Ah, Tuesday, you nearly had me fooled. I took the rather leisure approach to the day this morning when it dawned on me I had leadership council for CBS. I made it and was just a little late. Our discussion was lively and insightful this morning. After that I ran a couple of errands and then met Peggy at Luby's the Rancho De Five happening place for lunch. She brought me the Israel book she had put together and it is fabulous! We were also celebrating her one year anniversary of her new knee. Happy Knee Day! After lunch I headed to Whole Foods to pick up a few things and then came home. For a bit it looked like the sun was coming out but the sky is overcast once again.
And now it is Wednesday and I really can ease into the day. This is a big day for Roy because he is going to the sip and see at Costco tonight on his way home from work. He is rather excited about Costco opening. Reminds me of how I feel when ever there is some kind of Nordstrom store opening. I probably don't need to plan dinner because he will be full from all the samples.
In CBS my favorite studies so far have been Divided Kingdom and this year's study of Genesis. The look we got into Abraham's life and now the brief look into Isaac and Rebekah's life is meaningful on so many different levels. Isaac seems like he kind of rusted from the inside out and Rebekah looks like she clearly carries the family DNA of duplicitous interaction and dealings with her family. Over and over again this comes to mind, here is this beautiful story of how two people are brought together and for twenty years all they have is one another but once the twins came, Esau and Jacob, the atmosphere of their home or tent changes with the deep dividing issue of favoritism. Rebekah loved her Jacob and Isaac found Esau to be his. Through this Rebekah seems to have become one of those women who puts herself in the position to "hear" or wanting to be in the know. She seems to have herself placed in the best way possible to overhear conversations and put herself in to "help" God. Isaac looks to have taken the victim mentality with his health and life and even blames Jacob when he answers Esau about there not being any blessing left over for him. Rebekah once again steps in with action, telling Jacob to get the heck out of dodge until his brother cools off. Esau is contemplating that his brother will die by his hand once their father has passed on. With the acting Isaac did on his 'deathbed' , Esau probably thought, hmmm death could come at any time for his father and maybe Rebekah thought the same thing as well. The whole time I was reading this for homework questions I could picture Michael Corleone giving Freddo the kiss of death in the movie The Godfather and the instructions were, nothing should happen to Freddo until after their mother dies. The last hand played by Rebekah is covering her tracks by saying to Isaac, these Canaanite women are making me sick and putting the plug in there that what if Jacob were to marry one? So Isaac calls for Jacob once again, gives him the blessing of Abraham and sends him on his way to Laban's home. Wonder why he had to go alone but Abraham sent the servant with camels, gifts and men to help with the camels along the way when getting a bride for Isaac? In regards to Rebekah, I looked at the table of contents in Liz Curtiss Higg's book, Bad Girls of the Bible and was surprised that Rebekah wasn't mentioned but then she is a different kind of bad girl of the Bible...she might be one of the more treacherous and dangerous Bible bad girls, she did all her interfering under a "spiritual guise or mask." She could be the mentor for today's spiritually 'bad' women who do the deciding of who and what in life. The Lord had told her the older would serve the younger and she was carrying two nations inside her. I might have thought I 'd be having a litter of babies if I heard that. Seems like she set out then to help the Lord. Doing the "God's will" under the "spiritual guise" and hurting everyone along the way, seems pretty bad to me. Each and everyone of us has been a Rebekah doing that listening to be in the know, aiding others in helping God and His plan and manipulation of situations for an outcome profitable to our way of thinking. Rebekah never saw her favorite son again but she still had....Esau and his wives and sickly Isaac. The greater story in this story is God. He still loves us and uses us in spite of our stuff and really, He doesn't need our help in making sure His plan comes to pass. In these chapters, the beginning of Jacob's life and encounters with God there are so many interests to study that are totally relevant for today. In the middle of this narrative it is not the weakness or the human foibles that takes center stage and sometimes we would rather learn from someone else's mistakes but it is God that is smack dab in the middle of this biblical dysfunctional family and His love and guidance for them all.
Well, the doves are back, no sign of the hordes of birds so I will go see about them and filling the bird feeder.
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