Annie Oakley Grab Your Gun, the Supreme Court has just ruled that citizens of Washington, DC can carry properly licensed handguns even if they are not in a "militia" to defend themselves at home, consonant with the Constitutional right to bear arms. The case of District of Columbia v. Heller was just decided today and I say "Hail to the Chief" - Chief Justice that is- and his 5-4 posse with him.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0319/p25s07-usju.html
How dare I? Aren't those National Rifle types neanderthal violence mongers who just want to see the world turned into a war zone?
Here's why I love Scalia for mouthing off here-
Maybe now people won't be so brazenly bold in robbing and pillaging people in their homes if they think that they have weaponry to protect themselves or shoot intruders on the spot.
I hope the ruling goes out in every language on every radio station from Chevy Chase to Dupont Circle to Mount Pleasant and Anacostia.
How rare to do you think brazen robberies in the quiet of one's own home is in the District of Columbia?
Less rare than you think I venture to surmise.
And those are the times you know about.
The District of Columbia just got a lot safer-
Tourists thank your Supreme Court.
Rob At Your Own Risk now- Because I might have a properly licensed firearm pointed at the door. Come and Get Me. I Dare You.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
LEFT AT THE ALTAR?
Talk on Religion and Politics
&
Book-Signing by:
Michael Sean Winters,
Winters-longstanding St. Matthew's
parishioner and RCIA team member, will give a
talk on religion and politics on the occasion of the
publication of his new book,
"Left at the Altar: How the Democrats
Lost the Catholics and How the Catholics
Can Save the Democrats"
The talk will be introduced by
Father Jack Hurley
and will be given in the
North Conference Room, Saint Matthews Cathedral
Tuesday, July 1, 7 p.m.
After the presentation, the author will take questions
and sign copies of the book,
which will be available for sale at the event.
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
1725 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
&
Book-Signing by:
Michael Sean Winters,
Winters-longstanding St. Matthew's
parishioner and RCIA team member, will give a
talk on religion and politics on the occasion of the
publication of his new book,
"Left at the Altar: How the Democrats
Lost the Catholics and How the Catholics
Can Save the Democrats"
The talk will be introduced by
Father Jack Hurley
and will be given in the
North Conference Room, Saint Matthews Cathedral
Tuesday, July 1, 7 p.m.
After the presentation, the author will take questions
and sign copies of the book,
which will be available for sale at the event.
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
1725 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
it bears repeating
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind soul and strength and the second flows from it: Love your Neighbor as yourself.
Love- it's a commandment. So what does it look like?
Love is patient;
love is kind;
love is not envious
or boastful or
arrogant or
rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love- it's a commandment. So what does it look like?
Love is patient;
love is kind;
love is not envious
or boastful or
arrogant or
rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Fighting for the right to let Love Rule On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Child Watch® Column
By Marian Wright Edelman
Remembering Mildred Loving
In early May, Mildred Loving, a widow, grandmother and great-grandmother, quietly passed away at her home in rural Caroline County, Virginia. Yet her passing was noted across the country because Mrs. Loving, who was Black, and her late husband Richard, who was White, made history when their struggle to have their marriage recognized led to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning laws in Virginia and other states that banned interracial marriage. But the Lovings, who shunned the spotlight, always made it clear that they never set out to be social revolutionaries. They loved each other, wanted to marry, and beyond that, as Mrs. Loving said, "It was God's work."
Mrs. Loving first met her husband in the early 1950s when she was 11 and he was 17. In Central Point, the small community where they both grew up, many Black and White families had lived closely together for decades. The Lovings became young sweethearts, and in 1958, when Mildred became pregnant, they decided to get married. They drove to Washington, D.C., for their marriage license, and Mrs. Loving later said she thought they were doing that because less paperwork was required there. But Richard apparently understood something she didn’t: Getting a marriage license as a mixed-race couple would have been illegal and impossible in their home state.
Mr. Loving may not have known how the state of Virginia would treat legal interracial marriages that had been performed elsewhere, but five weeks after their wedding, both Lovings received a very literal rude awakening: Acting on a "tip," sheriff's deputies surrounded their bed with flashlights at two in the morning demanding to know why they were there together. Their reply that they were husband and wife made no difference. The Lovings were arrested, held in jail for several nights, and charged with cohabitation and violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act. Under a plea bargain, in order to avoid a year-long jail sentence, they were forced to leave Virginia and were prohibited from returning to the state together for 25 years.
