How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Jump to: Missing Pieces Monster Slayer Veteran of the Psychic Wars The Small Hours of the Night 2AM Wisdom The Stars at Night

LATE 9am

Crashed at 2, planned to get up at 7. That came at 8. And now I'm 2h in on writing when I should be doing client work!

Why are you like this? You know life will be easier if you front load with what you HAVE to do and then do the rest of the stuff later. Good, lord man. Don't be such an idiot.

What do you know, reasonable half of my brain? I am heart... we chase butterflies.

Brain shakes head.

Wrote the lovey reminder that we are not things to be owned and used, but wonders to be beheld: Vineyards

A thing about Cats (retread), and a second treatise on how we are enough. Kenough, in fact..

And I have to STOP writing/rewriting my piece on wandering around Paris. I love this line from it:

Taxi ride back to the champs d' Elyse: A man his bike with a baguette—almost as French a thing as I can imagine.

Too much to do today. Skipped breakfast. But 'd

Missing Pieces

Okay, let's see. Looking for a a piece i wrote on a morning in Spain, and a poem about Antibes and Ireland. I got lost on the cliffs of Moher and had a super great essay. I really like writing here, but the file management is ridiculous.

As part of trying to be a human again, I'm combing through thousands of posts and thinking about balance writing honestly with hurting other people. I miss writing like everyone I know is dead. Maybe I'm just a raw nerve right now and in time, I'll have the courage and confidence to just let fly the dogs of love and war. Time will tell.

But writeas just doesn't have a search function. It requires downloading the entire blog, converting it to a spreadsheet and searching through 2300+ entries! Using #tags is pretty useful, but I am just not consistent.

After cataloguing (THAT'S a weird-looking word) I don't think I've ever seen all of my pieces listed in one place before. And this doesn't include the several hundred that I off-lined entirely, nor the other blogs I host—though those are mostly retreads of what I write here, the well-spring of my very very questionable genius.

Some personal favs:

The Economy of Tears Tidepool of Memory Holding Dams The Folded Man The Walled Garden The Place Where We Are Right The Storm Beneath The Water Between Us What Blossoms in Our Wake Rosy-Breasted Tide Runner

I was suprised over 500 were untitled. Very unlike me, but this is a massive body of work. My greedy Mister Burns wants to know how to monetize it. My heart just doesn't care.

The point is the work. Not what it gives you. Do the work. Build it and they will come. At least with writing, you don't need a mansion to store the massive paintings that are stacked all over my house.

Marching order 12p

Okay! Digging in and cranking out the work. It'll be a long day, but we'll get it all done, Keeper. Trust the process!!

Words of Wisdom

Stand firm . . . with the belt of truth fastened around your waist.​—Eph. 6:14.

This commandment that I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it beyond your reach.​—Deut. 30:11.

💜My copilot, my parter, my journeywoman💜 I wish she understood her potential.

Call me Jack Keeper. I keep the little moments. The quiet sounds. The gentle recollections. They live in my books and smell of salt and spice. Because no lighthouse keeper can exist without a cable knit sweater and a decent bottle of whiskey to accompany his library and games.

Some days the bear eats you...

Stress stress stress... hurry hurry hurry. The client LOVES everything... then THEIR client sees it and goes....eeeeerrrrrrr. Could we do it three different colors?

Sigh.

I mean! AWESOME! That's another week's worth of work! I gotta tell you, I don't deserve it. I should be homeless and eating out of a garbage can. But here I am. Paying my bills and eating regularly.

I do have to say. I was def stressed before the 5p checkin. Photoshop was just dying on me all day long. Of course I'm throwing 6 files weighing in north of 10gb each. For you non-digital creatives out there: Your average high resolution photograph is going to weigh in at about 2-5 mb compressed. that's a factor of about 2000. All opened at the same time each file with north of 100 layers.

They're monsters.

And, it seems, i am a monster slayer!

Okay, stress is off. Just have to make the giant fake beach I illustrated to look real pink and yellow instead of purple.

Listening to Veteran of the Psychic Wars

SUCH a great song!

