Pele recently died… Many thought that Pele was the world’s greatest footballer; Pele regarded George Best as the greatest…
George’s controversial playboy lifestyle was as famous as his legendary football skills. He once said: ‘I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.’
The high publicity around Prince Harry’s book and interviews means that we’re forgetting about Prince Andrew… allegations about his past, the women in his life…
Musing… George and Andrew, their money, lifestyle, moral framework… are outside my experience…
Yesterday I was chatting to Bill. Bill loves reading and often visits charity shops. Returning home with an armful of ‘bargain’ second-hand books on one occasion his wife confronted him: ‘Why can’t you spend your money on drink, gambling or women like normal men?!’
Musing… What is normal, acceptable in society… for me…?
This morning I read the story of Judah and Tamar…
Judah, Jacob’s 4th son, leaves home, marries Shua and with her has 3 sons. Er, the eldest, marries Tamar, but dies. Tamar is ‘passed on’ to second brother Onan, but Onan dies. Judah’s wife Shua dies…
Tamar disguises herself as a temple prostitute. Judah sleeps with Tamar and Tamar gets pregnant. Hearing this Judah condemns her to death… Realising that he’s the father of her child – that turned out to be twins – Tamar is spared…
Musing… More family circumstances way outside my understanding!
The New Testament – Jesus narrative – starts:
‘This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar…’
So Judah, his widowed daughter-in-law and their illegitimate son are ancestors of Jesus the Messiah.
Musing… The God that I believe in… operating in non-normal circumstances outside my experience or understanding… including human mess and error… somehow arrives at ‘the gospel’ and Jesus.
malcolmsmusings.org 