The Lovings settled in Washington, D.C., and began raising a family there, but quickly missed the small town where they had spent nearly their entire lives. Five years later, inspired by the March on Washington and the wave of new civil rights laws, Mrs. Loving decided to write to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ask if any of the new legislation would allow them to return to Virginia. He referred the Lovings' case to the ACLU, where over the next few years, lawyers helped take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court justices ruled 9-0 that Virginia's law and all others like it were unconstitutional.
Mr. and Mrs. Loving soon returned to their hometown with their three children, although their own happiness ended in tragedy just a few years later. In 1975, Mr. Loving was killed and Mrs. Loving lost the sight in one eye in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. But the Lovings had paved the way for thousands of other couples like themselves, who weren't marrying "outside of their race" but were marrying the people they loved. Thanks to God's work and the Lovings' love, my husband Peter and I were the first interracial couple to be married in Virginia after the Supreme Court decision—40 years ago—in July 1968.
I LOVE THIS FAMILY! DIOS TE BENDIGA. DIEU SOIT AVEC TOI.
Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children's Defense Fund and its Action Council whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
Children's Defense Fund25 E St., NWWashington, DC 20001http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/R?i=oRvJeh-qUkIBbXgqqBkNRw..800-CDF-1200
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By Marian Wright Edelman
Remembering Mildred Loving
In early May, Mildred Loving, a widow, grandmother and great-grandmother, quietly passed away at her home in rural Caroline County, Virginia. Yet her passing was noted across the country because Mrs. Loving, who was Black, and her late husband Richard, who was White, made history when their struggle to have their marriage recognized led to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning laws in Virginia and other states that banned interracial marriage. But the Lovings, who shunned the spotlight, always made it clear that they never set out to be social revolutionaries. They loved each other, wanted to marry, and beyond that, as Mrs. Loving said, "It was God's work."
Mrs. Loving first met her husband in the early 1950s when she was 11 and he was 17. In Central Point, the small community where they both grew up, many Black and White families had lived closely together for decades. The Lovings became young sweethearts, and in 1958, when Mildred became pregnant, they decided to get married. They drove to Washington, D.C., for their marriage license, and Mrs. Loving later said she thought they were doing that because less paperwork was required there. But Richard apparently understood something she didn’t: Getting a marriage license as a mixed-race couple would have been illegal and impossible in their home state.
Mr. Loving may not have known how the state of Virginia would treat legal interracial marriages that had been performed elsewhere, but five weeks after their wedding, both Lovings received a very literal rude awakening: Acting on a "tip," sheriff's deputies surrounded their bed with flashlights at two in the morning demanding to know why they were there together. Their reply that they were husband and wife made no difference. The Lovings were arrested, held in jail for several nights, and charged with cohabitation and violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act. Under a plea bargain, in order to avoid a year-long jail sentence, they were forced to leave Virginia and were prohibited from returning to the state together for 25 years.
The Lovings settled in Washington, D.C., and began raising a family there, but quickly missed the small town where they had spent nearly their entire lives. Five years later, inspired by the March on Washington and the wave of new civil rights laws, Mrs. Loving decided to write to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ask if any of the new legislation would allow them to return to Virginia. He referred the Lovings' case to the ACLU, where over the next few years, lawyers helped take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court justices ruled 9-0 that Virginia's law and all others like it were unconstitutional.
Mr. and Mrs. Loving soon returned to their hometown with their three children, although their own happiness ended in tragedy just a few years later. In 1975, Mr. Loving was killed and Mrs. Loving lost the sight in one eye in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. But the Lovings had paved the way for thousands of other couples like themselves, who weren't marrying "outside of their race" but were marrying the people they loved. Thanks to God's work and the Lovings' love, my husband Peter and I were the first interracial couple to be married in Virginia after the Supreme Court decision—40 years ago—in July 1968.
I LOVE THIS FAMILY! DIOS TE BENDIGA. DIEU SOIT AVEC TOI.
Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children's Defense Fund and its Action Council whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
Children's Defense Fund25 E St., NWWashington, DC 20001http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/R?i=oRvJeh-qUkIBbXgqqBkNRw..800-CDF-1200
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Thursday, June 12, 2008
Habeus Hallelujiah
WWW.SCOTUSBLOG.com
Boumediene v. Bush was just decided and gave the right of habeus corpus to the Guantanamo detaineees today.
Read about it on the www.Scotusblog.com site -and pretty much everywhere today.
Thank you Jesus to all the five Supreme Court Justices who voted to preserve this foundational aspect of the Rule of Law in this land.
Guys named Muhammed who look like they once walked someone else's poppy field in Afghanistan may not now be detained indefinately without any sort of proof hearing. We can't lock up and torture totally innocent until proven guilty people for walking in their own country while talking a language no one in the military understood. Gee.
We can't hang by their toenails or knuckles guys in orange jump suits, lock them in cages, and blast hideously loud metalic music at them during their prayer time indefinately-like four years or more- without figuring out if they actually are bad guys and did anything against any American. Ya Think?
My question is-what the H were the other Four thinking fellas? Seriously- fellas.
Imagine the reverse. Imagine Mr. Scalia being arrested in, say, Tunisia, for walking while American, and forced to undergo all the same indignities as the Guantanamo folks without access to any attorney or without any hearing. It could happen in Tunisia---but it can't in America.
THANK THE GOOD LORD.
Boumediene v. Bush was just decided and gave the right of habeus corpus to the Guantanamo detaineees today.
Read about it on the www.Scotusblog.com site -and pretty much everywhere today.
Thank you Jesus to all the five Supreme Court Justices who voted to preserve this foundational aspect of the Rule of Law in this land.
Guys named Muhammed who look like they once walked someone else's poppy field in Afghanistan may not now be detained indefinately without any sort of proof hearing. We can't lock up and torture totally innocent until proven guilty people for walking in their own country while talking a language no one in the military understood. Gee.
We can't hang by their toenails or knuckles guys in orange jump suits, lock them in cages, and blast hideously loud metalic music at them during their prayer time indefinately-like four years or more- without figuring out if they actually are bad guys and did anything against any American. Ya Think?
My question is-what the H were the other Four thinking fellas? Seriously- fellas.
Imagine the reverse. Imagine Mr. Scalia being arrested in, say, Tunisia, for walking while American, and forced to undergo all the same indignities as the Guantanamo folks without access to any attorney or without any hearing. It could happen in Tunisia---but it can't in America.
THANK THE GOOD LORD.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
I Desire
LOVE
not
SACRIFICE
...the greatest of these is LOVE.....
if you have faith so as to move mountains, and have not LOVE you are a clanging gong, clashing symbals....sound and fury full of yourself and nothing.
not
SACRIFICE
...the greatest of these is LOVE.....
if you have faith so as to move mountains, and have not LOVE you are a clanging gong, clashing symbals....sound and fury full of yourself and nothing.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Rome Ecclesial Congress- be there or be Square- still time to get there Monday.
- Pope to Inaugurate the Ecclesial Congress of His Diocese
___________________________________________________________
POPE TO INAUGURATE THE ECCLESIAL CONGRESS OF HIS DIOCESE
VATICAN CITY, 5 JUN 2008 (VIS) - In the basilica of St. John Lateran, cathedral of Rome, at 7.30 p.m. on Monday 9 June, Benedict XVI will inaugurate the ecclesial congress of the diocese of Rome, which due to run from 9 to 12 June on the theme: "Jesus has risen. Educating for hope in prayer, in action and in suffering".
According to a communique issued by the Vicariate of Rome, pastors, priests, religious and above all lay people and youth from diocesan parishes, associations and movements are all invited to attend. The three days of reflection are also scheduled to involve the preparation of the pastoral programme for the coming year.
.../ROME DIOCESAN CONGRESS/... VIS 080605 (130)
Monday, June 02, 2008
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful
When Abraham Dumped His Wife Twice
There used to be a shampoo (clairol?) commercial in the 60s that had beautiful models trying to get women to covet their hair by flipping it seductively stating "don't hate me because I am beautiful."
That must have been what Sarah (Sarai) thought when Abraham, her husband denied her twice and pimped her out to anyone who threatened him. Back in the day, if someone (a King) more powerful wanted to take your wife and they thought the husband was in the way, if they were dishonorable they would just kill off the husband and take the wife. (remember that David did it even to take Bathsheeba)- This is what Abraham feared.