“Veteran Of The Psychic Wars”

You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars I've been living on the edge so long Where the winds of limbo roar And I'm young enough to look at And far too old to see All the scars are on the inside I'm not sure that there's anything left to me

You ask me why I'm weary, why I can't speak to you You blame me for my silence say It's time I changed and grew But the war's still going on, dear, and there's no end that I know And I can't say if we're ever... I can't say if we're ever gonna be free

The voice of a weary soul bleating for his/her suffering to end. As if they'd fought all the wars that had ever been fought. And we're a lot like that when we're going through hell. Every day feels like it will be the day that grinds you into dust.

But wounds become scars, armor grows rusty and victories and loses become only stories we tell our grandchildren.

Not romantizing but capturing the weariness of the endless slog the days sometimes feel like.

The writer should have gotten a beehive and just sat and watched them g about their business. If one worker dropped dead, she dies a happy bee having performed her intended purpose to the fullest degree.

Perhaps that is where the frustration comes from: being imperfect, we can NEVER fullfill our intended purpose to the fullest degree.

Been living in the flames Been eating out or brains.

Small Hours of the Night

1:17 am

Work is shelved for the weekend. It was just too much to deliver today. So we'll start again on Monday. I heroed all I could hero, but in the end, the client wants what they want. And their a drug company, so they can just throw money at a thing until it's there. Who knows, maybe I've got six months of work?

That'd fix my debt wagon.

So, what does a poor boy do at 1am on a Friday night in Dust Merdian?

Go cow tipping, of corse!

Haha!

Well, I stopped drinking. And I stopped bothering a clever soul on the other side of the the universe, so my options are: Sleep Art Entertainment

I SHOULD for for sleep.

But I opt for art. There's writing to do! There are sketchbooks to fill and paintings that need painting.

First top. pop down the corner store for a drink and some people watching.

I went a night or two ago about this time and it was filled with morlock men of my own persuasion: middle-aged, sans a female partner and wide awake in the tiny hours of night. Only I'd like to think I walked with purpose and good posture. Those poor fellows looked like hollowed out tree trunks.

A stiff storm would crack them to dust.

But Friday night... no Friday's a different here.

Pulling in to the QT, right off of the interstate, nearly every fuel pump has a vehicle with travel gear: a jeep with extra fuel canisters and a rooftop tent, a dodge caravan with luggage strapped on top, a Bronco with a bullet shaped cargo carrier on top and a bicycle rack filled with carbon frames in the rear.

Through the glass I see the flash of way too much breast. A young woman is wearing a top that leaves little to the imagination.

Once inside, out of the corner of my eye, I see she has three friends.

As a man of a certain age, I make a conscious effort not to stare, lear or even do more than the passing glance if they happen through my eye line. I am not ashamed to admit that I can appreciate a beautiful woman.

But gas stations on a Friday night are not the place for admiration. Where is? Dressed as they are? Life drawing, museums and anatomical studies. Where these young ladies are headed, doing anything more will only arrive in trouble squared and tripled, cubed and more. Julienned.

This is evidenced by the reaction of the other males in the space. It is quite busy and a dozen or so unaccompanied men linger about their business, I see one head then another and another turn in the direction of the gaggle of lasses. One man in particular makes a stage show out of his leering. Craning his neck and nearly walking into the slurpy machine as he tracks the girls across the floor.

Men. We are such big fat retards.

And predictable.

This is one of my favorite things to do: watching other men react to circumstances like this. They are clownish buffoons on the best of days, and sex, the idea of sex or the possibility of it makes them into drooling idiots.

Though me thinks this fellow is much lower on the evolutionary tree than his companions. His dress is deplorable—a pair of weirdly tight stonewashed jeans hanging midway between his thigh and his knees, ballooning blue and red boxers and a shirt with skulls and cigarettes. His shoes are untied and he has a black belt with metal studs.

This is probably a very special outfit for him. I think it is special in the same way that circus clowns wear special outfits.

The store clerks are oblivious to it all. This parade of tomfoolery. The girls, the boys, what they are wearing or who is looking at whom. They see thousands of people every day and even the most die-hard man watcher would grow weary of the constant parade.

As I exit, I see the tables are all occupied with various homeless. They do not live here, but they enjoy the good light, the clean tables and the safety. If i had to guess, they inhabit the abandoned warehouse next door. It isn't much to look at, but I'm sure if you'e got nowhere else to go, it's a palace.

