Matthew 5:40-41 (New King James Version)
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

From www.winterpatriot.com and www.wikipedia.com: "By handing over one's cloak in addition to one's tunic, the debtor has essentially given the shirt off their back, a situation directly forbidden by Hebrew Law as stated in Deuteronomy 24: 10-13:

When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge. You shall remain outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. When the sun goes down you shall surely return the pledge to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.
By giving the lender the cloak as well the debtor was reduced to nakedness. Public nudity was viewed as bringing shame on the viewer, not the naked, as evidenced in Genesis 9: 20-27:

Noah planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.

41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

The succeeding verse from the Sermon on the Mount can similarly be seen as a method for making the oppressor break the law. The commonly invoked Roman law of Angaria allowed the Roman authorities to demand that inhabitants of occupied territories carry messages and equipment the distance of one mile post, but prohibited forcing an individual to go further than a single mile, at the risk of suffering disciplinary actions.[4] In this example, the nonviolent interpretation sees Jesus as placing criticism on an unjust and hated Roman law as well as clarifying the teaching to extend beyond Jewish law.[5] As a side effect this may also have afforded the early followers a longer time to minister to the soldier and or cause the soldier not to seek followers of Jesus to carry his equipment in the future so as not to be bothered with their proselytizing."

As you can see, neither of these actions are to be performed from the position of a victim or "doormat", but a purposeful, even shrewd standpoint which demonstrates righteousness and generosity.

What About Jesus?

Welcome back on track to Jesus...not that He ever left me when I went to Texas. Very much to the contrary...He definitely showed up! I'll have more to say about Tiger Lily Weekend soon.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39 (NIV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

My disclaimer is - This teaching of Jesus does NOT provide for personal abuse of other people. The complete teaching of this action includes the understanding of Jesus' position as a king, a partially political position, in that He came into our human, political world. Later, we'll see where He taught the Apostles to take a sword with them Here He is instructing them in a tactic (or is it a strategy?) of spiritual warfare. He is truly manifested as the Prince of Peace when you understand the context in which He speaks.

Following is an excerpt from http://winterpatriot.com/node/529 about the recent protests in Egypt:

“Turning the other cheek” has been falsely portrayed as a passive and even submissive practice or strategy but nothing could be further from the truth.
An “eye for an eye” means countering violence with violence; as if this will resolve an issue. Why wouldn't the returned violence be returned again in turn? And so on ad infinitum? Yet this is the recipe preached by Judaism. How has it worked so far? It has worked extremely well for those with a vested interest in ever more violence, the psychopaths) but not for the rest of us. So let's look at the proposed alternative.

It is curious is it not that Jesus would specify the right cheek? It must have had significance for him to mention it. Most people then, as now, are right-handed and unless you are trained in the gentle art of boxing it is usual to strike someone with your right hand. So to strike someone on their right cheek with your right hand, you need to give them a 'backhander'. This is the strike of choice for superiors when dealing with people they consider to be inferior to them and insubordinate to boot. So this is the situation Jesus was teaching on; how to deal with evil people in power. When you turn the other cheek they cannot repeat the backhander, they have to punch you if they want to continue. The trouble for them then is that they lose their superior position, their perceived legitimacy, in the eyes of the audience and are reduced to brawling like common thugs. Which is what they are; thugs in fine clothes. This perceived legitimacy is crucial because any despot knows that the people en masse have the power and not him. Hence all the pomp and pageantry and all the police and military might to impress this idea of superior status and power onto the general populace. Power over others is ultimately an exercise in deceit.

Turning the other cheek is an act at once defiant and yet non-aggressive. It is in no way submissive. This action refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy or authority of the abusive power just as the people of Egypt have done. It does not accept the authority of the attack. It does not submit just like the Egyptians have not submitted. They have instead continued to demand that Mubarak's criminal behaviour cease and that he remove himself from his position of imposed privileged. They have pledged to stand there turning the other cheek until he does.

For more teaching that you probably never heard in Sunday School, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_the_other_cheek

Peace.

Tiger Lily Weekend - 2011

Huh?
Lu, whose idea it was to have us gather, suggested a name change in honor of our hostess and her family. Come to find out that their family signature flower is the Tiger Lily...so here we are again, still smellin' as sweet as Magnolia blossoms in my memory of that initial bonding time together. Whether we meet in person again or not, as long as someone delivers mail, e- or snail-, I plan to keep on building those bonds.

Back to more of my friends...
Cindy Rhudy is the spunky, kind, fun-loving and hard-working director of Shiloh Home of Hope for Women in Emporia, Kansas http://www.shilohhomeofhope.org and my roomie! She's also very tolerant and understanding if you snore. I DID warn her and offered earplugs, but she would only say, "Oh, I wasn't sleeping anyway." Let's just say that I've heard myself on recording snoring, and Grand Saline doesn't need me AND the train going by at night! Seriously, though, Cindy aka Coachmombabe is all that... lifecoach, Mom, Grandmom as well as singer, dancer before the Lord and cardmaker to her family and the women and babies who come Shiloh's way. We have much in common between us in dealing with crisis pregnancy, as I was a volunteer with our local CareNet Pregnancy Center www.care-net.org for three years, and our family continues to support them financially. We also have the love of Sedona, Arizona in common, and almost got to meet a few weeks before Tiger Lily Weekend on her travels there...next time, Cindy...and I'll follow along! By the way, Cindy continues to forge ahead as best she can while living with a quite frustrating physical condition.