In Genesis it is reported that when Abraham and Sarah (Abram and Sarai) were on travels, and venturing in Egypt, he became afraid that the Pharoah would kill him to take his wife- she was apparently stunningly hot.
When they got to Egypt, the Pharoahs princes (sons) reported back to their Dad how incredibly beautiful Sarah was, and Abram told her- I am going to say you are my sister so pretend you are my sister, pass yourself off as my sister if anyone asks and that way my life will be preserved. In fact the Pharoah took Sarah into his house, had relations with her and because he thought Abram was his brother, the Pharoah blessed Abram with all kinds of goodies- he got sheep, oxen, he-asses, she-asses, menservants, maidservants and camels. SCORE! What a pimp's bounty! This is how Abraham survived the famine that was in Egypt- pimped his wife to the Pharoah.
Note that Abram probably didn't care a whit for the feelings of his devoted wife who was willing to go along with this for the sake of making her husband happy. There is no report in Genesis how his wife felt about being passed off by her husband to the royal court where she had to have relations with the pagan Pharoah instead of her husband. This was the bargain of their marriage apparently as he calculated this for their joint survival. The Pharoah finds out who she is, and more importantly WHOSE she is, and throws her out- and reads Abram the riot act for his deception after God hits his household with all kinds of plagues because of this adulterous affront against God himself. Pharoah addresses Abraham directly- -dude, what were you thinking? Why did you tell me that Sarah was your sister? you can hear the undercurrent- "idiot" "what the H. were you thinking!"
Abraham didn't do this just once- he did it at least twice. He could have done it more, we just read about two times in Genesis. When they got to the territory over to Gerar and they meet up with the King Abimelech- He does it again- he tells King Abimelech that Sarai is his sister.
This time, God doesn't let Abraham's charade damage Sarah any further. He sends a dream to Abimelech and says essentially to him - You are a Dead Man if you touch that woman- she is a prophet's husband.
Give her back. If you touch her you are a dead man.
Abimalech confronts Abraham and says- Dude- what were you thinkin! Take Your Wife Home You Moron!
God had a plan for Abraham and Sarah. Abraham didn't even get fully what it was. He was doing a thousand things to screw it up from his despair and unbelief. He pimps Sarah off at least twice, he sleeps with the maid "Hag"-ar (the Hag), he gets the maid pregnant-and then hates her.
Abraham does something even more stunning when Abimalech confronts him- Abimalech is saying- What the H! Why did you tell me she was your sister?? I almost committed adultery with her to my destruction! He tries to play the "definition of is" game with him in more deception- he says, well, technically speaking, she is the daughter of my father but we have a different mother so actually she is my sister. OK- dude, in a sense she is a sort of half-sister, but Dude, you have a covenantal consummated husband-wife relationship with her- that you hid and denied. She is also your wife Dude, not just your sister! Abraham was being a sneaky bastard. And his poor wife was just the played pawn who had to go along with whatever he thought he needed to do to save his own skin- and she did because her love was so overwhelming it is the greatest understated love story never told. Any lesser woman would have left him or killed him off herself.
She had every right to leave his pimping sorry self.
Abraham had to be beaten over the head with what God was going to do. He had to have God's Angel appear directly to him to tell him - look, this time next year Sarah is going to be pregnant with your real heir. So stop pimping her out. Stop sleeping around with the maids. I told you that your descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and I meant it.
God wants to be believed. He will even get in your face with Angels to set you straight.
It is little surprise that Sarah laughed at the Angel when the Angel said that she would conceive at her post-menapausal advanced age. It is also little surprise that Sarah was so old and had not ever had children with Abraham. She might have been a little frigid after all this. It is easy to surmise that Sarah wasn't too keen about sleeping with her husband after being pimped out village after village to anyone more powerful who looked like they were going to threaten the safety of Abraham. She probably had one of those classic love-hate relationships with him. She probably thought him both clever and cowardly, both protective and ready to sell her virtue to the highest bidder if he thought it would gain him something.
Here's your clean wash- don't you touch me!!! Here's your dinner-go sleep in the other tent!