The table denizens, like the clerks are indifferent to the girls as they chirp and cackle their way to the little sedan in which they all ride. The leering man says something to them out of my earshot. By their reaction, I don't think it was a welcome compliment.

The drive home is peaceful. The windows are down, the hot summer air refreshing and the stars twinkling vibrantly in this crystal clear night. I miss the moon. The lat time I had time to sit outside at night, we had a full moon. How quickly it cycles out.

A lot of things in life are this way. Filling the night sky of our lives, growing and then slowly diminishing, then, suddenly without realizing, gone!

As with the moon though, life is a cycle. It never stays dark for long.

2am

The air smells of smoke. There is a grass fire somewhere. It's the middle of august, so no one's burning a fireplace tonight.

It is a pleasant hot this morning. The kind of heat that would be perect for camping. I wish I was camping tonight. Sitting by the ocean, or a lake and listen to the crickets and frogs.

Scraping the days grime from under my nails and dreaming of running through the woods with a pack of wolves—or—wild hogs more likely.

The Stars

The stars tonight. They are calling my name. OH! How'd I'd like to break free from the bonds of gravity and just GO.

I read an article about Steven Spielberg's 'Hook' (1991) and how it is both beloved and a confusing mess of a film. The part I took away from the piece was the filmmaker's fascination with staying young and flight. It pointed out how nearly every film he's made is either about flight or has planes as a central story element.

I immediately think of those WW2 era transport planes superimposed over a map or globe in the Indiana Jone's films. Or that the boys all take flight on their bicycles in E.T.

According to the essay, this changed after Hook. We got films, 'serious' films. Stuff like Schindler's List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan (planes in this one), AI, Minority Report, Catch me (planes), Terminal (planes), Munic, Bridge of Spies...

His last two: Fablemans and Disclosure Day are very non-flight.

So, mostly checks out.

The realization that wanting to fly is a common desire simultaneously excited me and made me realize I'm just a little less special than I thought I was.

That's probably a commonality as well.

Still, I wish I could fly. I always have.

A friend gave me a pretty nice reflecting telescope a few weeks ago. Tonight is a perfect night to set it up and see if I can find Saturn or Jupiter. Mars is fun to look as well.

But, when I check the star guide, I realize they're already over the horizon, or not up yet. I decide to wait for the moon. I haven't dialed in a telescope in years. Best to not start with some vague tiny point of light.

I want to sit and write all night long.

But. Maybe it's time for rest.

Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager. —Susan Sontag

#deardiary

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“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper

The fire that purifies and the fire that consumes are the same flame. The ax awaits where arrogance flourishes.

NARRATOR

However, the gloom will not be as when the land had distress, as in former times when the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were treated with contempt. But at a later time He will cause it to be honored— the way by the sea, in the region of the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who were walking in the darkness Have seen a great light. As for those dwelling in the land of deep shadow, Light has shone on them.

You have made the nation populous; You have made its rejoicing great. They rejoice before you As people rejoice in the harvesttime, As those who joyfully divide up the spoil.

For you have shattered to pieces the yoke of their load, The rod on their shoulders, the staff of the taskmaster, As in the day of Midian.

Every boot that shakes the earth as it marches And every garment soaked in blood Will become fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born to us, A son has been given to us; And the rulership will rest on his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

To the increase of his rulership And to peace, there will be no end, On the throne of David and on his kingdom, In order to establish it firmly and to sustain it Through justice and righteousness, From now on and forever. The zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this.

Jehovah sent a word against Jacob, And it has come against Israel.

PEOPLE OF ISRAEL — PROUD DECLARATION

And all the people will know it—Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— Who say in their haughtiness and in their insolence of heart: “Bricks have fallen, But we will build with hewn stone. Sycamore trees have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”

NARRATOR

Jehovah will raise up Rezin’s adversaries against him And will stir his enemies to action, Syria from the east and the Philistines from the west, They will devour Israel with open mouths. In view of all this, his anger has not turned back, But his hand is still stretched out to strike.

For the people have not returned to the One who strikes them; They have not sought Jehovah of armies.