Next, I'll tell you about Heather Hyde-Herndon aka Feathermaye. Heather learned of Cindy and Shiloh's need of a sewing machine and generously donated and had one shipped to Katie Belle for her to take back to Kansas. Had to toot your horn, Mz HHH! Heather also came to our weekend with the freshest loss. Most of us there had experienced some in the past couple of years; but she lost her Dad just a few weeks before. We were all happy to have her come anyway, and welcome her into our hearts and hugs, and hopefully render her some comfort. I know that we at least helped to take her mind away when we played a fun game, because she shined her talent at it! It's a storytelling game, and that's one of Heather's talents. In fact, she shares it with her husband and is soon going on a booksigning tour with him. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/TORMENTA/S-Bond-Herndon/e/9781932996388
Heather is also a jewelry maker and is commissioned to make our daughter's wedding "hippie toes" barefootwear. Last weekend she just whipped up a cute pair of earrings for Lu to wear to our gourmet dinner on Saturday night. She also gifted us with some really cute and unique pendants. Thanks, Feathermaye!
Pics up top are (l to r) Lu, Heather and Cindy...and one of Heather and me "after" with her new do...so cute!

Magnolia Weekend 2011

Began 2 weeks ago:
A week from tonight, I will be enjoying a girlie-girl play date with 7 women I have never met. It will be the 3rd night of my 5-day weekend. I had originally planned to go and meet my online friend for the first time face-to-face this time last year, but my sweet Mom got sick in January and passed away a year ago today.
I want to record my impressions of these friends for them and for you, and tell you a little about what we've "been through" together the last few years.
First acknowledgement goes to Yana Berlin, founder of Fabulously40.com. It's the site where I first got to know most of these friends. My husband had been diagnosed with cancer just about the time I came across the site and jumped in to freely share my days' experiences with them. Yana won't be joining us, but I know that we are all sincerely grateful for what she created.
The fascinating hostess of our upcoming weekend was recognized as a truly kindred spirit...not because I'M so fascinating ;0), but simply because we had so much in common. Laurie is a unique and most gifted woman, a caring and passionate person who puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She is a heart-taught artist, musician, deft writer, instantaneous philanthropist and true believer in Jesus Christ, and is not ashamed to say so! She has transparently shared her gifts and her life with me and hundreds (probably thousands) of others over the last few years through her website, her online radio show and her generosity. She is a wise and loving mother, wife, sister and daughter, and I am proud to call her my friend and sister in Christ.

Then there is Lu(cinda)...former member of the radio industry who graciously agreed to produce and co-host Laurie's online show. Lu has rubbed shoulders with lots of famous people, but what impresses me about her is that she is so in love with her husband and family. She possesses a fierce wit, and is still hard-working and dedicated to what she does...when I first met her, a candle maker, www.lightfandangocandles.com. Her newest venture is www.thespottedteapot.com Travelling Teaparties for Girls.
Ruby is a sometimes deep and always sharp blogger to adults. Her use of metaphor, simile and humour noir is a force to be reckoned with. Living with her disability while raising her sons on her own has made my admiration for her increase with every post I read. If you are sick and tired of PC communication, she's your girl! www.rubycantu.wordpress.com Please visit her and if so inclined, and as she says..."Help a cripple" by clicking donate to her Paypal account.

I'm home now, and I can tell this is gonna need to be posted in more than one post.
I have WAAAAAY too much to say!

What About Jesus?

Matthew 5:33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord [as a religious duty].

34But I tell you, Do not bind yourselves by an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is the throne of God;

35Or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.(H)

36And do not swear by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black.

37Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No; anything more than that comes from the evil one.(I)

From Biblegateway Commentary:

Oaths Are a Poor Substitute for Integrity
When Jesus quotes his Bible as prohibiting false vows and other oaths (Deut 23:23), he probably also has in view the Ten Commandments, as in Matthew 5:21, 27. In this case he alludes to the third commandment: a false oath "misuses" or takes in vain God's name, since oaths by definition called on a deity to witness them (Ex 20:7). Breaking an oath was dangerous, for in all societies oaths contained curses that deities would avenge if the person who swore by them broke the oath. The Bible's point in prohibiting false oaths, however, was that one should tell the truth and keep one's promises. The Hebrew Bible approved of some oaths and vows (as in Num 5:19-22; 6:2), but Jesus again summons us beyond the law's letter to its intention. His own point is not so much that oaths are evil as that the motivation for engaging in them is; one should simply tell the truth (Mt 5:37).


