Rosemarie Daher

Here's another thing that makes me wonder about Abraham's leadership and character. In Genesis 16 (read it below), there's a puzzle. Sarah can't have children. She and Abraham are old. They are desperate to make the promise of God come true. It's the cultural right of a wife to give her slave to her husband and claim the children as her own. That happens in subsequent generations, too. (2 generations later, more than half of Jacob's children are born by his wives' servants. In the times of the judges of Israel, Naomi claims her grandchild as her own, though born by her daughter-in-law Ruth.) But here's the strange thing I'm thinking about. Abraham never asks God if this is his plan. He takes the easy way out. That backfires after the servant Hagar becomes pregnant. She begins to disrespect Abraham's wife and her mistress. Most of us would think: "Sarah, how can you blame Abraham for this turmoil, when it's your own fault? You asked Abrah...

 Abraham avoids conflict. He and his family prosper in the land God is giving them. But when his nephew Lot's herdsman and his own fight over grazing land, Abraham gives the land away. Did God tell him to? Not as far as we know. But Abraham values peace, whatever the cost. Lot claims the best pastureland near the Jordan River. His offspring are the Moabites and Ammonites, bitter enemies of Abraham's own tribe. Because Abraham gives Lot the choice of God's country, their grandkids and progeny will be at war for hundreds of years. Question: Where am I avoiding hard decisions and solutions? What consequences might result? Read the whole story in Genesis 13 . Verses 8-11 are below. So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not argue with each other. The people taking care of your herds and those taking care of mine shouldn’t argue with one another either. After all, we’re part of the same family. Isn’t the whole land in front of you? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the rig...

I read about the affection and constant support that Mary gives Jesus, her oldest son. She is part of the inner circle of women who tend to him and the needs of his disciples. Present right to the end, Mary is at the cross when Jesus is crucified. As I read about the crucifixion of Jesus and his final instruction to his disciple John, I wonder if he was already missing his mom - pre-grieving , as we call it today. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister  Mary, the wife of Clopas , and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. John 19:25-27 Remember how you missed your family when you moved to a new city? When you moved to college or a new job? And how you looked forward to seeing your family again? I wonder...

The Israelites are in Egypt for 430 years, wander the desert for 40, and then settle into their Promised Land. We have stories of Joshua, Caleb, Gideon and 300 warriors overcoming a huge army, Samson and Delilah, and early Israelite kings - Saul and David. Then I read this about David's son: "In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt... the second month of the fourth year of Solomon's reign, he began to build the house of the Lord." 1 Kings 6:1 What? For about the same amount of time that there is little record (430 years in Egypt), there's suddenly a spurt of recording. The Mosaic Law is given. Judges are generally outlined with 20-40 year gaps. The prophet Samuel, kings Saul and David come and go. And there went another 480 years of human history. Similarly, some seasons are memorable for us. You may hear family stories. Someone may pass on their worldviews and family values.Other memories disappear, like the d...

Hmm. "God rested." If God is eternal, are there times when he comes into time and pauses? if so, why would he do that? And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.  Genesis 2:2-3 BSB I don't have an answer though I've heard many speculations. What it means to me is that rest is a created aspect of life on this planet. Therefore, not to rest works against us: bodies, souls, minds, emotions.  It makes us crazy somehow . We become dysfunctional in many ways. Maybe scripture is giving us a model of what healthy work and rest balance look like - a day off once a week. Only a loving and Good God would consider the well-being of his creatures. He'd mandate rest rather than enslaving us with constant duties and obligations, wouldn't he? Reflection: In what ways do I ...

You know how irritating it is to be nagged? Ugh My rule of thumb is "I'll say it twice; third time is nagging." How I dislike nagging or being nagged. Apparently God's endless patience encourages us not to quit praying, not to quit asking him for what we need.  Here's the story that has me scratching my head: Jesus told his disciples a story. He wanted to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said,  In a certain town there was a judge. He didn’t have any respect for God or care about what people thought.  A widow lived in that town. She came to the judge again and again. She kept begging him, "Make things right for me. Someone is treating me badly." For some time the judge refused. But finally he said to himself, "I don’t have any respect for God. I don’t care about what people think.  But this widow keeps bothering me. So I will see that things are made right for her. If I don’t, she will someday come and attack me!" The L...