Jehovah will cut off from Israel Head and tail, shoot and rush, in one day.

The elder and highly respected one is the head, And the prophet giving false instruction is the tail.

Those leading this people are causing them to wander, And those who are being led are confused.

That is why Jehovah will not rejoice over their young men, And he will have no mercy on their fatherless children and their widows, Because all of them are apostates and evildoers And every mouth is speaking senselessness. In view of all this, his anger has not turned back, But his hand is still stretched out to strike.

For wickedness burns like a fire, Consuming thornbushes and weeds. It will set fire to the thickets of the forest, And they will go up in clouds of smoke.

In the fury of Jehovah of armies The land has been set on fire, And the people will become fuel for the fire. No one will spare even his brother.

One will cut down on the right But still be hungry; And one will eat on the left But will not be satisfied. Each will devour the flesh of his own arm.

Manasseh will devour Ephraim, And Ephraim Manasseh. Together they will be against Judah. In view of all this, his anger has not turned back, But his hand is still stretched out to strike.

ISAIAH 10

NARRATOR

Woe to those who enact harmful regulations, Who constantly draft oppressive decrees, To deny the legal claim of the poor, To deprive the lowly among my people of justice, Making widows their spoil And fatherless children their plunder!

What will you do on the day of reckoning, When destruction comes from afar? To whom will you flee for assistance, And where will you leave your wealth?

Nothing remains except to crouch among the prisoners Or to fall among the slain. In view of all this, his anger has not turned back, But his hand is still stretched out to strike.

JEHOVAH (ABOUT ASSYRIA)

“Aha! the Assyrian, The rod to express my anger And the staff in their hand for my denunciation!

I will send him against an apostate nation, Against the people who infuriated me; I will command him to take much spoil and much plunder And to trample them like mud in the streets.

But he will not be inclined this way And his heart will not scheme this way; For it is in his heart to annihilate, To cut off many nations, not a few.

For he says, ‘Are not my princes all kings? Is not Calno just like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

My hand has seized the kingdoms of the worthless gods, Whose graven images were more than those of Jerusalem and Samaria! Will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols Just as I have done to Samaria and to her worthless gods?’ ”

NARRATOR

When Jehovah finishes all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, He will punish the king of Assyria for his insolent heart And his proud, arrogant gaze.

ASSYRIAN KING — BOASTING

“For he says, ‘I will do this by the strength of my hand And with my wisdom, for I am wise. I will remove the boundaries of peoples And pillage their treasures, And I will subdue the inhabitants like a mighty one.

Like a man reaching into a nest, My hand will seize the resources of the peoples; And like one gathering abandoned eggs, I will gather the whole earth! No one will flutter his wings or open his mouth or chirp.’ ”

NARRATOR

Will the ax exalt itself over the one who chops with it? Will the saw exalt itself over the one who saws with it? Could a staff wave the one who lifts it? Or could a rod lift up the one who is not made of wood?

Therefore the true Lord, Jehovah of armies, Will inflict emaciation on his fat ones, And beneath his glory he will kindle a blazing fire.

Israel’s Light will become a fire, And his Holy One a flame; It will blaze up and consume his weeds and his thornbushes in one day.

He will utterly do away with the glory of his forest and his orchard; It will be as when a sick man wastes away.

The rest of the trees of his forest Will be so few that a boy could list them.

In that day those remaining of Israel And the survivors of the house of Jacob Will no longer support themselves on the one who struck them; But they will support themselves on Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, with faithfulness.

Only a remnant will return, The remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

For though your people, O Israel, Are as the grains of sand of the sea, Only a remnant of them will return. An extermination has been decided on, And justice will engulf them.

Yes, the extermination decided on by the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, Will be carried out in the entire land.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, says: “Do not be afraid, my people who are dwelling in Zion, Because of the Assyrian, who used to strike you with the rod And to lift up his staff against you as Egypt did.

For in a very little while the denunciation will come to an end; My anger will be directed to their destruction.

Jehovah of armies will brandish a whip against him, As when he defeated Midian by the rock Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, And he will raise it as he did with Egypt.

In that day his load will depart from on your shoulder, And his yoke from on your neck, And the yoke will be broken because of the oil.”