It is easy to see that Abraham and Sarah were of such advanced age before God manifested the promise, because of Abraham's earlier unbelief or non-recognition of God's plans and purposes. He didn't understand earlier how central, how important the relationship that he had with Sarah was. He probably didn't calculate that all this pimping her out and sleeping with the maid would have turned her cold toward him.
She laughs at the Angel- it's one of those "yeah, right, sure" kind of laughs. They probably had not slept together in decades. Right- we are going to have a kid. Ha Ha Ha . LOL. Laugh Out Loud.
The Angel then confronts her. Why are you laughing? You don't believe God?
Sarah then does something surprising. She denies that she laughed. She has enough Faith in God to believe that God's Angel is telling the truth in spite of the circumstances, so she says- I wasn't laughing- she denied mocking the thought. Something in her said, OK, if this is God's word, I can't mock the thought- even though we haven't slept together in decades and I stopped having a period about forty years ago. I cannot mock God's plan.
So the Angel says- yes, you did, you laughed. You mocked God- so stop. Don't mock God anymore- next year you are going to be pregnant. Shut up and just trust God.
This is really an amazing story. It is amazing because it shows that whatever is meant to be in God's plan will be fulfilled regardless of whether people are a little thick in understanding what it actually is. It comes even through deception, coldness, refutation, running from the plan, subverting the plan, fearing for one's skin that undermines the plan, cheating, taking short cuts, lying and denying the truth of relationships and what they actually mean and are.
God is not mocked. God cannot be mocked. The creator of the Universe will have his plan done if people cooperate. He even works with people like Abraham- to make them the greatest father of all nations. Even people like Abraham- a guy who pimped his wife off to at least two powerful Kings, and slept with the maid and got her pregnant.
God will not be mocked. Because he rules over heaven and earth.
God created them --male and female. God puts man and woman together so that no man may tear them apart or assunder. God does this.
God is not mocked.
Is there someone you keep calling your 'sister in Christ' when you know better? So what were you thinkin!
There used to be a shampoo (clairol?) commercial in the 60s that had beautiful models trying to get women to covet their hair by flipping it seductively stating "don't hate me because I am beautiful."
That must have been what Sarah (Sarai) thought when Abraham, her husband denied her twice and pimped her out to anyone who threatened him. Back in the day, if someone (a King) more powerful wanted to take your wife and they thought the husband was in the way, if they were dishonorable they would just kill off the husband and take the wife. (remember that David did it even to take Bathsheeba)- This is what Abraham feared.
In Genesis it is reported that when Abraham and Sarah (Abram and Sarai) were on travels, and venturing in Egypt, he became afraid that the Pharoah would kill him to take his wife- she was apparently stunningly hot.
When they got to Egypt, the Pharoahs princes (sons) reported back to their Dad how incredibly beautiful Sarah was, and Abram told her- I am going to say you are my sister so pretend you are my sister, pass yourself off as my sister if anyone asks and that way my life will be preserved. In fact the Pharoah took Sarah into his house, had relations with her and because he thought Abram was his brother, the Pharoah blessed Abram with all kinds of goodies- he got sheep, oxen, he-asses, she-asses, menservants, maidservants and camels. SCORE! What a pimp's bounty! This is how Abraham survived the famine that was in Egypt- pimped his wife to the Pharoah.
Note that Abram probably didn't care a whit for the feelings of his devoted wife who was willing to go along with this for the sake of making her husband happy. There is no report in Genesis how his wife felt about being passed off by her husband to the royal court where she had to have relations with the pagan Pharoah instead of her husband. This was the bargain of their marriage apparently as he calculated this for their joint survival. The Pharoah finds out who she is, and more importantly WHOSE she is, and throws her out- and reads Abram the riot act for his deception after God hits his household with all kinds of plagues because of this adulterous affront against God himself. Pharoah addresses Abraham directly- -dude, what were you thinking? Why did you tell me that Sarah was your sister? you can hear the undercurrent- "idiot" "what the H. were you thinking!"
Abraham didn't do this just once- he did it at least twice. He could have done it more, we just read about two times in Genesis. When they got to the territory over to Gerar and they meet up with the King Abimelech- He does it again- he tells King Abimelech that Sarai is his sister.