Although Jesus' position on oaths is not wholly unique, it was rare enough to be distinctive. Although some Jewish teachers warned against customary oath-taking, nearly all accepted oath-taking as valid; in daily life, it was surely common in the marketplace. Some groups of Essenes may have avoided oaths altogether (Jos. War 2.135), except for their initiatory oath for joining the sect (Jos. War 2.139-42; see also 1QS 5.8). Josephus declares that one could trust an Essene's word more than an oath, however (War 2.135); Philo indicates that their abstention from oaths declared their commitment to truth (Every Good Man Free 84; also Vermes 1993:35). Jesus and the Essenes probably intended the same as Pythagoras: let your word carry such conviction that you need not call deities to witness (Diog. Laert. 8.1.22; compare Philo Spec. Leg. 2.2; Isoc. Nic. 22, Or. 2).

The point of this passage is integrity. Jesus observes that since God witnesses every word we say anyway, we should be able to tell the truth without having to call God to witness by a formal oath. Jesus is addressing a popular abuse of oaths in his day. To protect the sanctity of the divine name against inadvertent oath-breaking, common Jewish practice introduced surrogate objects by which to swear (Vermes 1993:34-35). Some people apparently thought it harmless to deceive if they swore oaths by something like their right hand (t. Nedarim 1:1; cf. Jos. War 2.451). The further removed the oath was from the actual name of God, the less danger they faced for violating it (Schiffman 1983:137-38; E. Sanders 1990:53-54). Jewish teachers had to arbitrate which oaths were actually binding as allusions to God's name (m. Sebi`it 4.13; see also CD 15.1-5). Jesus teaches that all oaths invoke God's witness equally. Just as heaven, earth (Is 66:1-2) and Jerusalem (Ps 48:2; Mt 4:5; 27:53) belong to God (Mt 5:34-35), so do the hairs on our heads (5:36); although we can dye our hair, we have no genuine control over its aging (compare 6:27). All oaths implicitly call God to witness, because everything that exists was made by him. For Jesus, no aspect of life except sin is purely secular.

Avoiding oaths is thus inadequate; the issue is telling the truth, because God witnesses every word we speak. Although many passages in the Bible allow some degree of deception to preserve life (Keener 1991a:22), such exceptions are rare in our daily lives. When we lie to cover our own wrong motives from those we think would disdain us, we forget that one day God will expose all the secrets of our hearts anyway (Mt 10:26). When we lightly commit ourselves to meet people at particular times and then unnecessarily delay them (as if their time were a commodity less precious than our own), we treat them unjustly and deceitfully, even if in a relatively minor way. How much more when we make promises in business deals or make still more lasting vows (such as the marriage covenant-5:31-32).


Making vows (promises) to God lightly is a severe offense (compare Acts 5:1-11). Although Jesus' first followers continued to call on God to witness the truth of some of their statements, apparently taking Jesus' words as rhetorical overstatement (examples appear in Rom 1:9; 9:1; Gal 1:20), they seem to have refrained from more overt oaths (2 Cor 1:17; Jas 5:12). Oaths that invite penalties on oneself for violating them ("cross my heart and hope to die") are unnecessary for people of truth.

What about Jesus

Oh boy! Maybe I'll get some comments on this one!

Amplified version: "31It has also been said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.

32But I tell you, Whoever dismisses and repudiates and divorces his wife, except on the grounds of unfaithfulness (sexual immorality), causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.(G)"

My thoughts are the same as I've had for a while now...marriage and divorce aren't just about a piece of paper. That saying cuts both ways. The NIV calls the poor, discarded woman (I think Jesus would say spouse now, since women have become more like men than ever!) a "victim" of adultery. The faithful divorced one has been ruined, spoiled, physically and emotionally, by the selfish one, making it difficult to impossible to ever have a healthy loving relationship again. Any faithful spouse knows that, like Jesus said, to even entertain the thought of committing adultery produces some guilt even in a non-believer. A true believer and lover may be tempted with a thought, but will experience Holy Spirit conviction, making it feel like a saddening shock. Most married people have experienced sadness and loneliness of unmet expectations in our spouses eventhough we have that marriage license. Emotional divorce is real divorce according to Jesus; and He's saying that the faithful heart makes a true marriage. A divorce decree comes much too little and too late.

What About Jesus?

27You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.(F)

28But I say to you that everyone who so much as looks at a woman with evil desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29If your right eye serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be cast into hell (Gehenna).

30And if your right hand serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your entire body should be cast into hell (Gehenna).

Ya think the Lord felt pretty strongly about "evil desire"? Consider the culture He was born into...Roman hedonism surrounded, infiltrated and lured. This was not new in history. Maybe He was trying to tell them that, as blatant as the Romans and others were in their sin, it all began in the heart. His ways of the heart are higher than our ways eventhough they may be simpler and more innocent. How could they (and we) shine as the light of the world unless they demonstrated the ability He gave them to remain set apart?