He has come to Aiath; He has passed through Migron; At Michmash he deposits his baggage.

They have passed over the ford; They spend the night at Geba; Ramah trembles, Gibeah of Saul has fled.

Cry out and scream, O daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth!

Madmenah has run away. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought shelter.

This very day he will halt in Nob. He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.

Look! The true Lord, Jehovah of armies, Is chopping off branches with a terrible crash; The tallest trees are being cut down, And the lofty are brought low.

He strikes down the thickets of the forest with an iron tool, And Lebanon will fall by a mighty one.

#bible #reading #audiobook #isaiah #spokenword #wisdom #god

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“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper

When light is rejected, what is chosen—is the darkness.

Isaiah 3

NARRATOR:


For look! the true Lord, Jehovah of armies, 
is removing from Jerusalem and Judah every kind of support and supply—
all support of bread and water. Mighty man and warrior, 
judge and prophet, diviner and elder, 
chief of fifty, dignitary, and adviser, 
the expert magician and the skilled charmer—
all will be taken away.

JEHOVAH:

I will make boys their princes, 
and the unstable will rule over them.

NARRATOR:


The people will oppress one another, 
each one his fellow man.
The boy will assault the old man, 
and the lightly esteemed one will defy the respected one. Each one will take hold of his brother in his father’s house and say:

PEOPLE:


“You have a cloak—you be our commander.
Take charge of this overthrown pile of ruins.”

NARRATOR:


But he will protest in that day:

BROTHER:


“I will not be your wound dresser; 
I have no food or clothing in my house.
Do not make me commander over the people.” For Jerusalem has stumbled, 
and Judah has fallen, 
because in word and deed they are against Jehovah; 
they behave defiantly in his glorious presence. The expression of their faces testifies against them, 
and they proclaim their sin like Sodom; 
they do not try to hide it.
Woe to them, for they are bringing disaster on themselves! Tell the righteous that it will go well for them; 
they will be rewarded for what they do.
Woe to the wicked one!
Disaster will befall him, 
for what his hands have done will be done to him. As for my people, their taskmasters are abusive, 
 and women rule over them.
My people, your leaders are causing you to wander, 
 and they confuse the direction of your paths.

NARRATOR:


Jehovah is taking his position to accuse; 
he is standing up to pass sentence on peoples.
Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people.

JEHOVAH:


“You have burned down the vineyard, 
and what you have stolen from the poor is in your houses.
How dare you crush my people 
and grind the faces of the poor in the dirt?”

NARRATOR:


Jehovah says:

JEHOVAH:


“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, 
walking with their heads high, 
flirting with their eyes, skipping along, 
making a tinkling sound with their anklets, 
I will strike the head of the daughters of Zion with scabs, 
and I will make their forehead bare. In that day I will take away 
the beauty of their bangles, 
the headbands and the crescent-shaped ornaments, 
the earrings, the bracelets, and the veils, 
the headdresses, the ankle chains, the breastbands, 
the perfume receptacles and the charms, 
the finger rings and the nose rings, 
the ceremonial robes, the overtunics, the cloaks, and the purses, 
the hand mirrors and the linen garments, 
the turbans and the veils. Instead of balsam oil, there will be a rotten smell; 
instead of a belt, a rope; 
instead of a beautiful hairstyle, baldness; 
instead of a rich garment, a garment of sackcloth; 
and a brand mark instead of beauty. By the sword your men will fall, 
and your mighty men in battle.
Her entrances will mourn and grieve, 
and she will sit on the ground desolate.”

Isaiah 4

NARRATOR:


And seven women will grab hold of one man in that day, saying:

WOMEN:


“We will eat our own bread
and wear our own clothing; 
only let us be called by your name
to take away our disgrace.”

NARRATOR:


In that day what Jehovah makes sprout will be splendid and glorious, 
and the fruitage of the land will be the pride and beauty
of the survivors of Israel. Whoever remains in Zion and is left over in Jerusalem will be called holy—
all of those in Jerusalem written down for life. When Jehovah washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion
and rinses away the bloodshed of Jerusalem
by the spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning, 
Jehovah will create over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over the place of her conventions
a cloud and smoke by day
and a bright flaming fire by night.
Over all the glory there will be a shelter—
a booth for shade by day from the heat, 
and for refuge and protection from storms and rain.

