;
The word of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul.

Oh, if you have a friend you'd like to help along life's way
Just tell him that the Good Book shows a mortal how to pray
The best advice to give him that will make his burdens light
Is to dust the family bible trades the wrong way for the right

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word
The word of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds.
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul.

We also managed to sort through a few tubs of clothing and decide what to giveaway and what to keep. I then sorted through the bed linens and transferred what she will keep from a laundry basket to a nice wicker basket which I had originally purchased for clean bath towels but has now served several useful purposes. Mom can't sit and work for long but we managed to put together a total of 4 giveaway bags so I feel like we are making some progress at last. Tomorrow, I hope we can sort some of her personal papers..about 2 big garbage bags full and one large leather electrolux vacuum cleaner storage box. I also have to do all my laundry as I am running out of clean clothes. I have cooked some beef brisket tonight so we have something ready to eat tomorrow and I won't have to spend as much time in food preparation.

The rest of the week we will be busy as my niece will visit Thursday and the nurse attends at the apartment on Friday to provide some much needed medical attention to mom. That means any further sorting will need to be accomplished Thursday and Friday evenings as well as the weekend.

Kamloops is a very dry and hot city. Consequently, it is very dusty and is surrounded by hills of dust with little vegetation on them.

The song "Dust on the Bible" seemed very appropriate to listen to for all the dusting I was doing. It was a great reminder not to take God's Word lightly.

~~~

This book of the law shall not depart out of they mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou have good success.

Joshua 1:8

Bears and Giants

One of my main tasks here at mom's is to shop for daily and weekly food needs. I often walk several blocks to the nearest food store and take my recycling bags for whatever I buy and try to catch the city bus home.

Today it was a beautiful and glorious day. Not so hot like we have been having all summer and now into the Fall. I was grateful for the respite from the heat and took some time to savour the scenery along the way. Let me share some of the views I had on my short walk.

[Beautiful sun peeking through the trees]

[It is such a glorious day and a sky to match]

[Strolling along the sidewalk on to my destination]

[Roadside flora ~a hint of yellow in a sea of green]

[Pine branches]

[More roadside flora]

[A lovely hint of orange]

In addition to all the lovely flora I saw today, it seems there was a bear theme going on.

First, I came upon this lovely carving of a bear looking for honey ~

Next,

I came upon this wonderful panda bear eating his bamboo leaves ~

I thought the bears were cute and it prompted me to see what the Bible has to say about bears. I found this little story about bears in bible tools for teaching children about the animals in scripture.

The bear loves its young ones more than almost any other animal does, as this little story will show you.

A bear with two cubs or young ones once came over the ice near to a ship where the sailors had just killed a large animal. The bears were very hungry, and the sailors threw over some pieces of flesh for them; the old bear would tear them up, giving most of the meat to the cubs, and keeping but little for herself. Presently some one in the ship cruelly shot both the young ones. Then their mother was full of sorrow. She had been hurt herself by the guns, but she crawled along to her cubs, put her paw upon them, and tried to have them get up; and when she found that they did not move, she went a few steps off, and then looked back with a sad, moaning noise, as though she expected them to get up and follow her.

When she saw that all her efforts were useless, she walked around them several times, turned towards the vessel with a terrible growl for she was angry enough to tear in pieces the men who had killed her young. Then she lay down between her cubs and died. This story helps give meaning and understanding of the following scriptures from the books of Samuel and Hosea:

"For thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps (or cubs) in the field."

2 Samuel 17: 8

-and this also,

"I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps."

Hosea 13:8

Verses such as these show that the writers of the Bible were acquainted with the habits of different animals and we never find any mistakes in what they say about them. Solomon says in his Proverbs, "As a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people."
When young David was trying to persuade King Saul to let him go and fight with the great giant Goliath, Saul thought he was too young, and not strong enough.

David told Saul,

"Thy servant was keeping his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, and thy servant slew both the lion and the bear." He said also, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

You see why David was not afraid to meet the giant. It was not because he felt strong of himself, but he believed that God would be near to help him.

After reading these scriptures and stories it gave me a better understanding of the love bears have for their young ones. I often see them playing and caring for their cubs on television documentaries. I also know from living in a country of bountiful wildlife that bears can be very ferocious animals, yet young David was able to slay them through the help of God.

It reminded me how the bear can be a symbol of the heavy challenges and burdens we face, yet with God we can slay the bears and overcome the challenges in our own lives. God will deliver us and give us strength and He is ever near to help us.