This time, God doesn't let Abraham's charade damage Sarah any further. He sends a dream to Abimelech and says essentially to him - You are a Dead Man if you touch that woman- she is a prophet's husband.
Give her back. If you touch her you are a dead man.
Abimalech confronts Abraham and says- Dude- what were you thinkin! Take Your Wife Home You Moron!
God had a plan for Abraham and Sarah. Abraham didn't even get fully what it was. He was doing a thousand things to screw it up from his despair and unbelief. He pimps Sarah off at least twice, he sleeps with the maid "Hag"-ar (the Hag), he gets the maid pregnant-and then hates her.
Abraham does something even more stunning when Abimalech confronts him- Abimalech is saying- What the H! Why did you tell me she was your sister?? I almost committed adultery with her to my destruction! He tries to play the "definition of is" game with him in more deception- he says, well, technically speaking, she is the daughter of my father but we have a different mother so actually she is my sister. OK- dude, in a sense she is a sort of half-sister, but Dude, you have a covenantal consummated husband-wife relationship with her- that you hid and denied. She is also your wife Dude, not just your sister! Abraham was being a sneaky bastard. And his poor wife was just the played pawn who had to go along with whatever he thought he needed to do to save his own skin- and she did because her love was so overwhelming it is the greatest understated love story never told. Any lesser woman would have left him or killed him off herself.
She had every right to leave his pimping sorry self.
Abraham had to be beaten over the head with what God was going to do. He had to have God's Angel appear directly to him to tell him - look, this time next year Sarah is going to be pregnant with your real heir. So stop pimping her out. Stop sleeping around with the maids. I told you that your descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and I meant it.
God wants to be believed. He will even get in your face with Angels to set you straight.
It is little surprise that Sarah laughed at the Angel when the Angel said that she would conceive at her post-menapausal advanced age. It is also little surprise that Sarah was so old and had not ever had children with Abraham. She might have been a little frigid after all this. It is easy to surmise that Sarah wasn't too keen about sleeping with her husband after being pimped out village after village to anyone more powerful who looked like they were going to threaten the safety of Abraham. She probably had one of those classic love-hate relationships with him. She probably thought him both clever and cowardly, both protective and ready to sell her virtue to the highest bidder if he thought it would gain him something.
Here's your clean wash- don't you touch me!!! Here's your dinner-go sleep in the other tent!
It is easy to see that Abraham and Sarah were of such advanced age before God manifested the promise, because of Abraham's earlier unbelief or non-recognition of God's plans and purposes. He didn't understand earlier how central, how important the relationship that he had with Sarah was. He probably didn't calculate that all this pimping her out and sleeping with the maid would have turned her cold toward him.
She laughs at the Angel- it's one of those "yeah, right, sure" kind of laughs. They probably had not slept together in decades. Right- we are going to have a kid. Ha Ha Ha . LOL. Laugh Out Loud.
The Angel then confronts her. Why are you laughing? You don't believe God?
Sarah then does something surprising. She denies that she laughed. She has enough Faith in God to believe that God's Angel is telling the truth in spite of the circumstances, so she says- I wasn't laughing- she denied mocking the thought. Something in her said, OK, if this is God's word, I can't mock the thought- even though we haven't slept together in decades and I stopped having a period about forty years ago. I cannot mock God's plan.
So the Angel says- yes, you did, you laughed. You mocked God- so stop. Don't mock God anymore- next year you are going to be pregnant. Shut up and just trust God.
This is really an amazing story. It is amazing because it shows that whatever is meant to be in God's plan will be fulfilled regardless of whether people are a little thick in understanding what it actually is. It comes even through deception, coldness, refutation, running from the plan, subverting the plan, fearing for one's skin that undermines the plan, cheating, taking short cuts, lying and denying the truth of relationships and what they actually mean and are.
God is not mocked. God cannot be mocked. The creator of the Universe will have his plan done if people cooperate. He even works with people like Abraham- to make them the greatest father of all nations. Even people like Abraham- a guy who pimped his wife off to at least two powerful Kings, and slept with the maid and got her pregnant.
God will not be mocked. Because he rules over heaven and earth.
God created them --male and female. God puts man and woman together so that no man may tear them apart or assunder. God does this.
God is not mocked.
Is there someone you keep calling your 'sister in Christ' when you know better? So what were you thinkin!
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