Isaiah 5

PROPHET:


Let me sing, please, to my beloved
a song about my loved one and his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fruitful hillside.
He dug it up and rid it of stones.
He planted it with a choice red vine, 
built a tower in the middle of it, 
and hewed out a winepress in it.
Then he kept hoping for it to produce grapes, 
but it produced only wild grapes. “And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah—
please judge between me and my vineyard. What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I have not already done?
Why, when I hoped for grapes, 
did it produce only wild grapes? Now, please, let me tell you
what I will do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, 
and it will be burned down.
I will break down its stone wall, 
and it will be trampled on.
I will make it a wasteland; 
it will not be pruned or hoed.
It will be overgrown with thornbushes and weeds, 
and I will command the clouds not to send any rain on it.”

NARRATOR:


For the vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel; 
the men of Judah are the plantation he was fond of.
He kept hoping for justice, 
but look—there was injustice; 
for righteousness, 
but look—a cry of distress. Woe to those who join one house to another
and who annex one field to another
until there is no more room
and you live by yourselves on the land! Jehovah of armies has sworn
that many houses, though great and beautiful, 
will become an object of horror, 
without an inhabitant.
For ten acres of vineyard will produce but one bath measure, 
and a homer of seed will produce only an ephah. Woe to those who get up early in the morning to drink alcohol, 
who linger late into the evening darkness until wine inflames them!
They have harp and stringed instrument, tambourine, flute, and wine at their feasts, 
but they do not consider the activity of Jehovah
and they do not see the work of his hands. So my people will go into exile for lack of knowledge; 
their glorious men will go hungry, 
and all their people will be parched with thirst. So the Grave has enlarged itself
and opened its mouth wide without limit; 
and her splendor, her noisy multitudes, and her revelers
will certainly go down into it. Man will bow down; man will be brought low; 
and the eyes of the haughty will be brought low.
Jehovah of armies will be exalted by his judgment; 
the true God, the Holy One, will sanctify himself through righteousness. And the lambs will graze as in their pasture; 
foreign residents will feed on the desolate places of well-fed animals. Woe to those who drag along their guilt with ropes of deception
and their sin with wagon cords—
those who say:

ARROGANT PEOPLE:


“Let Him speed up his work; 
let it come quickly that we may see it.
Let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel take place
that we may know it!”

NARRATOR:


Woe to those who say that good is bad and bad is good, 
who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, 
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those wise in their own eyes
and discreet in their own sight!
Woe to those who are mighty in drinking wine
and masters at mixing alcoholic drinks, 
those who acquit the wicked for a bribe
and deny justice to the righteous! Therefore, just as fire consumes stubble
and dry grass shrivels in the flames, 
their very roots will rot
and their blossoms will scatter like powder, 
because they rejected the law of Jehovah of armies
and disrespected the word of the Holy One of Israel. That is why the anger of Jehovah burns against his people, 
and he will stretch out his hand against them and strike them.
The mountains will quake, 
and their corpses will be like refuse in the streets.
In view of all this, his anger has not turned back, 
but his hand is still stretched out to strike. He has raised up a signal to a distant nation; 
he has whistled for them to come from the ends of the earth; 
and look! they are coming very swiftly.
None among them are tired or stumbling; 
no one is drowsy or sleeps.
The belt around their waist is not loosened, 
nor are their sandal laces broken. All their arrows are sharp, 
and all their bows are bent.
The hooves of their horses are like flint, 
and their wheels like a storm wind.
Their roaring is like that of a lion; 
they roar like young lions.
They will growl and seize the prey
and carry it off with no one to rescue it. In that day they will growl over it
like the growling of the sea.
Anyone who gazes at the land will see distressing darkness; 
even the light has grown dark because of the clouds.

#bible #reading #audiobook #isaiah #spokenword #wisdom #god

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“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper

We are not meant to crave the king’s delicacies, but to crave understanding.

When you sit down to eat with a king, Carefully consider what is before you.

Put a knife to your throat If you have a large appetite.

Do not crave his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth. Stop and show understanding.

When you cast your eyes on it, it is not there, For it will surely sprout wings like an eagle and fly off into the sky.

Do not eat the food of a stingy person; Do not crave his delicacies, For he is like one keeping accounts. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but he does not mean it.

You will vomit up the morsels you have eaten And will have wasted your compliments.

Do not speak in the ears of the stupid one, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Do not move an ancient boundary marker Or encroach on the field of the fatherless.

For their Defender is strong; He will take up their cause against you.

Apply your heart to discipline And your ear to the sayings of knowledge.

Do not hold back discipline from a boy. If you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

With the rod you should strike him, In order to save him from the Grave.

My son, if your heart becomes wise, Then my own heart will rejoice.

My innermost being will find joy When your lips speak what is right.

Let your heart not envy sinners, But be in the fear of Jehovah all day long.

For then you will have a future And your hope will not be cut off.

Listen, my son, and become wise, And direct your heart in the right way.

Do not be among those who drink too much wine, Among those who gorge themselves on meat, For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

Listen to your father who caused your birth, And do not despise your mother just because she has grown old.

Buy truth and never sell it, Also wisdom and discipline and understanding.

The father of a righteous one will surely be joyful; Whoever fathers a wise son will rejoice in him.

Your father and your mother will rejoice, And she who gave birth to you will be joyful.

My son, do give your heart to me, And may your eyes take pleasure in my ways.

For a prostitute is a deep pit, And an immoral woman is a narrow well.

She lies in wait like a robber; She increases the number of unfaithful men.

Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has quarrels? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bleary eyes?

Those lingering long over wine; Those searching out mixed wine.

Do not look at the wine’s red color As it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly, For in the end it bites like a serpent, And it secretes poison like a viper.

Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will speak perverse things.

And you will be like one lying down in the middle of the sea, Like one lying at the top of a ship’s mast.

You will say: “They have struck me, but I did not feel it. They beat me, but I did not know it. When will I wake up? I need another drink.”

#proverbs #bible #reading #wisdom

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“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper

Wisdom from above

Better is a piece of dry bread where there is peace than a house full of feasting along with quarreling.

A servant with insight will rule over a son who acts shamefully; he will share in the inheritance as one of the brothers.

The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah is the examiner of hearts.

A wicked man pays attention to hurtful speech, and a deceptive man listens to a malicious tongue.

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker, and whoever rejoices over another’s disaster will not go unpunished.

Grandsons are a crown to the aged, and fathers are the glory of their sons.

Upright speech does not befit a fool. How much less does false speech befit a ruler!

A gift is like a precious stone to its owner; everywhere he turns, it brings him success.

Whoever forgives a transgression seeks love, but the one who keeps harping on a matter separates close friends.

A rebuke makes a deeper impression on one having understanding than striking a stupid person a hundred times.

A bad man seeks only rebellion, but a cruel messenger will be sent to punish him.

Better to meet a bear bereaved of her cubs than to encounter someone stupid in his foolishness.

If anyone repays bad for good, bad will not depart from his house.

Beginning a fight is like opening a floodgate; before the quarrel breaks out, take your leave.

Anyone who acquits the wicked one and anyone who condemns the righteous one— both of them are detestable to Jehovah.

What good is it that the stupid one has the means to acquire wisdom when he has no heart for acquiring it?

A true friend shows love at all times and is a brother who is born for times of distress.

A man lacking good sense shakes hands and agrees to put up security in the presence of his neighbor.

The one who loves conflict loves transgression. Anyone who makes his entryway high invites a crash.

The one who is crooked at heart will not find success, and the one who speaks deceitfully will fall into ruin.

The one who fathers a stupid child will experience grief; and the father of a senseless child has no joy.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit saps one’s strength.

A wicked man will take a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice.

Wisdom is directly in front of the discerning person, but the eyes of the stupid wander to the ends of the earth.

A stupid son brings grief to his father and heartache to the one who gave birth to him.

To punish the righteous one is not good, and to flog honorable people goes against what is right.

A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a discerning man will remain calm.

Even a fool who keeps silent will be considered wise, and the one who seals his lips, discerning.

#biblereading #proverbs #wisdom

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Home | About | Full of Stars | Contact | HeartCartography

“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper